An excellent life

When I was in secondary time, I sat near a boy named Hai, a peach - skinned, handsome, humorous and mischievous boy. The reason why our teacher arranged us to sit together was because his study was weak, and my job was to help him to improve his academic result. He was hilarious, calling me "roasted jackfruit seed" (I was short and round like a jack fruit seed at that time), always teasing me and sending me funny poems. But his study was awful, lacking much of background knowledge and didn't fully concentrate in class. I didn't know why, as I helped him along his study, he came across to be a smart boy, quite talented in painting. Anyway, I looked down on him because of his academic performance and didn't pay much attention to him.

One day, I talked with a friend from another class, who had studied with Hai before. She told me: "When Hai was in primary school, he was the best student there, your head of the class now Kien was nothing compared to him. He even won several chess tournaments around the district". I was shocked, couldn't believe in my ears. What, Kien - the fearless powerful superstar in my class - was nothing to him before. Then I observed him sneakily, stunned at the truth. A question emerged in me, what made an excellent student be one of the worst then, how come he ended up that way, what had happened.

The same question followed me as I grew up. Sometimes I still wonder, how talented people turn out to lead trivial lives, contenting with poverty, ignorance and boredom. What happened? 

Then I read the book "The 8th habit" and found the answer. The author explained that human has 4 pillars of energy: body, mind, heart, and spirit, with 4 quotients PQ, IQ, EQ, SQ respectively. In order to lead a successful life, one needs to develop all four aspects: vision (intellect), discipline (physical), passion (emotional) and conscience (spiritual). Without any of these factors, one will fail to live his dream life. 

  So that's the point. People fail because they don't notice 1 or some of the 4 factors. I see many people having conscience and passion. But a clear vision to see a big picture and discipline are not always easy to execute. I've met a boy who was very nice and thoughtful, but he had many bad habits that prevented him from growing up to success, drinking and smoking too much, neglectful, and indisciplined. I can understand why, when facing the hardship of life, people like him tend to be discouraged, and fall into such things without much discipline and control. It's a sad thing.

In order to develop myself toward my dreams, I'm going to execute the 4 pillars of characters. With my passion for writing and beauty, I will restrain myself in the fixed schedule and work toward the vision I have chosen for myself, while keeping the conscience to guide my life.