Enlightenment

A relaxed body, mind, and soul.

When you wake up in the morning and you feel at peace with everything. This is the best feeling ever. It is as if nothing else matters. It is as if everything in your life is as is because you want it to be. Everything is already in place for you. Everything you need you already have.

How many times have you ever had this feeling? If it is daily, congratulations. Perhaps your life is the ultimate life that everyone want to have. Perhaps you are leading the life of a saint. You can let go of all the sufferings. You can let go of all the happiness and sadness, all the joys and worries. Everything and anything that comes your way, you are able to neutralize to the point it is neither good nor bad.

How many people can achieve such enlightenment? If you think that only a handful, you may be right or wrong. Perhaps it is just the community we are all living in. Whatever everyone does is correct in our perception because majority always wins over minority. Perhaps it is just the environment we are all living in. Whatever we first see every single morning is the absolute truth we are living in.

Sometimes what we see might be true but most of the time it is not. Our eyes love to play tricks on us. Whenever we see something as good, we tend to follow to that same direction without realizing that every effect has its cause, every cause has its course, and every course has its effect. This is a vicious cycle of life. We are all connected whether we believe in it or not.

Connection between all lifeforms and the universe is inevitable. We can never see this with our naked eyes. It can only be felt through deep connection between ourselves and all there is. We, at this modern age lack the connection. The current way of life we are living in almost forbids us to see beyond our eyes. We have been led to believe in something the minority wants us to believe in.

Have you ever questioned the importance of education? This is the one most important part of the life of every living soul. But why are education in classroom settings? Why are certain subjects so important that we must study upon? How about spiritual lessons that have been intentionally left out and replaced with religious studies? What kind of moral are we teaching our children and ourselves?

These are perhaps some of the many questions that you might have asked yourself at some point of time. But because the vast majority are doing the same things, it is only natural for you to stop questioning and go with the norm, in order to be accepted by the society. Your parents told you that good grades secure great paying jobs. This will change your current situation for good.

But… WHO ARE WE?
What are we doing here? What is our purpose here?

If we are just here for the sake of being here then there is no purpose at all. There must be a higher meaning to everything that is in our lives. The next question is perhaps where… Where can we find our purpose of life?

The answer is simple.

Travel within. The only answer to whatever question you have is within. Somehow, we have been led to believe that information technology means everything and will be able to provide answers for any questions we ask. Do you know who are the people feeding the answers to the World Wide Web? They are just regular people like you and me with a slight difference.

They are the people who dare to dream. They are the people who put off all roadblocks in search of the truth. They may sound obscure. Whatever they say may sound too good to be true or too easy to achieve. In this day and life, simplicity is the hardest way of life. We have been trained to think in complicated ways. We have to let go of the past to live in the present to create the better future.

Life is really simple. Enlightenment comes from within.

 

When we wake up from our confused state of mind, that is enlightenment.

Karma Sungrap Ngedon Tenpa Gyaltsen (Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche), Abbot of Dzogchen Monastery, 1965-present

Trust

Are you taking enough time to heal?

We are all alive. Anything that is alive can heal. It is the matter of whether or not we believe in ourselves. Given time, we all have the ability to heal. There is no need for technology. There is no need for external intervention. We have the ability ourselves. We just have to trust ourselves.

There have been many miracles before that even doctors of the modern medicine cannot explain. In the book the Secret, Cathy Goodman shared her beautiful inspiring story of how she overcome something that is feared by most, cancer.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer. She took the path that she feels is most right for her, to have strong faith that she was already healed. She believed wholeheartedly that she was already healed. She watched very funny movies and would laugh and laugh. She knows that stress was one of the worst things she can do while trying to heal herself. It only took her three months to heal from the time she was diagnosed and all was done without the standard protocol of the modern medicine; chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

This is just one beautiful story of all the many beautiful stories that we tend not to believe in. This is only believed to be a miracle that can happen to a handful of selected people but that is not true. This can happen to anyone, any regular person, you and me. The limitation that we have in our brain is all that is limiting us from achieving what we yearn.

Open up your mind!

With every downfall, there is an opportunity. The only reason why you keep seeing it as a downfall is because you believe it is and that you remind yourself every minute of the day that there is no way out. There is always a way out. You just have to open up your mind to see it. You just have to have an open mind to receive what is about to come into your life.

We are being put to the test. We all are. Each and every day of our lives is a test itself. Most people choose to stay in their comfort zone that is so that they feel comfortable all the time. The lack the energy to receive challenges that will potentially push them higher to become a better person. It is all by choice. What you choose, you become.

We are always being placed at crossroads. We are always given choices. Whichever route you choose to take brings you to a different destination. Which is the final destination that you wish to reach? Which is the ultimate destination that gives you the satisfaction you are so hungry to get? What do you have in mind? What do you want to do in this limited lifetime you have?

If you are saying “I just want a peaceful life”, a peaceful life it is you will get. There will be very little ups and downs. You will be doing almost the same things day in day out. Your friends will be your friends. Your family will be your family. You seek life differently from the rest of the world. You are probably already enlightened to the point you know what you really need.

If you are saying “I want to be an entrepreneur”, you will be one, one day. You have to be ready at all times to face challenges that is out of the ordinary. Entrepreneurship is only meant for those who are ready to tackle anything and everything that comes in their way. It is the total opposite of tranquility. Are you ready for what you are about to face? Are you ready to take on hardships?

If you are saying “I want to bring enlightenment to everyone”, you will be able to do so. You may not have any disciples now but the day will come when everyone will look up to you, even after you are gone from the face of the earth. Buddha walked this path alone. He gave up all that he had in life in search for enlightenment. To this date, most people only know who Buddha is but not many will be talking about the kingdom he had left behind.

Trust yourself. You have a universe within you that can make the difference.

 

Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.

Natalie Goldberg, American author and speaker, 1948-present

Worthy

What do you want out of life?

There are a lucky few out there with their vision very clear from day one. Are you that lucky few or are you still searching for yourself? Some people just settle down with what it is that is presented to them because it is stable. Some people never give up and always asking for more. Some people are a little bit of both, they search then try and they find that it is unsuitable and they halt, then after some time of resting, they will start their search again. Which describes you?

However you choose to live your life is in your own hands. Some people fall and get up again quick. Some people fall and think that it is the end of life. Some people fall and take their own sweet time to heal. Whichever way is chosen is very much dependent on the situation the person is in and how hard did the person fall.

Life is full of ups and downs. It is never a smooth ride. This is what makes life exciting. This is what all of us should be proud of, that we are living a colourful life. It is only through the way of life that we learn the meaning of life. Thus, we all see life differently.

People chasing after their dreams.
These are the people whom are often labelled as the crazies. They will venture all out like they have nothing to lose. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail. Whatever it is, they are very clear of what they really want out of this lifetime. They fall and they get back up bigger and stronger. They learn from their past mistakes. They never ever give up. These are the small bunch of people who will succeed in life because they are always ready to make their dreams come true.

People who have dreams as dreams.
These are just dreamers. They often have big dreams but they do not know how to achieve them. When they learn the way, they ponder upon for so long that the opportunity is gone. They are not risk takers. They are always worried about the effects of failure. They will only let their dreams become dreams for the rest of their lives. Perhaps they would one day achieve their dreams, perhaps not. Perhaps they will regret that they did not chase after their dreams when they had the chance. Do you want to be one of them?

People who just go with the flow.
These are people who love to please. They do have dreams, but it does not seem like their dreams are important enough to be brought out to the light. Most of the time, they are shy to tell about their dreams. Perhaps they do not want to risk being labelled as crazy or idiotic. Whatever the reason, it is not important. What is important is that you know what you are doing. If you think that just living the life that your elders taught you is good enough, then you have already reached your goal. If you have even the slightest doubt about it, perhaps it is time to look into yourself.

People who somehow love to go against the flow.
These are the nuisance bunch. It is not because they like it this way. It is because they have their own special mindset. They might sound wrong at this moment but they may be right in future. Never to condemn any thought. It is all in the mind. What everyone else choose to see as wrong, we cannot make right. What everyone else choose to see as right, we cannot make wrong. Always be open to opinions. Then scrutinize to make decisions. Never ever decide on impulse. Always be prepared with the knowledge needed to live the life that you are seeking.

People who are idolized by many.
These are the lovely bunch. It is not the way they are being born. It is all about being themselves. If you are true to yourself, you will send out the right vibration to the people around you. If you have been in a classroom setting, you will definitely know the person you look up to and the person you can ignore. It is the charisma of the person. It is hard to describe but you just respect the person the way the person is. They are transparent. They are true. They are positive. Do not envy, instead, model upon them.

Which kind of person are you?

Learn to become you. You are worthy. You are special.

 

You do the right thing even if it makes you feel bad. The purpose of life is not to be happy but to be worthy of happiness.

John Tracy Kidder (Tracy Kidder), American writer, 1945-present

Research

What is the difference between the successful and me?

We already know that everyone is different. But what is at stake is the difference between each of us. Why are some people always on top while others are always below par? There must be a reason behind every effect that we see.

What do I want out of life?

Some people know how to ask this question while most will just go with the flow. It is only the people who question that will get answers. The universe is vast. Everyone is living in our own little universe but perhaps we do not know that every atom in us speaks of the same language. Most of the time, it is ignorance that cause us to be stagnant wherever we are. There is no one else to blame but ourselves.

If you are a person who is seeking for the bigger purpose of life, congratulations! You are one step ahead of everyone else, who are still living in the darkness of their own limitation. When you dare to ask, you will get answers. Most often, the answers come in very subtle ways. It seems like life is playing you out but it really is just a test, to test if you are hungry enough for that change.

Successful people are always hungry. It does not seem that anything and everything that they already have is enough. It is never enough.

You may feel that you are happy now because your loved ones are safe.
You may feel that you are grateful now because you have a steady job to feed your family.
You may feel that you are satisfied now because you are still breathing.
Has it ever occurred to you that you may be able to do more?
Has it ever occurred to you that you may be able to influence people to better their lives?
Has it ever occurred to you that you can actually make a difference?

The state of being content is holy. There is no doubt about it. Has it ever occurred to you that if you are able to spread your love throughout your lifetime, you will be able to help others out of their own darkness? Darkness does not mean evil, it only means that the person is not able to step out of what they believe to be true and most of the time, the truth is not what it seems.

Truth is only what we believe in.
Truth is only what we are made to believe in.
The truth is, nothing in this world is hard fixed. Everything changes over a period of time. Why not you?

If you are already leading a good life, would it be better to help others live a better life too?

The point is not to influence for the sake of getting famous or becoming a celebrity. The point is to influence so that other people can be as caring, loving, and successful as we are. The point is to make this world a better place through little steps every day. The point is to restore humanity.

You may think that this is the job of the holiness and you are not religious at all. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding. Religion is in place because people with great minds have been enlightened and they pass down the knowledge to us. Every religion teaches one thing and one thing only; to be kind to all beings. Anything that deviates from that is probably the opinions of the teachers themselves. Whether or not you believe in the religion, it does not stop you from believing the teachings and yourself, that you are capable of making this world a better place for everyone.

Life is not just about humans. We are all just passing by. We are all just travelers in human form. We only believe what we see and we see to believe. This is the reason why everyone have their own opinion in happenings around the world. It is because we all see things differently. It is also the differences that make us unique. Do not believe everything you read on this blog or any other blogs. Always do your own due diligence.

Research on what is in your mind. Trust that your heart will bring you to your purpose.

 

Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.

Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (Wernher von Braun), German-American aerospace engineer and space architect, 1912-1977

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

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

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

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

Medicine

Stereo in the conventional medicine is not going to let you achieve great health.

But my parents have told me this, “If you get sick, you must see the doctor.” This is a typical stereo thinking that conventional medicine is the cure for all diseases.

Has anyone ever thought that the conventional medicine is a little over-rated? They are all over the television. As we watch it over and over when we were young, we have stereo ourselves into believing that conventional medicine is the only option we have to ensure that we are in great shape of health. Is that really so?

While conventional medicine has a great reputation of healing at a rate no others can achieve, perhaps too good is not good at all. Has anyone ever questioned why it is so fast at doing its work compared to alternative healings? Has anyone ever questioned why we are so overly dependent on whatever medicine it is that has been prescribed by our doctors? Has anyone ever questioned why conventional medical practitioners are so readily available everywhere, even 24 hours service?

We have to admit that conventional medication has created history in the medical industry. However, how many medical practitioners out there really know what they are doing? Whatever they study in medical school, is it really what they should be studying? Is it really about what type of medication cure what type of disease?

Has it ever occurred to you that you have been solely dependent on whatever your doctor tells you? The key to good health is not taking medication or vaccination as recommended by your doctors. The key to good health is how much you care for your body. The quality of your sleep, the air that you breathe in, the amount of water that you drink, the food that you eat, and also the information you feed your soul.

You do not treat the problem when it occurs. You nip the flower in the bud, put yourself in an environment so healthy that you overcome sickness as they try to invade your body.

Many people go to conventional medicine for help when they face with a chronic disease, such as cancer or diabetes. What do you get? Medicine. You take the medicine thinking you will heal over a period of time but life does not work this way. Such diseases would not have occurred if you have taken great care of your own body. Nobody knows your body better than you do. How do you expect a total stranger to be able to tell you what is wrong with your body when you do not even take note of the changes in your body, when you are not even aware of the signs your body is showing you?

Yes, the doctors can prescribe you medication for any type of sickness. Has it ever occurred to you that the medication you are taking is actually poison to your body? Your body needs to do a lot of work to expel harmful substances each time you take them. Why put your body through such stress when there are alternatives out there? Yes, you want to treat the disease but do understand that it is the effort you put in to changing your lifestyle that will put the disease away for good, not the medication you are taking?

Take cancer for example. Have you ever questioned why people are willing to undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy even though they suffer throughout the entire treatment, and they will still risk dying throughout the process? Perhaps it is the hope that the medical practitioners have given them. Or perhaps it is the fear of consequences of not following what the doctors say or the procedure that everyone is following. It is the norm, so it must be correct. This is a very dangerous mindset and it could cause you your life.

Some people do survive everything and get to live a happy life for many years to come. However, many have perished due to the procedure while some get a relapse several years after the standard cancer treatment procedure. Just so that people understand, chemotherapy means putting very toxic substances into the body directly through you bloodstream in hope that they kill the cancer cells. Radiotherapy means going through multiple times of radiation in hope that they kill the cancer cells. Everything is done in hope to cure you. If they are banking in hope, why are you not open to alternative healings?

Health do not come in the form of medicine. What treats the symptoms does not cure the disease. You have the power within you.

 

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

Hippocrates of Kos (Hippocrates), Greek physician of the Age of Pericles known as the “Father of Medicine”, c.460BC-c.370BC

Switch

What to do when you wake up feeling under the weather?

Everyone has had this feeling whether or not you admit it. Once in a while, you will feel like you just cannot get out of bed. Perhaps you have been working too hard for the past few months you hardly get enough sleep throughout the whole period. Now, you are burnt out. It does not help when the weather outside is gloomy. The sky is still moody at 9 in the morning.

Perhaps you feel like your daily routine is torn. Perhaps you feel like you are going to breakdown at any moment. Perhaps you are alone or even with your family, everyone else seems to be also in the same situation. There are too many things still on the plate that you need to handle but you are just not up to it. What do you do when this happens? Have you ever felt like life is turning against you in the peak of your performance? Have you ever felt like the energy level suddenly just drop in the peak of your motivation? What can you do?

Your mind tells you to get going but your body stops you from moving. You know your responsibilities but everything just does not seem to gel. You know you have to do something to get out of this situation but your brain is just not functioning the way it usually does. You are not sick but you feel like you are getting sick. How do you overcome this? How do you think you can handle the situation? Why is it so different today? Why does it feel like you are going back to the old you now? Why is change so difficult?

Do you realize that there is a button in all of us? It is called the reset button. You can always switch from a terrible situation to a wonderful one once you press on that button. All you need to do is to find that button within you.

Where?

The question to ask is not where the button is. The question to ask should be how to reach the button of functionality. Each of us function in our own unique ways. Only you know what works best for you.

If meditation sounds too mystical for you, perhaps just sitting quietly in a clear space in your room will help. Observe everything there is in the room. There may be a little crease in your bedsheet, or a hairline crack in the wall, or may be a little ant trying to find its way home. All these little details, what do they have in common despite their differences? All these little details, as little as they may be, they are part of your room. They have been around probably since you moved in or they may be newly created along the way. They could be an important change in the structure of your room. Just observe, do not judge.

You may say that you are living in a square tiny room in an apartment and you really hate the lack of space, then just get out there. There surely is a park or garden or playground somewhere you can just sit and be still. Observe everything that goes on around you. There could be children playing and running about screaming and shouting as they have fun. There could be butterflies or bees having their taste of pollens and nectar from the beautiful flowers all around. The wind is blowing and the leaves whistle. The birds are chirping. There could be a whole colony of ants transporting food back to their queen. Immerse yourself into nature. Spend as much time as you possibly can, be in this moment. Just be in this moment.

We have been too busy in our hustle and bustle of life that we have lost connection with what is. Your body knows it better than you do because you have cramped so much information within you that everything become congested and crowded, you can no longer differentiate what is. There is only so much our physical body can take. When it tires, it affects your mind. This is when you know you need a break. Trust your body. Trust your mind.

When self-esteem is low, it is time to switch on the button of functionality.

 

When you mix with the wrong energy, there’s bound to be an explosion. Pay attention and switch lanes when the signal changes. What’s really real, is ultimately revealed.

T.F. Hodge, author of From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with “The Divine Presence”, 1969-present