All in a day’s work

WHAT was the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of work?

Me? I became a sports enthusiast.

Never in my wildest dreams have I ever thought of myself as one. The only sport I played then was swimming. I learned it in college and got the hang of it. But that’s where it ends. I never competed or anything. I didn’t get into the swimming team, anyway. I swim for exercise.

In my first job, I did not know I signed up to become an athlete. I had to learn tennis and golf, all in the name of work.

My cousin, Nikki, was cruel and patient in teaching me the ropes. He had me running from one side of the court to the other while laughing to himself. Nikki is nine years younger, and I think it made his day to see me making a fool of myself.

Wesley, my officemate, taught me golf. My boss wanted me to learn it for marketing purposes. It’s a good thing a driving range was located within the city and was open at night. We got to practice after work. On weekends, my office mates and I got to test our skills.

Looking back, I was not learning to become a pro. It was more of learning the basics as an aide in client interaction. You can engage in their conversations without sounding naive.

I also learned to appreciate other sports through my office mates from various companies. I played bowling and badminton. We had no choice because companies organized sports fest to promote fitness and strengthen camaraderie.

All this time, I thought of badminton as a backyard game. We had badminton 101, and we had lessons on footwork, proper serving form, different strokes, etc. After learning the ropes, it changed my attitude toward badminton.

I also got hooked on trekking because FINEX used to organize one. It was not as formally planned as today’s. It was more for fun but not like walking in the park, as you might imagine.

In recent years, I got hooked on running. I joined locally organized runs. I love running outdoors as compared to the treadmill. I don’t mind running alone.

During runs, or now brisk walking due to age, my mind gets active. I get a lot of ideas running inside my head. I often stop and jot it down on my virtual notes.

Doing these things might make you think I’m crazy, right? But I enjoyed doing it then and now. I never even for a second thought of it as part of work. As they say, if you love your job, work doesn’t feel like work at all. Added to that, if it did something good, then it must have been sensible.