Sam's letters to Jennifer

I have been reading books recently when I can get my hands on one. 2 months ago, I read and wrote about A Walk to Remember, a romance novel highly recommended by my wife. Last week, she recommended me another novel, Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson. This is a weepy tale woven around the life, love and tragedy surrounding a woman named Jennifer and her grandmother, best friend and confidante, Samantha.

I found two quotes memorable.

The first - what are we but our stories? Indeed our lives should be as impactful as possible since we only live once. If we live each day just to wake up, eat, study/work and sleep, it's a life wasted, like the talent that was buried by the servant in The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. It was not put into any good use when the primary value of a talent lies in what it can do. In Half-Time, Bob Buford challenged us to write our epitaph. His would be A Hundred Fold. He wants his life to yield a harvest 100 times over what was originally invested. I made my choice back in 2004 that mine would be Made a positive difference. Yours may be something else, but I think ultimately, when most people come to realise the value of a life, they will want to make the best of it, either for himself/herself or for others. For me, I look for opportunities to touch lives. It's my way of thanking God for giving me this life and helping me live as functionally as possible.

The second quote - living each day from sun-up till I can't keep my eyes open. In the context of the book, it was about doing what the person wants to do, instead of making excuses to defer again & again. 2 weeks ago, I came across a report in Today tabloid that says Singapore workers are the most overworked in Asia. I'm not sure whether this is to be read as a compliment or not. One thing rings true - we owe it to ourselves to make a choice instead of just flow along. Taking the path of least resistance is often the easiest and the default choice for most people, but it is not necessarily the best or the most meaningful. Instead of plugging on to the routine stuff each day, why not ask ourselves once in a while, "is there something different I can do today?"

When you put the 2 quotes together, one way to look at it is to do something meaningful when we get the chance to, even when the rewards are not there or not obvious. This is the choice I have made when I opted to make a positive difference back in 2004. What's yours?

God bless,

Thomas