I’m glad that people like Mr Choe are in my life.

It’s not often that, when we are all so self-absorbed in our troubles, someone comes along to remind us that there’s a larger world out there, beyond the gates of our premier school. (oh, the blasphemy of that thought!)

A lot of us (myself included) always make our own problems the epicenter of the universe, and think that the entire cosmos revolve around me. So if something goes wrong in my life, the entire world should sit up and take notice.

Get a life.

To quote lahdder, “there are people out there with much more real troubles.”

I mean, while some of us are here worrying about the next assignment deadline, there are other people (whom most of the people I know do not know of) who are dealing with really serious issues, like dysfunctional families, parents’ divorce, family members with serious health issues etc.

A lot of things we worry about ultimately don’t matter. 20 years down the road, who’s really going to remember what they achieved in school? The so-called “good memories”, if still there, would probably only be the most outstanding ones.

And yet, now, some of us fret over the least of things (PW comes to mind). Maybe you have a group member you don’t like. Deal with it. It’s only, what, 1 more month?

I read a friend’s blog the other day and he was commenting on how his favourite contestants on reality tv shows got kicked out one by one. And I was like “ookkkaayyyy…” and I thought blogs were meant for writing sad stuff. Maybe he was sad, that his “favourite” contestant got eliminated.

I saw another friend’s blog about him screwing up bio SPA because of some graph he didn’t draw. Deal with it. It’s no big deal. I’ve screwed up lots of tests, do you see me complaining?

I read another friend’s blog about how she had like no friends and stuff like that in school, being alone all the time. Go find a friend then, instead of angsting. Friends don’t just drop from the sky you know.

But what Mr Choe said holds true. There are so many similarities in so many blogs (especially those of Singaporean students’) that to a certain extent, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all. Really, if they’re not angsting about their school life, they’re angsting about their school life. If it’s not this person they’re unhappy about, it’s that person. Blah blah blah. All these are such trivial matters.

I look at some of my previous posts, and wonder in incredulity how I could have been such a self-centered person and think all day about my needs.

“blah blah blah your needs! What about my needs?!”

but then again, I had not realized it yet then. After lahdder and I had been speaking about this, and mr choe mentioning it today, I’m convinced that I’m being told to look away from my own struggles and pain, and look to the finished work of the Cross.

I myself am also susceptible to angsting about such trivial matters many a time, but I hope that from now onwards, whenever I blog, I’ll have a world perspective – one that doesn’t make myself the center of the world, but really, compare myself with someone less better off and thank Him for such a peaceful life. It’s not going to be easy, I’ll still be self-absorbed at times, but bear with me. I’m still learning.

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On a completely unrelated note, sometimes, when you’re having a bad day, the few people who actually bother to ask you about how you are, or even just spend time with you, even if no actual conversation takes place, does do much to lessen one’s unhappiness, and make school life worthwhile all over again. Many thanks to those people. You know who you are. =)