A few months ago, my high school friend invited some of us batchmates for a despedida (going away) “party.” (Party is in quote because there were just four of us.) He was leaving in a few days to go to Singapore. We all thought he will be going there to work. We have talked about it before. He wanted to find work in Singapore because his girlfriend was already working there.

As it turns out, while he did quit his job here in Davao City, he is not going to try to actively find work in Singapore. He has already decided to stay here, and just to there to visit his girlfriend. My friend decided to stay here, because he suddenly realized that he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life as an architect employed by a big company. Rather, he wanted to build his own company with his family. All his brothers and his one sister are engineers or taking up a related course.

Now, he is back from Singapore, full of stories about his vacation. And full of ideas for the company he is going to build. Last time we talked, I felt his anxiety. He was excited but nervous at the same time. He thinks we can make it big with his business idea. At the same time, he feels pressured by the risk of bringing along his entire family with him in this career leap he has taken.

With all his talk about his career and his career options, and the sudden change in his plans, we (me and my friends) realized that as time passes by, we face bigger decisions to make that affect more and more people, with greater consequences.

Although most of my friends have not changed a lot since high school, and although we laugh at the same shallow jokes every reunion, it cannot be denied that we are growing older. Maturing? Maybe! Growing older? definitely!!! The changes are apparent. And the choices we have to make are becoming tougher.

Life is not simply true or false, or a, b, c or none of the above anymore. And the consequences of those choices do not simply amount to just pass or fail.

Going to Singapore? HDB might help you make that important decision when you’re there.

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