风凉话

It's so easy to walk the talk when you are the one talking the talk and setting the boundaries of the talk. When I got into UMS, I said "I don't think it's that difficult to get into Uni afterall". Ecarg's Mum said "你当然讲风凉话啦!你没有想到其他学生进不了嘛!" That put me in my place. In my joy at being admitted into Uni, I'd grown big-headed. I'd forgotten about the other 8 students who were rejected because I got in. I realized that Ecarg's Mum was right: 我在讲风凉话.

So when someone told me that he could work hard and enjoy life at the same time, it got me thinking. 他也在讲风凉话. He is just lucky to be in the industry that suits him and be in a high position. Think about it: Were he the lowest lifeform in the food chain (in the working industry), would he still be saying the same? I hardly think so. If anything, he would be slogging his life off and probably lamenting that he can't enjoy life. I wonder if he'll ever realize the position of the poor/struggling lower-class, and appreciate the rich-poor divide. I wonder if one day, he'll know that 他只是在讲风凉话. I really do wonder.

Many times, 我们也在讲风凉话, only we didn't realize. Humans are myopic, viewing things only from their own perspectives. That is ignorance. We talk about others using our own context. For example, "If I am living in such and such a way, I don't see why others can't". We do not see that because others have their own limitations which we do not, they are unable to live like us. We take others-with their limitations-and put them-with their limitations-in our world free from those limitations AND judge them based on the rules in our world. That, is myopic.

To see things from others' perspectives, combine them with your own perspectives to form a total understanding of the situation AND THEN judge based on the rules/restrictions in THEIR world, THAT, is a mark of wisdom, probably only a baby-step towards wisdom.