____T.H.E. .P.A.S.S.
up from my brain is where I bleed...
____F.I.N.D.I.N.G
Searching
Refective
Enigmatic
____M.Y.S.E.L.F
My life spins outta control without football.
Currently in search for inner peace.
Finding myself furthur and furthur away from it..
____F.O.R.E.V.E.R
Archives
13:15
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
____Listen
Everyone loves a conspiracy. It gives them a topic to talk about. But there are those who just love a conspiracy so that they just display their strong opposing viewpoints just to show that they are "stronger?". I don't know if the right word is used here, but I'm sure all of you have met such people sometime in your lives. Recall how often have you proposed an idea, philosophy and you think it is pretty good, innovative and felt that it was thinking out of the box. Then some narrowminded idiot immediately puts you off by claiming that your idea is totally crap - even though he hasn't even given you a chance to explain what you felt.
I would say give everyone a chance to say what they want to say. I don't mean by just letting them rattle on and on. But everyone should show genuine interest in listening. (And I don't mean looking genuinely interested... There's a difference.) How often do people actually listen nowadays?
In Straits Times under the section "YOUTHink" yesterday, there was this girl who wrote about her decision to go to an ITE after completing her O levels. It wasn't because she did not do well enough for a place in a polytechnic but maybe she felt that she needed more time before moving on. She's now a graduate of a certain polytechnic but she recalls the taunts, jibes and shocked looks of the people around when she told them about her decision then.
It wasn't a case where she didn't have a plan. Because if she didn't have a plan, she would have deserved some of the taunts. But her plan was to complete her studying in polytechnic, which she has done so, then move on to finding a job. After a few years of working experience, she felt that maybe by then, she would be wiser than most people to decide what course she would want to do a degree in.
Breaking away from the norm is always a hard choice to make. But how many of us now regret our decision to study in our current field of specialisation? Have we all asked ourselves "hey, maybe bio science is not for me."? The society should give a chance to those who have chosen to break away from the norm. We should always listen to them and not despise them because learning is all-rounded and we do not do all our learning in school. Sometimes we can learn subconsciously from what people are saying.
I feel that the first step to an open-minded conversation that this enriching and educational is to open up ourselves. By accepting that others have their things to say, we can actually think about what they have said. Because if you have already rejected their ideas, there would be nothing to think about anyway. And only by thinking, would the conversation be enriching and fulfilling.
Listening can only be cultivated from young. Afterall, as the saying goes, "human achievements are 30% nature and 70% nurture". Parents should learn to listen their kids from the time they come into existence. This is because children tend to look upon their parents as role models, especially from a tender age of 3 to just before they go to school at maybe around 7. And because children communicate to some extent as such an early age, it is important for parents to start developing their kids' listening skills. I always see this kitchen scene -
"Mummy, look! I drew a car!"
"Nice. Now go play with your brother, can't you see I'm cooking?" Mum replied, waving her hand dismissively.
Cooking still has to go on but there is probably a better way to tell your child not to disturb you. Parents tend to be too dismissive and discourage conversations with their children because they use words like "don't", "must", "should". A better way to "chase" your child to away is to encourage him/her to do something else, such as "Nice car, maybe if you colour it red, it would look even nicer."
This dismissive attitude towards their children and poor listening skills tend to become a habit and soon, parents will start to complain about their kids being rebellious. This probably is because their children have learnt from their parents and developed such poor listening skills that they do not heed to their parents' concerns. Many of us have lesser or little conversations with our parents nowadays because we find that they do not answer directly to our questions, conversations tend to change topic too readily and also they do not listen to us enough. Our parents have developed a habit to dismiss us immediately and listen poorly to our ideas but this does not mean that they are old and daft. Instead, we should think about ourselves too because we probably will become like them in the future and have problems with our children - it is very much a vicious cycle, because this dismissive attitude and poor listening skills will be passed down to future generations.
Slowly, the society will learn to listen but we're still far from the ideal. Many of us still have to break away from the norm and develop our own thinking and ideas. We cannot be just agreeing with just any idea because by agreeing to all ideas, we will soon find that we are just contradicting ourselves. Listening is one of the ways to go forward and be radical because thinking can only be generated after absorption of ideas.
If you've made this far into this radical idea I've wrote, congratulations. You've learnt to absorb knowledge and listen to what I have to say. Now go forth, spread the word and educate the people around you. Everyone should learn how to listen.
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10:57
Friday, June 24, 2005
____Lighten Up
Remember how David Beckham ballooned his penalty? I didn't believe it too... Till I considered the fact that he and Johnny Wilkinson are friends...
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16:25
Thursday, June 23, 2005
____Remember The Headphones
Suffering from another case of wanting to write so much, but haven't really organised my thoughts. Spent Tuesday night with the Catalans, this time in Bruce's house. Like many other nights spent together, Wilson was the one who lead the conversations. Topics that always interest me, and spark thinking. Although we've only known each other for less than two years, we've developed a friendship that I hardly can find nowadays. Seems like he'll be a major influence in me for years to come.
Ever thought about what is mad? "Mad is odd" or so Wilson claimed. I agree to some degree. Mad people are so because of the fact that they have no situational awareness in them. In many cases, their brains have damaged and they behave strangely. They have no sense of social norms. They are the odd people in the society - the outcasts. The ones that the so-called "normal" people tend to stay away from.
However, as I thought about it, there is also reason to believe that mad people are mad because they choose to do so. Think about a girl who had a bad time living with her stepfather, who constantly assaulted her sexually. Imagine the amount of damage done to her psychologically - she would fear any men that came in her way. This damage have done her brain harm - psychological harm and not physical harm. Realising that acting strangely would have kept the men away, she chose to become mad.
Why did I use the word "chose"? Freedom means having the option of choice. And that by doing so, the girl would have effectively kept men away for the simple reason that "normal" people tend to stay away from the odd. And if you think about it, when one is labelled a "mad person", imagine that amount of freedom he receives from just the label!
A mad person can do almost anything he likes and get away with it. He can suddenly yell out loud right in the middle of Orchard Road and do a little jiggly-like dance and really don't give a damn about what others might say. People can stare at him, laugh at him, chastise him but in the end, he would have nothing to lose. You can say that a person who chooses to be mad have "seen through everything" and that "anything doesn't matter anymore". Pride doesn't matter anymore, "face" is thrown, but what the hell, who gives a damn?
On the other hand, not everyone can choose to be mad. It takes a lot of courage and often it is also the result of a major setback or a psychological attack. This is because when you choose to be mad, it would mean that you lose the people around you. You would lose the emotional growth the the people around you can offer. Your friends leave you because they feel that they cannot gain emotionally from you. You are not expected to carry out a sensible conversation.
Those who do not belief me, try doing something mad when you walk along Orchard Road one fine day with a group of friends. When I mean mad, I mean stark raving mad. Embarrassing yourself and the friends around you, and then look to see if your friends still acknowledge you.
However, that would be a process of learning. Learning to be able to throw away your pride and "face" and experience the courage that is needed to do so. Everyone should try to be mad at least once. Do something crazy in Orchard Road, wear headphones and listen to music if you need to do so - just to boost your courage. The idea is to look stupid, idiotic, out-of-place and potentially funny, not something illegal like standing in the middle of a road. I don't mean dancing like a boyband when you're already a good dancer.
I suggest doing a 360 degree spin, then moonwalk, ending with a hand grabbing your crotch and going "AW!" - like what Micheal Jackson would do. 5 minutes of madness would do. Chances are, you would not be able to pull it off (but that's the idea) and attact a lot of stares and potential laughter. And while you are being drowned in all the laughter and curious stares, you would have experienced something. You would have learnt to give up your pride.
As you walk away, you are triumphant. You would have won the battle. And the snigger that would have been the loudest would be yours because all the rest didn't realise the reason for the 5 minutes of madness... All except you.
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11:16
____So This Is What Is Wrong..
Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with Robinitis |
Cause: | running too fast |
Symptoms: | glimpses of underlying reality, photophobia, suicidal thoughts |
Cure: | pass it on to someone else within seven days |
|
From the looks of it, I really should refrain from running. Haha...
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00:17
Friday, June 17, 2005
____Totally Unreasonable...
For some bloody-stupid-damn-idiotic-totally-outta-this-world reason, I am discouraged by people around me from doing the things that I want to do.
Make this clear people,
-I'm NOT injured by some mad sliding tackle.
-The computer does NOT explode from too much gaming.
Come on man. When I'm well and want to play football, you people come over and tell me that I should play less lest I get injured again and all that crap.
And now I'm injured and left at home with nothing to do, the same people tell me not to play too much games.
OOKAY, so I'm supposed to sit around all day, stare blankly at the wall and try to pierce the wall through with my eye-power so that I can see what exactly is happening in the other HDB unit.
I'm going swimming tomorrow.
I would not be surprised if someone comes along and tell me not to just in case I drown myself in the swimming pool...
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02:36
Monday, June 13, 2005
____A Week Of Inconveniences
Okay... I'm back in Hall and it's been more than a week since I sprained my ankle. Been feeling better now but should take a week more or so to get it totally healed. Hopefully by then I can seriously start training for IPPT.
Just a summary on the horrendous week of finding my house a little too large for a one-legged limp. I couldn't walk when I returned home from football after spraining my ankle. It still amazes me how I managed to cycle home through the pain. The difficult part was of course, trying to carry the bike up the doorstep. In the end, I had to summon my trusty brother to keep the bike for me.
I spent the next couple of days crawling and hopping about in my home. And I would never forget how I dreaded the stairs leading to my bedroom. Bathing was a chore too. And so was changing shorts. That's all due to the fact that my foot was so tender, I couldn't even bear to rest it on the ground. Needless to say, it would be like sitting down on a bed of syringes if I were to put my weight into my right foot.
On Tuesday, I went to see an osteopath in, of all places, Chinatown. My mum accompanied me, and by then, I could hobble around through the pain barrier. But it was also a sight as my trailing leg caused many curious stares. It was my first time at an osteopath. The old man was kindly and looked very experienced. However, it was madness how he twisted my poor ankle like contorting pieces of Play-Dough. I could hardly walk again after the session and almost pleaded with my mum to take a cab home. We didn't. But the journey back home was painful and tiring. Painful for my right ankle, tiring for my left leg.
After visiting the osteopath for the second time on Thursday, I could walk around with some ease. And by yesterday afternoon, I was trying to juggle the rubber ball that I have at home... What a week...
_________________________
Been feasting my eyes on this pair of silver Adidas Predator Pulse boots. Slurpp...
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22:38
Sunday, June 05, 2005
____Suay
I wanted to write about something more important since last night. But something cropped up with morning. I suffered another ankle sprain. Second one in a week!!!
Strange because such stuff rarely happen. But I got a feeling that recently I'm down on my luck. The sprain this time is really bad. And it's still hurting even after all the icing. Should be out from any activity for the next two weeks.
It's the holiaday! But how suay can things get?
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01:29
Friday, June 03, 2005
____I Can't Wait
This entry is for myself, next semester and forever in my life. Remind me to read this frequently.
I want to remind myself that when A comes to your mind, go all out to achieve it. Be greedy. Why? Because it is everyone's tendency to think twice when they are ask about what grade they want to achieve for a subject. I am one of those. And at the end of the day, I aim for a B or C and I end up with a pass. This is the result of rationalisation and I cannot live like that anymore.
I want to remind myself -
Do NOT rationalise your goals,
Do NOT compromise your dreams,
Do NOT settle for anything less than best,
because at the end of the day -
You feel shortchanged,
You realised you haven't lived to your expectations,
You have let yourself down.
Understand that no matter how well you have planned, there are bound to be exceptions and situations that it is way out of your control. Accept it. Take set backs positively. Take problems as opportunities. Problems are meant to bring about change.
Soon you'll have a tradition and hunger for winning. And the tradition sticks with you.
I can't wait for the new semester to start.
Because "The World Is Not Enough".
(I want to thank Wilson for the above motivation)
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