Monday, March 14, 2011
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Flag Day
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Hey Everyone.
Yesterday, with Elaine and Laural, I went for flag day for community involvement program. While my main aim was to earn CIP points, the flag day was a very meaningful day for me.
Standing with with my metal tin with a picture of a monkey taped it, i wasn't really looking forward to the next 3 hours. At the start, standing outside Tampines MRT station, alone, it really felt lonely, low confidence. I started with,"Good Afternoon, would you like to...." the word "donate" hadn't even come out of my mouth, I already faltered, because the first person I asked had ignored me. I took a deep breath, gathering the remaining of my confidence and continued. As my confidence level dropped further after the next few times, something made me smile - not the smile to humor the people, but a real smile coming from my insides, making me feel all warm and nice: I had my first coin. I never realised that a small coin could make me feel so happy, also, never would I have thought that a rejection would make me feel so dejected.
As I stood outside the MRT station for the next hour, my tin had gotten considerably heavier. This brought me delight. In that hour, I realised that a simple smile, whether its a smile for rejection or a smile saying "you;re welcome" to my thanks, would bring me such happiness. A cheerful child coming gleefully forward with a coin in his hand would make my day. Amazing isn't it? In the 1st hour, I stayed in the same place. Moving into the 2nd hour, i realised that the same crowd of people were moving towards me, and i decided, I needed to change my location. As I moved to the entrance of Tamp 1, i reunited with my friends. We complained about the hunger(Elaine) and the tiredness, and we moved on.
Outside Tamp 1, I realised, was a lot easier. Without the huge crowd rushing towards you, giving you a momments of dilemma, you feel a lot more confident. With the newly increased confidence level, everything was easier. Moving around, I met a lot of interesting people. A lady went to all of us, saying in mandarin, “giving to a Dunmanian is a must”. This simple sentence brought me joy. There was also a European lady who gave me $50. I mean, wow! That was the greatest amount I received that day. It really brought a smile to my face.
While the Flag Day is tiring, I must admit it is a great experience for me. Yesterday was the day I realised that a simple rejection could make feel like all my confidence rushed out of me. However, it was also the day I realised that a simple coin could make my day; the day I realised that a simple smile could make me feel all warmed up inside.
Labels: rHONDA
Rhonda=) blogged at 3:11 AM
