When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

"Perseverance. That's just what we're lacking, the only thing separating us from those people way up there," Chuan said to me earlier this afternoon.

"Yeah, I guess," I weakly replied, knowing that he was absolutely right. He has that way of just going straight down to the point, even though that point may not be something that you may want to face just yet.

"We're really not that different from those legendary people we hear about all the time that just seem to have it all - the ability to win every damn award they can, and still manage to study in the most prestigious of universities in the world, it's just that we never seemed to finish so many of the things we started. We had our opportunities, our breaks, but the thing was that when the going got tough, or when it started to get boring, we just let go and dropped it. That's the only difference between us and them, and we better learn to persevere if you want to get out of this rut," Chuan continued.

What can I say, when he said it all already?

Oftentimes people complain that some people just exist to make our lives miserable by just achieving so much and being super awesome in general. The thing that they fail to see is that we're not that much different from such people. If we open our eyes and pick ourselves up from that pit of self pity, we can see that opportunities are abundant for the picking in this land of plenty.

There are things to do, ways to serve society and causes to support to make this world a better place. And they're all around us and I'm sure we have definitely taken some of these opportunities up in the course of our lives.

The only difference between us and that high achiever you never managed to measure up to is just what Chuan was talking about earlier - just the sheer perseverance to keep going even though no one believes in you, the sheer will to keep going on even though your muscles are numb from the exertion, the sheer persistence to keep going on even though the drive to succeed wavers and is running low.

Come to think of it, I've been living a pretty comfortable life - I've never had to beg for food; I was never ever really homeless and destitute; I've never been chained up in a cell and treated like an animal.

I have been too comfortable, and when you get too comfortable, you don't grow. The greatest personal growth only happens when you get pushed out into that deep end and you have to either learn to swim and cope, or drown and be forgotten.

It is time that I get out and just dive into that deep end. I have been comfortable for too long, and my iron will has gone rusty.

And I believe that life, being that wonderful miracle that it is, has just given me that opportunity. This Monday, I will be returning back to Singapore for the new term, but the difference is that this time I will not have a place in hall to stay in as I did not acquire enough points. I now am homeless.

I have also decided that I have been spending way too much of my parents money of late and have decided that I really want to be more self sufficient with my finances. You can only live off your parents for so long before you become dead weight, holding everybody down.

I'm in the deep end, and it's not an option to continue with all the things I've started but not finished anymore, it's a definite must.

I have to go all out with my tuition business to pay for the extra expenses I will be incurring staying outside.

I have to go all out interning part-time to make up for lost time.

I have to put my heart into my work and give this year my best shot as I don't want to be that bum that just keeps letting his parents down. No more.

Even when the world says, "Give up," I'm going to hang on to the Hope that whispers, "Try it one more time."


I'm going to pick myself up and be that person that I dreamed of being - determined, powerful and strong - and achieve all that life has in store for me.

And it all begins with perseverance.