Dream, Reality and Happiness.....

I love sports. I hope I could play any sports without any restrictions everyday. I hope to be a sportsman or a coach. Hence, I dream to have a working career that is related to sports.

I hate studying. I hate to do the assignments given by teachers. I hate to take exams. However, I love to chat with my friends in school. Hence, I dream of going to an educational institution where I could just chat with my friends without being troubled by assignments and exams.

I love to eat. I never dream of having abalone or shark fin for my daily meals. I just hope my daily meals can be tasty and filling. Hence, I dream of eating some nice and non-expensive food in Singapore.

I hate busy life. The fast and modern pace of Singapore’s life is killing me. I am just a boy who likes to appreciate and enjoy every single precious moment of life. Hence, I dream of getting back into a leisurely simple life.

Unfortunately,

I am doing engineering course in NUS now. The field of engineering most probably will be the area where I will start and end my working career for the rest of my life. Therefore, my dream to have a working career in sports’ field is dashed.

As I am studying in NUS now, I have to sit for plenty of “bloody hell” difficult and torturing exams in 4 years. I am not as good and smart as other NUS brilliant students. For me, I feel it is too competitive here. It is definitely not the academic life that I dream of.

Singapore is facing inflation nowadays. Price of general merchandise keeps rising. So is the price of food. As a result, I always have to pay a non-reasonable price for a little amount of non-delicious food especially when buying food in PGP!!!

I am bonded to work in Singapore for at least 3 years after graduating from NUS. Furthermore, I am in debt already as I have applied some other loans for my exceptionally high cost of living in Singapore. Thus, I have to work very very very hard after graduating as debt will make my future life like hell. Obviously, no leisure in future!!!

In fact, I am just a simple guy who is having some simple dreams and hoping for a simple life. I never hope of wanting to have high academic qualifications and a high-paid job. I just hope for a comfortable and simple life in future. If all my simple dreams can come true, I definitely and truly will be happy and contented. Nonetheless, reality is cruel. Reality doesn’t allow us to have an easy life. Dreams will not be easy to be realized in reality. Simplicity can be said unreachable.

Hence, if you ask me whether I am happy or not, I will tell you I am happy, but not truly and fully and I am definitely not contented as my dreams just can be my dreams forever. They have been ruined by reality.

Think of today...

When I was in primary school, I always dreamt too far and too much. I always dreamt of my future life in secondary school. I always dreamt of being a “real” guy that would be the main aim of my life...in my primary school! (My definition of “real” guy at that time was a guy who is wearing long pants, carrying a sling bag to school, hanging out with friends and has a height at least of 1.75m and a driving license). Hence, I always felt that living in the teenager’s life would be very interesting and full of fun.

When I succeeded going into secondary school, my dreams had come true. I have a height of 1.76m and I wore long pants and carried a sling bag to school. I also obtained my driving license when I was 17. I also hanged up with friends often. However, I still dreamt. I started dreaming of my life in university. Wearing spectacles; walking around the campus; chatting with friends; seeking for a girlfriend and joining a number of organizations. Those were all my illustrations of my varsity life in future.

I am now studying in NUS, a high-ranked university in the world. I am wearing a pair of spectacles now, walking around campus everyday, chatting with friends but I still don’t have any girlfriend and join any organizations.

By the way, I have already stopped dreaming now . To be more precise, I have stopped dreaming too far and too much.

I used to dream my future life, especially my academic life when I was young (I am still very young now) and I have used a lot of time in realizing the academic life I wanted. Fortunately, I have achieved the academic life I wanted before. Unfortunately, I found that I have lost and missed many things and moments that were important to me. That is the reason why I don’t dream too far anymore. I realized that once a person put too much of hope and effort in realizing his future dreams, he will start feeling that he is responsible in accomplishing his dreams or wishes. At the same time, he will lose or miss many other precious things and moments unconsciously. Eventually, a simple dream will become an unnecessary responsibility.

Future is an unknown. If we dream too much of future, it is not realistic.

Think of today!

the meaning of life

God created Adam and Eve. They were the first two humans on Earth. They once lived in the Garden of Eden, which was a perfect place with no thorns or weeds, and where plants produced their fruit easily. It was also a place that had no pain, no frustration and no death. Hence, they used to live happily ever after. However, they did something wrong. Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was forbidden by God. As a result of their disobedience to Him, they were punished by Him. They began to experience spiritual death, and soon physical death. God expelled them from the garden. No longer would it be easy to harvest fruit. Thorns and weeds would make planting and harvesting hard labor. Men would have to work to eat. Women would give birth in pain. Animals became dangerous and carnivorous.

We know Adam and Eve once lived in the wonderland. We know they might live forever with joy and bliss in the Garden of Eden. We know Eve was deceived by Satan speaking through a serpent and ate the forbidden fruit. We know Eve then took the fruit to Adam and he ate it knowing he was doing the wrong thing. But why? Why Adam still wanted to eat the forbidden fruit even though he knew that action would bring sin into his world and lead him and Eve to another disastrous world? He knew what he was doing was correct. He knew they have fallen from the paradise to the real world. They couldn’t live longer anymore. They would die eventually, but they have chosen it. Were they silly? Would they regret what they have chosen? Who knows!! But my view is they have chosen their life. They might suffer from being sick and getting old. They knew they would face death one day too, but they were willing to face it together as they felt their meaning of life was being together, even death.

What I would like to mention is not the touching love story between Adam and Eve, but life. What is life? Life is just like a multiple-choice question. We choose the “answer” we want. However, there will never have the exact correct “answer” for this “question”. No one is responsible to grade our “answer” besides us. Some may choose to live forever with their beloved. Some may think of prosperity as their aim for their entire life. Some may think knowledge is the key to the fulfillment of life. What I want to emphasize is whatever path you choose, don’t let your life be filled with regret. We might not influence the world with our way of life. We are like a grain of sand in the desert. However, it doesn’t matter. What matters is who we are, what we are and the purpose why we are here.

Adam and Eve might experience the hard life they never had before. However, they might also have made the correct decision. Even though they couldn’t escape from death, they might have the wonderful time that they didn’t have ever before as they appreciated more the limited time they could spend on Earth. That was their meaning of life.

So, life depends on our mind. What you think your life should be, then that is what your life would be.