Dreams......?

The topic of our lifetimes: Dreams.

Dreams are what propel us forward

Dreams are what define what we do.

Yet, dreams are what destroys us.

Ever since we were a young child, we would have dreams. We dream to be the heroic police or soldier we seen on TV, or maybe some of us would dream to be the teachers that educate and nurture us through our young years.

Then we move on to our teenage years. Some dream to be the superstar or actor seen on TV, or maybe some of us would dream to be the doctors and lawyers that earn so much and what we were told to be the best paying jobs through our adolescent years.

We have all these dreams in hand, we work feverishly towards them, hoping to one day, be able to achieve them. Some fulfill their dreams, having the time of their lives, but many many do not fulfill their lifelong dreams, living through their lives knowing that they will have no chance at living their dreams anymore.

Right now in our society, are there really that many vacancies for people to fill in for their "dream career"? Obviously people would want jobs that bring them fame and fortune, or just fortune, and not care less about the others. With about 5% of people achieving their dreams, what about the other 95%? What happens to them? They just try to find joy in whatever they have right now? Let's face it. No one can truly be happy with what they own. You may claim to be happy with what you own, but when we look deep down, we know that is not the case.

We write in essays, that happiness is to be satisfied with whatever you have right now. Damn right if I had a Ferrari! But yet again, no I don't. It's nearly impossible to be truly happy for what you own. You may be happy for a short period of time, but seeing someone with something better, you ain't happy anymore.

So what do we do? We fight. Since vacancies are limited, we rush for them. We struggle, we bite, we tear for every last bit that is ours. As they say, all's fair in love and war. You want a fair fight? You'll get it; right after I win. I'm not trying to say that we should cheat or anything, but to get a fair 'fight' in life is not going to happen. To get anywhere, any position, you need to get connections, play tricks, or simply have a head-start. Life is not a race. Life is survival.

Therefore, I'm trying to say that we must grab at every opportunity that comes to us, snatch anything that belongs to us and make sure that it stays ours. For if you want to call them dreams, they'll always stay a dream.

And again, another song to end this post, the motto,

(Some explicit language)

Your sympathy will get you left behind

Ourselves

Nowadays in our lives, everywhere we go, people encourage us to be different, people encourage us to display our own style and not to try too hard to fit in, changing ourselves dramatically during the process. However, with all the preaching of such a behaviour, do most of us actually achieve it? We see people trying to tell others to be themselves and not be under the influence to act like anybody but do they themselves really practice what they preach and truly be themselves?

In our society now, given the advances in our civilisation, we have a certain set of rules that would dictate how we would act, appear or do as a person. Everything we do now is according to what other people has told us how to do dress and act. Even those people that try to be "out of the ordinary" by dressing freakishly, are also following the norm that to be different, you have to dress like a total freakjob. Everyone tries to be different, tries to be themselves, but are never truly successful.

Not only people are affected in this mad race to comply. Take the music industry for example, we are seeing more and more young and rising artists storming into the music scene, ready to live their dreams and be the star that they always wanted to be. One problem exists though, and that is that music entertainment is an INDUSTRY, people running record labels want to make MONEY and therefore, the music they make has to be able to SELL. And if they want the music to sell, it has to follow the "formula" that allow current records to be able to sell as much. Therefore, with this requirement in mind, artistes are unable to fully let their creative juices flow and express their music in the way they want because they would be restricted to the tried and proven method to get people to listen to their music. This is why music sounds so much the same from each other now, this is my opinion of course. Take a look back into the 80s and 90s, when music is famed to be at its height, when artistes could really let it flow, that evolved great legends of various genres like Michael Jackson of pop and AC/DC of rock. This was a time where music had no "formula", when it was all for the love of music and fans.

Looking now at the music scene, everything just sounds similar, with that tried and never failed pattern and rhythm in order to become successful. While I'm not saying that music now is bad, its just that I don't see anything special that would blow my mind in today's music. Almost everything now is about love and relationships, break-ups and infatuation. Why? Because it is tested and proved that people like these kind of music. While we look at previous artistes like AC/DC, they write about almost everything under the sun and Michael Jackson has songs that talk about racial equality and many great things like world peace, a sharp contrast to all the love songs by everyone out there. This is what makes people to really understand and actually feel your passion for music rather than just making money.

While I used music as an example, I think that you would be able to get at what I'm trying to get at here, that people should try to be themselves, rid themselves of all influences that would change the kind of person that is inside of you, that would allow you to fully express yourself in the way you want to be.

So when you feel that no one likes you for who you are, and that you're covered in a shadow, don't fret, cause when there's a shadow, it simply means there's a light shining somewhere.

And with that, I leave you with a beautiful piece of music, perfect to end this post

I hope you have the time of your lives

The Earth is SHAKING

Yes. The earth is shaking. I am pretty sure that everyone here has already heard of the terrible and horrifying ordeal that has struck Japan. An 8.9 magnitude has struck Japan, leaving thousands dead and destroying vast areas of property. The earthquake triggered massive tsunamis that crash and destroy and crush and mangle and obliterate anything and everything in its path. The Earthquake has also caused the explosion of a nuclear reactor in Fukushima, sending radioactive material floating all around the twisted wreckage of Japan.

Japan is now struggling. Devastation, chaos and grief fills the radioactive air as people scramble to safety and for loved ones. The elements have struck mankind. The water has shown its might by leveling anything in the path of the fearsome tsunamis. The air strikes a dirty blow by spreading radioactive materials, contaminating food and water. The land deals the most damage by its terrible rumbles that send people scrambling for support and buildings totally destroyed.

Japan is now in ruins. People can only watch hopelessly as huge waves and crumbling earthquakes suck in monstrous buildings and fling cruise ships around like little rubber duckies. mother nature has issued a challenge. A price to pay for our ignorance at protecting her. People are left with broken homes, broken families and broken hearts. Japan's lush honeymoon feeling is now replaced with panic and distraught. Industries have shut down, businesses stopped and trade comes to a screeching halt. Japan is being hit from all different angles, economically, politically and socially.

Mother nature has struck a near-fatal blow to Japan

Countries are now trying to help save Japan from this insane crisis. Financial aid is pouring in, food and rations supply injected in to resuscitate the unconscious Japan. well-wishes come in torrents, keeping the spirits of affected Japanese afloat. It is only through a disaster like that then only would you know how many people actually care for you a great deal. The Japanese have shown great strength, rising out of the tides of this disaster and shining light in the face of the shadows of destruction. Youths volunteer to help with rationing and administration stuff in order to keep evacuation and refugee shelters running smoothly and comfortably. No one is shown to be exceptionally selfish, people still queue up properly to use phones and get food in spite of the monstrous catastrophe that has struck them. For this, I really admire their mental courage as well as the discipline that has been instilled into each and everyone of them from the very day they were born.

From this incident, we have witnessed how fragile human life can be. We may seem so strong, so smart, so powerful in this world, in the end, when your heart stops beating, there you go. Life is like a candle, burning so bright and strong, while the wax slowly drips down to the "deadline" The flame burns brighter in light breezes, but goes out immediately with a forceful blow. So we must always learn to treasure life. Live life to the fullest, live in the moment, and live like theres no tomorrow. Help others in need, cause you never know when you're gonna need some help yourself.

Sportsmanship much?

Being an athlete, I like sports to be engaging and entertaining. With the many sports competitions that have been organized, more and more students have opportunities to represent their schools in these games. Sports and games among schools are always competitive so as to instill the spirit of determination among the students to strive for victory. Of course, the students train hard for many days just to perform their best during the competition where the eventual aim is to be champion. However, in any game, there can only be one champion, and some participants have to contend with losing in the competition. While it is important to achieve best in the competitions, students have to be able to take losses in their stride, as no one would be able to stay at the top forever. Thus, sportsmanship among students is more important than the end result of the game.

Though school sports are much less competitive than international sporting events, students have a tendency to think only of winning the game, where sporting values such as sportsmanship and friendship are rarely observed. Such can be seen in this case, where the brawl has taken place between the two schools. It is because of the lack of the display of vital values such as sportsmanship that has cause an after match brawl to take place. The implications of the brawl would be disastrous, where students were injured and being an athlete, I wonder if the coaches have instilled a sense of sportsmanship within the players where it is not winning that counts, but the process in pursuing that victory. Often, morality is forgotten where the individual only cares about winning.

A brawl is just a demonstration of how coaches are failing to channel the correct mindsets into their athletes where losing a game is perfectly alright and the right thing to do would be to congratulate the other team and not bash them up. Such is the failures to promote healthy competition within our student athletes where the actual meaning of the competition is diluted.

Also, I am more concerned for the safety measures that the schools take in ensuring that no casualties arise from the competition. There are many incidents that reflect on the mistakes the schools have neglected to rectify such as a student injuring his head in a judo match, a rugby player was hospitalized after foul play during the match and the student that died after a fatal kick in a taekwando competition. After such disastrous accidents that happen, many people are now afraid to continue in that sport for fear of ending up In the same fate as the people. As an athlete, I would like to encourage more students to take part in sports, but if the safety measures are not properly taken care of, how can we expect our students or their parents to participate in that sport without the fear of getting injured? We want to promote sports, and not shun people away from these sports that will be safe after safety measures are taken.

Hence, I think that for the true spirit of competition and sports to be made clear and enjoyable, the spirit of sportsmanship have to be understood and displayed where safety is also another major contributing factor to the overall enjoyment of the sport.

Life

Wow. The amazing topic on life. Life means a lot of things in different contexts. Scientifically, life is the continuation of biological processes in your body that allows respiration to occur to keep your heart beating. Religiously, life is a gift from god who created people. However, life can be summarized in a few lines.

You are born

You spend your first years learning about everything around you

You spend the next 10 or so years studying

You work for the next phase of your life

You grow old and wait for the Grim Reaper to come and take you away.

And that's it. That's what everyone experiences. It is monotonous. Nothing ever changes for anybody. (Unless of course, if you drop out of school at a young age.) If not, nothing is ever anomalous. If we skip some lines in between the order, Life is simply a slow wait for death.

Why? I don't get it. We work so hard and go through so much pain, suffering and mindless gaining of knowledge all for it to just go down the drain when you die. Well of course, if you look at things scientifically its just the end of biological processes.

Life can be exciting or a torture for us human beings. Some of us study hard, earn money and then have fun, while some play hard, earn money, and wish they could have studied harder. Life goes through stage after stage, bringing upon new challenges and discoveries for us. life is magical. Life allows us to feel, to hear, to see and to communicate.

Nowadays in this rapidly developing world, we tend to lose ourselves. Life is now but a way of getting on with each passing day, fulfilling what necessary duties there are for the day and then we go to sleep, not-so-eagerly waiting for the next day to come while we do the same things. We often have aspirations. Let's say we meet that goal. So what? We now have to contend with the workload or duties that comes along with it. Life goes back to another endless cycle of working our hearts out for the hope of a better retirement. After working like slaves for almost a quarter of our lives, we are now retired. And then? we are now too old to have any sort of 'real' adrenaline pumping fun. The giant savings we have acquired over the years have now not much use to us, except maybe for our daily cup of coffee or tea. Going traveling is possible, but tiring, pulling about your old frail body like that around the romantic streets of Paris doesn't really hit the mark. Well, we could go back to working, but then it would be the same process we have gone through for the last part of our lives. And then, after many years of sitting in our houses and watching soap operas or taking care of children, we rest in peace in the holy sanctuaries. That's life.

Sometimes, I really think that Life is just lifeless.

Childhood

Childhood. A word that immediately brings up bright pictures of children running around in the playground, chasing butterflies in big plain fields and behaving like monkeys around parks. Or is it? Childhood now brings up books, school and video games. Whatever happened to the time where children climbed around in trees, flew hand-made kites and caught spiders in match boxes? That was childhood in the past generation. Now, children stop having all these experiences, where they attend school for long hours everyday, when they reach home, spend long hours doing homework and when it is the weekends, spend long hours playing video games. The outdoor fun-filled activities that are experienced everyday have evolved to the stressful and fast-paced lifestyle now. Why are more and more children experiencing the stress and have to combat the rapid advancement of myopia among the children now?

First, let us talk about the education system. School begins early in the morning, a time where students are not awake enough to even be sure where they are. Then begins the lessons. lessons carry on for another 6 hours, where only a very small portion of it is recess. Fine, after school ends, where children are looking forward towards a rest for the other half of the day, then the teacher gives a massive pile of homework. Why? I thought we just spent a whole day at school? Anyways, the children that time only need spend 1-2 hours doing their homework. The rest of their time is spent playing with their neighbours and having valuable bonding time with their family. Children now are cooped up at home after school trying to finish their homework. Children then sleep late at night due to homework or maybe they just want to unwind after finishing their pile of homework. When weekends arrive, children are gripped by the hungry claws of more weekend homework. In any case, children are still buried under academics where they have lost their child spirit where mostly, they worry for the fact that they might be haunted by failed tests. Thus, children fail to experience the joy and laughters that children of the past generation cherish so much.

Next, technology is also a factor. With the rapid development of new technology and gaming consoles, most children now don't care about outdoor activities anymore, all they think of is leveling up their personally customized online avatars. Occasionally, they might come out for a game of soccer or two and then, it's back home for more mindless staring at the screen. Spiders now need not live in the constant fear of dying a slow death in a match-box or plastic bottle. Such practices are unhealthy but it seems the only alternative for modern day kids as people now are lazier and less willing to expose themselves in the sun when they can enjoy themselves in the comfort of their homes. As our world becomes more 'screeny' more and more kids are also suffering from myopia. Such is rare among children of that generation.

Hence, I feel that childhood has changed a lot through the years. I wonder when will be the next time where children would catch spiders, climb tress and play harmless pranks again.

Shakespeare, I doubt you!

The authorship of many famous plays of romance, comedy and tragedy have been doubted as the works of the great writer, William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is said to be the writer of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems and many other poems, however, the actual authorship of these great works have been debated over the years. Many people claim that all of these works could not have probably been penned down by this man over here. Many reasons are available to let us believe that Shakespeare could not have possibly been the author of these works of genius.

Firstly, let us examine Shakespeare's background. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire England. Throughout his years, Shakespeare had only attended a few years of grammar school and had not went on to study in any universities or traveled abroad to study. With such little command of the English language, how could Shakespeare have probably constructed and written some of the most profound usages of the English Language in the poems that were credited to him? Therefore, it is quite impossible that the greatest writer in the history of England never went to school and still had the ability to write such great plays of sophistication.

Also, Shakespeare never traveled abroad. So, without traveling or going to school, how did Shakespeare suddenly gain the education to write great plays of such varied subject matter? How was Shakespeare able to find out so many accurate details of what life was like in the royal court when he was just a poor "writer" during that time?

Furthermore, Shakespeare's exact date of birth is unknown, few documents or verifiable sources of Shakespeare's life exists, much fewer than what would be expected of such a prominent figure and none of his original manuscripts have survived. No documents are available to provide as evidence that anyone has even met him, where not even his own family referred to him as a famous playwright. When Shakespeare died, he did not leave any letters or diaries that referred to his writing career at all.

Many theories exist as to who actually wrote Shakespeare's works and many suitable "candidates" have been selected as who would be the author of those works. William Shakespeare might also be a fictitious person where it was just a cover-up of the author's actual names as many of Shakespeare's plays were highly political and the author would likely have his head resting on his feet if the original writer were to be found out. However though, we can still continue to believe that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare and let us just enjoy what great works he or someone else wrote.