Deadlines

I had a chat with my old boss way back my working days in Baguio. She has been living in abroad and thanks to the mighty power of Yahoo Messenger, I still have connection to her. Our usual conversation starts with simple “musta?” and we exchange stories about our lives and how our work has been during the past days. I always narrate my never ending quest with my deadlines in audit. Being an optimist, she always looks at the brighter side of deadlines.

“At least you have something to look forward to.”

This is her point of view towards deadlines. At some point she is correct. My life in audit will be more boring and lost having no deadlines. No matter how furious I maybe regarding my deadline, it still serves as a goal for me to accomplish. It is like I always have a jigsaw puzzle on my table and I need to finish it on time. The joy of meeting the deadline is even more rewarding. It is a great relief once you meet the deadline and even gives you a sudden adrenaline rush beating the deadline.

Yet some times, deadlines give us worries, numerous sleepless nights, trauma, and even despair of losing your time. It will eat the time you should be spending for your late-night gimik on Fridays and quiet and peaceful weekend with your love ones. Worst of it all, deadlines have the power to cancel your trips and vacations being booked months earlier.

In life we have our own set of goals. We also put deadlines on it. We dream of owning a car after 2 years working. We already draw our house after 5 years. We even set the age we want to settle down and start a family. After that we want to have an early retirement at age 40 and enjoy the fruit of our labor. All of our dreams, we put deadlines on it. We are delighted looking forward to meet the deadlines of our dreams and plans in life.

When I graduated from college, I drew my future. I said to myself, I will pass the board exam six months after graduating. I looked at myself working for five years in a large corporation and earn some money as my initial capital for my business. I also planned to have a coffee shop in our province and my other business ventures will sprout like mushrooms in my hometown and nearby cities. While being an entrepreneur I will be teaching in a university. The best part of my plan, I said to myself that I should be in control of my time. I will marry at age 28 and spend quality time with my wife and kids and enjoy our family time on a vacation in beautiful spots in our country and in other countries. (Wow! Super like!)

Looking at myself today, it seems I am quite far yet from the future I am looking forward to. I was delayed in passing the board exam, though I landed a job as an auditor, I still don’t have the big bucks I will use to open my business. I am still single and dubious to mingle with ladies and my deadline for starting a family is already on its final stretch.

Am I worried about my future and my so-called deadlines in life?

Of course, napapa-isip din ako. I am not getting younger anymore. Buti na lang I still look younger at my age (walang kokontra blog ko toh!). Even if I am stuck in audit, I have met different people, and have been to different places, which is a big consolation working in an audit firm.

Funny thing about deadline is that, we can move or adjust it based on our current situation. Looking forward for a certain thing does not mean it will always be fixed. Based on my experience dealing with deadline, even if I don’t beat the time frame my boss still gives extra period or allowance for me to finish everything.  I guess it is also the same in our deadlines in life. We are also given extra period to cover-up and complete our dreams. So spending another year at work, delaying for another year in settling down, or even waiting for the right time to kick start in business is still fine.

Another thing about deadline is that it teaches us how to adjust and be flexible. Same with our deadlines in life, we can adjust things and even adapt to our current status. As we continue our life, our deadlines also change. Our plans and priorities start to change, and our struggle to look forward to our new plans and dreams continues.

Right now, I know my initial plans way back after my college graduation are all in the past. I am now setting-up a new one and creating a new deadline in life. And I will never stop looking forward in life.

Ikaw ano ang deadline ng buhay mo? Are you still on track with your plans in life.

May we all beat our deadlines in life… on time!

Beating the deadline,

Dorm Boy

PS1: During the weekend, I got the chance to see my old college friends way back the dorm days. Click here to read.

PS2: Want to learn how to save your hard-earned money? Learn the first step how to save and make saving as your habit. Click here to read.