Tuesday, 6 October 2026
When you enter Form 6, life often feels like it’s taking its toll on you. With endless tests on consecutive days, daily extra lessons, and additional tutoring to boost our grades, everything piles on quickly. In the middle of all this pressure, it becomes very easy to overlook the blessings around us.
Tests seem harsher, instead of extra time, we face strict time limits. Teachers seem more demanding, often giving critical feedback on our work instead of the praise we hoped for. You watch the days bleed into weeks, feeling lost under the weight of upcoming deadlines. It’s easy to feel helpless knowing we only have six months to turn things around, tired as we push our limits, and anxious about what the future holds.
A healthy amount of pressure keeps us going, but as we stand here today, let’s take a step back from our troubles and appreciate the blessings we already have. It’s easy to ignore them when we’re constantly counting our endless to-do lists. But ‘blessings’ aren’t just major milestones like winning a trophy or scoring full marks on a hard exam. True awareness of blessings means noticing the little everyday things that go our way.
The day has barely started, yet smaller blessings are already waiting to be found. In school, we can enjoy spending time with our friends or appreciate an engaging lesson our teachers prepared for us. Looking at the bigger picture, we also have the Mid-Autumn Festival coming up, a traditional time for family reunion. Does your family have any special traditions you celebrate together?
Once we notice our blessings, the next step is making time to enjoy them. Instead of constantly worrying about what’s next, focus on the present. How long has it been since you looked up and admired the clear sky? Have you ever put away your phone on your commute and simply taken in the view? Have you focused on the taste of your food, feeling its flavours dance on your tongue? We often tell ourselves, “I’ll be happy when I get this test score!” or “I’ll be happy when I buy this thing!” But when we slow down to appreciate the present, we discover that life is already filled with reasons to smile.
In Chinese culture, there is a traditional wisdom known as惜福 (Xī fú)—the practice of treasuring and honouring the blessings we already have right in front of us. Instead of constantly searching for more, let’s take time to appreciate our present journey. The hard tests and the strictness of our teachers exist because they care about our growth and want to see us reach our dream universities and careers. The future may be uncertain, but the joy we have right now is real. You don’t have to stop striving for future success but knowing how to be content means you can pause to smell the roses, embrace what you have, and recharge before pushing forward toward your goals.
6J