#PureAdventures

 

So when I quit my job at a fast-growing start-up, after 3 years of solid struggling and after I finally hired a junior team member, and while we are growing both revenue and headcount, to join a much much smaller company, my boss said “Of course it makes sense for you. You are Pure Adventure”. Sitting number 2 at my motto/manifesto/value, it says “Growth and comfort do not co-exist”

2 weeks later when my partner got a call from a head hunter for a job that would put us literally at different coasts of Canada once Covid is stabilized and people are allowed in offices again, I told him to take the call. I helped him review the resume. I cheered him on during the interview process. I told him he could take the job. I know. #pureadventure

That’s life. As “young” people, I am inclined to believe we are stronger and our relationships are more resilient than physical distance, than political divides, than viruses and circumstances. I’m inclined to believe love and marriage doesn’t mean two halves sacrificing to becoming one; it’s two wholes supporting the crap out of each other to achieve infinity. Dreams can come true. Dreams do come true. And marrying the person of your dream doesn’t mean letting go of all the rest; it means leaning on them to realize all of your dreams.

So here we are. 36. The later half of my thirty. Yet the spirit of adventure, the desire for growth, and the unwavering determination to build my a life uncompromised for both me and the people I love remained. The kid at 18 who left Vietnam on a one way ticket; the kid at 21 who went to Philly with 2 suitcases in the middle of winter; the young man at 27 who came to Canada with 2 suitcases and a scholarship; those personas didn’t die. They matured and evolved and learned. 

I am proud of where I am today. Terrified of change and uncertainty, of course, but I choose to be fueled by that fear, by that discomfort. I choose to continue to grow, to love, to support the people around me with the privilege and the support that I have.

Because, sitting on number 1 on my manifesto/values list, is “It’s all about the people and compassionate leadership”.

So here we go. 2021. 36. Whatever life brings. Adventure awaits.

#pureadventures