There is no money there

God works in mysterious ways. I woke up early one morning and gave this a lot of thought. Our family was not rich, yet my mother was able to scrape up some money to allow me to take piano lessons. The piano teacher was an old man who wanted to earn a few bucks after he retired from his teaching job. He came to the house once a week to give me lessons. I hated it. He instructed me to practice, but I would not.

The following week he came, he saw no improvement, and my mother blamed it on him for being ineffective. This scared the piano teacher who did not want to lose his extra income. So he bribed me to practice. He brought me comic books such as Marvel and DC Comics, and I read them like crazy. But still, I did not practice. I now had another thing I enjoyed far more than practicing on the keyboard. Eventually, my English improved, but my piano knowledge suffered. He was fired, but I developed a love for comic books. This was how my piano lessons developed my English proficiency. Now, let me tell you my experience with my Chinese lessons. My English improved because of my Chinese classes.

I never paid attention to Chinese lessons because they bored me. I guess this is a little bit dishonest. I never paid attention to my Chinese lessons because I thought they did not matter, and I was too lazy to do the hard work.

I failed my Chinese classes again and again. On my fourth run at the same level in my Chinese class, I struck a deal with my Chinese subject teacher. Little did I know then that I already had the makings of an entrepreneur.

I made a request that I would behave and keep quiet, as long as the teacher leaves me alone and allow me to read books. I must have caught her at a time when she was tired and would say “yes” to anything so I would leave her alone. She said yes. For an entire year, I would borrow Reader’s Digest from the library and read up to about four editions every afternoon, consuming its content from cover to cover. The constant reading improved my English comprehension. And so, this is how piano and Chinese classes helped develop my English speaking and writing.

When my son told me he loved music, I had to fight the urge to blabber the words, “Don’t do music...there is no money there.” Instead, I simply said, “Well, music may be a hobby. You still have to pursue some serious studying to secure a job, or to gain the knowledge to run a business.” He took this as a blessing. He played the drums and the guitar. He then joined a band and played in gigs all over the place. They released their third CD some time ago, and the band achieved a considerable level of fame. In college, Bryan took up entrepreneurial management, and worked in the marketing department of a popular retail chain. Today, he runs a restaurant business with his Japanese partner, is into online business for guitars, and has taken up photography as a serious hobby, and is now turning professional. His restaurant business is doing very well and he has been commissioned to take photos. His online guitar business has been profitable and he knows how to market his businesses. He is creative in everything he does. In other words, music and all these experiences have contributed to his current business successes and his hobbies have turned into businesses. So what is the lesson here?

I guess both my son and I don’t know how things will turn out, but the important thing is that we are not discouraged and are trained to watch out for possibilities. More so, to do things right because one day, what God really wants us to do will be clear and discernable. This is when purpose and meaning converge to produce joy and happiness in one’s work.

Values, integrity, ethics, love for God and men. These are the “non-negotiables” in training and learning. The rest require a process of development before we fully see and understand them.

Of course, this is my story and that of my son’s. Perhaps yours is different, but meanwhile, stay on the right side of the road and never say, “there’s no money there…” because there are many things more important than money that you can’t buy. It has to be developed.

(Experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills in his widely acclaimed Level Up Leadership on June 5-6 at Makati Diamond Residences near Greenbelt 1. For further inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph)