Responsibility

How do you feel today?

Are you a pleasant person to be around with? Sometimes we think too much of our surroundings that we forget about the most important things of all. Ourselves.

It is not to say that we should only think about ourselves and leave everyone else be. The people around us are important. Many of times we have over expectations of ourselves to meet the expectations of others.

As a child, how often have you followed the instructions of your parents? When we were children, we tend to think all that our parents teach us is correct because our minds are like a blank sheet of paper. Whatever our parents do, we tend to follow. Whatever our parents say, we tend to mimic. It is just natural. There is probably only a handful out there who would have their own mindset at such a tender age.

Back then, if a child talks back to the parents, they would be considered as a difficult child. It is due to the teachings passed down from generations to generations. No party is at fault. Perhaps parents should spend time understanding why the child is behaving as such. May be the child is notorious. May be not. It is the duty of parents to find out why their children act as such instead of just giving them the negative notion that their parents have been using on them over the years. It is not fair to just simply judge based on what we see on the surface.

In the current modern age, if a child talks back to the parents, they would be labelled differently by individuals. Times have changed. The old ways are not always agreed by everyone anymore. Some will still label the child as disobedient. Some will be able to see that the child is hungry for attention from the parents. Some will be amazed how the child can be so intelligent. Whatever everyone else say is not important. It is still the responsibility of the parents to understand why their children behave such a way.

Parents have a huge responsibility over the family that they are trying to build. It is time to realize that, as a parent, you cannot escape being someone you might not be. If you choose to have children with your partner, you have the responsibility over how your children develop. There is no doubt about it.

Many parents these days are just too busy to spend time with their family. Perhaps it is time to ask yourselves these questions.

Are you starting a family because of willingness?
Are you starting a family because it is the right thing to do?
Are you starting a family because everyone else is doing it?
Are you starting a family because it was an unexpected event?
Are you starting a family because you want to please your partner?

The sense of willingness is at stake. Many people just start having a family for the sake of giving their parents grandchildren. Some people just start having a family because their friends all have children. Whatever it is, it is by choice. Nobody can force you to do anything you do not wish to do. Once you have chosen, it is your responsibility to stay till the end.

Whether or not the child is born in the way you want, you are responsible.
Whether or not the child is grows up to be the person you are proud of, you are responsible.

You are totally responsible for your child. Never ever blame your children for keeping you at home, not being able to go clubbing with your friends. Never ever blame your children for spending too much time with computer games when you yourself are on your smart phone all the time. Never ever blame your children for acting out whenever something does not happen the way they want because they are just mimicking you. Never ever blame your children for being closer to your maid than you because you never spend enough time with them. Never ever blame your children for talking back at you as you never keep your promise to them.

It is easy to play the blame game but ultimately, being a good parent is not a job, it is a responsibility.

 

To say you have no choice is to relieve yourself of responsibility.

Patrick Ness, British-American author and lecturer, 1971-present

Mind

What is considered important?

Day in day out we encounter with many people, things and events. How do we determine what is of utmost importance and what is not? We are always placed with many choices, most of which are quite ambiguous at the beginning. Over a certain period of time, we will be able to determine with clarity.

From the start of the global lockdown this year, many people have become panicked by the whole situation of non-physical communication. Humans are social animals. When everyone have to stay home, everyone started complaining. They love the outside world. The moment they cannot leave their homes, they feel like they are being confined in a small space. Perhaps these people are not thinking through at that very moment. After a while, everyone start to find means and ways to continue their livelihood.

Technology is a must for communication in such circumstance. People start to realize that there are many things they can do with their computers and phones. The world of telecommunication thrive when other businesses flop. The world of e-commerce booms when no physical shops are allowed to open. The world of delivery services become so busy they create better opportunities for the lower income people. Whenever there is a crisis, humans adapt. We are all built in such that we can overcome any challenges that comes our way.

How did you fare?

There is no doubt that some human brains work faster than others. We must understand one thing that we all are born with the same set of packaging. However we want to utilize what we have is entirely up to us. How often have you asked yourself these questions instead of just blaming something else?

What is it that other people are doing that I am not?
Instead of I am born in a terrible family so my life is as such.

What is it that I can do to achieve my dreams?
Instead of I do not like to study so my life is screwed.

What is it that makes me shine with the capabilities that I have?
Instead of I am not great with communicating with other people so I am done.

Most often, we end up blaming ourselves for not having certain qualities that other people have. Why is it that we love to blame ourselves? Perhaps we have not been enlightened. Perhaps we feel stuck somehow. Perhaps we have created a bubble to contain ourselves from seeing the opportunities that is available to us.

It is not what you are born with that is important. It is what you choose to do with your life that makes you who you are. There is no need to compare but every need to learn from the best. If you are all about comparing yourself with the successful bunch, you really should find out the whole story of how they earn what they have now. People just love to see success on the surface. Have you ever dug deep? Is it deep enough to uncover the truth behind the success of other people?

Nature has plenty to teach us. If you observe nature properly, you will notice that every event that happens in our lives, happens for a reason. There is a theory that many people are talking about lately.

The ICEBERG effect.

What is this all about? Do you know the nature of an iceberg? You only see it as a small icy island on top of the freezing ocean. How much do you know about the iceberg? How much has the iceberg gone through in order to build that tiny little island that you and I can see? Whatever that is visible is just a speck of what lays beneath. Whatever that is supporting the island is not seen. If you take a dive under, you will notice that this tiny island is not so tiny after all. There is a huge mass supporting from the bottom. Notice all the creases and cracks. Notice that what you cannot see is a bigger story that what is readily visible.

Whatever little success one achieve tells many stories of the ups and downs in life. Be realistic, life is never a smooth ride. Open up your mind for the bigger picture.

 

You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.

Francis McCourt, Irish-American teacher and writer, 1930-2009

Listen

What do you hear the first thing in the morning?

Listen to yourself.

If you begin with a clear mind, very likely you will sleep peacefully at night too. You may start to question this because however clear the mind is in the morning, there will always be something that happens during the day that gathers over a period of time and soon clutters the mind. This is very true. But if you know exactly how you can declutter daily before you sleep, your mind will be cleared within minutes.

Very often, it is our usual practice to let things linger within for no particular reason. Perhaps you like to mull on happenings to find a solution to a problem. Perhaps there are things that you have not finished doing that is bothering you. Perhaps it is your health condition that is keeping you awake at night. Find the reason. Talk to people during the day.

If you are finding it hard to talk to people, just get a notebook and write down all your thoughts and feelings throughout the day. It does not take much effort to doing so. Manually writing things down give you the sense of belonging. You know you have actually thought about this problem you are facing. Perhaps, now is not the time you get the answers. So, it is time to just let go. Look through your notebook, think about what you have left out, and write it down. If there are still things lingering in your mind, just write it down. Place the notebook next to your bed and tell yourself that all your problems and worries are taken care of. Go to sleep with a sense of relief.

There is a reason why the notebook should follow you by your side at all times even when you sleep. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to think of the things that are bothering you, you still find it hard to remember to write it down. There may be times when you suddenly spring out of bed with your heart pumping so fast you feel all the negatives coming your way. It is like having the whole world fall onto you. With your notebook right next to you, it will be easy to just pick it up and write it down. Write whatever your heart tells you to. Just continue writing until you calm down. Listen to yourself. You will know when it is time to get back to your beauty sleep.

Listen to your inner self.

The human mind is a bag of tricks. It is always playing around with events of the past and the future. How often do you really observe what is happening now?

There is always a calling but we fail to listen. We are always thinking of the past success or failures. Many of times, we let the past success bring us to a level so high we cannot tolerate when the waves hit us right now. It is hard to understand why the past success is not continuous. It is unbelievable how we can be brought up so high only to fall deeper and harder. Sometimes we let past failures bog us down to thinking that it is impossible to excel now. This is just plain limiting beliefs. What we failed at in the past may not continue to be a failure now. Perhaps the time was just not right. Perhaps we have not met with the right people to enlighten us. Never ever give up your dreams.

There are people who are always busy thinking about the future instead of living life now. Are you one of them? Do you ask these questions? What if people laugh at me? What if I fail? “WHAT IF’s” can be turned into a positive notions if you are living here and now. What if I succeed? What if I am better than I thought I would be? What if I can help others achieve their goals too? These are very strong notable instincts that all animals have. These are the instincts that the top 1% of the people around the world have. The world “afraid” does not exist in their dictionary. The choice is in your hands. Choose to be just you or the better you.

Listen to your animal instincts. Attack when the time is right.

 

The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent.

Alfred Brendel KBE, Austrian pianist and lecturer, 1931-present

Feeling

What do you have in mind when you first wake up in the morning?

Sometimes we wake up having a clear mind of what we want to do. Sometimes we are just blank. Sometimes we might be all cluttered up and totally confused how we can get over the entire day without screwing up. Whatever it is in the mind on whichever day, it is really up to us to make the best of everything there is at our disposal.

Think back.

Have you ever had a day when you wake up and the sky is clear?
Have you ever had a day when you wake up and your mind is blank?
Have you ever had a day when you wake up with a broad wide smile?
Have you ever had a day when you wake up with the feeling of fulfilment?
Have you ever had a day when you wake up knowing you can take the day?
Remember that day. Remember how you feel that day. Remember your accomplishment for that day.

Many people think that it is by luck. Perhaps. But what if it is not luck that made the difference? What if it is you that actually made the difference?

Whatever you feel and however you feel plays an important role in making your day for you. Luck is not always there. If you are solely counting on luck to live your life, you are bound to be disappointed many times over. You will then start to blame this and that for life not happening the way you want. You become depressed and you start to think lop-sided in all directions. Your life is going to be topsy-turvy. There is no doubt about it.

How you feel inside makes your emotion. Emotion is the strongest tool we have to amend the way things work. If you feel broken, your emotion is probably sad or angry. These will turn into negative thoughts. What are you telling your subconscious mind? There is no use just feeding the bad wolf in you. You are just going to be destructive of yourself and others. What is the value in that?

There is always a choice. Life offers us many chances. Whether we choose to see it and take it is entirely up to us. You can feel happy even if there is thunderstorms outside. You just need to learn to see the beauty in everything that comes your way. Life is full of ups and downs. If you are able to understand this, your mind will completely change for the better.

Take life one step at a time.
Stay calm even if you feel like things are bogging you down.
Stay calm even if you are broken inside.
Stay calm even if you are all alone.
The only way to get out of a difficult situation is to KEEP CALM!

Talk to people around you. They may not understand how you feel but letting other people know what is happening in your life helps you a lot. This is a great time to connect. This is a great time to talk things out. You never know, may be one of the people you are talking to will be able to enlighten you in an unimaginable way. You only have one mind. Let others in to help you. There is no need to feel shy about your situation. Though there may not be a direct solution for you, telling other people will let out a little stress within you. Deep inside, you know you need that.

Even if you are an introvert, you can still do this. Social media these days have span far and wide. It has reached even the unreachable. There are groups for introverts. Perhaps you will feel more secure connecting with the like-minded. Tell your fellow members. Tell them your problems. They may not have any solution for you but telling someone can always release some burden off your shoulders. Perhaps when you feel lighter, you will be able to find a solution on your own.

Feeling makes emotion that feeds your mind. Always remember the happiest moments in life to quickly bounce back stronger from any situation.

 

It’s often just enough to be with someone. I don’t need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You’re not alone.

Norma Jeane Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe), American actress and singer, 1926-1962

Kindness

Amidst the hustle and bustle life in the city.

Life is a state of being. Life is strange in many ways. It has been known scientifically that we are all made up of matter but we lack the understanding of what matter really is, and what really matters in life. Perhaps we are being clouded by the things we see around us, material things. Perhaps our minds are too congested to even think what life really means.

We seek kindness in our everyday life

We hope very much for people to be kind to us in all directions. We hope our life to be smooth sailing all the time. While having hope means a lot to those who lack of something but what hope really means is the lack of ability to make it come true. What then, can we do to make our dreams become reality? What is it that we need to fulfill in order to not just relying on luck and hope?

What we want others do for us we have to first do for others. If you want people to be kind to you, you have to first spread the kindness. This has been known through history of mankind but somehow the transmission of information has been halted due to many reasons. It no longer matters the reason information is not brought to us, it only matters what we do to correct it.

Whatever that had passed, leave it to the historians. Whatever that will happen in the future, leave it to the predictors. Our responsibility is to identify what we want and really take action into seeing it through. Some people are quick to decide while some takes much longer to find themselves. Perhaps we have been looking too hard to find something that is there in plain sight.

Most often, we spend time over thinking. This does not help at all, and in fact, it complicates the matter so much you become confused. When your mind is overwhelmed, it functions is a berserk way. Everything seems important. Everything seems urgent. Everything seems to matter. You get stressed. You try to control your emotions. You become depressed.

Depression is somewhat a silent killer. Many people do not realize that when a person is in that state of mind, that person would be thinking of many ways to self-destruct. While that person may have depression, they will be seemingly normal in the eyes of others. They are great actors. They are able to hide the side of them that they do not wish to show anybody. Even their closest family may not be able to identify that they need help.

What can we do then? If we are not able to identify, we cannot help them.

Perhaps we have been looking in the wrong direction. We do not treat the symptoms, we have to cure the disease. How about being kind to everyone around you? How about treating everyone the same? How about lending a helping hand to people even if they did not ask for help? How about having a conversation with the people you care about? How about stopping your procrastination and aimless jokes about other people?

Making fun of someone makes you feel great but can cause a disaster in the person’s life.
Making fun of someone makes other people laugh but can cause the person to silently bleed.
How do you feel when one day you are the one in the hot seat?
How do you feel when someone makes fun of something you hold dearly of?
Always put yourself in the shoes of others before spitting out words.
Always use your brain before your mouth.

Being kind to others means being kind to ourselves. While this may not make sense now, it will all come together when the time is right. The universe works in a very simple yet complex way. The universe knows no emotion, it only works towards what is true to our minds. What you think, you act. What you act, you get. Just remember this. What goes around comes around.

Be kind to yourself and others. Kindness will find its way back to you at times when you need it most.

 

We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin), English filmmaker and composer in silent film, 1889-1977

Self-Sufficient

We often question what it is in the world that we are looking for.

Each time we ask this question, we are placing ourselves in a situation of uncertainty. There are many realms in this world. Whatever we see is only limited to our own imagination. Some people are gifted with the vision of certainty. If you are to interview them, they will probably tell you stories of their travel through space and time to realms that we can only dream of going.

To the normal people, these gifted humans are mystiques and that they are strange. Just because they are the minority with such a gift, that does not make them strange at all. In fact, it only makes them stronger.

As humans, we usually side the part where we think is true, anything our five senses can detect.

Whatever we see is of utmost importance to every one of us. That is the reason why people often say see to believe. What do you make of magic? We often think of magic as a trick that has been carefully engineered to make audiences see the unbelievable possibilities. What if there is magic beyond explanation? Has anyone ever questioned how Wim Hof is able to walk up Mount Everest without prior training, proper clothing, or any special equipment? Perhaps you would say that he is the special being. Do you know that he can train people to do the same things as he did? How do you explain that?

Whatever we hear is often taken as the second truth. However, we do not realize that our minds work in a very susceptible way to the negative side. Has anyone ever questioned why the news is always showing terrible events happening around the world? Is it because there are no great things happening that is worth reporting? It has all got to do with the audience. Making news is also a kind of business. Reporters will only make news that sells, and negative news are the most sellable ones. Somehow, majority of the common people just like to learn about disasters rather than enrichment.

Whatever we smell is what makes our mood for the day. Scent is something more subtle that the body processes differently from the rest of the other senses. It is something that can make our imagination run wild. If you smell something delicious, you will somehow feel a little urge to eat even though you know that you are not hungry. If you smell something calming, you can have a better night’s sleep compared to when you smell a stench of animal droppings. Everything has a scent to it. Somehow, because of sight and sound, we have neglected our sense of scent.

Whatever we eat has a taste to it. Some people are labelled as gourmet because their taste buds have much greater sense than the rest of the other people. This used to be a very important tool to let us get through life in the jungle. We have just forgotten the use of them along the way while we excel in the modern age. By just having a little taste of a plant in the tip of the tongue, we should be able to tell if it is food or poison. Losing touch with nature makes us more susceptible to ingesting unhealthy foods thinking they are for the best of us. Perhaps it is easier to explain that convenience is never nature intended for living.

Whatever we can feel by touch is what we deem real. Anything that we cannot touch is just talk. Humans love the fact that things come in cold hard evidence. While something we can touch is also something we can see, something people talk about that probably has a smell and taste to it, it does not mean that otherwise do not exist. What seems real can be from imagination. Everything that the mind can imagine can become a reality. We may not see it in our lifetime but it sure will become a reality in future. Before the Wright brothers invented the first flying machine, humans can never fly. It is through their imagination and perseverance that we are now able to go around the globe in less than 60 days.

There is one more sense that we have definitely lost touch with, the sixth sense. This is the most powerful of all senses. This is the one sense that keeps our ancestors alive in the harsh environment they had to live through in order to bring us to this world. This is not mystical, it is real. All babies had this but it is lost over time. It is lost because of the material things we feed our minds with. If you are a person who keeps asking “why he is so successful while I am not?” perhaps you are looking into the wrong direction. The answer is within. Only you can answer this question for yourself, nobody else can do it for you.

Always travel within for answers. Success will only come to people who are self-sufficient.

 

The snow itself is lonely or, if you prefer, self-sufficient. There is no other time when the whole world seems composed of one thing and one thing only.

Joseph Wood Krutch, American writer and naturalist, 1893-1970

Matters

What is the important thing we should focus on right now?

We have different perception at different stages in life. There is no one size fits all for anyone because whenever we encounter something new, we get enlightenment one way or the other. Whichever way we choose, it seems to be the right choice at that moment itself but then becomes irrelevant when we reach another stage of life.

Children tend to focus solely on play. This is because they feel play is fun and provides happiness. At that moment, joy is of utmost importance in their life. Nothing else seem to matter. However, there are those not so fun activities that they still have to deal with in the midst of having fun; school and studies. Some children find it interesting to learn something new in class and make friends along the way. There are always some who end up piling stress on their shoulders because they simply do not like the way classroom works. There are also some who become somebody else when they are in class because they want to be a top performer.

Guardians play an important role to guide the young minds to become better each day. As adults, it is our responsibility to nurture a better generation to come, not to impose upon them the dreams we have not achieved. Each individual should be allowed their own choice of life. Whether or not they make it through school with flying colours really does not matter. What matters most is that they become someone whom they want to become. As long as they are kind to themselves, others and nature, everything is worth-while.

People in the working environment tend to be obsessed with climbing up that career path or the total opposite, just working for the sake of money to pay the bills. While everyone makes their own choices, what really matters is the satisfaction within.

The hardworking people sometimes work too hard they have forgotten that life has many other elements to it. There should be time to spend with the family, friends, and oneself. Life is not just about being in the office and work through the day with minimal time for family, some time for friends, and no time at all for yourself. Life is about balancing between what seems important and what seems can be neglected.

Has it ever occurred to you that you are important?
Have you ever questioned what life is about?
How do you want to live the rest of your remaining life?
Is it living day to day?
Or you want that sense of fulfillment till your last breathe?

Humans have been searching for centuries of what life means. Everyone have different findings as each one has a different perception of how life should be. However vast the differences in opinion is, it only comes down to one thing.

Nothing really matters if one has no health.

You can have a bucket list full of things you want to achieve in life. But if you have no health, how are you going to achieve it? It is not impossible, you just need to find alternative paths to finally reach your goals.

How can you climb Mount Everest if you are 80 years old and laying in the hospital bed almost taking your last breath? Is there a way to go around it? Do you just lay there full of regrets for not taking great care of your health when you were younger and when you had the chance? Or do you keep on fighting till the end, telling yourself that you will walk again like you were in your twenties? The choice is yours.

It does not matter how limited your resources is, it only matters how resourceful you are. The human mind is the magical tool we each have. How we choose to use it is entirely up to us. You can choose to keep thinking of your limited resources, or you can choose to think of different solutions to a situation. Be the person you really want to be and live with no regrets.

Be kind to yourself, others, and nature. Nothing else matters.

 

Everyone goes through adversity in life, but what matters is how you learn from it.

Louis Leo Holtz (Lou Holtz), former American football player and coach, 1937-present

Routine

What do you do when you wake up late on a work day?

Each one of us have our daily routines that we do that seem important day in day out. But there will be days that we find ourselves too tired to wake up on time in the morning and having to pick and choose which routines that we must complete before we really get out that door to head to work.

How do you determine which activities you must do?

First things first, the toilet visit is a must. We must clear ourselves of the toxins that our body worked hard to collect over the entire night while we are asleep. No matter how rushed life is, we must remember to remove unnecessary things out from our body in order to function well for the rest of the day. One must never skip toilet visits, especially the first one in the morning.

What else is there that we must do before we walk out that door?

Some people have very simple routines. Wake up. Get cleaned and they are good to go. However, most people with families have more complicated routines in the morning. There will be some that needs to prepare breakfast and pack lunch. There will be some that needs to water the garden and feed the pets. There will be some that need to take care of the young and elderly. We each have our own problems and difficulties to face every single time we open our eyes in the morning.

Sometimes, we tend to think of everything else before ourselves. If you have been on a plane, you would have heard of this very important announcement before the plane lifts off. In case of an emergency and the oxygen mask drops from your overhead, always put the mask on yourself before attending to others under your care. This announcement is very important as we always tend to care for everyone else before looking into ourselves.

Perhaps we have forgotten one very important point. We can only take care of everything else if we are in the proper position to doing so. Just imagine having to take care of your child, or your parents, or your pets during the time you are sick. How does that feel? Just imagine having to give positive advice to others when you yourself are having low self-esteem and out of confidence. Do you think you will be able to handle everything in a mindful way?

It is important to spend at least 20 minutes every morning to ponder upon yourself. This is the most important thing you must do every single morning whether you wake up early or late. It does not matter the time. It only matters the space. You need the space for yourself. You need to look within to move further. You need to first tend to yourself before helping others find their way. You need to be in good shape. This 20 minutes can be your daily stretches, or your daily meditation, or even your daily workouts. Just do it. It is only 20 minutes after all.

Great parents will say they need that 20 minutes to prepare breakfast for their children.
Great children will say they need that 20 minutes to care for their parents.
Plant lovers will say they need that 20 minutes to water their garden.
Pet lovers will say they need that 20 minutes to feed their pets.

We always have choices that we can make. How about taking that in between instead of sacrificing one or the other? Is it possible to take 10 minutes to yourself and 10 minutes for others? Give yourself time to uplift yourself. Give yourself time to think and be yourself. You will feel the difference, instead of just rushing through your already late morning routine. Is it possible for you to call in to your boss to inform that you woke up late this morning and that you will be late for work. Admit your fault. Your boss may be angry. You may get a warning for this misconduct but at least you are doing what is most important in life. You take care of yourself as well as the people close to you.

Waking up late is no excuse for self-ignorance. Any routine can be adjusted to fit whatever limited time one has.

 

Spontaneity-flexibility within a routine.

Marty Rubin, Self-titled aphorist, philosopher bum and happiness freak

Anew

What is the meaning of life in the absence of a chance?

Everyone gets their chance at life. Sometimes, it is easy to see but most of the time, we lost the connection with our inner self. Every time we face with a challenge that is the time we need to remember to first look within.

Many people out there will say that there are so many ways to solve a problem if we just look outside. The world is at large and there is bound to be a solution somewhere. We love to surf the internet in search for that one suitable way of overcoming the obstacle. Sometimes, it is great to see what others do when they are facing the same problem as us. However, we have to understand one thing, we are all individuals. Even the slightest difference in ourselves will create a totally different outcome.

Sometimes, we might even become overloaded with information. With the minds of over 7 billion people in the world, everyone seems to be resolving their own problems in their own ways. While we are in search of the best solution, we can also get confused with the vast information we find over the web. What are we going to do about it?

First choice we see is probably through trial and error. This is the fastest way to set ourselves through the learning process. We take action to do our best to hopefully reap results of our hard work. We learn through failure. We learn through success. Each and every step of the way is a crucial learning point. It is only important that we actually learn from experience.

Second choice we choose is probably find a mentor. This is a great way to become a better person with the guidance of a successful one. Great mentors produces successful mentees. However, if we are just following blindly what the mentor says without incorporating our own ideas, we will succeed one way or the other but we sometimes also lose ourselves in the process. This may be a good thing in some cases, but may not be so in most. We have to remember one thing that we are all built differently for a reason.

Many people forget that there is a third choice that is the most ignored choice but is also the wisest choice. Amidst all the learning over the years from machine or other humans, we are ourselves. We can only learn so much to be someone but it will only make sense if we look deep within to find ourselves. We are so immersed in the outside world we keep forgetting that the most powerful source of energy is from within. The sun is the mother source of all energy on earth but our minds is the ultimate source of all energy in the universe. There is a universe within us.

Living through life over the years seem to be great. Day in day out we do the things that we think is for the best of ourselves and the people around us. With each challenge we face, we learn a little bit more. However, we forget one very important action, to have checkpoints.

Each one of us should have checkpoints every now and then to measure ourselves as a whole. We love to live day by day thinking that our life is perfect. Just because we managed to solve all the problems that arise along the way. Just because we went through each challenge easily. This only means that we are able to overcome life as we live by. Have we ever stop and take a look at ourselves every now and then? Have we ever taken the liberty to just remember to check-in to ourselves to see how we are doing? Have we ever taken time to understand ourselves the way we should?

There is a calling. A wakeup call. This is not the usual wakeup call in the morning to make us get out of bed. This is one that we really need to wake up to see that we need to change and start anew. The current life is great but we have forgotten to check in. This checkpoint tells us that we have not been taking good care of ourselves. This checkpoint is the result of our misunderstanding in life. This very checkpoint is the turning point that makes all the difference, it is a matter of life and death.

Search within to find your calling. It is time to start anew.

 

I always liked the story of Noah’s Ark and the idea of starting anew by rescuing the things you like and leaving the rest behind.

Zachary Israel Braff (Zach Braff), American actor, 1975-present

Objection

Can I be a public speaker if I’m an introvert?
Can I run my on business if I’m a slow thinker?

We are humans and with our humongous brains, we tend to overthink things. Sometimes, totally irrelevant things. We love to worry about anything under the sky that has got nothing to do with the situation we are in. Why is that so?

With such a massive brain, we should be geniuses creating magic around the world and yet, we just keep getting comfortable in the same place every time. We keep giving ourselves lames excuses not to venture into new realms. We keep having objections that do not even exist at the time we are faced with the opportunities. We love to just give up without even trying. Why is that so?

Everything happens for a reason.

I keep insisting this very point. If something is happening to you at this juncture, there is always a reason behind it. Perhaps you do not see the good in it right now but it surely will bring you value at some point of time. You just need to be open-minded to see for yourself the great things that are coming your way. If you just keep yourself in the little box you have been in the whole time, nothing will be able to penetrate through to you. You do not learn from mistakes. You do not get value in return from your wrong-doing.

It is your own obligation to acknowledge your failure in order to improve yourself. It is your own obligation to see that you learn from your past to create your better future. It is your own obligation to start something new to change your life, and see through to it. It is only when you are determined enough to do whatever it takes and believe that all actions you have taken is to help you reach your goals, you will succeed in life.

Even if you fail now, it does not mean you are not progressing. You learn along the way. You learn from your mistakes. You learn to make better choices.

If you fall into a ditch, it is okay. You get drenched in through and through. You get down and dirty. You are totally soiled and demotivated. What do you do?

You can get up, climb out of that filth, and start anew.
Or, you can go with the flow, get washed into the deep ocean, and drown.
Or, you can swim across oceans to find the best island to settle down.

Whichever way you choose is not important. What is important is how you look at whatever situation you are in. Some people get up easily which is great. Some people just give up and give in. Some people are slower in making decisions but they have set up high ambitions and make it happen. Which kind of person do you choose to be?

There is no right or wrong in whichever path one chooses. There is only the question of whether or not you will regret your non-action when the time comes for you to take your last breath. We will all die one day. Perhaps the only question we should ask ourselves every single time we reach a decision juncture is, “Am I going to regret it?”

Each of us has a limited time in this life. While I do believe that our soul lives on as an energy mass after death, I still would like to make the best out of this physical body of mine right now in this life. What I do with my limited lifetime here is entirely up to me. What you do with your limited lifetime here is entirely up to you. There is no need to compare to one another. Never ever let anyone else control the way you should live your life. You deserve to make your own decisions. You deserve to be your better self. You deserve the freedom to choose.

When someone else tell you no, you only need to tell them “OBJECTION, this is my life! I choose my own path and I will be responsible for every action that I take.”

 

I should have no objection to go over the same life from its beginning to the end: requesting only the advantage authors have, of correcting in a second edition the faults of the first.

Benjamin Franklin, American polymath and inventor, 1706-1790

Perfect

What if it does not work?

What exactly do you want work? Do you mean that you want it to work at your every first attempt? Do you in other words mean that you want your life to be perfect?

Everybody wants their life to be perfect. But what exactly is perfect? Your definition of perfect can be very different from mine. We are all individuals and we have our own perception of everything in this world. Each incident has two sides of the story, just like each individual having two faces.

You did not read wrongly, each individual has two faces. Perhaps you do not want to admit it but it is a fact. One is the highly motivated positive face, and the other is the downside normal skeptical face. Westerners call it the angel and the devil. Taoist call it yin and yang. Whatever names we choose to call it, each of us do have two faces.

Success only presents itself to those who are in balance.

Being motivated is good. You have the energy to take anything to its highest levels. You have the courage to drive yourself uphill. However, being overly motivated can sometimes pose a threat. Because you are so confident in yourself you can become ignorant to the signs that the universe is trying to communicate to you. You are too busy scrambling your way through the jungle, you ignored all the important pleasures of life. You forgot to just stop once in a while to observe your surroundings. You forgot to stop once in a while to simply breathe and belong. You will reach the top faster than everyone else but there is a sense of emptiness within you that is hard to recover.

You can be wealthy of money but poor in relationship.
You can be healthy of relationship but weak in self-love.
You need to be present. You need to be here now.

Being skeptical is good. You can find the problem before everyone else. But being overly skeptical is a problem altogether. It is because you scrutinize everything that comes your way, you tend to lose opportunities. Way too many chances are just gone because of your doubt. Those questions that you keep asking yourself. What if you fail? What if people laugh at me? What if people hate me? What if it does not work? What if … what if … These endless “what if’s” are not going to get you anywhere. After a decade or two, you should already realize that you need to change but somehow, you are still where you were. By the time you are ready to finally make the first move, it could already be too late for some.

“What if” is the first two words of a question we can ask ourselves differently:
What if I can make the difference?
What if I regret for not taking action?
A question can be good or bad depending on how we choose to phrase it.
A question can make a huge variance to which path we choose to take.
When you ask a question, ask wisely.

What makes a successful person?

Anyone can be a successful person. We only need to learn to balance ourselves in all situations. This is a skill that people learn over time. Even if the person is born with the life of an emperor, he has to decide to take the path moving towards becoming a good emperor. Otherwise, his empire will be very short-lived. Throughout his entire journey to becoming an emperor, he has to face many challenges. While he is an emperor, he has to try to turn enemies into allies. Before he steps down from this throne, he has to train his successor to become the person fit to rule the entire civilization. All the choices he make, he has to balance between good and bad, educated and spontaneous, love and war.

There is not a single decision by anyone in the world that is good for everyone. It is always positive for some and negative for others. It only matters that the decision made is for the good of the majority and less painful for the rest.

Life is not perfect. Accept this for a fact and you will feel better.

 

Nobody’s perfect. We’re all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.

Jeannette Walls, American author and journalist, 1960-present

Expensive

Which is more expensive?

Learning is expensive. Going to college or university or even buying a course online is expensive. Perhaps learning can be do-it-yourself (DIY) by surfing the internet. But there is just way too much information available. Which ones are legit? Which ones to learn first before the others? Things can get rather complicated without proper guidelines or coaching. You can be spending loads of precious time figuring out the how, what, when, where, who and still end up learning nothing at all. How much will your time cost?

Then perhaps you will be giving yourself more excuses. Your schedule is jam packed you do not have time to deal with all these hassle. So you just simply sign up with anyone that looks promising. You somehow find out later that the programme does not suit you. You think it is a total waste of your time and money. You get demotivated. You have made a promise to yourself that you will never ever get cheated again. You do not sign up for another course even though it is one that you really need. How much will demotivation cost?

After much hesitation, you finally made up your mind to signing up one of the many courses that came your way. You learn with all your efforts. You spend hours upon hours making notes and then, you ponder upon all the notes that you have, you still do not know where to start. There are channels through which you can ask your mentor but you are too shy of being judged. You keep everything to yourself. You tell yourself that you will figure it out on your own. How much will not knowing cost?

A year, two years, may be even five years have passed. You are still the old you. You are still trying to figure out on your own where to start. By this time, all your course mates have already done something and are happy with their outcome. Just because you did not ask, you end up where you were when you initially learned that something new. Life has changed a lot. Now, you feel you are too old to start anything new. How much will non-action cost?

You continue with your unfulfilled life. There seems to be a void but you have no idea what that void is, and you have no idea how to fill it up. Now you are already in your sixties or even seventies and you are thinking to yourself, “What have I achieved so far in life?” Now that you have retired, what are you going to do with this time? Are you going for a trip around the world? Do you have the money to go for that trip? Do you have the health to go for that trip? Do you have the time to go for that trip? How much will regret cost?

Money is something you have to earn while you can.
Health is something you have to take care of while you can.
Time is something that you can neither buy nor reverse.

Whatever it is that you want always comes with a price. The choice is yours.
The price of learning versus the price of not knowing.
The price of making it happen versus the price of not doing.
The price of challenge versus the price of demotivation.

We are all given choices. Whatever choices we make determines who we are. Whether we are just living through life like everyone else or we choose to live the life that we want, it is in our hands. Nobody else can do it for us. It is a matter of choosing the route, not so much of the value of money.

Either way, you pay. Whether you choose to pay now or later.
When you were born, you have time and health but no money.
When you are an adult, you have health and money but no time.
When you are a senior, you might have money but lack of time and probably no health too.

Time! Health! Money! Which is more expensive?
Fulfillment comes with a price. What is the price you are willing to pay?

 

Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.

Harriett Jackson Brown Jr., American author, 1940-present

Create

Why now? Perhaps the question one should be asking is why not now, instead of why now.

Now is a good time. Considering the situation around the world right now, it is a good time to start anything that we have been dreaming of doing. This is a calling. A calling for something to change.

All along, we are just living the life we thought was the life that is. Day in day out doing the same routine over and over. Life is just as is because it is just as is. There seems to be no way out of the situation at all. Life seems to be fixed, whatever life we are living.

A farmer seems to be just living the life of a farmer. Wake up, head out to the farm, sow seeds, water the crops or harvest the crops. Send the reaps of hard work to dealers and get some money in return. During the lockdown, people are just not allowed to move around too much. Though categorized under essential services, because of the lockdown, a large number of harvested crops are left to rot. Farmers have no choice but to take another route. They go online. Now, consumers can directly purchase from them at a cheaper price, while they are making higher profits without the need to go through middle men. It is a win-win situation.

As for the middle man. Life was great prior to the lockdown. They source for good stuff, then they resell to the end user at a marked up price. There is no need to produce anything to sell, they only need to know where to find something to sell and where to market it to the right audience. However, during the lockdown, many things cannot be done. Perhaps it seems like efforts lost in translation. If they do not change the way they run their business, there will be no business to run after this ordeal. When people can no longer move around like before, it is a good time to bring the business online.

When everyone goes online, this will mean the initial online businesses will be affected because the pie has been cut into way too many pieces. Perhaps this is a great time to think out of the box. What else can you do differently from all the other businesses out there? How can you differentiate yourself from the norm? How to find your perfect niche within an ocean full of sharks.

Some may say that it will be easy for things that people will definitely need to buy to do business. How about those things that are considered redundant?

Nothing ever is redundant. It is the perception of people that makes things useful or not. There are more than 7 billion people in the world. There bound to be people finding something that you are offering. You just need to know where to market and how to market. Knowing the where and how is of utmost importance for any business, regardless of whether or not you are in an industry that many say is dead now.

Take tourism for example. Many companies have ended their business because it is impossible for sustenance when nobody is allowed to travel around. Perhaps it really is the right time to think of something else. Perhaps tourism is not the right business for you. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to change your business model. Every business should be able to sustain even if they are running for at least 6 whole months without any income. If the business is running on a day to day basis, then there must be a weak point in the business model itself. If you are still holding on to it, you will just end up stressing yourself about it right till the end.

It does not matter what life throws at us. It only matters how we look at life. When you know that something is not working well, stiffen your heart, cut loss, and let go. There is no reason to keep hanging on to something that you know will end up nowhere.

The old you will have to first die to create the better you. You do not die literally, you just let go of everything that are pulling you down, and you start anew.

 

To create is to live twice.

Albert Camus, French-Algerian philosopher, 1913-1960

Simple

There is just so many things that needs to be done. Which is more urgent?

Humans have the greatest minds in the entire world but humans have also made things more complicated than it should be. Life is really simple. You wake up, you get through the day, and then you sleep. This is basically all we need to do every single day. How complicated can this be?

In this day and time, having a simple life seems so distant. We have too many things on our plate. There are too many distractions pointing us to different directions. We just cannot decide on anything when the time comes. The most common question people ask these days is probably one that nobody in the ancient history would even imagine any of their descendants asking.

How to live a simple life? I have no time, no money, and no skill to do it.

Seriously?

We have been too cluttered with the outside world that we just forgotten to connect with our inner self. This is the only reason we are feeling totally lost, especially at times like this. When the whole world is on lockdown. When you are sustaining a pay cut. When you risk losing your job. When everyone else is talking about the pandemic. When the people around you seem to be changing but you are still the old you, stagnant. You still think the world revolves around you.

It is time to wake up. Nobody is stuck. Everybody has been put to the test. When there is a huge challenge, there is the opportunity unlike any other you have ever seen before. You need to grab that opportunity to make you become the better version of you. What are you waiting for?

The world is on lockdown. You have all the time you need to ponder on what makes your life simple. What other time better can you think of if not now? How much time do you need to think? Does it take a whole year to sit in the loo? Perhaps you do not yet realize this but sitting in the loo actually is the best time to find clarity. When you are passing motion, that is the time when your strength to force trash out is at its peak. Notice the feeling right after that peak. Does it feel like a big sense of relief? Notice that second this happens, notice how clear your mind is. You only need this moment. Your body is clear of shit, your mind is clear of clutter, and your soul is pure.

Living a simple life really only mean simple, nothing more than that. Do not be brainwashed by anyone else. We see things differently. We live through life differently. You may have friends telling you that living a simple life means to have a cottage in the countryside away from the city. Then you would be having all sorts of objections to it because living away from the city means you will have to commute very far each day. It is just not economical. If it is possible for you to live in the countryside, you are free to do so. But if not, then what is wrong with the place you are living in now? Any place can be simple. You buy less things. You keep less things. That is a simple life. Just that.

You say that you are a very messed up person. You do not know how to simplify things. You love to keep all memorabilia. You want to have everything just in case one day you might use them. You do not know how to differentiate which ones are important and which ones are not. You are always living thinking of the future. Really, it is not a skillset to learn to let go of things. It is all in the mind. You do not know which ones to throw out, simple, just close one eye and junk everything out. Put yourself in the situation whereby you have lost everything and you need to rebuild your life. What do you really need in your life? Do you still need that magazine you bought two years ago but never flipped a page? Do you still need that dress you bought five years ago just in case you attend a ball but has never seen the light?

In the end, you will realize what you really need is just you, and probably your phone.

Finding yourself takes little to no effort. Living a simple life gives you time, saves you money, and require no skill at all.

 

Best rule for a simple life… Care with no reason, Love with no expectation.

Ritu Ghatourey, Indian writer

Nothing

The fastest way to fail is to do nothing.

While you may have all the positive thoughts and mind. It is your action that matters. Everything else do not mean anything if you do not take action to move forward.

People often like to start things. Each time there is something new, you are motivated to get started. It is very common to just forget about it when you do not get the desired results you want. Perhaps you have been way too optimistic when you started. You get carried away easily when you hear of success stories of the people that say they get a million dollars in their bank account in a month, or they get six-pack abs within a month.

While you only see the success side of their stories, you do not know the huge changes they have made in their lives in order to achieve such promising results. While you pay to get their blueprint to success, you do not become successful overnight by just reading it, or dreaming on it. Life does not work this way. However positive a mind can be, it can only go so far. It is taking the first step out of your comfort zone that makes you one step closer to your success.

You can have all the information in the world. Information is readily available on search engines, on chats with your friends, or even on your mentors in the programmes you have signed up for. You love to start. You also like to give up easily. You expect to see results immediately with little effort, which is the ultimate reason why you give up so easily.

Always dream big, but start small.

Whatever it is that you want out of life, be it having all the riches in the world or having that great healthy body, or being in that loving relationship, everything can be done with determination and patience.

You can dream of having all the riches in the world. You still have to take action to move towards it. Even if you dream of winning a lottery, you still need to get out there to buy that lottery ticket. Correct? If you just stay in bed thinking hard that you are going to win a lottery, you are not going to win it no matter what because you have not taken action to buy that lottery ticket in the first place.

You can dream of having that great healthy body. You still have to make efforts and walk in that path. You can imagine that you are healthy. You can imagine that you are muscular. You can imagine yourself to be in any shape and size but if you keep putting junk into your body, it will be just junk in junk out. You have to make efforts to first sleep well and then eat right. If you are just sitting there playing computer games all day and night, you deprive yourself of sleep. If you are just munching on prepacked foods all the time, all you will get is to become obese. You have to make that change first and stay through to it to see results. Break your goals into small achievable chunks. When you complete a task, you have achieved something. You will stay motivated to keep your milestone.

You can dream of having a loving relationship with your Mr or Ms Right. Whoever that may be, that person is perfect to you. There are many ways to meet this person and get into a relationship with. However you come into contact with this person, you still need to start a conversation. Your relationship does not go anywhere if you remain silent throughout. However loving you may be with each other, there is still a reality you have to face. There will be problems that arise in all relationships. How you react to each problem is how much you understand your partner. How you face the problems together is how much closer you will get.

You have to understand one thing, that life is fair. You get thrown out of place, you get back up and continue walking. One fine day, you will see the end of the rainbow that you much sought after. If you just sit and mull over it without a nudge, you are just going to be stationery.

Do nothing and you fail. Do something and you move a step closer.

 

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. (Muhammad Ali), American professional boxer and philanthropist, 1942-2016