Family

This morning, I went to visit my maternal grandparents with my bro. Things really change when we grow up. When I was younger, I used to visit my grandparents with my entire family almost every week. But as I grow up, my parents no longer request that I go visiting with them. Nowadays, my bro and I will visit them alone. But I guess that's part and parcel of growing up - everyone are busy with their own lives and we learn to be independent. And it's not restricted to my family. My cousins, uncles and aunts, too, become so busy with their lives that everyday, my grandparents have lunch by themselves. And that's one thing I really can't stand. I don't know why, but I just can't stand seeing my grandparents eating alone. I just get this strange and uncomfortable feeling. Yupz, so I ended up having lunch with them. And it's really amazing how happy the elderly are when we do simple things for them, like having a meal with them. As such, it made me realize how easy it is to make someone so happy. I feel that no matter how busy everyone is, every family needs to have regular meals together to feel like a family. If not, to put it crudely, the house just feels like a hotel. Maybe it's just me.

Oh and I realized  how influential a grandson's words are to grandparents. My parents were trying so hard to convince my grandparents to retire, but they simply refuse. But the moment I mentioned it, they agreed immediately. Such influence indeed. Yupz, but I agree that they should have retired long time ago, lay back and enjoyed life. If not for my grandfather's recent operation, I'm pretty sure they would not even consider retiring. I guess that's the problem with the older generation. They work, scrimp and save for the next generation. They never really get to enjoy life. Or put it in another way, their definition of enjoying life is different. All they want in life is to see their kids, and they grandchildren grow up and become happy people. It's that simple. I feel that they should want more in their lives. Enjoy while you still can - that's how my father puts it. Yes fight hard to push your career to greater heights. But at the end of the day, think about why you're working, or what/who you're working for. That's how to maintain work-life balance.

If there's one thing that I've learnt about myself this year, it's that I realized that I'm a very family-oriented person. To me, my family is more important than anything else. Orion played a huge part in me understanding more about myself. Through this trip, I've thought about many things in my life - my priorities, my family and my life as a whole. Just take a step back and you really get to see your life from a whole new perspective.