Of course, in our society today, there is this "rush" to be successful, to take short cuts, to be part of the daily "grind" that comes with living in this world of fast food, relentless need to be financially successful, sometimes at any cost. From the time we awake, we often find ourselves caught up in the madness that is part of living in the 21st century, and living in a technological age where eveything is instantaneous and connected.
Sometime, step away from your computer (yeah, I know I may sound like a hypocrite since that same technology is what I am writing this dicussion from), go outside, exercise the 5 senses: breath in the fragrance of a flower, or the smell of fresh baked bread, see the color in the world around you, reach out and touch something natural (fresh cut grass, the leaf of a tree), smell the freshness of the air around you after a heavy rain and taste the cold of a ice cream cone or the heat of a hot pot mean with heavy Sichuan spice.
The point is, become connected to the things around you. There will be plenty of time to worry about the "rat" race, job promotions, meetings, making examinations, finishing class with good grades etc. Those stresses will always be there, its an inherent part of the world we live in today. So make a little time each day, to live and most of all, enjoy, life in the slow lane. You might find you will smile a little more each day.
This is for all the people, either finishing school, starting their careers or somewhere in their career, that have wondered about choices we make, and the consequences, both good and bad. We often use the work "Karma" when describing consequences of these choices, and we all use the chinese term "Yuan Fen"= fate/destiny.
I believe life is a mixture of both. We obviously influence our life, and the things that matter most in our life: family, health and others, through the choices we make. We cannot choose the family we are born into, but we can choose how to value them. We cannot choose certain things about our health, but we can certainly influence it through good nutrition, physical exercise etc. We cannot choose whether or not we are born into wealth, but we can choose to be happy, despite money or material things.
I work with many people, from all over the world, trying to help them understand choices they make, and how to succeed, not purely from a materialistic standpoint, but from a "total package". If we think about the 4 pillars our success stems from: Mental, Physical, Spiritual and Emotional, and we choose to "invest" into these four areas, we are building the foundation from which success comes from.
Just something to think about
One of my first impressions of the academic challenges for chinese students, either going through high school, or in the follow on college years, is the significant amount of pressure that is placed on them to be successful. So my question, does the "end justify the means".
