Day after day, this term appears everywhere, be it on the tip of our tongues, in the testimonials we write, in the Personal Development Inventories, in almost everything we do. In fact, everyone shoulders a responsibility, the basic responsibility of doing his daily essentials.

However, it's become so obvious to me that scoiety has dictated that we have to shoulder many responsibilites that we wouldn't have to, not after the fall of Man, as written in Genesis. I've come to think that we're responsible for fitting ourselves into society, holding on and never letting go of the express train that it has become, with the drivers not noticing people hanging onto safety rails and sticking out like sore thumbs. Perhaps I'm just trying to find an excuse for my irresponsibility, as well as the irresponsibility of others, us being unable to keep up with the speed at which society is progressing along the tracks of history.

Along the way, people have been thrown off the track, people ranging from the deluded greats like Hitler, the real political greats, like Caesar and such. I mean, look at the responsibility resting on the shoulders of these political figures -- the hopes of a country, the needs of a country, the wants of a country, even ranging to an empire. But how did it end for both of them? One committs suicide, the other gets stabbed by his own son.

I've come to the contention that we are living in such a fast paced society, that many of us are struggling to keep up. Even in school. Where has the lively teenage years gone? I've been surrounded by mostly cold, quiet people immersed in the worlds of Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Literature, History, Geography, Social Studies, and the like. Why is the responsibility that we have to carry, as light as it seems, have to be so huge?

The competition in this fast paced society has sometimes become unbearable. Maybe that's why I just choose to sit it out, watch them in their frenzy to outdo each other, watch them in their frenzy to get their 4.0 GPAs. I've almost become an outsider, watching them forming their small cliques, their small studying groups, their same project groups, and at the same time, cranking up the responsibilities on their shoulders by more than just a notch. Look at Royce Lee. His creative talents, from the piano to his script writing have all been pushed back, just because he carries too much responsibility, he has to report as a prefect, he has to report as a CCAL, he has to report to the teachers for his lateness in work, and he still has to strive to make sure that his creative talents are not hindered.

I'm not complaining. It's widely accepted that this is how society has progressed to. But as Zach said today, have we actually listened to that small voice, that human spark inside of us? Have we ever stopped to breathe in the fresh morning air? Have we ever stopped to admire the plants that are growing along our corridors? Have we ever stopped to just contemplate the infinite-ness of the universe? Have we ever just contemplated the small things in life? How a simple smile, how a simple note can make your day, how a well written piece of work can lift your spirits?

It's impossible for there to be a shift towards the lowering of the weight that all of us carries. However, we can look to other things, we must look to other things, and not be weighed down by these dead weights that have come onto us as soon as we entered this world.

So may it be.