Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Surrealism in Reality

I'm back from China. And I am still in one piece. Phew! It just seems unreal how fast 1 month just passed. I could still remember how I was thinking of reasons to give Mr Lee for not going to China. I could still remember how I was running a camp back in January. And then playing “Ready To Start” by Arcade Fire in my head continuously during the common tests. And then I remember the days I would spend at SDAR Offices, trying to strike a bargain or 2 with my club advisor. Or the sore throats and backs whilst carrying 3 days worth of dirty laundry from camps. I also remembered that time my parents came down for my scholarship presentation. She was there, though barely. Made me smile. And then those days I spent in the library with my study kakis. And those holidays I’ve burned for WorldSkills.

Haha. 2 years passed like no one’s business. Really, no one really cared. Before you know it, I would be sitting for my exams and then my final year project and then graduation and then… it just ends.

Really, it just ends. My watch has this day counter. And I fixed it to alarm when April 20, 2011 came by. Initially, I was clueless why I had this date in my day counter. It just says “END” as the title. A 20-minute bus ride later, I finally remembered.

When they say that long bus/train rides make you think, they really make you think.

Maybe it’s the friends and companions around you that make long days bearable and with added laughter, you would want to just come to school even though you only have 3 hours of class that day. Or maybe it’s really the world revolving much much faster these days.

Truth be said when I was in China. It’s like each day was 6 hours. Boring Math lessons felt like 30 minutes. Meals just seemed way too short. The only thing that was sucking our time was the near silent travelling we had from our dorms to our meals. And also our sleep. Every day we wake up like we only slept for 4 hours.

Remarkably, though it was only a month, our boredom never actually had a chance. Every day, we chatted and chatted. Bursts of laughter from our dumb antics. And yeah, loads of those stuff. And we never actually got bored of each other. I never got bored of her. And yeah, China is cool. Besides the dystopia winters it hosts, it is pretty nice. So I found something there. Something I am fond of. Hey, maybe it's not something. ;)

China returned me in one piece. I’m back in this dungeon of work, chained to my laptop. Ugh.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

[Day 36]: Science of Bad Days.

"A Bad Day Is as Real as You Make It"

Bad days, what really make them?

It seems more evident of a bad day these days have been. I read an article on Lifehacker on how to beat a bad day. Pretty interesting stuff. I've put the links below so do have a read. And then there’s the science behind a bad day. Hear me, a bad day only qualifies as a bad day if you made it a bad one. Simple.

According to that article, it starts by one small mistake. Say you forget to shave your beard for an important board meeting today and then you ran out of gas on the way to work which made you late. Still managing a smile, a bird decides that you are a perfect target for their air support training.

Man that sucks.

But a bad day is as real as you make it. So here is what you do.

Get up
Be aware
Turn it inside-out

Remember, the world doesn’t change. Just get up first. You don’t have to sulk over that. You do have to put some effort in getting back on the track. I usually describe a bad day by a school bully pushing you out of the lunch line. Take not of what just happened and fix yourself. Have a laugh about how stupid of you to forgot to fill the tank last night. Then boast your stand on why personal grooming is overrated. Stone age men didn’t have shavers mind you! And curse that bird all the way because you will be having his cousin for lunch later.

But I do want to let you know, some bad days are not meant to be evaded. Not bad enough for you? What about knowing that your boss just handed you your 2 weeks’ notice? Or a loved one recently passed. Beating them is like climbing Everest but living through them is like taking a cable car up.

The rule of thumb is that beating those unnecessary bad days preps you for the real necessary ones.

Lifehacker
The Science Behind "Having a Bad Day" (and How to Solve It)