In my opinion, working two jobs in a day everyday is no easy feat. Working two jobs in a day everyday with equal zest and abundance of energy therefore defies my logic of the human capacity. In this case, one man has defeated the barrier of my self-created limitations. This is his story, told through my blessed encounters with him.
The writer remembers not of the details of the day she first met him but the memory of the man himself is a clear one, not of his physical appearance, but the clearly pronounced words which emanated from within him with such soothing audibility.
Watching her mother walking to a counter where cash competition entry forms are filled, clutching a few of those in her hand, the writer notices her mother was followed casually by a man. She hears the words "Wah, so many already ar?" uttered with genuine friendliness through the windscreen of the car she was sitting in. At that moment, the writer's thoughts about the man were merely passing ones, generally disregarding the warmth which he portrayed. But the memory was never erased. Unconsciously, as the writer and her mother left the petrol station, she was also storing this image and this voice in the spaces of her unknowing mind.
Five days later, in a cosily furnished restaurant, a waiter came to the writer's and her family's table to collect the dirty dishes. A familiar voice spoke with a very familiar clarity and audibility in his words, "Hi, may I collect these bowls? Thank you." The writer turned to the voice and gazed upon a face she was quite sure she had seen before. But as she attempted recalling the time and place she had seen the man, her memory bits served her too poorly. Time ticked and as she dug deeper into her mind spaces, she finally found the image and voice she had unconsciously stored five days earlier, as she was leaving the petrol station. An initial sense of relief for having solved the bugging familiarity came upon the writer, which was soon to be replaced with a level of respect with the occurence of the following conversation between her mother and the man. (The writer had exclaimed her revelation earlier to her mother, the only one in her family who had also seen the man before.)
"Eh, do you work in the petrol station there?"
"Yeah, how you know ar?"
"I saw you mah."
"Really? When ar? Yeah, I actually work two jobs. I do marketing in the petrol station. Actually last time I work there from 7 to 7. But now I just work from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Then I have two hours of rest and work here from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. At first they wanted me to work full time here but I tell them cannot lah because I still need to work there right. My boss is ok with me working here part time also. He also got ask me whether I can manage or not lah because two jobs right. Haha, see lah, I hope my energy is enough. But at least got two hours' rest so ok lah. I must manage my timing lah."
Then the family and the writer left, leaving that short encounter as the last till now. The writer had never spoken to the man, the man would not have noticed the writer. But she now knew the man as one whom she quietly grew her respect for.
"The man", till now, remains as "the man" for I have never found out what his name is. That encounter also remains as the last till now. An average man on the outside, but definitely not one on the inside. Just the clarity and audibility as well as energy and genuinity in his words are enough to portray his zest for life, despite now having to work two jobs a day, everyday. Exactly what holds this man up, I have yet to know. I wonder if I will ever know. I wonder if I will ever meet him anymore. But I know one thing - "the man" is living Jason Mraz's song - Live High, Live Mighty, Live Righteously. And as a secret admirer, I can only pray that wherever life takes him to, he would always preserve his humility and that his energy would be flowing in such abundance to carry him up as high and as mighty as he could, keeping righteousness as a constant guide. As for myself, the two brief encounters with "the man" is One which I am gladly adding into my bagpack of gratitude.
There is no denying though that perhaps the warmth shown by "the man" was out of his sense of responsibility for his job in the marketing sector in which public relations skills are of high importance. Then again, to maintain that same level of zest and energy in both his jobs with only a two-hour break is, I reckon, already a challenge on its own. Two encounters are, without doubt, inadequate for me to make any judgements, but they are definitely an evidence of his dedication to his jobs. Isn't that already an example we can all look up to?
Never forget the importance of living with unbridled exhilaration. Never neglect to see the exquisite beauty in all living things. Today, and this very moment, is a gift. Stay focused on your purpose. The Universe will take care of everything else.
- from "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin S. Sharma
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