No Looking Back
By Aainaa Sofea

Last Saturday was our Toastmasters Club meeting. At Kinder Labz, we are privileged to have in-house training organised for us every month. These monthly sessions are not only quick catch-ups with our team members but also a fun sharing session that we never had time for during everyday operations.

Operating a kindergarten sounds fun and exciting, but there are profound responsibilities entrusted to us as operators. Teachers, administrators, general workers and our Executive Director, Dr Evelyn Chen, are always in top gear. Every day, we seamlessly manage everything from comforting distressed children who miss their mums to reassuring those who are anxious about spelling tests, even though they rarely make mistakes.

During the session on Saturday, we were tasked with impromptu speeches. We were given a few minutes to review our notes from last month regarding tips and methods for creating interesting speech openings and powerful conclusions. After that, we were randomly called to the front to pick a topic. My topic was a two-minute speech on: “What changed me in life, and when?”

Two minutes flew by in a second. I remember saying that there wasn’t anyone in particular who had significantly altered my life’s direction; I had simply navigated each phase as it came.

However, while driving home, I found myself reflecting deeply on that question. Is there really no one who changed my life? Does it mean my life is boring or that it’s a good thing everything is under control all the time?

No, obviously not. My life has taken several turns. Most of those turns were because of people, but I chose not to revisit them. It was all kept deep beneath the sea level of my memory card. I like to think that everything happened for a reason and, most importantly, I have healed. I do not need to dwell on those changes, especially when they were not what I wanted—perhaps they were exactly what I needed. So, why linger on the past?

I am so grateful that I always have my lovely family and truthful friends next to me in all phases of my life. Because of those changes, I also met my “forever after” best friend and life partner. Every time we laugh over trivial things or engage in conversations about global issues (despite knowing we may not change them), I feel an immense sense of happiness.

Happiness is such a big word. If you can genuinely say that you are happy, you are lucky.

As the American author Henry David Thoreau once said:

“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”

Let’s be grateful.

Always.

 

Key Vocabulary

Privileged – fortunate / lucky / grateful

Profound – deep / meaningful

Entrusted – trusted with / given responsibility

Distressed – upset / very worried

Seamlessly – smoothly

Anxious – nervous / worried

Significantly – greatly / importantly

Navigated – handled / went through

___________

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