Monday, February 12, 2007

Stop. Ponder.

It annoys me greatly when I come across people moaning about the unfairness of life and their imperfect existence just because something does not according to their plan. Stop whinging on about your unfortunate subsistence. I can guarantee that at least a million people out there are less fortunate than you.

Most of you aren’t physically handicapped. Certainly all of you aren’t mentally handicapped for you apparently have sufficient intelligence to read and comprehend this sentence. In fact, a lot of physically handicapped people don’t complain, but take life as it is, facing challenges each day with admirable courage.

Obviously, you have a roof over your head and victuals when you need it. (What are you doing online if you can’t even afford food or shelter?) You apparently have access to the Internet.

Hence next time when you open your mouth to complain, think of the less fortunate. Think of the mentally handicapped. Think of the people who starve to death, cold and lonely. Think of the homeless. That’s it. Stop being so self-centred for once, honestly.

Be happy you can actually afford normal clothes instead of bawling your eyes out just because you can’t buy that pretty Laura Ashley dress. Some people have to go about clad in rags.

Be pleased you can actually afford sufficient education to enable you to read this instead of blaming the world just because you can’t meet the expense of going to Oxford. Some people don’t have the opportunity to learn reading skills.

Be glad you can actually afford to have your meals instead of complaining that you don’t get enough steaks, abalones and whatever. Some people starve to death.

Be satisfied you have adequate finances to afford Internet access. Some people never set eyes on a computer in their whole lives.

Be thankful for each and every of your blessings. Count all the good things providence gave you instead of the bad things in life. The world can do with more cheerful people instead of self-indulgent, pathetic and shallow people behaving morosely like an inferior little horror.

We are like dancing butterflies fluttering across life’s deep sea, all living for the moment. Beware, lest you slip and fall into the watery depths of life. It is hard, but not impossible for a butterfly to re-emerge from the waters – the way it breaks out of its cocoon and flies away freely, as a unique and dazzling butterfly.

Life is as fragile as a glass ball on a table’s corner. Do not waste your subsistence by complaining, but do something meaningful. Contrary to popular belief that one should do something of importance in order to be remembered when one is long gone, it is not the greatness of the deeds one does, but the extent of influence one has on others. You have the power to change the world, yet you can achieve that by changing one person.

You don’t necessarily have to be rich and famous to be considered successful. The true meaning of life isn’t so that people should remember you for decades to come. It is the influence you have on others – the people you’re closely acquainted with. You do not have to live on in memories as a name, but rather live on in memories by your deeds. The greatest sense of achievement comes from knowing that you’ve brightened someone’s life, if only for a mere second. That one second is what the world needed.

PS: Occasional complaints are normal and acceptable. Self-centred people are defined as the pathetic branch of the human race that believes everything revolves around them and sulk for weeks on end (give or take) just because something doesn't go right for them.