- Published: January 19, 2022
- Updated: January 19, 2022
- University / College: University of Ottawa
- Language: English
- Downloads: 1
Have you ever received a gift from someone? During your birthday, Christmas or any other special occasion? I bet everyone has. Back when I was younger, I used to receive a lot of gifts from my relatives on my birthday, what I will immediately do is unwrap them and find out what is inside. Back then, I did not demand anything. To be honest, I do not think that I even knew how to demand for anything. I was too naive for that. So even if it is a small present, or a Birthday card, I will still get very excited. I have read a book recently, it was a book written by Andrew Matthews. This book somehow motivated me to be optimistic and it made me realize something important about life. Life is short. Life is too short for humans to keep blaming about how imperfect their lives are. There was a time when I went through emotional depression. It’s not a severe one since I can still control myself. I just tend to care too much and compare with people around me. I would just stay up all night and think that “ Why is my life so terrible?”, ” How can some people have everything and me, nothing? ” All kinds of question marks and images that I do not want to see just poped out in my mind whenever I closed my eyes. What I did that time was shut everyone out and try to ignore everything. It was indeed a very difficult time for me.
As soon as I realized that we have to appreciate our life , I started to accept everything. In this world, no one is perfect. In Chinese belief, life has a yin and a yang, it is a symbol that has black and white in a circle which literally represents shadow and light. In this world, there is heaven and hell, the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, this is how life is balanced. Human cannot survive in this world if everyone is rich, who would be hawkers and clean the streets? Either way, human cannot live in this world if everyone is poor. But for me, in between the Yin and the Yang, there is grey. Grey represents us, everyone of us in the class are the grey. We have a family, we are healthy, although our parents are not billionaires, we are not very poor, our parents can afford to send us to school, it is actually more than enough. We do not have to be the best. Instead, we must learn to appreciate what we have.
It is pointless to be the richest person on earth or the most popular kid in town when there is no happiness in your life. Instead of facing your new MacBook Pro or your Iphones for the whole day, why not spend some time with your family and your beloved ones to see the sunset together where the sun meets the horizon in the opposite direction, turning the sky red and orange, marvel the scenery together, isn’t it much more better? Why choose the hard way to live when there is a simpler way? Whenever you feel depressed, disappointed or sad, do not give up or blame anyone for this, just think, you are not sent here to suffer nor to get punished, you are sent here to be educated. You have the health, wealth and a family. There are many people who are starving to death, struggling to survive, fighting for their lives out there but you are here. You are borne in this peaceful country. You are blessed, and remember, this is a gift from god.