When I grow up...

This is a newsletter post I wrote for my Uni-Y members; seeing that I don't have much time to blog long and good posts; here goes:

I was checking out one of my friend's facebook photo albums this week; and the title of that album was "When I grow up". It was a Halloween party theme where everyone was supposed to dress up as somebody that they wanted to be 'when they grow up.'

Well, as with me who thinks alot; I started wondering, like how many of us actually do think about what we want to be 'when we grow up'?

Do we still dream?

I remember that someone once told me that the size of our dreams are inversely proportional to our age. As we get older, our dreams start getting smaller and smaller.

We give up our heart's desires in a race to become 'marketable' people. People that are 'useful' to the economy. So pretty soon in all the hustle and bustle of life, our dreams begin to get relegated into the deep recesses of our hearts.

"Never mind what I love, I just need my A, just need to make enough for me and my future family."

We'd like to give it all up for the sake of security, and maybe for some, career success.

But it's important to know what we want; we love to hear stories of people that overcome all odds to walk the road they want to; be it dancing, singing, writing, sports in a society where everyone just values academic success. But we only love to hear them because deep in our hearts, we wish our lives would be the same amazing story.

And it can be.

It's always a choice that we make. But it's a tough choice. It means giving up the security that comes with walking to conventional roads. It means taking life off the beaten track. Uncertainity, possibility of failure; stuff like that.

But Hellen Keller once said,
"Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing."

and William Wallace from Braveheart said,
" I'm not afraid of death. Every man dies. But it is not every man who lives."

There's only one way to really live; and that's to go after our heart's desires and our dreams with all we've got.
What do you love to do? What can you do for the rest of your life for free?

Like for me, I only recently realized that despite getting C5 for my General Paper in JC, I can actually... write!.

But some part of me wanted to cover that up; I'm thinking, " Nah, it's not marketable, how can I make money from writing. Maybe I have a talent somewhere.. how about marketing? Maybe I'm good at marketing though I suck at accounting."

But now more and more, I'm beginning to appreciate what I have in my hands and I'm really considering how I can use these God-given gifts to their fullest potential. Maybe I'll write a book. Maybe I'll do copywriting for companies. I don't know.

Amidst all the busy-ness of school, remember that no one will take care of your dreams; only you will. You are the only one who will know your dreams, and you are the only one who can protect it.

Life isn't kind to those who want to be different; but it's the price of living out your dreams. You have to fight for it. No one else will fight for you.

So you know, don't stop dreaming. Take time to think about your dreams; let your imagination run!

And let me end off this section with this beautiful song I've heard over 8 years ago; but still filled with meaning nonethless: Don't get lost in the crowd by Ashley Ballard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F_6pXY6GZ0 and the lyrics at http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ashleyballard/dontgetlostinthecrowd.html
(forget the video, just listen to the audio. Haha I can't find the audio elsewhere)

Yihan