Lifehouse

Recently i read an article about a boy in one of the top JCs (not naming it for obvious reasons) who committed suicide.

I thought a lot about it, and i feel that there are times when i too, feel like giving up.

I used to think that whenever life got hard, i would quit and things would get better.
I used to be able to get past things that stood in my way.

However, life has been throwing tantrums in my face like a badly behaved child. And somehow, the 'hit and run' menthod does not work anymore. The problems keep adding, and so does the weight on my shoulders.

Then again, thats life isn't it? It just gets harder and harder. The more you complain and whine you just make yourself worse.

My dad travels often, and once bought me a lighthouse from Harvard. A small statue lighthouse, probably the size of my palm.

I was probably in Primary 6 when he gave it to me.

He asked me, "When sailors are lost, what is the first thing they look for?"

Well a lighthouse, duh.

He told me that he had a big statue lighthouse sitting on his table at work. Every time he countered problems or felt lost, he would look to the lighthouse for answers.

Back then i didn't think much about it. I thought he was just trying to act wise. Well obviously, i was an ignorant 12 year old. What did i understand? I simply shook it off and accepted the lighthouse because i found it cute.

Only very recently, I understood why he gave it to me.

When sailors are lost, they look for a lighthouse.
Therefore, when we get lost, we should look for our own 'lighthouse'. Our guide to lead us through life.
And it does not mean that just because life gets hard you can just sit down and quit. Because life doesn't work that way. We have to keep trying and trying to make it. Every time life hits us in the face, we get up and continue. No matter how many times we fall, we have to get up, continue, learn from our mistakes, and move on.

Now, whenever i am lost, i look at the lighthouse that sits on my table. It does not give me answers, but it reminds me that I can't give up.


"The soul of the sluggard
Craves and gets nothing
But the soul of the diligent
is made fat."
-wise saying, or so Mr Yip claims...

Just a little food for thought.


Anyway, for those people who think that life sucks blabla. Get over yourself, seriously. You're not the only one in the world anyway.

Sometimes life goes your way, and well, other times, life just doesn't. But the important thing is that we have faith and hope and that keeps us going.

Life is never easier, but we have to see the beauty of it and make the most of any unforeseen hurdles life throws at us. It is guaranteed we will come away stronger, better equipped and wiser.