Farewell 2004, My Sifoo...

and.......... Hello 2005!!!

Pheww! It's been quite a year... I had a lovely 2004 and I hope next year would be just as wonderful, if not better!

I'm not one to make new year resolutions...
1) Because I'd end up with, not just a list of resolutions, but volumes and volumes of it...
2) Because even if I did make resolutions, at the end of the day, I'd just forget all about it.

What I CAN do, is list down the lessons I was privileged to learn in the course of 2004...

"Good Ol'Days" is not just Grandpa Talk

Ahh.... the good ol' days..... I remember when a beef burger costs RM1... air kotak ribena cost 60 sen... hot cup of milo costs 40 sen.. I remember going to school with RM3 in my pocket and feeling super-rich... Now if I've got only RM3 in my pocket, I don't go out at all.

Things always seem better in retrospect...
When I was in primary school,I wished I was back in Kindergarden... where playing in the sandbox and fingerpainting ruled my days...
When I was in secondary school, I wished I was back in primary school... where teachers treated you kindly and everyone was friends with everyone else... Where you played batu seremban, netball, badminton or galah panjang during recess... Where lessons were peppered with drawings and colorings and required not much brain power...
When I was in university, I wished I was back in high school, where everything was planned and scheduled for you... and all you had to do was learn the syllabus and ace the exams...
Now that I'm working..... I wish I was back in university, where life was filled with your own activities and your time was yours to spend...

I guess when I'm old enough to retire, I'd miss working... Though right now, I wouldn't mind playing in the sandbox again...

You've Got to Play the Game

I used to think that in order to succeed in your chosen career, all you gotta do is to make sure that you get your work done, and your work's done well. But after nearly 2 years in observing the working life, I have to admit that doing only that is not enough. You have to make sure that you get your work done, and your work's done well AND play the game while you're at it.

This includes making sure that your boss KNOWS that you're working (i.e. via e-mails and occasional status reports...). It includes being friendly to EVERYone regardless of whether you like them or not. It includes being friendly and deferential to all your SUPERIORS regardless of whether or not they deserve such reverence. It includes all sorts of things that make me blanch when I think of it...

What I have YET to do, (and will NOT do), is to work till midnight just to prove that I'm working hard... Puh-leez lah... I have a life.

Sometimes it's better to Shut Up

I must've been a terrible teenager. Don't get me wrong, I was well-behaved and didn't do drugs, alcohol or men.. But I had to win EVERY argument. I bet my parents were sick & tired of my non-stop arguing. Maybe that's why they encouraged me to be active in debates.... to channel that 'I-know-all-and-I-know-best' attitude elsewhere...

This year, I learned that sometimes, you should just 'mengalah'... let someone else have the last say. Especially if you love that person... What's the point of winning an argument with your mother if you end up being a disrespectful, rude daughter? What's the point of winning an argument with your future husband if you end up portraying yourself as a bona fide bitch?

It doesn't hurt to lose an argument.. In fact, if it helps to ease the tension, keeping quiet is the best thing to do. There's no point in hammering away and building up anger and resentment. In these little squabbles and bickerings, even if you know you're right, just shut up.

It takes a lot of pride-swallowing on my part, but I've realised that it really is the most honorable thing to do.

I'm sure there are many other lessons that I learned this year, but to list them all down would be tedious and time-consuming...

Suffice to say, that I thoroughly enjoyed 2004 and I hope to put all its lessons to good use...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!