Doing All You Can With All You Got

THERE comes a time in everyone's life when one will look back and assess one's own priorities. That's the time when you ask yourself whether you are proud of what you have achieved so far at that stage in your life.
I have asked myself this question on several occasions. And there has been one or two instances when I was slightly pleased with myself because on hindsight, I did a little more this time compared to the last time.
What are these notable achievements? To others, these stepping stones up the cobbled-stone path to success may be insignificant and minor, but individuals must only gauge their own benchmarks. Once, a long time ago, I hitch-hiked across two or three States within the country.
Hitch-hiking may not be a big deal to others but to me, it was. At that time, I was only 17 years old. Hitch-hiking was confined to those who can't afford express bus tickets or train fare. For me, it was a challenge. I learnt a lot from standing for hours by the roadside on the highway.
The hitch-hiking experience taught me a little about human nature. It opened my eyes to the different kinds of people I met on my journey through life. I learnt that sometimes the kindest people do not come in the flashiest cars. They are actually lorry drivers or people who are deeply embedded in the lower echelons of society.
Then, I initiated some small acts of desperation, like writing letters to the local newspaper because they paid $5 for every lead letter. Knowing that my countrymen are simply too lazy to write letters about subjects of no particular importance, I dove into this activity with the desperation of a drowning man.
I extracted every ounce of knowledge from my limited experience and fertile imagination to create the most "exciting" letter I could write. I was lucky at times. There were times when my letter would appear at least twice a month.
Those were "pocket money" to me, and I was deliriously happy. At 15 years old, any amount of money would look big. And it was a king's ransom to me. Those were my little successes. I am glad now that I embarked on that journey.
Since our time on earth is limited in so many ways, there is wisdom in those words: "Doing all you can with all you got." If we wish to make our time on earth worthwhile and worth remembering by others, then we have to do all that and more.
All it takes a commitment. A commitment to yourself that you want to do something and in so deciding, make a great effort to succeed.
During the Second World War, my father's friend was caught by the Japanese secret police and thrown into prison cramped with dozens others. Under such conditions, the carceration might as well be a death sentence but my dad's friend made up his mind to survive.
And so he did. Later he related that others who were not so fortunate preferred to die. They killed themselves by running and hitting their heads against the wall. Cockaroaches, lizards and other insects that slittered or crept on the prison floor were food to the prisoners. It was a horrible time of nightmarish proportions.
Survival under such conditions could only demand heroic efforts. My dad's friend was one of those WWII "heroes." He did all he could with everything he got and he survived, to tell the tale, even though he didn't want to be reminded of it too often.
We are all capable doing the impossible and the unachievable. Humans really have no limits. The only boundaries are the ones we erected for ourselves. We owe it to ourselves and our families and ancestors to leave a legacy that encourages them to follow our examples or better our records. That's the fun of it.
Life should be one big fun session, otherwise what's the point of living when you can't get any enjoyment out of it.