Living a Dream

Warning: These are my thoughts and may not be the most interesting entry you’ve read!

24^th May 2007

Isn’t it fantastic, when you’re actually doing those things that you could only dream of doing when you were young?

I can still remember my US uncle inviting me to study in US and also how I admire my cousins who are studying overseas. I could only imagine being overseas while watching those western shows, picturing myself living in a housing area without fencing, enjoying the cold whether, and mixing with the locals. At that time, going overseas was a dream that seemed so unlikely to be fulfilled. I was only a little kid when my mum told me just before I slept, “We’re going to America tonight!” I think she said that because I asked her when we would ever go to US. Upon getting her reply, I was elated and seriously believed we were going to fly of that night itself. But then, I soon realized she was just joking. What she meant was for me to go to America in my dream. To be honest, I’ve never dreamt of being in America until now but would certainly love to be there.

Now that I’m actually in Australia, I will once in a while, reminisce about me being myself back then, thinking that going to overseas is never possible. I realized how lucky I am to be paid to study here, having such opportunity to see the world beyond my own country. Being in Australia for a few years differs vastly from being there just for a holiday tour. I am now exposed to international community every single day, which reminds me how excited I used to me, talking to a Caucasian back in Malaysia. Experiencing their way of living, food, culture, and not forgetting, weather, is simply fulfilling. And because of this, I’m glad to ease my parent’s financial burden and hope that the savings can at least provide me sister a chance to be here, to see what I see and to experience what I’ve been through. A few months of accounting in Australia or UK maybe, sis?

I’m pretty sure there are more of these Déjà Vu feelings to come as I accomplish more and more in life. Perhaps it’s a part of growing up. Being kids, having no say in the family, whatever we do were subjected to our parents’ approval. Hence, we feel that dreams are unlikely to come true (especially the crazy ones). But things are different now. Being an almost-turning-20 kind of teenager, I have more say in what I do, fulfilling what I can only dream of at a very young age as long as I know where to draw the line. And say, inevitably comes with responsibility - a double edge sword. Take it well and you gain your parents’ trust. Handle it badly; you can kiss your family’s trust goodbye. We teens tend to try a bit of everything, don’t we? But doing so I reckon, take us a step further in life, towards the right path hopefully and avoiding the mistakes we’ve made.

I’ve started this entry on 24^th of May (which explains the date above) but only took the trouble to complete it today, 2 days after my last paper. In a way, it’s a good thing cause I found this meaningful paragraph to end my entry with, thanks to Kuok Hau’s email, about a 87-year-old undergraduate giving her speech during the football banquet.

"We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are 19 yrs. old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn 20 yrs. old. If I am 87 yrs. Old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

Hope you can connect with the paragraph and what I’ve penned. I predict that there’ll be some who’ll go, “Uh, boring,” by now. Still, thanks for staying all the way! =)