Personal Thought 2...
This one was dated 22nd July 2003. It mainly talks about what makes a person important.
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Hi to all! Wow, what a week it's been in the world. Regina won Big Brother 3 (Go Reggie!!!)... Adelaide Crows lost to the Dockers by just 1 point... The Ronaldinho saga ended (or has it?) with him signing for Barca... Coalition troops are going down like flies in Iraq... Delta Goodrem was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease just when she's on top of the world (wonder how they'll change the storyline in Neighbours)... KobeBryant gets caught up in a rape scandal... The Iranian twins both die after the operation to separate them... Sigh... Makes you wonder what's up with the world no?
So what really is the problem? How does this all affect us? What makes all the above news so important that it can be so highly publicized by the media? Why is it that a singer/actor who gets cancer (a disease quite common nowadays) causes so much hoo-ha when so many others have the disease? Why is it that a simple girl who fries fish and chips can touch the lives of millions of Australians who just watch her for half an hour a day (don't count BB Uncut, late night and nomination/eviction shows)? Why is it that people are so interested in a basketball player who allegedly raped a woman when there are hundreds of rapists on our streets?
Celebrities? What makes a person a celebrity? What makes a person popular? Someone people like? Someone who does something people enjoy watching? We would consider most celebrities as people who play specific roles in society that make them well-known because of intense media scrutiny (i.e. publicity). For example, Delta is a singer and actor, Kobe plays basketball, Bush is the US president and so on. However isn't it weird that some people become instant celebrities by just being normal? People such as the Iranian twins, Regina, Chrissie, Dan, Jo and the rest of the Big Brother housemates or Pvt. Lynch who just had to get rescued by US troops. Could we say that they were in the right place at the right time (as in the case of Pvt. Lynch)? Or can we say that they were willing to show their true selves in front of the nation (as in the case of the BB housemates)?
All in all, it becomes extremely clear that the media is what makes a celebrity or identity in today's society. No matter how good we are at something or how interesting we are, we can only truly become "popular" if we are publicized in the papers, tv, radio and other forms of mass media (which are usually less effective than the ones mentioned). The world seems more and more to have been divided into two groups of individuals; those who are celebrities and those who are not. Those who take an interest in certain people and those who are taken into interest by certain people. In lay man's terms; the popular and the non-popular.
Despite all these stereotypes, does it make us plain Jane's any less special? Are we less important merely because we are not known by more than a few thousand people, follow trends set by the "popular people" or don't look anything like Tom Cruise or AnnaKournikova? Must we be "known" to others in order to be "important" people? Surely not!
I'm sure everyone has heard of the saying "God made every single person unique/special". This is true in every sense of the word. Don't think that you are not special just because you can count the number of friends you have on the fingers of one hand. "Why am I special?" you may ask. Why indeed?
Sometimes, we see ourselves as just being passengers on this rollercoaster called life. We just go wherever the rollercoaster takes us. We wake up, go to uni, come home, finish homework, sleep and restart the cycle. Life just seems so monotonous. Like a rollercoaster that just goes on the loop-the-loop forever. In addition, we get those buggered exams that squeeze all the juice out of our brain cells for a couple of weeks. Sometimes those exams are so hard we just feel like giving up. Sometimes life gets tough and we feel like giving up. So why not give up? Think again.
What motivates us to do what we do? What makes us go to uni and sit for exams? Let's make it simpler. Why do we need to work? Easy. To get money. Why do we need money? That's where it varies tremendously from person to person. For some (and most) people it would be to be able to enjoy life, to support the family, to put food on the table etc. Others may have different reasons such as to pay the medical bill for a child who is terminally ill, to cover a child's education or to fund a personal project. Now let's go back to the initial questions. What makes us go to uni and sit for exams? For most, it will be to get the degree we are pursuing and get a good job to get money to do the above. That's all great. However that all deals with what we personally want and at times, we may say we do not want it or don't care; making us feel like giving up. Why not look at it this way... We study to do well in exams so that we can make our parents happy. Let's go further. We study to do well in exams to get a scholarship to make our parents happy and ease the financial burden. Let's go even further. We study to do well to get a scholarship, which motivates our siblings/relatives to do well. See how easy it is? One more step. We study to do well to get a scholarship, motivate our siblings, increase the chance of getting a better job, increase the possibility of being able to live in comfort while being able to support our parents in their old age. Now try it on the first question in this paragraph.
You see, what I am trying to do is make you guys see that you are indeed important. It's so easy to see those directly affected by our actions. However look further, and you'll see that your actions will trigger a chain reaction which indirectly affects a multitude of people. You may think you are nothing, when to others; you may be the whole world. I'm sure you've heard the saying "Don't stop smiling because you'll never know who has fallen in love with your smile" (though I cannot say that I adhere strictly to that saying).
This world is not only about you (as a single person). We are not alone in this world even though during hard times, we may seem to be all alone (though through Faith, I can say that I am never alone). You may think you won't affect anything/anyone by just giving up. However in truth if you ever do, you'll hurt the ones who love you more than you can ever imagine. Believe me, there are always people who love you, even if you don't know about it. If you take a small pin and prick yourself with it, then touch the tip of the pin onto a piece of tissue paper, you'll see that the stain starts from a miniscule dot and spreads to become a larger blotch. That's the effect of all your actions. No matter how small or how insignificant an action may seem, in the end the consequence and sequel are far greater than we originally believe it to be.
So what is this e-mail about? It's just some encouragement to those who need it. Don't ever give up. You only fail when you stop trying. You are the lead character and the most important person in your story. Make a great book with a happy ending out of your story...
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I wish all of you well. Take care and God bless!
Justin
P/S. A big thank you to all those who replied to my last e-mail ("Personal Thought") about the analogy of scars and bad experiences. I really value your insight. I have not replied to some of your ideas and comments but rest assured that I will in due time. I know to some of you it seemed a tad bit sorrowful or that I was in some sort of pain. Rest assured that it was all merely some thoughts and that my aim was to dispense that advice which I used for certain people to others so that they may benefit from it if they need it. I will try and keep the tone more cheerful (like in this e-mail) in future e-mails but it will be a little difficult since my thoughts are basically about how to overcome certain problems faced by people. Thanks again guys and cheers to all of you!
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Hi to all! Wow, what a week it's been in the world. Regina won Big Brother 3 (Go Reggie!!!)... Adelaide Crows lost to the Dockers by just 1 point... The Ronaldinho saga ended (or has it?) with him signing for Barca... Coalition troops are going down like flies in Iraq... Delta Goodrem was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease just when she's on top of the world (wonder how they'll change the storyline in Neighbours)... KobeBryant gets caught up in a rape scandal... The Iranian twins both die after the operation to separate them... Sigh... Makes you wonder what's up with the world no?
So what really is the problem? How does this all affect us? What makes all the above news so important that it can be so highly publicized by the media? Why is it that a singer/actor who gets cancer (a disease quite common nowadays) causes so much hoo-ha when so many others have the disease? Why is it that a simple girl who fries fish and chips can touch the lives of millions of Australians who just watch her for half an hour a day (don't count BB Uncut, late night and nomination/eviction shows)? Why is it that people are so interested in a basketball player who allegedly raped a woman when there are hundreds of rapists on our streets?
Celebrities? What makes a person a celebrity? What makes a person popular? Someone people like? Someone who does something people enjoy watching? We would consider most celebrities as people who play specific roles in society that make them well-known because of intense media scrutiny (i.e. publicity). For example, Delta is a singer and actor, Kobe plays basketball, Bush is the US president and so on. However isn't it weird that some people become instant celebrities by just being normal? People such as the Iranian twins, Regina, Chrissie, Dan, Jo and the rest of the Big Brother housemates or Pvt. Lynch who just had to get rescued by US troops. Could we say that they were in the right place at the right time (as in the case of Pvt. Lynch)? Or can we say that they were willing to show their true selves in front of the nation (as in the case of the BB housemates)?
All in all, it becomes extremely clear that the media is what makes a celebrity or identity in today's society. No matter how good we are at something or how interesting we are, we can only truly become "popular" if we are publicized in the papers, tv, radio and other forms of mass media (which are usually less effective than the ones mentioned). The world seems more and more to have been divided into two groups of individuals; those who are celebrities and those who are not. Those who take an interest in certain people and those who are taken into interest by certain people. In lay man's terms; the popular and the non-popular.
Despite all these stereotypes, does it make us plain Jane's any less special? Are we less important merely because we are not known by more than a few thousand people, follow trends set by the "popular people" or don't look anything like Tom Cruise or AnnaKournikova? Must we be "known" to others in order to be "important" people? Surely not!
I'm sure everyone has heard of the saying "God made every single person unique/special". This is true in every sense of the word. Don't think that you are not special just because you can count the number of friends you have on the fingers of one hand. "Why am I special?" you may ask. Why indeed?
Sometimes, we see ourselves as just being passengers on this rollercoaster called life. We just go wherever the rollercoaster takes us. We wake up, go to uni, come home, finish homework, sleep and restart the cycle. Life just seems so monotonous. Like a rollercoaster that just goes on the loop-the-loop forever. In addition, we get those buggered exams that squeeze all the juice out of our brain cells for a couple of weeks. Sometimes those exams are so hard we just feel like giving up. Sometimes life gets tough and we feel like giving up. So why not give up? Think again.
What motivates us to do what we do? What makes us go to uni and sit for exams? Let's make it simpler. Why do we need to work? Easy. To get money. Why do we need money? That's where it varies tremendously from person to person. For some (and most) people it would be to be able to enjoy life, to support the family, to put food on the table etc. Others may have different reasons such as to pay the medical bill for a child who is terminally ill, to cover a child's education or to fund a personal project. Now let's go back to the initial questions. What makes us go to uni and sit for exams? For most, it will be to get the degree we are pursuing and get a good job to get money to do the above. That's all great. However that all deals with what we personally want and at times, we may say we do not want it or don't care; making us feel like giving up. Why not look at it this way... We study to do well in exams so that we can make our parents happy. Let's go further. We study to do well in exams to get a scholarship to make our parents happy and ease the financial burden. Let's go even further. We study to do well to get a scholarship, which motivates our siblings/relatives to do well. See how easy it is? One more step. We study to do well to get a scholarship, motivate our siblings, increase the chance of getting a better job, increase the possibility of being able to live in comfort while being able to support our parents in their old age. Now try it on the first question in this paragraph.
You see, what I am trying to do is make you guys see that you are indeed important. It's so easy to see those directly affected by our actions. However look further, and you'll see that your actions will trigger a chain reaction which indirectly affects a multitude of people. You may think you are nothing, when to others; you may be the whole world. I'm sure you've heard the saying "Don't stop smiling because you'll never know who has fallen in love with your smile" (though I cannot say that I adhere strictly to that saying).
This world is not only about you (as a single person). We are not alone in this world even though during hard times, we may seem to be all alone (though through Faith, I can say that I am never alone). You may think you won't affect anything/anyone by just giving up. However in truth if you ever do, you'll hurt the ones who love you more than you can ever imagine. Believe me, there are always people who love you, even if you don't know about it. If you take a small pin and prick yourself with it, then touch the tip of the pin onto a piece of tissue paper, you'll see that the stain starts from a miniscule dot and spreads to become a larger blotch. That's the effect of all your actions. No matter how small or how insignificant an action may seem, in the end the consequence and sequel are far greater than we originally believe it to be.
So what is this e-mail about? It's just some encouragement to those who need it. Don't ever give up. You only fail when you stop trying. You are the lead character and the most important person in your story. Make a great book with a happy ending out of your story...
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I wish all of you well. Take care and God bless!
Justin
P/S. A big thank you to all those who replied to my last e-mail ("Personal Thought") about the analogy of scars and bad experiences. I really value your insight. I have not replied to some of your ideas and comments but rest assured that I will in due time. I know to some of you it seemed a tad bit sorrowful or that I was in some sort of pain. Rest assured that it was all merely some thoughts and that my aim was to dispense that advice which I used for certain people to others so that they may benefit from it if they need it. I will try and keep the tone more cheerful (like in this e-mail) in future e-mails but it will be a little difficult since my thoughts are basically about how to overcome certain problems faced by people. Thanks again guys and cheers to all of you!
posted by Lä§t_H¤Pê at
12:13 AM
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