Dear members
John Keating, a character played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society (1989) says, “Carpe diem. Seize the day, ….. Make your lives extraordinary.”
Many people say life is a journey, string together of moments. And unless you make the best of these moments, life can go by pretty fast and pretty much uneventful, and probably not the most enriching nor rewarding. Successful leaders would encourage you to run towards your fears and to seize these moments of opportunities when they present themselves. We should dare to dream, to shine and to make a difference. A well lived life is one that tried the most, yes, sometime we fail, but it’s the experience that we make us richer and wiser. We should test and challenge our comfort zones. Move, grow and stretch our normal paradigms of living. As Robin Sharma, author who wrote “ The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” says, “ Each day, life will send you little windows of opportunity. Your destiny will ultimately be defined by how you respond to these windows of opportunity”.
So, the next time you chance upon meeting your secondary teacher while shopping at NTUC FairPrice, don’t look the other way, walk up to him and find out how life have treated him. And if you feel that he made a difference in your life as a teacher, don’t be afraid to tell him so. We don’t often get the chance to express our gratitude and convey our appreciation.
Shying away from these windows of opportunity will make your life small. Seize them and make the best of them, and you would have lived a brighter day. Life is too short to play little. Even with our children, you only have a tiny window to develop them and champion them to their highest potential, and to show them what care and family love looks like. When that window closed, it’s hard to get a second chance.
If you have always wanted join the HPA annual Charity Ride, but do not know how to ride a bicycle, it’s never too late to learn. And I am sure our HPA President, Mr. Han Jok Kwang, will be more than please to be your bike riding teacher.
For those of you who have not watched the Robin Williams movie, I highly recommend it.
