You had a conversation with a subject of interest over deal breakers in a relationship and somehow it struck you to write an entry pertaining to it.

Deal Breaker

Such a simple phrase yet it brings with it plenty of responsibility and compliance. It connotes the most important values which has guided you in your life and one, when breached, will create plenty uproar. You can relate to that for it caused you plenty of grief when you deviated from someone's values.

So what's your deal breakers?

1. Being lied to - No matter how hard a truth may be, you would prefer to hear it rather than being lied to. You can always work with the truths

2. Being rude to your parents - Your parents spent the better part of their lives raising you up, so you better respect them. Enough said.

3. Being forced to change religion - Religion is a personal thing and it's everybody's individual right to practice their faith. 

4. Being taken for granted - You can always treat someone like a princess (J would know), but if you are being taken for a ride, sorry, mate. Out you go.

So there you go, that's your deal breakers. You have been warned. 

Despite the atrocious saga at last week's interview call-up, the heavens continues to beckon with the sound of spooling jet turbines as you walk to the office every day. You wonder whether its the Heaven's way of testing how bad you really want to be a pilot.

It reminded you of a quote from "The Last Lecture" which you has kept you going when you hit an obstacle in the pursuit of the flying dream. "The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people." 

Even though you drowned your sorrows with your pilot friends on Friday night, the next day saw you heading back to school for the Airline Transport Pilot Licence theory exams. After burrowing through the 1 of 14 textbook for a couple of weeks, you have just finished 1 chapter. Not a very good progress you must say.

But amid the heavy workload of managing your manpower and business development portfolios during the weekdays, you will continue to push yourself in the weekends to study, for its only with perseverance that one can succeed. And theory aside, you have to curtail all the overseas holidays (less that of the family trip) in order to save up enough to head back Stateside for the proficiency flight. 

Indeed, sometimes sacrifices would have to be made in order to realise one's dreams... 

To be told that you don't meet their minimum height requirement of 165cm (just 0.8cm short) after reaching the interview room is an insult to the system and to you.

No matter how much you have prepared for this day, including seeking the advice of senior pilots within the organisation, you were not even given the chance to go into the interview room to showcase yourself. 

Despite arguing your case that you are already a licence pilot with a valid medical certificate, rules are still rules. You don't meet their requirements, you don't deserve a shot at the interview panel.

The pain of being rejected like this was similar to that of losing J; the heart just shattered.

Is it still worth it?

You just don't know now.

  

You received an unexpected news this afternoon.

The national carrier has reached the bottom of prospective applicants and found your resume. After sending it for 2 years and constantly updating it, they have called you up for an preliminary interview next Friday.

While you don't know the meaning of Preliminary Interview, you are glad to be given the chance. Despite the business travel and the packed work schedule, you will have to put in effort to prepare for the interview.

Well, good luck to you.. 

Having red-lined your body at the individual physical proficiency test (and earning an additional $100 and $47 make-up pay to add on to the $247 last week), nothing beats some black coffee and food to replenish the energy lost. As fate would have it, you have seen J in passing at the past 2 weeks at the school canteen.  

The flashbacks it triggered were bittersweet. It's been ingrained in you to pack black coffee and, if you managed to fight off the sleep demons, make an extra set of breakfast before picking her up for work. Be it commuting to work, torturing the body through exercises or just simply chilling out, these are the little moments which you always cherished. 

You wonder she had the same flashbacks when she saw you too. 

Indeed, the greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it's over. And the truth only means something when it's hard to admit.