Don't Stay//Move On.

"It's not your fault if you're born poor. But if you die poor, it's no one's fault but your own." 

- Bill Gates.

The crux of the message is basically the need to adapt and change according to circumstances. Doing nothing results in nothing happening. Not really rocket science, is it? Yet so many people have the propensity to just sit on their arms and watch. Maybe let out a little whine here, and a little complaint there; but do nothing about it.

That's one facet of change, focusing on the result. 

"If I don't do anything, X will happen. But if I do Y, maybe Z will happen instead." 

I shall explore another facet by alluding to another quote:

"Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. " 

- Bruce Lee.

The other facet of change focuses on approach. You could argue that a change of approach is the subset of  a change of result, but a change of approach doesn't necessitate a change of result.

Bruce's doctrine deals with the belief where there are no rules for any particular discipline that are set in stone. He encourages people to express themselves, instead of following patterns over and over. Using martial arts as an example, students are thought the same techniques of striking, blocking, and grappling. However, when sparring, exponents tend to have very different methods of approaching a brawl - technique is but a stepping stone to expression of self, of how you want to fight and no two souls or completely alike.

So what does this mean?

It means we all have an innate preference for things. Such as what we like to do, what places we find beautiful, what food we find delicious, what genre of music we enjoy listening, what shows we like to watch and what stories we like hearing, and particularly how we like to do things. But all these tend to be blurred by society and it's dealings.

To achieve a goal, we don't all have to follow the same path. Say, two persons' ultimate goal is to teach. Do they all have to go down the same path, the academic way? No. Songwriters can express their teachings through their songs. Journalists can express through articles. Heck, Jeremy Lin is teaching us through basketball. Methods are only limited by imagination.

So to those who find their days dulled down and less exciting than it has been: maybe it's time to alter your approach, shake things up and change the way you view things! The mind becomes stagnant when there is a lack of imagination. Explore your strengths and weaknesses, your likes and dislikes, and live accordingly. Ultimately, be true to your own dogma and find something in life that suits you! :)

-Q