So I have changed, said my old friends!

I have met a few friends from the past who had expressed their surprise at how I have changed. An  old friend from STAR told me that he remembered me as a quiet boy from Kelantan, a bit 'comot' and a bit 'beringus!'

That was his perception and that was the picture he carried with him, until he stumbled into my blog and until we met.

Of course, I am delighted that he now knows me as the person I have turned to be. Having said that  I hope he still sees me as a 'kampung boy' who is a little bit 'comot' and a little bit 'naive'. Despite the changes he said he has seen in me, I remain the same person I have always been. The difference is he now sees me at a different place in my life.

Life is not so much about our starting point, but more about decisions we take and actions we do during our journey which will determine our finishing line. 

A few days ago, I was re-connected with a few old friends from Grantham, the place we did our A Level.

One of them wrote,

"Ipin ... alhamdulillah kau banyak berubah, I'm residing in Ipoh .. Aku macam dulu juga .. girlfriend disana sini .. eh eh eh!!!"

Another one wrote, "....very unsangkarable....mellowed over the years"

Again, I am glad they get to see me as who I am. Changes, in my view, are to be expected. Unlike the friend who was 'unsangkarable' about the changes in me, I would have have been 'unsangkarable' instead if I do not see changes in our priorities or even character.

I remember...when our batch of A level students were leaving Grantham, we had a farewell dinner at a Chinese restaurant for all of us. For some reasons unknown to me, the organizer of the dinner only invited the 'boys' and left out the seven 'girls'. At the end of the dinner, the organizer suggested that everyone was to write on a piece of paper the name of a person amongst us, who each of us think will be the most successful in life. Having done badly in A Level, I knew that I won't get any vote of confidence from my friends. So as to avoid embarrassment to myself, I wrote my own name. When the little pieces of paper were collected and names revealed, as expected, I got one vote! Everyone had to make a short parting speech, and in my speech I said, "To the person who voted for me - I promise not to let you down!"

I guess, over the years, I have made a subconscious resolution to be more successful in life, better than what my friends thought I would be.

Time and experience are two best lessons of life. If we can be humble enough to admit our weaknesses and has the belief in ourself, we can indeed learn from what happen to us and around us and be a better person.

"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future~!"