Never Stop Believing. Faith.. Hope.. Love..

Have you ever felt left out just because you look and act different?  Have you ever been in a situation where you encounter ambitious/egoistic/self centered people that only know their way?  

If you have, then do not despair.  Just continue believing in yourself and continue being the good person that you are. It is very important to remain confident and optimistic when you come across these type of people because your confidence is your security blanket. We should be armed with Faith, Hope and Love...  Faith in Yourself, Hope that Things will get Better and Love for yourself and your neighbors.  I think these things still occur 

These self-centered people, maybe they are not really bad people at all, but they are just blinded by their ambitions or they are just so competitive that they cannot accept that in most cases, teams work rather than just being an individual contributor or that sometimes, they just find it too difficult that in this world, we may be different races, have different looks and different ways but in the end, we are all humans.  They will try to crush you down, belittle you and be condescending.  But our humility and faith in ourselves with keep us going.  It is also very important to have a strong support system who can egg us on to just shrug it off and take it one day at a time. 

I am speaking from personal experiences.  I have dealt many situations where: 

1.  I was looked down not taken seriously because I dress differently.  I maybe a mom already and now on my early 40s  but I still love color coordinates and still wwear mini skits even in the cold winter! Hahaha I have stockings though... Hehehehe Just because I talk (with my tagalog spanish accent) and I dress up differently, some felt that I do not belong to their league... 

2. I was belittled, looked down and somewhat treated condescendingly because I am very polite.  I always have a ready smile on my face. I greet everyone including the security guards and the cleaning ladies. Even if I am senior manager level, some do not think of me as middle management level because I talk to all team members.  I greet everyone.  I am not a conflictive person.  I am not the type that will say cuss nor foul words during team meetings.  The comic in me comes naturally.  I remember having management meetings with the big boss/managing director and everyone is just laughing because of my banter.  My attitude or my behavior does not change because I am with someone who has a higher or lower position.  At one point, this was considered as a liability in my corporate career.  I remember my client account manager and director who considered me for a Project Manager role for a client.  They talked to me in a private meeting and asked me about my capabilities - how will I defend myself to clients considering that I am short, I am always smiling and that I am not Spanish?? Like what?  I was speechless for a while.  I cannot believe what I heard.  I responded telling them that I always let my credentials show my capabilities.  This happened approx 10 years ago, June 2009 but I always remember it as I learned a lot from it. No way will I change myself just to fit in to a job description or to a mold that someone wanted.  

3.  As a Filipino living and working here in Spain, I have received comments stating that okay, we Filipinos speak better English than most Spanish but still we are inferior. Hahaha Like where did that come from? We were just talking about work and getting the task done.. hahaha hahaha. the important thing is to take things at stride. 

I can go on and on.  But what I would like to say is keep you head up high but still remain humble and prayerful.  We should know our battles so we win in the important ones.  One of the things that people cannot take away from us regardless of our situation and the place where we are is our faith and our innate values.  

1.  Our faith in God will enlighten us during the trying moments in our lives.  I remember when I was starting life anew here in Spain, I was rock bottom mentally.  I had a boss who was really difficult to handle and too control freak, too much of a micro manager that it was getting too draining to argue over a period or a comma.  I prayed and I prayed plus of course, I also had to remain positive and do the work.  And true enough, when man prays, God works.  God turned around the situation and saved me from that very unhealthy situation.  

2.  Having a great support system counts.  My one man support group hahahaha my ever dearest loving husband, who is smart, intelligent and not biased at all also helps.  This support system who is there to listen to our woes and help us to understand our situation really matters.  Thanks sweetie for your kind words!! As the years go by, I have built an intimate circle of friends who understand my situation and have been very generous in helping me as well.  

3.  Keep believing in yourself.  I always believe that in this lifetime, we all have our respective places.  (In spanish; siempre digo que en esta vida soy muy creyente que hay sitio para todos).  If you feel that one job, one situation is not working well for you, then be composed, map out your strategy to rise above the challenge and eventually get out of that situation.  You must make calculated risks to protect yourself and your family´s interests.  

4.  Keep honing your talents and skills.  Never stop improving yourself but do not be blinded by competition, The important thing is that we continuously increase our capabilities.  Let your accomplishments do the advertisements of your capabilities.  Work hard in silence and let your success do the noise!  (I read this somewhere).  

5.  And lastly, continue to be a good, grateful and humble person.  Because in our life, even if it is not a fairytale, the good always triumph over evil. And besides, others will always remember the genuine goodness that we shared with them. 

Have meaningful and blessed Sunday!! Take care!!