I don't have the time right now to write this the way I want to, so I'm posting what I sent to my department here for now. The bigger one is in the works, and will be out as soon as I can finish it!
Hello My Dear Spectrum.
I don't quite know how to write this email in a way that I won't criticize myself for being too cliched about. But here goes.
This year for me has been about finding what I don't want to do, and a few things that I want to do. It was one of the biggest and best decisions so far for me to decide to take up TM, which so far was considered a fluffy portfolio, something that has no immediate significance - this goes against the very sensibilities of who I am as a person. This whole year, I have tried my best to bring TM up from functional anonymity to the almost intimidatingly looming presence in the LC that I believe it is today.
To do this has been a journey for myself, where I've experienced Pride, Shame, Love, Hate, Happiness, Sadness, Light, and Dark - both with the people I have interacted with, and within my own self.
I write this email to you guys as the 8 people who will carry forward this beautiful department, and everything that it stands for in the LC, as well as for each one of us. These are small little things that I have learnt, in easy ways and hard, made a point to journal, and I hope you will find useful while creating your own, glorious stories.
1. Don't be afraid to be who you want to be tomorrow, today.
Your life is your own; no one (except your parents and closest friends maybe) will tell you/know how to tell you how to become the best version of yourself. There is no point waiting for inspiration from others, from life, from failure if you cannot find it in every breathing moment inside yourself. You are what you want yourself to be, and there is simply no time all this book of short stories we call life to waste in being timid and insecure about what the world would think, or whether you will fail. Promote yourself TO yourself; life will respect you if you do.
Grab every single opportunity you can find in this organization, it has forced me to do this and I could not be more thankful.
2. Don't kid yourself.
Probably the worst personal stories I have heard are when people are in denial, about themselves, or the reality in which they live. We don't live in a vacuum. We are living, breathing individuals who are trying to make a small dent in the world. You will not make a scratch also, if you don't discover, or make peace with who you are. If you are weak, then knowing and accepting that you are is where you will find your strength. If you are hopelessly lost in life, that's okay too, but accept that, and make a commitment to yourself that no matter what, the only way is up. Once you are completely at peace with these things, you will find that you will breathe easy, life will be like a song with a rising chorus.
Leadership is a liabilty if you are not secure as an individual. Be aware of, and confident in yourself as you live your AIESEC experience; you will go far just on the virtue of that.
3. Burn bridges that will drown you.
This is perhaps something that will be hard to accept, but that I have learnt at great cost through the last year. If someone or something is holding you simply for the fact that you are relying on them for your happiness, it will hurt you. Don't confuse this for hope; hope is to look forward to positivity, what I am talking about is to bank on a negative emotion because you are too chicken to find the resolve to find it regardless.
Don't be afraid to trust your team and your relationships, but go get what you want for yourself with a vengeance that regressive people that you might have to be around will be both, intimidated, as well as inspired by.
4. See each situation as an opportunity to become more awesome.
Lost your phone? Girlfriend/boyfriend cheated on you? Failed to get on the MB/EB? Parents didn't allow you to go to that team night or that concert, or that trip? Friends drifting away? Lonely as hell? Don't like your boss? It's okay! I'm not saying you don't have the right to be sad. But be big enough to take a step back and look at it as a learning experience; an opportunity to figure yourself out enough to deal with whatever life throws your way. You will enjoy every single day of life, or at least you will start trying to!
In AIESEC, you will find 10 things that you love, and 1000 things that you don't. Understand, that that is the point of it all. To throw all these things your way, so you come away being all the better a person for it!
5. I love technology. But I love people more.
With the internet and whatsapp and all these very cool things which I am addicted to as well, you may tend to forget the value of having that friend you meet at the Chai shop or at the Jam Room, or at the swings in the park at 5 pm every single day. Do not loose them, they can be from work, college, home, whatever; but always hang on to the friends that you see and hear every day in person. Why? Because a friend who doesn't get sick of you after that will not be scared to catch your bullshit; there is no Delete Message, or Edit Post, or any of that when you are face to face.
Emails, texts, Skype, Hangouts, all these are all very convenient methods to participate in a team. But the best way to do that is to meet as often as you can. See your team every week or more, you will find friends for life, and work becomes an extremely enjoyable pastime.
6. Live life in technicolor.
Be intense in every single thing that you do. If you're going to the shop to pick up groceries for mum, do it as fast as possible, haggle for the best bargain you can, say hi to the guard both ways at the gate so you can build a rapport with him; hell, walk to the store as fast as you can so you can get a work out on the way! When you do this, sleep becomes irrelevant (if you want to sleep then sleep like a log in hibernation!), boredom becomes paradoxical to who you are, and the people you are around, your world becomes a Harry Potter movie, or Lord of the Rings, whatever you prefer - full of wonder, and of chocolate.
Don't hesitate to go mad at parties at conferences, to cry your heart out to your VP/LCP, to take up 5 different responsibilities at the same time during your exams. The people you know will always look forward to meeting you next, your work will be your play, the trees will sing for you and the breeze will lift your spirit without the smallest effort.
Well, I think I have outdone my own anti-jazz convictions with this, but I promise you, these are completely honest, and completely grounded little snippets of my time in this beautiful organization. I hope you find things to relate to and live stories above and beyond these as well.
I write this email with a sense of extreme pride and success; both personally and for what we have managed as a team. To everyone I've worked with, thank you for who you guys have been, and for being part of my experience.
Cheers!
Hello My Dear Spectrum.
I don't quite know how to write this email in a way that I won't criticize myself for being too cliched about. But here goes.
This year for me has been about finding what I don't want to do, and a few things that I want to do. It was one of the biggest and best decisions so far for me to decide to take up TM, which so far was considered a fluffy portfolio, something that has no immediate significance - this goes against the very sensibilities of who I am as a person. This whole year, I have tried my best to bring TM up from functional anonymity to the almost intimidatingly looming presence in the LC that I believe it is today.
To do this has been a journey for myself, where I've experienced Pride, Shame, Love, Hate, Happiness, Sadness, Light, and Dark - both with the people I have interacted with, and within my own self.
I write this email to you guys as the 8 people who will carry forward this beautiful department, and everything that it stands for in the LC, as well as for each one of us. These are small little things that I have learnt, in easy ways and hard, made a point to journal, and I hope you will find useful while creating your own, glorious stories.
1. Don't be afraid to be who you want to be tomorrow, today.
Your life is your own; no one (except your parents and closest friends maybe) will tell you/know how to tell you how to become the best version of yourself. There is no point waiting for inspiration from others, from life, from failure if you cannot find it in every breathing moment inside yourself. You are what you want yourself to be, and there is simply no time all this book of short stories we call life to waste in being timid and insecure about what the world would think, or whether you will fail. Promote yourself TO yourself; life will respect you if you do.
Grab every single opportunity you can find in this organization, it has forced me to do this and I could not be more thankful.
2. Don't kid yourself.
Probably the worst personal stories I have heard are when people are in denial, about themselves, or the reality in which they live. We don't live in a vacuum. We are living, breathing individuals who are trying to make a small dent in the world. You will not make a scratch also, if you don't discover, or make peace with who you are. If you are weak, then knowing and accepting that you are is where you will find your strength. If you are hopelessly lost in life, that's okay too, but accept that, and make a commitment to yourself that no matter what, the only way is up. Once you are completely at peace with these things, you will find that you will breathe easy, life will be like a song with a rising chorus.
Leadership is a liabilty if you are not secure as an individual. Be aware of, and confident in yourself as you live your AIESEC experience; you will go far just on the virtue of that.
3. Burn bridges that will drown you.
This is perhaps something that will be hard to accept, but that I have learnt at great cost through the last year. If someone or something is holding you simply for the fact that you are relying on them for your happiness, it will hurt you. Don't confuse this for hope; hope is to look forward to positivity, what I am talking about is to bank on a negative emotion because you are too chicken to find the resolve to find it regardless.
Don't be afraid to trust your team and your relationships, but go get what you want for yourself with a vengeance that regressive people that you might have to be around will be both, intimidated, as well as inspired by.
4. See each situation as an opportunity to become more awesome.
Lost your phone? Girlfriend/boyfriend cheated on you? Failed to get on the MB/EB? Parents didn't allow you to go to that team night or that concert, or that trip? Friends drifting away? Lonely as hell? Don't like your boss? It's okay! I'm not saying you don't have the right to be sad. But be big enough to take a step back and look at it as a learning experience; an opportunity to figure yourself out enough to deal with whatever life throws your way. You will enjoy every single day of life, or at least you will start trying to!
In AIESEC, you will find 10 things that you love, and 1000 things that you don't. Understand, that that is the point of it all. To throw all these things your way, so you come away being all the better a person for it!
5. I love technology. But I love people more.
With the internet and whatsapp and all these very cool things which I am addicted to as well, you may tend to forget the value of having that friend you meet at the Chai shop or at the Jam Room, or at the swings in the park at 5 pm every single day. Do not loose them, they can be from work, college, home, whatever; but always hang on to the friends that you see and hear every day in person. Why? Because a friend who doesn't get sick of you after that will not be scared to catch your bullshit; there is no Delete Message, or Edit Post, or any of that when you are face to face.
Emails, texts, Skype, Hangouts, all these are all very convenient methods to participate in a team. But the best way to do that is to meet as often as you can. See your team every week or more, you will find friends for life, and work becomes an extremely enjoyable pastime.
6. Live life in technicolor.
Be intense in every single thing that you do. If you're going to the shop to pick up groceries for mum, do it as fast as possible, haggle for the best bargain you can, say hi to the guard both ways at the gate so you can build a rapport with him; hell, walk to the store as fast as you can so you can get a work out on the way! When you do this, sleep becomes irrelevant (if you want to sleep then sleep like a log in hibernation!), boredom becomes paradoxical to who you are, and the people you are around, your world becomes a Harry Potter movie, or Lord of the Rings, whatever you prefer - full of wonder, and of chocolate.
Don't hesitate to go mad at parties at conferences, to cry your heart out to your VP/LCP, to take up 5 different responsibilities at the same time during your exams. The people you know will always look forward to meeting you next, your work will be your play, the trees will sing for you and the breeze will lift your spirit without the smallest effort.
Well, I think I have outdone my own anti-jazz convictions with this, but I promise you, these are completely honest, and completely grounded little snippets of my time in this beautiful organization. I hope you find things to relate to and live stories above and beyond these as well.
I write this email with a sense of extreme pride and success; both personally and for what we have managed as a team. To everyone I've worked with, thank you for who you guys have been, and for being part of my experience.
Cheers!
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