The Perks of Being Thankful and Dedicated to Anything You Decide to Do

by Helder Fernandes, The Soursop Londoner

When I first arrived to London I thought that by being a very experienced and qualified professional I would quickly find a job in my area: fifteen years in Accounting & Finance working mostly for international companies would give me a lot of credentials.

The ugly truth seemed to be quite the opposite. However, I was in London with my visa in place allowing me to work study and live here!! So, yes, I'm thankful!!

I knew I would have to have one of the local certifications to get back to being in management (that is why that way before finding a definite place to live I had already enrolled as a CIMA student which now I've been doing some self-studying for its fourth test: three gone) but at the same time I thought that at least some temporary and/or operational opportunities would come up soon enough. It didn’t.

Nonetheless, there is one thing that I've learned long ago in my life is that we have to be thankful for the things that happen in our lives. Good or bad! If they are good, we simply enjoy the ride; and, if they are bad we try to learn some lessons from them. One must keep in mind that we can really learn from the adversities.

The first two months weren't easy: my partner and I kept moving from Airbnb to Airbnb rooms at very expensive prices and into messy houses with five bedrooms and one bathroom. On the other hand we were blessed to find a job here within our first week in London (will get back to that). And, when we were sick and tired of moving to different houses I found the perfect place to stay for 40 days while we kept looking for a place to rent: one very nice guy was leaving UK and placed an ad on Airbnb offering his Studio for who would be willing to stay there for that long time. Long story short, he gave us 65% off and we stayed at a place only for us, at a great price and by the side of London Bridge (fancy hum!!).

Ten days before we had to leave the Studio we found a small one bedroom apartment in Stratford which was pretty much easier to negotiate than all the other places we looked at. The landlady was awesome and we actually never met her. We gave her all our information (including National Insurance Number and job reference) and she trusted us with her place for a fair price with six weeks deposit and first rent paid in advance (considering how incredibly hard it is to rent a place in London the deal was great). The place is great, with concierge and a good bed! Of course, there is the train tracks just outside our bedroom window but who cares when you are by the side of the person you most love in the world!

So, already in our first week in London my partner and I found job in London (I'm really thankful for that too). No, I'm not the CFO of an international company that holds subsidiaries in Latin American. But I am proud to say that I`m a waiter at a very nice Brazilian style sushi place in Soho in London - UK.

I had worked as a waiter way before I started my career in Accounting & Finance, so I had no memory whatsoever of how to handle the job. However, I love learning and restarting for me has never been an issue. So, I did learn the job and did it quite fast actually.

So here I am: taking orders, serving and cleaning tables and, most importantly, bonding with the customers. I'm not doing what I came here to do but I've already managed to see all the perks of this challenge. I leaned a new thing, I lost 10 kilos by running all the time to get the customers the best possible service, I don't have to spend much money on food as the restaurant offers its employees decent food for free, I love the work environment and I've been doing such a good job that my boss has already granted me with a small raise and she trusts me to be one of the waiters to serve important customers and restaurant critics (bloggers, journalists, etc.).

So, even when we do what we sometimes aren't supposed or willing to do, we should do it with all possible dedication. At least this is how I think and I apply.

The result is that most of the customers truly like me (and I really like them back) and the time really passes quickly when you find some pleasure in what you do.

I'm really thankful for this job and the opportunity my employer gave me and I don't know until when I'm going to stay there (I promised myself I would change jobs only when a job related to my profession comes up) but until then I'll provide my stakeholders with the best service I can, always smiling and having fun.

Someone here in UK once said to me that I was too nice and that he would break me sooner or later. Well, I simply don't know if that's possible. I guess that being positive is my worst flaw. :)

If you`d like to read the article in Portuguese, please, access it on my blog at: https://venueos.com.br/blog/. Soon, it will be available there.

Also visit our website and get to know our spaces and services: www.venuecoworking.com.br