Out of curiosity as to which random virus taken to my tagboard recently, I just visited this page. And a profound thought struck me- I definitely do NOT just need the air I breathe, and a place to rest my head. I need a hell lot of other things. In fact, I carry half my house with me everytime I step out. And then, like any self-respecting and materialistic female, I need a gazillion other "personal" things, such as shoes, bags, cosmetics, accessories and so on and so forth. And, even if there comes a time when I were to throw in the towel and resign myself to a simpleton's life devoid of all luxuries, Basic Cardiac Life Support has taught me that breathing alone will not sustain me. I would still need to have an Airway and Circulation - Airway, Breathing, Circulation; as with all medical terms, it's easy as ABC! - hence, I'm becoming more and more dissatisfied with the title of this page and feel the itching need to switch to something a little more... meaningful?

Otherwise though, life has recently been good to me. Having learnt that the road ahead indeed leads to the neverending abyss which all who have gone before have repeatedly tried to warn me about, I've come to adopt a very Zen attitude towards studying. Nowadays, I take days off as and when I feel like I need a break, and take the time to totally switch off from school and just do stuff that makes me happy. And my rule about such days is this: NEVER FEEL GUILTY. It works out pretty well for me too, because after a blissful day (or even half) of mid-week slacking, sleeping, settling errands, or even working out, I feel much better about myself and can return to work with renewed focus and vigor. People around me may gasp at my apparent indifference and lacklustre attitude towards studying -"we saw TWO cases the whole morning you were away, and the last one was the absolute bomb!!!" - but little do they know the genius of my plan. Singaporeans, and especially medical students, are in dire need of a brain rewiring. I mean really guys, it's COOL to relax once in a while! There's no need to run around unproductively like kancheong little spiders 24/7!

So, I must say, I'm really loving this "you must find your own happiness" mantra. It's great. I'm slacking more than ever these days, and my grades have (I think) never been better. Okay, actually I exaggerate a little, but at least my grades haven't totally plunged, and I still (more or less) know what's going on with the patients. Everyone should take a chill pill!

In tandem with my abovementioned paradigm shift, I've also started actually being serious about getting fit. It helps that we recently bought my dad a stationary bike, so I can use it while watching TV on days when I don't have time to run or visit the gym. On weekends, mark and I have taken to running at the park, and we now cover between 7 to 10km each time. This is a far cry from my JC days, when I would be half-dead when dragging my body to the end of a terribly slow annual 2.4k run. Those who have known me since young would testify that I have never, ever, ever been a runner. For some reason though, I became interested to explore the fitness world outside the confines of an indoor, air-conditioned, gym, and I was totally shocked when suddenly I realized I was able to run 5km just like that! I'm not "fast" by any standard, but I'm just glad that my lungs have held up. Mark, too, has been an incredible inspiration. After the 4cm hole in his heart was stitched up a few months ago, he's become amazingly fit. Like duh right, because his heart is suddenly actually able to function normally. I think only good things lie ahead for us! As long as my knees don't degenerate prematurely, of course.

All this has also seriously made me appreciative of "holistic" health, involving the Mind, Body and Soul. I have really seen these 3 come together in us, and I can't believe why people do not put more attention towards striking a harmony and balance in their own lives. I think that one day, I would love to be part of a holistic wellness centre, with emphasis on natural healing, correcting underlying bodily imbalances, and preventive medicine. It would be extremely difficult to convince anybody that healing can start without miracle drugs, particularly since people still somewhat associate natural healers with quacks. But I truly believe in this! And I hope we can have something like this in the near future of our "progressive" country. All these are just preliminary thoughts though, as I still have the major hurdle of an MBBS to get over before I can even -think- about going against any kind of grain whatsoever.

Oh well. Till then though, peace out everyone!!! <3