Change, the only Constant

你的泪光柔弱中带伤
惨白的月弯弯勾住过往
夜太漫长凝结成了霜
是谁在阁楼上冰冷的绝望
雨轻轻弹朱红色的窗
我一生在纸上被风吹乱
梦在远方化成一缕香
随风飘散你的模样

菊花台 – 周杰伦

The wind of change rages once more, altering the nature of all that lie in its way with no two objects affected the same way. Some wither under its touch, others spring to life in their steads. Some that shift before your very eyes, others that morph along with the seasons. And then there are those that stand resilient against its mutating gusts. Likewise, some things change for the better, others for the worse.  With certain issues, exerting our own influence in order to divert the course of events is possible. The challenge is learning to sort these issues by relevance and appropriating sufficient attention in dealing with all these changes. Naturally, issues of little weight warrant minimal attention.

I suppose that without the bitter, the sweet just ain’t as sweet.

A new dawn

So yet another year has gone by and so much has changed ever since. In the span of a year, I have seen how wide the horizons span, and dare I say that I have matured somewhat tremendously. It has been a year of troubles which required many painful adjustments, but without problems there would not have been opportunities to better myself. Going abroad alone and entering university were fairly traumatic initially, but time and time again it has proven to be an important tipping point in my life. For instance, I have learnt the need to distinguish the significant from the insignificant. My failure to overlook the petty and trivial issues of daily life has more often than not spawned more discontent than it should.

A key breakthrough in my life is that the bitterness of the past will finally remain precisely that- a fading memory of my yesteryears. Ah, of all the rejection, repressed anger, fears and insecurities… I am convinced that those emo days plagued by persistent loneliness and depression are finally behind me. While it has been a rough ride; for I do not recall shedding so many tears at any other point of my life; it has also opened the door to healing. And that healing is in no small part due to another turning point in my life- friends. At a point of time when I grew weary and to a certain extent cynical about human relationships, entered into my life people who restored my faith in friendship. The times when I thought that I would never have another close friend now seem like a vague and blurry dream. The small but selfless deeds, the simple sincerity and the silent company did not slip by unnoticed. And I am so grateful for the presence of these few friends.

Each and every event which took place has taught me another overly-quoted-but-nevertheless-valuable lesson: happiness will never have a monetary value attached to it. Yeah, I have heard that phrase once too often, and failed to grasp it until I realized that true joy is not dependent on success, wealth or social recognition. Rather, it is the often little, abstract but invaluable things that confer happiness; health, friends, family and God. Things that we so often take for granted ‘til life snatches it away. Thank you to all of you who walked with me the past year.

Yes, I can finally laugh amidst the falling raindrops.