the dangers of being a youth.

as my days as a youth, perhaps not in the legal definition of the word youth(legally speaking, surely it is too broad a category), are numbered, i figured it was a good idea to take a day off to think about what it means to be a youth. yes, think regrets, mistakes, triumphs and happy moments(yes, there are happy moments, despite the choice of title for this post).

1) being too naive. as a youth, i spent much of my time trusting and believing too much in others; at the end of the day, it was all for nought. the painful reality of this world is as such; there is no one you can truly trust and one day, when it all comes crumbling down, you'll have to learn what it is like to fight on all your own again, alone.

2) emotions; they aren't always as bad as you were told they were. often at times, people tell us that emotions should be controlled and that some forms of emotion were forbidden(anger, sadness, what have you). but at the end of the day, they, despite all that suppression, will still bite you in the ass, literally. so for all that it's worth, if you're feeling something and you feel like doing something to express it, go ahead, do it. but hey, don't kill someone else while you're at it.

3) winning isn't everything. well, or at least that's what i'd like to think for now. technique is key. winning comes after you've got the right techniques, so don't rush whatever you're doing just so that you can win.

4) forgetting is simple; but whatever you forgot is going to hurt you really bad once you've finally remembered. so i guess the general rule of thumb is to remember, both good and bad, before it's too late. if this all sounds queer, weird and irrelevant right now, take awhile for it soak right in; trust me, you'll get it in a few years time.

5) enjoy your youth while you still can. sure, you can still complain about homework, school, training and what not. but know this, school is the best place to be. no one will crucify you(okay, some of us will bleed, but hey, no one dies right?) for your mistakes and there's still time to learn from them. once you're out of school, the world will suddenly seem like a very nasty place.

on a random note,

you were all my brothers;

i would have bled for you, died for you and killed for you.

but you

would you have done all those for me?

no, i didn't think so.

ah, i must say, the concept of brotherhood still eludes me.