逆水行舟，不进则退。

Right now, there is no such thing as standing still, at the same spot. In life or in society. Whilst we all able to remain standing at a physical location, with our physical bodies. In reality, this fast-paced world does not allow stand-still people.

I remember hearing this some time ago. "Life is a race".

In a race, we can afford to be slow, for we might never be the best, or the fastest. But we cannot remain standing, rooted to the spot. For in that way, we'll never reach the end, of the race.

From young we knew, the moment we're in education, that every single one of those classmates, those friends, are our compeitiors. We're already in a race, that fact, while we're small and young, have already hit us. At the back of our minds, deep in the subconscious, we know they are our rivals.

Probably that is why we strive to score better than them, to appear cleverer than them, to gain more favor from people around us. At the same time, feel sad, inferior, when they do better than us. It is not our fault, for that is how nature builds every individual. Whether we like it or not.

Whilst we can afford to be slow, we never actually stay rooted to the spot. The world around us moves on, in response, where we are, is actually behind, lagging, further and further away.

In life, everyone of us are akin to a ship and its crew, in its attempt to reach the shores. The shores is far away, and we may not necessary see it. Because there might be fog, there might be torrents, there might be whirpools, all there to impede our success.

Yet we cannot use the current to tide us, for it is actually against us. Our crew cannot stop, even, for a single second, for the current will push us back, and more efforts would be needed to carry on forward.

When then, will we see the shore? And what lies in it? That perhaps, is our purpose in life. Or the goal in life?

Every obstacle we pass, we grow stronger. Our crew becomes wiser. We learn to predict the wind, learn to spot the dangerous rocks, all aid us in arrival.

And only after everything, we can truly appreciate, what it takes, to reach it.