It has been a long time since I have been blogging. Really missed blogging. The only reason why I have not been blogging is that I am really busy now that I am in school. Life has been so tiring. Inspiration for blogging doesn't pop up as frequent as they do before.
Of course, for those who know me, I've never blogged for the sake of blogging as I believe that it would dilute the content of my entries. I blog only when I am inspired by a certain incident or thought process.
I was on the bus back home from school today. As usual, I just got myself to stand at a corner and start observing the things and happenings around me. Slowly, the bus packed with people moved off from the interchange.
As I was standing there, my attention was diverted to a little boy sitting in front of me. He was sitting with his mum. What caught my interest was that he was perpetually placing his hand over the stop bell button right above him. I thought he was going to press the bell soon but he didn't. The bus just left the interchange so it didn't make any sense to press the bell then. But the boy continued to place his fingers over the bell button.
I thought to myself, "He must be just another one of those mischievous kids that likes to play with the bell." However, he was still holding on to the bell button after a very long time. The puzzling thing was that the boy seemed to be very serious about pressing the bell. His face didn't have any sign of mischief, only seriousness.
Just before the bus reached the first stop, he pressed the bell and I saw the sign of relief on his face. The bus stopped and together with his mum, he got off the bus.
It seems to me that I was wrong about him. This boy wasn't doing this out of mischief. Rather, he had such a strong sense of urgency in pressing the bell. It was like if he wasn't the one pressing the bell, it would have been a failed mission. He thought that by holding on to that single button, he would ensure that he will be the only one capable of pressing the bell and he will be the only one responsible for initiating the complete stop of the bus. A little boy stopping a big bus full of adults with only a pressing of a button. Sounds like a neat idea.
That probed me thinking, aren't we like that in our lives too? Sometimes, we hold on to some things so dearly that we put all our attention and focus into just that thing itself. We'd give everything just to get that one single moment of glory, that single moment of fame.
Some people slogged all their lives away, just to get that salutation of "Dr" in front of their names. For that single moment when they got their title, they immersed themselves in the limelight and glory that is seemingly eternal. When the applause fades away and reality sets in, they are not able to face the fact that life doesn't stop at just achieving a "Dr". With that "Dr" coming before their names, loads of responsibilities and expectations are piled upon their shoulders. This explains why we have so many useless doctors out there nowadays. Rarely have I seen a doctor that treats a patient out of compassion. It seems to me that the field of Medicine has been defiled by the meaningless chasing of pseudo-existing recognition that were build upon not by existing generations of doctors but through the hard work and dedication of the previous generation of physicians. Young doctors think that they ought to be respected simply because they have a "Dr" in their names. Little do they know that they are basking at the edge of the shadows of their predecessors.
This is not unique to professional occupation. In our personal lives too, we hold on to many of these seemingly important establishments. People think that money is everything. People think that materialistic wealth is everything. People think that recognition is everything. Little do they know that these things are so undependable.
Take money for example. Many people tell me that money makes the world go round. They mock me when I say this is not true. I only have this to tell them. They are not thinking. What makes that $1 in your hand worth its value? It is actually a systemic recognition by the consensus of people existing in the same system. Basically, beyond the systemic boundaries of this environment, your $1 is worthless. What makes you think that your $1 will always get you a can drink. If you put in that $1 into a faulty vending machine, that $1 just isn't going get you what you need. Even if you go to a provision shop, that $1 doesn't serve any purpose if the shopkeeper refuses to sell anything to you. Your $1 is basically at the mercy of the shopkeeper. Even if you owned a million dollars, you can never get your can drink if the shopkeeper or vending machine refuses to give in to you.
So what controls that $1 value? Two things are involved. The first is the circumstances you are in. This is likened to the vending machine analogy. The state of the vending machine is your circumstance. If the vending machine is not working, you'll never get your can drink. Or if you are in the desert, your $1 is absolutely worthless. Your 1 SING DOLLAR is worthless in Europe unless the money changer decides to exchange with you EURO DOLLAR for a good rate. Circumstances are things beyond our control.
The second thing that dictates the worth of your $1 is values. That is likened to that of the shopkeeper. Your $1 is worth the can drink if the shopkeeper is willing to sell it to you for that price. He has his own set of values. If he is professional, he knows that he should not sell a can drink for $2 but rather, a reasonable $1. Professionalism is the value at play here. Not forgetting the circumstances of the shopkeeper too! He is dictated by his own set of circumstances too, which is my previous point.
Knowing that the worth of money is actually dictated by circumstances and values, I hope you can start to see the fragility of money and materialism. All you rich people watch out. The only reason why you can sit your buttocks off on your wealth and feel secure is that the many people underneath the social pyramid are supporting you. They are dictated by circumstances and values of their own they enables your money to be of some worth. Just imagine this. You just need one rich dude to start feeling charitable and start helping those poor people under the social pyramid to set chaos to all the others' wealth. The poor people need not depend on the other rich dudes at all. Or if the majority of the poor people chose not to work for all you rich dum dums, your wealth will just go down the drain like toilet papers. I just need one big recession and all your wealth and money is just useless.
Can you all see how fragile money is? Can you all see how empty salutation and recognition is? They are fading and extremely passing! It is not logical for anyone to depend their lives on any of such things at all. They are not dependable at all! The only reason why they seem important is because everyone in the society thinks it is important! It is the same old demand and supply concept that we are ever so familiar with. If everyone thinks that money is useful, it will be useful because our systems will than be build upon that belief. However, if all of us just decide to leave this system and come up with another system, money will be worthless. The same concept goes with pride and recognition.
So what then do we hold dear in our lives? Are we like this little boy who thinks that by holding on to that little bell button, he will be able to command the bus to stop at his will? His whole idea and plan would be shattered simply by someone else who decides to press another button! Also, if the bus driver misses the stop because he was dreaming, the efforts put in by this little boy to hold on and press the bell would have been futile! His whole idea and thinking that he is the one in control of the situation would have been nullified, totally!
So what are you really depending on? Don't you think that your life is based so largely on a worthless ideology? Do you suddenly see that stupidity in you when you choose to lean upon something so fragile? Where is our hope then?
We all know where is our hope. We all know who is unchanging. We all know who is the truth. We all know the way. He is unchanging. He is always faithful. He is always there. He is always dependable. Why then do we choose something so fragile over Him who is ALMIGHTY and AWESOME? Why? What's the logic to you who like to talk to me about logic? Show me your logic!
And we humans like to think that we are logical, highly intelligent beings. I think we have just made a mockery of ourselves out of our own stupidity and arrogance.
Let go of that button, silly you.