STAYING OPTIMISTIC

STAYING OPTIMISTIC

           All of us have heard about people who gave up in the middle of their journeys to success and it’s sad because these people didn’t continue their important journeys as they were probably so close to achieving them. In our lives, we encounter various problems and dilemmas that require good decision making. As soon as we make a choice we have to carry out the decision properly or else we will end up regretting it. Regret is bad as it ruins our confidence in making proper decisions the next time we encounter a dilemma. This is where optimism comes in handy as through optimism, the effects of regret will not be so bad and mind-bothering. Optimism is basically the ability to stay positive for any situation including the bad and tough situations and it is extremely important as we grow older because we will encounter situations with ever increasing difficulty.

          We have to stay optimistic in order to maintain a positive-thinking mind so that we are emotionally ready to encounter whatever challenges God throws at us. If we do not stay optimistic, giving up becomes an action to be done in any challenge and this certainly will not make us productive. An individual will never know unless he or she tries therefore optimism is needed to enable the individual to try taking up a certain challenge. However, to be successful in a task or challenge, one must stay constantly optimistic because he or she will find a way to be successful even it if takes a very long time. An individual who stays optimistic is happy and he or she who achieves his or her goals will be as happy as a king if he or she uses optimism as the key to success. For example, a student who achieves straight A’s in his General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations uses optimism as an important tool to achieve this. Even if the situation is too tough to handle, optimism is the fuel that keeps us positive to endure it.   

          To stay optimistic, we have to keep thinking about the good possibilities and always remain thinking positive at all times. Whenever we encounter a certain situation or challenge that is too difficult or too tough, we must remember that anything is possible with effort and patience. Secondly, we must remember the reason we took up the challenge because this will remind us why we started in the first place therefore by doing this, we will feel the importance of taking up the challenge. A good example to reflect this situation is Michael Faraday, an English scientist who remembered the reason he wanted to meet and convince the other scientists during a science convention about his findings of a certain experiment. He remembered that he wanted to prove his discovery of electromagnetism and how it works so that the understanding of physics will change forever. He had a simple background but his optimism allowed him to become an important physicist. He also kept thinking of the possibilities of his electromagnetism discovery and his discovery became famous and important in today’s physics. This proves that we have to believe and work for our dreams to be achieved and by believing in our dreams, we are able to stay optimistic. 

          There are various situations and times where we have to stay optimistic so we can avoid unnecessary doubts and negative thoughts of the outcomes. In times of sadness and sorrow, the need to stay optimistic is a lot because when we are sad or depressed, staying optimistic helps us to control our sadness and depression. A death of a relative or a close friend can really bring us down but we have to remain as optimistic as we can so we can avoid constant sadness for a long period of time. During a football tournament, we should stay optimistic to gain confidence in winning the competition and by staying optimistic, we can find a sense of hope in achieving the target. When a close friend departs to another country because he needs to further his studies, we should stay optimistic so that we don’t feel lonely because if we stay optimistic there will always be hope. When the examinations are near, stay optimistic and have the ‘I can do it’ spirit because this will reduce the chances of feeling nervous and anxious. Before a performance, we must remain optimistic to help us feel confident in giving our best shot at the stage.

          Many famous people in the world use optimism as a secret for their success including scientists, singers, politicians, and sportsmen. The scientist Albert Einstein stayed optimistic and came out with the quote ‘knowledge is limited, but imagination encircles the world’ which allowed him to create the famous equation E=mc^2 (energy equals to mass multiplied by the speed of light squared). Dave Grohl stayed optimistic after Nirvana broke up because the singer killed himself, and because of his optimism Dave continued his passion as a musician and founded Foo Fighters. Abraham Lincoln didn’t come from an easy living family but his optimism helped him become the president of the United States of America. Lionel Messi of the Argentina National Football Team stayed optimistic when he played for the team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and he is still optimistic even after his team lost to the Germany National Football Team. These people are just a few examples of many successful people who used optimism as a tool for their success.

          As a conclusion, optimism is a great and important tool to achieve our goals in life as well as helping us to stay hopeful. Optimism is what keeps us positively motivated to do our daily tasks regardless of the difficulty. Through strong optimism, we can be successful in our lives, not just in our studies or work, but also in our thinking. 

AN UNFORGETTABLE WOMAN

AN UNFORGETTABLE WOMAN

Note : This story is purely fictional. None of these experiences are actually real. All the experiences in the story are from my imagination. Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

          Serena was a girl I could not forget even after I left college and the memories of her are still stuck in my head even until today. Her attitude was a mixture of caring, funny, and cheerful that made her a famous girl in my batch of students. I never expected to be close friends with her at first, considering that I was from an all-boys school so I thought that socialising with boys was more appropriate for me. After I met her, she made me realise how fun it was to talk to girls personally without any awkward situations and whatsoever. So it’s quite obvious that she could become my girlfriend but apparently the both of us didn’t have the interest of being a couple although we graduated from college. Although we remained as just close friends, we did not bother of what others had to say about us. 

          I still remember the day we first met in college, which was during physics class. It was the first day of physics class in college, and all the students gathered in the lecture room with their books, stationery, and of course mobile phones. I sat at the front row as I was short and needed a clearer view of the projector screen. Then I saw Serena for the first time stepping into the lecture room with a gentle smile which showed some strong interest in learning. Dressed in a dark blue shirt, and a grey skirt, she walked to the row of seats behind mine and laid out her stationery. Soon, the lecturer, Mr. Tan Wei Han entered and introduced himself. He instructed everyone in the lecture room to introduce themselves and he also asked us to enjoy the life of being Science students in college. We were then assigned to our laboratory partners and to my surprise, Serena was my partner. I certainly was not expecting a girl to be my laboratory partner but I had to learn to adapt to the situation. 

          During the times in the laboratory, me and Serena worked together to conduct experiments and record all the observations. She was easy to work with and luckily I did not have much trouble communicating with her. Sometimes, I shared jokes related to physics with her and she laughed at most of them which proved that she had a really ‘scientific sense of humor’. We spent many good times researching and explaining our findings in various experiments related with electromagnetism, velocity, and electricity. Some college students were a little jealous of our happiness but Serena and I were mature enough to ignore their jealousy. There were times when Serena fell asleep after really long experiments and assignments and I helped clear up the apparatus and books. As a positive response, she expressed her gratitude by helping me with almost all my problems in writing experiment reports properly.

          Outside of the laboratory and lecture room was a different story. I joined the college’s swimming club so that I can continue the sport I loved ever since I was twelve years old. On a fine Saturday evening, I went to the swimming pool with my gear and jumped in the water with a big splash. Immediately after I jumped, I heard a young girl’s voice from my right side and I turned to look for the person. I removed my goggles, and I saw Serena standing a mere ten feet away from me. “Hey Serena! Fancy meeting you here,” I said with a big smile on my face. She replied “Didn’t know you were a swimmer, Adam. I thought you were the introvert type of person?” My answer was “Well, that is sort of true. But, that does not mean I can’t swim”. She then said “Just kidding man”. After the brief conversation Serena wanted to race with me and I gladly accepted the challenge. The race started with Serena already ahead of me which was an unbelievable moment. We swam fast and the race ended in a tie. I was amazed by her speed.  

          Here’s another funny experience between me and Serena that remained unforgettable. I still remember when Serena asked me what I did for a hobby during my spare time and my answer was jamming with my band mates. She broadly smiled, and showed some interest in my hobby. I told her about my life as a drummer, the rock songs my band mates and I sang, as well as cooperating with the band mates. Serena asked more questions about my hobby like who were my band mates and where was the place we jammed at. I told her that I jammed with two college mates, Benedict the guitarist, and Liang Zhou the bassist. I also told her we jammed at the Joseph & Andrew Studio near college. Serena grabbed my interest when she asked for more details about the instruments used and how we played the songs that suite our tastes. So, I answered her with the names of the instruments in specific which were a white Fender Stratocaster electric guitar played by Benedict, an orange Fender Precision bass guitar played by Liang Zhou and a dark blue Tama drum kit played by myself. Besides that, I told her most of the songs we played were by Audioslave, Nirvana, Green Day and John Lennon. Serena was indeed excited to hear those words from my mouth and to my surprise she admitted that she was a fan of rock music. I couldn’t be any happier for the rest of the day when I heard that a 19-year old girl listened to rock n’ roll. 

          After our last exams and assignments were over, my college held a farewell dinner to celebrate the last moments of the students together. All of the students were invited and the turnout was great. Serena attended and I must say she looked pretty indeed as she wore a sparkling green dress. I sat next to Serena and of course my college mates smiled and some of them wondered if I was dating her. But then again, my very simple mind didn’t care much about dating. Sometime later, my band performed some classic Beatles songs to entertain the young ladies and gentlemen. Serena was impressed by my drumming and teamwork with the guitarist and bassist to the point where she clapped and cheered very loudly. After the performance, she continued to compliment on the band’s performance which made all of us as happy as kings. 

          To summarise my story, Serena was indeed someone I was glad to study with. She changed my life and perception towards socialising and she helped me become a more open-minded person. I hope I will meet Serena one day and share some experience of my life after college.

                                     

BEING A TEENAGER, BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE

BEING A TEENAGER, BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE

          As we grow older, we gain new experiences throughout our lives and these experiences teach us various life lessons. Eventually, all of us will experience the stage of life known as adolescence which is the stage we start experiencing new physical and mental changes. This is when we call ourselves teenagers whereby we are supposed to become mature. Although the age of 13 is considered the first year of a teenager, puberty kicks in at the age of 12 for most boys, and a little earlier for most girls. Some adults might say being a teenager is fun, but it really feels like a dragging pain due to the new changes in our lives. Personally, being a teenager is quite a confusing stage of life for me as I am unable to make my flow of life simple and clear. 

          Let me start with the problems of making better decisions as teenagers. We humans make decisions based on the logical thinking and the more obvious facts we observe. However, teenagers are little different as the brain interprets information using the different parts which are meant for other situations. For example, an adult may read a certain facial expression as feeling shocked, but a teenager may read the same facial expression as feeling surprised. This is due to the teenager’s developing brain misinterpreting the expression therefore leading to the different answer. Another example is when a teenager makes a decision on whether to study or play video games, he is likely going to decide playing video games. The main difference between a kid and a teenager based on this situation is that the kid will be scolded by the parents if he plays video games while the teenager might not be scolded as the parents want him or her to decide for himself or herself. This is the tough part of being a teenager as we don’t get much help to make a decision and we are more likely going to make the wrong one. 

        The next change in life for any teenager is sleep deprivation and laziness. Many teenagers have a tendency to lose motivation quickly which leads to boredom. So, if a teenager is instructed to finish his homework or study, he or she might not do it properly and could even fall asleep during the task. Often times, teenagers just simply can’t keep themselves from feeling bored and tired. There have been situations of teenagers falling asleep during class especially during History class mainly because they don’t have the interest or motivation to pay attention. Teenagers are often forced to keep themselves awake and active during school or tuition classes. Sleepiness is also a problem due to the developing brain producing melatonin as late as 1.00 or 2.00 in the morning. Melatonin is the chemical required for a good night’s rest and is usually produced around 10.00 or 11.00 at night for most adults. A teenager’s brain produces melatonin late therefore he or she falls asleep late and will have problems with staying awake in school. So, it’s quite normal for any teenager to have problems staying motivated and awake. 

          Another notable change for a teenager is the ever increasing interest to socialise. Humans are influenced by the people around them, but the influences give bigger effects on teenagers. There is no doubt that teenagers have a strong interest to socialise and communicate with more people to keep themselves energetic. Many, if not all teenagers enjoy staying around with their peers and having a good laugh with them. They just prefer talking and starting conversations with their peers rather than adults or even their own parents mainly because to the teenagers, parents simply can’t understand what they are going through. The lack of socialising for a teenager can lead to depression and loneliness. But there are some cases of teenagers who don’t like to socialise and prefer to stay indoors and lack the interest to communicate with others. Usually, these teenagers are computer-addicts, or study-addicts and they tend to be quiet and nervous.  To make things clear, many teenagers love socialising with their peers but some are introverts.

          Furthermore, being more rebellious is also another big change during adolescence. Teenagers nowadays have to increase their efforts to keep in track with their lives due to the new responsibilities and tasks. The stress from all of these tasks can lead to a more rebellious attitude and sometimes even more violent behaviour. There are many situations and cases whereby teenagers pick fights with teachers and sadly family members as well. The unstable emotions of teenagers will make them do actions that can harm others and themselves such as bullying, stealing, skipping school, smoking and consuming alcohol. These actions are done because teenagers want to show who are in control and that they are in-charge of themselves. Unfortunately, the rebellious behaviour of these teenagers not only destroys the mental and physical health, but also their relationships with others. In more minor cases, teenagers show their rebelliousness by being rude to their teachers, not following orders of their parents, and arguing with their mentors. Often times, these teenagers need to go through months or years of counselling to help them deal with these negative emotions and control their behaviour. 

          As a conclusion, the stage of life in which we become teenagers is the time of massive changes that can be harmful if not managed properly. Parents and teachers should help the teenagers to deal and control their emotions as well as making more rational decisions. Parents should spend more time with teenage children to ensure a healthy life for them and to help them stay positive. The teenagers of today will be future leaders of tomorrow so some actions must be taken to build and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude in them. 

As for me, I would consider myself as a nerdy, slightly introverted, and constantly-mood swinging teenager.

Not to mention I haven’t fully understood the concept of socialising like normal people.