Two ends of a spectrum

I admire people who can say 'I have a dream'. At least there is only 1 dream and they can focus on achieving it.

For me, I have two dreams one quite impossible and the other almost impossible, both at each end of the spectrum.

Dream 1: To be the first Malaysian to win the Nobel prize

Nobel Museum in Stockholm. The winner gets a Nobel Prize Diploma, Nobel Prize Medal, and cash award which fluctuates each year depending on the interest rate but currently it is 10 million SEK. The prize giving ceremony is held on the 10th of December each year as it is the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

Fame, prestige, and wealth. These three shouldn't be the main reasons why I want to win the Nobel prize but maybe it is. However, the chances of me achieving this is quite impossible. At least there's 6 areas to compete in:

Physics: Invent a time machine
Chemistry: Invent pure energy which does not produce any waste products
Medicine: Invent a cure for cancer
Literature: Revolutionize the way of writing
Peace: Fight for the vision where every part of the world is a place where we can feel safe in
Economics: Accurately predict the trend of evolving economics

Will I be able to achieve any of the above? Only time will tell.


Dream 2: Retire rich and young

Without having to worry about money, I would go travel around the world, blog about my travels, and share my experiences with my readers, invest part of my wealth to create more.

However, by the time I can start working, I'll be almost 25. That's already a quarter of a decade. Most probably I'll spend most of my life working as a doctor and trying to get rich in the meantime.

I know some of you will be thinking that there's many ways of getting rich and retiring young, like marrying a rich husband, strike lottery, etc. but how likely will that happen in real life? There is also the illegal way of getting rich but let's not go there.

Another thought is, what defines happiness? The idealist will think that happiness has nothing to do with money, but to buy even the bare necessities, money is involved. Like what Maslow's hierachy of needs says, in order to reach our full potential, we have to first fulfill the basic needs from physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem before we can reach self-actualization. Nobody can exhibit self-confidence and maintain relationships if they have to worry about filling that stomach and where to sleep that night. Therefore, to me, money is very important if not the most important factor in determining happiness.

Let me end by sharing this poem 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost with you.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I guess if I can't decide, I'll just start a new path and take a new road. Hopefully I don't come across obstacles which I can't cross and make a U-turn back to the same old junction where I'm standing right now.