Renew our goals, set our dreams

I'm inspired to write this post after watching the national day parade awhile ago. This time, they showcased stories of different people who did not give up even after going through hardships. This is the spirit of what Singapore was built upon.

Our national day theme songs always revolve around home, going for our dreams, united as one etc. It speaks of a nation building process where everyone stands together to nurture and sustain it. Every national day, Singaporeans like us will gather to remember the past, celebrate what we have now and renew our goals for the future. 

We may feel that it has become increasingly stressful to live in Singapore. Part of the cause is due to the higher prices we have in our small island city. However, what we don't realise is that the real cause of the stress is because we often want to be better than others or show that we are better than others. Having a grand wedding, buying a big house or a condominium, driving a car or a luxurious car, getting material stuffs such as branded goods etc are examples of it. It is not wrong to have all these but do ask yourself what is your motive for owning or buying all these? Is it to impress others? To show others that you're better than them? Or you just want to keep up with the standards of society? More often than not, all these do not make us more happy but instead make us feeling more empty and cause unhappiness. Isn't it weird that the things that we seek make us more unhappy? 

There is this national day song in chinese which i remember during my school days when i was like 10 or 11 years old. The song is titled: 小人物的心聲 which in English it means the voices of small people (I translated it literally). The lyrics talks about a man who doesn't care if he's a popular person or not. A simple life can also be a happy life.

Actually the song is not really sung for national day celebrations but somehow it became a popular national day song which i suppose all Singaporeans would have heard before regardless of race. 

Yes, we always want a better life for ourselves as well as our family. But, a simple life can also be a happy life. We don't have to keep stressing ourselves to keep up with the standards of this society. We don't have to spend all our time working just to make more money and neglect our family and friends. So what if others live in a bigger house than you? So what if others drive a bigger car than you? It is no point to keep comparing yourself with others as it will make you very miserable. Be grateful for what you have now while striving for the future.  

We can also make a difference in other people's lives as there will always be someone out there who's more unfortunate than us. We may not be able to help millions of people but we can start with just a few people. I just made a donation to Make A Wish Foundation Singapore last week. Their mission is to "grant the wishes if children with life threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy." You can do your part in your own ways too. 

Life is good. Always look on the bright side of life!

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