Was chatting with my cousin this morning through MSN, and as usual we always had lots of stuff to talk about. Our conversation led to the topic of tragic happenings that seemed to happen to other people around us. There are so many examples of those around us, since both of us studied at Singapore for many years and some of our schoolmates that we knew personally had experienced those sad but inevitable tragedies.
She was telling me how she had a JC schoolmate who had a mom suffering from cancer while she was preparing for 'O' level, and yet she has never let it clouded her ambition and still managed to ace it despite all the obstacles and having to take care of her family at the same time. Her mom was actually the mistress of a man who did not care much about their family, so she basically had to fend for herself and take care of a disobedient younger brother. She has finished her JC years and is currently pursuing her dream of becoming a ballet dancer at a renowned arts institution at Singapore.
The most amazing thing of all is that she has always remained positive and retained her bubbly personality, when many people would have collapsed under such condition. I was telling my cousin how fortunate we are to have no such misfortunes fall on us before, not even to our distant relatives whom we meet occassionally.
Sometimes we still complain/whine about how we are not able to achieve certain dreams that we have set in the past, & for the luxuries that we can't have even after putting in so much effort. When my cousin told me her friend's story earlier, the following thought sprang up suddenly in my mind:
'So many unfortunate people are not able to pursue their own dreams because of the sudden change in their lives. They are no less ambitious than any of us, & I'm sure each of them has lofty dreams beyond what we can comprehend, but their respective situations require them to face the reality, at least for the immediate future. Hence, the ability to pursue your own dream is/must be already a privilege in itself'It's weird I know, getting enlightened by your own thoughts. After this episode, I've realised that I've wasted 2 years of my time (since I came back to Singapore) by doing nothing other than focusing on my business stuff. I have not done anything productive that has brought joy to myself and other people, and that I deem as a huge failure.
I promise that from now on, I will be living my life to the maximum and cherish every moment that I spend on realising my own dreams, as it is not the end result that matters, but the journey itself. I will also always remember that I'm one of the more blessed people in this world, and I have the duty to help those who are less fortunate.
Now that I've set my mind on it, I'll have to undergo a makeover to revitalise myself both mentally and physically. For the regular readers of this blog and also to random surfers, my wish is that if you are already living your dreams, be proud of it, but also remember that you are one of the more privileged people to have done that, and you should be helping other people along. If you are still in delirium over what you are doing and struggling to find the motivation, just look within yourself and see what it is that makes your heart ticks...
