came across this very meaningful poem, which according to paulo coelho, its written by a japanese poet, Mitsuo Aida, reminding us the importance of innocence.

Because it has lived its life intensely

the parched grass still attracts the gaze of passers-by.

The flowers merely flower,

and they do this as well as they can.

The white lily, blooming unseen in the valley,

Doest not need to explain itself to anyone;

It lives merely for beauty.

Men, however, cannot accept that 'merely'.

If tomatoes wanted to be melons,

they would look completely ridiculous.

I am always amazed

that so many people are concerned

with wanting to be what they are not;

what's the point of making yourself look ridiculous?

You don't always have to pretend to be strong,

there's no need to prove all the time that everything is goingwell,

you shouldn't be concerned about what other people are thinking,

cry if you need to,

it's good to cry out all your tears

( because only then will you be able to smile again )

easier said than done. ''merely'', how many people can actually settle down by just being ''merely''?

i was nagged into doing spring cleaning yesterday ( spring cleaning, and spring onion, i like neither! ) i discovered a lot of '' treasures'' as i was cleaning up my stuff, including mr siukeong which i have later killed it, so sorryy mr siukeong!

and then, i found one whole stack of university application documents, and also some acceptance letters. among it, i found the offer of asean undergraduate scholarship by nus. IF i were to accept it, my parents wouldn't have to fork out such a big amount for me to study now; IF i were to accept it, i will be graduating as a pharmacist/bioengineer next year! IF i were to accept it, i might be doing some exchange programme, like all my other friends, in UK/US; IF i were to accept it, i don't need to flood my brain with anatomy-physio-patho-pharmaco blah blah.

so many IFs, and i asked myself, do i just want to settle with 'merely' that? i have my regrets, but i know it's too late. sometimes, there's just no U-turn in life. you just gotta keep going. but, i am starting to gain back my enthusiasm for medicine, which i have once doubted.

1 month more to clinical school, i know i am going to enjoy this 2.5 years :) and it's my bro's 31st birthday today. oh man! i can't believe how old he is already. haha. i am already feeling so old with a '2' infront of my age. imagine a '3' ! my goodness. perhaps that is what u called, maturity ;p