karma

Well, today certainly was strange. Considering that Chinese New Year is in 2 days, I thought maybe I should have a dota game with my friends to commemorate it. So when I invited one friend for a game, he didn't want to play. So I joined my second friend's game. For some reason, the game crashed when it loaded. Nobody wanted to restart, so I chose some random games to play on Bnet. When I alt-tabbed out, I found that my first friend had hosted a game and I was 9 minutes too late to play. Two games, no play.

Of course, right now, I'm a little pissed at how circumstance has played me. As luck (or lack of it) first dealt its hand, my game had to crash. And that led to me missing out on a second game. If I had joined the first game and ended it fast, I could have joined the second game later on. A small slip led to a disaster.

I guess this is how life is. Sometimes, we are dealt a cruel hand by karma, and circumstances play us badly. It seems unfair at times, when we want something so badly, but it is given to someone else who does not have the same passion as you have for it. But that is life. Was it unfair? No. It's just that we are unlucky, that's all. In the show "The Amazing Race", this is a major factor in the final winner. Sometimes, strong teams who have led from the start end up encountering a major obstacle that they simply cannot overcome. The flight was delayed, the cards were bad, they couldn't find the needle in a haystack. Whatever it is, they missed out on the $1 000 000 cash prize by no fault of theirs. Was it unfair? No.

In a sense, I believe that Icyfate was dealt a blow far greater than a measely dota game. He was due for a major award that was supposed to be the pinnacle of his hard work. Yet, because of a miscommunication by the judges, he didn't get it. Each judge thought that the other didn't want him to receive it, when both wanted him to. But that's life. At least Icyfate can take heart that he knows he's the real recipient of the award.

So compared to Icyfate, I think my circumstances were somewhat better. However, life is unpredictable. What happens to me tomorrow, I don't know. What I know is that some things in life are uncontrollable. We can't do a thing about them. All we can do is live life to its fullest and prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

"In this world full of ups and downs, it's nice to know that there are jackalopes around." - narrator from mini-movie in front of Finding Nemo

Forgetting and juggling our lives

As I browse around the blogs of my friends and their friends, I notice that many of them have stopped blogging. The very people who inspired me to start a blog have, themselves, stopped. Why did they stop? Some of them, simply do not have the time. Others, just stopped. They no longer had fun blogging and found no reason to do so. Be it too little viewership or whatever it is, they simply lost interest.

That is exactly what happens to many of us. When the latest RPG game comes out, we buy it immediately and play it 12 hours a day. After around a month of playing, we get bored with it and stop. We forget what it was that we found fun about the game in the first place. When the latest Harry Potter book is published, we queue 5 hours for it. Reading it once is not enough , and we read it five times. Soon, we get bored of it and it sits on the shelf collecting dust. When we first start school each year, we have a resolution of passing with flying colours. And so, in the first week, we study like never before and bury our noses in our books. Soon, we get tired and the motivation wears off. Soon, we are back on the game console playing games.

Many of us simply live our lives that way. We initiate projects but do not have the passion to sustain them. Just like the things that we buy and chuck aside, they accumulate over time. However, unlike the latter that can simply be thrown away, we cannot possibly throw away our memories. Every time we do not complete a project, it takes a little away from our confidence. As the years go by, we begin to associate ourselves with failure and it appears that we can never succeed anymore no matter what we try.

There is a riddle that tells about a bridge that can hold 100 kg of weight. A man, who weighs 90 kg, tries to cross the bridge. Unfortunately, he is carrying three balls that are 5 kg in weight each. Yet, he still manages to cross the bridge without harm. How? Take some time to ponder over it. The answer is below.




The answer: He juggles the balls.

Isn't that exactly what we do with our life? We juggle with the activities in our schedule, making sure to keep to it down to the minute. For the first few days or weeks, we succeed. But soon, our arms tire and we start to lose balance. Imagine what would happen to the man if he lost control of the three balls? What if that led to the loss of his own balance? Soon, he would fall off the bridge and possibly lose his life. On the other hand, another man who only carried two balls across the bridge would have a much easier time. He could carry a ball in each hand and cross the bridge as per normal. That is what we should do sometimes. We should cut back on our activities and focus on seeing them through to the best of our abilities. Yet, the man who successfully juggles three balls would have more to work with in the future. He would benefit by having three balls instead of two. Sometimes, we participate in more activities because it will help us have a better future. The extra seminar, the extra module, the extra course. All these may help us later on in life.

So what exactly should we do? Just whack it and go for it? Or should we play the safe option? Whatever you choose to do is up to you actually. Just make sure that you don't lose yourself in the process.

Wannabes

Over the past few days, we three stooges teased a schoolmate about his relationship with one of the new girls in school. Recently, they became an item. In our MSN Conversations, we gossiped and laughed at all the antics of that boy, since we come from a school that was, two months ago, and all-boys school. We laughed at how he used SMS to proclaim his attraction (I'm trying to be careful with using the word "love") and how we thought it was insincere. And I was made aware of an incident in which Icyfate and his friends were watching this boy talking to his soon-to-be girlfriend. After 15 minutes of conversation and the girls went away, the boy went over to Icyfate's table to talk. All of a sudden, people came from North, South, East and West. Soon, a standing ovation followed.

All this makes me wonder about wannabes. There will always be people who are out there making all the moves. At the same time, there will always be people who do the clapping but don't take action. Now, I have no doubt that the ACS boys above who gave a standing ovation are people of action. What I doubt actually is myself. This reminds me of a scene in Serendipity, where John Cusack, the hero of the story, was talking to his best friend. His best friend, let's call him, Tom, told him that he admired John simply because he was a jackass. Tom had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was afraid of being rejected again. On the other hand, John was about to get married, but secretly yearned for a girl whom he met years ago but did not know much about. In the end, John went around the whole of London looking for her. He did not sit on his sofa and mourn his situation. He went out. He did something. He was out there being the jackass. And even if he failed, he can carry on his life with his head held high, knowing that he had done all he could to change his destiny. Of course, the movie had a happy ending and John found his soulmate who was the girl he met years ago.

It seems to me that many times, I'm too afraid to actually do anything. Every time I'm given an opportunity to shine, I reject it. I'm often afraid of failure and end up standing still because of that. On the other hand, there are people out there being the jackasses and getting things done. Now, I'm not talking about finding a girlfriend, since I'm a self-proclaimed bachelor for life. Rather, I'm talking about life in general. We should take advantage of opportunities as they come, since time and tide wait for no man. We don't know what else will come our way, so do all you can to change your life.

In my Friendster account, I described myself as a multi-millionaire wannabe. When will the word Wannabe be removed? When will it become multi-millionaire? I am here complaining about people being multi-millionaires while I am not one, but can I blame anyone else for my situation? It's not that I'm unlucky or anything. It's just that I don't take my chances. Others do. So my fellow bloggers, what are you? Are you out there doing things? Or are you mulling about your lousy situations?

I guess there is only one best way to do things. Once again, I'll paraphrase from Serendipity.

In this scene, John's best friend is carrying flowers and is about to visit his girlfriend, whom he had broken up with not too long ago.

John's best friend: How do I look?
John: Like a jackass!

And that is how we should live life. LIKE A JACKASS!!

Back again

I know that pretty much nobody reads this blog, but to those of you out there, wherever you are, you may be glad to know that this blog has been revived. I don't know how long it will be alive again, but for now, I present this single post.

I have got a new motivation factor, and that is my New Year Resolution. While I was in Sydney for holiday, I rode a river cruise that went around the Sydney river. The cruise had a recorded commentary onboard that introduced the various places to us. One area that we went past was a residential zone located in front of the river. With a good view overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, those houses were EXPENSIVE! According to the commentary, each one costs at least AUS$4 million! And thus was my New Year Resolution : To own one of those houses within 30 years.

4 million! Since I'm 16 right now, that would leave me until age 46. Since I'm a foreigner, and will not have to do National Service, I would get my bachelor degree at age 22. A master degree at 24 if I decide to do it. And a PhD at 28 if I achieve it. Give and take a little, leaving age 30, with 16 years left. That works out to 250 000 a year, and 20 000 a month. WOW. The most plausible ways to earn that much would be to start a business, invest wisely, or become a property agent. Whichever way it is, my next two years in the IB will be crucial. I have to do well these two years and beyond in order to get my house.

Yet, in life, things are easier said than done. First week of school has gone past without me studying much. Things have to change. The time that I spend on activities that are not goal-oriented have to be cut down. I have to stop thinking up lofty ideas that are simply too complex to excecute. Imagine all those plans I had to incorporate a study of Runescape into my EE! I guess in life, we have to be practical. Yes, we all have big plans to change the world. But there is nothing wrong with little steps that will pave the way for others. The movie Prince of Egypt is fairly accurate in saying that a piece of thread so thin and fine, plays its part in the grand design (of a carpet). The rock that sits on top of the mountain face, doesn't think itself greater than the one at the base. Why should we attempt to achieve goals through lofty means when a simple way will do just as well? In workplace jargon, the way to success is to KISS, which stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Anyways, school has started, and for the first time, I see girls in the same school as me. So how exactly have the rest of us reacted? Well, I've seen some people socialize like no tomorrow. In the canteen, one boy was actually sitting with 3 girls! WOW! In a school with a boy : girl ratio of 5 : 1, that leaves us with 1/5 for each. And here we have a person having 3! Oh well, whatever floats your boat. As for me, I have almost no reaction at all. One of my friends said that he is not socializing much because he does not want to appear desperate, but for me, I don't socialize because I don't really want to right now. After all, I'm a self-proclaimed bachelor-for-life. Now, one of my juniors in SJAB said that I surely must "like" one of the girls, but he remembered that I'm a bachelor-for-life. That is almost polar opposite to someone I know, who told many people about his crush. In response to the latter, I told my friend that if I had a crush, I would hide it. One good way is to act as if I'm a bachelor-for-life! Haha. So in actual fact, do I like any of the girls or am I really a bachelor-for-life? That's for me to know and for you all to find out.

One thing that I enjoyed was watching Serendipity again. Channel 5 aired it about a week before Christmas, and it was nice to watch it again. In the movie, two people happen to meet each other by chance when they tried to buy the same pair of gloves that were the last ones available. They had a great time, but the female, decided to leave everything to chance by writing her particulars in a book and selling it to a store while asking the male to write his on a 5 dollar note before spending it. Of course, after a long wild-goose-chase and many other plot bunnies, they were finally together. Perhaps life is like that. If things are meant to be, they are simply meant to be. They will happen. But, I believe that destiny can be changed. We decide our fates. We humans are not robots after all. The difference between us and robots is in the word Willpower. Imagine a donkey equidistant between two bales of hay. If his actions are governed only by his desires and emotions, then he would remain there forever, since he cannot choose which hay to forgo. Of course, he will decide to forgo one for the other. Destiny is controlled by us. How we harness this energy called willpower determines our success in life. No matter what dreams we have, willpower will take us far and enable us to achieve them if we really want to. Dreams such as having a AUS$4 million house within 30 years...