The deluded speaks

"This one is machine and nerve and has his mind concluded, this one is but flesh and faith and the more deluded…"

The Gravemind 

 

It’s helmsman week again and today is the second day. The teachers invited this ex-VJ girl who is prolly 20+/- to share her "success story" with us. What she did was to go to Nepal on a missionary trip, was touched by the people, came back to Singapore and made a short book with her own paintings telling people to follow their dreams. Proceeds made will go entirely to the people there. She has raised $90,000 so far. Although I applaud her efforts in trying to help the poor, her concept of chasing your dreams is…erm…one-sided. And hence the title of this post.

 

She told us to chase our dreams and do what we want to do, don’t give up. Although she has succeeded in her work? How about her passion to work in BBC? She said she was so convicted and so excited about the prospect of joining them. But she was turned down. It was her dream wasn’t it? Why didn’t she pursue it? Nevertheless, I think she made the right choice. SOmetimes we do not know what we really want. Our passions may have been influenced by some other factor and when we realise that we’ve made the wrong choices, it might be too late.

 

Chasing our dreams may not be the right thing to do. I urge everyone who reads this not to be decieved by her. Success is rare, for success to occur, many failures must take place first. Sometimes, the success that follows does not justify the losses. She claims that strength, perseverance and commitment is all it takes to succeed. As I said before, you can rub a mountain with a silk cloth for eternity and the mountain will still be there, no matter how much of the above qualities one possesses. Success, i tell you, comprises of the above qualities and a HELL LOT OF LUCK.

 

If luck is not on your side, I can safely say that you’re screwed. If conditions are not favourable you might as well give up before you lose even more. Nevertheless, the winds of change may blow luck your way when you’re in a lull. So I say evaluate the odds and make a choice. For every success story of one who persevered on through the winds of change and emerged victorious, I can find you 99 others, maybe some are more apt than he/she, who withered away, not because they gave up but simply ran out of resources and simply fell away. Success is a rare thing. I can prove that that ex-VJ girl had a hell lot of luck and very favourable conditions. I shall list them down.

 

Number 1.

I recall her saying this: I don’t know how it happened but it happened. Bingo, do you think that everything happens like this? No way. She is bloody lucky. How can you not know what happened?

 

Number 2.

She claimed that the publisher just told her to go on with her project when she didn’t have anything to show to the publishers, no drafts nothing. She just spoke her mind and told the publisher her IDEA. Nothing more than an IDEA. WHAT THE FU**??!! She is bloody lucky again. How many people will get a job by saying," I think I will be able to contribute to the company although I have nothing to prove that I can."? JUST HOW MANY??!! Point proven.

 

Number 3.

This is her trump card. I don’t know if she realised this or not but her book is to be sold for charity. It is a fund raising activity for the Nepalese. It is a moral-inducing thing. I don’t know how to phrase it but it is because it is done for charity and therefore she got the publisher and 90K. It’s like doing a stunt. Let’s say Mr Khoo is going to dive 250m below sea level with nothing but scuba gear. His lungs will probably burst but this is just an example. If he’s doing it for his own glory and honour, people will think he’s nuts. BUT, if he says he’s doing it for charity then he’ll be a hero. Same concept here. It’s her trump card and this point alone provides the best conditions for her success.

 

Success doesn’t come easy. And I don’t like being told how to succeed by a 20 something year old, especially one who is deluded and without wisdom. Wisdom comes with age and experience and I don’t think she displays much of it yet.

 

Moral of the story? Hard work + strength + perseverance + technique + HELL LOT OF LUCK = success