Happy Graduation, Kiddo!

My younger nephew graduated from kindergarten recently, and though he wasn't graduating with honors like his older brother who graduated at the top of his class, he was really happy and excited to be graduating at last.

He's a really smart kid but is very mischievous and playful. My older nephew, who's around 8, is more the studious type, though lately he hasn't been hitting the books as much. However, he still manages to get perfect or really high scores in his exams.

I'm glad that my brother and his wife don't pressure the kids to do well in school. I tend to look back and though I don't believe in harboring regrets and would like to think I don't have any, if I had any, it would probably be that I wish I hadn't been so studious before.

I was so studious, it was almost all I ever did. The only real fun things I indulged in were reading pocketbooks and the New Kids on the Block (haha). It was also the reason why I didn't get to watch much TV and failed to watch much of the then popular TV shows Doogie Howser, M.D., and Beverly Hills 90210 (Gosh, is that revealing my age? LOL). If I remember right, the shows were aired on Friday nights, and by then I would be so tired, I'd usually doze off halfway through the show.

I was sort of a perfectionist before, always wanting to do well in everything. Not that anybody pressured me to do so. I guess I pressured myself to be that way. And it led to a lot of heartaches, especially in college when I was thrown into a course that wasn't really my strength. I originally wanted to study medicine or psychology or journalism, but I ended up studying computer science, which involved tons of math -- something that has always been my weakness. It resulted in more late nights studying and more heartaches, as I could no longer reach the goal I've set for myself. Not that i was doing poorly. Just that I set very high standards for myself, I guess. So that's when I stopped being a perfectionist and just contented myself with whatever I could do.

When I started working after I graduated from college, the pattern seemed to start all over again. I again started pushing myself too much by taking on two or three jobs at the same time. While I really could use the extra cash, my main reasons for having those jobs was because I was "hungry" for knowledge and experience, and I believed that I could do more than what I was already doing. I worked freelance as a web developer and web content writer. I enjoyed them immensely, but the body could only take so much. Time came when it felt more like a chore than something fun.

Maybe that's why I like blogging so much 'cause it's a lot like my web content writing job where I can be creative and just write about whatever comes to mind. This time, though, I won't have to worry about researching for whatever topic. Back then, I had to be quite stressed about what to write. I, for instance, had to write five or more articles on table top fountains. There's hardly anything written about those! So I had to make up stuff, which was fun and stressful at the same time.

What I've learned, I guess, is not to take life too seriously and to make room for a healthy dose of fun and mind-numbing stuff. These activities may seem a bit shallow or useless and meaningless, but I guess they contribute to my well-being anyhow.

Although doing well in school and working hard have helped make me a better person, I believe that there's really no end to self-improvement and that there's really no limit to what we can do as long as we push ourselves. But if I don't start having some fun and taking time out to relax now, then when will I?