That’s life! from Wakanda Wonder Woman
Hard Choices, easy life; easy life, hard choice. I believe many of you have seen this illustrations or heard such quotes, but… What is really a hard or an easy choice, likewise to their respective lives?
I would assume that Hard choice also means a hard action because it makes sense to say that the difficulty of an action also contribute to the difficulty of a decision, while easy life also implies to a happier, more convenient lives, and now, let me tell you a story and try to see how we define a hard choice.
Originally, I had a dream of moving to Melbourne, hopefully for a better, slower pace of life, so I decided to make an attempt to move into the place, sound like a hard choice, comparing to staying where I originally lived, right? However, I decided to choose an easier, more approachable way, by studying a master degree so that I can understand culture during the times; nevertheless, one of my life goal is to study AI, which is a to be honest a hardcore decision, involving huge amount of math that you might not even heard before; moreover, I might find a friend or two occasionally, but most of the time, I have to sort out everything on my own, at the most critical time, adding another level of difficulty. Yet, I don’t find myself being in a better live; sometimes, in some worse time, I might meet some not so nice people judging you based on your look, your status, or your fluency of speaking in English.
“Of cOuRsE yOr ArE nOt TaKiNg ThE HaRd ChOiCe! Have you get a part time job for local experience? Have you do networking? HaVe YoU mEeT a StRaNgEr FoR eVeRy WeEk.7 YoU sHoUlD fInD a MeNtOr!¡!” I understand there are so many people parroting the same concept and want to taking the shortcut with their “get job quick scheme” just to get a PR quickly, but… time has passed, and my attitude has shifted; I just want to take my time on studying my dream subject, while (supposedly) enjoying and learning a new culture, putting a pause onto my too rapid promotion on the way of being a system analyst in just four years into my career, sharpening and extending my skill set, and just want to make some friends instead of seeing people as a networking machine. Despite a few struggles, I believe my choice is fine, as least it is something that aligns my goal and I won’t lose much; at worst, I just wasted my time and leave Mel with disappointment yet I will move on with my original career path in my home country, while learnt a lot of life lessons which can only be learnt with study aboard; at best, I might get a job offer or even start a business in Mel. Furthermore, I don’t really see how others’ advice can grant me a happier life if I have to fundamentally change myself by putting mask just to fit in. Time will tell, and the longer you fake yourself, worsen your mental health because you have to try so hard to hide your actual personality, doing something you actually don’t like. With that mentality, I can definitely say this decision of changing yourself is tough, but is that grant you an easier life? I highly doubted considering that huge overhead and “fakery”.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not ranting, nor blaming any c*nts I have faced, while I understand why people would have thought in that way, but I just want to show that, my story can definitely, completely, utterly destroy the “Hard choice, easy life; Easy choice, hard life” quote because of two problems:
The first issue is the definition of “hard choice” not being concrete at all; in my opinion, I can’t really draw a line to what is a “hard” decision or action, and most of them depends on the context, perspective, and the personality. Some people says study abroad is the easiest way to get into the country, but I can’t really see how it is an easy route if you do take effort into the subject. Similarly, some people find doing a task alone is highly difficult, yet I find it is actually easier because I usually have a better idea when I am alone due to the lack of pressure from the peers. In addition, for every “hard choice”, there is always a harder choice, likewise to the easy one, which they are just a rabbit hole. Study AI with project is hard, but it is easier than with any AI research which is easier than finding a specific professor for a specific project which is easier than releasing research papers alone. At this point, what is even a hard choice?
Because of the blurry, fuzzy line of the difficulty of choices, there is no grant for an easier life or its worse counter part. There are so many tough decisions to make from many people, happening around the world, but are they all have a good life? Clearly not, many companies makes big decisions, especially in investment, yet they can still get bankrupt for a wrong choice, not necessarily to the difficulty of the decisions or actions. Some people become successful just because they have appeared in a right time and right place, without doing much difficult.
As a result, don’t do a thing just because you think it is hard thus life changing, do a thing that you can have fun while you can learn from it. I do believe the latter brings you to a better life then the former. Thus, for me, this quote is “Myth Busted”.
Disclaimer: I was really tired and sleepy during writing some part of the article, and this has been written in separated parts in a separated time frame, so it can be a total non sense; thus, here is where your critical thinking shines, and let’s use this valuable skills by freely questioning my writing.