Good business for those who sell flowers these days. “Love Day” is here.
Flower shops are inundated with orders for Valentine’s Day every February.
Red hearts and adorable cupids adorn shop windows. On this occasion, people unashamedly admit their obsession with love. But love is not just about sending a bouquet of flowers. I’m convinced that what people really want is true love.
There was a young woman who used an online dating service. She was very precise about what she wanted in her true love: someone who liked people, was small, preferred formal attire, and enjoyed water sports. The computer followed her description to a T and sent her a penguin! Obviously, not her desired true love.
Concerts abound. Stores run out of cakes and chocolates. Advanced reservations fill the best restaurants in town. But as for the Ilocana and I, we already have had our advanced Valentine’s date last 29th of January, so will just stay quietly in the house.
My friends call me adventurous. If I put my heart into a new adventure I will surely do it. Last December was a little disappointing for me. Skydiving was at the top of my to-do list as my family and I spent our yearly vacation in Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, situation and weather did not permit it. I intend to do it this year.
I have done parasailing in Boracay and it was an adventure I will not forget. As I was high up in the skies, I heard a snap. It was my safety harness. It broke. My left strap gave way and only one strap held me. They got me down quickly and reviewed the situation. We checked the instruments and then I went back up again.
I have jumped off the Macau Towers a couple of years ago when it was still the highest commercial bungee jump place in the world. I am not very sure but perhaps it still is today.
I have also built up the courage to speak with and interview business world celebrities like Malcolm Gladwell, Water Isaacson, Adam Grant and many others. It was nerve-wracking but it gave me a sense of fulfillment and meaning to my life.
But the scariest moment of all that got my face flushing red was not the life-threatening sports experiences, nor the nerve-wracking conversations and interviews with famous world celebrities in the field of business. It was the three-minute song number I had to do with our country’s best balladeers Jose Mari Chan and Richard Poon in a pre-valentine concert we organized last 29th of January.
The hotel ballroom was full. Couples from as far as Baguio and Davao came and attended the event. Sponsors and friends supported it.
The Maestro himself and a dear friend of mine, Jose Mari Chan, required that the final number should have me with them singing a song number.
As I stood on the stage that night with the country’s best balladeers, my entire life flashed before my eyes. The bungee jump and the near-fatal parasailing was no match for this brief moment of fear. But God in His infinite mercy and with my wife interceding in prayer got me through it all.
My daughter Rachel took a photo of us and it was so obvious that my entire face was flushing red. Rachel said, “Dad, I have never seen you scared even when you were facing more than 10,000 people in an arena. I have never seen you nervous even when you were speaking to the most important business people in the country, yet you were clearly not yourself when you were on stage singing.”
There are a couple of things I have learnt that evening as I processed the whole experience.
An adventure might be scary and the temptation to create an excuse to extricate oneself out of it might be overpowering but we just need to go through it. Learn the lessons and it becomes a meaningful experience that will forever be lodged in our hearts and minds.
The next lesson I learnt is even more important. I have always wanted to experiment, combining meaningful songs and music with lessons and ideas that will add value to the minds and hearts of the audience… And it worked!
People left the room feeling like they have had great entertainment and great learning as well. This would be a good business model for clients that have always been searching for new things to do for their “distributors’/top sellers’” yearly conference.
What an evening. What an adventure; my first concert with the country’s best balladeers. Singing is not my core competence, teaching is, so there is no plan for me to shift careers, but why is it that I find myself humming music more and more these days?
What is your new adventure if I may ask?
(Send your leaders. Bring your key people. Attend and experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills in his widely acclaimed Level Up Leadership March 16-17at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 or 6310660for details.)