This is part of a running series about English idioms - less about language, more about life itself. Previously, we covered 'missing the woods for the trees', 'the elephant in the room', 'practising what you preach', blowing hot and cold', 'no smoke without fire', 'one swallow does not make a summer', 'apples and oranges', 'cut to the chase', 'leave no stone unturned', 'that's the way the cookie crumbles', 'can't have your cake and eat it too', 'old is gold', 'putting the cart before the horse', 'mountain out of a molehill', 'pot calling the kettle black', 'bite the bullet', 'go the extra mile', 'silence is golden', 'the devil is in the details', 'sink or swim', 'once bitten twice shy', 'don't count your chickens before they hatch', 'don't put all your eggs into one basket', 'chicken and egg', 'walking on eggshells', 'flogging a dead horse', 'better late than never', 'storm in a teacup', 'between a rock and a hard place', 'darkest before dawn', 'empty vessels make the most noise', 'birds of a feather flock together', 'separate the wheat from the chaff', 'let sleeping dogs lie', 'open a can of worms', 'light at the end of the tunnel', 'trial and error', 'look before you leap', 'lightning in a bottle', 'on the same page', don't judge a book its cover', 'reinvent the wheel', 'shifting gears', 'throwing in the towel', 'jump on the bandwagon', 'passing the buck', 'breaking the ice', 'cracking the code', 'when it rains it pours', 'bigger fish to fry', 'ball is in your court', 'back to the drawing board', 'square peg in a round hole', 'don't rock the boat', 'a whole new ball game', 'burning the midnight oil', 'never say never', 'get all your ducks in a row', 'make the hay while the sun shines' and 'tick all the boxes', 'a leopard cannot change its spots', 'fools rush in', and 'final straw that broke the camel's back'.
Imagine you're on a 5-star cruise. The water is still. The moon rises over the horizon, like a beacon sent from God to steer seafarers to safety.
And then, in the dead of night, a small crack rings out to break the tranquility. Silence falls again. And then another crack.
Maybe just a sudden breeze? A lone seagull in search of a midnight snack?
And then, a cry of terror sends the deck alive with frenzy. "Iceberg ahead!"
The captain shouts out a series of orders. The ship banks starboard. The iceberg passes by harmlessly. Someone cries: "Whew! That was close!"
But then, another crack in the wind. And another... and another...
All hands on the deck stay frozen. Faces twisted in horror. A field of a few dozen icebergs beckon forward...
Yes, just when you thought you were out of the woods, safe and sound, the full magnitude of the crisis hits you straight in the face. By then, it's far, far too late for evasive maneuvers. You thought you've gone through hell and back again. But only to realise the daunting crisis averted is just the first of many... and merely the tip of a freakin' gigantic iceberg
Some problems come by so unexpected, that's just no escaping the inevitable outcome. All one can do is hope and pray for the best. It's one of the most terrible feeling in the world - the feeling of helplessness, the loss of control over one's life...
But hey, as they say, s**t happens. And it happens to everybody.
And when you're stuck with a crisis that there's just no turning back from and sidestepping around, you just have to resign yourself to fate. Keep calm and don't panic. Soldier on as best as you can. Put on a brave face. Do what you must, do what you can.
Does that sound all very cryptic? Well, suffice to say, I recently encountered a major life crisis. I thought I dodged a bullet - and I did. But the tiny ice shard just didn't go away overnight. There's a giant iceberg still lurking below the calm waters, unseen by others, weighing me down, day by day.
I'm not exactly in a good place right now. But thankfully, the crisis is not critical. Death is not imminent. The problem is largely under control. I will survive... I WILL SURVIVE!
In good time, I will share more about my near-crashing-into-iceberg experience. It's still early days, and there's still a lot unknowns in the next few horizons.
Till then, know that I am fine and functional. My mental faculties remain unaffected. I feel more determined than ever, to forge forward in the voyage of life.
After all, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, and wiser...
Imagine you're on a 5-star cruise. The water is still. The moon rises over the horizon, like a beacon sent from God to steer seafarers to safety.
And then, in the dead of night, a small crack rings out to break the tranquility. Silence falls again. And then another crack.
Maybe just a sudden breeze? A lone seagull in search of a midnight snack?
And then, a cry of terror sends the deck alive with frenzy. "Iceberg ahead!"
The captain shouts out a series of orders. The ship banks starboard. The iceberg passes by harmlessly. Someone cries: "Whew! That was close!"
But then, another crack in the wind. And another... and another...
All hands on the deck stay frozen. Faces twisted in horror. A field of a few dozen icebergs beckon forward...
* * *
Yes, just when you thought you were out of the woods, safe and sound, the full magnitude of the crisis hits you straight in the face. By then, it's far, far too late for evasive maneuvers. You thought you've gone through hell and back again. But only to realise the daunting crisis averted is just the first of many... and merely the tip of a freakin' gigantic iceberg
Some problems come by so unexpected, that's just no escaping the inevitable outcome. All one can do is hope and pray for the best. It's one of the most terrible feeling in the world - the feeling of helplessness, the loss of control over one's life...
But hey, as they say, s**t happens. And it happens to everybody.
And when you're stuck with a crisis that there's just no turning back from and sidestepping around, you just have to resign yourself to fate. Keep calm and don't panic. Soldier on as best as you can. Put on a brave face. Do what you must, do what you can.
* * *
Does that sound all very cryptic? Well, suffice to say, I recently encountered a major life crisis. I thought I dodged a bullet - and I did. But the tiny ice shard just didn't go away overnight. There's a giant iceberg still lurking below the calm waters, unseen by others, weighing me down, day by day.
I'm not exactly in a good place right now. But thankfully, the crisis is not critical. Death is not imminent. The problem is largely under control. I will survive... I WILL SURVIVE!
In good time, I will share more about my near-crashing-into-iceberg experience. It's still early days, and there's still a lot unknowns in the next few horizons.
Till then, know that I am fine and functional. My mental faculties remain unaffected. I feel more determined than ever, to forge forward in the voyage of life.
After all, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, and wiser...
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