Last year, we hiked in the Himalayas which experience unusual rains. Turning back, we made camp across from the main road. The small creek became a raging river. But, we persevered and crossed with a makeshift bridge (underwater) at the last moment.
As 2016 draws to a close, we all are looking forward to downtime and “refilling our cup” to spend time with friends and family, finish long overdue projects, and frankly, to just relax. We spend our entire year juggling professional and personal commitments and wait until the end of the year to do the things we wanted to do throughout the entire year. However, instead of relaxing, we cram everything we can during the precious off-time. At the end of the break, we need a break!
My family made a recent decision to move back home to Colorado in the summer of 2017. It was a bittersweet decision as there’s a lot India has to offer from a great international education for my children to living a global lifestyle. However, after finishing business school recently, my desire to reinvigorate my career was the tilting point. I realized that we will not be able to see the great friends we made in India on a regular basis. Some live within minutes but others are hours away by plane. We made a conscious decision visit as many as we can before our time is up, and it’s too late.
It’s been busy but refreshing. A couple of weeks ago, we had a mini class reunion over dinner. Though it’s only been 2 months since graduation, it felt much longer as we slip into our daily routine again. Seeing each other rekindled bonds instantly as well as laughing at our personal stories that we created together.
A few days ago, I traveled to Pune (a 3 hour drive from Mumbai) to see my friend, Sagar) who leads Tenneco’s operations in India where he hosted and personally gave a tour of his factory. It’s not often that a Managing Director would take time out of his day to do so, but my wife and I were honored and grateful. It was exciting to see how well he is doing professionally but also how well his mind, body, and spirit is doing. I also can now empathize for those who made that monthly commute to our classes – definitely a time investment.
We have more trips planned during the end of the month and next year to see as many friends as we can. It’s not to say farewell but to strengthen our friendship. I would urge everyone to breakout of your daily routine and see an old friend. I get it. It takes effort. But, that effort is just a mental barrier as once you see that friend, you’ll realize, it wasn’t any effort. Just don’t wait until it’s too late.
Next is Dr. Ashley Thomas…we’ll see you in Kerala.