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I Want To Give Thanks

I am giving thanks for these slow days where my mind can finally rest.

For 22 years, I have worked. Getting up at 5 am and getting ready for a hectic day. Weekends filled with marking and months filled with exam preparations and logistics planning. 10-hour and 12-hour days were the norm. The responsibility of preparing batch after batch of students for the national exams and celebrating with them when they did well and crying with them when there were disappointments. Despite the exhaustion, every year-end, I tell myself it's worth it. I can go another year.

But not any more. I have worked until I almost burnt out. How does one know where the limit is? I think one just knows it implicitly. For me, the train has arrived at my platform and I need to get off. I see my colleagues on that train and I worry for them sometimes. The speed at which it hurtles is not for the faint-hearted.

My country has come in tops again, not for PISA this time 😝

http://theindependent.sg/singapore-ranks-as-second-most-overworked-city-in-the-world-study/

These days, I am more mindful of my life, of every breath I take, of every morsel of food I chew. There is no hurriedness. Only silent contemplation. I could go on like this for a long time.

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Wraithorn · 51-55, M

You were a teacher ? That's not an easy job. Congratulations for contributing so much for all those yrs. According to what I've read in the past Chinese people are really intelligent and do work really hard. You contributed towards that intelligence by teaching. Well done, enjoy your slow days.
I understand what you mean about getting off the train. After 21 yrs as a policeman I had enough and got off the train yrs ago. I am not at all keen to step back into society again and live mostly like a hermit now.
I'm like a wraith, seldom seen and only when it is important.
🙂

novembermoon · 51-55

@Wraithorn thanks for giving us the meaning behind your username. It is very apt indeed! You must have seen a lot of things in your years in the police force. Was it in South Africa? Write and tell us more. It must be so interesting! I agree with you that the Chinese people are generally hardworking. But more often than not, the image I have is not a pretty one - more like beasts of burden who do not care about looking up once in a while to see where we're going... and the one trait that I utterly hate - too much blind deference and obedience to people in power and authority. I may be overly critical and make too broad a generalisation but I think I'm not far from the truth.

Wraithorn · 51-55, M

@novembermoon Would you like to explain what your username means ? I was wondering about that it.

Yes, I was a cop in S.Africa. I've lived here my whole life. I did post a story about it yrs ago on EP but I didn't repost it here. If you really want to read it I could send it to you in a PM because I saved it in my email drafts.

I'm quite happy to be able to chat with a Chinese person here because the Chinese in S.Africa are not very communicative. Oh and I must just say that your command of English is really good. I'm impressed.

Chinese people here live in closed communities that are not really accessible to outsiders. They seem to be here just to work and nothing else. It is not really possible to get to know Chinese people here in a social or friendly way.