Filled with very joyous state of Mudita (appreciative joy), I am very touched to see how every contestant has grown throughout the competition. It is not an easy task to stand out there singing in front of millions of people worldwide and at the end of the performance, being judged for how good or even how bad you are. And, we are talking about very young talents here aged 17 to 22 – does remind me of you guys in SBM Youth.
Someone once told me for people my age, SBM Youth may not necessarily be the best place I could learn dhamma because the crowd was much younger. But, I said I learned a lot, just by seeing how each of you have grown over time, and how that essentially gave me a lot of courage to slowly push my boundaries and grow along with all of you.
Many times in life we will be faced with challenges and often than not, we are bound to fail. But, we should never stop trying and continue to strive. Ajahn Brahm calls it falling forward. We might not have American Idol judges to point out our strengths or flaws but with the right mindfulness, you will be surprised with the amount of feedback you will see for yourself as an individual and never undermine that potential for growth.
Coming to London to me was exciting but at the same time challenging, constantly asking myself a lot of “what-ifs” and in fact, at this very moment I am still learning about myself – what are my true aspirations and what is true joy and happiness to me? I am really inspired by the journey and maybe the song was right and I am sure Buddha would agree too – that it takes a lot of patience (khanti) for one to realise and see how the journey of learning will blossom and a lot of times, it is not what you have achieved but the journey that gets you there that makes you who you are today…
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