Chapter 26: Independence

Life is a story. And we ourselves are the author of our story. How great we are going to turn out to be, lies all in our hands. 

That being said though, some chapters in life are more or less fixed. Like being born where about in this world. Our race. Family. Financial situation. And then the almost 10 years of compulsory education where the majority of us undergo.

But that's just the framework or so called parts of life that everyone goes through. But what one does or how one does remains variable. Examples one of us can only write of being a top student back then. Or being the rascal or troublemaker that earned plenty of spankings.  

And then comes the chapter of getting into Universities. Life gets so much twists and turns in this chapter. What courses one takes somehow ultimately shapes one's future specifically and differently from the others. 

Here I am. 2 years with Nestle. And 2 years living away from home. But I still remember clearly, staring to the skies as I cleaned the plates and cutlery at the back of a cafe I worked for 3 months back then. It was a tough period. I was struggling to find a decent job. I questioned myself. What are you doing in a cafe when your friends are working in KL or Penang. I was lost in writing my next chapter of life. 

Of course there was also complacency that reassured me that life will work out sooner or later. And I don't really need to worry of anything as I was still living with my parents in my hometown. But there was an inner voice, calling out for a new challenge and a new chapter of life.  

That decision and opportunity to come to a PJ, considered a wish come true after being sick of dependent and complacent. Currently, life is great. I earn enough to feed myself and rent a room from my relatives. My life is pretty much hassle free apart from my job.

But 2 years of a chapter I'm currently in is enough. It is not wrong to continue writing the same chapter. But life is short. Sooner or later one has to go through the stage of being independent. Living alone. Getting married and raising a family. Comparing myself to my other friends, some have already lived alone and some have already married. I'm considered slow in my story of life.

So here I am, with that anxiety we all have when we are faced with a new challenge, here's to a next chapter of life.

And many more to come...