In response to a Cindirella's recent post:

How do you even begin to comment on a post like this that demands attention? Maybe I should begin with a scenario you should have seen. In an episode of “Desperate Housewives”, Lynette was having the hardest time handling her children when the thought of suicide entered her mind, manifested on the screen by the vision of her dead friend(the narrator) urging her to pull the trigger on her pistol. Fortunately, she didn’t, and when she learnt later that her friends had equally struggled with parenthood, suddenly things are endurable.

KJ brought up a good point on people, who understands our profession, will really take their hats off us. This sort of explains why teachers tend to “click” together because there is a certain degree of truth that it takes one teacher to truly empathize with another.

Being jealous of our peers is the most natural of human tendencies, yet nothing can be more destructive to our mental resistance. Jealousy is an emotion that arises from the primeval and beastly of our spirituality. But there will always be times where we can’t help ourselves and fall into this personal abyss.

Feeling inferior is the natural extension of jealousy. I remembered the first time I let jealousy totally overwhelm me. It was when I missed a single point during the PSLE to enter the Special Stream. There were classmates who had always performed weaker than me making it for the Special Stream. Instead of blaming the self for not studying hard enough, I find myself cursing them and started to wallow in self-pity. It did not help that in my childish arrogance, all the closer friends I’d made in my secondary school are from the Special Stream. When the O-levels were here, every single one of them went to a top-5 JC with me as an exception. And to make matter worse, every single one of my cousins, including my own siblings are from the top-5 JCs. I was the only exception. The pressure and the weight of inferiority crushed me so badly that for the next 4 years, I self-inflicted depression on myself and my life in the JC and NS was the most miserable I’d known.

And yes, I truly felt that everyone around me is doing so much better than me and I no longer dared to cherish any big dreams. And to add oil to fire, I applied for NUS and got NTU. WTF!

It took a long time to climb out of that abyss. But the first step is to excommunicate yourself from the self-pity. You are not doing badly with your life. If others appear to be doing very well, then congratulate them. That does not make you any less capable. Your potential simply lies in other areas. Believe whole-heartedly that you are full of potential to become a truly noble human.

Aright, I know the paragraph prior to this one sounds preachy and all, and I know that words can be cheap. But all I wish you to know is that there are friends around you (Inclusive of me! *smiles*) that sincerely wish you success and happiness. Be strong!