Recently, the selfish side of people has been rearing its ugly head. I'm not sure whether there's a correlation between age and selfishness yknow. I don't understand why people can't see beyond their own misery to be less narrow-minded towards those around them. It's quite odd, really.

Okay, I'm done trying to veil this subject with cryptic, passive-aggressive statements. I'm talking how many of us can't find it within ourselves to say a simple "good job" to those who fare well (esp. in studies because our lives currently revolve around studies) when we are NOT devastated over our own grades.

I am not trying to say that you should wish your friend "good job" when you're being crushed by your own disappointing grades. (yeah it'd be quite funny if you wished your friend through tears. some close friends can actually do that too. it's really about how much you care for the other person and how generous you are. ofc, that's a pretty high level to attain, so we don't have to reach that for now!) But sometimes, even when we're okay with our own grades, we somehow can't muster a decent amount of generosity to genuinely wish someone well. Okay, you don't have to say "good job" to just a mere classmate...but between good friends, shouldn't we be at least a little happy over our genuine friends' good grades?

I honestly don't know when it started becoming so competitive. I thought as we age, our maturity level should increase. Apparently not. It got worse after entering college.

I'm not complaining about this because I feel terribly hurt, or whatever, because I'm quite used to this haha. It's not something terrible to go through. It does hurt a little bit though, if you never ever receive a good job from some good friends. I'm not trying to gripe about the injustice here, because uhhhh... the important issue at hand is this unhealthy culture. This culture just reflects a lot about our character, doesn't it?

I used to be quite oblivious to this whole thing until I was in secondary three? And no, it's not because my grades started improving. It's just that I felt that a simple, genuine "good job" would make someone feel so much better about her achievement.

I'm not some selfless, considerate and sensitive soul, by the way. So if even I can do it, then why can't the rest of us try to be less caught up in our worlds?

Don't forget to wish those who work hard and reap the fruits of their labour, "good job". For those who don't do well despite working hard, encourage them. Don't assume that someone's really happy just because she did well, yknow. I know, it sounds ridiculous. She should shut up if she did well, right? No, please don't say such inconsiderate comments. Would YOU be happy if no one seems happy for you when you do well? It applies to non-academic areas too.

Hahaha. I've been on both sides, doing badly and doing well. So I'm trying to objectively comment on this terrible mindset. I, sometimes, forget to do it too because I'm too busy wallowing in self-pity.... but let's just consciously try to make an effort to wish others well.

In a nutshell, a reminder to myself and everyone:

1. The world doesn't revolve around you. If you think yourself a true friend, you should be acting like one. Among the many qualities of a genuine friend are generosity and consideration.
2. You would be much happier if people celebrated your achievements right? So don't ignore your friends who are happy over their own results. Try to be more empathetic.

It's easy for this post to be misconstrued aha. Eh, I'm not advocating rubbing your good grades in sad friends' faces. The empathy should work both ways.

I don't think we know how ugly we look from an outsider's pov when we can't get over ourselves.

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I want to find out why I'm always so disappointed with people. Perhaps I am too blind to the good. Am I too negative and unfair to my loved ones? Because I think that I'm not. The main problem with all of this is that I think my disappointment towards people is nearly always warranted. Ah.