If you’re always working and working and working, then take a moment to read this

Last Updated on 2016-05-30 , 9:36 am

Do you think we’re too obsessed with creating a better tomorrow that we forget we have today to enjoy?

Everyone goes through the stage of being a student then an adult. Maybe in the past, these periods were filled with laughter and joy. However, now, it seems like every student study too hard for their examinations so that they’ll have a better tomorrow, and adults work long hours for their KPI so that they’ll have a better tomorrow.

Whatever happens to today? Compromised for tomorrow. And strange as it may sound, tomorrow will eventually be a “today” after twenty-four hours.

I believe that we Singaporeans like to fight for consistency and certainty, and that explains why we’re almost certain that tomorrow—whether literally or abstractly—will definitely occur. Having said that, we prepare and prepare. Apple, a student, studies ten hours a day because she is certain that she is going to grow up and work in a company that values academic results. Eric, a working adult, clocks in extra hours every day because he sees a bright future with the company, and only through outrageous working hours that he can climb up the ladder.

This just goes on and on, for tomorrow, the fight for the next tomorrow occurs.

Do we live in tomorrow, cherish tomorrow and bow to tomorrow, and forget that today, we’ve forgotten to smile?

Some of you would know that currently, I am writing a novel with this theme, and it tells a story about two characters who have different views—one who cares too much about tomorrow and one about today (i.e. the moment). To be frank, as I write with two points of view, both do have their valid points. But the issue here is this: Could it be due to a certainty of tomorrow that we’ve built that made us so obsessed with preparing for tomorrow?

While I do agree that success is “preparedness meets opportunity”, I also agree that sometimes, you might need to lose a lot tomorrow to gain a small smile today. After all, we’re not robots programmed to function for eighty years. We’re humans made to live for ourselves, and to do that, it means a little compromise and a little smile every day.

In a wartime environment, I believe that most people would cherish every moment spent with their loved ones, for there is no certainty of living the next day. While this is a far-fetched example for a peaceful country like Singapore or Malaysia, we have to admit that there is still some lesson to be learnt there—that they remember how precious each moment is.