If Only..

Someone once asked me, "Is it aspiration or admiration that you have that makes you so determined?". I was actually quite stumped because I could not draw a line between the two. Can someone aspire to do something but have no admiration for the job?

My aspiration is built upon the admiration I have for it, admiration that has accumulated over the years, eight, to be exact. I have just one last chance for this, fact is, this is the only thing I can ever imagine myself loving to do. I have a million and one backups, but only one true calling and one true passion. I fear the worst but I hope for the best.

If only they can see the love I have for it,
The passion, the joy, the gratification.
If only they can measure and put a number to it,
it'll be one that no one can read.

I do not need an hour,
not even a day,
I just need a few minutes,
to show them my way.
To tell them the dreams I have
and the hopes I carry,
all these, not for merry.

If only they can put me on a polygraph,
for my moment of truth.

If only they know that merit is just a rough,

and see the sincerity behind the proof.

I just need one chance.

The Inaugural Speech

There were many who critiqued his inaugural speech, but in my opinion, Obama is one of THE best speaking politicians of modern times. He doesn't need to rouse the crowd with loud shouts and screams, he is composed, calm and almost sophisticated with his address. He brings his message across so clearly, so seriously, without any frills nor pretty icing, his address was straight to the point. It tugged at my heartstrings and stuck a chord with my beliefs. I'm looking forward to his term as president.

Here are a few parts of the speech that i really like, taken from New York Times.
(you can follow the link to read the full text. It's worth reading!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text-obama.html


"So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met."

(He completely summurised all that needs to be done in America, he tells them ever so bluntly that it's not that a rosy picture after all.)

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."


"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."


"The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good."

"Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness."

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

"Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old."

"the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:"Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."'

One Last Chance

.2009.

What does it actually hold?

A bleak economy?
More disasters?

OR

A time for change?
and a time to hope.

I'm placing my bets on the latter.

After all, hope is all that I am hanging on to. I'm given one last chance, one last chance for change. I want it, with every breath I take I yearn for it and with every last ounce of my strength I will fight for it.

It's my last chance, and even if I have to lose my life to fight for this, I will.