The last decade

Once in a while, I like to take a look at the content of my black folder. I was going through the newspaper articles that I had cut out the past two years just now (Ha, yes, I am that kind who will cut out articles and keep them :P). Took time to read a few (yes, I am that kind who can read articles a few times or for years but not get tired of them :P) and took interest in one, it's a piece of reflection by Ignatius Low. A part of his reflection got me reading it a few times. He wrote...

I was being partly serious when I said it would be my last. For some reason, the new year has been marked by news of the sudden death of several people who were friends of friends. One drowned while swimming in Sentosa and another collapsed at a New Year's Eve party. The latter's Facebook page is still up and has been flooded with friends from all over the world sending him final farewells and YouTube video clips of their favourite songs.

One of the characters in a United States drama series I am watching has just been hit with cancer. She's not much older than me, and it made me think of the physical and emotional vulnerabilities that the 10s will expose to someone my age.

This is why I want to live the coming decade as if it will be my last. If I survive it, the following decade may well be my last. After three decades of struggling with life and learning to get it right, the next 10 years will be ones to enjoy. I want to go to places I have never been before and take on challenges I had earlier been afraid to try. I want to work on things that really matter to me, like friendships, family and building a home. I want to hug the people in my life that I love - not just with the eyes.

Maybe you have taken a less circuitous route to self-awareness, or maybe you are en route, but you should think about what the next 10 years should bring you. And if, like me, you find yourself thinking about the decades gone by, then make the most of this one - whether it is switching to that dream job or taking the plunge with that long-distance relationship with an old flame.

Happy 2010, everyone. Or should I say, happy 2010 - 19.

~ Ignatius Low (The Sunday Times, 17 January 2010)

You know, sometimes, I just got this feeling that I might not live past 40...Well, I might not have a decade then. But you know, sometimes the fear of losing a loved one seems greater than the fear of the end of my own life. Hmm, maybe instead of focusing on these fears, let's really work on things in our lives that really matter and not waste a day, an hour, a minute or even a second of that last decade.