these things happen, almost always unexpectedly. you run into long lost friends you never thought you'd see again, and who were, up till that moment, just another memory. it's a warm feeling, catching up, and seeing what everyone has become since the last time years ago that they met. the author has had a fair share of these experiences, some more recent than the others.

one of them involved hotpot at a chic japanese place. good food, drink and conversation. but substitute the trendy venue for something generic and the experience would be just as good. with good company, it's never hard to find fun even in the most mundane circumstances.

reunions. they're special, in more ways than one.

logged at 12:40 AM

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

"let me tell you something you already know. the world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. it is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. you, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. but it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. how much you can take, and keep moving forward. that's how winning is done. now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. but you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. cowards do that and that ain't you."

-rocky, from rocky balboa (2006)

the point at which it feels as if your limit has been reached, that it feels like you can go no further, is known to bodybuilders as the 'pain period'. it is the ones who grit their teeth and keep going, and eventually break through this barrier are the ones who eventually end up becoming champions.

everyone goes through their own 'pain period' in life. and most know what lies beyond the barrier. and what they need to do to reach it. but many just let it be. everyone knows that pain is necessary. that knowledge becomes useless, though, for the many of us who don't use it. it's not that we can't. the conscience cries for us to do it, but the body says otherwise. the excuses come pouring in. and we end up not getting down to doing much, or in worst-case scenarios, anything at all.

and the author thinks that almost nobody knows this like an (undergraduate) facing looming examinations does. :)

logged at 1:50 AM