In search for wisdom

Many people have offered 'advice' in recent months after I have appeared so hopeless in controlling my health (all with good intention). Being Chinese there are always some traditional beliefs when you are sick - e.g. no oranges (makes you cough), no chocolates ('heaty' and makes you cough), or sometimes even chicken soup (too much oil). Ridiculous you might say, but some people do live by it. Well, to be honest I don't think it matters in the grand scheme of things. It might actually make some difference; living like a hermit, not seeing anyone will make sure I won't catch any germs too. But what about my life, my happiness?

Same can be said whether spending time in HK will do me good. Will the weather or air quality here be necessarily beneficial to my health? I doubt it. Are the doctors here cleverer? I don't think so. But there's always some benefit, and of course something to give.

The important thing is to be able to know when a word of wisdom comes my way. Whilst sometimes I can only take some 'advice' with a pinch of salt (not necessarily saying that they are wrong), I feel taking this break gives me time to think, to reprioritise my life, to observe things happening within and around my life. It's also a time to reflect - not just the past year, but the past 24. How would I have lived differently if I knew what's going to happen? Are there things I wish I had done but didn't do? What mistakes have I made? Can I learn from them? How to make the most of the next 24 years, and the next 24?

I still remember one advice from a sermon I heard - failure is being successful at things that don't matter. I ask myself - have I been pursuing things that don't actually matter at all? Do I want to look back 24 years later and find out I have wasted my youth doing it?

I thank God I'm not living on my own. There are people around me who have actually set an example for me. I thank God for their lives, their advice, and mistakes they made so that I won't make them myself. Then hopefully wisdom - knowing what actually matters in life - will descend.