Retrospection
Probably one of the most important things that we have in our short violent lives.
For some reason it is not more obvious than ever that we Singaporeans spend our entire lives in a mad rush, looking forward to retirement and the dreamy idea of a pleasant coastal retreat with white sands, bikini-clad girls and swanky beach bars. Then when we reach the age of retirement, we realise we have to rush and worry for our children, for money to support ourselves and for brilliant ways to remain in contact with your honour-minding extended family. All of a sudden that escape to an idyllic hideaway starts to seem so much better, yet so far away and eventually, so impossible.
By then it is too late for a little retrospection.
We always try to believe that we should look forward to the light of hope, the promise of the future. But hope lies when you are overoptimistic and promises are often only as reliable as the currents of the sea. Of course, we can never predict the future, and in the face of global change our human plans merely crumble. Rather than despair or worry, we can instead reflect. Based on what has happened, trends and inferences, we can find the choice that will better light our jagged paths. Based on past mistakes, we can learn which of our instincts and tendencies to ignore or defy to pave a better road into the future.
Memories are seen and created through the perceptions that our characters wear. Memories are affected by what we want to believe, what we think should happen. They are endlessly warped by our own desires and so we wonder what to believe. If the last fort of reference for our future is a scrawl on fate and past events by our own hands, then what makes them more reliable than a random shot in the endless darkness ahead? Probably that is where retrospection comes in, as we look at the shapes and trends our personalities and the decisions made because of them, and we look at the factual and perceived outcomes of those decisions, and finally we learn about ourselves. As the chinese proverb goes: "知自知敌, 百战百胜".
We, ourselves, are the first and last frontier to potential and development.
The Singaporean way is to rush and stress and "chiong" for money and success. To avoid being left behind we have to fight and kill and drag ourselves over a mountain of piled bodies. We cannot stop, cannot look behind into the haunted eyes of those we pushed back, of those we left behind, of our own blank globes gaping like mirrors at us. To look back and not be drawn into that spiral of pain and regret is a challenge we have to overcome if we want to make a change in ourselves and perhaps, in the distant future, in our society.
But like every great journey, it starts with the first step. Our first step is to learn about ourselves and overcome our flaws, not necessarily by changing them, but by understanding when we should go against our instincts and intuition.
For some reason it is not more obvious than ever that we Singaporeans spend our entire lives in a mad rush, looking forward to retirement and the dreamy idea of a pleasant coastal retreat with white sands, bikini-clad girls and swanky beach bars. Then when we reach the age of retirement, we realise we have to rush and worry for our children, for money to support ourselves and for brilliant ways to remain in contact with your honour-minding extended family. All of a sudden that escape to an idyllic hideaway starts to seem so much better, yet so far away and eventually, so impossible.
By then it is too late for a little retrospection.
We always try to believe that we should look forward to the light of hope, the promise of the future. But hope lies when you are overoptimistic and promises are often only as reliable as the currents of the sea. Of course, we can never predict the future, and in the face of global change our human plans merely crumble. Rather than despair or worry, we can instead reflect. Based on what has happened, trends and inferences, we can find the choice that will better light our jagged paths. Based on past mistakes, we can learn which of our instincts and tendencies to ignore or defy to pave a better road into the future.
Memories are seen and created through the perceptions that our characters wear. Memories are affected by what we want to believe, what we think should happen. They are endlessly warped by our own desires and so we wonder what to believe. If the last fort of reference for our future is a scrawl on fate and past events by our own hands, then what makes them more reliable than a random shot in the endless darkness ahead? Probably that is where retrospection comes in, as we look at the shapes and trends our personalities and the decisions made because of them, and we look at the factual and perceived outcomes of those decisions, and finally we learn about ourselves. As the chinese proverb goes: "知自知敌, 百战百胜".
We, ourselves, are the first and last frontier to potential and development.
The Singaporean way is to rush and stress and "chiong" for money and success. To avoid being left behind we have to fight and kill and drag ourselves over a mountain of piled bodies. We cannot stop, cannot look behind into the haunted eyes of those we pushed back, of those we left behind, of our own blank globes gaping like mirrors at us. To look back and not be drawn into that spiral of pain and regret is a challenge we have to overcome if we want to make a change in ourselves and perhaps, in the distant future, in our society.
But like every great journey, it starts with the first step. Our first step is to learn about ourselves and overcome our flaws, not necessarily by changing them, but by understanding when we should go against our instincts and intuition.
posted by slipperdan at 8:47 AM
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