Running the Road Less Travelled

I still feel deep exhilaration as I look at the trees around me. I love the many colorful hues that it exude. It's such a wonder to see one tree bearing leaves of many colors. You could see the green leaves turning to deep red, bright orange and finally joyful yellow before it start to fall. Even when the day is cloudy or gloomy, the rainbow of colors in the foliage keeps my mood upbeat. As I looked back, I saw how my life has changed with the season.

I can say we have adjusted pretty well in the US. I guess the greatest factor which contributed to this smooth adjustment was the expectations we had of this move. We knew why we are here. We knew why we made this choice. We have our dream and vision. And we made sure that we always put this dream and vision before us.

It is so easy to get sidetracked. In this land where your efforts always bear an equivalent compensation, the temptation to just grind the mill and push yourself to the limit in order to earn big is so prevalent. If we came here just for the money, I could easily drive myself to work overtime and work everyday. But the vision and the dream kept us grounded. My husband is now pursuing his dream. It is just a matter of time before I actively pursue mine. In fact, I can say, I have already began to live my vision and my dream. It started the day we went to this specialty store and invested in a good pair of running shoes. It continued to flourish as we started to incorporate running in our routine. As a US migrant, it is important that we are always aware of why we are here. Some people get lost in the world of working for money and spending the money. And before they know it, years have gone by and they continue to run this same rat race.

As we always tell our close friends, my husband and I got into the midlife crisis at an early age. We hit that stage when we started questionning the significance of our medical practice and the meaning of our existence, when we started asking ourselves what we really wanted to do with our lives, and when we started to pursue our own Personal Legends (as how Paulo Coelho puts it in his book The Alchemist). We found friends along the way who shared the same sentiments and who were able to understand and truly relate with the book and with our sentiments. They are the friends who understood our decision to leave the country.

Last year, running has helped me get in touch with myself, deepen my understanding of my spirituality and ignite the flame that continues to burn in me to pursue the dream I believe I am called to be.

Now, as we begin to take on running in a regular way, I know that the course will straighten out for me. Running will keep me grounded, rooted and in touch with the Divine. It will give me respite from worldly cares. It will be the time when I silence myself and allow God to talk and make Himself known to me. It will give me the chance to share my longings and dreams with Him. For I believe that those who ask will receive, those who seek will find, and those who knock, doors will be opened for them.

God does not impose His will upon us. He gave us freedom to exercise our own will. But it is only in the fulfilment of His will that we will experience real happiness, significance and freedom. And that call... that Personal Legend is buried deep in us. We will never feel contented and will remain restless until we have lived the life that we are called to live. And this means taking risks, moving out of our comfort zones and embracing the unknown. For only then will we be able to grow in faith and live our life to the full. 'Whoever tries to save his own life will lose it; whoever loses his life will save it'. Such is the mystery of life.

The Exodus last June 14, 2009

I felt like I was caught up in a hurricane. Time flew so fast. The whole month of May was spent in Europe gallivanting before the occasion of the wedding of my sister-in-law, temporarily leaving the chaos of packing up for the US behind. Having put back the US migration at the back of our minds made it possible for us to focus on the European trip first. There was also so much to arrange considering that the trip was not a short one. After seeing Frankfurt, Munich, Miltenberg and Buergstadt in Germany; Milan, Venice, Rome, Pisa, Florence and Assisi in Italy; Paris, Liseux, Versailles, Nevers and Lourdes in France; Salzburg in Austria and passing by Switzerland en route to Italy, we were just eager to go back to the Philippines. It was Europe indigestion to say the least.

Back in the Philippines, with just two days to pack our stuff to finally leave for the US, we were living a crazy schedule. The European jetlag made it even crazier because the kids would still remain awake even at the wee hours of the morning just when you wanted to have them out sight. In between business meetings to make final endorsements, arrangement with the mover who will ship our stuff to the US, bank transactions to transfer funds to the US and setting up a system that will also make it possible to transfer funds back and forth from US to Philippines, terminating phone lines, credit card lines, liquidating most of our investments, we also gave way for despidida parties from our friends and colleagues. The night before we left for the US, we were still not done with our packing! It was such a challenge to try to maximize the luggage allowance of 23 kg/piece and 107 cm for 2 pieces given to us by the airline. Alvin and I did not have sleep at all. We ended up packing until daybreak and loaded 4 balikbayan boxes, 4 medium sized wheeled luggages, 2 car seats, 4 hand-carried bags, and 1 stroller. We also had to endorse the shipping of 1 more box via Johnny Air Cargo.

Saying goodbye at the airport was tearjerking. We do not know when we will be able to visit the Philippines again. So much uncertainty in the future. But what we were grateful for was the decision to leave as a family. There were preliminary plans of me leaving ahead of the girls and Alvin and making them follow after one month. But just imagining how it would be carrying all the luggages and going through immigration as well as making major decisions in the US regarding car purchase, schools, etc, made us think think twice about that other plan.

So now we were in it as one family... still together.

The Transition

A difficult part in migrating is disposing the old stuff that you own.

Looking at all our clothes, appliances, household utensils and furniture brings with it all sorts of emotions. And so the first thing that I had to let go of was my emotions. Because given the time constraints, I cannot waste precious moments lying around my recently acquired sofa nor can I idle around my new refrigerator. So I quickly listed all items for garage sale and sent the list to my friends via email. I also emailed most of my high school and college classmates who are now working as nurses in the US and asked for their advice which stuff is worth bringing and shipping and which ones will just end up in the US garage sale or sent back in a balikbayan box and therefore not worth the effort. I also contacted my freightforwarder in the importation business I am in and asked for a quotation for a one cubic meter seafreight cargo. This will contain roughly 7 medium size balikbayan boxes. The quote was less than $500. So I have decided to bring most of our old clothes, non-medical books, shoes, bags, dining and kitchen sets and only a few toys.

The cars will have to go as well. But we vowed that the money we will earn from the sale will be the same money that we will use to buy a second-hand car. Same goes for the earnings from the furniture and appliances... it will be used to buy for those appliances as well. We'll have to stick to the basics though since what we sold are a lot cheaper than what we are going to buy abroad.

Other things that we have to deal with is sending out indefinite leaves of absence from hospital affiliations and medical societies. I also learned from my accountant that we need to file Form 1905 or cessation of business from our medical practice from the BIR so we don't get charged with tax evasion. We just left our paper investments since the market is down anyway and no use actualizing the loss. But we have to consolidate our bank accounts into two accounts that are accessible online. That is BPI for me. Since the ATM card of BPI has the Cirrus/Maestro logo, that also means we can use our BPI ATM cards for international withdrawals with foreign currencies for a fee. In case of emergencies, then we can access through our local funds. Otherwise, we will try to keep all local funds intact.

We were also advised to bring as many documents as we can like NSO copies of birth certificates and marriage certificates, baptismal certificates and report cards of the children, transcript of records and diploma.

With all of these before me... I think it is about time I minimize my stay with the computer as well and get back to work.