A/N: Wow the 50th chapter of my book !! Thank you always for your support, means so much to this newbie writer :-)
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Eddy and Brett used to be colleagues at a small accounting firm.
There was an office scandal involving their boss and his assistant and the firm was closed down for investigation. Both Eddy and Brett put in their resignation and decided to pursue new employment elsewhere rather than wait for an unknown and possibly indefinite time for the firm to reopen.
They both disliked their jobs anyway. Just because they had both been reasonably good with numbers as a student, it didn't necessarily mean that they were suited for a job related to numbers such as accounting. It was unfortunate that back when they were younger students, they did not have any particularly strong interests in anything so they chose to study for a career path of what they were good at, not necessarily of what they enjoyed doing.
Eddy had left their bedroom door ajar on his way out to go to the kitchen so that he could open the door with his foot on return knowing his hands would be occupied with 2 mugs of coffee. He placed his mug on the bedside table and used his free hand to nudge Brett.
"Rise and shine Brett!!! I got your coffee."
Brett slowly emerged from under the blanket and quietly sat up in bed but Eddy always checked that Brett was actually awake before he would pass him his mug of coffee.
"Earth calling Brett Yang?"
Brett groaned.
"Yes, Commander Chen, Yang awake..."
Brett leaned back on the headboard and was about to dose off again.
"OMG Brett, c'mon get this into yourself.."
Eddy had always been the night owl and Brett the morning person, yet since they became unemployed, Eddy has been the one who was getting up early.
"Eddy.. I'm still sleepy... How..come you're so chirpy?"
Eddy smiled.
"I think I really hated my job so I'm really happy now."
"I hated my job, too."
"Well I think I hated it more than you did."
"Why..? You were a better accountant than I was."
"Brett, did you know that doing a job you are good at but don't enjoy is the quickest way to get burnt out?"
"Geez, that's fricking great Eddy, I've been on the highway to burn out too then. Maybe losing my job to that scandal was a blessing in disguise."
"I agree with you. And I like your positive thinking Brett.."
"So what if you suck at your job and don't enjoy it either?"
"I think that's worse. You get stressed and eventually depressed or something."
"Oh my god burning out was bad enough but that sucks even more... so what are we supposed to do?"
"Well Brett, you're supposed to be in a job where you are good at what you love doing."
"Hmm.... I suppose that makes sense. So, Eddy Einstein, what if you don't have anything like that ?"
"I think that's when you look for stuff that you love doing but suck at"
Brett raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously? What for ?"
"To explore those things as hobbies because they will give you joy while you practice. Then see if you want to turn any of these things into a profession."
"Wow Eddy, that's really profound. Where did you learn all this stuff?"
"I just remembered I heard this talk by a career consultant years ago. It's making so much more sense now, probably because I ended up really hating my accounting job."
"Hmm.. so Eddy, what do you enjoy doing that you may not be particularly good at?"
"Well, I haven't touched my violin since I gave it up for study... I was thinking of picking it up again."
Eddy and Brett met at maths tutoring when they were 13 and 14 respectively and back then they both played the violin. They were in the youth orchestra, took the violin grades exams and practised a lot. They were proud of their skills and enjoyed playing for the most part. However, they had both given it all up before they finished high school and had not touched their violins since. They've continued to be best friends throughout uni where they studied accounting together and became accountants.
"Seriously? Maybe I should too... were you thinking of taking lessons again?"
"Um... maybe... but I just want to play for pleasure y'know. How about it Brett? Like old times? Would you be interested?"
"You know what? I think that's a brilliant idea and I'd love to."
So it was this suggestion by Eddy that made them play the violin together again and this time there weren't any grades to pass or competitions to prepare for or win, but just simply enjoy playing together. And they absolutely, wholeheartedly loved it.
And so who knows, they may pursue a career that allows them to do things that they are good at and enjoy... perhaps they may even start a Youtube channel about classical music....!