People often take notice of how I'm so full of energy all the time, how I'm always so happy, how small little setbacks don't get me down, how I love having fun and most importantly how I love making whatever life throws at me enjoyable. Sometimes they ask me, "how do you do it?" or "how are you so happy?" Well this blog post is about to reveal all my little tips and tricks hehe. And actually, it ain't even that hard. Just a precaution though - an overdose of my happiness potion can come with costly side-effects.
Step ONE: Have a buddy! Just one, two or a few is enough. Sometimes I feel that more may not exactly be merrier when you're talking about ten people or so. Outings for me are the most fulfilling when there are fewer people. It gives us more time and space to get personal with every single person present. And this makes for good and meaningful interactions between friends, which is one of the key things in enjoying life the right way! Another reason why it's so vital to have a buddy is because good things are just too good to be savoured alone. This is one thing I always tell my friends. Never enjoy the good stuff alone. Because if you do, you would have no one to share the goodness with and no one to share your thoughts and feelings with. A simple example would be K-pop fan-girls. Finding another fellow Shawol, Sone, Blackjack, VIP, whatever, means you have double the craziness, double the screaming and double the love. And admit it. This just makes you happier than you already are. And that, my friend, is exactly how you enjoy life.
Step TWO: FOOD. I can't even stress on how important it is for there to be food. There needs to be food. And how you go from living life to enjoying life is with GOOD FOOD. It can't be just food. And for what I call good food, I definitely won't be trying to squeeze that in here, because that deserves another post on its own. If you have the money go get some Royce dark chocolate. If you don't that's fine too. Get M&Ms, Kit Kat, no matter, it's chocolate! Also if you have the money, treat your buddy to a good buffet or something. If you don't, that's fine too. Go to your favourite famous Hawker Centre, station yourself at the stall with the longest queue (always go for the famous food), buy the smallest portion, so you can have space for even more. Remember chilli. Remember tau huay. Remember cold drinks. Oh and maybe one day you'd like to try sitting on the steps leading up to the hawker centre with some tau huay in hand. Don't ask so much, just try.
Step THREE: Late nights. It's difficult to relax and find peace and quiet in Singapore since it's a fast-paced city that just produces stressful people in stressful places in stressful situations. But that's understandable, it's a city. But anyway enjoying life also means making the most out of it. That's why despite how rare, late nights in Singapore can give you the peace and quiet you're searching for. You could follow my example: one time at around midnight, my sister and I were hungry, so we sneaked out of the house, bought snacks from the vending machine downstairs, sat by the pool in the quiet night and just talked. That's how you do it. Or you could start by grabbing a cold drink and looking at things outside you don't normally look at. Watch. Observe. You'd be surprised at how relaxing this is. Or make a hot milo, grab a phone and go make a long phone call. Make sure you talk about life.
Step FOUR: Be crazy. Do crazy things. Do things you'd never imagine yourself doing. Take yourself places you'd never imagine yourself going. You'd love the feeling that accompanies this. Yesterday I went ice-skating, took me a couple minutes to befriend this group of Malay girls on the ice. All I asked was "can I join you?" and "what's your name?" and the next thing you know Su Jin, me and five other girls are linking hands and looking crazy on the ice. Go prank strangers! Prank your friends! Scare people! Laugh! Be happy! Go sit on the roller-coaster you always almost go on but never do! Like, stop being a pussy and just go kay. And one day you will find the courage to go on the tallest roller-coaster in the world and once you're done you will marvel at how the hell you found the courage to do that. When you're ready. Tell me. We'll go say hi to Six Flags New Jersey together.
Step FIVE: Don't try so hard. You'd realise even the little things can make you happy. You'd realise the little things make you happier than all the other big things can. You'd realise you can make the most out of the little things. Like a big bucket of popcorn, your favourite drink, your favourite movie, your favourite song. And when you eat your favourite food, don't just eat your favourite food. Appreciate the taste, the flavour, the smell. When you drink your favourite drink, don't just drink it. Put plenty of ice-cubes in it, make sure you feel refreshed, because when you do it means it's a good drink. The same concept goes for movies, books, songs, whatever. It's just a habit for me to imagine, think and reflect on everything about movies, books and songs. Make them come to life in your head, appreciate everything about them.
And this is how you make the most out of everything, no matter what it is, no matter how small, no matter where you are, no matter who you're with. This is.... the Sharmaine way to enjoy life. Worth a shot isn't it? ;)
