You've probably heard the cheesy quote 'Success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration', with the main purpose of imbibing the value of hardwork into your pitiful soul. I was just reading an article in the Opinion section of today's Straits Times paper, featuring a long interview with our dear Law and Foreign Affairs Minister Mr. K Shanmugam. The classic example of the meritocracy argument surfaced as he mentioned that as he grew up, his parents instilled great faith into him as the youngest son of 3 children, that in Singapore (post PAP's rise to power) it didn't matter what gender or colour of skin you possessed; that as long as you studied hard, you will do well in life. Now how true is this? Some people might contend over whether you were BORN to succeed, or you were made to do so. Leveling the playing field isn't an easy job for the man on the street, or the government for that matter, to do. This then led to yet another thought that has been provoking me since the day I was born - well this of course, is an exaggeration.
When we get inspired, be it by our idols, some quote from quotes.com or random douche-idiot who thinks he is a Descartes, Russell or Marx, others' achievements or by mere scenes, we feel motivated to do what we can to succeed. But is it all just an illusion? How much are we actually willing to PERSPIRE for it? The saying that actions speak louder than words is cliche, but apparently holds a very big truth. The concept of getting all inspired and having a corollary of limitless energy to strive for what we want in life is skewed to a major extent. It is my belief that that moment of uplifted energy, an increased velocity of bloodflow and perhaps a widened pupil when one 'feels' inspired, is nothing but a surge of hormones as a result of something that delivers pleasure. It's basically the equivalent of a situation where you feel like having sex when you're watching pornography and getting it on, if you'd like. But what happens as an eventuality? Do you actually still have sex when the hormones are, released? Ditto as when you depart from that momentary excitation when you told yourself, 'I'm gonna work hard to become like Margaret Thatcher, Barack Obama, some doctor/lawyer/banker/business tycoon' when you watched The Iron Lady, the Presidential Debates or simply visited a professional in his lavish office or extravagant abode. Or worse still, 'I'm soooo gonna start working out till I get JLo's ass, Madonna's arms and thighs, Britney's figure etc' after watching a few music videos on YouTube. Let's get real people, even if you were to base the argument (for the case that these inspirational moments are genuine), how many of them do you need, no, how frequently do you have to be exposed to them to maintain that high level of motivation?
It is however, a sad fact of life that we always try, despite countless failures, to live up to society's standards of image, beauty, social and intellectual standing and of course, financial wealth. We have evolved to disregard the virtues of intangible goods like health, love, compassion and humility. Everyone simply becomes hoity-toity and tries to overthrow Queen Elizabeth II, but to no avail - literally. We have forgotten what it means to be kind, only to replace that value with a 'self-love' ideology. Beauty can only be measured by the flawlessness of your skin and the price of your clothes and handbag, not by the long-lost values of chivalry and encouragement. Nevertheless we have to accept the evolutionary - or revolutionary - path we humans have so daftly taken. It's good to know, that we are somewhat very 'English' in our thinking, as we like things to progress as we like to modify and refine them, which is reflective of a strain of social pragmatism in society. What really bothers me is the extent some people would go to live up to this argument - at the risk or even cost of their lives.
Let's ask ourselves then. Are we willing to put in that 99% perspiration for a 1% form of inspiration? Or would you rather settle for a more 50 - 50 sort of thing, where life would be, in my view, more comfortable?
