I could very well remember the time when a sensible man told me something that forever changed my outlook in life. A simple statement which made a great impact; the words which he shared was nothing out of the ordinary. “It’s not how much you earn, but how much you save”, was what he said. During that time it seemed pointless to me, but the more I live my life… the more sense it made.

Most people go about their lives and everyday would often be the usual. Waking up, looking good, traveling to the work place and back to the grind. This may not be true to all, but I believe that it is for many. When I was a bit younger; I always thought that after I get all the needed qualifications for a professional career, life would be rosy. Never did I consider the thought that I will, in turn, be a part of this grueling process.

Two weeks before my off week, I enjoyed my job having a great time with my students as we participated with our affiliated institution's Sports fest. Like the usual, we get to partake in an array of sports competition both in athletics and in mind games. I was particularly interested in the latter and even though my excitement to play one of the games was skyrocketing, I had to let my superego poke my id and leave that slot open for my student so that they may feel the event's spirit. Well it's not that bad, I still get to observe how two minds clash their wits out over a simple game of chess. So there I was, enjoying the first game, I was a bit surprised by that one because the game didn't last long... not even for like five minutes. The rest that followed shared the same thing, it was getting boring. After a series of games, one finally caught my attention for it was a good one. You got both players having to thoroughly think over their moves before they take actions. It was a long wait for a chess piece to be moved, but it was worth it. The first few minutes of the game is a match, looks like each player really wanted to protect their officials. As time went by, however, I noticed that the other player kept on losing his big guns, it even gets eaten by a pawn. I bet he just lost his focus on the game, it may have gone too long that it started to bore him. The look on his opponent's face was a marvel, seemed like he really enjoyed owning the game. If this has to continue then no doubt he'd be losing this one. Move after move he kept on losing his officials but to my surprise it was the same thing that made him win the game. He lured his opponent's pawn to conquer his horse which set an opening for his move towards a checkmate. All of us were surprised but I guess it was nothing compared to the reaction of his opponent's face. All through out that time it seemed that the tides were in favor for his opponent, but in a sudden glimpse the tables turned. It made me pause for a while to appreciate the strategy that had me in awe. Carefully, I thought over the previous move that this guy has taken. As the pieces of the puzzle fit in, I figured out that all of the previous moves that seemed lame were not lame at all because all of it contribute towards the final catch... victory. As much as I've enjoyed the game, I learned a lot from it too. Many of us are somewhat like the guy's opponent, not that we enjoying pawning someone's official (heh!) but point is, we may have been really hooked up in doing the things we like to do which may not really bring us one step closer towards our dreams and ambitions. My two cents of the topic is, successful people are those who have goals in life and ensure that every action that they take today contributes in meeting that ambition that they have in the future. Even if they have to lose something along the way (like the guy who kept on losing his officials), this may not bother them because they know they're right on track. If I have to remind myself about this stuff, I just can't help but remember one thing that's been shared with me... that's the "stick to it" attitude. It points out to always get yourself to focus on the things that you'd want in life, set it as your priorities, set them straight and work on it. Behind that busy schedule, pause for a while and ponder on the things that you're doing right now. Think them over and see whether it gets you close towards the realization of your dreams. The more things that you do which contributes towards your goal, the better the chances that you'd eventually meet it. We also have to consider that there may be hurdles along the way but that's part of it, don't give up in meeting that goal of yours and keep on doing the things that are in your priority because just like that game of chess, you'd also be surprised that you've made the checkmate and eventually meet what you had in mind in the very beginning.