Secret to happiness

How happy is he born and taught
That serveth not another's will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!
- Sir Henry Wotton, 1568-1639, English diplomat and poet

Before I begin, I would like to introduce a rather admirable character- one whom I could call a best friend if we ever meet in this life!




Most of the people in this world would have probably know who this person is already- I know that. (In fact, it's a really old story already- even though I bet he wouldn't want me to say this because he knows and understands that not everyone in this world will know about him yet-anyway that's not the point here)

If you have watched the video,
See the point where I am getting to now?
Did you just see how happy he really is?

I can understand the pain and denial that he had to go through simply because I did went through similar mental torture- and the only difference between us is that he was born with the problem and I was "gifted" with the situation at the age of 19- MED SCHOOL. Nobody should ever ever ever take medicine lightly- even if you are the best worker in your department, you have a great career in your life, you have great success blah blah blah. I am not saying that it is the most difficult studies in the world. I am not saying that you can call yourself great if you are a med student and you survived this course at the end of it. In fact, it is the opposite. Because I will say; seriously, don't be proud of me; there's nothing to be proud of. Perhaps most of us (med students) will say too: don't be proud of us- there's nothing to be proud of. Because whatever we studied so hard for years can be thrown into the drain so very very very easily when we can't even diagnose a patient properly. What can we say more about saving a patient's life then. We can save our breaths bragging till we find ourselves running up and about trying and trying and trying even if the hope seems so frail and little. The very one thing great that I can speak about medicine at least is that it teaches you the real meaning of humility.

I remember listening to a doctor from home who came visiting us here in town. She was relating her experience to us and I remember sitting there stunned, almost driven to tears. She had two patients who suddenly started bleeding profusely at 4 or 5 am. To her knowledge and dismay, the hospital ran out of the blood at that moment. I can't remember well but if I was not wrong, she was the only doctor on duty that night. She went down to the ambulance and found the driver only to find that this driver too sleepy and tired so much so that he couldn't drive out that night. She said that people know this driver very well. You can never ever get him to work when he's really sleepy. Bad luck. He gave the keys to her. She didn't know how to drive. Second bad luck. She ran all the way as fast as her legs could carry her to the nearest blood bank. With the little hope in her. With the determination in her. With the strength that she could thrive out. She arrived at the blood bank, panting, asking for the blood to be prepared. The person on duty was surprised to see her exhausted- no, even surprised to see her presence and said something like, "wow, the ambulance driver actually took you here?". Doctor replied, "No my dear, I ran here." She got her two bags of blood- mind you, they were heavy, and ran all the way back to the hospital only to find that the two patients did not make it-they bled to death. That story really opened my eyes and taught me this- if you want to be a good doctor, you have to have unconditional love for your patients-one of the most important rules. Second important lesson- teamwork- you gotta find your (soul) teammates and make it work- it's not about talent or how smart you are- it's sacrifice and the more hands you have, the better- and mind you, for a stranger who is a patient- be it a noble or a criminal, be it of different race- simply because the person is a human being whom we have responsibility for.

Easy to say, hard to do.

I got a message from my dad a few days ago which informed me that a virus infected my friend and that he was hospitalized and that he is in a very bad condition and that he needs prayers. I emailed my friend's dad immediately and I got a reply from him the day after. He was already in Perth then and told me of his condition. You know how I felt at that moment, "oh my gosh, I have never felt so helpless because I realize I could do nothing to help this friend of mine nor his family." Nothing.

You want a secret to happiness?
Seek the meaning of humility and wisdom. Seek to improve your character by being humble enough to admit your mistakes and grow from there. Seek wisdom and you will see the bigger picture of everything. Get along well with people around you with sincerity and warmth from your heart without prejudice. Be yourself, stay true to your identity and give value to that identity you have earned so hard. Be pure-not naive because naivety can hurt many people, yes, it hurts deeply- but more importantly: be wise, humble, patient, gentle and loving.

I can't remember if I have mentioned this in this blog before:
Every great person we know in this world came from a humble beginning. Because life is not a bed of roses. Because life is not meant to be a bed of roses. Because if it is so, we would be spoiled brats with pride and arrogance as great as Mauna Kea Mountain- well, one thing that I will be honest to say directly; save your pride for somebody else if you wish to communicate with me- I don't need that from anybody. Because hey you know what, pride goes before a fall. How true the saying is.

Start with honesty. Be honest with yourself- and ask yourself this question: will I be happy if I do this? Am I brave enough to go for the narrow, dangerous-looking road that few people will tread on-I'm not talking only about Christianity here but anything in this world-job, family, love, friendship, humanity, studies, poverty, etc- and survive? Don't be afraid of death- we will all eventually die. Don't be afraid of losing everything- you are not finished as long as you have hope and determination and that you're living, breathing. Don't take those precious attributes away from you- you will be miserable if you do.
Be productive, have interest and passion, be accepting and try. Make an effort even if you don't like it at first. You can't always have things your way in life. You need a lot of sacrifice for that to happen. But it is not impossible to have the outcome you desire in the end, if you are determined and resolute enough to pull yourself through all the ordeal you have to go through. It is not suffering, it is not torture-those are negative point of views-if you take it from the positive light- it is experience, it is growing, it is learning. Because learning comes in different forms and I agree that Pain is one of the best teachers in the world.

Despite of how much I wrote, I have a lot to learn still. I lack in many areas that many have already achieved. God willing to make things fall into place for me.

Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
Be in general virtuous, and you will be happy.
-Benjamin Franklin

Unbroken happiness is a bore; it should have ups and downs.
-Moliere [Jean-Baptiste Poquelin], 1622-73, French Playwright

One would suffer a great deal to be happy.
-Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 1689-1762, English writer