A Fair Game

We have two lovely gardens – one at the front and the other one at the back.

This year Toronto spoiled us with a gorgeous summer season. The sun is bright, the temperature is around 30C, and once in a while our gardens will enjoy a refreshing summer rain. Peonies are blossoming, hydrangeas are smiling.

All seems wonderful.

However, as we are in and out of the gardens everyday, what I hear the most from the hubby is not how lovely the flowers are, but how robust and frustrating the weeds are. I don’t blame his pessimism. He has been fighting really, really hard against the weeds. The ironic part of the story is that the more weeds-killer he uses, the stronger the weeds grow back.

All the neighbours passing by our front garden will stop and compliment on how beautifully designed and manicured our small paradise is, but what they don’t see is how ugly those weeds are beneath the luscious leaves of the lilies.

NOTHING in this world is perfect. Sometimes it seems to be perfect, but it’s not; you perceive it that way just because you are not in the garden to notice the weeds.

The same principle also applies for real life. You may ask “what about being super rich in the real world, like crazy rich, will the person have a weeds-free and flowers-filled life?”

Here is my suggestion: go watch the new movie Crazy Rich Asians and you will know life is a fair game.

There are night-blooming cereus, there are also over-grown weeds.

There is high and there is low.

There are the 40-million-dollar wedding and bachelor parties on a private island deep in the Pacific Ocean; there are also dead fish, tears and divorce.

No, the crazy rich people actually don’t have it all. Beneath the 24k gold Champaign glasses and the million dollar earrings, there lies the struggle, the fight, the politics, the self-doubt, the restrictions, the lack of freedom, the distrust, and the gossip.

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When Rachel Chu (starred by Constance WU) decided to walk away from the potential marriage with Nick Young (starred by Henry Golding), it’s a heart-breaking decision. You would think that love is the cornerstone of a marriage, but in this case, when Rachel fell for a guy that comes from the richest family in the entire Asia, it’s no longer a love game. Nick’s family wealth becomes a barrier for him marrying his beloved “nobody” girl.

When Astrid Young (starred by Gemma Chan) found out that her husband is having an affair, she had tears but still had to hold her head high to maintain a perfect image. They were eventually divorced and I loved the line that she threw at her ex when walking out of their apartment:” I cannot make you a man whom you are not.” The sad part though is the fact that as a woman who has everything and anything, she was not even able to hold her husband’s heart no matter how hard she has tried.

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Just like a perfect summer season cannot guarantee one has a fabulous garden, wealth and high social status sometimes cannot warrant pure love and simple happiness.

Life is a fair game. Embrace it as is!