I Wasn’t Sure I’d Last a Month

Bobby and I were still talking after our gratitude chat. I had just finished a little rant about how unsure I’ve been feeling lately.

He smiled and said,

“Okay. But what about your strengths?”

I laughed.

“Strengths? Right now, I feel like I’m just surviving.”

“Exactly,” he said. “And that’s a strength too.”

That took me back to 2012. To a quiet, warm morning in Singapore, my first day.

I had landed the night before. Told myself I was doing this to be closer to someone incredibly special…

that’s a series of its own, full of ups and downs, impossible choices, quiet pain, joy, tears, and even a phase where I seriously considered leaving it all behind. Monkhood wasn’t just a metaphor, it felt real at the time. One day, that story will have a chapter of its own.

Back to Singapore, truthfully, I was starting from scratch, with no idea if I’d make it.

That morning, I stepped out for a short walk.

Everything around me was new. The streets, the signs, the people. I had stepped into a place where I was a foreigner not just in nationality, but in culture, in rhythm.

Back home, I knew how things worked. Here, I was starting from zero. I didn’t have a network. I didn’t fully understand the business landscape. May be it was fear of the unknown...

And honestly, I didn’t know if I could.

“I don’t think I’ll last more than a month,” I remember telling myself.

But I stayed.

And slowly, without even realizing it, I began to grow. Not just in my work, but in the way I saw the world.

Over time, I had the chance to contribute to something meaningful. We grew the business across Southeast Asia. Expanded teams, opened remote offices, explored new ideas. But more than any numbers, it was the relationships, the trust, and the learning that shaped me.

Singapore didn’t just give me a job. It gave me a space to become more.

I don’t know when exactly it happened, but by the time I left 12 years later, Singapore had become home.

It taught me patience. It taught me how belonging doesn’t happen overnight, it’s built, one moment at a time. And it taught me how much richer life becomes when you embrace difference, not with fear, but with curiosity.

Even now, the thought of going back always lingers.

And if that version of me, the one walking around on Day 1, could see me now, I think he’d say:

“Keep showing up, even when you’re unsure. Stay curious, work with heart, and welcome what’s unfamiliar. Be real with people. Be honest with yourself. And always give your best.”

Maybe Bobby was right.

Sometimes surviving is a strength, Not because it looks impressive from the outside, But because you stayed in it long enough to grow.

Over to you:

Have you ever been in a place, physically or mentally, where you weren’t sure you’d last… but eventually found your footing?

Would love to hear your story.👇

This is Episode 2 of my weekly story series: Through My Quiet Lens A space to explore quiet strength, self-doubt, and small victories that shape us.

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