we cannot change the cards we are dealt,
just how we play the hand.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
2:29 AM
Subaru Impreza WRX Challenge 2011
there was something wonderful about placing a palm on a print for endless hours. no sleep. food, water, loo, rest, a mad rush in five minutes, once every six hours.
you do what it takes to survive this challenge. count the number of windows at lucky plaza. watch the moon stride over the Tang's dome. watch the birth of the shadow of Ngee Ann City, its growth into a full blossomed shade, before its death at dusk.
we danced in the rain. we blistered in the sun. and no doubt, hallucination would hit us past the fortieth hour. we see double. triple. and there was a need to blink hard to refocus such mirages to their original states, lest our hands shift beyond the palm print.
beyond fiftieth hour. hallucination now uncontrollable. this man cried out to me thinking i was his grandpa. another screamed into the camera in ecstasy, thinking he had won. i kept asking my neighbour why we had to put our hands on the car, and what we were hiding beneath our palms.
fifty eight. curiosity got the better of me, and i lifted my hands to peep what lay beneath. it was as if life snapped back in an instant, albeit too late to recover for the challenge, but that emotion was indescribable. the happiness of understanding, of knowing why, was worth more than a car. in fact, more than anything else in the world.
i walked this journey with hearts of gold. subaru veterans who had joined this challenge with mindsets to win. but with hearts to help. we talked about life as we shuffled between delusion and reality. we talked about love as we struggled between fantasy and fact.
three other tales of inspiration.
ever smiling, this one-handed 32-year old joined not to boost his bank balance, but to raise funds for a semi paralysed friend. he left at the 47th mark only because his skin was stuck to the car due to the scorching sun. as he peeled it off, blood gushed out and we waved a little goodbye as he passed my car.
in the wee morning of the first night, i witnessed this cheerleader lead her car into songs of laughter. at sixty seven, she has joined this challenge for years running, but only to raise funds for charity and prove that the human body can endeavour more than we imagine. i saluted her in the first few minutes of the challenge, and she managed to return the salute as she left at the 23rd mark, under the blistering heat.
and of course. for someone who was sabotaged to join the challenge, i glowed with pride as she kissed me at the 20th mark.
the voices in my head-
i love my girl. a love so beautiful, symmetrical, tangible
God loves me. a love so great, unconditional, real.
my life in a nutshell. working towards loves of sorts. beautiful, symmetrical, tangible, great, unconditional and real.
a page, deliberately left blank.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
I Corinthians 13:4-8
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