The Different Loves


Just saw a kid the other day in the library. He was physically deformed with jutting pelvic bones and abnormally raised shoulders. Arms bent at impossible angles. Backbone twisted awkwardly to the right.

Was impressed by the aura of determination that he's exuding, the grit in his demeanor.

He was reading stuff that seemed way beyond his years.

To my surprise, a lady - his mum? his sister? - stepped out from beyond the aisle to sit alongside him. The sight of them sitting in easy carmaraderie caused me to feel warm despite the frigid temperatures within the library. Their care and concern for each other was palpable.

Wanted to approach them to tell them how much I enjoyed seeing the happiness between them. But I lacked the courage to compliment strangers.

On hindsight, how I wished I had done that.
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An excerpt from 'The Road Less Travelled' by M Scott Peck:

If being loved is your goal, you will fail to achieve it. The only way of being loved is to be a person worthy of love, and you cannot be a person worthy of love when your primary goal in life is to be passively loved.
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Wondering about education. Was reading a book when a bolt of lightning struck me out of the blue. That people don't bother to advance themselves for they do not love themselves. Had a long talk with my cousin, trying to convince him to respect himself, his future, and work for what he believes in. An emotional roller coaster for both of us.

How to get people to be interested in teaching? How to develop the most comprehensive pedagogy - to ignite interest in learning, in self-growth?

'I'm not here to teach you just chem, just maths, just how to draw. All that doesn't matter, not to me. I'm here to teach you to learn to appreciate life and living, to be more inquisitive to the beauty around you. Remember, while you're learning, I'm learning along with you.'

All this tutoring business is giving me powerful headaches.
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An excerpt from 'Confessor' by Terry Goodkind:

To exist in this vast universe is the great gift of life. Our tiny silver of time is our gift of life. The universe will go on, indifferent to our brief existence, but while we are here we touch not just part of that vastness, but also the lives around us. Life is the gift that each one of us has been given. Each life is our own's and nobody else's. It is precious beyond all counting, it is the greatest value we can have. Cherish it for what it is.

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