Ever wondered how fate can be likened to wind chimes? Neither have I, not till about 30 seconds ago. I guess between the fine line of directionality and chance, it really depends where the gales are destined to blow today; where will your fate take you tomorrow?

If you were given just one checkpoint to instate, and as far fetched as it can possibly get, you can return to this "safe point" as many times as you like and restart life from the fullness of where you last left off, where would you place it? Perhaps almost instinctively, any sane individual would think of his childhood as the primary source for rejuvenation and thus the safest haven for restoration. But as crude as it is in most games, having a checkpoint only in the early stages would spell disaster if you made excellent progress only to make one unexpected falter. Would that unprecedented stumble send you back to the beginning, only to remember how unfair life has always been. And it always makes you wonder how you got past something in life the first time because trust me when I say this, that when you do something twice, the pair of instances would never be identical.

So then maybe the next most economic progression of logic would be to place it right after one of your major exams. And that really depends how much you value your confidence in surmounting these obstacles. If you have a fairly weak self-esteem, your primary motivation would be to perhaps leave your safeguard post O or A-levels. But if you are ambition-driven and in constant pursuit of perfection, you would most likely retain your second chance for as long as you can. And really, no one's to say when the ideal time is; only you can decide.

Others would chuck into their storage alongside paranoia, restrained by their knowledge that the future can only get worst. If you were to pass this obstacle, there would most definitely be something even more frightful ahead so considering the opportunity costs, it would be wise to hold on to the checkpoint as long as you can. Bound by such a mentality, one might only get to deploy your second chance at your deathbed, and curse the irony of reliving your final moments on the earth, one foot in the grave, and the rest of your pitiful soak drenched in regret.

It is quite evident that this dilemma could ostensibly not have a real answer but fret not, because it does not exist. Good or bad, it's really up to you to discern but for me, I'm just leaving it to the winds of fate.

Notice how wind chimes are all crafted in the same manner, metal bars in sets of varying lengths and thickness, bundled to make the simplest of melodies when natural elements come howling your way. And still, despite how each wind chime is identical, they each resonate a different tune when the wind blows. Factors like the magnitude of the wind and its direction all play a part. But that's only part of its beauty. Fate is like a factory of wind chimes, and when we are born, a new wind chime is hung onto this massive grid line. If it were meant to be and the gusts come sailing this way, then your chimes and mine will clash. If it contacts to make a crashing sound, like waves jostling each other in anger, then we will be enemies. If we somehow collide to sing a song of peace, then we are more than just pieces of the puzzle; we are the two pieces that fit next to each other, and fit right into each other.

It is a noisy place, this wind chime factory; and in the same way fate is cruel, convoluted and uncertain. But there's nothing more we can do but soak up the atmosphere and let the craftsman do his thing and the conductor direct the winds.

It is a beauty.