Keep Walking

Are you disheartened with your daily walk of, say, going to work? Facing the humdrum of life and longing for a getaway?

Sure, take a break whenever possible. Have a Kit-Kat or Whatever (a real soft drink). And, go get yourself a vacation.

But, in the here and now, you gotta keep going. Johnny Walker would be smiling at you. Look around a bit as you disembark from the subway train and you will notice that not everybody is equally blessed for walking. Quite a number would be ambling along with some pain. One would be limping, another walking sideway, and a solitary figure on wheelchair could be seen heading for the lift.

It gets bleaker in the evening. When I do work late occasionally, it hurts me so to see senior citizens, who are mainly working as cleaners of toilets or food courts, making their way home, too, after work. It's sad to see that retirement is a remote reality for them. So, you oughtn't hear me complain about my humble lot.

Just this evening,around 11:30 p.m. I saw a slightly bent-over gritty old lady carrying folded card boxes, presumably to sell. Her determined and uncomplaining look inspired me to walk tall, and fight the battles of life.

Come to think of it, she is the same lady whom I have seen before in the morning coming back for more newspaper from the man who distributes the free copies just outside the train station. She did not get her seconds as the bulldog of a man scolded her judiciously.

My guess, with hindsight now, is that she intends to sell her cumulation of newspaper to the recycled- paper collector eventually for small change, which for all we know, would mean so much for her.

I think living life without complaints is a reasonably good policy. We don't have to wait till we are enlightened by the plight of others.

It's truly more blessed to give (out of what we have) than to receive (that which we do not have). But, that's another story for another occasion.