Saturday 4 August 2007

In between phases

1 more week untill we move to France...

Many other J08 bloggers already commented on the eariness of this "calm before the storm" period. It is a kind of twillight zone sensation. Work has ended, I even had a great farewell party at work the other day, with many fantastic colleagues. Still the MBA hasn't started yet... 

Our long list of action items is slowly coming to an end. Our landlord left the keys of the house at INSEAD so we can pick them up next week. I'm filling iTunes with all our favourite CD's. A guilty feeling is creeping up on me for not having done more pre-reading (however there is still time, and 'me is a speedreader now, so me will be fine!') 

The time is also nearing for "last" everythings...
- Last visits to friends,
- Last weekend at home,
- Last lunch, dinner, whatever with family,
- Last farewell parties,
- Last things to do...

In my head though, I've started to focus and think about all the "first" moments...
- First day in France
- First day at INSEAD
- First class
- First weekend as a student
- First, oh boy, so many firsts to come...

I get vivid memories of my first day as a Marine recruit... so many things happened since that day, and yet this Marine is about to start a new journey, and discover so many more new things...

"One year to challenge your thinking, change your outlook, and choose your future." 

This famous INSEAD slogan almost sounds incredible for the average 30-odd guy in his mid-career after having done many different things in his life. Still, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense and the more it sounds like a challenge and an announcement at the same time. 

All the considerations about the amount of money that we will pay, and the opportunity cost of not having a job for a year are completely fading away. In fact, I realize that I bought a ticket to something special: a ride along with other likeminded individuals who went through the same preparation in their pursuit of discoveries, opportunities, challenges and positivity. In many ways there is a strong parallel with my choice to join the Marines. A different slogan, but that too challenged my thinking, changed my outlook, and helped me shape my future... 

It's about time the new phase starts, so let me quote PINK:
"Get this party started!"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Omar, can you add RSS to your vblog? Or did I overlook it?
Boudewijn

Anonymous said...

Omar,

I don't think I've ever seen "Pink" so aptly quoted. And I hope to never see it again ;D

Well, that is of course, unless you plan to regale us with a karaoke version at the first Fonty party.

Omar & Angela said...

Hi Boudewijn,

Thanks for asking. I've added RSS feed, and you can now also subscribe by email.


DTLF,
ha ha ha... in this case I assumed that quoting her was more appropriate than quoting Nietzsche (Oh! did I really mention a punky singer in the same sentence as a famous philosopher..?)

Now Nietzsche did say "insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule." So eventhough I wasn't planning on a karaoke version of Pink any time soon, we should prepare ourselves for some 'insane' parties anyway!

...Oops, now I did it again! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Beste Angela en Omar,

Goeie stap, ik zal jullie volgen via deze site.

gr Karin