老师想说 #16

信件主旨:《Do the next thing》

寄件人: Teacher Chong Fui Lee (English Department)

An 18-year-old came up with a bucket list of 46 things to do while he could. This was after receiving the diagnosis from his doctor- terminal cancer. One of the things in the bucket list was having a go at public speaking in front of lots of people. A 99-year-old man decided to raise money for charity after the outbreak of covid 19 by walking one hundred lengths of his garden with the aid of his walking frame. After the death of her husband, a young widow continued working in the deep jungle of Ecuador helping the indigenous people to analyse their language before putting it in writing. This was on top of having to raise a toddler. All these happened in the 1950s when the world wasn’t as modern as it is today.

So what’s common between these three people? Do the next thing. Yes, do the next right thing. They had a choice. They could either panic, wallow in self-pity, get bitter or angry. But they made the choice to be different. The result? Stephen Sutton raised £5 million for cancer research before he died in 2014. On the morning of Captain Sir Thomas Moore's hundredth birthday, the total raised by his walk passed £30 million. People who read Elizabeth Elliot’s books have been greatly inspired to be hopeful in hard times. Her Ecuadorian legacy is priceless.

Doing the next thing does not mean big things. In fact, it’s those tiny little steps that make up the big “success” or achievements. While you may worry about your tertiary education, your SPM, lagging behind your studies or that dreaded essay demanded by your teacher, just do the next right thing. Pick up your pen, get out of bed, tidy your study desk, write the first sentence of that essay even if it means making grammatical mistakes, for a change be kind to your baby sister …. the list goes on. You are in for a surprise!!