Decision Making

Recently I've been thinking about things. Thinking about decisions I should make, about paths I can take, about which issues I should think about. I haven't really gotten anywhere, but here are some of my preliminary thoughts. Hopefully writing them down would make it more coherent for me, and someone out there can point out whatever I might have overlooked.

What do I want to do?

It is often true that for everything you want, you need to pay a price upfront. Like if you want to learn how to cycle, you must learn how to fall, and get up from the fall. If you want to be a top salesperson, you will have to spend time, energy and money on courses, undergo mentoring and reading books. No one succeeds immediately. We almost always have to sacrifice some things in order to achieve something else.

Now the question is, what do I want to achieve? And what am I willing to sacrifice?

The common thing for many people is they want to be successful in their careers, to be rich and famous. In exchange, they are willing to give up perhaps entire years of their lives to their companies. They are willing to leave for work at 7am every day and return after 9pm, and would willingly work in the weekends to get things done. Everything else takes backstage while they concentrate on their main fields of work -- family, friends...

So slowly they get drawn into this vortex of work, and their lives revolve about meeting deadlines set by their bosses, frantic chases for money and power, and following paths and trends set by others. As competition grows to global proportions, leaving from work on time could soon be a cause for expulsion. In this age, when people are increasingly willing to work till 9pm, what impression would you leave on your boss if you leave at 5.30pm? In this mad competition, when people are willing to work weekends, can you afford to take the weekend off for your personal relaxation or to spend with your family? When your time has a price to it, are you still willing to take a 1h walk in the park? It might well cost you a hundred dollars!

Then as they earn more and more, then start to spend on unnecessary luxury items, buying personal comforts like branded sports cars, huge bungalows etc... Some end up with a huge debt they have to repay over time, but most do not have the time to really enjoy their "investments" after their work life. Some people plan to retire once they are rich... But many find that it is hard to quit -- when you could be earning $10,000 a month, would you be willing to settle for $2,000 a month, and probably without our former reputation and dignity?

In this terrible rush, do you have time to think for yourself? Or would you just be relegated to the simple, menial job of following whatever your boss says?

It's sad to say, but I feel that many people have already slowly slipped into this trap. They wake up every morning at 7am to drag themselves to their repetitive work, they work through the pile of work they are given by their bosses throughout the day, leave work in the evening, then go clubbing, shopping or to the movies with friends, then reach home late and exhausted.. And the cycle repeats itself. And they complain that their lives are going nowhere? I wonder why?

Right now, I feel that there are a few priorities in my life.
1. relationships -- family, friends, love
These people are the people who share your life with you. Wouldn't it be great if you can make their lives a bit better every day?
2. trying out new experiences
There are so many things around that we can try... Scuba diving, golf, computer gaming, billards, ice-skating, dancing, visiting places and other countries... So much that I'll miss out if I don't go around trying..
3. lead my own life
I want to try and explore new areas that others have not gone before, to try out alternate paths of my own. But this, if not carefully thought out and planned, could mean that I'm just a lost and confused person.

Life is so fun. We get to choose our own adventure. =)
Any comments would be welcome!

USC Rag Dance 07

USC Rag Dance 07 was a breakthrough for most of us.
See it for yourself at YouTube.

Uploaded on Youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Qt9k4mIzY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNCgUtSfPng
Or you can just search "Ragston" at YouTube. =)

Photos can be found at http://community.webshots.com/user/thedrrsk

It's a megascale project so far, which immense pressure and responsibilities on the construction engineers and dancers as well. Many of us have worked through countless days and nights during our precious holidays, putting in everything we have for our performance. Engineers staying over in Chatterbox for the larger part of each week, literally giving their lives for rag... Dancers practising every day regardless of day and night - insane trainings at odd hours, the rag head losing sleep over administration matters and dance choreography... Lots of money spent...

Was it worth it? Was it meaningful?
I guess only people who have been through that would know.

It might seem to be a giant waste of time, energy and materials. It translates to hundreds of thousands of lost productivity of university undergraduates. It is not about recycling or reducing and reusing waste. It's not so much about putting up a show for the public as well. What is rag all about then? Does it have any meaning?

It seems like a difficult question. But it's really simple.
The answer you seek lies in your heart, and you know you can't deny it as well.