Actually eight months and a few days short of hitting the 20 year mark with Oil Search Limited (OSL)!! Fair dinkum as Aussie’s say. Tuesday’s (07.12.2021) landmark decision by shareholders to accept Santos merger proposal locked in the deal. Today’s 2nd PNG court hearing seals our fate! The question begging to be answered is where do I go from here?
To be honest, I don’t know! I wish I was a clairvoyant, be able to foretell the future just from spinning a glass globe or looking into some cards etc. Or have solid answers to these rhetoric questions, that were asked in response to a statement I always made. It’s being a running joke in my family – we always laughed through this conversation:
Me: I’m going to leave OSL!!
Family (all): huh? No way?! Really? And do what, outside of OSL? You sure you want to do that? 😅😂
Fast forward to December 2021, just like that, we’ve arrived at this juncture: two separate paths – first one with OSL in it, in some shape or form (just not the name) and second one, without! Is this it? Is it time for a fresh start? 🤔 To rebrand, that’s the word I’m picking up in conversations these days!! To pick up that aged resume and update it; in all seriousness I have never needed to write one for over 10 years! I took for granted that I’d retire from OSL.
Am I sad? Of course I am: I mean, out of the 28 years since completing university, 19 of those have been with OSL. Infact 23 if I include four years with Chevron Niugini, whom Oil Search took over in 2003. I am where I am today because of OSL and the many people I’ve worked with or for, who mentored & helped in my development. A lot of whom parted ways with OSL but remain in my heart always as family. So yes, I’m sad it’s like losing a family member!!
However, I must admit that this sense of sadness or loss is overwhelmed by wholesome gratitude I have for this wonderful company, that played a pivotal role in my family’s life. And it’s almost symbolic that the year & month my 1st born daughter completes her double degree & graduates also marks the beginning of a new era, without OSL. If that’s not the stars aligning for me, I don’t know what is.
I’m no clairvoyant, thank God! And no, I don’t really wish to be one. In all of this mayhem, one thing I am utterly sure of, is that no matter what the future holds or where it takes us, it will never ever replace the history we have with OSL, spanning two decades. We will treasure those memories always – the giant whose shoulder we stood on that allowed us to see far beyond into the global world than what we could from our tiny little corner in PNG. And for that and all the wonderful people we’ve come across through OSL, we will always be thankful to God! 🙏❤
I read recently that it’s human to be sad and to cry, to grieve during loss or whenever it is you feel that way. But it’s christian to lament. To do all of the former, acknowledge God & remain faithful that He has you in the palm of his powerful hands, now, that’s lament 🙏
In my lament, this prayer by R Niebuhr & Psalms 121: 5-8, come to mind:
Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.
R Niebuhr
Psalms 121: 5-8
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm —
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Change is inevitable – from the moment we are born and as life goes on, we are constantly changing. It’s God’s divine plan for all His creation. Sometimes change happens ever so slowly, we don’t even realise it. Other times it falls on us like a sledgehammer, although I’ve never being hit by one, so I don’t know, but that must mean it’s very fast and extremely painful.
So I’ll conclude here by sharing another bible verse to encourage each and every one of us:
Psalms 27: 13-14
13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Amen! Keep the faith and wait on the Lord ❤🙏
Amen 🙏❤
Idau Hahine 