Where do you draw the line?
I've been wondering, how to balance between the desires of the individual and the concerned well-meaning advice of friends. It seems like I'm constantly in a position where I wish to pursue paths which somehow usually doesn't sit too well with others. And I know they usually mean well, but then the next question is, do you continue following your heart, even if it means you may get hurt or hurt others in the process, or do you listen to the advice of others and thus keep your friendships? I'm sure there must be a way to do both.
Somehow, I always end up picking the first option. I guess I've always been a believer of the old cliche of 'follow(ing) your heart', and deep down am a hopeless idealist (thinks there is salvation for the world blahblahblah), so I guess I can only hope that my friends and family will still support me no matter how bizarre my choices may seem. But I know that sometimes you really can't ask for too much. But in the end, you're the one who has to live with your choices, mostly.
Seems like the individual vs. society debate has been an issue which has been much pondered over across time. Somewhere in a textbook somewhere, it says that the Western culture is more individualistic, where people are more focused on their personal flaws or talents as being the attributes which determine the outcome of certain things, and the Asian culture is more societal - whereby the group is of higher importance, things which upset the group culture and way of life is frowned upon, and situations are attributed to external factors instead. Which makes me wonder. What are we, then? A mix of both? A mishmash of culture? Perhaps.
Does it make one terribly selfish though, to just go ahead and do whatever they like? I've always thought that as long as you don't overdo things, don't hurt people (if you can help it...), etc etc it should be okay. But it isn't always okay... sometimes some people never want to let you fulfill your dreams and put you in a horrible spot - which really makes you wonder, why would people you love, and who you thought loved you, do things like that to you? To force you to give up one dream for another. Maybe its a natural check, to tell people that they can't have everything.
It seems there always has to be a catch. Sometimes, it's possible to overlook, sometimes it can be fixed, and sometimes it's just.... no way. But... perhaps I will be proven wrong, and there would be things so perfect that there just aren't any catches at all.
And sometimes, when people aren't in the same situation or experienced a similar situation, it's not easy to offer perspective. And even so, everyone has a different set of values that they hold dear, and not everything works the same for everyone. Plus I think that people who are happy, content and settled in their lives don't think in quite the same way.
But I digress. And I exaggerate, and I ramble. But well, the cough medication is kicking in now, and it's probably best not to go on in this drifty, sleepy state.
Therefore, goodnight, and thank you for reading.
:6:27 PM: :sugah~plum
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