Journeys

Well i was rummaging through my cupboard when i found this compilation called the MUSE: A collection of writings by SJI Boys. Well can't believe i actually still have somethings from 4 years ago. I found this speech especially heart-felt and want to share it with you. Here's an extract from it

Speechs - Journeys

All too often we forget that what is urgent is not necessarily important.

Journey are something close to everyone's heart. We often use a journey to symbolise our course through life. We imagine our goals to be destinations, difficult decision become cross-roads and a dead end is the result of poor judgement. and as with any journey, we are constantly looking for the one shortcut which will make our life easier. This is where we lose track of our morals, if we let our greed go too far. Some will resort to crime or relying on inheritance to get rich. The preferred method of today being let your parents do the crime and then inherit the money, but however attractive such a path of life may seem we must remember that the journey is more important than the destination. How we lead our life defines who we are, and there are no shortcuts to leading a good life.

Looking back now, i realise that for most of my life, i was guided in my choices, told which way to go and how far to run. Never having to worry about making a wrong turn. Childhood is free from pitfalls or dangers, as children we rest easy, oblivious to the cares and worries of our parents, who take great pains to shield us from the harshness of reality. It was only recently in life that i began to see the world through my own eyes for once, and what i saw terrified me. As slowly as i began to make decisions for myself, i realised that the responsibility involved was immense. I ponder how each step and every turn we make can change the course of our lives forever, where i was going and how i was going to get there became a very important question to me, watching some of my friends go astray I saw how many things can lead us down the wrong path in life. I suddenly understood the restrictions that had annoyed me before were only serving to protect me.How ironic that in the instant I am given more freedom, i long for the guiding hand of my parents once again. But the journey is mine, and mine alone.

The fear of change is powerful indeed. How many times have we decided not to try something new, only because we dare not take the first step. We must hold onto every dream and hope we ever have, because what if, the one you let go could have made you feel complete. As i grew to love and conquered my challenges, i realised that we need not fear change if we have faith or a belief in the benevolence of the universe to guide us. I learnt that sometimes as we reach the end of one road, we need simply step onto another to continue our journey.

Faith and determination will carry us far in our journeys and we must never be afraid to explore new areas of life. As in the words of the great poet T S Elliot, " We shall not cease from exploration and the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." I believe that all journey start from within and the destination is to discover who we are. For is not life the journey to finding ourselves?

Tan Ming Quan

There you have it. Tots of a man before his time. Truly a Class of it own