Exercising My Righ┼, Lif┼ing The Floor

Those are the words Brad Pitt said as Archilles in the movie "Troy" to his men. It’s quite a good war cry as well as motivational speech. Short and direct to the point.

The way I look at it, the Immortality Archilles was meaning was that their exploits will be written about in history and thus, they become immortalized. For us in the modern world, we can replace that word with success, wealth, fame, or whatever it is that’s our heart’s desire.

Do take note of one interesting fact though: the men didn’t just have immortality given to them, they had to jump out of the boat and swim to the beach to gain it. In a way, that’s how life works too. We can gain all our heart’s desire but in order to do so, we need to do something and make a step.

And those steps might not even be anything great. Jumping out of a boat and swimming onto a beach isn’t anything to shout for actually. But it still needed to be done in order for the men to reach their immortality. So when we are doing the normal day-to-day routine, let’s not think it’s nothing but just another step towards our dreams.

Of course, if our dreams were God-driven dreams, the way forward would be clearer. That’s because God will be leading the way! He’ll mention the next step and all we have to do is follow it. How about that for simplicity? Course, it involves absolute faith that God knows best but having seen so many people achieve greatness through God, it’s not that difficult to trust Him.

When I was in Penang, I proved that driving fast doesn’t get me that much faster to my destination.

Now in KL, I still don’t see the need for rush. Everyone is on the road/bus/train trying to get home. Why must you continue to try and go home faster when it will only save you a few minutes?

Firstly, taking LRT (bus, no idea since I hardly take them). Every time the train comes, everyone will be pushing to try and get on it. Be patient my friends; like the Putra guide says, "Everyone also wants to go to work." And the next train is only 4 minutes later at the most. You’ll get to work.

Drivers, why do you insist on cutting lanes just to go ahead half a car at a time? Yes, in the long run you’ll save some time but considering that you only live 10, 20 km away at most, how much time do you actually save? Taking a less jam road will of course save you plenty of time but cutting in and out in jams? Doing this will just gridlock the road and make the jam even worse.

Furthermore, I hardly see a reason for all this in the morning. I’m sure most everyone living in KL will know that 7.30 to about 10 is peak hour in the city center and all major roads (including some minor ones) will be jam. Plan your time ahead! Leave the house earlier; than you won’t have to rush just to get to work on time. If your boss is flexible, do what some do; go to work a little later when the crowd is smaller and leave a little later.

Since most office workers finish work about 5 or 6 in the evening, I understand that some may really want to go back fast. I just hope that all these people (myself included) do remember that everyone else is also trying to do the same. Let’s not make it anymore difficult or harassing for others with our impatient attitudes and crass behaviours.

Having said that, I do agree with something I heard on the monorail: can those who are out shopping or for a good time please don’t jam with the office workers? You all have (quite) flexible timing, can’t you arrange it so you don’t go back during the 5-6 period? When everyone is trying to go home after a long and stressful day at work, don’t add to the congestion by also going back. You’re out having a good time, why not just extend it a little later and have a nice dinner out? Or just go back a little earlier. It’s all down to good time management.

I have to commend the commuters for one thing though: they don’t usually push themselves to the front of the door to get out first. I’ve done it once because I was afraid I wouldn’t get out in time. How embarrassing it was when the people I pushed past were also going out! In addition to that, I’ve only noticed 3/4 times when someone couldn’t get out of the train at their stop. 2/3 times was because they couldn’t get out in time but once was that the train doors did not open at the station. Considering that I’ve taken the train every working day for the past 3 months and every week in my Form 4 and 5 years, that’s very minor in comparison with the number of times I’ve seen people get out at the right stations. Not to mention that the doors remain open for a reasonable amount of time to enable all commuters to depart at their chosen stations.

At the end of the day, I really don’t see much benefit in being impatient and trying to beat others in hope of shortening our own journey time. It angers others and gives us stress. I find being patient and waiting my turn very calming and peaceful. At least when I get to work or reach home, I’m in a better mood which serves everyone and myself better.

It’s been nearly 3 months since I last posted anything here or in Priority. I guess I’ve let work take its toll on me. Or I may have gotten lazy. Anyways, I have a few thoughts I’d like to share so look out for a few new postings over this week (what’s left of it anyways)!

Speaking of writing on my blog, I also haven’t been reading my friends’ blogs. Having said that, there’s one thing I like about Friendster blog: auto update whenever there’s a new post. I’ve only kept up with Friendster blogs simply for this simple reason. Oh well…