A beautiful thought to start a brand new week ahead:

"Lord, bless our week and teach us perseverance".

My lesson for the day!

It's only Wednesday, but it does feel like it's been a long and tiring week. That explains why the short nap I wanted to take actually lasted for 5 1/2 hours instead. I must be absolutely exhausted yet I push myself further. I have no choice really, the amount of work that needs to be done is not equivalent to the amount of time I have yet. It's already midnight yet I'm still up preparing slides for lectures, not to mention the amount of grading I have to get done which actually scares me.

In midst of working, I came across such beautiful words of comfort:

"God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way".

God reach out to us in mysterious ways, I always believe that and I have always been showed words of encouragement during time of trials in my life. I take comfort in those words.

Important reminder!

I was reminded of a beautiful phrase today:

We always ignore the ones who adore us, and adore the ones who ignore us.
We always love the ones who hurt us, and hurt the ones who love us.

I've been guilty of such conduct on many occasions and have taken the ones who adore & love me unconditionally; especially mom and dad for granted. May I constantly be reminded of 'always loving and cherishing the ones who love and adore me the most'. And may they always know my love and adoration for them.

Each to his/her own destiny

We are different people, each fighting in our own way for that which we believe in, and in making the world a better place by our mere existence. How we get there and the rest are mere appearances.

Just like the moon and the sun are different things; each with their own beauty and purpose. You cannot compare the two.

How we allow our dreams to die.

I read an interesting short story, it was about our dreams and how we kill our dreams.

The death of our dreams lies with certainties. Because we don't want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise, fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sounds of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors.

But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those who are engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important, what's important is only that they are fighting the good fight.

Are you a source of joy?

Thought of the Day:

Be a source of joy. Let critics and haters complain about the world.

Love in truth. Truth in love.

An interesting read today;

Love in truth. Truth in Love.
Never one at the expense of the other.
Never the embrace of love without the torch of truth.
Never the heat of truth without the warmth of love.

To pursue both is our singular task.

The First One

It was such a long day at work today and to make it worse, I wasn't feeling well. A class of some 150 on my first day of teaching is not an easy task at all. Sometimes I wonder where the strenght comes from. When I think I can't, my ability to perserve takes over to prove me wrong. I come out unscathed; with just a tad exhaustion. Nothing some good sleep can't undo.

I've not had much time to read for pleasure the past week or so except some academic readings for work. Today is good for some words of wisdom to carry with me throughout the week. Great thought this week, courtesy of the great man himself, Lao Tzu:

Rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

The words of truth are always paradoxical.
Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful.
Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.

Kindness inspires Kindness

Thought of the Day:

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.

Why should I listen to my heart?

It's only Tuesday and by far the worst beginning to a week I've ever experience. I can't even comprehend it, maybe I'm over-reacting, maybe I'm not. Can't believe that last week was excellent and now...sigh!!

Whenever I'm depressed I always read to calm down...

A beautiful short story...taken from the Alchemist...............................................................

“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?” the boy asked, when they had made camp that day.

“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”

“But my heart is agitated,” the boy said. “It has its dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the desert. It asks things of me, and it keeps me from sleeping many nights, when I’m thinking about her.”

“Well, that’s good. Your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say.”

“My heart is a traitor,” the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. “It doesn’t want me to go on.”

“That makes sense. Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.”

“Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?”

“Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you’re thinking about life and about the world.”

“You mean I should listen, even if it’s treasonous?”

“Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you’ll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them.

“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,” the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”

“Every second of the search is an encounter with God,” the boy told his heart.

“Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him,” his heart said. “We, people’s hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them—the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out indeed, to be threatening place.

“So, we, their hearts, speak more and more softly. We never stop speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won’t be heard: we don’t want people to suffer because they don’t follow their hearts.”

Don't Quit

I just finished my classes for the day and decided it's time for some poetry. Edgar Guest wrote a beautiful poem about not quitting. When times are tough, take heart and believe that everything will be alright.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit - rest if you must,
but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow - you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem worst,
you must not quit.

Closing cycles. Shutting doors. Ending chapters

The last day of the year in 2010. It was such a bittersweet year for me. Much joy and the equal amount of sadness and hurt.

2011 - will be a year of new beginning in many fronts for me. I'll embark on newness in life.
As such, there is a need to close cycles and end chapters.

One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through.

Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.

Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden? You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened.

You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that. But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved.

Everyone is finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.

Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away.

That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home.
Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts – and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.
Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them.

Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood.
Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.

Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the “ideal moment.”

Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person – nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.

Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life.

Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust.

Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.

Happy 2011 everyone. Out with the old, in with the new. Let's make it awesome.

If I had my life to live over

Of course we can't unfry an egg, but there is no law against thinking about it.
We all think of what if...I could just go back and do over. What would I have done differently?
I know I think about it all the time..some were merely regrets, others were things I could have done better.

An interesting look at this issue written by Don Harold:

If I had my life to live over, I would try to make more mistakes.

I would relax. I know of very few things that I would take seriously.
I would go more places. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less bran.

I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary troubles.
You see, I have been one of those fellows who live prudently and sanely, hour after hour, day after day.
Oh, I have had my moments. But if I had it to do over again, I would have more of them – a lot more.

I never go anywhere without a thermometer, a gargle, a raincoat and a parachute.
If I had it to do over, I would travel lighter.

If I had my life to live over, I would pay less attention to people telling us we must learn Latin or History; otherwise we will be disgraced and ruined and flunked and failed.
I would seek out more teachers who inspire relaxation and fun.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted a little earlier in the spring and stay that way a little later in the fall.
I would shoot more paper wads at my teachers.
I would keep later hours.

I’d have more sweethearts.
I would go to more circuses.
I would be carefree as long as I could, or at least until I got some care- instead of having my cares in advance.

I doubt, however, that I’ll do much damage with my creed.
The opposition is too strong.
There are too many serious people trying to get everybody else to be too darned serious.

Taking Responsibility

I'm sure that no topic has stimulated more interest or more discussion than that of taking responsibility for your life. It is the notion that despite what happens to us, we have the capacity to choose our responses - be it our attitudes, thoughts and actions in our lives.

It's a concept that suggests that on the climb up any ladder of success there is no room for just sitting back and idly hoping for luck or woefully waiting for better circumstances. A recent circumstance at work brought about this thought.

The best way to predict our future is to create them.

As such, the principle of responsibility is one of the most powerful, life enhancing, life changing principles we have at our disposal if we just learn how to master and channel it toward worthwhile purposes.

The more we accept responsibility for who we are and who we can become, the greater will be our progress and responsibility.

As George Bernard Shaw once said " people are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they cannot find them, make them".

My thoughts on philosophy

I've been reading abit on philosophy this week when I should be reading and grading my students research reports; not very productive on the work front but very productive in my critical development as an individual.

This is my discovery from my limited reading on this topic. Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus (AD55-AD135) once said that "All philosophy lies in two words: sustain and abstain.

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then only speak those words. So very true for many of us; most of the time we say things we don't mean and we say things that are misinterpreted by others which most of the time causes conflict. Think before you speak, bite your tongue if need be; for you will be able to avoid confrontations.

All religions must be tolerated… for every person must get to heaven in his/her own way. Who are we to judge when we are often judged by others.

Be careful to leave your children well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant. We often judge someone's success by material means they have (or we have), but the character and attitude of a person should be the ultimate criteria for judging success.

If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.
Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but instead wish for them as they are, and you will find them.

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
It is not he/she who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting. This is sometime I'm learning everyday and I do find it hard at times. Most often we look at the things that happen to us rather than our reaction towards it.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do, to make it be.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else. Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly and do it with humility.

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. Patience is indeed a virtue. Nothing is built overnight; not even love sadly to say; it takes lots and lots of hard work and effort. Let it first blossom, then bear the fruit that is ripen.

No man is free who is not master of himself. God has entrusted me with myself. Make the most of it. Do good, be kind, show the world the warmth of your smile, always have a kind word or two & most of all; have humility as it is the essence of life itself. For people will remember you for your humility rather than your material wealth when you die.

Just my Wednesday morning thoughts. And what are your thoughts?

Success Principles: Is there such a thing?

I recently read an article about Canfield and his new book, the Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be, which the author recently expounded at a seminar. He illustrated some interesting points to ponder upon (numbered in red and my personal take on the points he made):

1. Take 100% responsibility for your life and your results (often when things go wrong, we tend to push blame on others, when we should have taken responsibility for our own actions)

2. Be clear why you are here (here we ask ourselves what is my life purpose; make that purpose as clear as possible)

3. Decide what you want (we want so many things, it's hard to pinpoint. sometimes what we need is more important than what we want)

4. Believe in yourself (like many people out there, I too forget this vital ingredient to success as an individual)

5. Unleash the power of goal-setting (always set measurable goals and specific time lines to achieve such goals...it's like the SMART objective in PR..hehehe..)

6. Chunk it down (often our task seems huge but by breaking them into manageable ones, we would be able to take action step by step)

7. Release the brakes (this sounds like learning to drive for the 1st time...but it's actually forming a habit of using affirmations or positive statements to help you be in a state of accomplishing goals)

8. Use the power of visualisation (this is very much my thing - learned in NLP...visualise all your goals and results and run through the feeling of having already completed them)

9. Take action (nothing happenss..without actually taking action...you want something..make an effort to get it)

10. Experience your fear and take action anyway (this one is all about taking risks in life..cos you just never know!!)

11. Ask, ask, ask (this one I strongly believe in...God said: Ask and you will receive)

12. Reject rejection (a pretty hard one to do if you ask me..)

13. Network (a pretty important thing in the working world...)

14. Develop four new success habits a year (an interesting statement...something I should think about though I've never thought about it..)

15. Pay yourself first (it's all about saving money - at least 10% of what you earn and investing in it...something I'm learning...cos I just love spending everything on travelling and seeing the world)

16. Ask for and respond to (always give people feedback so as to clarify yourself)

17. Practice uncommon appreciation (this is something KDU and many other organisations need to learn to do...appreciate their staff with an understanding attitude...it's not always about the money)

18. Exceed expectations (always trived to exceed your expectation in life...reach for the stars)

19. Keep your agreements (this one I totally hold on to...my word is my bond..I never make promises I can't live up to)

20. Mastermind your way to success (this means working with the right people with the right attitude who have the similar goals of success...often hard to locate these people)

21. Practise persistence (I am a patience person..often too patient for my own good..but persistence is way harder)


This is my take on Canfield's 21 Key success principles...what's your?

Personal Missions

Sometimes our most thought provoking moments occur when we find time to record what we feel is the essence of our existence in a succinct statement.

Such statements can become our personal constitution - which is the framework for making our life-directing decisions.

I found my personal mission in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson:
'To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded'.

The First Paradoxical Commandment

I like to look at the Paradoxical Commandments as the modern day 10-Commandments that people general try to live up to in their everyday lives.

The first Paradoxical Commandment is: People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them Anyway! This is really something reasonably hard to do.

I remember reading in a Peanut cartoon strip created by Charles Schultz : Lucy, one the 'characters' of the Peanut cartoon strip once said "I love mankind. It's people I can't stand"!
Pretty interesting yet so very true with many of us.
People can certainly be difficult. Some are hard to love. Some make it hard for us to love them. Some just don't deserve to be loved.

However Theodore Roethke once said "Love begets Love". Do you believe that love can transform people and make them more lovable?

We need to learn to enjoy the immense personal meaning that comes from giving and receiving the gift of love.