My 564th post on this blog. How far I've come.

It's the last day of the year today. Naturally, nostalgia sets in. 2007 has been different. Blatantly so. Being 16 is an odd thing, though pretty dandy at times.

Though, also, it's when you realise that you've become older. Aging comes into play; many things take their toll and you experience sudden revelations, realizations.. Like the break of dawn. Mistakes galore, but they aid you in the learning process.

I remember as a little kid, there was so much eagerness to grow up. Humans are ironic, and never satisfied. Being young, you long to be old(er); being mature, you desire to to turn back time. But everything is a new experience.

I recall.. How taking the school bus meant you were a Primary School kid. How, over the years, as games of hopscotch and catching were taken over by the computer/Gameboys, and penmanship evolved into compositions, it brought us through to age 12. Then came the Secondary School ez-link card - it made us feel older. Afterwhich, streaming in Secondary 2, which (to some extent) decided our path of education for the rest of our lives. The following year, we made our ICs, certifying our citizenship with this country.

And finally, where I am now: With my 16th birthday past, NC16 flicks within reach and standing at the edge of what would be a new chapter as I plunge into JC life.

Interesting, it all sounds.

Wouldn't have gotten thus far, if not for the fact of His Grace in delivering me. And not forgetting friends (and family), of course. Never more than 2 steps away.

Right now, I honestly wonder if I'm ready to face it all. All 'em challenges life is ready to hurl at me. But the notions of winning and losing are relative; there is no victory without loss. Surrender.

"The problems we experience now are temporal. All things, in the end, will work for good." I believe this now.

And when I next hear the clock tick, I'll remember all the things that I have experienced, for they far outnumber the seconds that have elapsed while I was through it. Just this morning, someone told me, "Well done, Elyssa."

Indeed, well done.