The past 11 days (including today) have been pretty good in terms of army, I've been in camp for a total of 29 hours. Haha that's epic, looking that it's even less than those who stay out.
Anyway, on to my present state, I think I could actually get used to this life. I'm quite happy with the way things are right now, didn't turn out to be as bad as I previously imagined. I guess I've accepted the way things are, and the future now looks brighter than the past. I mean, once we all get used to something, a certain routine, a constant fixture, we're comfortable with the way things are. We tend to fear change as a result, but change is inevitable. Thankfully, one of the best abilities we have is adaptation. We go to the gym, work ourselves off, then our bodies adapt to the stress and that's how we grow stronger. We could also see it in the form of Le Chatelier's Principle, where when a change occurs, one side compensates and hence, equilibrium is restored, and that's how I feel right now. My inner peace is back once again.
The past few days, I've been spending a lot of time at home, and I thought I'd feel really bored and lonely, but seems like I actually quite enjoy the homely warmth feeling, whether or not there are other family members at home. And it also makes me feel less guilty about going out so much, it's like I "compensated" by spending so much time at home this weekend. Home is really a comfortable place. It's such a luxury to brew a cup of coffee, decide if I want it black or latte, hot or iced, steamed milk or cold milk, then settle down at the couch to read a book or use my laptop, while playing whatever music I'm in the mood to listen to on the super under-utilised speakers. Yup, and that's why being alone at home is fine too. When others are home, it's a chance to interact and spend some quality time, because we don't have all our lives to spend with these few very very important people.
I'm also looking forward to what lies ahead. It seems like a good opportunity to go out and enjoy myself once again. Focus on the basics in life, simplify things, avoid the complicated stuff. Revisit the fundamentals. Meet old friends, catch up with them and bring back the old times. Maintain and strengthen current friendships. Meet new people, build new friendships and surround myself with more people. Invite friends over to have coffee at the rooftop (something I've ALWAYS dreamed of, sounds nice hahaha). Have the time to go all the way to Tanah Merah and spend a whole weekday afternoon in my grandma's house reading a book and also talking to her, time isn't so abundant for that anymore. Spend lots of time with those at home, because really, they NEVER ever leave you no matter what.
I could finally start focusing on generating some substantial income in my free time through multiple streams (oh gosh, what happened to my 25 year-old target plan). This can be quite time-consuming at the start, so now that I'm so free, it's a good idea to begin. Yup, still have that same dream from 2007 of the house and the cars. I still need to see the Aurora borealis in Alaska, visit the Transfagarasan Highway in Romania. Hmm, looks like I'll need quite a lot of resources hahaha.
I've also got more time to train up my fitness. My gym results have been plateau-ing for about 1 and a half years now. Haha last year it was because of A levels in the second part of the year, and for this year it's due to NS and I've been pretty much fully occupied on my bookouts. Plus the camp gym is just useless. Especially when I get the stay out, mmm I can really have the freedom to focus on gymming just like the past. Time to really watch my diet and make sure I'm eating everything in the right proportion/ratios, it's easier to control when I eat at home. I can load and unload the creatine properly as well, since I'll be having a regular gym schedule once again. Protein shakes taste quite good, and I'll be having more of those too :)
Sometimes it's painful to lose something dear to you, but the new-found freedom's got to be appreciated too. In everything, there's still both sides to the story, good and bad, accept the bad, focus on the good. It's about the manifestation of ideas in your head. What you plant inside your mind will grow. The self-fulfilling prophecy theory. Fear becomes reality, but dreams can become reality too. The past 2 years weren't wasted at all. Through it, I've grown to be able to understand life better, what's important in a relationship and I've probably become less hot-tempered and more tolerant. I've changed a whole lot in that time span. I can only hope that people on the outside agree it's been for the better too.
Once in a while, we need to spend some time building our foundation again, like a personal renovation to make self-improvements.