Following the ‘Manual of Life’.

Assalamualaikum,

As I’ve written in my previous post (Side Project with SPM Leavers), I’ve been actively involved in a Facebook group for SPM 2013 leavers. I think I joined it back in November, out of boredom. I find it a useful medium to inspire people, to help develop them and prepare them for the world after high school.

But sometimes, things get a bit too, how should I put this, emm, repetitive? And a bit too annoying that I had to be more sarcastic that I originally wanted to. I seriously would not mind people asking questions and opinions about future courses, ’cause frankly those opinions from seniors are what could help them plan their future carefully.

Click to go to the Facebook post/status

And, as usual, I was watching Saiyuki (yay anime!), and an idea popped into my head. Somehow, animes have a knack of giving me an idea of what to write about. I guess I just like most of the things they say, like how an episode of the Saiyuki inspired me to write about this particular post, Alive but Dead. Anyway, the quote that I found interesting was this:

There’s no such thing in the world as a perfect manual.
Think for yourself and find the answer.
Throw away that manual.
You got to think on your feet now.
Whatever you do, do it your own way.

See, the thing about life is, there is no one sure way to success. There is no one road to the top. There is no one perfect path to embark on. In fact, there’s millions of different ways you go take to reach your dreams in life, and no one can tell you which path you should take for you.

Yes, you can ask your seniors for advice. In fact, we want you to ask us for advice. We want you to ask us of our personal experiences in our own paths, so you would know if it’s the right one for you.

But please, don’t ask questions like these:

“I got these results for my SPM. *rambles off the A+’s, A’s, B’s and all*. What should I take?”
“I hate Biology and anything with science. Tell me what to do.”
“I don’t know what I want to do in life. Help me, please.”

Instead, ask more intelligent questions, please.

“I got these results for my SPM. *rambles off results*. I want to do either Engineering or Accounting. Since you’re doing Accounting/Engineering now, can you tell me a bit about what you’re learning?”
“Hey, I’m thinking of doing Culinary. Do you have any friends who’s currently in this program?”
“I’m interested in the Oil and Gas industry. Which do you think would be better, Mechanical Engineering or Chemical Engineering?”

At least, when you’re asking questions, show that you are truly interested in the program / major / course you want to pursue. Or at least, show an effort that you’ve been doing something. Read up about it. Do a little bit of research on your own. Show some initiative. Don’t expect other people to do it for you. It’s you life, guide yourself through.

And, the funny thing is, a lot of people think that there’s only one ‘right way’ in life. Like, if you’re not taking the common path, you’re on the wrong road.

Seriously?

There’s a lot of opportunities available in the world, and each one has its own pros and cons. Some people are better off studying abroad, others locally. Some people are better off in Matriculation, others might be better in Foundation and STPM. Some people might be exceptionally good at majors/courses such as Culinary, Forestry, Education, Mass Communication. Not everyone has to take up Engineering or Medicine. Not everyone is good at Mathematics.

So why are people so worried about doing the ‘right thing’? ‘Cause frankly, there is no right thing to do.

Everything depends on who you are. What you’re good at. The talents you have, the skills you’ve polished, the gift(s) you’ve been gifted with. The passion in your heart. The spark in your life.

What good would life be if everyone is an exact copy of each other? Dude, it’d be sooooooooo dull and boring. Wherever you go, you’d be seeing the same thing again and again and again.

That’s bull****.

So stop thinking about what you should be doing according to what people think of you, and start thinking about what you want to do based on your skills, talents and personal goals in life.

People can give you advice, yes, and don’t completely blow them off. Consider the options you have, weigh the risks in everything, and choose whatever feels good to you. Trust your own heart. And trust God. Pray for His Help, so He would help you in choosing your future.

And remember.

Just because you’re not following what other people are doing, it doesn’t mean that you’re not entitled to the same successes and happiness that others are going through.

This post is getting long, and it is almost 1:00am, which means I should be retiring to my bed soon. I’ll end this post with a snippet of a song from Disney’s Mulan, as well as a random picture of me (’cause, once again, I can! :P)

When things are gettin’ crazy
And you don’t know where to start
Keep on believin’, baby
Just be true to your heart
The wind during the weekend I was in Iowa was freaking cold -.-

Stay awesome, and good night 🙂

4 thoughts on “Following the ‘Manual of Life’.”

  1. you should atleast say some good things instead of putting back those words to them. Its really hard to find people nowadays (malaysian) be good and kind to elders in ‘words’ and put such ‘hope’ in them. I think you should keep those advice before you really give YOUR OPINION to them.

    They might have think twice or thrice or thousands of time before asking you. they might ask others before asking you. egoistic idealism in some person gives nothing good in other way. She/He just asking for opinion; no sweat, no pain. Its just depends on them if they really want it or not.

    You should put your self in others shoe, so you’ll what size they have.

    If you’re busy just say it. Lazy. Boring question. etc.BUT, dont think you as the same as the person asking you. Put aside other thought and stick to the real question.

    I hate those ‘cliche’ thought, post, feeling etc.. But I also hate the same reply/advice to ‘rely-on-yourself’. People are different.

    There’s a lot people in the world who have their own dreams, and there’s a few are waiting for their dreams. Help. Aid. Advice. and Give Hope.

    #sorryTerpanjang sbb taksuka org camni

    1. Yeah, don’t worry. I actually replied to the same questions again and again and again with personal advice for every single one of them, how to figure out what they should do and stuff.

      I’m not that mean to actually say what I wrote on my status to them, don’t worry. That was just an emotional post, but the conversations I had with them were nicer. And I had told them (in general), what they should do to try and find out what their dreams are (taking a piece of paper and writing out all their goals in life, in the next 5, ten, twenty years, what they’re good at, the skills they have, etc).

      So, yes. I do realize that the Facebook status was a bit too much (my brother warned me about it), but I’ve apologized to them just in case ada yang terasa.

      ^^

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