Meaning Of Life... *ahem*

Today a new cubicle-decoration circulated amongst our team.

A poster which most of us promptly pinned-up on our cubicle walls the moment we got our hands on it. Granted, it was a very eye-catching poster.

Simply titled "Meaning Of Life", it is precisely what the title says. Summarizing the meaning of our entire life, all in a single 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. And, strange and amusing as it may seem, it DOES cover pretty much everything in life. Here's what it wrote...

Meaning Of Life

Be born. Go to school. Do well. Graduate. Look for a Job. Find a Job. Make money. Make more money. Save money. Meet somebody. Go out with somebody. Move in with somebody. Marry somebody. Make money. Move up the ladder at work. Make more money. Have a baby. Buy a house. Make money. Get up and go to work. Come home and watch television. Have another baby. Make more money. Buy things at Wal-Mart. Mow the lawn. Make more money. Have another Baby. Buy a car that can seat a family of six. Buy Elmo videos for the kids. Make money. Have another baby. Go see the latest romantic comedy movie. Make more money. Take a vacation to Disneyland. Eat at McDonald's. Call the plumber when the sink is broken. Make more money. Say "I love you" to your spouse on occasion. Send the kids to school. Make more money. Cast your vote for "American Idol". Go to your High-School Reunion. Make more money. Take up Golf. Give the kids advice about stuff. Send the kids to college. Take Bayer aspirin for your Arthritis. Get kind of fat. Become a Grandparent. Finish making money. Retire. Get old. Die.

Pretty thought-provoking stuff. No doubt, it was amusing, but yet profound.

And it made me think. Sometimes it's funny how we tend to look at life as something so totally complicated. We spend so much time just thinking of what we want to do, what's gonna happen in the future, what about purpose in life, and stuff like that. When in actual fact, most of life is spent on those seemingly 'simple' things which we don't even sit down and think about. That's probably the realist's way of looking at things.

Then came my pessimistic side, interrupting my train of realist thoughts...

What if life just isn't as complicated or as 'meaningful' as we feel it is? Too often, I spend ages sitting and thinking of what the future will be like, what I'll be doing, will I achieve my goals and ambitions, you get the drift. Would I be driving my dream car, with my fave Ibanez electric guitar in the trunk, as my two hands fumble to switch gears, cling on to the steering wheel, forage for my lipgloss nestled somewhere inside my Dior handbag as I speed-dial my hairstylist for my appointment in the afternoon. And usually, life isn't that dramatic after all. I guess only time will tell how the future would actually be.

Then another thought crosses my mind. Why don't I make a checklist from all the items in the article, and check them off one-by-one as I achieve them? Obviously, I have the ability to check every item in the list, except the last one, i.e. "Die" (like you had to ask). Of course, I could tell everyone about my list, so when I finally "cease-inhaling-oxygen-and-exhaling-carbon-dioxide", someone could help to check it, and frame it up, and place it over my tombstone or something creepy of that sort. Then again, that's a lil too creepy for my liking. Oh well.

I guess that's what life's all about. It's not just the extravagant, outrageous stuff which movies talk of... you know, things that feeble, mere mortals *ahem* like me would sit and imagine having someday (nevermind the fact that it's almost out-of-reach, a little dreaming never hurt anyone) - Like getting a record deal, playing alongside Joe Satriani, John Petrucci and Steve Vai in a G3 concert, driving a coupe that changes color according to my mood with an uber-cool audio system, two golden retrievers clad in Burberry coats and a shih-tzu with a haircare regimen that rivals Jennifer Aniston.

I guess sometimes the little things matter too, trivial things we do that we never realize the significance of. Having the chance to spend time with the people who mean a lot to us. Or playing music and enjoying it even if I may never have the chance to play alongside Joe Satriani, John Petrucci and Steve Vai. Things like that.

It jolts the mind whenever a reality-check like this kicks in. And it makes me wonder if my life (whatever's left of it, at least) would have the tiniest glimmer of hope to turn out extraordinarily. Or if it's not even gonna be all of the stuff in that 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper.

And I know it may not be possible to have all that I wish for. But deep inside, I do hope for at least a little more than just the ordinary.

The BodyPump disaster...

Just gotten back from the gym, feeling just a teensy-weensy bit tired. The reason behind the "teensy-weensy" as opposed to my usual "I'm so gonner kapoot!" tired, is the fact that I didn't find today's BodyPump class tiring at all. And that ain't a good thing. Two reasons why : (1) Not enough space (2) Not enough plates.

Reason Numero Uno that caused my distress is the mere fact that the Energy Studio was packed today. And I don't mean packed as in "a really full class of humans". I mean, a glass-doored room packed full ('to the brim', if I may use that term, cuz it felt like an aquarium anyway) of people, step-boards, bricks (the stepping-board ones, not the ones people use in construction), barbells, plates, exercise mats, water bottles and towels. Full to the extent that it felt almost as if people would practically roll out, hanging onto barbells for dear life, should the doors burst open.

The class was scheduled to start at 6.10pm. Time-check 6.05pm and I'm practically running into the Energy Studio - towel, gloves, and water bottle in hand (for which I paid a few extra cents today because I grabbed the bottle and told the girl at the counter "It's alright, keep the change, I'm late for class") only to see the whole room chock-full of people already. Then I spotted Alex (my fellow BodyPump buddy at the gym) and after much looking, he helped me to find a spot measuring approximately 3 x 5 feet, and I ran and grabbed the step-board, and those nifty BodyPump equipment.

And that's when Item-Of-Distress-Numero-Dos surfaced.

The first rack had only 0.5kg and two oddly-sized 2.5kg plates left. The second rack had nothing. Zilch. Six dismal 0.5kg plates in hand, I asked Alex if I could use the plates from the free weights area, but he said they'd be too heavy for me to use, so he gave me two of his 2.5kg plates instead. So that was all I had for the class, a maximum of 4kg on each side, causing me much anguish not from the pain but the lack thereof. And I have every right to feel distressed. Doing squats with 4kg on each side makes me feel as tired as it does to walk from my cubicle to the cafeteria at work. (Read: It feels like nothing at all.)

One thing it made me appreciate was Alex who was nice enough to give me those 2.5kg plates. Otherwise I'd have gone through the entire class with 1.5kg on each side (and the minimum is 2.5kg each side, so I'm not even touching minimum with that). Still I'm kinda upset about the whole thing. One sentence sums it all: "What do you mean I'm spendin' almost two-hundred-bucks a month for this?" Sigh. It's not that it happens everytime, but still I have the right to be a tad upset. I like to push myself, and wanted so much to work harder today, and I didn't get the chance to.

I'm trying to get my mind off the whole BodyPump disaster, and think of tomorrow's class being better. It's Paul's 8.30pm class so hopefully the gym wouldn't be so InSaNeLy-packed then. I'm planning to add some weights and push myself a lil more, cuz I can't go for classes this Friday and that kinda bogs me down.

But BodyPump glooms aside, RPM was good =) Bumped into Alan a.k.a. my-fave-RPM-instructor on my way to the changing rooms, and talked about the new release, last Friday (Merdeka Day classes which I didn't attend, and found out today that he didn't instruct it either so I don't regret missing it, haha) and me not being able to attend class this Friday cuz I'll be working. And he was like "bring your notebook, workout and do your work at the same time lar" (giggle) and I wish I could. Today Alan played the new RPM release, so I wasn't quite familiar with the tracks yet, but overall the class was great. Somehow I'm more enthusiastic and tend to work harder in RPM classes lately due to the fact that I do miss them a lot, not being able to attend them sometimes due to work has made me appreciate the days when I do get to go for them. I still wish I didn't have to miss this Friday's RPM class *sob*. All I can do is look forward to next Monday then.

Enough of blogging for now, it's probably time to have dinner and catch some sleep. Tomorrow's another long workday. Work aside, I can, I will, I must go for BodyPump tomorrow. *grins*