quarter of a life

 
They say 2010, the Year of the Tiger will not be a good year for me. It's my year of birth, and I will turn 24 years old later this year. Looking back, I apparently have had many good years. Everything had been so easy in my life; I never had to worry, struggle, even wish for anything. Did life give me the chance to have one gloomy moment? No. It seemed like the awards and scholarships came without me even trying hard; and I got through high school without studying like others did. 

But just like day and night, dark would always follow light. Around two years back, I realised that sooner or later I will probably be shown just how fair nature really is. It has been almost a quarter of a century. Which means I will probably face a ton of shit pretty soon. So, to make a point, the past year hadn't been a good one for me, but I'm sure it won't continue for too long. I expect nothing less then butterflies and rainbows this year (so listen up, tiger year! Prove the chinese horoscope book wrong, and start working on my happiness!!)

If I had any say in this whole thing, it's better for the bad to come before the good. It might make the enlightenment that comes afterwards just that much more enlightening. I don't really know, but I hope you get what I'm saying. An Indonesian phrase that sums it up would be:

"Berakit-rakit ke hulu, berenang-renang ke tepian; 
bersakit-sakit dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian"

Essentially translated to "no pain, no gain". But just to make it funny literally it says:
 
"Raft-raft upstream, swim-swim to the side; 
sick-sick in beginning, happy-happy afterwards"
  

Don't mind this blogpost; the writer is feeling like a Rubik's cube, just having a minor quarter-life crisis, that's all.