Ode To Joy

I just turned 17 today.

Looking back on the previous year–and pushing forward into this brand-new one–the words of MercyMe’s Dear Younger Me come to mind:

“Dear younger me,
Where do I start
If I could tell you everything that I have learned so far
Then you could be
One step ahead
Of all the painful memories still running thru my head
I wonder how much different things would be
Dear younger me,

Dear younger me
I cannot decide
Do I give some speech about how to get the most out of your life
Or do I go deep
And try to change
The choices that you’ll make cuz they’re choices that made me
Even though I love this crazy life
Sometimes I wish it was a smoother ride
Dear younger me, dear younger me

If I knew then what I know now
Condemnation would’ve had no power
My joy my pain would’ve never been my worth
If I knew then what I know now
Would’ve not been hard to figure out
What I would’ve changed if I had heard

You are holy
You are righteous
You are one of the redeemed
Set apart a brand new heart
You are free indeed

Every mountain every valley
Thru each heartache you will see
Every moment brings you closer
To who you were meant to be
Dear younger me, dear younger me

You are holy
You are righteous
You are one of the redeemed
Set apart a brand new heart
You are free indeed”

(MercyMe)

The lyrics say all  I’d have wanted my sixteen-year-old self to know. This song has lifted me up countless times during difficult situations:  it’s going to stay on my Favorites list from now to eternity. 🙂

There’s not much I could add to it….

*****

My previous post covered a lot of what’s been going on last year: what’s on the horizon for me this coming year?

Besides the multiple competitions, exams, and university applications that would take place soon enough,  a few (too much to list) personal goals would be:

Getting fit. Not losing weight, per se: that has been a losing battle for me for the past three-four years. (Just ask my family.) I like to think of it as preparing my body to meet any challenges I might face in the future. With my increasing interest in certain physical disciplines, that might not be too far in the future. 😛 (Think Martial Arts and Free-Running/Parkour.)

Learning to read/write Chinese and speak Mandarin. Mom has been begging us kids to pay attention and just let those thousands upon thousands of Chinese characters sink into our minds so that we could actually read and write in our mother tongue.  Come to think of it, you couldn’t really write Cantonese the way you speak it: Mandarin comes into the picture out of very necessity. It’s high time for me to buckle in and get the upper hand of this three-year-long struggle. (It’s not that easy, trust me.)

Memorizing at least three books of the Bible. I’ve memorized the entire book of Romans two years back: it’s getting rusty, but having done something like that before, I already have a headstart. Potential books I would be going for would be John, Ephesians, Hebrews, the Psalms, Proverbs, and James. Probably Philippians as well. I can’t really choose. Why not try to memorize them all, eh? 😛 (Not a bad idea, actually. We’ll see.)

Revising and rewriting my novel. It’s been lying alone and almost forgotten in the back drawers of the computer for close to a year now: I should do something about it. It would take some work to dig through the whole thing, reworking the plot and things like that: but it’s doable. (I almost began another book that I’ve finished plotting, but circumstances in life right now just don’t allow me to write for hours a day: so that’s put on the backburner for now. Probably later this year, I’ll look into it: but who knows?)

Lastly, Learning to play the acoustic guitar. I’ve actually wanted to play classical guitar for a while now( three years, maybe?): but due to current preparations for an upcoming piano exam, that’s just not the best decision choice for now. So the next best things: the ukulele and the acoustic guitar, both of which are significantly easier to get the hang of and practice than the classical guitar(just in my opinion, of course).

****

There you go. That’s it about myself. 🙂

For us all, life keeps going on. Keep moving forward, keep your eyes on the Lord, and your feet on the path He has for you.

Thanks for reading!  😛

P.S. This birthday is extra special to me: I was 16 on February 16, and now I'm 17 on February 17.  The dates and ages match perfectly.  A once-in-a-lifetime coincidence.  Nice random thing, eh? :)