Some of you may recognized this as the title to Tyler Ward’s album which is not really the point of this post. I just thought hey, the title fits what happened to my day today or more of what happened to people around me today. It couldn’t have been more contrasting in terms of events.

Hello.

Hello to a world of opportunities. Hello to the brave big world there is today. Hello to fears. Hello to insecurities. A really good friend of mine graduated today and this was his second degree. He graduated with a Masters in Counselling. I didn’t know if I was going to make it in time to his graduation ceremony as I had a test before that and so I told him I might not be able to come. Being the usual kind self, he said “don’t worry about it, you have done more than enough for me.” I was going to write a card to him to make up for not coming. The card never materialised cause well, I went. I guess what I’m about to write echoes what I would have written. Graduation ceremonies are one of the most pivotal moments in your life. It is here you start leaving the comfort zone of your training ground. It is here you start to realize what a harsh world reality is. It is never what you prepared for in universities. It is never what you anticipated. There are just too many variables to know what to expect. it is here you decide what kind of man you want to be. It is also here you are going to impart your knowledge on the world. Going to university is so much more than receiving a degree. We are always constantly learning and it wouldn’t stop for the world and it wouldn’t stop after university finishes. You sharpen your minds yes. Your sharpen your cognitive skills yes. But you also learn, hopefully how to be a better person through your failings, sufferings and happiness. Even at the stage of tertiary education, you don’t realize it but you are already contributing to the society. It’s just a different audience after graduating. Graduating is about realizing the journey is not over, it’s only the start of something new. Hello world. Hello to hope.

Love

It’s Life Week in my university this week. So I was out helping promoting awareness of poverty and the situation it really is in the world and the local areas. At this area called Woolloomooloo, you always see homeless people on the streets and just how scary it is for them. One of the things I did when I came to Sydney was to take a homeless walk. It is then I realized how awful their situation is. Every morning, they have to fold their broken mattresses and pack up immediately because the police and council will chase them away. They can’t even afford to have a temporary home. So in the efforts of promoting world poverty, we came up with this thing called the poverty challenge where you go a whole day just eating one bowl of rice. Honestly, that’s more than a lot of people eat on a regular basis. So, here was I talking to random people and friends regarding the situation, this guy asked my friend, “Wait, is it brown or white rice?” while completely missing the point of the poverty challenge. You can’t like choose what kind of food you want in a poverty challenge like “Hey mate, can I like you know have salt and soya sauce with the rice?”. That being said, most people slowed down on their fast paced life to listen about poverty and you get that sense of love from them. The same kind a poor child shows when he smiles with the simplest things in life, contended with every single bit of blessing he has. Don’t forget how fortunate you are. It is not that God doesn’t love these poor souls but rather they are the ones that are teaching us. There is more for us to learn from a homeless man than he from us. Love does not stem from materialistic needs but rather it stems from trying to give others the best you can even though at times it may feel as though if you have nothing. If you have heart and soul, you will go far in life.

Heartbreak

A friend of mine went through a heartbreak today. And it was sad and terrible. I can only empathize while trying to grasp the situation. I been through my fair share of heartbreaks but never like this I guess. Most of us have been through emotional sadness but we all deal with it differently as we all have different backgrounds and influences while growing up. At the end of it, we can only do what we can to help others. We lend a listening ear and advice that is needed at the time. When a relationship between a guy and girl fails to materialize, we grief. Why do we grief? We do because there is so much potential to be tapped and the worst part of it all is you don’t get the happy ending you deserve. People get mad when novels and movies don’t have the happy ending they want. Strikes and protests will be held over it. That’s how desperately we want one. What really is a happy ending? It is not about sailing off into sunsets and growing old together under the moon. At least, that’s my point of view. Happiness is not about the length of time spent with that person but rather about making the most of the time you had with that person to begin with. What’s the point of a relationship if you didn’t appreciate the time you had with the person? If you keep regretting over your past mistakes and contemplate on the what ifs, you will fail to see the beauty of it all. I would like to think the other person didn’t want to hurt you to begin with but after all, we are only human. We mess up and we screw up and that’s going to happen like a vicious cycle. Don’t forget what happened so that it can remind you of the future but also forgive and learn to let go if you love yourself. Don’t fuel yourself with so much hate. It’s much easier to live life forgiving others and than not. Take your time. Grief. And when you’re ready, let go. The healing can only then begin. 

This is probably the longest I have written but I hope I made sense. I like you am also learning. Love while you can and don’t forget you are not alone as you think you are. As the Switchfoot song goes, I dare you to move.