it is sufficient

Sunday, August 26, 2007 T: 13 45

At the age of nineteen, I found that my friends are getting car licenses, that some are driving their dad’s car, that some even have their own cars. Conversations are no longer about toy cars, but about vehicles capable of transporting people on the road, cars worth more than my flat. There are always rumors about rich people with their huge mansions and luxurious sedans. I hear how people could afford to get places in universities with the scholarships provided by their parents, how people could get overseas for their education. It would seem as though everything I am required to work hard for, people could get it with a vocal request. It’s not before long I found myself envying the rich, hankering after their wealth and possessions, dreaming about my own sports car, my own bungalow.

But as I was eating my $3 prawn mee earlier this afternoon, I was reminded that I was about as satisfied as the man eating cavalier at the same moment. As I ate my breakfast in shirt and shorts I slept in, I was probably as comfortable as people dressed in Levi’s jeans and branded clothes. As I cycled around my neighborhood scouting for food everyday, I was probably as happy as the guy zooming about in his Ferrari. There’s something exhilarating about riding at peak speed, feeling the wind against me, thinking of what I’m going to do next in my life, about people, about crushes. There’s something warm about able to connect with the older people in the coffee shop, talking about football and about bicycles. It dawns on me that I have asked for everything knowing that I lack nothing, and I relish the freedom this realization have brought.

I wished if I do ever become an account in the future, I would not let the figures get into my head, that I could be as happy and free as that very moment, house or no house, car or no car, family or no family. Let the world go chase after their material pursuit, while I take a longer break to enjoy my sleep. I guess God in creating us have already given us things to be elated about. I mean there’s nothing nicer than a good night’s sleep, nothing more magical that our gift of sight, nothing more valuable and warm than the gift of touch.

Currently, I’m reading a book by Joseph Stigiltz titled Globalization and Its Discontents. It’s difficult to govern a country, to manage an economy. There are so many brilliant minds at work, and yet no one could come up with a solution. Because to eradicate poverty, there needs to be not only leaders who are not only selfless and objective, there must also be people who must plan policies which other people will not take advantage of. Sometimes, it gets really tiring in this imperfect world. If only everyone knows how to be contented, then perhaps everything will work out fine. But this world is light years away from ideal, but let us as individuals as starters, just be appreciative of what we have.

p.s. i think i always never reply to comments posted on my blog. but let it be known that i read them, and never cease to be thankful for and encouraged by them.