in response to the title, i am telling you, when you're in Dubai it's tough to stay grounded! if not for His grace, i would have long been disoriented. coming here to dubai some five years ago, i was single-minded on two pursuits: (1) experience in working overseas and (2) financial independence...
five years later, my goal no. 2 has always been like the horizon-- so near, yet so far. not because it was unreachable, but because i change the goal even before reaching it! just like the rest who had a definite time frame even before stepping out of the philipine airport, a year later my ideas were morphed into something more complicated.
in dubai, i have been faced with these two struggles that never used to unsettle me this strongly back home:
Maintaning a simple lifestyle - when access to anything grand and fabulous is just as easy as pie, and when almost all the things you see blinds you in their flash and fancy, this goal could really be arduous. even in our company, we adhere to 'image is everything' mentality, so from clothes to shoes, to bags, to accessories, we have to be presentable to say the least. i've piled up pounds on restaurant-hopping for corporate meetings. i've ticked almost all the 5-star hotels for our R&R. been thru other high-profile leisure and recreation facilities for industry update purposes. my job entails that i know most, if not all, the entertainment whereabouts in UAE and the GCC.
and where does simplicity find its place? when duty calls, i've to be reminded always of moderation, knowing that the above things are just but fleeting pleasures. it's nice to experience them, to indulge once in a while. but making it a lifestyle? nah! i can't AND don't want to sustain it. why not? simply because it's not me, and i know it will not be good for me in the long run...
five years later, my goal no. 2 has always been like the horizon-- so near, yet so far. not because it was unreachable, but because i change the goal even before reaching it! just like the rest who had a definite time frame even before stepping out of the philipine airport, a year later my ideas were morphed into something more complicated.
in dubai, i have been faced with these two struggles that never used to unsettle me this strongly back home:
Maintaning a simple lifestyle - when access to anything grand and fabulous is just as easy as pie, and when almost all the things you see blinds you in their flash and fancy, this goal could really be arduous. even in our company, we adhere to 'image is everything' mentality, so from clothes to shoes, to bags, to accessories, we have to be presentable to say the least. i've piled up pounds on restaurant-hopping for corporate meetings. i've ticked almost all the 5-star hotels for our R&R. been thru other high-profile leisure and recreation facilities for industry update purposes. my job entails that i know most, if not all, the entertainment whereabouts in UAE and the GCC.
and where does simplicity find its place? when duty calls, i've to be reminded always of moderation, knowing that the above things are just but fleeting pleasures. it's nice to experience them, to indulge once in a while. but making it a lifestyle? nah! i can't AND don't want to sustain it. why not? simply because it's not me, and i know it will not be good for me in the long run...
and when i am off-duty, i enjoy life's simple pleasures... that is (1) spending quality time with my friends, (2) enjoying the most mundane things like watching DVDs, chitchatting non-stop over tuyo, sinangag and itlog, etc. and (3) spending quality time alone with my grey matter...
Discipline in the means of grace - tough when you do not have any excuse to miss a devotion, a worship and a good prayer time! back home, i used to complain that i do not have the means to regularly attend gatherings, nor the luxury of a peaceful place and time for a good devotion... and now that i have them all here, i realized it is all the more worse at the other side of the battle! i have the time, the car, the money, the solitary place for devotions... except that many times, i lack the most needful thing-- the hungry heart for His words! and this battle confronts me more often than before... ONLY by His grace for His glory, a number of these battles have been won...
so to those who'd like to leave their simple comforts for greener pasture, be forwarned that you may solve some problems, but create other ones. i guess i'd just have to accept the fact that this world can never be problem-free, otherwise, this could be heaven already!
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