Que Sera Sera

The other day, while I was playing on the piano and flipping through some old music books, I came across an old piece, "Que Sera Sera". I played the familiar melody and over the next couple of days, the song echoed in my head. We all know the popular lyrics. I reproduce an excerpt here:

"When I was just a little girl,
I asked my mother, what will I be,
Will I be pretty, will I be rich,
Here's what she said to me.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be,
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera,
What will be, will be."

I thought of the lyrics and a profound wave of ... sadness descended upon me. I know the song's overall message is supposed to be one of optimism. But I would add the caveat that it is only an optimistic message for the young.

When one reaches middle-age or beyond, it might be more appropriate to start thinking in terms of "whatever could have been, could have been ....". Now what is sadder than that? Especially for those middle-aged (or older) folks who look back on their lives, and feel regret if there had been potential unrealised or realisation of time better spent, choices better made. I will stress here that I am not making a personal statement, but rather, making a wry observation of life.

But is it true in the first place? Whatever will be, will be? Surely our destiny is in our hands and we have the power to shape our own future? Imagine Obama proclaiming "whatever will be, will be...." - he would have kissed his presidency goodbye.

No, my message to my children is always "you can be whatever you want to be... so long as you set your mind to it".

This question - what he wants to be when he grows up - continues to plague Son No 3's mind. He's the only one of my three sons who constantly thinks and talks about it. Son No 2 talks about it sometimes and Son No 1 simply says he doesn't know.

Last night, Son No 3 said he wanted to be a "banger". I scratched my head. What's that? Does he mean a builder, someone who hammers like Handy Manny, the cartoon character from Playhouse Disney? Son No 2 came to his rescue. "No, Didi wants to be a banker, like Faidu."

So I asked Son No 3, do you know what a banker does? "Work in the Bank-la!"

But of course.