Five years ago...

I wasn't too hopeful. The rumour mill had pegged my chances to be pretty low. There was scandalous talk of secret affairs and underhand dealings. There were intense discussions at the canteen each night, analyzing and dissecting every clue we picked up each day - the stray words we heard them speak, the deceptive looks they gave us.

But I was wrong. They called me up one weekday afternoon and asked me to come to the coffee shack. I was excited and yet nervous when I got there. I had an inkling that I would be greeted with good news.

Instead, I was greeted with an indecipherable smile and a piercing glance. It didn't take long for them to come to the point. They sought a commitment. And the commitment meant a sacrifice, it meant taking a chance with something that had shaped my identity for the past 20 years. They were sitting there gauging my reactions to check how sure I was. It was a sacrifice they sought in return for placing their confidence in me.

I wasn't sure at all. Yet they had made an offer that I had no heart to refuse. At that moment, I decided to take the plunge. I pretended to be sure when I said yes. And then there was no turning back.

Five years have elapsed since that unforgettable afternoon at the coffee shack. I shudder to think back at the sheer magnitude of the impact my decision has had on my life in the years that followed. Everything that followed - most of my friends, my work, my love, my ambitions - all sprouted from that one moment when I stopped thinking and took the plunge.