Saturday, January 25, 2014

Limitless Possibilities

It's about the end of January and I've just realised I'm turning 23 this year. Frankly it makes me feel old, not in the literal sense of "old" and its associations of greying hair/wrinkles/menopause, but that I'm 23 and I still haven't felt like I've achieved anything tangible and substantial.

Perhaps it's some kind of "coming of age" but I'm becoming more accepting of "new" things, "new" environments, "new" mindsets and "new" circumstances. Somehow things and thoughts that I've previously been averse to, I can actually consider them now as an option in my life, compared to last time when it would have gotten a straight mental "No".

One of these things is actually the idea of "travelling". Most people don't know that I detest travelling. Haha. Odd as it sounds, family trips, vacations, church camps, school overseas trips leave me with a bad taste of the feeling of "emotional work" for weeks prior to the trip. Spontaneous, rather free-and-easy itineraries are quite bearable for me (say maybe 8 hours of activity), but I really can't stand back-to-back super-packed itineraries that run 6am to 10pm of a day. I don't know, but travelling gives me this bad feeling of feeling "trapped" in a small space (e.g. hotel room) or schedule and I only don't feel like that if I'm fully comfortable (to make decisions) with my travel partner(s). Packing also seriously puts me off wanting to travel, and I have a high tendency of feeling "homesick" for a place for familiarity (not so much my own house, but the feeling of carefree familiarity?). Haha.

Well anyway, I've recently taken a keen interest in travelling. Somehow I've given it some thought, and noted I do have some countries I want to visit in this lifetime. Sure I'm still not looking for overly exotic experiences in really far-off countries (e.g. South Africa, Russia), but I think this step towards even wanting to travel is already a big improvement (your reaction is probably "omg"). Some places I want to visit at the moment: Seoul, Shanghai, New York. Very much a city girl I'll admit.

Another reason why I don't like travelling is because, well, I don't like spending large amounts of money at one go, on an intangible experience (Photos and memories are not exactly tangible.) In a nutshell, I really don't like spending on services (i.e. tours, things I can't keep). Haha. Throughout my study of marketing, there is one thing I do like, and that is services marketing, but I personally would hate the idea of paying for something I don't necessarily need and can't possess. E.g. Paying twice the flight price for comfort with food, baggage and "free" sleep mask and blankets is just meh for me. It's not that I actively choose to be budget-conscious but it just seems a complete waste of money to me. Haha.

This might make people laugh... But I refuse to pay 20 cents to relieve myself at a toilet (even if my bladder is a full tank, *cough*) at a dingy building. If you'd ever noticed, it's always the dirtiest and grossest toilets in Singapore that charge you money for using it! Logic? NO. Hahaha. It's not that I'm picky about 20 cents (come on, it's 20 cents) but these chargeable toilets are often dirty and old? I can use the toilet at any shopping mall for free, and at least it doesn't smell bad and have stains on the walls.

I digress. Haha. So yeah, I learnt something from some thoughts my eldest sister shared with me on educating preschoolers (my twin niece and nephew are now almost two!) and that is:
"Words to children are all hard. They don't know an 'easy word' from a 'hard word'. Children are often limited by adults (e.g. teachers, parents), who only teach them what is suitable to their level. But children can learn more than their level, they can learn more if you don't limit them."
I'm beginning to see, the world around me has limitless possibilities, and somehow I have (or perhaps my upbringing has) cooped myself up in my own square mindsets to think that I have only a certain number of options available in my lifetime, and a certain number of ways of achieving it... Well, Life is more than that.

The possibilities are endless.

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