15/7/05

Went to teach band today. I only slept 4 hrs yesterday and felt sooo tired. Don't even have the mood to teach in the morning. Luckily there is a grade 3 pianist in the percussion. So I asked her to teach the rest of the percussion to play some pieces while I teach the rest rythmn study and notes reading.

In the afternoon, Combine band rehearsal. I had 1.5hrs to rehearse the piece that they are going to perform in 2 weeks time. Actually.... they sounded quite good. Just that I'm very picky with things. And they are not stable when it come to performance. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Kids, what can i expect?

Wanted to watch the night SAF band performance at esplanade but i was too tired, so I stayed home. While I'm typing this, I received a call from my teacher, and got recalled to help out in esplanade. Well, I have to wake up early tomorrow morning to go there. Tokyo Kosei!! here I come.

Slice of Life

Worrying InstinctWorry is a common human experience. It's been around forever, and yet most of us can't seem to get rid of it. Is it a survival instinct? Worry does make you think about what you can do to improve your situation or avoid a disaster, right? The problem is how many of us actually do something about it? If you're like most people, you worry everyday about various things that haven't happened, but do nothing about it.

For example, most of us worry about things like not having enough money, ill health, being alone, getting fired, being hated, growing old, or being seen as useless or incompetent. Our mental well-being suffers, we can't sleep properly, some of us experience panic attacks. Worry eats away at our optimism until one day, we may not feel we have the strength to go on. How many of us act on our worries to create a better future?

What is worry, essentially? It's the anxiety caused by a pending or imaginary problem. The irony about worry is that it can cause immeasurable stress and pain even when the so-called "problem" doesn't exist. People literally lose the will to live over something that hasn't even happened, and which may never happen! Why do we possess such a powerful yet pointless instinct?

Yet, I wonder if there is some use to worry. It can be a motivating force towards positive change. Like anger and discontent, it can propel us to make advancements in areas we wouldn't normally think about. If you're worried about something, do something constructive about it. If you have financial troubles, think about how you can make more money. Trying something, anything, is better than sitting around moaning. Besides, when you try, you create more and more opportunities for yourself.

There are some worries though, that are simply not worth your time. Worrying about failing because of some past experience, for example, is energy-wasting. Worrying about other people's opinion of you is also ultimately pointless. Worrying about yourself and your loved ones is more than enough. Forget the people in life who seem to drain your optimism and sap your confidence.

Worry takes over every moment of every day, ruins happy moments and restricts the capability for one to enjoy life for what it is worth. Worry can quickly occupy so much of your mental energy that hardly anything else gets your attention. So if you're worried about something, do something about it. That's empowering. But if you do nothing, it will consume you.