Age

I have no idea how to start this topic on age. But I have so much to say regarding this topic. I realized the world is getting younger and younger. In the past where people had to start working at a tender age of 12, in this current generation people are still studying at the age of 20 and living under their parents' care. I'm not excluded from this category and I'm not exactly very proud of it. But circumstances force me to. If there weren't National Service to serve I would be doing something totally different with my life. Somehow I'd rather get past this stage of my life and just jump straight into living life like I always wanted. The most I can do now is to prepare for that.

One reason why most people don't want to grow up is because they don't want to take responsibility for their life, and our current state encourages that sort of thing. Society no longer forces children to take up the yoke of society and earn that keep. Good or bad, it's not a clear black and white thing but one consequence is that people's mentality are getting more and more immature. People still want to party and enjoy life when they should be thinking about their future and what they want to do in their life. And some people just keep on studying and studying, trying to stay within the education system to avoid going out into the working world...and when they finally do, they cannot handle it.

I wouldn't say I'm the most mature or responsible person around, but I try. And from my point of view, a lot of people around me are just plain lazy. I admire my friends who have to actually work to survive, not that I condone the system but I find that in a way they are more responsible than the people who live off their parents. I understand that it's a big change and adjustment we have to take, but it's a change I'm trying to work towards.

But I guess the whole point of this is not to encourage people to start working at a young age. I find that most people's outlook on life is very immature and ignorant, and that includes many working adults too. All they live for is to earn money so that they can accumulate more material possessions in an effort to be happy. I've always said there's only two ways to obtain enough - one is to obtain more, and the other is to desire less. From what I see of the people around me, most of them are trying to avoid life. They just want to live free without consequences, and they just brush everything aside and do as they please. These people change their beliefs to suit their lifestyles instead of changing their lifestyles to suit their beliefs; effectively elevating themselves to the status of gods (of their own lives).

These people are quick to come up with opinions and world views, but can't be bothered to find out the truth. They just say they believe in this and that, or just treat religion as a buffet spread to pick and choose and not even bothering to seek the truth. And when their views are challenged they just fall back to the age-old line of defense, "it's what I believe in" or "why do you bother to think so much". It's not that I think too much, is that society has conditioned you to think too little and to think about unimportant things that would not matter ultimately when you die.

Life is not a river that you float on and finally fall off a cliff into nothingness. There are consequences and there are truths to be found out. Because when the time comes and you finally have to stand before God, ignorance will not be a valid excuse.