Dear two-year-old Zippy Zip,
"You could never sit still," your mom said. You sang and danced around all the time, but you also loved spending time 'cooking' for others with your toy kitchen sets or simply cuddling with your stuffed animals. You picked up learning how to speak pretty fast if not sooner than most kids at your age; your grandpa even called you 'bà cụ khóm' or 'the witty old lady' since you were two. You were always looking forward to going to your daycare, but you had no idea how much of what you were going to be taught at school and even later in life held little truth.
You thought the louder the stronger, and the more popular the better — The world we lived in made you think success was reserved only for extroverts. You focused on speaking instead of listening, reacting instead of thinking, winning instead of understanding. And so naturally, you benefited from that societal belief since you were always outspoken and highly involved.
But something always seemed off to you. The more you grew up, the more you discovered your introverted side, how much you needed privacy, and craved for introspection. It turned out that being active all the time actually didn't serve you very well. You realized that your focus on speaking, reacting, and winning didn't make you strong but only egocentric, careless, and insecure. There would be no conversation without listening, no solution without thinking, and no victory without understanding the big picture.
I've witnessed some events lately where even the adults still acted and behaved like kids your age (I know), so I can't blame you on why you used to also think the louder the stronger when in fact it only reveals weaknesses. So keep smiling and learning, my little Zippy Zip, because sometimes the point is not about winning but growing, and life never runs out of new lessons to teach you ;)