20 Years Has Gone So Fast…

Props to anyone who can recall the song which the title of this blog post is a lyric within.

I can hardly remember the time when I first opened my eyes. I wish I did. I want to remember when I started being able to remember, just so I can hold on to every single piece, and maybe linger on a while longer in the past 🙂

We may be future looking animals, but we can’t don’t that if we don’t look back once in a while. So before I move ahead to my 20th birthday, which is very soon, I want to take some time to really look through the things I learned.

“All the right friends in all the right places…”

What does it mean? Before I explain, it seems fitting that you know a bit more about me first. I wouldn’t describe myself to be antisocial, but I am definitely more introverted than extroverted. Being an introvert, by definition, means that I am naturally shy of people. But what I was even more shy of was travelling. I think I told a few people before my theory of travelling – every place was the same: same malls, same mcdonalds, same whatever. There’s not much difference, in my opinion. Some considered me weird, or simply out of my mind. Such people can feel safe to start talking to me again, because I have officially changed my stance! The reason? It all boils down to the people.

Around 2 weeks ago, I was called for to my Club meeting. It was an important meeting, since we were discussing new ideas and voting for our club slogan. On the very same day of my meeting was my Political Science exam. I attended the meeting, with questions raised such as “WHY ARE YOU HERE?” or appreciative statements like “Thank you so much for being here!” I think these examples, by themselves, indicate how much people forget the fundamental of life – people essentially live for people. Why do we achieve grades? Why do we achieve?  We want to build families, want to repay parents, want to communicate our achievements to others – we achieve for the people we live around. Insofar as I’m concerned, grades merely indirectly communicate your abilities to others, so why forego an opportunity for a simple percentage boost when you can directly communicate your abilities through simple interaction? Some might be taken aback, and say that we should ‘live for ourselves’. In a way, I am. I am living for myself, by living for others. Through affiliation, I am finding my greatest fulfillments – more than any achievement can bring me. The taste of satisfaction may last at most a week, but the development of true friendship will last you your entire lifetime. People – this should always be the priority, no matter what.

People are probably the most interesting things in the world. Everybody has something different about them, and it is fun to be open minded about the ways different people act differently. This is why I now wish to travel. I want to see more, experience more – the more being the people I meet and the experiences I have with them. Everything in this life is unpredictable, and the more cultures you go through, the more unpredictability you shall experience.

So now, returning to the song lyrics – what does it actually mean to have all the right friends in all the right places? The fact is, every single place, and every single person, is ‘right’. As cheesy as this may sound – there is no such thing as a ‘wrong’ place or friend. The only wrong place, could be a place without a single person – here I will accept the argument that such is a wrong place. But for the sake of sustaining my argument, I will reject such a place to be considered a place 😉 I define place as somewhere with people! (philosophical/nerdy much?) Anyhow! Be it Hong Kong or Vancouver, we eventually love the land because of the people that inhabit the area. Such a feeling cannot be replicated by any other sort of activity.

How did I come to realize all this? Just take a look back to your memories? What do you see? Do you see yourself sitting down cramming in science notes for your final exam? No! You remember the people who have ultimately experienced a true connection with you. You remember the stupid jokes, the lame disses, the risky things you’ve done. You might remember the first day you met, and how you blew up a 7 Eleven Microwave together, or played Big Two together – laughing insanely for the most retarded reasons. You remember those times you sat at Cafe De Coral, chatting about nothing but values and ideas. What about those in UBC? Nerding out at Totem Park on a Friday evening. Nothing creates friendship like that :)True connections will last forever, as they shall for me.

Such connections can only be created if you give people what they need…not what they want. Think about that.

I guess that’s the type of person I am – more people-orientated than I could have imagined, or more than I can deny. Twenty years have gone so fast with you. I think somewhere along my life I forgot, or didn’t understand how significant they were to me. But now I know; I really do. They say I have a good memory, but really, the years could not have been memorable at all if not for you guys every step of the way. As for the years ahead, “這一次….我陪妳看到未來.”