"I really like this
drawing you did. Can I post it on my blog and what should I name it?"
"Yes daddy. You can put
on your crazy daddy writings and call it 'Stripes and Circles'. Err... daddy;
you know how to spell stripes? It's S T R I P E S."
#facepalm
Is my spelling really that
BAD? Sigh…
Anyway, I really like this
drawing. How it harmonize 2 different sets of elements. It's great to see the
firmness and solidity of the lines complimenting the roundness and flexibility
of the circles. And I amazed to see how the hard and passionate red can work
alongside with the softy and cooling green.
Err... I don't think my
daughter gets it. It should be more of a coincident rather than her intended
work. Disclaimer needed before you guys start teasing me self praise. Ha ha ha …
Oh! Isn't the above
statement going to get me into trouble with my pretty daughter? Oh man…
The drawing reminds me about
life. About how we should balance our expectation on quality of life and it's
associated responsibilities, and how we should measure of our happiness as
against feeling contented.
Studying and working with
people with intellectual disability, it's easier to discover how the lack in
perceived quality of life had affected a person's happiness, and how quality of
life is measured in relation to our exposures in life. Many people asked why
people with intellectual disability seem always asking for more after increased
chances in exercising choices. There are many literature and researches on this
behaviour. For me, I always explained in relation to my daughter's changes in
her expectation. How a bottle of milk, that used to make her very happy when
she was 1 years old, is on longer good enough to satisfy her now.
Why?
With exposures in life, she
started to learn more and therefore wanted more to feel satisfied. Adults
without disabilities, like children and person with disabilities too, felt
unhappy and frustrated when their perceived quality of life in relation to
their life experiences wasn't met. The reasons why it's clearer in children and
person with disabilities are (1) it's easier for us as an external party to
observe the behaviour, (2) the above group either experienced a rapid changes
or (3) they suffered from prolonged suppression of choices in life.
However, we need to be
mindful in our continuous effort of meeting the ever increasing demand of ours
and those around us. Failing which, we are encouraging the growth of the greed
monster.
Right?
This is where the
responsibilities come in. If we wanted higher salary, we need to accept our
increased workload and responsibilities. If we wanted the freedom to go out
unsupervised, we need to be responsible to take good care of ourselves. If
people with intellectual disability wanted more chances to participate in
community activities, they need to have socially acceptable behaviour. There is
always a trade off for every incremental enhancement in our quality of life.
Whining, crying, and being
angry, venting out our frustration on others for that increased responsibility
you need to shoulder is not going to get you anywhere. It only hurts you and
others around you.
That brings us to the
measurement of being happy that affect our perceived quality of life, and the
importance of feeling contented.
Each of us has our own limit
of which we can shoulder responsibilities; therefore, it's only reasonable to
expect that there is a limit to how far we wanted to enhance our quality of
life. Any attempts to keep on enhancing of quality of life so that we feel
happy, will only bring us suffering. It's like us on a journey of ever lasting
quest; always busy trying to achieve the next target without much time to enjoy
the fruit of our hard work.
We need to know that enough
is enough so that we can spend time enjoying and sharing our joy with those
around us.
Just
managed to get my NEW toy!!!
