Selfishness vs Selflessness

This has been something that I've been thinking about quite a lot recently. Having to make a decision between something that's more selfish, versus something that's more selfless.

A small example of this was a recent purchase that I was eyeing. The Pintsize, Winslow and Reynardine plushies were on TopatoCo and since HY was coming back to Singapore, I thought I'd get them shipped to him and he could bring them back.

Thing is, the total cost of the three plushies was USD54 and I wasn't too keen on forking out so much money on a couple of soft toys. At that moment, I received a notification from Kiva, a microfinancing site, that said I had USD90 in repayments in my account.

Cha-ching! I could just have withdrawn that money into my Paypal account and used it to buy my plushies! After all, the money in my Kiva account was *my* money and with a few clicks of the button, I could buy what I wanted.

The tradeoff though, was that I wouldn't be helping anyone who needed help this month. Selfishness versus selflessness. I could relend the money and help three others!

The debate went on and on in my head. Buying these plushies would show my support for these web comics! Win-win, right?

Eventually, I decided that I didn't need the plushies and that I could support the web comic artists some other way (ad clicks? Who knows how they make money.) I relent the money on Kiva.

But decisions like these aren't always so easy to make. Sometimes the tradeoffs are much larger or more personal. And it's not always so straightforward either.

At the end of the day, I guess it's like what they say in that serenity prayer. Having the serenity to accept the things one cannot change, courage to chage the things one can, and wisdom to know the difference.

An Update

Oh I might as well update about my latest app purchase- Zombies, Run!

I love it.

As someone who can easily find a million and one excuses not to run / exercise, this app actually makes me look forward to running.

Coupled with the fact that my new workplace is within running distance back to my home, it's perfect for me. (Cos one of my favourite excuses not to exercise is that I don't want to be sticky and sweaty on my way home hur hur.)

I have to admit that after using the app a couple of times, I was beginning to "cheat". If you turn on the zombie chase feature, you can kinda guess when they are going to make the zombies start chasing you and you can deliberately slow down your pace so that when they actually do start chasing you, you can run at your normal speed.

Recently, I've taken to just turning the chase feature off. I don't like losing my collected supplies, you see.

So I'm slowly growing my base, and getting a decent jog while I'm at it. It works even when you don't want to run but just want to take a nice walk. Have to remember to switch the workout time to an hour. (Or just complete more missions. Hur hur.)

All in all, I have to say I have absolutely no regrets purchasing this app. I do hope they update and add more missions. I'm already halfway through.

Eeks

Lol everytime I want to update something here, I get distracted by something else and abandon the post. I've got so many draft posts!

Anyway, it's just been a lazy couple of months. Will try to buck up. :)

RIP

Two years ago, I found a kitten on my way to work. It was sitting at the base of the tree near the bus stop that I got off to go to the office. Worried that the frightened kitten would dash across the road and get hit by a car or bus, I managed get him into a box thanks to a passerby who helped.

Brought him home, tried to clean him up, but he was too scared and defensive and would hiss and scratch if you tried to get near. I put a dish of milk and let him be.

The next day, I took him to the vet who did an X-Ray and found that he had a broken leg which explained his limping. She put a bandage around his leg, and said that he was probably 2.5 months and hit by a bicycle. A car accident would have left him dead.

Ruq kindly agreed to adopt the kitten, and named him Couscous (which was a waaaaay better name than the original "Tensing Krishna Fries Kitty Meow Meow Lee-Ong-Tan-Ho-Leong" that we gave). He took an instant liking to her, and would be super manjah towards her, while being totally shy in front of strangers. I visited him once after, and was glad to know he was doing well.

The last time I met Ruq, she shared that Couscous was sick and suffering from cat-HIV (forgot the proper name). He had been going for treatment and had up and down days. Today, I got a message from her to tell me that he passed away.

..

Rest in peace, Couscous. I'm glad you had a good home for the past two years, and that you were loved and well taken care of. I don't know how you came to end up at the base of that tree, but I guess everything happens for a reason. Be happy in kitty heaven.