Ground Zero

random pic of the day

"Every man began at his lowest,

where could reflect himself,

see himself,

and improve himself,

until one day,

he realized he was already flying high in the sky."

-Railzan Kurhna-

So, recently I found out a rather shocking discovery.

My friend, has a girlfriend...

A girlfriend...

A GIRLFRIEND!!!

Why is this shocking? Because he used to be a rather socially awkward. Plus with his demotivated self and pessimistic views of life, I think would be the last person I would thought of getting a girlfriend. Oh, and before you ask, he is a 5 on the handsomeness scale of 10, so looks is not the factor. And yet, he has a girlfriend. To add injury to insult...SHE IS FREAKING CUTE!

Now, you might be expecting me to say: "Ahah! that's just an analogy!" or something but this is a very true story. That guy although being sucky, demotivated and pessimistic did something most of us were chicken enough to do; CHANGE

Yes, he changed.

Now, he has passion, maturity, suaveness, and intellectual curiosity of a professor.

He used to be one of the worst in school...but he got a freaking straight A's for SPM

So how?

Like I said, he changed.

Now, another question arises...what caused him to change? You see, for humans to change, they need an external stimulus to kickstart their feedback mechanism to catalyst change. The magnitude of that external stimulus determine the success of the change.

Putting this into consideration, a theory called the 'ground zero' was created.

Alcoholic Anonymous, a large organization/program which has a long history of success in curing alcohol addiction uses this as a catalyst of change.

Ground Zero, is a feeling where a human feels that he or she has lost everything in the world. It's the lowest point of human psyche, where hopes and dreams were shattered and every support system he or she once had, crumbled into dust. Such feeling gives an extraordinary amount of stimulus to the human psyche, prompting their feedback mechanism to work overdrive, thus making change very possible.

So, back to my friend.

When he was Form Three, he was bullied. Because of that also, he got into trouble for helping problematic seniors with their pugnacious tasks and tolerating with their behavior. Consequently, he got influenced by them too. His grades were horrible. He didn't joined any clubs. Simply enough, he was a bad student, albeit a really bad one indeed.

But then, one day, he met me. I was the batch leader during that time, so I was really concerned about him. So, I talk to him and begged him to reflect on himself. I asked him to imagine the consequences of his actions. What if everything you do right now, destroys your life completely? No friends, constantly being bullied, weak, immature, lifeless, gullible...what will happen to you? Do you want your life to end like this?

Then, the 'ground zero' effect happened. He did reflect on himself and it took a toll on him...but then, something weird happened.

He changed.....gradually...

What impressed me is not his sudden change of heart but his persistent through out his journey to change himself. People around him did slighted him or didn't support his actions to change himself, but he didn't gave up...

Ultimately, he became one of the best students in the school. And I say, his thought process could even rivaled mine. His passion? I can say he already did surpasses me.

So, what insight can we all take from his story?

One, always reflect on yourself. Put a yardstick to measure and grade where do you stand.

Two, if you think you're now at your lowest, fret not and fight on. Change yourself for the better as your lowest point is actually an opportunity for you to jump back higher than where you stood before

Three, never give up...Screw the views of society and press on...

Four, change....just make a change...small, big, it doesn't matter...

Through my 5 years in school, I've seen a lot of people, weak and broken at the start, but then with a few changes, they became a far better person.

I've seen a guy who used to get the bottom 10 of the batch....then became a straight A student during Form Five, heck, he is now a scholar.

I've seen a girl who used to be wild and free, before making a change and becoming more religious and conservative.

I've seen a man, devoid with any sense of responsibility, who make a change, and got various leadership posts in school...

Changes are around us

And if you got yourself a big challenge which throws you into Ground Zero,

Be positive

And fight on...

Because you knew that you will always win at the end of the day...

unless you give up...