Dare to be like Cinderella (July 31,2007)

Dare to be like Cinderella
By: Maria Reylan M. Garcia

It was twelve o’clock in the morning. But, I couldn’t care less. There I was squeezing in every bit of information that I can inside my little noodle mind. Yes, I was studying. Our midterm examinations are but weeks away, I couldn’t bear to cram, not in this state. My eyes wanted to shut the lids and knock me off to dream world, but my will power to stay awake keeps on saying a few minutes more. These were the moments when fragments of illusions would come popping right in front of me. The soft, cold and comfy bed was welcoming my aching back to lie down and feel the cottony heaven, but still I have to defy. The gentle breeze of the midnight wind lulls my ear to a deceiving surrender, but I have to resist. I have to oppose the temptations of leaving my work, so as to finish and let everything fall rightly into place.

This is my daily routine, I hardly get some decent hours of sleep. Some said its torture. I said its hard work and determination. Now, I say its pressure and cowardice. This habit was not a liftoff to my burden; it actually hands in more load and weight. Evidently, I was pushing myself too hard. I could never imagine how I dared to be inclined in such practice that even my parents were not in favor of. At first it was a mere self-gratification, but somehow the extremities led to plain old self selfishness. Even the computer itself has its own limits and needs to shut down and regenerate, how much more a simple first year college student like me. I was caught up in my whims of idealism and perfection that I failed to remember my own and genuine needs.

Spending so much time in one thing, pouring out every glimpse of energy into it is a mere act of foolishness. Dedication is a noble act, but reckless obsession is nowhere near noble. Good for the computer, although it may tend to overheat and eventually shut down, it will remain to be just that. Apply the same course of situation with a human being and you’ll find nothing but the word frustration. I push myself towards the peak of my limit, but then the results of my several nights of staying up late and neglecting to have leisure and fun all arrived to a point of failure. Yes, it would take a courageous person to get over that frustration and start anew, but it would take a more courageous person to stop dealing with fear and pressure to prevent frustration.

It is fear and cowardice that fuels one to place so much pressure on his self. Better yet, on my part, it was insecurity. I am not sure of what I am capable of that I exhaust everything that I can and drain out every bit of power that I had stored. Adrenaline would rush through you and pops out an immense joy if what you goaled is what you acquired. But, the very thought of failing or underperforming would let one crumble to the brittleness of disappointment. It is okay to reach for the brightest star and grab hold of it, but it would be better if you took some time to look at the dimmer stars you passed by and dared to smile. Why? It’s because if in any case you’ll not reach that brightest star you won’t be all that gloomy, because along the way you saw dimmer stars that when their lights are added up will equal to the intensity of the brightest one.

Being pressured and too much focused only means that you fear of taking risks. The flavor and spices of life are made sweeter with every palpitating beat of your heart, with every deep breath you take in, with every doubt of certainty. That even though you just did what you can and what seemed the best, the result was satisfying. Rather than implying and tiring out all that you have and forcing out the better of your best, the result was just good, it was at any side regretful. It’s highly industrious of students in particular to study a few chapters ahead of their current lesson, making him more advance than his classmates, making him more secured of getting a higher grade. But then what? Just like me who spends most of the time reading in advance my lessons while my classmates laugh their hearts out on shared jokes and chit chats. It’s like I have conquered the mountain and climbed to the peak, but I never recalled nor noticed every steep that I have trodden; thus, making the success rewarding but never satisfying.

There I realized there was a major difference between study well and study hard. With studying hard, it gives more pressure and anxiety. The range and scope of study is just the same, but the desire and desperation seems to be at different ends. What my sometimes disfigured mind is telling that each of us got to take breaks and got to end things the way it is in order to experience more of life. Don’t you think if Cinderella had really forced herself to stay with the prince would have still made her the princess? She decided to end it there and go home. Thus, she found more adventures and more magic had she beheld with the fitting of the glass slipper.

The British proverb, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, would explain in context what I deem to comprehend. My friends, there is nothing wrong to be focus, in fact it is noteworthy to be so. But the excessive inclination to it would lead us to living a patterned and routine driven life, making us deprived of the wonders of confusion, puzzlement and doubts. It’s nice to be not so all knowing and imperfect once in a while. Take time outs. Smell the roses. Have fun.

With my midterms fast approaching, I might be staying up late once more. But it won’t be as late as before. I’ll take some time to sip a warm cup of chocolate drink, or take a peep unto what my brother was giggling about, then doing my parents a favor to stop torturing myself and sleeping early. I may not be able to perfect the tests, but I was able to do some things, simple things they are, rather than sitting up like a desperate old maid locked up in the prison cell of serious studying.

Cinderella went back at 12 o’clock, stopped dancing with her prince and lost her glass slipper. Perfectionists claimed she should have stayed. But would it made her story a fairytale that it already is? Recess and Breaks, Weekends and Holidays were made for some reasons, let’s not waste their worth.

Dare to be like Cinderella.
Stop. Chill. Smile.

(Many thanks to Ms.Marlyn Salvilla, Mr.Murphy Pe, 09107887780, 09282928803 for their comments)
(For comments and reactions please send an email to reylangarcia@yahoo.com or an SMS to 09186363090)