The year's barely started and there's already been 2 fatal plane crashes and a fatal naval accident. And those are only ones that I've read about. What about those that I'm not aware of? I should probably get myself off the habit of reading the news huh. But I can't help it, I've got a kaypoh streak in me (in addition to the masochistic streak that was discussed in the prior entry). And, as my lecturers used to say, one of the most important things a journalist needs is to be a busybody. Maybe I should pursue a career in journalism after all. I'm saying this half-seriously.

Sometimes, though, I think I should go do something worthwhile with my life (no, not teach...). Like be a volunteer or something. Or get involved with some world aid organisation. Or something. I really don't see how we're supposed to graduate and then jump into the rat race immediately. And work our sorry asses off for the rest of our lives. Seriously, who does it benefit apart from ourselves and our organisations? So I go work for, say, Company X. I get paid a few thousand dollars a month, I go home happy. My company thrives, I earn more money, I go home happier. But that's it. I'm the sole beneficiary of my salary. Company X is the sole beneficiary of my labour. Isn't it kinda selfish? What about the rest of the world? The other people in the world? Issues in the world? Who else benefits?

I don't want to get embroiled in the disguises of the working world. I don't want to be another "corporate type" as Cheryl puts it. Surely there's more to life than working 9 - 5 (who works 9 - 5 anymore? I'd be ecstatic if I could get a job that lets me leave at 5pm). I want to feel like I'm doing something for a purpose. Something that benefits other people. Maybe it's all about perspective. Then again, isn't everything?

It's not that I'm being a preachy Joan-of-Arc saintly holier-than-thou type. I'm just being really honest with myself. 20 years down the road, I don't want to look back and realise that I've not done anything with my life, that I haven't done anything that I could be proud of. The only achievement I can be proud of now is an elaborate sheet of paper framed up and stored in my cupboard (???) because I don't have a nail in my wall for it to be hung upon. But almost everybody has a degree now. Those that don't will eventually.

I know I wasn't put here just to earn my keep, get a husband, build a family, and then die. I don't think God went to all that trouble to create me just so I could go round the merry-go-round. There's more to it. There's more in me. I know it. I'm going to make my life count. And maybe being a corporate type will be part of it. Maybe that's what I need to propel me, to finance my endeavours. What endeavours those may be, I don't yet know. All I know is that I want to make my life count. That will take a lifetime of work. Literally.

Maybe I could start by doing everything I do with a purpose. From the very littlest thing. Like washing the dishes, knowing that I'm washing them so they will be clean and germ-free and hygenic. It's a tiny step but everyone has to start somewhere :)