Find your escape

For the people who know me, they’d know that one of the things that I love to do recently is to go cycle. With the beach easily at my fingertips, the lure of going there is a force I can hardly ignore.

Less than 3 years ago, my bike was still rotting with all the other bikes. I never went cycling, partially for fear that I might fall down (I was highly bike-accident-prone, and knew little on how to control a bicycle), and partially because I had no kaki to go cycling with.

That changed when the Lih Yee and the brother began their individual quests to get fit. They roped me in to go to the beach at various times in an effort to maintain some form of healthy lifestyle. At first, it was a chore. A social activity. A bid to battle boredom.

And then a breakthrough happened.

I started looking forward to riding, because I loved the feeling. The cheesy wind in my hair, and wind on my face, the ease of moving fast or slow. My actions on a bike became less clumsy, and more intuitive. I learnt to use my palms to redirect the handles. It became easier as time passed, and as I got used to it. And I enjoyed the control, the feeling of bending as I turned. To a passerby it would look as though I was about to fall but I could easily catch myself just in time. 

This evolved into a self-ritual. Usually now I’ll go when I’m bored, or I have extra energy to burn. I’ll go to feel good, and to get some exercise and fresh air. For me, the exercise isn’t top priority, but the need to get out and feel free is. Impromptu was the key word. I could be doing something one moment, the next I might feel the desire to go to the beach, and to the beach I would go. There was no stopping me (except rain, perhaps).

But cycling wasn’t about getting out of the house. It continued to evolve into something bigger. It became my escape. I would go there to seek solace. When I’m sad, when I’m confused. When I’m unsure about someting, and I needed some time to think.

I once had a Journ presentation to do the next day, but the day before I still had no idea what to talk about. So I got my bike,went out to the paths I pedalled all the time. My actions were so intuitive, I did not need to think on them. Instead I could concentrate on what I needed to talk about for my presentation. I thought hard as I pedalled. I pedalled, and I thought. The pedalling was easy, rhythmic. And by the time I got back, I had already mapped out everything that I wanted to say, right down to the jokes and opening lines.

It’s hard to explain how cycling helps me escape. Not escape from someone or something in the physical sense, but an escape from everyday life, leaving behind what you have, if only just for a while. The human brain can feel too clogged up by the burdens of everything else around it. By life surrounding it. That sometimes the brain cries out for attention. So in order to close your mind to the outside world, you need ways to block out external factors. Different people find different ways of coping, different defence mechanisms. One of the best ways is to relax, to close your eyes and mind, physically and mentally. That’s why Yoga is so popular, for the mere fact that it helps a person to calm down and relax. But not everyone chooses that. Some drink their way out till they can’t drink no more, some might read, choosing to escape into another world where their own problems don’t exist. My escape, was by cycling.

There are even times when I go when I’m feeling sad. Or if underneath, I feel some sense of sadness, even if I don’t quite know what triggered it. I can pedal quietly till I cry, though my tears don’t cheesily stream down my face like in Hollywood movies. I’ll just keep going on and on while I cry. Music can enhance that feeling, while at the same time block out external noises. I’ve discovered that Linkin Park’s Shadow of the Day can have great effect like that. I’ll just keep going on and on, and I don’t stop till I stop crying.

And then……. I realize. The feelings will have lifted. They’re gone. There is no more pain. And I just feel a huge sense of relief. And I can go back to the ‘real’ world ready to tackle whatever I need to tackle, and live life as per normal. An escape is just temporary, just for a short while, but the effects can be everlasting on your life.

So find your escape. It might be in the form of a book, or a game. It could be taking up something new, or returning to something old you used to enjoy. Or perhaps I might just see you cycling beside me the next time I go for my escape.

The 4-minute mile

Today in History: In 1954, Roger Bannister set the world record for being the first person to run a mile (1,609.344 meters, 5280 feet) in under 4 minutes. His time: 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. At that time, it was considered impossible and even hazardous to the health, as analyzed by physiologists. For years, it had not been just a physical, but also a psychological barrier that no one was able to break through. Perhaps they were afraid for their health. Perhaps no one had the stamina. Or perhaps, it had been drilled into everyone’s mindset that running a mile in under 4 minutes was just too impossible.

Until Roger Bannister came along. He went down in the Guiness Book of Records as the first man to ever cross the finish line of a mile in under 4 minutes. 46 days later (on 21st June), his rival John Landy broke that record by coming in at 3 minutes 57.9 seconds. The two would later compete on 7th August in a bid to secure the winner of the 4-minute mile, with Bannister coming out tops.

What makes this 4-minute mile even more interesting, is that in 1957 ), 16 more runners had broken past the 4-minute mile barrier. 3 years after the first person set a record for the unthinkable (with no one else having secured such a victory before), 16 more runners had set the same record. Why? Because when everyone realized that what was deemed impossible became reality, everyone else was willing to try their hand to achieve the same feat. Because “someone else had done it”. When nobody else had achieved such a feat, no one was willing enough to try it because their mentality was “it can never happen”. But the moment 1 person does it and reports success, everyone else rushes to do the same thing.

So the lesson here is: Nothing is impossible. Nothing (rational) is impossible, anyway. Cast away what you thought was impossible, as cheesy as it sounds. Because you may be afraid to push on for the fear of breaking, but if you do continue, you will realize you’ve made a breakthrough instead.

Just Do It.

(OMG you KNEW I was gonna do that, didn’t you?)

Jaunt to Jay Bee

There’s something to be said about new experiences. How a person feels like when he experiences something completely new, going to a place he’s never been to before or trying out something new that he’s never done before. I never went overseas just with friends (no family), and there has always a first time to be had.  

My first and favourite item: coin purse. I saw this the moment I stepped into JB, but I thought of holding out first. But when we returned to the same area, I saw the place was still open so I just thought: get it!

 Why do I look intoxicated? And I look like I’m wearing eyeliner.

HAHAHA. Apparently, the words at the top says “Korean Cat Princess”. HAHA. But cute lipbalm. Just nice, I was looking for lipbalm anyway.

Brooch for The Momma. Surprisingly, she was quite cool with the idea of going overseas. Yay for The Momma!

Malaysian magazines, rather similar to our local versions. Most of their magazines are in Bahasa Melayu though. And I enjoyed being able to talk in Malay again! Though I’m not good at that. The last time I really got to talk in Malay was when I taught a bunch of students who enjoyed calling me “Cikgu” and asking me for help on their projects.

Disney Princess stickers! LOL. It’s meant to be stuck on light switches, to brighten the room. Okay joker.

But I’ve just realized that I bought two stickers…. but I failed to realize I have 4 switches. Fail.

The day before I went, I was thinking, what if I went to JB… to go Watsons?

Well I didn’t do that, but we entered Sasa anyway. And I got some stuff that you can’t get in Singapore. Yay to multinational companies that give you a sense of familiarity and at the same time stock new items!

Pink feather boa! I’ve been looking to get a large piece of fur to decorate my room, but it works great too. Kind of regret not getting the white one, I can never find these kinds of things in Singapore.

Speaking of that, I notice many of the things in Malaysia are based on the elements of “kawaii”. It’s always been said that the supply is to meet demand, and it seems that Malaysians seem to fall head over heels with the fatal attraction of cuteness. Correct me if I’m wrong, though. The area I was at must be too small a sample size for an accurate assessment of the representation of the culture in Malaysia.

But you gotta admit, they seem to have a much greater sense of kawaii-ness compared to Singapore.

How is this post in any way related to personal self-development?

Having new experiences will bring you great joy, and especially when you’re somewhere new for the first time. Just like being ‘overseas’, even just for a day. It’s just like the first time I rode a bike to the beach on my own: that was a thrill unto itself. And when I reached the Jetty, it felt fantastic, refreshing. Something new, at someplace new. And I watched as the planes landed and left Singapore, flying through the skies and disappearing, further and further away. I watched till they were burned into my memory, my retinas recalling the image of the sky and the sea everytime I closed my eyes.

And then I kept going again and again, to feel that sense of freedom, that bit of happiness. Till I cycled so many times… something happened.

It stopped feeling special.

The more I went, the less fantastic it felt. Sure, I enjoyed cycling, but after some time, it stopped feeling special. The more you do something, the more it becomes a chore, and a feeling of boredom will descend upon you. It no longer dazzles you, because you begin to grow accustomed to it. It hasn’t settled on me while I cycle, but I don’t feel such euphoria when I go nowadays, perhaps just a little.

As you continue to repeat doing something again and again, it will slowly settle into a kind of rhythm. But humans are not made to keep to senseless rhythm. That’s the job of a robot: monotony. If we continue to repeat, we lose the feeling of something. We stop thinking and we stop feeling. We’ve gone down one step to merge with the robots. That’s why humans crave for new experiences, and savour it. Because when you learn, that’s when you live. That’s when you enjoy life, because you get to see something new that you’ve never done before. You first see the grandeur of it, and marvel at the big picture. When you experience the same thing a few more times, you start to fit the smaller pieces of the big picture. Your perception, while it enlargens, at the same time, it narrows down. Ironic, but true.  Of course, if I go to JB every few weeks, it will become somewhat normal.

It won’t be special anymore.

And you’ll start looking for something new all over again.