Sacrifices

I touched down around noon on Monday after my work trip in Bali. I arrived with high spirits as I'd just been informed a few days before that I'd been accepted into an actors training programme that I really wanted to get in and had auditioned for more than a month ago. The programme would last nine months, starting from May. I happily said yes.

The moment I turned on my mobile phone, a message beeped in. It was from Stella, who wrote the two musical productions I'll be in in June, asking me to call her back. I reckoned it was urgent.

Calling her back, she told me that the good news was that our performance venue had been upgraded to The Esplanade recital studio. The bad news was that extra rehearsals would have to be held on Saturday afternoons as well as the shows had to be moved forward.

My heart sank when I heard that. The training programme's sessions would also take up Saturday afternoons.

My role in one of Stella's plays was a pretty choice one, one that I was very happy to hear I'd landed. Now, I risked having to drop out of it entirely. Moreover, I realised my summer trip to my sister's in California would lie right smack in the middle of the programme.

I had to make some tough choices.

After I told Stella about my situation, a compromise was reached and I swapped for a different role. While I'm somewhat disappointed, I'm relatively content that I get to stay in the production anyway.

Deciding not to take my summer trip and celebrate little Sean's birthday with the family was by far a much more difficult choice. I was going to spend a week with my sis before my parents arrive, after which we'd spend another three weeks there. That little bit of time together was hard-won, as it always is. But I figured I sacrificed years' worth of leave purely for family, it was time for me to do something purely for myself.

I miss my sister and Sean like the dickens, but I have to do this for myself. Telling my sis wasn't easy. As expected, she was upset, as was I. I know I have her support, though, and I hope I can make up for it the moment the programme is over.

Forgoing the trip is the biggest sacrifice I've had to make. But that's how I balance the good things that are happening to me right now. My life is good at this point in time, and if I can't have the best of everything, I'm still happy.