Filtrating EXAMINATION

When the word EXAMINATION was first made an english term, never did it anticipate that it could unleash so much horror upon the world. It can be used with almost any word u like: EXAMINATION hall, room, paper, board.. so many combinations. And it literally makes a student freak out, a teacher gets worried about his rice bowl, the parents frantic... etc. It is really like pandemonium, especially in schools. It is like an endemic, so indiscriminating in its spread. It is similar to a disease, with sypmtoms first appearing, then a myriad of effects taking its toll on us. There is the pre and the post. How intimidating is that. Somehow examination is inextricably linked to fear.

Ok. Maybe when i attempt to dissect EXAMINATION you may get more relieved about it. If i were to pass EXAMINATION through an emotional filter paper, and when all human emotions are clearly residued, whats left behind are those meaningless exam questions, exam results, exam answers, exam grades, etc. But its easy said than done right? if i tell u to empty your mind of such apprehension, i am merely wasting my efforts as it is virtually impossible to do so. Come on, will u tend to look at residue trapped in the filter paper or the filtrate that passes through the filter paper more naturally? Or to rephrase my question, how much of your time spent observing the filtration process would you be focusing on the filtrate rather than the residue. My bet is most would just give a cursory glance at the filtrate, while devoting most of their time on what is gonna be left on the filter paper.

You say its natural tendency. Yes, this is an incontrovertible fact of life. It is our inborn tendency, our innate inclinations. It is involuntarily. Our minds tend to be more preoccupied towards the conspicuous, and the "all-encompassing". So how do we make this change? To put it simply, its just a mere alteration of our view to that of the filtrate. Simple, but is it really so? No it isnt. It is a forceful change. A test of our mental flexibility to take on new perspectives. We need to look at things from a new dimension. We have to look at the glass of water which is half filled as half empty. Its easy for the glass of water but not easy for the pile of books in front of u isnt it? This is because the glass of water is something tangible, while fear is intangible. Emotions are our greatest enemies because we feel absolutey impotent to have complete control over them. That is why people say the greatest fear is not others, but oneself.

You need the tenacity, the hunger, and the sheer will to change it. In short, you must be more fearful of the outcome of not changing your mindset than the fear towards the examinations itself. Then there is a chance. HOw, How, How... My answer to you is: when you are desperate enough, you will find an answer to it.

As the cliche goes, it's all in the mind. But in order to execute it, it takes much more than just being "cliche".