I highly doubt that anyone will bother to read this but i guess its really more for my own amusement than anything else..

When you live in a mildly censor inclined country... ideas and opinions are always hard to get out of people... from a young age... our educations system stifles our inner ability to contribute freely good ideas and share our thoughts.

I grew up always having fantasies in my head.. dreaming of 'what ifs?' and ' i wonder why' bubbles..... i always found it hard to find peers who were similar to me in mental capacity... not in terms of intellect... but more of free will and thinking... trying to get my friends or family to discuss political, world or life issues in general was always a challenge. i believe that it is through discourse and debates that we can truly better oneself in terms of awareness, both social and personal.

To start of, I'd like to begin with the topic of Life.

An epic subject to say the least !!! However it is one that everybody can relate to. My focus of life will be what is a HAPPY LIFE?

For the majority of us, we all begin the first 1/3 of our lives in similar fashion.
toddler school, followed by primary school, secondary school, poly/JC and finally UNI. in total most of us spend at least 18 years in school.

After obtaining a degree comes employment. this part will will take a further 30 years at least. And with retirement age now increased to 65, most of us can expect to work for 40 years....

While in your working life, you will find someone you love ( what is love??? another issue perhaps...) marry that special someone, have a couple of kids. Get that dream house, buy a car and once a year go for a holiday.

All in all, it sounds like a good plan, a solid plan that cant go wrong if you follow the guidelines and work within the lines. But is this truly for everybody? is everybody happy with this 'plan' that god knows who decided was the best ever?
Make no mistake, for most people, this is the plan that they want. I do however genuinely believe that there are many who simply cant live their lives in that fashion. yours truly being one of them..

I am a oddity, of that i have no doubt. I have never been a conformer to the norm, nor do i believe that i will be in the near future. It is not a childish rebellion or arrogance that makes me so. I have just simply wanted more than just 'the plan'

When you were young, did you have a single aspiration that stood out among all the other usual dreams? During those few classes where the teacher asked for an essay on 'what i want to be when i grow up', what did you write? For me, it was always something to do with animals. Be it a vet, a ranger, a zoo keeper, a conservationist... the scope differed but the core was always the same. I need not say much about this aspiration, except that there is not a single course in the country that is related to this field. There are employment opportunities to this field but education is attained offshore..

Some of my friends have confided, after only being in the work force for a few years, they feel tired and uninspired. They tell me their lives are empty shells and that they cant believe that they've got a few decades more if it to go. They do not represent all my friends but there are quite a number in this boat.

When I hear such statements i feel a hollow in my heart, a pang if you might. Here are my mates, successful in their academic pursuits, in jobs that most will consider ' the jackpot'. And yet unhappy. They stuck to 'the plan' earnestly, excelling where needed in the guidelines and never faltering or waiver in their determination. And ironically, when they land where they 'wanted', it fills them with sorrow and emptiness.

Sure they can soon afford all the finer things in life, that fancy condominium in central area, a BMW coupe. That head turning girlfriend/boyfriend.

But what is most lacking is SELF gratification. Fulfilling one's own personal dream.
Few can honestly say that they aspire to be an accountant or a banker even. Every job is specialized and everyone of us works towards what we feel we can make due with or achieve. There are of course people who truly work in a field that they love. If so, that is not work anymore, its really a rewarding career.
For the most of us however, its merely a job.

This is the result of society as it is now.

There are other issues but I want to be careful on what is put to print... freedom of the net does not mean freedom of press. The internet while seemingly open and free is in actual fact a hidden trap for many over aggressive or eager netizens. Cue Dan brown's Digital Fortress....

I have touched on the 'Perfect life' a pint and will next write about its failings and what i believe truly equates a fulfilling and happy life.