Are we not proud of who we have become?

A chance encounter with an old school mate was nice while it lasted. However, I also noticed that she seemed hesitant to say anything more than a "hi" when I spotted her. Usually friends whom u have not seen for a long time would sound tad surprise and elated, followed by a few probing questions on "what have you been doing, where are you working at now?" and then you give ur usual 2-3 liner on your current status. However, none of that happen and it ended with an abrupt "bye, see you".

After a while, I figured it could be because she was with a kid and also fatter than before. But then again, I found it perfectly normal since we all age and grow fat as years pass. However, it also led to me thinking if we have regretted who we have become. Or rather, are we not proud of who we have become?

We made many choices in life, whether to be a strong career person, to be a great parent or to be a better person. If we decide to be young parents, we should be proud of it and not pine for a child-free life. And when I am married, I should not pine for a singles life. In fact, we should learn to embrace it. Many a time, I have seen how some just become who they are not and they actually hated it, or worse, regretted it. They failed to see the consequences of their actions, and went ahead without thinking much, letting life takes its natural course. While some may say that some things are not within our control, I also believe that we should also try to be in as much control of our lives as possible. At the very least, I should be able to decide who I want to be and actually be happy with who I have become.

Are we too fussy sometimes?

This morning, I met a mother and daughter to sell my pink leather bag. Before that, we had arranged via SMS to meet and she sounded very keen to buy. In the end, we agreed to meet at my house block void deck. When we met, the daughter inspected the bag for the next 5 minutes. Inside, i was wondering why she was taking such a long time to inspect, which was totally unlike the keen buyer I had expected. Plus, I am selling this full leather 30cm x30cm bag at $15 onli; earlier I was selling at $30.

After some moments, the daughter handed the bag to the mother who then spend another 5 minutes inspecting before commenting that there is "something" at the back. I took a look and realized that the bag may have some slight blemish due to it being folded in that angle for too long. The mother then asked if can reduce price to $10. I hesitated. On one hand, I wish to get rid of the bag. On the other hand, I also dun wish to underprice this bag any further as $15 is already a good bargain. I shared with the mother that I cannot reduce any further as I was earlier selling at $30 and that $15 is the best price too. After further examination by the mother and the daughter, the daughter tried to bargain to $12. I again refused. Finally, both said no and thank me for my time.

From this incident, I then wonder if we are too fussy sometimes, as what everyone else is always saying about us. I used to think that perhaps we just want the best for ourselves and there is also nothing wrong in being more picky and particular. But this incident (when played with me being at the receiving end) made me rethink about how others may perceive us when we do not reciprocate accordingly. Like when we go shopping at Bangkok, we start to bargain for things that we may not be keen to buy in the first place. And after bargaining, when we do not get a "fair settlement", we walked away in spite of the best deal that the other guy had given us. Secretly, I think it could be due to each of us being too wary of one another to know if the other party has given us the best bargain. And somehow, we are always doubting the other party's intentions, be it too good to be true or not. Then again, maybe we have been cheated too many a times to trust properly again.

So I feel that at the end of the day, it is important to know what you want in the first place. If you do not, then do not waste other people's time. It certainly does not reflect well on you.