Wednesday, 3 March 2010 @ 11.08am
Someone once told me that you never really understand what another person's life or problems are like unless you've lived it. But it will never be the same experience. People naturally tend to compare and think that they have it worse off, while some just don't care. Again, others just don't care.
I've always wondered how people can just not care. I was (and probably still am) one of those people who indulged myself with a little self-pity. I used to shut people out. I never thought that anyone could understand how I feel because only I can feel this badly. But then I met someone who just said to me, "cut the bullshit. You have all that you need. Your family. Your friends. Your life. Your health. Everyone loves you. What are you crying for?" And that was my wake up call.
I also used to run away from my problems. I worked seven days so I was always distracted. And after work I was always out. It was just easier that way. After a few years, the problems that I was running away from seemed so petty. It's not a problem. It's a misunderstanding. So I took whatever opportunities I got after that - socially, professionally and personally - as a chance for me to learn and make something different out of it.
It certainly hasn't been an easy task. I took a few victims with me along the way. But it was through those times that I learnt what's best and what's not. I began excelling in my career, which created a whole new set of problems that I don't mind having.
People make choices in life. Some are not always the best ones, but all are certainly your own. Whether you admit to it or not. Mine may not be the best for you, or suit you, but nonetheless, it's my own. Right now, I choose to make the most of my life when I have the time to. I choose to continue excelling in whatever areas I feel are best for me and my future. And I choose a life that I see happiest for me.
People always say you need to walk a mile in someone's elses shoes to know what their lives are like. I prefer reading quotations from people. Because words are a much more powerful tool than any other method of choice. What a person says is usually something that comes from a situation that they've experienced - be it bad, good, happy, sad, hurtful or angry. It's up to us how we choose to see it. We may agree, disagree, call them a moron or whatever you like. But in the end, how you choose to react and see it from another person's point of view is up to you.
I have a few quotes of life I I live by. It serves as a reminder of what other people have experienced and achieved, and what I should use as a motivator to better myself:
"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day as Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein." - H. Jackson Brown
"A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused." - Shirley Maclaine
"We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed, you think everything you do is right." - Tun Mahathir Mohamad
"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." Dr Seuss
I remember this one scene in the first Transformers movie where one of the robots shaped in a police car was interogating Sam for his grandfather's glasses. Naturally, he was terrified. And why wouldn't he be? Out of nowhere comes this thing that demands something from him. No introduction, no niceties...just a bomb.
There are some parts of my life that scares me too. And now I know why. No person should ever be forced to say or do something they don't want or are not comfortable with. Especially if they're going to be taunted for not doing so afterwards. I'd rather leave the peer pressure in my teenage years.
Work hard. Play safe.
Peace.
