The Brilliance of Life, Understanding it... and other Shenanigans

I seem to enjoy posting at the most awkward of times it seems like. I mean practically most of you must be in hibernation mode with your nose stuffed into books as if they were providing you with life giving oxygen. Still it's been a while so I thought why not. Since the final term of university is upon us and with year one coming to a close I thought I'd look back at some of the things I've learnt and draw upon why they mattered.

For starters, I know for sure that this year I lost nearly half of my high-school friends to the unfortunate passage of time which slowly eroded any relationship that I might have had with them throughout our teenage life. It seemed saddening at first but then I realised that it was a necessary change to occur. We as individuals don't realise that sometimes we make friends to maintain the social convenience rather than actual mutual interest with each other. The so called 'gangs' we had as teenagers seems as if a thing of the past. Truth be told there was a lot of tension within those gangs and it seemed natural that after a while the ties which held us together slowly started to fade as we realised the insignificance of them. What was that irritating line in frozen ? Right 'It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small'. So with all of us so far away, the stress of trying to always fix things didn't come to me and I felt liberated by the fact that if things were meant to happen this way... then they happened for a reason. Not that I don't miss each and everyone of them though, the friends I made in highschool were a great bunch so it does sting that we've grown so far apart.

Making temporary snow cones - Like a boss

Another thing I feel I must point out is that university is a lot about balance. Honestly this lesson took way too long to learn but it felt good when I eventually did. I mean in all honesty it's all about bringing as much of your life's old routine back into your university life. Be it as simple as a game of football with your friends, or waking up early enough to actually have breakfast and lunch. Balance is an important part of our life even if we don't realise it. Bring back what was once good for you, take on those that improve you and discard those that don't. Most importantly I finally found a place where I can truly relax and feel as if I'm not simply living in a place that I'm here for temporarily but rather the potential for a permanent home. In all honesty I did rob that last line from one of my history lectures wherein the countries that the British invaded either prospered or collapsed depending on whether or not the migrants wanted to settle or simply rob the place of its resources. Funny how education comes up in the weirdest of places

Finally I felt humbled for the first time in my life to be a part of something so large and brilliant. University truly gives you the channel within which you can witness the world from a safe haven. Honestly I can come across as cocky, arrogant and even downright crude sometimes, but I'm learning to change, and one of the most important factors that caused that it is realisation that without the desire to improve, you're always going to be bested by others who do. You can sit on your laurels of the past and gloat about your glory days, but I'd much rather fall down multiple times, dust myself off and get right back up and face any challenge. Whether through life's successes, or personal development in the case of me, humility through gain and most of all a desire to keep fighting, this is a journey that I have yet to even reach the fork roads of. 

What I do believe though is that there's a lot more left to learn and I plan on cherishing every moment of it that I can. Summer is nearly here and there's a lot left to do. Till then...

Pushing the Boundaries

Okay so two thoughts. This post could be immensely insightful and talk about how people need to challenge themselves beyond the necessary and strive for success. Yet that topic is rather overplayed and something I find completely pointless to talk about, seeing as everyone wants the best for themselves. So today I felt that I'd talk about something I feel rather strongly about and what most people go through themselves when they simply... push the boundaries of friendship.

God that sentence was so overplayed it's not even funny. Still now that I've brought it up, you might as well sit down and listen.

They say the human mouth is incapable of staying shut for long periods of time (I should know) and when we speak without realising, it often doesn't bode well for us. Thousands of relationship have been ruined by a simple 'slip of the tongue', more so in today's day than ever. People all around are listening to what you say and therefore your every view, every word, every opinion comes under constant scrutinising by those you interact with. They dispel your originality, dampen your creativity and block you ingenuity. They are the barriers that hold you back.  

So now how does this all make sense with the what I mentioned in that cheesy first paragraph? Well more often than not it's your friends who builds those barriers. Shooting down your weird but often creative ideas are a given task set by all of those around you. Now while I'm sure that more often than not they mean no legitimate harm and are simply looking out for you. Still if that were always the case then I wouldn't be writing this article now would I?

There are moments, rare moments when you need to give yourself the final decision. Stick to your values for once and don't be swayed by what others think. Having friends is good, but having control of your own life is even better. You need to be able to instil that desire to accept the views of others but remain firm against your own. Simply changing yourself to suit those around you simply delays the chance to express yourself freely. As a person you're both the greatest opponent and greatest support to yourself. When you take to heart what others feel you become your own downfall. It's a bit like defeating yourself before the battle has even begun. I'm liking the expression 'motivational suicide'.

A few weeks ago I realised that despite coming this far in life I still have a lot to learn. I need to stand up for myself once in a while or I'm simply giving in to the idealisms of others. Life is unique to each individual and we should never compromise on our individuality or we risk losing the identity that we perceive of ourselves. There will be times when those close to you will break you down to the the bare foundation that you hold as your own; do not be set back. Get up and rebuild.

The time will come when the joys of life exist in a place that you feel at one with. When you look back and see how much you've grown and realise that you're happy.

Kids Today

I'm not a kid okay? A line I swear to you I've used more often than necessary despite being a fully fledged 18 year old. Yet people always think that I'm a child. Wonder why? More importantly, what's wrong with being a kid?

Everyone around us seems to be growing up so fast that in reality I often wonder, who's the adult, them or I? I mean if you look at statistics I know more 13 year old's who've gone to 2nd base than guys my age. It's like GOD, do you have any hormonal control whatsoever? Wow this is going be a ranting post, and I'm pretty sure it's going to upset quite a few people. Meh, not like I care that much. Okay maybe I do care a little... don't hate me :).

As I was saying, the youth today seemed to have flipped roles with us oldies in general. For starters which sane 15 year old goes shirtless at every party possible? Do they secretly wait to show off their undeveloped child-shaped frame? Do girls even find that attractive? Wow I'm seriously out of the loop if that is considered to be the in-thing in today's world. I mean I get it Dubai's hot, but there's central A.C everywhere. Put your shirt back on man, pneumonia isn't cool.

God I'm going to get so bashed for this :'). Anyways now that I've covered that topic let's get onto parties when I was fifteen, and parties for today's fifteen year olds. For starter I'm pretty sure there was no alcohol. A DJ maybe but not always. Pool parties nah (we were socially awkward back then). Weirdly enough I'm kinda jealous now. These guys were having a lot more fun than I ever did as a youngster (I'm still young just not kid young). Still I mean we got brains, they got fun. I think in the long run it's going to be okay. Also which underage girl goes to a nightclub to get wasted with a fake ID? Have you lost all sense of purpose or is this just a phase? Seriously I'm curious.

Yeah I'm probably hated by literally the entire junior population (nothing new) but this is my blog and I'm allowed an opinion, albeit a critical one. Now let me just set the record straight over here. Not all the people of this young generation are like this. While most tend to be somewhere in the middle of this classification, there are always extremes on both sides. I've also discovered something new. Depending on the high school you go to, you can easily distinguish the type of teenage life you'll have. Again this view is subject to debate but most of the schools with an international curriculum are a lot more party-crazy than the others who follow a different education board. Now I'm not sure why this happens or how, but it does and in my opinion things are getting mighty out of control.

Still though I guess it's only fair that I end this rather debacle of a piece with a bit of advice. Trust me for I say this to you out there with all sincerity. Partying is fun, but don't ruin your chance at a successful future just because you love to enjoy yourself. The future is going to be either fun or an absolute hell. This depends on what you do now. So take a break from the partying... maybe do a bit of actual kid stuff. Like us.