Three important lessons I have learned in life
I am nearing half a century mark in age soon, and as with everyone, I have my share of ups and downs in my life.
The first important lesson I learned in my life is regret. I am sure all of us have some form of regret over the course of their lives. Regrets are instances that happen by chance or choice, and once decided, there is no turning back. The consequences that follow might not be the outcomes I have envisioned, so here are where regrets form. In life, and over time, I must deal with these regrets from an outsider viewpoint, learn from them, and hopefully not make the same decision again.
The next important lesson I have learned is to save money. Since young, my grandmother would habitually pass me extra money on top of my allowance, and I would spend it on some things that I wanted. This set the stage for my spendthriftness later in life. In this materialistic world, there are many things that I want to have, but just not enough money to go around buying all. So every month, my pay would be drained totally, having spent on so many things that I wanted, without saving any for a rainy day. I only realise my folly when I need to buy my first house to live with my newly married wife, and my father had to fork out the cash-over-valuation of the HDB flat for me first. I am grateful he helped me out, and to date, I am still repaying him. So to you out there — start saving from young!
The third lesson I have learned in life is to stick to my decisions. This lesson concerns the decision that affected my working life. Since primary school, I love to write, and my proudest moment then was my composition was read aloud by the teacher to the whole class. That moment seeded in me the love of writing and reading too, which is the fuel to get me to write. But in secondary school, a preview talk by a technical post-tertiary institute on design caught my attention, and my career choice changed. So I went on to study product design and multimedia design, but I did not join the design industry. Instead, I worked in video and photography for a decade, before I reconnected with my love for writing and wrote pro bono for a magazine in 2006. That kickstarted my professional writing and editing career, and I have not looked back since. So to you out there — do not waver from your decision on your career path once you know what you want to do for a living!
