"I'll be coming home, wait for me"

"Flight attendants, please be seated for takeoff."

I was assigned to a window seat on my daytime flight back from Kota Bahru to Kuala Lumpur after the Lunar Year break last week. Which I wasn't exactly pleased about initially because it meant that I won't be able to get out of the plane as fast as I'd like to.

And I remembered thinking to myself "This is gonna be one lonnggg flight" when I realized that lucky seat 31A IS at the last row of the plane and seated next to me was a lady who was with her 7-month-old child.

Normally, I'd prefer to take a nap during the 50 minutes or so flight but due to the incessant crying of the baby and his mom's futile efforts to soothe him, I decided to shift my focus to the view outside.

My flights are often, if not always, in the late evenings due to my work schedule.

But on that day, flying 25,000 feet above sea level, with clouds that look like cotton candy; the warmth of the sunlight felt even through the window; the lush woodlands, the various hues of greens and blues reflected by the crystal clear sea; and when no matter how hard you squint, you can't seem to figure out where the sea ends & the horizon begins...

I used to marvel at the sight of the glorious night lights, which were readily available in every other city that I've been to. I'm wondering now whether they are even worth a comparison.

To think that I spend most of my waking hours at a desk in a concrete jungle, 5-6 days a week, I can't help but feel as if my entire life revolves around my work.

When there is so much out there - waiting to be discovered, to be explored, to be revelled in.

Don't take me wrong, I think my job is great (ok, so I'm a boring person) and I'm well aware that this is not a world whereby human beings can survive on eating grass, drinking water from a nearby river and living in caves; or where money grows on trees.

I remembered coming across this a few days ago from a book that I've been reading: Nobody on their deathbed ever said, “Gee, I wish I had spent more time at the office.”

I guess the keyword here is 'balance'.

While I know it's kinda late for a New Year resolution since it's coming to the 3rd month of the not-so-new-year (scary, huh?) but I'd like to make one of them this: to wake up and smell the roses - be more adventurous, more flexible in my schedule, make time for friends and go out more.

So the next time you extend an invitation for Friday night drinks to me and I give you some lame a** excuses about how I HAVE TO attend my 8.30pm yoga class, please can you remind me of this darn post.

“One day at a time - this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering.”
- Author Unknown