the rocking chair

i won't go into details but there was this guy who offered me a business deal. when i said i was busy, he asked me if i was busy doing the right things. by "right", he meant things that are profitable. he explained that 54% of the human population would be dead broke by the time they're 64, which is the retirement age, at least for our country. he said they didn't plan ahead, that they didn't really know what they wanted. he also said that they might have saved up but wasn't too cautious and that all their efforts were in vain. saving won't get you anywhere, he said.

"do you know what a rocking chair is?" he asked me.

i nodded, trying very hard not to scoff. 

"you see how it's moving? but it's not really getting anywhere, is it?" he said with a smirk. "you'll be like the rocking chair if you're busy doing the wrong things. you'll just be busy. you won't ever get anywhere..."

that 'quote' really tormented me for a few days. it made me rethink my priorities and question my beliefs.

sheesh. i'm doing so many things but i'm not profiting on them, ne? economically speaking, that is. but really, what am i doing? for all the things i do, all that i get is a recognition here and there and a pat on the back or so.

what am i getting out of the many, many things i do?

seriously, what?

if i think pragmatically, logically and practically right now, i would have accepted the offer. money is still money and we need it to survive, of course.

but accepting the offer means forgetting my old ways and stopping the things i do - which i like, mind you!

yeah even if i like doing them, they still don't give me profit...

but hey, who cares? i mean, I DON'T CARE!

call me illogical, impractical, or even crazy but i like being me and i like being these things! i like dreaming of a better country, i  like changing the world, i like being a pioneer of change and i like helping without anything in return. maybe that's just me. maybe i'm impractical but i'm happy being that.

fine, fine. i could see you lot shaking your heads and telling me that i'll change my opinion when i start working - but i do work! and i work for these people because i support their cause and believe in their dream.

yeah, i'm still young and idealistic but at least i stick with them. now, i really know where i stand.

i may be in a rocking chair that doesn't get anywhere but i'm pretty sure that it's moving in the right place. :)