Playing to Lose

We never realize what we have until we lose it; then we begin to recognize its preciousness. Losing teaches us to appreciate and treasure someone or something even more. If we take time to reflect on the hidden treasures of losing, we will see that within losing there are also gaining and winning. There are so many things that we can learn to lose: our narrow-mindedness, self-centeredness, impatience, arrogance, non-virtuous thoughts, harmful actions, and seriousness. Having a little madness, enough to enjoy life, and a little wisdom to avoid errors will be good enough. We are always winning and losing at the same time. We will certainly never lose when we invest in our wealth from within. Our inner wealth travels a long way with us. Despite the imperfections and inconveniences of Nepal, there is something attractive about it that makes the weaknesses somewhat insignificant. In Nepal, I have learned self-resilience, patience, and gratitude. Coming from a developed and luxurious country like Singapore, where convenience and comfort are within a stone’s throw, I took many things for granted, especially electricity, water, and transportation. Three years ago when I first visited Nepal, the human warmth of its inhabitants, shown in a simplistic, natural, and down-to-earth manner, touched me.

As a teacher and student, I feel that education, character, and health are the three indispensable ingredients for creating a meaningful life. Education plays an important part since the function of education is to help an individual realize his or her own highest and fullest capacity as a human being. However, this capacity is not simply academic. We often attend schooling without really questioning why we are being educated. Education is definitely not just done for the sake of passing examinations, getting a certificate, finding a job, raising a family, buying a house, and so on. The real purpose of education is not to teach us how to memorize facts; it is to help us discover our purpose in life, teach us how to live intelligently, and help us understand life with creativity. A good education has the quality of real affection and works on cultivating a good mind to be a friend instead of an enemy. When education fails to do this, one is only trained in narrow-mindedness and selfishness that usually become the source of all misery and suffering.