Growing Up

Was looking through our Genting pictures when something struck me.

All of us, every single one of us, look so young, so carefree, and so devastatingly happy.

We are like these naïve youngsters about to step into the adult world, fresh out of the cocoon our parents have spun around us to protect us. We are so brave, so daring, and so sure of ourselves. We are ready to take on the world.

But somewhere along the journey to our dreams, we might falter, we might trip, we might fall. We might find that we are not as phenomenal as we thought we were.

We might fail.

We will pick ourselves up after every fall, of course, but nothing will ever be the same again. Nothing ever is. We will lose the proud courage, the reckless daring, the chin-up confidence.

The lost of innocence, this gradual process that people call "growing up" is truly, truly heartbreaking.

Years down the road, will we still remember the days we spent staring absentmindedly at lecturers in class? Will we still laugh at the same jokes? Will we still worry over the trivial matters that bothered us in college days? Will we still be able to "get" each other as well as we used to? Will we still recognise the person we used to be?

And most importantly, one day when we are old and wise, will we ever see that heartbreakingly innocent smile on our faces again?