This is my followup to Jm's post on what we were discussing the other day - the accomplishments of our past 10 years.

When she mentioned that in those 10 years (from 10-20 years of age) we went through quite a whole lot of things - streaming, psle, lower sec, upper sec, Os, promos, As, 1st year uni, 2nd year uni - it hit me really hard as a realization that yes, i DID accomplish alot in a decade that seemingly flitted by. And to add on to Jm's point, whether or not they were successful achievements is not the issue. Rather, it is a fact that i had completed many things in a time period that i would normally dismiss as being insignificant. Insignificant because they only revolved around the academic sphere. Insignificant because it's only an adolescent phase where you wouldnt imagine you had the ability/capability to do anything except what you're told. Yet, if we ignore such trivialities and appreciate the big picture, we can see that we have done many things - things that dictate our current lives. Whether we regret doing what we did or what we didnt do does not matter anymore. What matters is that we were participants in the first of our life's numerous crusades.

When Jm briefly described to me her plan for the next 10 years, i was shocked that it was exactly what i had in mind as well. I remember mapping out my life in the next decade in an earlier post (see: here), which of course is about the same as everybody else's. Maybe i shouldnt be so shocked afterall since it is a typical kind of future most Singaporean girl/woman would dream of. Sure, it sounds frightening and intimidating, but wasnt this the same feeling we had back when we were 10? Uncertain of how far we would go, how much we could accomplish, where we would be (successful or not) in 10 years? For me, i certainly hope that my life would be more 'value-added' by then, where im sure i would continue to do many more things. No doubt in 2016 i'll embark on my next stage of reflection, and then the whole cycle of wondering and worrying about how life will be when im 40 will start again. Till then i guess, i'll keep being a do-er.

P.S.: I know im not officially 21 yet, but who says we have to be 21 to start reflecting on our past and planning the future? Remember me, im the archetypal kiasu Singaporean.