Journey to find the real me
These few weeks has been and will continue to be a whirlpool of presentations, assignments, projects and exams. I feel faint just thinking about them. *world spins in front of my eyes* BUT… I will survive. I must survive, so that I can go back to spore to have my satays, fried kuey tiao, curry fish head, mee soto etc etc etc. I’m salivating just thinking about them. Hehehe…
I just finished writing an essay for one of my modules called Stress and Disability. (Hmm.. actually, I don’t know why it’s called Stress and Disability. It should just be called Disability, because nothing is mentioned about stress at all!) Anyway, we are supposed to use an article about this man call Jim MacLaren and we are supposed to apply all the theories of disability that we learnt to write this essay. The essay was a killer to write and I have many nights of splitting headaches trying to complete it. You would think that I’ll gladly and eagerly throw everything about MacLaren away. However, I’m so inspired by this amazing man that I want to share his story with everyone. I admire his optimism, determination and perseverance. He met with an accident and had his leg amputated at 22, but fought back to become a champion triathlete. At 30, a second accident caused him to become a quadriplegic that is constantly in pain, yet he still manages to lead an independent life and feel blessed through his ordeals. His life story can be found on http://www.jimmaclaren.com/about.php. I find some of the things MacLaren said really thought-provoking.
1. “We are not in charge of what happens to us in this lifetime. We are in charge only of how we perceive what happens to us in this lifetime.”
2. “I started looking around and seeing people everywhere – especially successful middle-class American men – walking around in complete denial, smugly thinking to themselves, I sure am doing a good job running my life here. But I could see now that their sense of control was nothing but a mirage. Safety, entitlement, power – these are all fantasies. We don’t drive our destinies. Not in that way.”
3. “You have only one task as a human being: to know yourself.”
4. “Success can be measured in a multitude of ways. Do we love and are we loved? Now that is truly success! Appreciate the gifts in our lives. They may seem difficult to see....yet they are there.”
It really makes me reflect back on my own life. Aren’t I just like the middle-class American men holding on to a false sense of security? If all the impermanent things are taken away from me, can I deal with it with peace and calmness? Do I know the true, real me?
I should start on the journey of knowing myself and stop living in denial. I must learn to live in the present moment.
posted by Magnesium at 11:44 am
2 Comments:
knock ur head ah.. hehehe... u forgot all bout language liao hor?
"At 30, a second accident caused him to become a quadriplegic THAT is constantly in pain"
u trying to call him an IT? hehehe...
aniwae, regardin the world spinning around u.. isn't that what's always going on? remember the t shirt i bought u for xmas last yr? "yes, the world does revolve around me" so that's why the world spinning and spinning loh...
Actually, i wrote it as "quadriplegic WHO is constantly in pain" leh. It was Microsoft that put the curvy green line under the sentence n i just clicked change without really looking at it carefully. Hmm.. my mistake. (the world around me spinning too much till i giddy liao lah. hehe... ) But it shows something. Microsoft default is to classify a quadriplegic as a THAT. Microsoft should be taught the appropriate language to use for disabled people as well....
Post a Comment
<< Home