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One Lifetime Multiple "Lives"
-- Alvin Soong I think the best story to tell would be something true and sincere from the heart. This would be an account of my own experiences in life ?not spectacular or far worse than anyone else抯 ?but a motivation to those who are much worse off in life than myself, and to encourage gratitude in those whose lives are better than mine .......... Everyone does have different lives and roles in life, just that they do not realize it. You might have recalled Sigalovada who was told by the Buddha of his different responsibilities to different people close to him in his life. I did not realize this fact until I had touched Buddhism in the early stages in the army. There were too many turning points in life. I shall start from my JC days. The college I went to was Anglo-Chinese Junior College which is very much pro-sports and pro-English-speaking than the school (Chinese High) I was from before. It was tough adapting to the college. With some help, I got used to the language patterns and the culture in ACJC in no time. It was difficult to adapt to the students then, even more so to the staff. I had a tutor who was biased against Chinese High students. He was always referring to us as the non-sporty, studious minority, who used to cause troubles in strikes related to Communism back in the 60s. I thought it was a senile thought, yet thanks to his provocation, I took up the most strenuous sports in ACJC ?dragon-boat-rowing and canoeing. There were 100 of us who joined in January. By mid-February, there were only 13 juniors left. I was the last in the group. Everyday, without fail, we would train for a good reason. By May, when the competition had started, all the 13 of us were fighting to get into the 12-man boat. I managed to squeeze in. It was the first time we hit first in the finals and for the team to be invited to Hong Kong. It was a personal achievement I would always look back on to get recharged during many downturns in life. It was also through cherishing that moment in life that I built up a motto 揟O MAKE THE BEST OUT OF THE WORST SITUATIONS?in the later part of my life. On the other hand, there was strong objection in my family then, as I had spent too much time in trainings and neglected my studies. I had a quarrel with my mum. She told me to choose between boat-rowing and my studies. I told her boat-rowing was my passion, and she dared me that I did not have the guts to forego my examinations. I proved her wrong and repeated that year. It was a price I had paid, for being ignorant but I did not regret it to this day because the life experiences and revelations I had gained were much more. Subsequently I went into the army. My army days were not entirely happy. I did not understand then how to cherish every happy moment in life and was attached to negativity. Negativity bred more negativity and unhappiness, and turned people away from me. With this experience in mind, I adopted an attitude to always stay positive and move on in life to solve any immediate problems, in later stages of my life, whether in downs or ups. It was at this time that I got in touch with my reflective side and searched for my spiritual callings. Between Christianity and Buddhism, I chose the latter after much reading. There was a second major phase change in life. During my first year in common engineering, I had taken an interest to Information Technology and hoped for a chance to get into electrical engineering course. I was thrown into mechanical engineering after continuous appeals failed to get me to the course of my interest. I was turned down by the Dean who believed that if I can do well in one, I could do well in another. I did not buy into that. With the belief in my motto, I stayed on. Yet, results did show that I was not able to perform well in the subject no matter how hard I tried to 損sycho?myself that I like it. I understood at that point in time it was not about being different. Some people can choose to fit into the crowd; some sought deliberately to be different from others. Yet it is through life experiences that tells me that you do not have to be either. You are DIFFERENT. Everyone is made up of their own life experiences and that is what which makes them different and unique. Every time I look at life, I always recall my motto when I meet with an obstacle in life. It was at that time that I had met many like-minded people, some of whom I was greatly grateful to, like my mentors such as my dad and many meditation Bhantes. Yet the best mentors are friends who had stood by me in those days and the NTUBS seniors I was closely related to, like Seng Yip, Giin Bo, Yimin and Yew Kheng who are still deeply motivating to this day. The life cycle does not stop here. I knew, I was going to be evolved to the next 搇ife?at the next stage after I leave the university. I had also understood that life moves in samsara. I was forever pursuing something and never was happy. At one point, I could be at the peak of my different school days or dragon-boat-rowing days. Yet if I did not know how to cherish each present moment; how to be thankful or humble; how to let go of attachments and move on to solve problems in life, I would never move on to the next stage of life or become a better person. "Life is a game.?Indeed it is. Play hard, play well but never forget the process. Results would come but the process is so much more important, because it is what that makes life a game and so much more meaningful. That, I have come to realize now. There are many out there who are better off or worse off than me, but it is their own life game that makes them special as an individual, and which makes a difference in others?and their own lives. Alvin is presently a team player in a family of financial planners with his father and sister in NTUC INCOME. Their profiles can be seen in their blog and website at www.skcagency.com |
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