Random thoughts

It is almost September, which would mean that it would be another 3 months before the year comes to an end. Time really flies, eh? I have already worked for almost 3 months, having started work on 6th June. I realized I do not have the luxury of time nowadays, whereby chores that cannot be done during the weekdays can be pushed to the weekends, or the school holidays. There's simply no more school holidays to talk about! There's so much packing to do in my room and I have no time to do them. Sigh. What's more, I do not even have the time to settle some paper work that I have to handle, like reading through my insurance policies and updating them, sending back some replies from Epson for my printer warranty and etc etc... So many things to do, yet so little time?

While I was running last Thursday, I was so energetic and mentally alert. It was a good run nevertheless. I had just made a new friend recently who's actually a fellow backpacker and a full-time lawyer and social activist now. She's in the midst of steeling up her own social enterprise. Well, she was someone I met recently at the Social Entrepreneurship Forum. And the S.E. she?s setting up is one that will actually organize trips to developing countries and bring the participants to meet the local VWOs and charities and activists in the various areas. Through traveling, she hopes to expose the local youths to think on a more global scale and to look beyond themselves. More often than not, traveling shows you the world and allows your mind to broaden while exposing you to the different cultures and the REAL world. You would then not just focus on the micro world that you came from, but also look at things on a bigger scale, and think of the environment around you on a global platform. Suddenly, you would feel that the whole world is so big, and you are just a tiny being part of it, but yet there are issues that might provoke you into changing your life's perspectives.

That was what happened to the lady I met. As well as to me. I now know what I really want in life and those old dreams that I used to have, which I felt so strongly about until recently, have all changed when I realized all I wanted to do in my life is to travel. Travel and connect with different people and different cultures from around the world. I want so much to travel, that I realized my dreams of being a marine biologist and an OBS instructor have been pushed back to the back of my mind. I have had plans to save up and perhaps go back to study about the marine world one day in the future, and to be a marine biologist, I have to be a diver 1st. Friends who are close to me should know my fascination with the underwater world. However, after my 'failed' attempt (having been cheated of my money by a dive school) of being a diver, it's not really a 'top' in my agenda anymore. I did dive! And in fact clocked 6 dives, but the 'dive instructor' ran away without issuing me my dive cert. Argh.

As for being an OBS instructor, I was hit hard in the face when I met a friend a few weeks back. To my surprise, she's an OBS instructor now! I used to admire how the instructors would live a life away from the corporate world on Ubin and just immerse themselves in imparting lifeskills in an environment which I highly adored: Nature. I'm still harbouring thoughts of being one, to be honest. But definitely, the fact that it had not sprung into my mind for so long also indicated that I have so many other things I want to do at the time being. One plan is to actually go to London to work as a radiographer. I have a friend in London whose mother used to be a nurse. There are agencies in Singapore that can arrange such job attachments at a fee. And I have found out from sources about working there as a RG. The pay there is good, as compared to Singapore. I personally do not like working in a hospital, enclosed within 4 walls, facing patients, breathing in the cold air all the time, and not knowing whether it's rain or shine outside in the natural world. However, the reason why I'm so keen to go to London to work one day is because of the fact that I can travel! I can earn enough pounds to travel and yet pay for my parents' living expenses in Singapore! My senior who used to study there told me there are lots of kiwis and aussies who would work for half a year and then travel for the other half. Whoa oh! My dream!

I know I have only just started work not long ago, and plans may change along the way. I could be offered jobs whereby I can travel or require me to travel. I might quit being a RG totally, and go into some other areas. Or perhaps, I might just go be an OBS instructor after my 3 years bond with SGH. That would be another 3 years? bond with PA. Don't think I'm very keen to bond myself again. But who knows? Things will change. All I know now is that I LOVE to travel and intend to do that my whole life. It's really the only thing that I'm so definite about doing for the rest of my life. If only there could be a TV program that wants to produce a documentary and pay me to live among the different communities around the world, I would gladly do it! Hah!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have too many things I want to do at the moment. I have to focus on my life at the present and treasure every moment, enjoy everything that I'm doing. Every swim, every run, every hike and every exploration around Singapore simply add on to my life experiences and make each day worth living. Work may not be the highlight of my life, but it's taking up so much of my time that I must learn how to cope with it in a cheerful manner. I may have plans for the future, and thinking of those dreams that I have keeps me alive. However, I must never be too pre-occupied with the future and fail to live out the present. This is a promise I'm making to myself. Focus on the moment, and make the best out of every second. Life would be so much more bearable in this way.

"The true meaning of peace refers to the inner freedom and spiritual elevation of each individual."
--Salaheddin