Polly put the kettle on, Sukey take it off again

Polly Put the Kettle On
Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
We'll all have tea.

Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
They've all gone away.

That nursery rhyme started playing in my head this afternoon.
I had submitted an application to do my masters on scholarship around noon, only to take it back again in the late afternoon.

I have to admit there IS a degree of disappointment…
My itching ears longed to hear, “Yes, go ahead, go do it next year, and then start changing the world!”

It’s not as thrilling to hear that it’s not time yet.

But there is wisdom in his advice.
So I’m taking it. And waiting. Some more.

Not that there is nothing to prepare for meanwhile.
To my (simplistic) mind, my battle plan was simply:

1. Identify Target (Change the World)
2. Go to school to learn how to do it (Masters in Public Policy)
3. Just do it (How to? Dunno. Will know how after I’ve gone to school and learned)

While Polly and bosses were having a chat, I was reminded that there has to be other preparations, other learning, other steps that have to be taken to equip myself better.

I suppose the schooling part is just the “know-how”. What about the other skills I need to have before that? The character? The tenacity? The experience? The exposure? I should start developing those now…

Frankly, I have no concrete plans on how to develop THOSE. I’m one of those whose solution is always to pray, get books on that topic, and read up. But I have also learnt through experience that sometimes those aren’t real learning – it becomes deep learning and a part of me only when I’ve gone through trials and testings. And books can’t do that.

Which leaves us with the hard work of learning through hard work. And grit.

Which is not Polly the Drifter’s cup of tea.

But it has to be done, and I’m glad that at times when I’d rather drift and take things easy, I have bosses and leaders forcing and encouraging me to go on. And I’m glad too that God has never let me get so jaded that I would settle for less in the long run.

If anything, filling up that application has done me some good. It made me think through and articulate my aspirations and how I hope to achieve them. Seriously, I know many people would find what I wrote idealistic, even spacey. But as I filled out that application, I’m glad to find that I still believe and I still hope and I still want to try.

As Angie puts it, with God, chances are different.

Impossible is nothing.