After about a three-week holiday break, I am finally back to work. Should I say I enjoyed the holiday? If we look at it closely, I didn’t exactly enjoy it in the sense of rest, because it fell within the festive period. It was indeed full of fun, but as we all know, fun does not come without its own cost. Nothing is truly free, even in a free land. We have to pay for all the goodies that come with Christmas and the New Year.
I also travelled home, something I hadn’t done in the last two years. I couldn’t travel then because I had just gotten married. This year, however, I made it a priority to go back home to appreciate my parents and extended family and to extend festive greetings to them. I also visited my in-laws’ house, where we had the opportunity to meet relatives and exchange pleasantries.
It was a mixture of pleasant and intense emotions. Of course, it came with its own expenses, but we had to do the needful. After all, what is life if we cannot celebrate ourselves and our loved ones? These are moments we must embrace, because no one knows when they will take their last breath.
Now that the new year has fully commenced, it comes with its own ups and downs. One becomes fully engaged with work, with fewer outings than before. As the saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” so it is important to strike a balance.
One thing I noticed is that even though staff members did not formally wish one another a Happy New Year, we still greeted and exchanged pleasantries upon resumption. I believe it is important to be careful in our dealings with people at work. What brings us together is work, and it should be seen strictly in that light, no emotional attachments and no unnecessary issues. Nobody owes anybody anything at work. Our responsibility is to come to work and focus diligently on our duties.
