Failures
It is interesting how little things can remind you of other, bigger issues.
I happened to stumble upon one of my older music CD which I compiled back in sec 4 when I was packing my stuff yesterday. Decided to bring it along with me and as I listened to it, fond memories of the year 2004 surfaced. Songs tend to have a different 'feel' to them when you listen to them under different circumstances; and after first listening to them under a certain circumstance, you come to associate that particular song with the circumstances you were in when you first listened to it. The 'songs of 2004' were rather different in nature to those to which I currently listen to; and its interesting to see how our taste of music changes as we ourselves change. Music is truly an amazing thing. It is in a sense, impossible to be adequately described by language, for it transcends it. Much like our emotions. There's just something within it, something which we feel for, and something which no word can represent fully. In any case, the thing that struck me when I was listening to them was quite simply: why was I no longer listening to them? When did they... 'fall out of favour'?
The answer wasn't because they were no longer nice; they still were. In a different sense perhaps, from the music to which I currently listen to most of the time, but still enjoyable. I guess the answer was just simply because I feel different now, and I've pretty much forgotten about them. Yet, it was still nice to listen to them, but its just that when you're too absorbed with the current genre of music you currently listen too, you do not pay attention to the rest. And that is, sometimes, quite true in our lifes too. Often we are too absorbed in what we are trying to achieve that we fail to see the beauty present in many other things. Things, which perhaps, God has intended for us to see, but we have, in our constant insistence on doing our routine, mundane things, have forgotten about.
There are many things which are within our control, but there are more which aren't. There will be times whereby you still fail despite doing everything that could have been done; and there are times whereby we succeed just by simply doing nothing. It is of course difficult to quantify what is meant by 'doing everything that could have been done', but personally, I feel you'll know it when you have done so. When you have squandered no opportunity, when you have squeezed out every second from that 24 hrs, when you feel absoultely drained... You know that you are close to dying when you are drowning.. when you are just struggling to keep your head above the water at all cost. I used to think that saying its God's will when we fail is one heck of an excuse; and I suppose it is, when we have not done our best. That was why I didn't buy it in the past, because I thought and believed there was no limit to my best. I believed a lot in my determination and willpower - I believed I could do anything as long as I had the necessary determination and will to. Again, I would not be so bold as to make a generalisation, but I now know for a fact that my strength is but finite. Others perhaps, may reach greater heights which knows no limit, but I for one, know mine is finite. God's will is longer an excuse when you have done all that could have been done. There are times whereby we are just unable to comprehend what good could ever come out of a failure; why God subject us to what we feel are undeserved pain. It is difficult to see the bright side of life when everywhere seems dark; yet it does exist. I believe it does; much like how we've forgotten about the older songs which we used to listen to everyday. They are still there, but we've just simply became too absorbed in our current genre of music to remember about them. The world is full of beautiful things, but we are perhaps too blinded to see them. A failure sometimes, just give us that reminder that we need; to stop and see. Or it might just simply be God's way of saying that, 'hey, that path isn't the one which you'll truly like'. Truth is, I still don't know why we, despite doing all that we could have done, still fail sometimes. But what I do know, or rather believe, is that something good will come out of it. I may not be able to see all ends, but I have faith that God has good intentions when he makes us fall. Foolishly optimistic perhaps, but hope is ever the strength which sustains us. It is difficult to explain, but when you believe that life is good despite the darkness, it will be good. The darkness may seem never ending, but just believing that there is a light at the very end of it all just lifts your spirits. Its true that the more hopeful we are, the more painful the fall; but when you're able to see through that pain and believe that there is still a light behind that, then there isn't any harm in being optimistic all the time. Its interesting to note how much we treasure the little things in life when we are going through difficult times. The blue sky, the cool breeze upon your face, the chirping of the birds, the warmth of the sun when the day breaks (not in the afternoon, that would be sweltering), the fact tt there is no training on tt day.... anything. Things which might have gone unnoticed simply appear to you in a different light. Problem is, we often forget about them once life gets simpler and better. I guess the trick is to remember and never forget these little things, these little things which still make the world beautiful when all appears dark... and to trust in God that there will be a rainbow after the storm.
I happened to stumble upon one of my older music CD which I compiled back in sec 4 when I was packing my stuff yesterday. Decided to bring it along with me and as I listened to it, fond memories of the year 2004 surfaced. Songs tend to have a different 'feel' to them when you listen to them under different circumstances; and after first listening to them under a certain circumstance, you come to associate that particular song with the circumstances you were in when you first listened to it. The 'songs of 2004' were rather different in nature to those to which I currently listen to; and its interesting to see how our taste of music changes as we ourselves change. Music is truly an amazing thing. It is in a sense, impossible to be adequately described by language, for it transcends it. Much like our emotions. There's just something within it, something which we feel for, and something which no word can represent fully. In any case, the thing that struck me when I was listening to them was quite simply: why was I no longer listening to them? When did they... 'fall out of favour'?
The answer wasn't because they were no longer nice; they still were. In a different sense perhaps, from the music to which I currently listen to most of the time, but still enjoyable. I guess the answer was just simply because I feel different now, and I've pretty much forgotten about them. Yet, it was still nice to listen to them, but its just that when you're too absorbed with the current genre of music you currently listen too, you do not pay attention to the rest. And that is, sometimes, quite true in our lifes too. Often we are too absorbed in what we are trying to achieve that we fail to see the beauty present in many other things. Things, which perhaps, God has intended for us to see, but we have, in our constant insistence on doing our routine, mundane things, have forgotten about.
There are many things which are within our control, but there are more which aren't. There will be times whereby you still fail despite doing everything that could have been done; and there are times whereby we succeed just by simply doing nothing. It is of course difficult to quantify what is meant by 'doing everything that could have been done', but personally, I feel you'll know it when you have done so. When you have squandered no opportunity, when you have squeezed out every second from that 24 hrs, when you feel absoultely drained... You know that you are close to dying when you are drowning.. when you are just struggling to keep your head above the water at all cost. I used to think that saying its God's will when we fail is one heck of an excuse; and I suppose it is, when we have not done our best. That was why I didn't buy it in the past, because I thought and believed there was no limit to my best. I believed a lot in my determination and willpower - I believed I could do anything as long as I had the necessary determination and will to. Again, I would not be so bold as to make a generalisation, but I now know for a fact that my strength is but finite. Others perhaps, may reach greater heights which knows no limit, but I for one, know mine is finite. God's will is longer an excuse when you have done all that could have been done. There are times whereby we are just unable to comprehend what good could ever come out of a failure; why God subject us to what we feel are undeserved pain. It is difficult to see the bright side of life when everywhere seems dark; yet it does exist. I believe it does; much like how we've forgotten about the older songs which we used to listen to everyday. They are still there, but we've just simply became too absorbed in our current genre of music to remember about them. The world is full of beautiful things, but we are perhaps too blinded to see them. A failure sometimes, just give us that reminder that we need; to stop and see. Or it might just simply be God's way of saying that, 'hey, that path isn't the one which you'll truly like'. Truth is, I still don't know why we, despite doing all that we could have done, still fail sometimes. But what I do know, or rather believe, is that something good will come out of it. I may not be able to see all ends, but I have faith that God has good intentions when he makes us fall. Foolishly optimistic perhaps, but hope is ever the strength which sustains us. It is difficult to explain, but when you believe that life is good despite the darkness, it will be good. The darkness may seem never ending, but just believing that there is a light at the very end of it all just lifts your spirits. Its true that the more hopeful we are, the more painful the fall; but when you're able to see through that pain and believe that there is still a light behind that, then there isn't any harm in being optimistic all the time. Its interesting to note how much we treasure the little things in life when we are going through difficult times. The blue sky, the cool breeze upon your face, the chirping of the birds, the warmth of the sun when the day breaks (not in the afternoon, that would be sweltering), the fact tt there is no training on tt day.... anything. Things which might have gone unnoticed simply appear to you in a different light. Problem is, we often forget about them once life gets simpler and better. I guess the trick is to remember and never forget these little things, these little things which still make the world beautiful when all appears dark... and to trust in God that there will be a rainbow after the storm.
posted by Jun Yi at 3:09 PM
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