As usual, an ordinary dinner cum send-off tonight sent my mind whirring into overdrive again.
It never ceases to amaze me how I am constantly evolving in mindsets, thoughts, attitudes and so on. Just at this very same point this year, I was condemming everything Singaporean, essentially the universities (NUS and NTU etc.), and was so intent on going overseas. What about now? I’m just happy being in NUS; infact, I don’t really give a hoot about overseas universities anymore (well, I’m still aiming for the overseas exchange program anyway in NUS).
I think the following paragraphs might turn-off those people present tonight, but I’ll say it anyway. Forgive me if I’ve offended you k? I’ll just give you the right to throw eggs at me should there really be a need to.
The more I look back in life, and the more I think, I seem to come to a conclusion that happiness and satisfaction is determined by how much one treasures the things around him/her. I was listening to the conversation tonight on how other countries were so much better than Singapore: nice beaches, cool cultures, breathtaking scenary, etc etc. Well, I consider them as “exotic” pleasures. I used to have this dream of living on a cruise ship, and just go on a permanent cruise trip around the world. However, as I grew up, I started asking myself, would I really enjoy myself forever on that ship? For me I liken such “happiness” to eating sharks fin; you can enjoy it once in a while, but eating it 3 meals a day? I need not spell out the implications.
My 6 months as an NSF further drove home the point. Often, the simplest things i did; spending time with close friends, reading, walking from place to place, and even just break times, while I would have dismissed them anytime in the past to seek out other more “exotic” pleasures, now surprisingly I derive alot of satifaction from it. I know work is dreary, work is hectic, and of cos no work IS undeniably good. I then look to those foreign workers, the ones earning peanuts but doing back-breaking work, the ones who clear our rubbish, some who even work through the night washing cars to earn extra income, and wonder: Why are they still so happy? Yet there are others, who do practically nothing, pamper themselves with “exotic pleasures”, even indulge themselves in depravity, yet I seldom see them happy.
Happiness is all about appreciating everything in life, from the most menial of chores, to the most exotic of locations. By the way, I guess Singapore is still fine with me, even though sometimes it can be quite a chore living here.
my two-cents worth.