“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning
to dance in the rain.”—Vivian Greene
***
Recently, I encountered a friend who had returned from the United States three weeks ago. “I am here to stay permanently,” he informed me. To substantiate his claim, he mentioned that he had sold all his properties in the US. “The economy there is not favorable. I believe it will deteriorate in the years to come.”
During our conversation, he spoke of another friend who is currently residing in Manila. This friend, he noted, had been in college for several years and had yet to graduate. “Will you be a lifelong student?” His friend responded, “No, I will not be, but I will always be a student of life.”
In a sense, we are all students of life. This truth applies to everyone. Each day, we encounter experiences that are new to us. “Life,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood.”
Goh Lay Kuan, recognized as Singapore’s leading figure in classical dance, began her formal training as a classical ballerina at the age of 19. “Typically, a ballerina begins serious training at 12,” she remarked, “therefore, I calculated the additional hours required to make up for the lost time, which amounted to ten hours daily.”
For three years, while enrolled at the Victorian Ballet Guild in Melbourne, Australia, Goh dedicated herself with intense energy and resolve, rehearsing for as much as ten hours a day, six days a week. Her dedication ultimately bore fruit, and she graduated with distinction.
In 1964, after gaining experience with various dance companies in Australia, Goh returned to Singapore, only to find a lack of an arts scene. Together with her playwright husband, Kuo Pan Kun, she established the Practice Performing Arts School, contributing to the integration of dance into the cultural mainstream and earning recognition as one of the country’s foremost dancers.
Beginning anew in Singapore, she remarked, “It taught me the philosophy that to be an excellent cook, it is essential to master cooking with minimal ingredients. Life is fleeting and complex. One does not have the option to enter or leave this world at will. You simply make the most of what you possess.”
In essence, despite her proficiency in dancing, she remained a learner in the realm of operating a dance school. The positive aspect is that she never ceased her pursuit of knowledge. She developed a principle that evolved into her guiding belief in life.
“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through,” said Anais Nin.
All of us have to go through the journey of life. In the film, Star Trek: Generations, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) told the viewers: “Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again.”
“Love the moment,” Corita Kent urged. “Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.”
Journey is just one of the metaphors used by people to describe life. J. Richard Sneed reminded, “Life is described in one of four ways: as a journey, as a battle, as a pilgrimage, and as a race. Select your own metaphor, but the finishing necessity is all the same. If life is a journey, it must be completed. If life is a battle, it must be finished. If life is a pilgrimage, it must be concluded. And if it is a race, it must be won.”
Live life to the fullest – don’t be afraid to do new things. Get out from the boat, just like what Peter did when he saw Jesus Christ walking on top of the water. He wanted to experience what it was like to walk like what His Master did.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do,” Mark Twain advised. “So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
“Security is mostly a superstition,” Helen Keller points out. “It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
Or as James F. Bymes puts it: “Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death.”
And that is what learning is all about. When we were still students, we either passed or failed an examination. The same is true with life: We have our own highs and lows, ups and downs, happiness and sadness. When the world has seemed against you, consider it as a challenge.
“However, mean your life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names,” Henry David Thoreau reminded. “Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Things do not change, we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.”
“Live a good life,” Marcus Aurelius declared. “If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
But in the meantime, don’t stop learning. We are all students of life. “Study as if you were going to live forever; live as if you were going to die tomorrow,” Maria Mitchell urged.
