The Vital Ingredient

What keeps a little girl playing the piano, day after day, night after night, practising it and perfecting each and every note, till there are no mistakes? Do you think it is not frustrating to play right till the end of a musical piece and make a mistake then and there? What is it that makes her go on despite her frustration?

What makes a straight-A student pursue a course in Dance & Art when society dictates that straight-A students should logically head straight for the medicine and engineering courses? What makes this student ignore society’s “rules” and go against them, embarking on a path less-trodden, not knowing what the future holds?

What keeps an employee coming to work, dealing with irate and angry customers, reporting to a big bad boss, only to leave work feeling tired, hungry and ready to plonk his head down on a pillow at the end of a gruelling day?

What keeps a stay-at-home-mom sane through it all? Do you think it is a bed of roses facing dirty diapers day in and day out, having a pile of laundry to wash and having to prepare meals for your family each day? What makes her keep that calm demeanour with an everlasting smile on her face despite all adversities?

And what keeps a loyal Reds fan true to his or her team, in spite of the disapppointing loss to AC Milan early this morning in the Champions League? So Milan had their revenge, and Red hearts are broken, as our dreams are dashed….So what is it that keeps us Kopites still singing the anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, standing by our team through it all?

It all boils down to passion. The passion to pursue something despite the obstacles one faces, and the passion to overcome them no matter what it takes. The passion to love and the passion to believe. Without passion, nothing can be achieved and absolutely nothing is even worth achieving.

I’m in mourning over the loss but I strongly believe we will triumph in the next season. SIGH…. like what Steven Gerrard said:

“We gave everything but it wasn’t to be tonight and certainly this feels the complete opposite to what it was like after Istanbul.”