I've had minor ones where the the big crystal lamp in our house would sway a few times, but it always lasted only a short while to be alarmed.
and I've never experienced earthquake in public places, usually it happened when I'm at home.
A few weeks back, I was at a supermarket with my mum and she went "I think my head is spinning, but ..... Do you feel that ?"
I was like "huh....what ? r u ok mum ?" and it hit me, it was an earthquake, so I grabbed her arm and we walked outside really fast, not quite running though.
Luckily it was a small supermarket instead of the ones in the basement/top floor of a mall, So there was no frantic running down the fire escape out of the building.
When we walked outside to our car, and the ground was still shaking, it was more of a sway than a shake really. Then everyone else got outside on the parking lot, basically just standing still, not knowing what to do, it kept on swaying and kinda made me feel like I was on a boat really.
The earthquake lasted for a long 5 minutes, well... maybe not 5 minutes, actually I dunno exactly how long it lasted.... it felt like 5 minutes tho. ;p
And as we waited for the earthquake to stop, I thought to myself.
What if this is it ?
What if there's no more tomorrow ?
What if the everything started to fall over our heads, the buildings, the neon signs, the electricity poles, and then the ground started opening up. okay... too much holywood scene there.
But What if I die right there ?
Am I ready to die ?
Have I done enough in this world ?
Have I made a difference in this world ? If not for others, at least Have I done something good for myself and my family ?
Have I learnt anything in Life ?
Can I leave peacefully knowing that I've done good ?
The answer to all of that is No.
I haven't achieved anything in my Life
I haven't made my parents proud
I'm not ready to die. period.
At that moment, I wanted to change my Life, live a better life, I want to be a better person. I want to achieve something in my Life, I want to be able to help others. I want to be someone.
I want a second chance and I want to be ready when the time comes.
yea... it was all like a moment of enlightment, complete with Hollywood movie backsound.
Too bad it only lasted a mere 10 minutes.
After the earthquake stopped, we went home and I was back at my comfortable lazy way of Life.
Unbelievable isn't it ?
So, after all that, I kept Slacking around, wasting time and What ?
Do I Wait till another Earthquake to hit me and be scared to death (literary) and wanna "wake up" and start doing something meaningful with my Life all over again ?
I actually wanted to start living my Life (to the fullest) last September 2008 when my grandmother passed away.
She didn't even get a chance to go to high school, but she's such an open minded person.
Her one advice that she keeps on repeating over and over again was this :
"When you study, study real hard, if you do, you'll be a succesful person and you'll be able to do all the things that you love in your life."
It doesn't sound like one of those deep meaningful advice we read in novels, it was just a simple honest advice she kept on repeating to us, her grandchildren.
I know it always meant a lot to me but reading it just doesn't capture the real meaning..... This may explains it more.
What my grandmother meant was :
"when you study - study hard"
Make the most out of your valuable time, you are given the best opportunity possible (that me and your mom didn't have), Learn as much as you can with all your heart and make something out of it.
Make us proud but do it for yourself.
Yup... that's exactly what she meant :)
About me ?
I've done all my studies, I've graduated with honors, but somehow I'm not out there living my dreams, when I see myself, someone with all the privileges in the world, who got educated abroad, who have such an easy comfortable life, but I have achieved nothing in my life. Nada
Right after that day, I started organizing my life, my daily activities.
But it wasn't good enough. It was a start, yes, but it wasn't consistent.
There are days where I keep on slacking and keep on saying to myself, "I'll start tomorrow"
But.....
What if there's no next time ?
What if it'd be all too late tomorrow ?
Wake up Now !!!
We have responsibilities in this world, to ourselves, to others and to God.
Yes there are limits to what we can do, No-one can do everything.
But, Have we done enough ?
Do you sleep at night knowing that you've given your best for the day ?
Imagine when we were younger, going to sleep at night after we've done all our homeworks / assignments for tomorrow.
We feel free, light and satisfied and we're able to sleep soundly, with a smile.
We've done all we can during the day, we've made every minute count, we're ready to face tomorrow and hand in our homeworks. We are basically ready for tomorrow.
Feels good doesn't it ?
Instead we put off things until tomorrow and we burden ourselves with guilt, and we ignored the guilt by watching TV, wasting time, etc.
We know this in our heart and we know that He's watching and He's been trying to wake us up but we keep on ignoring Him.
We always find excuse to procrastinate and to postpone.
Something always comes up, Convenient isn't it ?
With each and everyday, we are given another opportunity to better ourselves, but we fail to do so because we are too busy !!
We're always busy watching TV, busy indulging on too much food and drinks, busy clubbing, busy shopping, busy chasing "dreams" that aren't real, when we're supposed to be busy doing something meaningful.
We think just because no one's looking, we can do whatever we want.
Let's put it this way, If your boss was watching you work, you'd work hard and do your best.
Why ? Because he's watching and you'll get fired if you slack.
But what we have is a silent watcher, He cares for us and Let's us do whatever we please, but we ignored Him, we think we can get away this one more time and start fresh later/tomorrow.
You know what ?
Later never comes
Tomorrow will be another tomorrow.
and after 8 years, you'll still be making empty promises to be a better person tomorrow, just like me.
You have to start now !
I want to start now.
Our responsibilities is not just to our families, to our kids, but also to our Maker.
Have we done the right things ?
Have we made Him proud ?
Hey... Have we even made ourselves proud ?
Are we just sleeping in life ?
For most of us, we are asleep in our daily life, we're sleep walking, not awake.
and for those of use who are already "Awake", we haven't started to live our Lives.
It's the same day in and day out.
we wake up, we eat, we work, we meet people, we eat, we go home, we eat, we sleep.
What is our purpose ?
Have we made everyday meaningful ?
Have we live to the fullest ?
Are we ready to go ?
Take this for an example
There was an incident at a courthouse around a year ago, yes this is a true story
This lawyer walked with 2 other colleagues after attending court.
As they were walking, part of concrete holding a structure just fell on his head.
It just fell right on his head.
The building wasn't even under renovation.
and it wasn't a mafia case where he got murdered by the mob.
The concrete fell on his head and he died instantly.
The 2 other colleagues didn't get hurt at all.
Imagine if that happened to you. If life were to be taken away from you just like that ?
Don't you wish you had at least done something meaningful in your life.
Don't you wish you had a second chance ?
Well now is your second chance, Each and everyday is your second chance.
Always make today count and do it forever because you never know when it's time.
Always be prepared, Always be ready.
then you'll have no worries, you'll have no burden whatsoever.
Just picture it in your head, Feels good doesn't it ?
So... are you ready to die ?
No ?
Then use today as another opportunity to prepare yourself.
Start now. Right now, not in 5 minutes, not tomorrow, Start Now.
Prepare yourself, so when you do die, you're ready, you'll go with a smile.
You won't fear anything and you won't leave any burden and any responsibilities behind.
You're ready.
I know I want to always be ready.
I want to start now making everyday count, I want to start living a meaningful life.
What about you ?
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