world of my own

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood,
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

*loves *

the colour orange
the sky and the water (:

Monday, October 01, 2007

sometimes i wonder how i can live 18 years of my life and still be so ignorant about everything that's happening around me. we had the same thought. even as we faced our less than satisfactory prelim grades, we questioned their significance in a world that is much more than what one individual gets for his/her prelims.

I used to think that those miss world or singapore who ask for world peace just say it because its the 'right', cliche thing to say. but now im thinking that it really makes sense. having lived in a peaceful singapore all my life, i find it hard to imagine waking up everyday in terror, not knowing if millitants will visit your village and wreck havoc on your life. or being one of the students out on the streets protesting against an incapable government with the military pointing their guns at you.

and so im grateful for everyday that i'm alive with food in my stomach and a roof over my head.

.....................

小孩子就是那么的喜欢问为什么。为什么？为什么？到处都问为什么。希望我不会一天醒来然后忘记怎么问为什么。他们就是那么的天真，那么轻易地相信他人。

我喜欢吃我妈妈煮的菜...

生老病死，我们无法避免。看着她躺在病床上，我开始胡思乱想。将来，如果有那么一天，不是她，而是他，或她，或是我...

......................

its alot like preparing for competition. you row for 10 000 meters each training, sometimes even close to 20 000. but on your race day you're only rowing 500m or 1000m max. just like how we do scores and scores of prelim papers and ten year series when at the end we're only sitting for one exam.

its also about knowing when you peak. when to pace yourself. when its near the competition, the frequency of the practices should increase but the duration shld be shorter until each training you're doing one or two long distance than starting burst. just like preparing for exam. closer to the exam date, it shouldn't be mugging stacks or notes but condensed notes, cue cards, short timed questions.

practice is the key. familiarize oneself with the race route. visualizing. knowing exactly when to go down. its the same as familiarizing oneself with one's exam procedure. what to bring to the exam hall, the questions and marks you're facing.

and of course one of the most important thing is called BELIEVE. believe. something that you hold in your heart. something no one can take away from you. if you believe, no matter what happens, you know you would have tried everything in your power to do it. believing takes away the fear. believing takes away the nervousness. when you believe and you let everything fall away, there's only you, your boat, your paddle and that believe in your heart.

same applies to exam. the time is overtaking you or pressurizing you. the questions are threathening to stump you, obstructing your way. even the air-con is against you by blasting all the air your way. and it takes everything to just sit still, breathe normally and BELIEVE. but perhaps when you do that, the fear also fades away and you can tackle the questions with more ease. i wouldn't really know since i've been panicking in almost all my papers.

this prelims enabled me to draw another parallel. in canoeing, there are people who train very hard. very very very hard. everyday they're at the pull up bar. they read books about canoeing and training. they research online about nutritions. they visit the gym everyday and pile on the weights they previously thought they could never lift. and yet, because or circumstance or any other factor, their hard work is not rewarded.

sometimes its circumstance, sometimes its just not to be. yes, we wonder why it happens, what went wrong. but at the end of the day, we do not give up. we fight on. and even if we knew the results would be the same, we would still have fought with a hundred and more percent. because it isn't in our nature to do otherwise. because we know that we would suffer a worse fate if we had given less than our best.

and finally. the people around you make the journey worth the while.

so onwards. because the big thing is not here yet. and when it comes we'll be ready to crush it. (:

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson

Labels: quotes

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joo spoke
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