Backdrop
This week was an exam week, which means confining myself to books after books for long hours – a tedious experience.
Though, the prospect of meeting my #Time Auction mentor – Kylie Uebergang – perked me up to go through it.
And, I am here to share about the meeting which took place yesterday (23/5, Saturday) afternoon. Before so, a bit about Kylie: She is an Australian who founded Pathfinder – an NGO dedicated to helping migrant pregnant ladies and their kids out of their mires.
As I entered her office, Kylie was there welcoming me with a wide beam and resonant voice that immediately thawed my ‘self-defense’ mental barrier that I have when meeting a person for the first time. Her gregariousness enlivened the ambience of the room and made everyone feel at home that we all opened up.
In the following two hours, Kylie shared her life journey with bursting enthusiasm that really blew my mind as such vigour clearly defies her age (around 50)!
Kylie's life journey in short:
She was born and raised in a small town lying between Adelaide and Melbourne in southeastern Australia. Upon graduation, she worked as an accountant. As a suburban dweller and the first university graduate in her family, she had not got much exposure to the world. Thus, she decided to move out of Australia to see the world; Vancouver, Canada was her choice. There, she continued her professional career as an accountant and met her life partner.
Sooner later, she found Canada too distant from Australia, and this is how Hong Kong became her next destination in 1998. In Hong Kong, after a short stint as accountant, she quitted after receiving a wake-up call - composing a eulogy for herself. Here comes the pivotal moment- she was shuddered that her eulogy was only a sentence long – ‘I was an accountant.’ ‘No way!’ was her immediate retort.
She then took a six-month off from work, and devoted herself to various volunteering works and civic exchanges. In this period of time, she got to learn more about social problems and met many great people who work to make the society a better place. She found that migrant pregnant ladies are in dire need of help, but there was no assistance available to these vulnerable and powerless individuals.
This is how Pathfinder came to establishment in 2007.
This sums up Kylie’s life story.
Indeed inspiring, but how does it relate to me?
I find two obscure life lessons from Kylie’s sharing:
1) Choose to be successful, instead of looking successful
Is Kylie successful? What she does is not bringing her wealth nor social status. By ‘society’s standard’, it seems like Kylie does not qualify as a successful person. She would have been more ‘successful’ if she had climbed up the corporate ladder, to the directorial ranks of a Big 4 firm (just an example), which she could amass wealth and enjoy higher social status. Although what she does is not bringing any symbol of success set by the society, she experiences inner-contentment and satisfaction. In other words, while pursuing her passion leads to opportunity costs, Kylie gets a fulfilling life in return; from an ‘hollow’ person who has only a sentence to sum up her life, she becomes a ‘filled’ person who has so much to share about her memorable and meaningful life. (Her rousing passion throughout the sharing could testify this) Of course, one can be successful and simultaneously look successful. Though, I believe ‘being successful’ should precede ‘looking successful’.
2) Be open, keep learning
I think this is the attitude that has made Kylie who she is today and is useful for a person who is uncertain about the future, like me. I learn that keep improving myself and absorbing knowledge are simply the right things to do. By doing so, I will be in a perfect position to seize the opportunity when it comes! Of course there will be times I feel deflated and doubt if I have been naively working hard for nothing (because the opportunity mentioned earlier does not seem to present itself). This is where listening to others’ stories, like Kylie’s, plays a significant role. Yes, I will keep reaching out, listening to others’ stories, learn from them, keep myself moving forward and slowly craft out my own life that I am proud of.
P.S. I am very thankful to Time Auction for providing me such great opportunity. For your information, Time Auction is an initiative whereby one volunteer for at least 10 hours and get rewarded with a chance to meet inspirational people. To find out more: https://timeauction.hk/
This week was an exam week, which means confining myself to books after books for long hours – a tedious experience.
Though, the prospect of meeting my #Time Auction mentor – Kylie Uebergang – perked me up to go through it.
And, I am here to share about the meeting which took place yesterday (23/5, Saturday) afternoon. Before so, a bit about Kylie: She is an Australian who founded Pathfinder – an NGO dedicated to helping migrant pregnant ladies and their kids out of their mires.
As I entered her office, Kylie was there welcoming me with a wide beam and resonant voice that immediately thawed my ‘self-defense’ mental barrier that I have when meeting a person for the first time. Her gregariousness enlivened the ambience of the room and made everyone feel at home that we all opened up.
In the following two hours, Kylie shared her life journey with bursting enthusiasm that really blew my mind as such vigour clearly defies her age (around 50)!
Kylie's life journey in short:
She was born and raised in a small town lying between Adelaide and Melbourne in southeastern Australia. Upon graduation, she worked as an accountant. As a suburban dweller and the first university graduate in her family, she had not got much exposure to the world. Thus, she decided to move out of Australia to see the world; Vancouver, Canada was her choice. There, she continued her professional career as an accountant and met her life partner.
Sooner later, she found Canada too distant from Australia, and this is how Hong Kong became her next destination in 1998. In Hong Kong, after a short stint as accountant, she quitted after receiving a wake-up call - composing a eulogy for herself. Here comes the pivotal moment- she was shuddered that her eulogy was only a sentence long – ‘I was an accountant.’ ‘No way!’ was her immediate retort.
She then took a six-month off from work, and devoted herself to various volunteering works and civic exchanges. In this period of time, she got to learn more about social problems and met many great people who work to make the society a better place. She found that migrant pregnant ladies are in dire need of help, but there was no assistance available to these vulnerable and powerless individuals.
This is how Pathfinder came to establishment in 2007.
This sums up Kylie’s life story.
Indeed inspiring, but how does it relate to me?
I find two obscure life lessons from Kylie’s sharing:
1) Choose to be successful, instead of looking successful
Is Kylie successful? What she does is not bringing her wealth nor social status. By ‘society’s standard’, it seems like Kylie does not qualify as a successful person. She would have been more ‘successful’ if she had climbed up the corporate ladder, to the directorial ranks of a Big 4 firm (just an example), which she could amass wealth and enjoy higher social status. Although what she does is not bringing any symbol of success set by the society, she experiences inner-contentment and satisfaction. In other words, while pursuing her passion leads to opportunity costs, Kylie gets a fulfilling life in return; from an ‘hollow’ person who has only a sentence to sum up her life, she becomes a ‘filled’ person who has so much to share about her memorable and meaningful life. (Her rousing passion throughout the sharing could testify this) Of course, one can be successful and simultaneously look successful. Though, I believe ‘being successful’ should precede ‘looking successful’.
2) Be open, keep learning
I think this is the attitude that has made Kylie who she is today and is useful for a person who is uncertain about the future, like me. I learn that keep improving myself and absorbing knowledge are simply the right things to do. By doing so, I will be in a perfect position to seize the opportunity when it comes! Of course there will be times I feel deflated and doubt if I have been naively working hard for nothing (because the opportunity mentioned earlier does not seem to present itself). This is where listening to others’ stories, like Kylie’s, plays a significant role. Yes, I will keep reaching out, listening to others’ stories, learn from them, keep myself moving forward and slowly craft out my own life that I am proud of.
P.S. I am very thankful to Time Auction for providing me such great opportunity. For your information, Time Auction is an initiative whereby one volunteer for at least 10 hours and get rewarded with a chance to meet inspirational people. To find out more: https://timeauction.hk/