I still remember vividly when you used to crawl up to me when I was asleep and start pulling my hair and my ears and my nose. Everyone showered so much attention on you, and even I couldn’t resist teasing you just to see how you would react. Of course, we were young back then, and we lived simpler lives, oblivious and carefree to the ways of the world. Times have changed. We grew up, we started knowing things, our innocence were lost.

Yet, all that knowledge and reasoning still couldn’t stop me from trying to shout reason into the ears of this stubborn, loud, impatient man that is my brother.

Why the anger? That’s the one thing that bugs me. It’s one thing to be curious and to always have an inquiring nature, but discretion is also a valuable virtue to be learnt. Rudeness and arrogance will not only get you nowhere, but you also run the risk of people misinterpreting you and assuming things about you which are far from the truth. And yet you never listen to what we say. You ask for our opinions, but you become impatient and furious with us when our opinions differ from your solution.

Amma wants nothing more than to help you with your problems. Appa has the same wish as well. But part of the solution involves that person taking the initiative to solve it himself. This is the most important step, and you can ask anyone on that. And yet you never try. I know it’s hard. We all know it. But the important thing is to try.

But you never try. We can see the result, or lack thereof. You still come to us with the same problems. We still give you the same advice. You became furious with us for giving the same advice. It goes on ad nauseum, and frankly we are starting to get tired of it. We have heard it so many times that we can predict what you’re going to tell us before you even open your mouth. We can even guess who you’re going to comment on. We are by no means belittling your predicament, but there comes a time when you stop whining and bitching and just get to doing it.

Easier said than done, you might think. I have to admit that’s true. There have been times when I just didn’t know what to do, or how to go on. But I try something. Anything. The point is, I don’t just sit and whine all day. I sit and whine, AND THEN I go ahead and do something about it. If it fucks up, well, it fucks up. But at least I would have the satisfaction of knowing I did something about it.

Remember this: There are just too many things to do and feel and experience in this world, and your life is too short to waste time on school friends that you would most likely never see again after STPM. You can’t afford the luxury of a negative thought. Friends come and go, and while they might enrich your life in certain ways, in the end it’s all up to you and what you’re going to do with your life. No-one has the right to dictate your life, and you should never give them the chance to do so.

Be calm. Too much anger and vindictiveness will kill you. There’s no point to it, and more often than not, it’ll give you so much shit you’ll wonder how you got into that situation in the first place. Don’t sweat the small stuff. You might have heard it many times. It’s clichéd, but that’s because it’s true. There are too many things to look forward to in life for you to get worked up on the immaturity of your so-called friends.

Remember these things, and life will be a little less complicated.
Trust me on that one.