Friday, 1 August 2025
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Lily who loved to collect seashells on the beach. She would spend hours searching for the perfect shells, admiring their unique shapes and colors.
One day, Lily’s friend asked her why she bothered collecting such trivial things. After all, seashells were everywhere, and they didn’t seem to have much purpose.
But Lily saw things differently. To her, each seashell was a tiny piece of art, crafted by nature herself. She believed that even the most simple things could hold great beauty and meaning if you took the time to appreciate them.
So Lily began to give her seashells meaning. She would name each one after someone special in her life, or attach a memory to it – like the time she found a particularly beautiful shell while on vacation with her family.
As Lily grew older, her collection of seashells grew too. She displayed them proudly in her home, and whenever someone asked about them, she would tell them the story behind each one.
Over time, Lily’s friends began to see the value in these once-trivial seashells. They started collecting their own shells, giving them names and memories, and sharing their stories with others.
Let me just stop here for a bit. How is this story related to treasuring life? You may ask.
To treasure life means living every moment to its fullest. People tend to think it means choosing meaningful things to spend their time on, and not wasting time on trivial matters. Here’s another perspective.
In life, there are of course many meaningful pursuits. However, we also have to understand that there are bound to be things we may not enjoy, things that may not be appealing to us. But does it mean we can’t turn them into meaningful experiences?
Probably not. Well, we can’t control what we encounter in life, but we do have control over what these moments actually mean to us. At the end of the day, we are the ones who give meaning to our own lives. You can be part of a very meaningful cause and still find it pointless; you can also be doing something others see as silly and still gain a lot from it. It’s all a perception thing.
Our prejudice and denial can restrict our experiences. As a teacher, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard students saying things like, “This is so boring,” or “That’s so pointless.” Sometimes, these were also times that I witnessed lost opportunities – opportunities for growth, opportunities for self-discovery.
Let’s go back to Lily’s story. What started as a simple hobby for Lily turned into something much more meaningful. She had given purpose and significance to something that many people overlooked. Starting from today, try to treasure what life has for you, even if they are the tiniest things. Embrace every moment, throw yourself into each and every experience. Be the one who gives meaning to your time, not the other way round.
Ms Kwan HC
27 March 2023