I have been thinking a lot about choices one makes in life. I do believe very firmly that no man is free until one has the power to choose the way one's life should be. Yet I wonder sometimes, as I have been doing in the past few days on this vacation: if one had the foresight to see how one's life would turn out to be, would one still make the choices one made? I am reminded of Jeff Davidson's words: "Given that you choose where you are, you can choose where you’re going". Sometimes where one is going may not necessarily be where one wants to go. It may just be dependent on the past choices one has made. Also, are the choices one makes really just one's own choices? Aren't some of them at least contingent on other people and other circumstances? So, how free are the choices one freely makes?
Today is my final day in Singapore, and after my run/walk in the Stadium (done everyday such that I would not miss out on my exercise regimen) this morning, I sat on the steps of the Stadium looking out into the horizon. Across me, beyond the stadium I could see a huge hill covered in dense tropical foliage; I saw a number of trees cuddled together, the dew drops still lingering on their leaves, as though they were whispering something to one another. As the world around me and the trees woke up to the morning sun, my eyes rested on a tall magnificent tree in the horizon. It seemed to be rooted smack in the middle of the forest cover, surrounded by a number of other trees. While other trees seemed to form a community, this stood apart - towering over the others - tall, impressive and so alone. So much like human beings - how each one of us can be so part of a group, a community, a family, yet be apart; how each one of us can be ever so alone even in the closest of relationships. At that moment I felt a deep, close kinship with that tree.
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