When we go through life without a plan, a dream, or in short, a strategy, we are bound to sink into a quagmire of mediocrity and solitude. If we aim for greatness in life, there is no one to stop us but ourselves. Each of us has a different path to follow and not all of us are meant to achieve the best through the same way.
Some has the best-laid plans prepared for them since birth, while others forged their way through hardship and wit. It doesn’t mean that if we are in a disadvantageous situation now, we are meant to fail in life. On the contrary, the most successful people wisely utilized and dramatically change the course of their life through much thinking, effort and prayers.
There are many motivations in life. Our standards and yardsticks are as different as night and day. The expectations that our society places on our young people are so tremendous and inflexible that I fear for the sanity and mental health of many of them. Young children are ending their own lives when they feel that they have failed. Affluent teenagers may turn to substance abuse to escape from the pressure laid upon their young shoulders. Unhappy young adults are ruining their lives with ineptitude and idleness, some with no aims or directions in life.
I am also guilty of floating about aimlessly and selfishly. There are times when I wish that I can utilize my energy and time in a much better way. Initially, I thought that I was just waiting for time to pass by as I watched a recent movie by John Woo. Oh, how I was mistaken!
As I didn’t grow up with much knowledge on Chinese literature, I have not much of background information on the astounding history of my forefathers. I have heard of the romance of the three kingdoms and knew about some of the famous heroes in the novel but I have never read it personally. After watching this movie on red cliff, I began to feel extremely motivated and astonished at the military tactics and warfare strategies. I lifted out so many lessons from a Mandarin movie although my grasp of the language is not strong at all (what to do, i'm a partial 'banana')
This is when I realized that we cannot go into anything in life blindly. We must evaluate all the benefits and risks. When the timing is right and the words put in the perfect context, we multiply the desired outcome and mould it to our benefit. Impatience and ill-temper will never get us far in life..it will only serve to illustrate how immature and poorly-bred we are. If we execute a plan gracefully and allow the maneuver to fall into place one by one, then we have achieved efficiently.
By the way, I must look for a copy of the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms in the English language the next time I am in a bookstore. I am hooked! Talking about Chinese culture, I'm quite proud that the 2008 Olympics is about to begin in the Middle Kingdom...what an exciting month ahead as we feast on sports, friendship, fair-play and culture.
"Written on a very 'motivated' day when I was in a philosophical mode"
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