Food for thought

Had a great dinner at Food for Thought, this hole in the wall eatery near Bugis where the chefs, the waiters/waitresses and the customers are all equal parts nice people. And very interesting people, at that. A simple question of "What is the Chinese word for tanks?" (Don't ask) to the girl next to me, who is also sitting on a stool facing the chef in a bar-like setting, led to a long conversation about work, the meaning of it and what makes her happy. She's an ER doctor who holds her pork-ribs-cutting knife like she's holding a scalpel, by the way. Proof of how much work can define you.

My friend said something which kind of affected me a lot, because I was struggling with precisely what she said.

"Don't hold on to things that don't last."

I'm like a dog in that once I bite something, I won't let go. This habit had caused me grief a number of times, because holding on to something that doesn't want to be held is both tiring and painful. But I think it's also something that some people like about me, the fact that I'm passionate enough to give 100 percent of myself to things I find worth it. Maybe if I were to change, if I were to be more balanced (that's my buzzword nowadays), I would lose a part of me that is actually likeable. Not that I'm that desperate to be liked, but at least I would want to be liked by people I care about.

Knowing when to put 100 percent of yourself and 50-50 of yourself,
Knowing when to go all out and when to hold back a little,
Knowing when to hold on and when to let go,
Knowing when to say hello and when to say goodbye or see you again someday,
Knowing when to realize you're just not that important to some people,

It's hard, but it needs to be done.