Stop Wondering

There are only three weeks left in this semester, but unfortunately, I'm just about to wake up. Looking back at what have happened in the past few months, I've become a lousy student which is totally out of my expectation. What happened? Is that because of my succeeding in applying for the Exchange Student Program or because of the new relationship? Neither of them, in my opinion, is the one to be blamed except for my own weak mind.

Am I regretting? Certainly, the answer is yes. “Why haven't I thought more carefully before I made any decision?” “Why do I always have to wait until the situation is about to be out of control then I see the seriousness?” I'm now almost 24 but still act like a childish irresponsible kid. Yet the most ironic thing is that in fact, this is not the first time I blame myself for this kind of shitty matter. What’s worse, the last thing I want to do is to regret. However, whenever it comes to the corner of making choices, I can’t always be clear-minded and wise. Therefore, I make mistakes. Maybe I didn’t make the wrong decision; it’s just that I’ve used the wrong method to execute it. It’s too over. I wanted to have some relax because I’ve got the permission to study abroad, but it’s carelessly too over. I wanted to cherish what I have now and here because I’m about to leave, but it’s too over to be able to balance between schoolwork and my personal matters. “I can only have lived once, and all these are never going to experience again!” this was what convinced me then. Nevertheless when things go too far, it can only bring disaster. And disaster is just what I’m about to face.

I have no idea why I would want to share such kind of funny feelings here. Maybe I just need somewhere to write it down and clear my head. What I want to say is that I know I was wrong but I’m not going to give up. Even though I don’t know how much I would be able to change and improve the situation, but as long as I don’t quit, there is always hope, isn’t it?

Never Give Up

Haven't watched the NBA for years, this morning I accidentally watched the beginning of the Western Conference Finals with the Lakers vs. the Spurs. The Lakers has always been a well-known and super team for me since they have the genius Kobe Bryant playing for them. However, the Lakers didn't star in the first two quarters. The Spurs scored about twenty points more than the Lakers when it came to the third quarter. Not until Kobe had his first three points shoot did the Lakers begin to work on lessening the difference. In the last forty seconds of the game, two teams were still fighting for winning. Finally, the Lakers won the game by four.

The reason why I like to watch NBA is because it's exciting: every second counts. Since NBA players are usually good in shooting—which seems to be their basic skill—a single shoot can make a huge difference to the result. Therefore, the key point is about persistence, both of the energy and the belief. Of course, every athlete should be strong and have a certain degree of endurance. Years of practicing merely are for the moment, maybe just a couple of minutes, on the stadium. Without the root of the fundamentally good physical condition, it's impossible to make them a sportsman. Therefore, what impresses me more is their persistence. If it was me on the court, only had several seconds left, I would easily give up. "What differences would I be able to make?" I'd wonder. However, in the game, in their eyes I saw none depression nor abandonment. Concentration was what I saw. It was glittering in the eyes of the players of both teams. You can never imagine that the championship can switch in one second, no matter it is early before the end of the game or few seconds before it. And this is why NBA is always popular, because you can not only watch a wonderful game, having a great entertainment, but also learn from them or be encourage.

I really enjoy watching NBA. No matter how many years I haven't watched it, the spirit of the game and the players never change. I think it is a great teaching material that can inspire youngsters, enlightening them the code of life, "Never give up! Not until the end of the game!"

The Crying of the Earth

On May 12th, 2008, an earthquake up to 7.8 Richter scale, which epicenter was at Wenchuan, Szechwan, China, shook the entire country and also the global media. It was the most serious earthquake to China for a hundred years. Over one hundred thousand of people died, hundreds of thousands of people wounded, and countless victims are now homeless.

Yesterday our government proclaimed that Taiwan was going to donate two thousand billion NT dollars to, fist of all, supply the rescuing equipment, and secondly, to rebuild the disaster area. However, as soon as the announcement was made public, it was soon attacked on the Net. “If the national treasury has too much money, why doesn’t the government subsidize the international raising price of the crude oil or help those Taiwanese children who don’t have the money for lunch?” The government argued that the assistance is out of humanism. However, the Chinese government only prepared to supply 3.5 thousand billions for the disaster. Besides, comparing to the September 11 earthquake, in which the Chinese government not only didn’t gave Taiwanese a hand immediate, but also pressured other nations, except for having their permission, no country should assist Taiwan directly. Therefore, today, when China has also face the extreme calamity, some of the Taiwanese, unlike most people in the world, started to question why should Taiwanese help a country which has always been a drag to us.

Now, it is very conflicting situation: to help them or not? As now the world has become a global village, many countries are count on mutual assistance. As long as you aid others when they are in need can you have the opportunity to get others’ help when you are in trouble. Secondly, love is what we should hold in our hearts. Instead of caring hate all the time, we should commiserate others first. This is also the beauty of Chinese culture. However, are those protesters wrong? Aren’t there some serious financial problems in our country? Yes, there are. But here comes the critical question: comparing between a life of a stranger and the poor of a kindred, which one is more important? Without ant question, saving a life is more urgent, but most people care about themselves more than the others. As for me, it is also a difficult question.

As a member of humans on earth, when I saw other people hit by a natural adversity, I feel pity for them. When I saw the news and those scared faces, crying children, I can’t help but think of those who have also undergone this misfortune nine years ago. Even though I will never know what kind of torture it is for them, but I can imagine how frightened they should be. To see anyone confront such a blow, we should all feel not only compassionate but also grateful for what we still have now, safety. Even if our living quality is reducing, at least we are not fighting for living. But of course, when it’s your foe standing in front of you, seeking for help because he or she is going to die, it’s a though decision to make whether to save him/she or not, since you don’t know after he/she is recovered will he/she stab at your back again?

However, I still think we should have a microscopic view. It is not the commoners of China who go against Taiwan; it’s the government of China. It’s just like the case of Chinese and Japanese; we don’t hate every Japanese since the slaughter was done by the army of Japan. The country and the people of the country, in this case, seem to be different stories. We should still have mercy in our hearts. Do our best to help others. For me, this is the right way to live.

Reality Is Greater than Ideality

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1996-Aug, a 21 year-old woman was 5 months pregnant and hopelessly addicted to glue and solvent sniffing. Having previously given birth to three children, she had at least two of them permanently harmed in the womb as a result of her addiction. Social workers tried to obtain help for the woman, but she had refused treatment. In such a case, she had already violated her responsibilities of being a mother-to-be. Even though abortion is not the perfect answer, but it’s a better result to prevent another inborn harmed child.

Promise fetuses a future is to provide them a complete and happiness-oriented future, not a broken and miserable one. Not only from the Canadian case, lots of women who suffered from rape or incest mostly give birth to their children unwillingly. In other words, their children are doomed to have their parents unconcern, or worse, dislike them. If so, this kind of kids is very likely to commit crime in their future since they cannot have a normal loving family and parents. Therefore, if we insist on illegalize abortion and force those women to have their children, we are not only forcing those mothers to give birth to a child but also putting our society into a better risks—promised enhancing crime rate.

Pro-choice side emphasizes more on practical living capacity than on ideal right of living. Even though the Constitution has promised each one of us the right of living, there is an unclear area to define who are exactly the ones to be promised; does fetus have the right as well? Can we call fetuses human beings as well? These are the questions that are still uncertain, but crimes are ongoing, so do the unwanted children keep producing. Sometimes, unwanted children not merely involve in the person will of raising them but also result from the inability of raising them. Some poor young parents might not have full knowledge about contraception or might have financial problem in contraception. Under this kind of situation, if abortion is illegalized, forcing them to give birth to as many children as them can’t avoid can only make their living situation worse. They will have no living quality and their children might therefore suffer from having not enough food to eat, such as condition in most African countries.

Between people having been born and fetuses still in wombs, we can still distinguish them clearly and obviously. In English, we call each human organism those have left their mother’s womb a person; however, we never call fetuses people. In our cognition, the difference between something and someone is consciousness. Apparently people are conscious. They can think and express themselves. Comparatively, a fetus, especially before the second and the third four weeks, is unconscious. It is a part of a human being, not a human being. As a result, when we do abortion, we don’t call it killing, because killing results in death. Death is the permanent end of a life of a person or an animal, causing grief of the person’s family or other people’s anxiety about their own safety. However, abortion causes neither of the two.

In my opinion, abortion is more a practical issue than a moral problem. If pregnancy can only bring misery and troubles, the beings that are already existing should be the ones we consider first, not those who are not being yet. For reality is the foundation of ideality, without dealing with reality—living—it’s impossible to talk about ideality—the right of living.