Comfort Zone... too comfortable?

Warning - random ramblings here... hahaa

Someone recently commented that she's amazed how Singaporeans get so much freedom and free space when we are kids and yet a large majority grow up to be adults with ghastly narrow-minded views of the world. For a society where youngsters are free to hang out with their friends, with minimal (and for some, none) adult supervision and plenty of exposure to society, it does seem to beg the question of what we do with our freedom and space when growing up, so much so that we know so much less and pretty often, we display a kind of unforgivable smugness in showing off our tinted viewpoints.

That comment got me thinking... and I have to admit that I'm guilty of it. We all are... in one way or another. And when I think about what made me this way... I guess it's because I grew up here... where everything is safe, where we are taught to just follow the rules and we'll be alright, where we learn everything out of a textbook and never learned to ask questions or to ask why. In a way... I think I grew up being taught to take certain things for granted... security, how things work around here. Especially since Singapore is so small and everyone practically stays with their parents all their life until they are married. Like my brother... when he was in uni, despite having common laundry rooms in the hostel, he still brought back bags of dirty laundry for my mom to handle for him. How sheltered can we get?

It has created somewhat of a comfort zone for me... as in I know that there will be certain things I don't have to worry about so long as I follow the steps that has been laid before me. And I think I would have been worse if I had not ventured to be rebellious when I was young... if I had stayed at home quietly like my parents wanted me to instead of staying at the hostel and enjoying my freedom; if I had followed my dad's advice to study arts instead of trying something new; if I had listened to my mom and become a teacher instead of seeking out something that I was really interested in doing; if I had listened to everybody else and got married and settled with a family at an early age before I even knew what I wanted in life.... basically it would have been much worse if I had lived my life how everybody else wanted me to live... instead of how I wanted it for myself.

I'm not blaming anything for making me narrow-minded. I'm just running through my head what would have happened if I had been contented in sheltered life. And I think that will not have made me happy... it would only make me complain more. And it is certainly not something that I want to put my own children through (if I have them). I think if neccessary, I might even consider putting them up in a separate residence (e.g. rent a flat and settle the rental) and put them on a tight budget, I might do so... so if they want to buy anything extra, well... they'll have to find a job and expose themselves to reality out there and earn their keep...

Anyway, it's still too far ahead to think of that... but just toying with the idea....