An Ode to Mentors
When my friend asked if I had any mentors in my life, I felt an avalanche of emotions.
He told me that he gets inputs from older people who have more connections and experience in life to help someone younger than themselves.
Having mentors of my own was something I never intentionally sought for. Having grown up in a church with a strong mentorship program and worked in a university with bosses who followed up on my career progression during yearly appraisals, mentorship was always given to me.
I never had to seek my own mentors.
After I left both the church and the office, I often find myself bobbing up and down, awash and alone in the uncertain ocean of career and life.
I like giving help but am usually not so good at asking for help.
It shows how I often underestimate the kindness and goodness of people.
I thought back about my journey in the past years, there have been many older and wiser people who have had compassion on me. They took the time to understand what was going on in my career and life, and shared their opinions and sides of their stories.
Their pleasure laid in helping someone else succeed.
They delighted in putting a few stones that they have collected in the path of another who was too afraid to take that next step.
They mentally scrolled through their list of people and opportunities and offered them to help someone find their way out of their stuck situations.
And they offered embraces, shoulders to rest on, putting their hand on mine when tears rolled down my face.
If you ever feel like a lone figure in the big ocean of life, know that there are people out there who know more than you do and do not mind or even delight in giving you a hand.
Don’t be afraid to reach out. When you do, not everyone will respond, but those meant for you, will.
And I take this opportunity to thank all the good friends and people who have been mentors to me in the different stages of my life.
Your kindness is appreciated and without which, I would be a boat without a sail in the ocean.