Passion

My family had dinner with family friends. We have 2 girls, they have 2 boys. What a match eh? Anyway, it was a quaint and quiet place called Woody Pub Cafe. It is located at end of Sembawang Road turn off into Andrew's Road. Just next to another bigger establishment called Buckaroo.

It was quiet set up and served by husband and wife. Somehow, they were short handed that night. Wife was the cook and mainly served Peranakan style food. Spices were used in considerable amount and generously. The complimentary soup tasted amazing! As we were waiting for the food to be served, they played music from Gold 90.5. And I found it particularly soothing. To all our amusement, we concluded that age has finally caught up on us. Perfect10, Power98 are just too noisy for us - occasional would be fine but not the constant badgering of the fast beat. My favourite all these years had been Class95 but seems like I may have to switch over to Gold90.5 soon. GLEE-fully (Aha! Yes, I have caught a few episodes of this TV series as well! Maybe I aint that old after all...). As a matter of fact, I was very surprised that Gold played Sting's 80s piece, "Fragile". Has it been THAT long? Oh dear...

Jenny, the lady owner and cook, spoke to us and talked about passion. That she is passionate about her cooking and in this way, it made her food all the more mouthwatering-ly tasty.

And I somehow relate this to myself. How I enjoy the classroom teaching and really, how this interaction with my students had been the main motivating factor for me to wake up at 6am everyday during term time. And this has been for the past 12 years. In the past, I had to deal with kids dysfunctional families. This was emotionally draining because it really sucked me dry. How sometimes the help provided would turn out to be black hole-d with no returns. Then it got on to the gifted kids and how some of their seemingly naive but matured thoughts can be thought provoking and perspective changing. And now, how some of the brightest kids in the nation, sometimes can think of the best feasible ideas for a project.

What drives me on in ironman distance triathlon? Passion? Maybe. After all it has only been 2 years since I embarked on this journey. Do I still find the need to go on? When I am pushing hard during the intervals, sometimes not. But when I find that my split times in all three discipline are decreasing after a while, yes, I find it all worth it. The healthier lifestyle, the better fitness, the clarity of mind, the energy, the new friends I made, and best part of all, the exclusivity of the sport to only those who dared. I liked the idea that I am on the path less taken, the minority. The rich have their exclusive country clubs, jets, yachts and cars, etc. But I have my exclusive endurance fitness, which really, money cant buy.

So yes, passion is important and is the driving force of many outcomes in life. And I am glad I still have that for now and hopefully for more years to come.

What is your passion?