Why I Love the Color Orange

Welcome to WILCO,

I know there are lots of personal blogs out there that try to impress and deliver content just for the sake of putting something out there. This blog isn't like that. I won't try to impress you because I have no need to impress you. This is a place where I say my peace whether that opinion is popular or not. Having said that, feel free to read and chime in. I expect your responses, however, to be respectful, engaging, and thoughtful both to me and to others.

Thank you and God bless,
Sung

2.26.2010

Why Orange is My Favorite Color

I'm up late as my wife and I were up watching the late broadcast of the Olympic Figure Skating Championship where we saw Kim Yu Na win gold. Yea!~

Okay, but that's not why I'm here right now. I actually wanted to talk about something that's near and dear to my heart. Something that, no matter how bad a day I have, always seems to lift my spirits just at the very sight of it. What I'm referring to, unbeknownst to you is my favorite color: ORANGE.

Orange? Who in the world likes the color orange as their favorite color? Me, that's who. I have always loved orange. Ever since I can remember at the age of four living in Philadelphia, we used to have those little colored magnetic letters and numbers that go on the fridge...and my favorite were the orange pieces. I also loved orange flavored Pez as a little tike and then later on, orange flavored Gatorade and orange-flavored gum, and so on and so forth.

There's just something about the color that brightens my soul. However, I don't like all shades and hues of orange equally. My favorite orange is the brighter orange as evidenced on the Philadelphia Flyers' uniforms or even the Syracuse Orangemen shade of orange. In California, I think they call it CalTrans orange but I prefer to call it HomeDepot orange. (although there's a slight difference between the two actually...HomeDepot Orange is actually brighter).

So...Flyers orange, Syracuse Orange....the kind of orange that's so bright it almost has a reddish hue to it. I think they call it Flame Orange or even Red Orange sometimes. That's the kind of orange that makes my heart pitter patter. However, I also love the kind of orange that's vintage looking as seen in this awesome metallic-orange Jeep Wrangler I pass on my way to work every morning. There's something about that metallic-rust orange that makes me happy too. I think it's because I had a favorite Matchbox car that color. I also happen to like just plain orange. The orange that's neither too light or too dark or too bright. I call that In-Between Orange or Middle Orange and that suits me just fine too!

What I'm not that big a fan of is light orange...that pale almost luminescent orange that you don't see that often except maybe on a Texas Longhorn hat or shirt. I'm not as big of a fan of that orange but I also don't dislike it either. So Texas Longhorn Orange, not good. FedEx, HomeDepot, Philadelphia Flyers and Syracuse Orangemen Orange, very good. I hope that makes sense.

So where is all this going and who cares whether or not I like orange this much? Well, you're right. Maybe nobody cares that I do but I'm just so excited even talking about orange. Many of my t-shirts, henly shirts and even a dress shirt is orange. My office has loads of orange there from orange binders to orange picture frames and of course, orange pens courtesy of Office Depot's Foray brand. Even the logo for my executive search/healthcare recruiting business, Servane Cross has orange in it not to mention all the stationery, brochures etc. In fact, I like to call that version of the color, Servane Cross Orange.

There are lots of things that make people happy. Sometimes it's a sports team or a music group or band. For others it's watching CSPAN all weekend long. For this humble soul, it's wearing, looking at, or somehow using the color orange. Aren't simple pleasures grand?

2.25.2010

Executive Search and Healthcare Recruiting Update

Never one to not mix business with pleasure, I thought I would put in a shameless plug for my business, Servane Cross, Inc. As CEO & Managing Partner for Servane Cross, let me tell you first and foremost that Servane Cross is not your typical search firm or recruiting agency. We specialize in recruiting for high-level management and senior administration searches for acute-care hospitals and medical centers nationwide. Healthcare is all we do and all we will ever do. We also handle certain staff level searches like nursing (RN), pharmacists, physical therapists etc. but our primary focus is on management. And we are the ONLY healthcare executive search recruiting firm in the state of California, that offers an UNCONDITIONAL ONE YEAR GUARANTEE on all placements. Do your current search firms provide you with that level of confidence and assurance?

If you are a corporate HR person who is tired of the runaround from other executive search firms and tired of paying high retainer fees without solid results, I encourage you to pick up the phone and give me a call at (800) 718-1570 x101 or e-mail me at Sung@ServaneCross.com. Let's talk about what your needs are and how we can solve the staffing problem together as partners. For more information, please visit our new website at http://www.ServaneCross.com.

If you're a mid-level or senior level hospital administrator, VP, director or manager, please give us a call me at (530) 242-0162 x101 or e-mail me at Sung@ServaneCross.com. We acquire new searches all the time so it would be worth it for you to register with us so that we can keep you in the loop on new exciting job opportunities. And even if you are not in management and you're a Nurse or Pharmacist or Physical Therapist or Occupational Therapist, please register with us by going to our website at http://www.ServaneCross.com.

I look forward to hopefully interacting with you and serving your needs. Thank you.

Sung N. Kim CDR, ACIR, HRPD
CEO & Managing Partner
Servane Cross, Inc. (a Healthcare Recruiting/Executive Search Firm)

sung@servanecross.com

What It Will Take to Survive (2010 and Beyond)

What It Will Take to Survive (2010 and Beyond)

We are given the lives we live directly by God. No amount of crying about it, moaning about it or wishing about it will change what will be the course of our lives. For whatever reason unknown to you or me, God has given us this life. I'm not sure why and I won't try to pretend to know what God's will is. I won't feign smartness and I'm not that arrogant. In fact, all that separates the ones who will triumph over the ones who will not is dignity. We are born into this world with nothing but the skin on our backs and that's the way we go out. Money? That means nothing. Posessions? That means even less. Achievements? Those are nice on a mantle or a scrapbook but it's still bupkis.

You are only left with one thing in this world and when people realize that, they'll start to have a much more fulfilling life and that is this: You must have dignity above all other things and the only way you have that is by clinging to the cross. It seems strange that you could find dignity by clinging on to something but that's the paradox of being a Christian. We are the most dignified when we cling to the cross. We are strongest when we are on our knees in humble obedience to the Lord. On this big ol' sinking Titanic they call life, that's your one life preserver when others are drowning and they don't even realize it. Oh sure, I could go on and on about doctrine but I'm not about "religion". I'm about relationship. And above all others, the only relationship that really matters is the one you have with your Savior Jesus. That's it. Not your relationship with your spouse or kids or even your parents or siblings means anything at all if you don't put Jesus first and very foremost everyday of your life.

Wow...that's some serious "doom-and-gloom", Sung. That's probably what you're thinking. But actually, it's quite the opposite. Those relationships I just mentioned with your loved ones SHOULD be a part of your daily Life in Christ. It's not about just loving your family or your friends...it's about loving them because Christ taught love and that doing this and loving your loved ones not only makes God happy but it is what He has called upon us to do. But not over loving God first and foremost. (I didn't really fully understand that part until fairly recently).

All I know is that when the rest of this world rears on its hind legs and bears it's ugliness, you must face and turn to the light and ignore that. Is that easy to do? Absolutely not. If it were easy, EVERYONE would want to be a Christian. If being a Christian was the popular route, you don't think more people would jump on this bandwagon? Being a disciple of Christ means you're gonna get spit on a lot (figuratively althought not always)....probably everyday of your life. Why? Because the world hates us. The world (which I believe is dominated by Satan by the way) hates Jesus with a fervent passion, so why on earth would the world welcomingly embrace and love us??? They wouldn't and they don't. But you can beat this world and you can beat frustration, confusion, exasperation, and even loneliness by always turning to your best friend, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Risen King who desperately WANTS a personal relationship with you. Christ died for EVERYONE both past and present who would call Him Lord and accept Him.

You know, I laugh when people say, "We all have our cross to bear" because Jesus would absolutely find that to remark to be amusing. He'd say, "What kind of cross is it that you think you have to bear after what I went through in Jerusalem and on Calvary that day?" He would say, "Did you have to live your life knowing that you would be sacrificed to a horrible death?" "Did you have to suffer and be humiliated under Pontius Pilate's decree that I was an outlaw criminal?" "Did you ever have to be battered and bruised and whipped beyond the point of human recognition?" Because the fact of the matter is this. We really have NO (ZERO) cross to bear in life BECAUSE of the one that He bore for us that day. Everything else in life is pale compared to that. Yes, we each have our challenges that God gives us to handle for whatever divine reason only He knows. But in the end, all we have to do is live out our lives each day devoting it to the Lord, accepting what comes, and trying to find meaning through Christ. If you can't do that...then you're lost. If you can do that....well, then welcome to the first day of the beginning of your life.

Now, I do want to make something very very clear. Nowhere did I ever say that being a Christian means, implies or makes you entitled to a perfect life. There's nothing perfect about Christians. In fact, some of the most flawed and broken people I know are Christians. Being saved by the cross is a privilege and an honor. Being Christian doesn't mean you're perfect. In fact, it's far from it. Being Christian means you're forgiven. Your debts have been cancelled by the blood from the cross shed by the one and only Lord, Jesus Christ. The veil was torn for you and for me and for all the world...if we just accept our gift and come to Jesus.

I don't know how many people actually read this blog and to be honest, I really don't care. Firstly because I write as a means of expression for myself only and secondly because even if one person reads this and stops to really think about "what it all means" and takes what I say to heart...well, then that's one more brick in the Kingdom of God. Please remember that even though life is difficult, the healthiest thing that you can do for yourself is to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In closing, I will repeat something that a colleague of mine once said at my old job. She said, "At the end of every day, you should only have two questions. How have I been blessed and how have I blessed others?"

I like that. This is how we will survive this year, this recession, this period of difficulty in our individual lives both in 2010 and beyond. May God bless you all and to God be the glory.