I wandered lonely as a cloud...

     I remember being the smartest kid in the world - or at least in my world. I remember living at top of my lungs every day on whatever I do - running, studying, and even sleeping. I remember the world that loved me, or that protected me from any misdeeds of the world. Wherever I went, I was outstanding. Whatever I did, I outpaced and outperformed anybody. The whole world would be captivated by every move I make. My life, as long as I remember, was full of joy and productivity; brimming life it was, not only for a young boy but for anybody in the world. 

    The beginning of my high school life no longer guaranteed me any of the above. I cannot remember when exactly I was the smartest kid in the world - perhaps I was never. I cannot remember when exactly did I live at my peak - perhaps I never lived a such productive life. I forgot everything. I forgot how to sleep, I forgot how to study, I forgot how to play: I forgot how to live. The maladaptation engendered a life-threatening risk. It dragged me to my life's first but lethal shadow. The joyful boy was now reticent. He had forgotten how to express his feelings. The productive boy was now lethargic. He had forgotten how to allocate his energy. Arrayed life of his, was no longer his - it belonged to intuition. The boy the whole world once cherished was now gone.

    The greatest Japanese writer Haruki Murakami once wrote, "Where there is light there must be shadow." Acknowledging that the slump is a natural phenomenon, even though confronted with the greatest barrier of his life, he did not capitulate. Like a flower that flourishes amid cement floor, the boy himself realizes the proverb "where there is a will there is a way." Enlightened that he had only faced the first abyss and that he would revive and eventually overcome the abyss, he could not fall on his knees - at least not yet. By reconstructing his life, starting from daily patterns and all the way to the studying methods, he managed to earn another chance in life. At last, to finish the story, the protagonist now back on his feet, stands firm and advances to the next abyss that awaits him.