Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Challenge 29: Routine

127. Describe a daily routine or tradition of yours that may seem ordinary to others but holds special meaning for you. Why is this practice significant to you? (Barnard)

High school? Two words: no drama. Yes, my high school is different from other high schools. It is better in many ways: it is situated somewhere where nobody can discover it, it has monkeys jumping off trees every now and then, it is located nowhere near a mall, and it has some of the most beautiful views I have seen. And, you know what the great thing is? I love it here. Though sometimes things can get a little messy and I feel like never being in this place again, eventually, everything becomes right and life moves on in the "foothills of the Himalayas," as they say.

When I was younger, school meant, well, only school. Study hard, do a good job, please your parents, make good friends, and just the usual. However, as I grew up here, I started looking beyond just the ordinary. I wanted to make the most of my time here, whether it be in sports or just taking advantage of the place.

So, almost every day, I walk down to dorms alone. Yes, many others do too, but to me it holds special meaning. As my take my time, I look at the trees around me, observe the scenery, while being careful of wild monkeys. During winter time, the sunset looks magnificent: the soft blend between colors that decorate the sky that seems so far away. Red, pink, orange, purple, yellow, and blue, all at once. Next to the horizon lays the silhouette of the hill across, and overall, the scenery looks like a work of art, stuck in the sky just for me to enjoy. As I watch the sky, I think about, well, everything; I think about the fight I had with my sister, the friend who is annoying me, the teacher who cannot explain something to me, the book I forgot to bring to dorms, the amount of work I have. It may all seem so ordinary, but during this time, I reflect upon my day, try to understand what I need to improve, and think about what kind of a person I am. If I have a dispute with someone, I want to resolve and make up my mind to go and apologize. Besides these thoughts that are constantly occupying my mind, I try to connect to the environment around me, and try to make the most out of what my school has to offer.

Challenge 28: Life

107. What is your approach to life? Reveal your life philosophy.

Parents have always been around. They always look out for you and take care of you. They give you your pocket money, pay for your school fees, educate you about risks, make sure you have a happy life, show you the importance of love and friendship, and much, much more. To me, my parents are people whom I can always trust and go to whenever I need. They have raised me, loved me, and have always been there whenever everything seems to fall apart. But, how long is this going to last? They are going to die eventually, everyone is. I depend so much on them and then, one day, just like that, they are just going to disappear and I will never see them again. And this is true not only for parents, but for everybody. One by one, everyone is going vanish and soon, I will be left by myself. So, yes, we are all alone in this world. We are thrown into the world with people who care for us and love us. But eventually, we will be left all by ourselves, no matter who we are. That's how life works and that's reality. You cannot always have comfort around you; you need to suffer, get a taste of what it is like being alone because this is all part of being human.
Honestly, I have imagined many time what it will be like when the people I love around me are gone. I will be alone and unsafe, friendless and abandoned. I will be left in this world to fend for myself, think for myself, and will be barely making it. But, hey, what can I do about it? Well, nothing really. This cycle, where people come and go, is not going to end just because I remorse about it and wish for it to end. People cannot live forever. This is reality and I need to accept it.