3 Signs That You Have Grown Up

While we Asians (or maybe just Singapore?) are slower than our counterparts in the West in terms of gaining independence from our parents, there are still some signs to show if we are growing up. 

I'd like to refer you to this diagram below - ideally we all want to be in the center of. So this is what I think I have achieved as opposed to my younger self.

Health
When we were younger, we have physical exercises (PE) two to three times weekly. Then I went and joined NPCC - that pushed my PE days to four. We went camping, marching and running. It got to the point where I decided to quit the corps and declared that I am never exercising again! It got to the point where I disliked sweating and questioning the need to live our lives so hard (lol) despite understanding the benefits of exercising.

Growing up means...
After I started working, I saw one can easily get fat simply by sitting at their desks for eight hours. I swore that this must not happen to me! So I started running at the multi-storey carpark.

Dad is always right

Then I got excited and started to buy sportswear like the ones shown in - Nike Sports Outlet
Then.. I stopped running (talking about waste of money!) because I really really dislike it.
So I switched to do cardio exercises at home - Insanity and T25
Unfortunately Shawn T wasn't a very fun instructor to do workouts with... :(

It was really awesome when I found Blogilates' Cassey!
She basically has monthly calendars for us to follow through and I must say the hard work is paying off!

So growing up means... taking responsibility of your own health, be it exercising, eating a healthier diet or simply start to stop smoking.

Wealth

"When I grow up, I will have loads of money to buy this and that, and in fact I will donate my first salary to Chanel.' 

Most of us mistakenly think that our income can only come from work. In truth, we can earn money through various ways like investing, selling stuff online and do freelance work etc. It's often difficult to assess if we have gained 'enough' wealth unlike health, because who does not mind having more money?!
Do we achieve wealth when we earn as much as our dear ministers in Singapore or are we considered wealthy only when we reach the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett?


Growing up means...
Understanding that our abilities to earn money from various sources are different and that by being able to consume things we could not (without incurring significant debt that you cannot pay off) before means that we have reached new levels of wealth each day.

Also taking responsibilities of your savings for the short and long term.

Knowledge

When I was in junior college, I used to hate General Paper (GP) a lot. It seems too much of a hassle just to get a decent pass in GP. The 'model' template was to first decide on your position on topic, write down two to three pros and cons and then argue your position after that. It seems like muttering a debate in one's mind. What made it worse is the need to read the newspapers (especially Straits Times, kill me really) to gain 'knowledge'.

At that time, I thought, 'WHY ARE WE WASTING TIME OVER THIS?!' So what if the US is fighting in Iraq? We are not fighting there, are we? So what if that prime minster embezzled money?! Our prime minister didn't! Why do we have to know all these when we do not even use it in our daily lives?


Growing up means...
Understanding that the world does not just revolve around us, and by that I mean not just each of us individually, but Singapore as a whole. I do not normally quote our PM but this below is very relevant especially in the globalised world today. I have friends who know nuts about other countries - this is despite them having degrees from renowned schools. Now I will ask instead, "What is the point of studying so hard, if all you wanted was to have a narrow view of the world?"

“We are absorbed in our daily lives, leaving little time and energy to track less immediate concerns,” he said, listing three reasons why it is important to have a broader view. Among them, he noted that it “sets our own issues in perspective”.
It is useful to study how others are tackling their problems and learn from their experiences, he said. It is also useful to understand how well we are doing and how we can do better.

- Keep looking outwards while dealing with domestic challenges: PM Lee , Today Online, October 3 2014

Then again memorising headlines from all over the world does not mean much too. One can easily google the answers like the snapshot below (P/S: I didn't google though *beams*) 

What's more important is to use the acquired knowledge and affect change. 

So what does growing up means to you?