Reading - Learning - Doing - Meaning

1. I recalled in my younger days, around the age of 10 (Standard 4) i already very into reading different kinds of story books. Detective stories (something like Hardy Boys but in Chinese Version), Journey to the West, Three Kingdom and many more. There is this one particular story books from China, separated into 12 books each with different theme based on the Chinese Zodiac. Inside of each book there were many short stories that are very fascinating.
2. After i moved from Johor to Selangor, i was also very much immersed in reading. As i was school in a National Secondary School where the main medium is Malay language; there are limited chinese books in the library. I almost completed all the books (with interesting title) from the two shelves available.
3. My English was relatively poor as my basic is weak. I will have phobia whenever i need to speak, read or write in English. Many thanks to my tuition teacher Ms. Geetha (she hold a Master in TESL) who had so much of dedication in teaching me words by words, correcting every grammar mistakes in my essay, forcing me to read (at least newspaper excerpt) every week. Without her forceful will, i really wonder how i will end up now.
4. As my Dad used to operate coffee shop, i am required to help up from time to time. There is this one very kind and helpful uncle who asked me how old am i and whether i am in primary or secondary school?  Been raised up in Subang Jaya where almost everyone will speak English with any stranger that they bump into, its truly shameful that i didn't really know what is primary and secondary school (i was thirteen years old that time). 
5. That kind uncle is Uncle Sorthy. After learning about my poor state, he passed me a book called Treasure Island. I hardly able to read the book at all as all the words are foreign to me. Some of the words that i still remembered are "surrounded" "decided" which are all not comprehensible for me. At the end, uncle Sorthy gave up, or rather i gave up (so afraid to meet him after that).
6. Things change after i scored 7As1Bs in my PMR, i was in the top science stream class in my Form 4 (10th Grade). Most of the classmates are from the National Primary School and they speak English! Only my another friend Shing Wei and myself were from the Chinese Primary School. I learn it the hard way, from listening to them, starting by telling some simple joke with them and slowly it become all normal for me to converse in English in my Form 6 (12th Grade).
7. Things made a bigger term as i start my university life in a top local university. My English level was considered very good to my course mates, which indeed surprised me to a very large extent. From then on, my confidence are slowly building.
8. My first serious reading in English started with the famous Harry Potter series, Book 3, Prisoner of Azkaban, introduced by my cousin Grace Yong. That period coincide with the time i was in Form 4. I guess, environment push me to open up and start reading English Book. From then on, i had never missed this book series and i even queue up for 3 hours for the launching of The Order of Phoenix.
9. Looking back, i supposed all these had started since a young age and during my postgraduate studies, everything seems to fall into places seamlessly. I enjoy reading, studying new things, and i realized i can write, i love to made blog post once in blue moon to record my feelings, i love to write a long answer in my exam paper (i had to ask for paper every time in the exam).
10. Life after my postgraduate studies were not as entertaining. Despite changing a new working environment (similar industry), opportunity to explore and to learn is there but not good enough. More exposure is on how bigger organization works (meetings after meetings, calibrations, discussions, reporting, and finally decision). I realized such activity really does ooze out the last drip of any vitality left in me at times.
11. Everthing will have the peculiar part and the norm part. It was when the norm part got so large becoming something mundane, and monotonous that is when it start creating problem, well, at least for me. Learning become so little, and the resulting meaning from it also drops significantly. The only escape route is via some reading in the night, or some audio books when commuting to-and-fro between work place and home that i can garner some meaning which i deem essential and useful for me.
12. I wonder whether i can ever find something (work/job) that allows me to learn and finding the very meaning in my pursuit of life, pursuit of happiness. I know people will ask, why you read so much, why we need to learn so much, its all about doing it, making our action count.
13. My best guess, its all about accomplishment in life. Since young when we achieve something in life, we will get praises, approval and recognition from our parents and largely from the society. We wanted to achieve and to be successful. Perhaps we may had forgotten, the hard work behind all the success stories that we had all heard. The learning curve, the hardships and the sacrifices. It's not so easy to draw down the critical success factors into something so singularly express term such as passion, discipline, talent, opportunity, and maybe just lucky. We need combination of all of these, but at first we need to able to learn, to go deep in our search of knowledge, to be able to concentrate and stay focus.
14. It was through reading, learning, and doing something we deem important which we will find the very meaning we are all searching for, happiness.