Focus on journey

文章标题：Focus on journey
文章作者：Geoff Tan
发表日期：2010年2月2日
发表媒体：《我报》My Paper

IN THE highly urban and affluent metropolis which is Singapore, chances are that if you ask someone how he or she is, the retort would more often than not be “very busy lah!”.

Many of us can easily relate to this and can attest to the fact that we are an extremely busy bunch – busy building our careers, busy attending meetings, busy travelling for work and busy meeting deadlines.

The tremendous effort and time we put into such activities invariably take their toll on all other aspects of our lives.

I have a friend who is so driven and fanatical about his work that he toils till 10.30pm every night, and sometimes even works on weekends.

When he gets home, chances are that his children would be asleep.

While his bank job may pay handsomely, what kind of life is that?

The scary thing is time moves so quickly that, even before you know it, your adorable little tots become uncontrollable teenagers, your formerly fit and fab body starts to fall prey to ailments, and the circle of friends you once had is replaced by social-networking communities comprising hundreds of people whom you don’t know all that well.

If your world revolves around work, pursuing your next promotion, chasing that bigger house, enlarging your bank balance and pulling out all the stops just to keep up with the Tans, you are not really living, but merely existing.

Only you would know whether you are in this predicament or not.

If you are, I have a piece of advice: get a life!

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen’s philosophy of life is to learn to love the journey, not the destination.

She said in a speech that we should “learn to be happy and think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived”.

In Quindlen’s spirit, I suggest the following:

The next time you play a round of golf, get a life and take time to appreciate the beauty of nature – the flora, fauna, the smell of freshly-cut grass – rather than just concentrating on the ball.

The next time you see someone carrying a cute baby, get a life and take a moment or two to enjoy his or her adorable ways, and reminisce about how thrilled you were years ago when your bundles of joy came along.

Get a life and get in touch with old friends whom you haven’t seen in ages, for you never know how much longer they’re going to be around.

Get a life and offer your time to a charity or welfare organisation. Get a life and give genuinely to those in need.

Friends, don’t focus only on the destination.

Take off your blinkers, for it is far more important that you love and enjoy the journey.

Happy living!


The writer is a senior vice-president of Singapore Press Holdings’ marketing division.