Army kinda changes one's perception of time. And its limitations.
Time means change. Changes over time. It's like an egg or chicken came first kinda thing. They probably came together. Time and change I mean, not the chicken and the egg.
And so two weeks since I've checked my mail, six days of nada contact with civilisation, and a lot has changed. New president, new handphones, and loads of old news and new news to catch up. Like did you know Cats the Musical is coming to Esplanade Theatre next year. New macbooks.
And I didn't know Starhub only stores messages for two days. I probably only received a quart of messages sent to me. So if I didn't reply your message, thousand apologies. My dad said can actually purchase more storage space. Wonder how I should go about doing that, since I foresee plenty more of non-contact-with-the-outside-world days to come in the next two years.
And to receive email chains. And take a step back and reflect. It's so easy to just fall into the routines of life, do the same thing every day at a particular time day in day out, and army doesn't make it any harder, with fixed timings and all.
Hobbies that are now but pastimes. And new hobbies to venture into. Which does make one wonder. We always say news is always bad, full of death or gore or misery. But what would be an example of a good news? Some might say it could be the demolition of ERP gantries. But what if it were to be in a universe context and not a geographically-limited context?
Suddenly walking seems like a luxury. To walk my own pace is but a blessing. Do you realise we always walk in the pace of others. Boss wants the assignment done by tomorrow and we do it and suit his pace. Lecturer wants a paper due day after and we suit her pace. But those whose pace we accommodate, they too have to follow another pace. And so at the end of the day it's merely a matter of different paces trying to beat to the same rhythm. If you were ever in the school band, its like the first few practices for the member who just joined in, as everybody tries to follow others' tempos and at the end of it all, everybody is in the same tempo as nobody.
And everyday new challenges come to tackle our passions, be they a service or a person. Or maybe it's just a matter of time. The flame can only last as long as the length of its wick, and the candle the length of its wax. And wax can be lengthened, and wicks can be longer.
And at the end of the day, these three remaineth: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of all is Love.
You.
