‘Success may not necessarily bring happiness, but happiness is truly a success.’

My Dream Story of Success

Everyone anticipates happiness. Life itself is like a big jigsaw puzzle filled with bits and pieces of happy memories. Wonderful reminisces with family and friends that we cherish so close to our hearts. Such wonderful moments - no words can encapsulate its description.

My name is Sofea. I value life and appreciate success. Waking up everyday, I hope that not-so-good things will turn out better, good things will remain unchanged and life will continue to surprise me, giving me moments in my life, when I can just close my eyes and breathe “Yes, I’m happy. Today’s going to be a good day.”

Success to me is happiness.
‘Success may not necessarily bring happiness, but happiness is truly a success.’

Growing up, I loved reading and was usually the girl who would smile brightly when her teacher gave her a story to write, while her friends would just sigh heavily and go, “Alaa teacher, not another one!” I am passionate about music and writing. Music can make a dark room feel bright and writing can make a black and white picture look like a spectrum of colours. Using these colours, I hope to paint the lives of people around me and build my bricks of success by spreading joy, happiness and laughter.

My dream is to publish a book one day and have my own column in the newspapers. The person who inspires me the most is my late grandfather. He was a linguist and was involved in the writings of many books, including the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka dictionary. He could speak many languages and was very knowledgeable. He was indeed a respected man. Other than his love for books and writing, he had something very pure and wonderful �" a warm heart, and a bright smile to go with it. I never got the chance to really get to know him as he had passed away when I was very, very young.

However, true success to me would be to continue his legacy, to keep on writing and to never stop touching the lives of people around me. Success to me is to see a smile on another person’s face, which simultaneously, would carve a smile on my heart. I would like to create a positive attitude in our community. We should all learn that life is not permanent but it’s our actions and goals that can help us to do our very best. Everything lies in us, pushing ourselves to go beyond our comfort zone and to try something new, stretching our limits, and doing the very best we can to fulfill our dreams. Friends and family will always be there for us, supporting us, encouraging us, giving us constructive criticism and advising us to never let anything stop us from dreaming and believing. Go all out until you reach the pinnacle of success - grow like flowers, and shine like a star.

Before we achieve success, there would be hurdles. Nevertheless, we should never ever see it as a full stop. Instead, take it as challenge and move forward towards greater heights. So, what if there’s no way forward? Then jump. Jump so high and reach the sky. Shoot for the stars. Climb the highest mountain. Whatever you do in life, the most important is be yourself but never do it only for yourself, instead do it for the ones you love and have taught you the true meaning of life. Sometimes, we might feel that our luck has run out, like a panda with a mean face, slippers with sharp ends or when you wake up and it’s raining on a Sunday morning, but I always tell myself, after that rain I’ll see flowers blossoming.

In the future, I hope to excel in my studies and experience the world through different angles. What we learn is not enough, but what we do to contribute to the society is what matters the most. Whether I become a successful lawyer, a diligent accountant, an inspiring music teacher or even an editor of that famous magazine! , what’s important is to be able to balance my life and learn to enjoy the little things that are really truly of utmost importance �" my family and friends. Without them, how can we even enjoy success?

At the end of it all, what I strive for is to contribute back to the society. I hope to motivate, inspireand open the hearts and minds of many people through language and music. No matter what race, skin colour, religion, although we speak in different tongues, I believe that our hearts all beat as one. It only takes a spark to light up a match, a little effort to flourish a success.

Yes, I, Sofea, will - make it happen.

Reviews

[Satirist]

Finally a piece of writing that isn't about death or romance!