PEOPLE COME, PEOPLE GO

It was the last day for one of my colleague who I barely knew for about 5 years. News about his resignation had became talk of the day in my office since the past 2 weeks and it was actually kind of a surprise to me because I've always thought that he would stay much longer with the company. Another colleague who happened to be my CNN of the office told me that he's going to pursue his career in Singapore with a big, well-known company there. I bet that they must have paid him really good. Early this year, we were both assigned to a project in China for about three months and he helped me out with everything, a lot, during our stay there since he had no problem with the language barrier.

The rest of the afternoon, he went around the entire office taking pictures and addressed everyone he knew. It is well understood that whenever you see people taking pictures in office, it simply means that somebody has resigned today. The next thing will be an email of “My last day” or “Goodbye everyone” and I happened to find out that some of the emails sent were actually a copy-paste from another. It must have been that if you are leaving the company, they’ve probably prepared an email template for you so that you don’t have to spend any time longer narrating words of wisdom to your devoted colleagues. Or simply perhaps, the door is wide open for you so please cut your time short here because you’re no longer with the company!

At one time, our IT administrator even set up a system that treated these emails as junk or spam that every goodbye email you narrated on your last day went straight into trash bin!

The clock struck at exactly 6.00pm as I eventually decided that I should call it a day, got all packed up and ready to head home when he came to me, offered a probably last handshake, with a big smile on his face.

"Well friend, thanks for everything. It's been a wonderful time around here. Hope to see you again in the future. I wish you all the best."

We exchanged another few words of encouragement and a few snapshots after, he left. I remained to my seat, awkwardly felt a bit distracted as I thought that he looked very optimistic and happy.

I turned off my desktop, put on my backpack and walked straight out of the office. As I walked to the employee's car park, I couldn't help to think of all those people, faces that I could remember to this day. Some of them are still around and there are others who seemed to completely disappear from the path of my life. We might have taken different path in our lives and the only thing that keeps us connected is the memories that we left behind.

People come, people go.

Time goes by pretty quick and it has been that way, isn't it?

We meet different kind of people almost every day, probably because by coincidently we happen to be in the same occasion or have the same things in common. We may share the same interest, live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school, work at the same place or possibly simply know the same people. As we move on further with our live, we will find ourselves in new, different circumstances and sometimes we could end up with the same people. Or perhaps different people caught in the same situation.

They could be a stranger you smile at across the street today and who knows, they might be the same person who shares the same flight with you on a long journey back home.

They could be all those long lost friends of a euphoric childhood and I always wonder what happened to them. Passing years could probably make us stranger to each other’s eyes as we grow older and wiser.
They could be someone you had a crush on for the first time of your life in your teenage years, when Mariah Carey looked innocent in her all button up outfits and people at your age were trying to figure out why we needed to learn calculus in the first place.

They could be anyone, even someone you rarely know or hardly speak to.
There was this one guy I knew once, a friend of a friend, and we all went out for the night, spending hours talking about our life over a cup of coffee to another and I found out that we graduated from the same university, in the same years and we kept on talking as if we have known each other for a long time. About week after that, he fell sick for a few days and died.

I was shocked to hear the news because the night we all went out was one of those moments that I could recall till this day because we had so much fun that night. Who could possibly think that it was the first time and the last we met?

Whether knowingly or not, we often forget to look back the passing years that we leave behind and remember all those people that used to be part of our life. They might have left a big influence on ourselves and change us to become a better person today. They are all the people who spice up your life in the past or for the future to come, no matter how significance their presence is.

These people have become part of our life. And we also have become a part of their life.

FIRST CHAPTER

While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about.

-Angela Schwindt-

Some of us just wake up in the morning, struggle for a minute to really get up from the comfy of the bed, dash off for a quick shower and live routine of the day. The rest is history.

Some people just go on with their whole life not knowing the purpose of living this life in the first place. The days go by week, weeks turn to month, months become year and before we know it, our life has stretched far beyond the edge of time. How many of us unequivocally sure what we really want in this life? Are we living our life the way we always want it?

That's something I've always asked myself way back then. Do we even need a reason to live? It's hard to really figure out what we really want, because sometimes what we always want most probably not the best thing for us. For sure, we all have our own reasons; fulfilling desires or pursuing dreams that keep us going on, all this time. At some points though, I can't help but to wonder, how far have I accomplished? Am I working a job? Do I live by my dreams? Is this how things should be?

Sometimes, I feel the need to ask those questions to myself, just to keep me on the go and making sure that I won't be out of track. Where this will lead me to? Well, like I said, we all have our reasons and for me, as long as I live and die happily, it's up to me to decide the next-big-thing for my life. After all, life can sometimes be promising with the fact that everything may unknowingly change within a split second. Even when things start to make sense, all you have are just a mere glimpse of yesterday. Everyday is a winding road. Every turn is a surprise. Apparently, it is easier to just make rules as we go and see how things going to turn out, because sometimes we have to live by coincidence. If everything seems all good and fine, just remember to be prepared for the worst. For sure, we never know what future holds for us but to face the uncertainties somehow, to me, makes life feels more adventurous and worth living.

We will never understand everything in this entire universe and that's the simple truth. There are many things around us that will remain slightly or otherwise out of our comprehension. I was once a perfectionist with high expectations in every single thing I did. Well, expectation usually comes along with disappointment that each time when something goes wrong, I would end up more confuse, uptight and in some ways it slowly relegates my self-esteem. So, I start to let loose, keep my hand wide open for any possibilities to come and embrace what life has to offer. Things may even right suddenly go wrong, but it is much better to accept the fact and get on with our lives but of course, with some lessons to be learned. No one can go back and change a bad beginning, but anyone can start now and create a successful ending. There will always be tomorrow. Just let bygones be bygones.

This gives me the idea that life might actually lead to opportunities but pretty much in a different way. It's either you take it and own it, or just let it slip away. You have to give your best shot and survive to live the most out of it. There will be those times when you need to make the best choice out of options you have but the fact is, you could never have it all. Opportunity is a road to success for people who seek for it. Life should not be limited or bounded to any particular reason because of our circumstances and sometimes it's good to be stepping out of comfort zone and being more that we think we could be. Learn to take up challenges and discover new things in life. There are many things in life that could surprisingly lead us to be more out of ourselves. Never let something that you can't do to stop you from doing something that you can do. Don't be afraid to dream and never stop dreaming. You won't loose anything. Of course, life is never smooth. There will always be ups and downs along the way. I'd say, just enjoy the ride. Bottom line, cherish the moment while it last. And yes, good things never last.

Sometimes when we are busy searching for the meaning of life, we may by chance, miss out great things around us. Life is like a never ending story, and the search is never ends.

It shouldn't be.