A random thought came across my mind when I saw Hock Chuan’s post on Facebook.
HC was my student advisor during my Temasek Poly days, when I was part of the Community Service Club. Me being me, I respect all my teachers ‘coz I’ve always thought that they being seniors in life, will have their reasons for doing what they do to us. Innocent thought it was, for someone who had no real experience in life other than a smooth 16 years of education under the comfort of the parents’ shelter.
Many years down the road, I’ve grown to really respect him as a mentor. For someone who had his fair share of downs – having survived 2 rounds of cancer operations and an unhappy ex-marriage where the other half left when he was first diagnosed with cancer, he has shown us that life is just not about what has happened to us. It is about how we perceived what happened to us.
Which reminds me of this quote that my Sec 1 Science teacher – Miss Tham Suet Ping – wrote in my autograph book:
Happiness isn’t about what happens to us – it’s about how we perceive what happens to us. It’s the knack of finding a positive for every negative, and viewing a setback as a challenge. If we can just stop wishing for what we don’t have, and start enjoying what we do have, our lives can be richer, more filfilled and happier. The time to be happy is NOW ~
HC has demonstrated very well of the quote above. He emerged as a stronger person from the downs. How do I know? From his Facebook posts. 🙂 Lengthy yes, and I am guilty of not reading word for word, but when I had the time to read friends’ posts, his posts are always inspiring. For it’s about him sharing his experiences and reflections about life.
Never once did his posts fail to make me reflect on my own life. Many a times I almost succumb to the challenges I was facing. Then I will be reminded that there are others who could be worse off than me. Also inspired by HC that all challenges come to you for a reason. If you are able to overcome it, you will definitely emerge as a stronger you.
My role model in life, I can never be as positive as him but I will try. 🙂
Footnote: I could have titled this as A Tribute To HC 😀