Living Consciously

Updates

2010-07-19T14:23:00.000+08:00

It is more than a month since my last post. How come!? Well, I have been pretty busy later.

I have just started my new job as an AED (Allied Educator) in a primary school. What does an AED do? Basically, we are assistant teachers who handle smaller groups of students who are either academically weaker or require special attention. Having no teaching background, I have quite a number of things to catch up on.
Beside picking up new knowledge, I continued exercising everyday (alternate between gym and jogging). On top of all these, I have Hapkido, Hip Hop Dance and acting classes to go to.
That is a lot of dishes on my plate isn’t it haha. It does make me missed the days where I am unemployed, having all the time to allocate doing what I want. Well, at least now I am bringing in cash to further my learning and I really love teaching. So no complains!
Till date, I am still a vegan and I had not lose any muscle mass as contrary to beliefs.
Till next time then ^_^

A little separation is better than a new marriage (小别胜新婚)

2010-06-10T13:55:00.000+08:00

Yahoo! Yeah! My girlfriend Niki is finally coming back from Japan tomorrow. It has been 1 month and 2 weeks since we are forcibly separated by her choice *roar!*. While I came back for reservist, she continued to stay until now -_-. Gonna bite her when she comes back lol.

Frankly speaking, though I missed her like crazy, this little separation did a lot of good for both of us. Firstly, needless to say that we longed for each other and that rekindled the love passion (burning with ferocity~ ouch!) and make us cherish each other more. When you are around each other for too often, you start to take each other for granted (Isn't that the reason why we usually take our family for granted since they are always around?) So I guess that is the Chinese saying, 小别胜新婚 holds true to its words. Secondly, we both grew in our own ways.

For me, I had my first experience of taking the plane alone. Yeah, mock me lol. What to do.... I had never traveled overseas alone before. All my experiences are either with my parents or mostly with Niki. I just followed the flow that's all. So it gave me a feeling that I had grown up a little. ^_^

Secondly, I took up courses and activities which I mostly likely will not do when I am with her. The reason is that we are like Siamese twins (always sticking together). Other than work time, we are mostly around each other. When we planned for any course, it must fit both our schedule which make it more difficult to source. In the end, we did not have our own individual pursues. Due to this opportunity, being away from each other forces us to find our own activities for our free time. And I found lots of activities for myself such as Hapkido, drawing, watching Who's line is it anyway, swimming, learning Japanese.... woah I'm packed lol. I am now happier than ever, knowing that I am actually growing in my soul again.

Thirdly, there is a strong motivation to show her how had my physique changed over the month. It pushes me to do my best during my weights training so I can wow her with my body. The greater the shock, the greater the accomplishment. ^o^

As for her, you will have to check out with her. Last I heard was that she lost 5 inches on her waist due to her extensive strolling everyday. Oh my god! To me that is an amazing feat considering the fact that she been trying to do it for years and wasn't able to achieve it.

So people, if next time you feel that your relationship has come to a stagnation or feeling like having a change. try getting away from each other for at least a month. See how it rekindle the flame and create amazing things for each of you. ^_^

Fun with Words (My Rest Day)

2010-06-09T14:26:00.002+08:00

Was thinking about when should I set my rest day for my week when I suddenly felt the urge to just have fun writing a poem lol.

So here is it.

Warning! I am a bad poet (and its fun being one). So read at your own risk. ^o^

My Rest Day
Today is my lovely day,
To keep everything at bay.
Oh~ I feel so happily gay,
To use it as my wonder hay.
This is my one and only day,
So please don't block my lovely way.
I may sound a little hey,
If I'm feeling big okay.
Or else I just freaking may.......
Make sure that you pay and lay %@#^%$

When Bad isn't Bad

2010-06-08T15:19:00.001+08:00

How bad is bad? Is bad really bad? How do you define bad? What is bad? Interestingly, I had this thought recurring in my head while I was swimming today.

We often associate bad with something that is poor or negative. He is a bad performer. She is a bad singer. He is a bad speaker. There are lots of things that I am bad at now. Basketball, soccer, drawing, playing guitar, dancing... Errr I better stop here.... I have too much to list and I don't want to get finger clamps.

The thing is, whenever people think that they are bad at something, they will normally avoid it. Often they had only tried once and then self-proclaimed that "Damn! I am bad at this." Then you will not see them doing it ever again. If you ask someone to dance, draw, paint or give a speech on stage, the respond will be most likely be, "No, I am bad at it." I know because I am a member too (still mustering the courage to try more and more things I am bad at).

Why is it that way? Through reflection, I realized that when we defined ourselves as bad in something, we are normally saying that we are stupid in it or I looked like an idiot doing it. Ego wants to protect itself at all cost. We have very negative association with the term 'bad'. The truth is, bad is not necessary that bad.

Being bad in something actually only mean that we lack practice not talent. It is not saying that there is something wrong with your IQ. Will you laugh at a baby for being bad at talking when the only word that she can only say is MmmMmmaaaMaamaaa. Will you despise a toddler for being bad at walking if he continuously falls over while learning how to move his legs? No? Then why are we doing it to ourselves then? Doing it to each of our very own fragile and sensitive inner child. We ain't stupid. We are just not skilled enough that's all. Thank God that in those days I do not think as much as I do now. Or else, I will not even know how to speak or walk now! I may be thinking, "Oh what the heck, I suck in this! I never going to do it again!" Hallelujah......*Head bowed, thanking from the deepest of my heart* Whew...Even though I am still bad at English now... BUT! It is just due to lack of training and listening. I can improve. There is nothing wrong with my brain. ^_^

We all started out being bad in whatever we do. I started from sinking and paddling like a dog until being able to swim 20 laps non-stop today. It just takes time and repetitions. Secretly, I can even consider myself as an artist now. Just a bad artist that's all. Well at least I am an artist! :OP

So don't be afraid to be bad at anything. Start trying what you are bad at today. You may love it just as I love learning new language and martial arts now (I always considered myself to slow and stupid to learn any of those). Like a baby, we all started doing badly. And like a baby, we should all have fun. So please protect your inner child. ^_^

Have lots of fun.

Learning Hapkido

2010-06-07T11:25:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, I went for my first lesson in Hapkido. It was a wonderful experience. I really enjoyed myself a lot. In fact, I like it so much that I am positive that this is the only community center course that I am going to stick till the end. Lol. (Been joining several courses and non lasted)

I had been wanting to learn martial arts for as long as I could remember. However, when I was younger, I doubted my physique and intelligence could handle it. And when I was older, I was too embarrassed to join because in most community center courses, one had to attend it with kids and people much younger than me. The same thoughts kept formulating in my mind. "What if even they can beat me? Will they mock at my clumsiness? What if I am a slow learner?" Blah blah blah blah. As a result, after 29 years, I still haven't master any form of martial arts. -_-

Recently, due to picking up body building and Japanese language, I finally realized that everyone has to start as a total amateur. For example, I can't expect myself to lift 80kg or make a decent conversion with a Japanese chick (Damn!) without any training. It just takes time and effort to master anything and period. No short cuts. Even geniuses started from white belts. I thought if something has to change, it has to be my fear of embarrassment. It has been limiting me a great deal in my life. So? Jump in! How to learn swimming without getting wet right? So I proceeded to sourcing for martial art courses.

As I tend to travel pretty much, I want to learn something that is practical too. Something that I can protect my love ones when in need. When I was checking on the courses, Hapkido jumped out to me. It got me interested as I had never heard of it before. And it is a totall ynew course in my nearest community center. In fact, it is pretty new in Singapore too. As I went You tube to check it out and it got me hooked. It is prominently a defense skill (such as throwing and pinning) but incorporated with strikes and kicks. It is just the ideal art for me! Defend and attack if absolutely needed. That are all the hints I need from Universe to sign up for it. And the aftermath? I found myself in lot of fun. ^o^

Oh ya, there are kids in the course. Actually, I am the eldest other than the two coaches. The second oldest student there is only 16 year old lolz. Shouldn't it be embarrassing as I thought? In reality, no one cares whether you are kicking well enough or not. Everyone is so busy with their own stuffs that no one gives a damn on how you do or looked (except the coaches of course). It reminded me of the phrase, "When you realized how little others think about you, you will think less about how others think about you." How true....How true..... In the end, I had a lot of fun and it actually brings the benefit of being able to busk in the youthfulness of the youngsters. It makes me feel young again ^o^

Going Back to Veganism

2010-06-05T10:18:00.003+08:00

I was a vegan from June 09 till Oct 09. I was in Japan during Oct 09 for 2 weeks. Over there, there is a severe lack of vegetarian food. To them, vegetarianism comes with fish. Pure vegetarian is an alien concept to them. In addition, vegetable meals are more expensive than meat itself. For example a single Vege-burger can cost up to 500 yen while a gyuu-don set (beef rice with soup) cost only 290 yen. It also created a lot of difficulty for my uncle when he brought me out to eat because vegetarian food is basically non-existence there. It led me thinking that whether am I creating too much problems for others. To ease the trouble in Japan, I took meat since.

I recalled flaring up easily when I can't seem to find any vegetarian food. Frankly speaking, even in Singapore, most vegetarian food are either too oily or too much MSG. There is also a lack of variety and availability and it often makes me crazy. In addition, they are usually higher priced than other food.

My family members were also worried about my loss of weight. During my transition, I lost 5 kg (Those who want to lose weight without exercising can consider this ^_^). To them, the loss of weight is an unhealthy sign. Therefore, during each meal, I am almost guaranteed a preaching on how taking moderate meat is important too. At the start of November, I gave up and went back to meat eating. (Weak willed... haha) However, deep now I know something is not right.

These few days, I had several messages from Universe that I should get back to my vegan dietary. It is so obvious that I can't bring myself to ignore it. Firstly, the message from 'Man in the mirror' got me thinking about what changes I can make to myself. And today, while I was reading the newspaper, they actually had 28 pages of saving Gaia article! What is the odds of that! The recurring message was, 'Change into vegan dietary to save ourselves, others and Earth.' To reciprocate, I decided that some place, somewhere, someone has to begin it. So why not me? 0_0

So what can I do to overcome the issues I had before (lack of variety and availability). Interestingly, due to my recent journey on body building (1 week now), I am more concerned on the food which I put into my mouth. I am starting to appreciate plain food, that is without salt, oil or sugar. Due to the fact that I have to take several meals, in order to save time and maintain the foods' nutrients, I either eat them raw or steamed. In just a few days, I can feel my tongue evolved. I can actually taste their original sweetness and fragrance which I had never knew before. I guess artificial seasonings are like drugs which actually messes up our taste buds.

As such, the taste and variety aren't an issue anymore. I will prepare my own food wherever I go ^_^. Just raw and steamed food. How much simpler can it be lolz.

You may wonder how is it possible to do body building in vegan dietary? Hee, check this website out. It is possible, just require the effort and discipline that's all. So lets start with the man in the mirror. Its time to make it right again and make my change. ^_^

'I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change' - Man In the Mirror, By Michael Jackson

Man In The Mirror - Michael Jackson

2010-06-03T12:42:00.010+08:00

Was blessed to be reminded of this song by May. The song has such a profound message within that it gave me shiver when I listened to it again.

I'm gonna make a change,
For once in my life
It's gonna feel real good,
Gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right...

As I turn up the collar on
My favorite winter coat
This wind is blowing my mind
I see the kids in the streets,
With not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind?
Pretending not to see their needs
A summer disregard,a broken bottle top
And a one man soul
They follow each other on the wind ya' know
Cause they got nowhere to go
That's why I want you to know

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

Beautiful isn't it? It all starts with me.

Thank you May for sharing with me.
Thank you Michael
Thank you to the writers and composers.
Thank you for such wonderful song.

Honesty - Opinion vs Truth

2010-06-02T09:25:00.003+08:00

I was indulging in Sonia Choquette's Trust Your Vibes when I came across something she wrote which gave me a bang in the head. She related about the story of her client who tried to live a life of honesty by telling everybody what she felt in exactly the way she felt it. It back-lashed on her and she couldn't understand why since she was told by her therapist that being truthful is the only way to be happy.

This is a reflection of my personal story too. Being a avid reader of Steve Pavlina's writings, I thought that being honest about my feelings is the only way to empower my life. However, in reality, it created lots of sour after taste and isolated me with others. Many times, I was called tactless, insensitive, not listening, brutal and it often left me wondering what the hell had I done wrong. All I wanted was to be honest and help others. In the end, it isolated me further, thinking that many people can't handle the truth and had me convinced that truth hurts.And maybe, it has to hurt.

Finally... after so long, I realized what's wrong with my mindset and approach. There is a difference between truth and opinion. Sonia wrote that 'Opinions can isolate and assault, while genuine truth, even though it may be hard to hear. never attacks anyone - instead, it fosters understanding and mutual respect. In other words, being truthful means speaking without hurting yourself or others.'

Woah la.This is my missing link. I had been shooting my opinions regardless of whether people will get hurt by my words or not. Regardless of how good my intention was, when it hurts, it sucks and will retaliate. In the end, it hurts me too. Now I understand that being truthful is an art and it requires effort and discipline whereas shooting opinions face blank is no-brainer. Its like aim and shoot vs shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot.

Understanding this, I have more things to improve on. Woohoo Won't you agree that the ability to express without hurting others or myself is a wonderful skill to master? New goal in life. Thank you Sonia for the wonderful insight ^_^

As you think - James Allen

2009-07-31T13:47:00.000+08:00

You will be what you will to be.
Let failure find its false content
In that poor word “environment,”
But spirit scorns it, and is free.

It masters time, it conquers space,
It cows that boastful trickster, Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
Uncrown, and take a servant's place.

The human will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless soul,
Can hew a way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delay,
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
The gods are ready to obey.

Beautiful isn't it? What is your Will to be?

The Power of Love

2009-07-27T08:16:00.003+08:00

The love of a father for his son.. While many of us can't even entertain the thoughts of running 5km, this 66 year old father has been carrying his son in running full marathons and triathlons. Truly inspiring and touching. As their messages say, 'Yes you can. You can do anything you wanted to. As long as you make up your mind. You can do it.' Enjoy ^_^

Serenity Prayer

2009-07-25T07:59:00.009+08:00

Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference - Reinhold Niebuhr

Beautiful isn't it? A prayer which I want to adopt everyday in my life. Here's the opposite.

Stress Prayer: Grant me the stubbornness to struggle against things I cannot change; the inertia to avoid work on my own behaviors and attitudes which I can change; and the foolishness to ignore the differences between external events beyond my control and my own controllable reactions. But most of all, grant me a contempt for my own human imperfection and the limits of human control. - Neil Fiore from The Now Habit

Lol right on.... A prayer which I had been incorporating in my life for a long time. From my experience till now, it had brought me nothing but resentments to others and from others, assumptions of what was supposed to be done, expectations of the impossibilities, low self-esteem as I felt powerless to change everything and most of all, lots of unnecessary stress.

Many enlightened teachers have often taught, the root of unhappiness is due to how we want everything to go accordingly to what we expect and wanted. Little did we realized that many of them are actually beyond our control. For example, we can't control how the weather will be (I am guilty of being angry at the weather at times). We can't control how people will react to us and how they think of us. Unless you know how to do mind control.... As such, it is actually quite foolish to think that we can actually control the Everything in our life.

In reality, the only thing we can control is our reaction to events. Our thoughts of other people. Our own actions towards issues. In the nutshell, the only thing that we can actually change is ourselves. There is a proverb which says 'If you want to change the world, you have to start changing yourself first.' You will see that things aren't actually as bad as it seems once you realize that you actually have the power to change your reactions to it. Yesterday night when I was sleeping, the Niki's mum called home. As usual, I was irritated by ringing phone and started cursing and hogging the pillow over my head in my futile attempt to block the noise. It was at that time I remembered that I couldn't change the phone from ringing but I could choose to be less affected by it. It was an amazing experience when I realized that I have the power to choose my reaction. All my frustration and anger vanished immediately and I felt at peace. Instead, I felt grateful for the phone to ring for such short time. It could have been longer. ^_^

Are you accepting yourself as human? Being humans means that we will not be perfect in everything. Expecting perfection in yourself only means that you are unable to embrace you as human. A wonderful being. Live as the serenity prayer says and accept others imperfections. They are only humans like us. Change what we can and embrace what we can't. Accept ourselves as humans with imperfections. It is a great way to live a fulfilling and stress free life. Like my Secondary School Teacher Mr Chng who loves to say,'If it can be changed, why worry. If it cannot be changed, why worry?'

Till next time, do enjoy life. ^_^

Less Frequent Updates

2009-07-23T21:24:00.003+08:00

Hello all, as you notice I had been updating my blog less often recently.
Many reasons arised. For one, I have no more internet connection at home and intended to leave it that way.
Kinda fun to live without it. Having more time to do my other stuffs.
Also I had other things on my mind to do now ^_^
Most likely I will only be updating once per week when I am at Niki's place.
So take care folks!

How to talk to girls tips from a 9 year old

2009-07-19T08:13:00.002+08:00

Wow.... Can you imagine writing a book and get published at the age of 9?
Well he can. Actually he has three books published now. Wow..

An interview on Conscious Business

2009-07-17T08:56:00.001+08:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Douglas Rushkoff

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Jeff Goldblum

Ping pong Gods

2009-07-14T15:41:00.005+08:00

If you want see what kind of incredible stunts which you can do with ping pong balls, check this out !

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1164841084809&ref=nf

The magic of hard work or may be lots of edition....
Either way still hard work

Enjoy!!

Gratitude

2009-07-14T14:01:00.010+08:00

I am constantly amazed by how the things I have in life, come to me in ways that I often took it for granted as it looked effortless.

I had often neglected the amount of hard work and efforts which were put in by great people who made it possible.

The food I am eating now is brought to me by the efforts of people who grow them, people who collect them, people who transport them, people who packed them and many others who involved in one way or the other.

Not forgetting the ones who invented the planes, the trains, the rails, the ships and the ones who built them.

This is similar with the water which I drink in my cup, the clothes on my body, the flat I lived in, the paper I am using and every possession I have in my life.

Thank you for everything that is in my life as it has gone through the hard work of many men, dead and alive, to bring these to me.

Thank you to everything that I have taken from the world and I must do my best to give it back in return.

Thank you.

'From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other - above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.' - Albert Einstein

Procrastinator vs Do-er

2009-07-11T19:23:00.004+08:00

How often do we procrastinate? How often do we drag the things we need to do and regretted it in the end? I am a pro procrastinator myself. Pushing off important things to a few days before the deadline is always my personal forte. Not that I am too proud of it through. Many times, I hate myself for it, often regretting why I didn’t do it earlier. Then I will blames myself for being so lazy that I have to face the consequences later.

Did you face similar inner dialogues before? Well… As you can see, you are not alone.

Such self reprimanding can be very bad for self-esteem. It came to a time that I would just avoid big and important projects totally to prevent myself from procrastinating again which obviously lead to no where. It seriously depleted my confidence in getting things done. It lowered my performance and how people perceive me too. Luckily and finally, I got fed up with the consequences and began my search on how to overcome procrastination. Luckily, there are great deals of information out there in both library and the Internet. Here is an interesting finding which I get out from the research.

Procrastinators are usually perfectionist. They prefer to finish everything at one go and in total perfection. However, this mindset also makes the task seems more difficult and daunting than it originally is. Therefore, many times they will just sit on the task, waiting for a good time until it becomes too late. With fire burning on their asses, it almost guaranteed a not so perfect outcome and then they will start hating themselves for it. As a result, it becomes natural for procrastinator to avoid big tasks as they afraid that they will fail again (to them, not perfect is equal to fail also). This is the way of thinking that is usually done subconsciously without them realizing their thinking process.

This study is a wake up call for me. Most of the time, I would want to finish everything at one go. Finish once and for all is the motto which I held for a long time in my life. It is undeniable that there are occasions which this mentality helped me in freeing up some of my time but usually, it left me drained due to the prolonged hours trying to get the task done at one go. I did it so frequently that eventually, I dreaded doing them anymore. Thinking about the after effect turned me off totally. I rather spent my time doing other ‘fun’ things or just relaxing. This is where the viscous cycle will occur. Procrastinate, regret, blame, motivate to do earlier, remember the tiredness and procrastinate again.

On the other hand, Do-ers are people who will get into actions regardless of how much can they complete. They will disseminate the task into small segments and keep doing them till completion. It is actually a better stress free method. Do-ers jump into tasks immediately starting with small steps. They adopt the essence of ‘The Great Wall of China was built, one brick at a time’.

Let's put the differences into a scenario. For instance, John will like to clear up his room which is in a total mess. He has a strong desire to clear it up as it is getting pretty unsightly. Therefore, he is all fired to get the room cleared ASAP.

Procrastinator’s thinking process
‘I am ready to clean up the room. Hmm.... It will require a lot of time and effort since there are so many things to clear. I shall do it when I have more hours on hand.’ The perfect timing never arrives as there always seemed to have other more important things to. By the time John is ready to do it; he often finds it too late and schedules the cleaning to another day. The same thought keeps recurring in his head, as the task is just to daunting and time consuming. John is always able to find reasons to do other more 'important' stuffs first.

Do-er’s thinking process
There will be a significant difference in the thinking process. John will start dividing the whole room into segments to clean. For example, he will decide to do the drawer first for this week. He will not touch on anything else if he does not feel like it. Once he achieves his goal, he can choose to stop and not feel guilty for not finishing everything. He even starts seeing himself to be competent and finds that the work is not so hard after all. This will motivate him to do it again as he can see the difference in the room even if it is just a small area. In the progress, he becomes more and more motivated as he sees the room becomes neater and neater and realizes that the goal is attainable Few weeks later, we will find the do-er's room cleared and the procrastinator's room untouched (it may get more messy as he thinks he can afford to mess it up since he is going to clear sooner or later). We will find the do-er’s face grinning and feeling so proud of himself while the procrastinator grouching, claiming that he does not seem to be able to find time to do anything. He will then start blaming everyone and everything that seemingly appeared as a cause for his procrastination.

Personally now, I am applying more of a do-er mindset and it is amazing seeing how much things can be done within a short time. It is relatively easy because it is totally our personal choice to be a procrastinator or a do-er. No one is born a procrastinator or a do-er. We just have to be conscious about the different type of mindsets and apply the one which you preferred. It is a matter of getting something done even if it is just a small percentage. There is no need to have a perfect outcome. Ironically, by trying not to be so perfect will usually give you a nearly perfect result in the end. As you get more time to work on the project, you have less stress; allow more creativity and more time to revise your work.

Till next time

It starts with me

2009-07-09T15:31:00.006+08:00

Frequently, I would be questioned on why am I so environmental conscious? Why did I go into vegetarian dietary or even pick up the trashes on the floor as it is so dirty. It seems illogical for me to do it as if anything needs to be change, it has to be changed on the grand scale. I alone will not be able to make much of a difference. Even if I pick this trash up, there are bounded to be another litterer somewhere else. It is almost guaranteed that later someone is bound to litter here again. How many litters or bottles am I able to pick up? What if I keep seeing them down the path I walk? Do I pick them all up? As for my vegetarian dietary habit, they will argue that even if you don't eat, there are many others who are eating it. Animals are still going to get killed and demand is still going to be there. Even monks eat meat so why should I be different? What is the point of depriving myself of the luxury of eating since it is not going to make a difference?

Frankly speaking, I had similar mindset in the past. It looked pretty logical at that time. Why change when everyone else isn't doing anything? Why make the effort if it is going to get worst anyway? Statistically wise, it just ain't smart and depressing. Many times, we were told that there was nothing we could do about what's happening. The world can only be changed by a selected few movers such as Einstein, Ghandi, Bill Gates, Buddha, Jesus... So we should wait for them to appear while we just live on with our life. Those days, I just feel powerless to do anything about it. So why bother?

Today, it is interesting to see myself questioning that if I do not do it then who will? Why can't it begins with me? Great Walls of China is built by a brick at a time. It definitely feels more empowering in focusing on what I can do rather than what I cannot do. I cannot make others change their actions but I know I can make my hands pick up the rubbish or change my preference of food.. These days if people ask me why bother? I say I just do my best. If I can pick up one rubbish, one it shall be. If I can pick ten up, ten it shall be. Just do what I can do. There is no need to judge or be judged by anyone.

That day while I was at Punggol Beach, it was filled with litters. While I was loathing over the inconsiderate litterers, I came to realize that this was something I could not control. However, I could control how I feel about it and how I can deal with the issue. In the end, the simple walk at seaside became a huge manual work. Picking up plastic bags, Styrofoam boxes, plastic bottles, rubbers, batteries and all kind of rubbish. No doubt I could not pick up all of them, but it felt really good doing what I could.

It will also amaze you when you set yourself into action, people may get influenced by you. My personal experience shown that my parents were having more vegetables, friends were impressed and more open to vegetarian food and love ones become supportive in my actions. We can be of influence.

In the future, if you ever have doubt again whether it is all worth it, do think again. You may not see it immediately but time will eventually show you the contributions you have done to humans, our environment and most importantly Earth. Do it for yourself. Do it for the children. It has to start with someone. Why not you?

The Genius - Leonardo Da Vinci

2009-07-07T09:59:00.009+08:00

Went for the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at Science Center today. The organizer has really done a wonderful job. I was standing in awe of the presence of Leonardo's magnificent creations which lead me to contemplate on the capability of human's mind. It is fascinating that our brain has the ability to display such creativity. Walking around, looking at the arts and inventions which transcends time, filled my heart with gratitude for being given the chance to witness their beauty. He was truly a Genius.

Here are some of the lessons which I had learn from the Genius.

One can start from nothing to become a genius. Obstacles will form the greatest strength of a person. Leonardo was born an illegitimate. Being born as a bastard, he was not given any formal education at all. However, it was because of this deficiency, he studied English instead of Greek and French which were popular at that time. This was which started his interest to question conformities. It was also believe that it was the main reason why he wrote in opposite direction as he was not corrected by any educators.
Trust your judgement rather than following traditions or what others said. If Leonardo had followed the traditions of using egg yolk (a tradition for painting at that time) and not risked using oil paint, his angel in Baptism of Christ would not have surpassed his teacher nor left such a legacy.
You can still create great value to people no matter how messed up you may be. Like everyone else, Leonardo had his own fair share of contradicting values. He hated killing but created plans for war machines of mass destruction. He was also human. You need not be perfect to be genius.
Great work take time to complete. His greatest arts all took time to create. If he had rushed, I am sure that it would not have been such beauty. Details are all that matters.
There is no such things as learning too much things. Jack of all trades is a myth. I believe that Leonardo's involvement in several fields was what constituted hugely to his intelligence and creativity. He was able to see connections and stuffs where others weren't able to see.
Just being creative is not good enough. Delivery is just as important. I realized that even though he was great in creating value, his delivery really sucked. He served a lord whom did not appreciate his talents nor did he know how to bring his creations to serve the masses. As a result, he lived most of his life fairly broke and his creations were only treasured few hundred years later (most creations were lost in between). One has to know how to deliver the values he/she create to the masses. Or else, it will be useless.
Only actions can bring result. If he had procrastinated to do any of his work, we will not see any of them today. As he commented in his notebook “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do”.

Thank you Leonardo

Top 30 benefits for becoming a Baldy

2009-07-06T16:44:00.012+08:00

Discourage gambling in your presence (Chinese belief of 输光光)
Brings laughter to your close one and yourself. Always great to have more laugther.
Always a place ready for you in monastery if you ever need a place to sleep.
Promote intimacy as many will love to touch your head (Niki can't get her hands off it)
Reduce shyness for people with cancer and hair loss as you show them that there is nothing to be embarrassed about.
Save money on cutting hair regularly
Reduce time preparing hair (no hair to begin with)
Your head becomes infinitely grateful to you as you save it from all the detergents which you wash your hair with.
Save the electricity needed to blow dry your hair
Non-stop interviews on why you shaved your head
Increase self esteem as you did it for a cause
People think that you are courageous even if you have not done anything which you thought was courageous before
You become a good scratch reliever with your head for your close ones
You gain a weapon to ward off enemies by intimating them with your pointy shaved head.
Possibility of getting donations from people on the street for mistaken identity. (I promise I will donate it out if I get any)
Becomes too cute to handle
Invite opportunity to pass your smile around from occasional stares. Makes the world a better place
You gain new experience and sensation from your head that you never had
You feels good for looking so good
You acquire a Zen look
You lose weight from the loss of hair
Get free food in Thailand? (Not sure about this... haven't tried)
You gain immediate membership to the League of Bald-headed people which its members include Steve Ballmer, Michael Jordan, Randy Gange, Jean Luc Picard (Star Trek), Bruce Willis, Olympic swimmer Michael Klim and many other similar ones who have styles
You obtains a new identity - Bald Man!
You look smarter since your forehead looks wider
You gain new perspective on baldness (never try never know)
You gain empathy and respect for bald people
You gain exclusive privilege to spend the awareness around
You are granted exemption from bad hair day
Troublemakers want to avoid you as they wonder whether you are from Shaolin Temple.

So are you excited to become a baldy now? It will be fun.

Watch The Meatrix

2009-07-06T10:39:00.004+08:00

An award-winning flash animation and a real eye opener. Please watch it.
It is cute and informative.

http://www.themeatrix1.com/

Get discount for bringing your own bags!

2009-07-05T16:49:00.004+08:00

Went to Serangoon NTUC with Niki to buy groceries today. When we were making our payment, we were given a discount of $0.10 for bringing our own bags! (Niki has a habit of bring one reusable bag everywhere she goes) I couldn't tell you how delighted we were.

I remembered just a few days ago Niki told me that supermarkets in USA actually give discount if you bring your own bags. At that time I commented that Singapore should adopt the same thing. I believe it could have promoted bag using. And now, we have it!

Bring you own bags! Not only you do something for Earth and you get discount for it! Getting $0.10 for not using a few pieces of plastic bags is definitely good deal for me.

Hair for Hope

2009-07-04T20:54:00.018+08:00

Went to shave my hair yesterday to support the Children Cancer Foundation 'Hair for Hope' event. Even though the event is supposed to be held today at Velocity, i went to cut my hair at my neighbourhood in attempt to avoid the crowd.

Why do I shave my hair? Mainly for the aims of the event:

1. Create awareness of childhood cancer in Singapore

2..Show to children with cancer and their families that they are not alone in their fight against cancer.

3. Boost the self-esteem of children undergoing chemotherapy by sending the message that that there is nothing wrong in losing their hair or being bald.

4. Raise funds to help children with cancer and their families

5. Build a community of support for children with cancer and their families.

Frankly speaking, there were a lot of fears when I first decided to have my head shaved. "How will other people look at me? Will I get stares? What if I look ugly? Is the event even meaningful? Will there be long queue? Is it worth the wait? Since it is free there, why should I spend money cutting at other places...

Finally, after some thoughts and support by my lovely girlfriend, I went to the barber to have my hair shaved. I also decided that since it is a symbolic gesture I did not have to confine myself to shave at Velocity.

When I first told the barber that I wanted to have my head shaved, he was shocked. That look on his face was priceless. He must have thought that I was crazy. After my explanation, it turned out that his son had recently just recovered from thyroid cancer too. What a coincidence! He shared with us on his view in life that no matter what happened, we should live our life to the fullest. We should be thankful for every single living moment we have now. Such a great way to live. Don't you agree?

In the midst of my shaving, I had to admit that when the hair from my right head was gone, I felt certain tingles of sadness. It was like something that I had held deeply to have disappeared. Something that I had used to identify myself with for a long time. It was interesting to realize that how often that we had identified ourselves with our hair. How often did we determine a person's character by his/her hair. Neat hair style equal to decent. Short equal to sporty. Funky hair equal to rebellious character. No hair equal to baldness, cancer or weirdo. I still remember the days where I spent hours in the front of the mirror trying to get the perfect hair style just to give the right impression.

When I was out of the barber shop, I actually felt lighter. It was as if I had left that identity behind. It was like I am peeling though the layers of my identifications and slowly getting to my core self. I know I know... It may just due to the reduce of weight on my head .

There was a good boost to my self-esteem too, knowing that I had done it for a cause. I guess it also helped that I think I looked real good in bald! ^o^ During my walk home, I realized that there are no stares from strangers which reminded me of a phrase I read before, 'When we know how little people think of us, we will think less of what people think about us.'

Great to be a baldy.

Meet Faith

2009-07-03T21:44:00.002+08:00

Just as its name suggested... Faith.

Imperfection is perfection itself

2009-07-02T12:34:00.006+08:00

While pondering over our obsession with perfectionism. I came up with these. It is my first time writing in this style. But then again. What the heck. Always nice to try something new. So please enjoy and let me know what needs improvement. ^_^

Imperfection is Perfection itself.
Without it, we will not wonder what perfection is.
A world with everything being perfect,
You will see that it eventually turn defect.

Imperfection is Perfection itself.
As a perfect world will be a world of complacency.
It is a world which lacks the joy of the Aha moments.
It is a world which lacks the breath taking moments.

In a perfect world which lacked imperfections.
One will not know what to do everyday as there is nothing to work on.
One will move through life aimlessly wondering about their uniqueness.

In a perfect world which lacked imperfections,
There will be no joy of giving since everyone has everything.
There will be no joy of learning since nothing needs to be learn.
There will be no joy of improving since nothing needs to be improve
There will be no joy of teaching since nothing is left to be taught.

Imperfection is perfection itself.
It is through its presence that we realize we are just as perfect as anyone else.
We can choose to improve or just stay the same which are both perfectly good.

Embrace imperfections.
It is through them which we see what we wish to work on.

Embrace imperfections.
It is through them that we learn acceptance and forgiveness.

Embrace imperfections.
It is through them that we learn how to love unconditionally.

Embrace imperfections.
As it is these imperfect things about your love ones which you will miss when they are gone.

Embrace imperfections.
As it is in them that we appreciate the perfect moments.

Embrace imperfections.
As it is then you will find that every moment is perfect.

Embrace imperfections.
As you will come to know, there is no such thing as perfect.

Things are just perfect the way it is.

Love yourself and others for the imperfectness as they are already perfect.

'With the absence of what is not, what is, is not' – Neale Donald Walsch.

Sense of Self-worth

2009-07-01T13:13:00.006+08:00

How do you determine your self worth? What do you attach your self-worth to? To the amount of money you make? To the amount of savings you have? To your profession? To your parents' profession? To how far have you climbed the corporate ladder? To your looks? To the looks of your spouse or lover? To your weight? To their weight? To your education? To your IQ ? To how informed you are about news of the world? To the kind car you are driving? To the branded stuffs you are owning? To how well you perform in sports? To your marital status? To the type of house you live in? To the opinions of your bosses on you or to what people think of you? Or do you have additional things to add?

Let's stand back and look at these. Have they ever really make you felt fulfilled in the long run?

Did you feel ever for once felt something is missing/wrong when you are attaching yourself to these stuffs? Have you ever heard some ornery voices telling you that this is not what you want even though you had acquired them? Did you ever felt a sense of emptiness which needs to be filled up frequently by another form of acquisition or addiction? If you do hear them before or now, please don't dismiss them as imaginary or unnecessary. Those are the voices from our heart. They are always doing their best to let you hear what you desire deep within. Many chose to ignore it by convincing themselves that they need that thing to be self worthy. Or by convincing themselves since everyone else is going for similar stuffs, then it must be right.

Today, our media is able to convince many of us that only people who are slim, rich, powerful, highly intelligent and outstanding sportsmen are desirable and worthy. There are so many shows which indicate that not being married at a certain age meant that the person is worthless (especially for woman). In many others, fat people are stigmatized as lazy, brainless and thick-skinned. Tall, rich, slimy and good-looking stars are celebrated everyday glamorously indicating that we will only become worthy if we mimic them. Then we have our parents who were convinced by theirs parents teaching us the same messages. No wonder we think that we need those things.

It is the value association system which most of us have been brought up in. It is a model which offers us a false calculation of our self-worth in terms of the value we have acquired. However, when you look deeper, it is all about acquiring and seeking things outside ourselves. A mentality derived from consumerism and capitalism.

Looking at my life, I have attached my state of self-worth to many of them. In my days of attachment with money, I did several professions which can get me fast money. I was involved in network marketing, working in sales (advertising and recruitment) and computer networking shift jobs (higher pay due to shifts). In the end, I had not worked in any of them for more than a year. At first, I blamed myself to be a quitter, unable to stay on to a company and unable to stand up to challenge. However, something was telling me there were more to it. It took me sometime to finally realize that money itself does not motivate me at all. It was most vivid at the times when I was able to bring more money but I did not experienced much joy. In fact, it did not gave me satisfaction in achieving it. I felt that something was missing in the services that I was providing.

At other times, I was attached to my level of education. While I was still a diploma holder, most of my friends were degree holders. I was very low in self-worth academically and I even avoided contacting my best friends for years. During the period, I was constantly reminded by people around me that it is important to have a education as it determines how far you can climb in the corporate ladder. As you can see, I even had my self-worth determined by how the corporate world values me. I would worth $1600 for being a diploma and $2300 as a degree holder. I had defined myself according to the monetary value which they had decided on me without even knowing who I am within. Eventually, I went forward to get a diploma and even a degree which I may never use in my life. At that time however, I did not see it as a method to raise my self-worth. I conceived it as a plausible reason that to get on in life, I needed a degree. I would never acknowledge that I am low in my self-worth.

There was even a time when I had a criteria that my partner had to be slim and pretty so that people can be envious of me. Only to find out that superficial beauty will eventually erode while internal beauty shines more brightly as one ages.

Having low self-worth is detrimental for one's life as many times you just don't think you deserve good things. Many times, I am stuck in my tracks thinking that I will not be able to do anything great. Keep safe, Andrewson. Keep safe...

I am glad that I feel differently nowadays. There are still many attachment that I am learning to let go and many things to improve. But it does not matter if I am a degree holder, an O'level holder or a drop-out any more. It does not matter on how much money I am earning (though it is wonderful to have plenty) as it does not ascertain my self-worth and who am I as a person.

What makes the change? It is from the realization that no matter who I am in terms of education, intelligence, attractiveness, power and resources. There is always something I can contribute to humanity, to animals, to environment and to the world. All it takes is the willingness, the actions and the purpose. I am just who I am. We are all spiritual beings having a physical experience. I realized that self-worth is never about acquiring. It is about giving. How much love am I giving to myself and what are we contributing.

What we are giving that we think can help? To what extend is the contribution going to be timeless. How long will it benefit the others? Will it benefit our future generations? Knowing that I can do all these in my own ways raises my self-worth tremendously. My sense of worth no longer depends on physical acquisition which will disintegrate and perish in time. It no longer depends on things which I will not bring with me when I die. It depends on the values which I can contribute to the world that will impact and stays on even in tiny factors when I am no longer around. Self-worth also depends on our courage to live our dreams. The courage to take the actions when everyone else doesn't.

How much are you contributing to the world or are you just making the shareholders of the company that you are working in fat rich? How much are you doing for the environment or are you doing things which encourage organizations to pollute and destroy Earth further? Are you living a life which inspire people or a life which discourages people to go for what they want? Are you planting seeds of love around the world or you just leaving weeds in the mind of our children? Choose consciously as every choice we make has a butterfly effect. No matter how small, it will impact the whole world.

Do something for the world. Do something for Earth. Do something to improve the life of sentinel beings around you. Do it in your own ways. You do not have to make it big. A thousand steps starts with just one tiny step. Experience the wonder of giving and you will find joy in increasing your self-worth. Enjoy it and you will feel your self-worth soaring. The more you show love, the better the world becomes. We all need some love here and there.

So till next time and have fun .

'We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.' - Winston Churchill

Quote from Calvin Coolidge

2009-06-29T14:46:00.000+08:00

Nothing in this world can
take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common
than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius
is almost a proverb.

Education will not;
the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination
alone are omnipotent.

- Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)

If he can do this... What is impossible?

2009-06-27T11:19:00.010+08:00

Wow.... I am totally blown of by this video... It really reminds me of human's potential. Nothing is impossible in this world. It inspires me to live like him. Fearless.

Video on how to reduce your carbon footprints

2009-06-26T17:59:00.004+08:00

Came across a wonderful home-based website which is dedicated to help Singapore in reducing her carbon emission. While surfing through the site, I came across this helpful video.

So please enjoy . Hope you find it helpful.

Necker Cube

2009-06-26T11:11:00.005+08:00

The Necker Cube. Something which I learned in my Ethics class. Are you able to see two different views of the cube? This is a simple illustration of how we can perceive the same thing differently. It is an important lesson as what we perceived as right may not be right to other people. It is just like making another person agreeing to your view of the cube when obviously he can only see the other side of the view.

Therefore for a quality conversation to happen, we need to understand our view on the cube and also their view of it. This is because they are right too! Each of us is right in our model of the world. Convincing does not work. Understanding does.

Since then, I have been trying to apply the lesson to my life and it worked wonderfully. Every time when I am triggered to judge whether a person is right or wrong, I become aware that it is my perspective. How about theirs? Why do they feel that way? It had successfully reduced unnecessary arguments and prevented misunderstandings.

Try it out and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, you can always dump it. If it does, you be going for a new ride in life. Till next time

30 little things we can do to help Earth today

2009-06-25T09:28:00.016+08:00

Why help Earth? Err.... Because we are living in it. Because our children are also living in it. Because our future generations are going to live in it. No Earth = No humans. While Mother Earth has always been unconditionally giving us, we did little to give back. Capitalism has always been about take, take, take, take and more taking. Ever wonder why that we are called consumers? It is because we are literally consuming Earth away. It is time that we try to give back and by just doing a little on our part.

I have created a list 30 things below. Yeah I know, it looks overwhelming. However, we do not need to do all of them. Just doing one item will have a profound effect on the well-being of Earth. It is the accumulative factor. Imagine if just one person recycles one plastic bottle per day. Given just 1% of the world population (total 6.7 billion people) does such thing. We would have recycled 24.455 billions of plastics bottle per year. That is a pretty nice figure if you ask me. So come on ^_^. Let's do something for Mother Earth. If we don’t do something ourselves, who will?

Here the list goes.
1)Switch off the lights when not used. Why you need them on anyway..

2)Drink treated used water (such as Newater). The taste is purely conceived by imagination ^o^

3)Use cloth bags rather than paper or plastic bags. Plastic takes more than 400 years to decompose.. How much waste do we want to leave for our future generations?

4)Turn off the running water when you are doing other activities. Why let it run when not using??

5)Use cups when brushing your teeth. You be amazed by how much water you can save..

6)Pickup plastic bottles, papers and metals into the recycle bins when you see them. When your hands get dirty, it can be washed. But if those things get dumped.. Earth suffers.

7)Use less paper.. Try to go paperless. 28 hectares of trees are being cut down every minute just for our need of papers.

8)Turn off your computer when not using. Are there so many things you need to download? Are they even legal?

9)Eat less meat or become a vegetarian. Meat eating is detrimental to our planet. By eating meat, we are basically eating our planet away.

10)Recycle your papers. Use both sides of it.

11)Use recycled papers. The papers may feel thin but why do you need them to be so thick for? Is it more important than our planet?

12)Set up recycle bins in your home and your office.

13)Convince your boss to go paperless. Be creative! Use your charm~ *wink

14)Stop buying newspapers. Today's newspapers today are filled with mostly negative things which isn’t healthy for our well-being anyway. If you really have to... Go to the library...

15)Use power efficient/saving appliances. They cost less actually in long run. Think about the bills you are going to save and the things you are doing for Earth.

16)Share with your friends and families on helping our planet

17)Donate or volunteer to organizations that are trying to help Earth

18)Recycle your electronics. They can be recycled. China is earning tons from it.

19)Eat organic food. Organic farming doesn't use pesticide or fertilizers which also means no pollution to the land or water around. I know… they are more expensive but much healthier and yummy too.

20)Use public transport. Less emission of gases.

21)Change the belief that we are better than nature. The fact is, we can’t survive without nature.

22)Give or sell away your old books. Save trees~

23)Reuse the water when you wash your clothes. Fill it up in pails to flush the toilets or to wash clothes next time.

24)Buy a bigger washing machine to reduce the frequency of washing. It saves electricity, saves water and also saves your time and energy.

25)Raise your awareness on what is happening to Earth. Read up or subscribe to newsletters such as VSS (Vegetarian Society Singapore) and goVeg.

26)Do not litter in nature as they crop up the whole Eco-system. For example, animals are dying due to suffocation from plastic bags.

27)Cook at home as it reduces the use plastic bags, plastics utensils and Styrofoam boxes. If you don't or unable to cook, at least eat out rather than packing it home.

28)Short showers... you be just as clean even after 5 minutes of showering..

29)Use the fans instead of air-conditioners. It is a paradox. Usage of air-conditioners increases global warming and global warming makes people become more dependent on air-conditioners. It is a vicious cycle. Why continue it?

30)Lastly, send this article to everyone you know ^_^.

So what can you do today? Ohh come on, I sure you can do something. ^o^
Until next time, live consciously.

Update - 30 days trial of waking up at 4.30am

2009-06-23T13:10:00.005+08:00

Today is the 5th day of my trial. Currently, I am still sticking well to it ^_^. Most of the nights I will sleep around 10pm except for last Sunday which I slept at 12.30am. However, I was still able to wake up at 4.30am due to the tactics I shared the other time.

So far, I loved the idea of waking up at 4.30am as the air is cooler and it is quieter. I am able to have more time too! More reading, more writing, more web surfing, more time to do the things I wanted. What else can I ask for ^_^.

Health wise, I am visiting the toilet more often than before. As compared to the past, now I am going to the toilet at least 2 times daily. It feels great to be able to remove impurities from my body more frequently now.

Its been fun ^_^

Quote from comic - Eye Shield 21

2009-06-23T07:05:00.002+08:00

无论怎样平凡的雄兽都有其无法剥夺的权利
那就是
挑战族群的首领。
这个权利你是使用呢？
还是放弃？
是你做的决定。

Translation:
No matter how ordinary a male animal is,
He has a right which no one can deny it of.
That is..
The rights to challenge the leader of the pack.
Will you use this rights?
Or will you forsake it?
You will have to make the choice.

Challenge yourself. Challenge the best in the field. We all have the rights to do it.

More treats for animal lovers (Pipi)

2009-06-20T10:29:00.020+08:00

Isn't he cute? Can you feel the love he is exhibiting? Here is a plead to my readers. Only get a pet if you are sure that you have time for them. They need love, care and attention just as any humans need. They will not be able to survive if one day you feel that you have no time for it and decided to abandon it. It feels exactly the same as parents abandoning their child. They will be heartbroken and die sadly knowing that their owners do not want them. Please love your pets as they loved you deeply too.

How I became a Vegetarian (Shorter Version)

2009-06-20T10:22:00.005+08:00

There are still some friends of mine who wondered why I became a vegetarian. I guess the last post of my explanation was just to long to induce interest -_-. This is the short version which I posted to Vegetarian Society (Singapore). VSS is a website which provides huge amount of supports to vegetarians or vegetarians wannabe. They provide locations of local vegetarian food stalls, recipes, nutrition advices and almost everything related to vegetarianism.

Anyway, here's my story

I have been a vegetarian since 5/01/09. My shift towards vegetarianism started when I read 'Food for Thought', by Singapore’s own Adam Moledina, about the horrendous treatment of the non-human animals whom we eat. I learned more and found that livestock’s food is not regulated, including the amount of chemical pesticides and fertilizers used in growing their food. I saw how our fellow animals are treated as profit making machines, how they are mutilated and confined with almost no space to move and how some go insane due to the unnatural and cruel conditions. This got me wondering how we are able to inflict so much pain on other species just for our personal gain.

I also learned more about the many ways that meat production wastes food and other resources and how this damages our planet. For instance, many hectares of forests are cut down to provide space for animal herding, and animal faeces pollute seas and rivers. The seas also suffer as marine species are decimated by overfishing. Our Earth is dying at our hands.

Frankly speaking, I knew these reasons for sometime before I eventually switched to vegetarian. Why did I take so long to switch? No matter how compelling the reasons were, I had been brought up thinking of other animals as food rather than as fellow beings who can feel pain and love and can even think. Refraining from meat also seemed too limiting and too difficult a lifestyle to follow, especially when everyone around me was a non-vegetarian. Despite these obstacles, on that fateful day last January, I decided to do a 30-day vegetarian trial.

When the 30 days ended in February, I decided to keep going, and I am still happily a vegetarian. It has not been as hard as I thought it would be, and I can see all the benefits that it has brought to my life. For instance, my family members are now taking more vegetables. I also feel a self-esteem boost knowing that I am doing something good for the Earth and the other animals every time I choose not to eat meat. Currently, I’m moving toward a vegan diet.

I Love Vegetarianism!

Life After Death

2009-06-19T15:06:00.005+08:00

What is your thought on Life After Death? Some believe that we either go into Heaven or Hell depending on the sins we do. Some believe that we will reincarnate till we experience all sort of life. Some believe we will born into animals, trees or men depending on our karma. Some say there is no life after death. We just vanish out of existence after we die.

Heaven and Hell
What do you think? I personally had been through several different belief transition myself. When I was a child, I grew up believing everything my parents told me. The belief which they taught me was that we go to hell after we die. There are several levels of it depending on the sins which I have committed. The deeper the sins, the deeper the level. In there, we will experience the same torture over and over again till we are cleansed and then we ascend a level till we are eventually cleanse of everything and become living things again.

I was living in constant fear in those years. In fear of spiritual beings, wondering when will I offend them. In fear of gods' wrath (there are so many of them), constantly avoid doing things that may make them unhappy. In fear of not listening to parents, since they seemed to know all the rules and one of the rules is to listen to your parents' command. I am also in constant feeling of guilt and fear if I did anything wrong according to the commandments.

Don't get me wrong. They are wonderful parents who I am grateful to be born into as their child. They taught all they knew which they had learn from their parents whom most probably learn the same thing from their own parents..

As I grew up, through the exposure of with other religions, I started to find the belief absurd as it seems that every religion has a different version of hell. Many of them claimed that they are the only truth and if you believe in another you are condoned to hell. It makes me wonder that what kind of hell do I have to serve eventually if I switched to another religion. Which one has the power to decide? How is it decided on which version of hell that I will serve? Chronological? The one that I make the most sins? The religion which I hold on my deathbed or each of them will have a piece of me to torture with.

Even their versions of heaven varies. Some are on clouds, some do not. Some have a bureaucracy up there, whereas some have a omni-being with children. It is just too complicated. I also started to question if there is God, why do he/she demands our love and compliance if he/she is so omnipotent. Why do disasters happened? Why do good people die and bad one lives on? Do they enjoy watching this?

Atheist
Leaving all those beliefs behind, I became a atheist. Strangely, it became more powering. I am no longer trapped by rules that makes no senses at all. Life became a relief. Contrary to beliefs, I do not need commandments to be a good person. As I know that when we pick up one end of the stick, the other end get picked up too. That is natural law – consequences.

I also started to adopt the model that when people die, they go to a 3rd dimension. The only reason why we can't see them is because of the different frequency which we are using. Like a radio, we can only pickup a channel at the correct frequency. That is why animals and some people are able to see spirits. In that world, we just live like what we are doing now.

This model worked for me for a while until I wonder whether if I still exist in any form in that world. Do I continue doing what I am doing now? What about the physically possession I have now? Do I have to gather them again over there? What about my friends and family? Do they automatically appear in front of me when I die or do they have to travel to find me? I realized that this model was built upon the my atheist model in which things stay the same even after death. Atheism can't explains the miracles which happens in real life and also lacked the peace and love where some spiritual people naturally exhibit.

Becoming Light
Eventually, I adopted the idea of going back to the source after we die. Becoming what we are formed in the first place – Light. We become the wonderful light and experience immense love again in the kingdom of heaven regardless of what we have done in our life. As God created us to experience life. Life is just an expression of experiences.

However, this again does not explains fully what is my purpose of being here. Why am I born into this being called Andrewson and not any others? Why in this particular identity? It does not explains also why do we have cases of phenomenon where we have strong negative forces (ghosts) lurking around. If we are go back to become light, why they stayed? What makes them stay?

Soul purpose
Other ideas such as Soul Purpose comes along. It attempted to explain the reason why we are born to a particular family is to fulfill our soul purpose. This is good too, however being a left brained person, it does not give me clear steps on how to discover my soul purpose.

What if I am unable to define it or mistaken it? Do I have to review my life sadly when I die because I did not attain my soul purpose? Do I have to redo it all over again until I fulfill it? Is all soul purposes predetermined? Why can't I determine my own one? It just seems to lack freedom if everything is predestined and seems too risky.

Now
Finally, from an Ah Ha experience yesterday, I realized my answer. I was jogging and listening to Steve Pavlina's pod cast on Life, The Universe and Everything. From the pod cast, Steve got me to ponder on what are the things that we can bring with us when we die. We are definitely not going to be able to bring any physical acquisition we have. Such as money, house, clothes, businesses, titles...... Come to think about it, ain't it sad if we spend all our life trying to own these things and ultimately let go of all when we die. Don't get me wrong, its nice to have or acquire them while you are alive. But using all of the my life to acquire them doesn't seem so right now since we will lose them anyway.

So what can we bring over? The only possible one is consciousness. The level of consciousness which we are experiencing at the time we die. Everything is perceived in our level of consciousness. Our eyes get the information.. But it is our consciousness that tell us we see that thing. Everything and anything exist is subjected to our consciousness. Currently, I am unable to prove that anything exists without my consciousness. Please let me know if you do as I will be glad to find out.

With the physical form gone, we are left with nothing but our consciousness. Imagine such a life. It will be exciting! We can go to any place we want just at a blink of thought, we can travel through time, materialize any thoughts and all the possibilities!!! However, this comes with a catch too. In our consciousness, we bring along with us our limiting beliefs and fears. How can this be? Limiting beliefs are much more powerful than we thought them to be. In our real life, how many of us had not been doing what we really wanted just because of some limiting beliefs. We may say that well..... it will be different if we know everything is possible... But the fact is, in reality, everything is already possible. If we believe wholeheartedly that we are made in the image of the Creator/God, we are able to create anything we want in life! Let me share with you my personal experience I had with limiting beliefs even though I know everything is possible.

A week ago, I had my first lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is about having a dream where you are conscious enough to know that it is a dream. Once you are conscious, you can do anything you want in it. Even though I knew that it was a dream and anything is possible, I did not fly but floated because I did not believe I can. At one point, I even self sabotaged and lost my consciousness in the dream due to my doubts in my creativity to make the dream more fun. How sad and disappointing is that. When I imagine my Life After Death to that way.... I can't help feeling constraint and sad for my soul when I supposed to be creative.

That is the reason why we have souls that are trapped in their own hell due to their level of consciousness. That is why we have negative energies lurking in ghost houses unable to let go of their beliefs that they have to be trapped there forever.

Looking at it, the only asset which we will ever and only own is our consciousness. Everything else faces extinction. Therefore, the best thing we can do for ourselves and others is to raise the level of consciousness we are having. Overcoming the fears and fully experience life in whatever way we will like to experience is the best way to live. It is too sad to deny our own wants and needs just because of our limiting beliefs. We are created here as human beings to experience and to raise our level of consciousness. The level of consciousness will be the level of experience we going to have in our life after death.

It is my purpose in life now to overcome my fears that are unnecessary. It is my purpose now to raise my level of consciousness and the experience everything that life has in place for me. It is also my purpose now to serve others in raising their level of consciousness and their ability to enjoy life. Tiny steps at a time can make a big difference in life. Join me on the journey to a Life of Courage. From what I see, there seems no better ways to live one. Come on, lets have fun with life ^o^

30 days trial of Waking up at 4.30am

2009-06-19T14:44:00.004+08:00

Today I had began a 30 days trial of waking up at 4.30am instead of my usual 5.30am.
Why? Wanted to have more time to do my stuff even though I already have the whole day since I am not working lol. It just don't seems to be enough.

In addition, some health experts say that 4plus am is the time which our body does its cleansing. Seems kind of true as personally I went to the toilet 2 times in total in the morning. One immediately after I woke up. In the past, I usually had only once in the morning.

The last reason was to experience the life which Steve Pavlina, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer and Eckhart Tolle have. They all wake up at such hours. There must be a reason for it. ^_^

Good luck to me.

100 things to do before you die

2009-06-17T14:16:00.006+08:00

Came across this when I was reading Good Paper. It is a fun exercise which makes you think about what you really want to do so you won't be regretting badly at your deathbed. Ohh come on... All of us will die anyway....Since we are all dying might as well have fun during our time here.

So enjoy the game ^_^
Tips for playing the game: It is easier when you do it with the mindset "What will you do if you know nothing will fail".

Here are my personal 30 just not to bore you to death and give you an idea.
1) Bungee Jump
2) Visit the seven wonders
3) Plant a forest
4) Run a full marathon
5) Write & Publish a book
6) Impact a million people's life positively
7) Black belt in Akido
8) Write my own songs
9) Sponsor a kid in 3rd world country
10) Do public speaking
11) Able to speak and write 5 languages
12) Have a house by the sea
13) Become a Millionaire
14) Trek Africa's nature reserve
15) Participate in disaster relief
16) Be a guest in Wwoofer program
17) Skydiving
18) Travel around Europe for 6 months
19) Win a dance competition
20) Write my own vegan cookbook
21) Become psychic
22) Do rock climbing
23) Meet Steve and Erin Pavlina
24) Build a blog that has million readership monthly
25) Swim with dolphins
26) See a wild whale
27) Fly a plane
28) Become raw foodist
29) Find a cure for color blind
30) Trek deep caves

Habits

2009-06-17T06:31:00.009+08:00

Humans are creatures of habits. Everything we do are an offset of our habits. How we think, what we choose to do first, how we react, are terrifyingly identical day to day. Do you frequently push important tasks such as assignments until the last minute? Do you choose to have fun first before doing anything else? Do you sleep late at night everyday and having difficulties waking up the next morning?

Habits are what distinct a successful person and a mediocre. Successful person always have time to complete what seemingly impossible tasks. They always seems so full of energy to jump on the next tasks. Why so? Because they have effective habits.

I have a huge dosage of ineffective habits myself. Like sitting on assignments till deadline and frantically struggled through the last two days to complete it which caused lots of unnecessary stress on myself and people around me. Like playing games or do any other things first rather than hitting on what is needed to be done. Like spending hours and hours of my life on games and porn. Like lazing in my comfort zone... Hmm tons of them.

I had learn about that to replace the old habits, we have to induce new ones. I had learn about the science behind it and the benefits from it. Then.... Nothing happened for months! There is no motivation to do such changes. Why no motivation? Lack of clarity of what I want, lack of reason to really do it... Looking back now, I realized why many people can't seem to change their old destructive habits. Its not because they are lazy or lack of willpower (maybe some are :oP). They just don't know how to or they lacked the means to.

Fast forward to now. Personally I have adopted the following set of new habits. Wake up at 5.30am, exercise everyday (swimming on odd and jogging on even days), looking for ways to contribute everyday, collecting trash papers to recycle, picking up used plastics bottles to recycle when i see them, writing journal, writing dream journal, 25 minutes of vision training daily, meditation for 15 mins every night, reciting of affirmations twice a day. Then I have removed the following old ones. Playing of computer games, surfing of porn, masturbation, sleeping more than 8 hours, sleeping late.

Whew.... It is an amazing experience. The new habits automatically replaces the old ones as they filled in the time I emptied from old ineffective habits. By waking up at 5.30am, I feel that I have a head start in the day earlier and is able to get much more things accomplished than I originally would. I am able to channel the time and energy I originally spent in games and porn to write articles, making self improvement, readings and thinking of ways to contribute to the society.

Here's how I did it.
1) Have a strong WHY that I want a new habit. This is crucial as it is what which sustains us. When we lack a big enough why, we fail. Simple as that. No need to beat yourself over it if you can't follow through a habit.

2) Made a decision to do it. I have to decide a date to start. If I didn't, i would have kept procrastinating and maybe other days I will do it. It is most effective if I do it immediately. That will get my engine and motion into action.

3) Do a 30 day trial. It is important to be consistent during these 30 days. One must do the intended habit consecutively for these 30 days without fail. It is a easier process too as it is only 30 days. If I find it too difficult to keep it up after this 30 days, I can give it up and still feel I have accomplished something ^_^. In this 30 days you will find creative ways to fit in this habit and experience the changes needed in your lifestyle for this habit to happen. So to me 30 days is just nice.

4) Keep to one habit at a time. Give ourselves a sack. Many failed due to trying to accomplish too many at one go. Over-burn in the process. Imagine if you adopt just one new habit every month. you get 12 new ones in a year! That is a impressive life changing experience if you ask me.

5) Give myself a pat every time when I keep to my habit. Thank myself. It is sad that many time we forgot to thank ourselves. Your soul is crying for it! So say thank you to yourself for being so disciplined! Thank you to yourself for being so wonderful! Trust me. It works. If it don't, it feels good. ^0^

So have fun with creating new habits. You will see amazing changes in your life. When you find that you feel uncomfortable not doing it, you have gained yourself a new habit. Are you ready for a wild of a ride? I hope you do. Good luck ^o^

The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

2009-06-16T18:00:00.006+08:00

I want to share this beautiful article which I get from Good Paper. Good Paper is a bi-monthly, bi-lingual newspaper devoted to only the positve side of news. The founder Ling Seow has a personal vision to bring good news. News that will inspire, motivate and encourage.

Enjoy.

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers
and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moment

Law of Attraction - Revisited

2009-06-16T16:15:00.006+08:00

It is hard for some people to see that everything that came to their life were attracted by their thoughts. Thoughts are creative energy. When enough is concentrated, it will manifest into being. That is the reason why most thoughts don't manifest immediately. They need time to conceptualize. It is also Universe/God's way of seeing whether that we really want that thought. As a matter of fact, we are blessed that we can't manifest everything immediately... Imagine a world where people just manifesting everything they want. Looking at the level of our consciousness now the sequence of events are likely to happen. First it will be chaos as people are creating anything they want. Then humanity will be destroyed as some tried to overpower the other and created a massive weapon that ultimately destroys Earth. In the past, I had secretly intended many times for bad things to happen to some people which I am glad it didn't.

Recently in my life, I can see duration of the time I set my intention to the manifestation shorten. Many times, when I set an intention for a clarification or an idea, it will be in some article or mp3 which I listen to. If I want thinking of ways to contribute, channels will appear in my email or other aspects of my life. Let me share with you one particular event that happened about 1 week ago.

I am currently into vision training therefore I had set an intention to get hold of as many information I can on them. One day, I was walking home from grocery shopping when I came across a stack of papers lying all around the lane. In the past, I would have just ignored it. But this time, I bent down to collect them as I intended to put them into the recycle bin. I recognized it to be some sort of lecture notes and out of curiosity I wanted to find out what it was. It turned out to be lecture notes about light and the one facing me was on the topic of Optical. What is the odds of this happening???

So have fun with Law of Attraction. It is fun and entertaining if you use it positively. And it definitely exists. Good luck ^_^

How to travel around the world cheaply

2009-06-15T11:35:00.005+08:00

I will like to share on this amazing opportunity to travel cheaply and learn new things along the way.

The magic is WWOOF - World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Wwoof is world wide network which farmers come together to share the message of sustainable farming. They offer lodging, meals, farming advices and experience life of locals. In return, we as Wwoofers will provide manual labor to help them out in their farming activities which usually lasts 6 hours a day. In short, all you have to pay for is your air tickets and miscellaneous expenditure such as souvenirs. Note: There is a subscription fee to become Wwoofers though.

I first learn about this from Niki and I wonder how amazing it is. It has hosts in almost all the continents in the world. Imagine traveling around the work without paying for your accommodation and meals while learning valuable skills along the way. It is ridiculously cool! LOL!

In our trip to Japan this October, we are trying to link up to at least 2 Wwoofer hosts to get back to the nature and learn more about organic farming. Not to mention the free lodgings and meals... heehee....

Hope this information is helpful to you who loves traveling.

Love Which Transcend Species (Pipi)

2009-06-14T07:16:00.011+08:00

Last Valentine, a new member had joined our home. Tan Pipi, a Shih Tzu. His has an uncanny ability to cure anyone (especially ladies) of dog phobia once they come in contact with him. My explanation for this phenomenon is that it may be linked to his birth date.... A Casanova reborn? Neither does he scratch or bite furniture. Amazingly he will stay on the sofa automatically when we are mopping the floor and will stay up the whole day to wait for my Dad to come home when he goes out... LOL enough of singing praises about our dog, what I will like to share here is a story with Pipi which shows me what unconditional love is.

I was down with fever on the 12 June 09. As such, to recuperate, I had to keep resting. When I came home in the morning, it was as if that Pipi can sense that I was unwell. He kept following me around, waving his tail and looking at me. After my drink, I went to rest. I realized that he kept coming into my room and stayed around. That had never happened before especially when my Dad was around. He would stay close to my Dad, wanting him to play. At first, I thought this may be a coincidence. Eventually I drifted off to sleep.

I was awaken by something pushing my fingers and I realized that it was Pipi again. When I walked to grab my drink, I found out that my Dad had went out since noon. I was shocked with Pipi's action as it had been a routine that every time my Dad went out, he would be staying close to the door awaiting for him to come back. But this time, he chose to stay in the room with me for the whole day. Every time, when I woke up, he was beside me. I had no doubt that he was trying to take care of me. It was as if he was saying, 'Don't worry, I will take care of you. I will be here till you get better ^_^'. It lasted throughout the day until I became better eventually and he went back to his routines of playing, waiting for my dad, eating...

Pipi's action has really touched me and gained me new perspective on animals. Who says that animals can't think or express love. Who says that they react to external stimulus only. Pipi has shown me love which transcend species. He has shown me that he can make decision and he had made one to stay with me.

P.S. Show your Love when you have the opportunity. It does make a difference. Just as Pipi did. Beware if you don't.... As Tan Pipi is watching........ *Woof!

Story of 'Old Man'

2009-06-14T07:15:00.002+08:00

On the 5th June, I attended the Green Generation Concert where they had Dr. Jane Goodall as the keynote speaker. Dr Jane Goodall is a renowned primatologist who spent 45 years studying chimpanzees and founded Jane Goodall Institute which focuses on making positive change for communities, animals and the environment. In her speech, she shared with us on a touching story regarding a chimpanzee named 'Old Man'.

Old Man was not really old; he just looked old. The cause may be due to his earlier life. When he was two years old, his mother was killed and he was captured by poachers. He was then shipped to North America where he spent the next 10 years of his life in a biomedical research lab as a test subject. When he was 12 years old, he was retired to a zoo which is on a man-made island in Florida. He was placed there with another 3 females who had also been abused by humans.

A young man named Marc Cusano was employed by the zoo. One of his jobs was to look after these chimps, and he was told, "Don't go near them. They hate people. They'll kill you." For a while, Marc would throw the food up onto the banks from the shores.

But as he watched them, he became more and more fascinated. He saw how the group would hug and kiss each other. He saw how gentle and loving Old Man was with his little infant. Marc thought, "How can I look after these wonderful animals if I don't have some kind of good relationship with them? " So he began going closer and closer. Finally one day, Old Man took some food from Marc's hand.

As time went by, Marc gained confidence and stepped onto the shore of the island. One day he actually groomed Old Man and eventually was able to play with him. The females were more standoffish, but they made no fuss when Marc walked onto the island.

Things went well for about a year after his first contact with Old Man. However, one day, Marc slipped, fell on his face, and startled the infant. The infant screamed, and the infant's mother raced to defend her child. She leapt onto Marc and bit deeply into his neck. The other two females also jumped on him, in support of their friend. One bit his wrist, one bit his leg. Then Marc saw Old Man thundering towards him with great ferocity. Marc thought that he was going to die this time. Old Man must have misunderstood that he wanted to hurt his child too.

Instead, Old Man physically pulled each of those females off Marc. While Marc painfully dragged himself to the boat for safety, Old Man kept the screaming, keeping the highly aroused females at bay. After he came out of the hospital, he told me that: "You know, Jane, there's absolutely no question that Old Man saved my life."

This story makes me teared and wondered... If a chimpanzee which has been abused by us for 10 years can reach out across the species barrier to help a human friend in time of need, then surely we humans with our deeper capacity for understanding and compassion can do better. Surely, we can reach out to help chimpanzees and other creatures with whom we share the planet in their desperate time of need. Surely, we can forgive and help our fellow humans when they are in trouble. Surely, we can make this world a better place.

More reasons to eat less meat

2009-03-13T12:33:00.004+08:00

If helping the animals aren't calling to you, maybe this will change your mind on eating meat. Here's a beautiful video made in Hong Kong by a non profit group titled Save The Humans. Yes, it is about saving ourselves. There is a great message in the video that asks, 'What are you doing personally to help the world?' I believe that regardless of how much we can do, it starts with us. In addition, I am throwing in a short article on what will a rise in 4 degree Celsius of global temperature will do to our world (Quite horrifying) ^_^. Please enjoy both of them.

Lack of self

2009-03-10T09:02:00.005+08:00

This morning I had a good glimpse of what lack of self is. I was offering my mom help to buy groceries after I sent Niki to the MRT when she replied with anger that it will be too late by the time i come back as she need to buy breakfast for my brother and his girlfriend. It is difficult to ignore the hostility in her tone.

I proceeded to say that actually she needs not buy any breakfast for us since that we are already all adults. But she rebuked that my brother and I were already so skinny when there was breakfast available. If there is none, she can't imagine how we will look. I was astonished by that answer and wonder why can't she just let go and stop being so unhappy. Won't it be better if she just let us handle our own breakfast? Did she think that we can't even handle it? If she is unhappy about it, why not just stop doing it and makes everyone else miserable by building a field of negativity around her.

Humans have interesting ways to make themselves feel important. All of us need someway or the other to feel wanted by other people even though at times we may loathe the process. It is an addiction to feel wanted as deep inside you may feel your existence does not matters. It seems to her that this is one of the only ways for her to feel that there is a need for her existence. To feel that she is contributing in her life.

How often have you seen people around you doing the same thing in different concepts. The need to keep a job, the need to look smart, the need to feel wanted by alcoholics. Its an illness that exists in our society. Is it because of the lack of ourselves? The lack of action to accomplish things which we always wanted to do? The lack of love about who we are that we need others to justify it? Why do many of us so not content with ourselves? Why is there a need to feel wanted?

I really believe there the root of this is the lack of self love. If you don't love yourself enough, you will need other to love you to prove that you are worthy of love. It is a paradox as the more you demand, the more obvious is your lack of self love. The act of demanding and demanding will make people shun away. In the end, you won't have anyone to love you anymore. So love yourself first and stop demanding. Love by itself is unconditional. Conditional love is not love. It is an exchange... And a miserable one.

In the presence of beauty

2009-03-10T07:20:00.003+08:00

I was looking at the trees in the park this morning when I felt a sudden rush of chill in my body. It is then I realized I am at the awe of the simple beauty in front of me. Immediately my mind went into autopilot and started to think of a word to explain the feeling. What is the beauty? Why is it beautiful? What attracted me to think that it is a beauty? It is then the feeling which I had at first started to diminish. It is the act of explaining it with mind which takes the sensation away. After understanding it, I was able to hold on to the sensation so much longer. Just immense myself in it without explaining why I feel it. In life, our human's vocabulary is so limited to explain every feeling we have.

'In the presence of beauty, there is no need to describe. Enjoy the feelings and embrace it. Then all is good'

After Thoughts on Authentic Happiness - Martin Seligman

2009-03-09T11:18:00.007+08:00

Authentic Happiness discussed on what makes us happy (authentic happiness) from a scientific approach. It is a great book if you are one of those skeptics who need evidences to believe in what they read (like me ^o^) as it is supported by researches and surveys. It is interesting to see in the book that making more money does not bring happiness and life satisfaction. Neither do staying healthy, getting as much education nor changing of your race will help much. There may have an initial effect but it is not lasting.

There are several things in this book that have a strong impact on me. I try to list some of them below

Strengths and Talents are different.
Strengths are moral traits and talents aren't. Example of strengths are integrity, valor and kindness. Where else talents are perfect pitch, sprinting speed, public speaking skills and etc.

Strengths are trainable whereas talents are not as trainable. Talents are more innate. You either have it or not. No doubt you can train your singing skills or your running tactics. But there is a limit on how much you can improve them. Reality shows us that not everyone can sprint as fast as Usain Bolt or sing as well as Jam Hsiao. As for strengths, with enough voluntary actions made, persistence and good teaching, it can flourish for anyone.

Good news is that people are more inspired by strengths than talents. It is a different emotion seeing Michael Jordan thrashing his outclassed opponent effortlessly versus seeing him scoring 38 points despite him having a 103-degree fever.

Strengths are also the traits that determine us as human and the outcome of our life. Looking at the successful people in our society, most of them are distinctive due to their strengths than their talents. Einstein is known for his creativity and love of learning but not his ability to do research. Lance Armstrong is known for his perseverance and ability to overcome obstacles but not so much as how good is him in biking or how he looks.

This information has opened up my world and motivates me to work on my strengths than worrying about whats my talents. We tend to think too much of talents, assuming that without any of them makes us useless, not outstanding or can't achieve anything n life. It makes me understand that I do not need to be great at any talents to be a great person or to be successful.

Work orientation
In the book, 'Work orientation' is divided into a job, a career and a calling.

You do a job for the as a means to another end(like leisure, or supporting your family), and when the wages stop, you quit.

A career entails a deeper personal investment in work. You mark your achievements through money, but also through advancement. Each promotion brings you higher prestige and more power, as well as raise. When the promotion stops - when you 'top out' - alienation starts, and you begin to look elsewhere for gratification and meaning.

A calling is a passionate commitment to work for its own sake. Individuals with a calling see their work as contributing to the greater good, to something larger than they are. The work is fulfilling in its own right without regard for money or for advancement. When the money stops and promotion ends, the work goes on.

Any job can become a calling and any calling can become a job. Priest who views work as career is simply interested money and advancement while a garbage collector who sees work as making the world a cleaner, healthier place could have a calling.

To transform a job or career into a calling, we will have to re-craft our work so that we can include our signature strengths in it and make it a win-win situation. For us, for our employers and even our competitors. You can find out more about you signature strengths by taking a survey here.

This information has made me realized that I had always been treating my past work as job. It had really reshaped my mind in finding for the 'right job' that is 'most' suitable for me or keep looking for my so called calling. In reality, any job can become a calling if I want it to be. I just have to find do something that I can incorporate my strengths into it and attain gratification from it.

Styles of Loving
Seligman described 3 styles of love in his book. They are called secure, avoidant and anxious. I had always thought that I am a secure type. One that is trustful of their friends, love ones and have few self-doubts. Apparently, I was very wrong.

Here are the characteristics of avoidant adults.
Memories: Avoidant adults remember their mothers as cold, rejecting and unavailable.

Attitudes: Avoidant people regard other people wth suspicion, as dishonest and untrustworthy (guilty until proven innocent). They lacked confidence especially in social situations

Goals: Avoidant people try to keep their distance from those they love, and they put a greater weight on achievement than on intimacy.

Managing distress: Avoidant people don't disclose. They don't tell you when they are upset; they do not show or admit to anger.

After reading on this... I was like Woah! Does he know me or what! I was so amazed by the accuracy and knowing that I am not as secure as I thought was liked an awakening. It is hard truth but I am happy as I know it now. So many times I had tried to justify myself on my unwillingness to trust and open up. Now this is a message to wake me up. Now I know where I stand and what I need to do to proceed to become a better person. Thanks Seligman.

I recommend this book to people who are ready for a jolt to their reality of themselves. Currently I am applying 'delayed pleasure' which I learn from the book and man I had hell lots of fun on it haha. Hope that it is as enjoyable for me as it is for me ^_^.

A Life of without meat

2009-02-26T09:32:00.004+08:00

Its been nearly 2 months since I started vegetarianism. It has been a lovely journey and I intended to continue for life. On contrary to belief, being vegetarian does not make you weak. In fact I felt much healthier than before. Also it does not need much discipline to hold on to vegetarianism once you have your reasons entrenched. So what are the benefits of being a vegetarian that I experienced so far?

You lose weigh automatically - I had lost 2 kgs since I started. It takes no attempt from my side. No need to exercise or eat less food.

You become better at temper management - There is significant reduction of my impulsiveness to fare up. I am currently able to be calmer.

You feel good about yourself - Feels that I am doing something for Mother Earth and the animals.

You become more compassionate - Seeing animals in a different light. Now i see them as living beings rather than food and I also attempted to understand them more. It is a great change from past where I usually think of how this animal can be cooked once I laid my eyes on them.

You influence your loved ones' dietary habit - Its amazing to see how much vegetables we had in our fridge now and how much more vegetables my family eat nowadays. Yesterday, Niki's mum even cooked delicious vegetarian fried rice for lunch. It is a miracle considering how intact meat eaters her family is.

You are able to make quick decisions on food choice - It saves a lot of agony and time as compared to the past where I pondering what to eat. Now it is more direct. Vegetables, no meat and healthy food. It usually amuses me to see how undeciding Niki is towards her food. Feeling guilty and at the same time unable to suppress her addiction towards unhealthy food.

You tend to get more people striking conversation with you - Its an interesting phenomenon to see that strangers opening up to strike a conversation with me, wanting to know why I become a vegetarian. What I eat, how i fare, how i discipline myself etc etc. Haha a great gift if you are usually too shy to break the ice. ^_^

You tend to smell better ^o^ - Haha this is the feedback I get from Niki. I can't prove to you how true it is. I guess it is true to a certain extend as there are researches saying that people who are heavy meat eaters tend to have body odour. (like rotten meat).

You fart less - Its observable in my case that I had farted so much less as compared to the past. Even if I fart, its usually smellness now. hohoho.

Great benefits if you ask me. Too good for me to go back to meat again. ^_^

A wonderful Message by George Carlin

2009-02-03T07:10:00.002+08:00

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

How to wake up early everyday

2009-02-01T12:04:00.001+08:00

1)Come up with a reason for waking up early. This is important as it gives you the motivation to do it.

2)Plan a list of things which you are going to do when you wake up. If you don't plan, you will definitely go back to sleep due to boredom

3)Begin with a 30 days trial. Making it a lifestyle may seem too overwhelming for some people. Try it for 30 days and see if it fits you. See if there is any reasons for you to go on. In regardless of whether you want to continue on or not, completion of the trial will give you a sense of accomplishment and increases your self-discipline.

4)Make a commitment to wake up at a particular time regardless of what time you sleep at night.

5)Put on a loud alarm which you are unable to ignore it

6)Once you are awaken, proceed to wash your face.

7)Turn on the light as it will reduce your sleepiness when light gets into your eyes

8)Get down to do what you have planned regardless of how you are feeling at the moment. For example, go for a jog if you have planned even if you feel weak. However, you can reduce the intensity. The aim here is “Just do It”

9)Finally, give yourself a pat once you have successfully completed your list. You have done well.

About Gays and Trans

2009-01-31T11:23:00.006+08:00

It is interesting to see how often we damn things that we can’t understand or not try to understand as unacceptable. Our society seems to love prosecuting people for just being who they are. Many just can’t seem to accept people just being different.

In this article, I will attempt to show how different are they from the conventional view.

Firstly, I feel that there is a need to define the difference between gays and trans. Gay refers to homosexual which can be used for both male and female. In the nutshell, gays are comfortable to be in the body which they are born with whereas trans (transsexual and transvestite) are people who feel that they are born in the wrong gender. So please don’t go on assuming all gay wants to go for a sex change. It just shows how stereotyping you really are.

Like most of us, I was brought up in an environment where we condemn gays and trans. At that time, I would feel disgusted at the presence of sissy, wondering what’s wrong with their mind. Loved to talk bad about butches (female who dress like male) and joking about gays having a good time in army since they get to see free porn. Enjoyed making Changi a sightseeing spot as there are trans for display. Purposely hurting feminine male friends with sarcasm and wishing them to change for the better. Yeah, I had been through that. It is a firm belief that guys should act like guys and girls should act like girls (I just realized that Malaysia actually banned tomboys with the same reason -_-). When I recall those days now, I can’t help but find my behavior childish and arrogant.

Who is to decide how guys or girls should act ?_?. Science has already shown that all of us have both male and female hormones. As a matter of fact, we are born female in the first place, before the male hormones start to develop. So why must female wear skirts while males wear pants. We are of both sexes.

From young, we are bought up in the way that the society wants us to be. Only girls can have Barbie while boys play with transformers. Girls stay at home playing music, while boys go for outdoor games. It is all predetermined by humans. Not by God nor the Universe. If God gives you free will, why will it want to control your choice of doing what you want? Why can't it just control your mind to not think otherwise.

Loving the same gender is a preference. Just like some people who like their mate to be slim while the others like them to be plump. Some like tall while some like petite. Some wants their mate to be beautiful while the others shrug of it. It is just a preference. Why condemn it? It is like condemning a guy looking for a girlfriend with long hair. You may not like it but you won’t condemn him for liking it. Everyone has their choice.

They just don’t feel anything for the opposite sex. It is just like I won’t feel excited looking at a naked guy, gays and trans feel the same. They don’t feel anything towards opposite sex. My gay friend actually commented that even if Fiona Xie stands naked in front of him, he will not feel anything. Forcing them to like the opposite sex is like asking you to have sex with someone of your same gender. If you are a male, try kissing a male friend. If you can't entertain the thought, stop forcing them in the same way.

They are not diseased. I often wonder why many people act as if they are carrying a virus. I remembered that asked my mum on her view on gays, she stated that it is a sickness. How ridiculous isn’t it? But in reality, I believe many of us will think like my mum too, hoping that there is a cure for it. Religions condemn them saying that it is a sin and medical condemn them by saying homosexual has higher chance of AIDS. It reminds me of the days where women were burnt just because they worshiped a different God. Now we have a society condemning gays and trans just because they have different preference.

They are not hungry ghosts. It is funny to see some people assume that gays and trans will chase after everyone of their gender if they see them. Oh please… Please don’t assume that they have the same habit as you. They are actually selective… and in fact, some are very selective. They don’t go “You’re a guy then I want you!” ....

They are stronger and braver than many of us. They dare to accept their uniqueness and they have the courage to go for what they believe in. There is a movie called Beautiful Boxer which is based on true story. It is about a transsexual who went into Thai Boxing to earn money to become a woman. It is a great show about courage in achieving what you want.

Embracing femininity is not a weakness. It is an old and stupid thinking that masculinity is more superior... The world won't be in its current state if the rulers, the corporations, the politicians and us had embraced our feminine side and showed more compassion, kindness, love, listening ear... These are what a truly powerful being should possess.

They are also human. Like you and I, they have feelings too. They want to be loved, to be hug, to be cared for and to be treated just like any other human beings. They are not freaks. They are just like us, trying to live in this world. Some of us (even friends) like to joke about their sexuality which can be very hurtful. Do unto others what you want others to do unto you. Think in their shoes.

It is sad to see that there are so much pressure from the society to the gays and the trans. They have to hide their affairs and their preference from the public and their love ones. Some have to be in a relationship of opposite sex to avoid unnecessary mutter from people around them. Which eventually causes pain for both parties. In dictionary, gay also means having or showing a merry, lively mood. Why can’t we just let them happy about their choices?

Lets try to see them as humans like everyone of us who just have a different preference. Love them for who they are. They are really wonderful people who are born in a suppressed world.

Meet Your Meat

2009-01-31T07:34:00.005+08:00

Choose consciously ^_^

Relationship pitfalls

2009-01-29T13:11:00.003+08:00

I am lucky to be in a 3 year relationship with Niki which is the most amazing experience I ever had in my life. It is a relationship that is loving and offering us tremendous growth. I am glad that it is her as I believe if it is any other; it may not be as fulfilling as this. Thank you baby for being in my life. It has been hell lot of fun. ^o^

I will like to share problems which we faced along the path and I believe these are the main 3 pitfalls which will cause a relationship to fail. It took us a lot of time sharing our feelings and understanding each other to get out of it. I believe that it is crucial for people in relationship to be aware of them as many fail not knowing why.

Dishonesty
Trust will be lost if one of the parties lied in regardless of what reasons. Please do not start giving me excuses that there are moments which you definitely have to lie. It is seriously bullshit in my sense. It is a lie not matter good or bad. Everyone has the right to know the truth even if they are unable to accept it at the moment. How can one expect to maintain a relationship if the trust element is broken. It is the same as having a business relationship. If given a choice, will you actually want to work with someone that has lied to you before? And believe me, once started, there will be a second and a third and a fourth as we loved to justify ourselves. What is a white lie and what is not? Who draws the line except the one who makes them?

The best is to tell the truth about everything. If two are to get together, I believe that there should not be any skeleton hidden in the closet. To me it is just too tiring and difficult to keep on deceiving. To cover one lie, one will need another. It is just never ending.

Expectation
Ah… one that created hell for lots of couples. Examples like expecting the person to be there, do this for you, change for you and even die for you as a proof for their love for you. My friends… this is insanity. Expectation at best only brings agony to both the expector and the one being expected. When the other can’t fulfill the expectation, you will start assuming they don’t love you enough.

Everyone has their own language of love. Some may be physical, while others may be gift-giving. It is just different expression. Real Love is actually about taking the other totally for who they are.

Wake up! Love is not about expectation. Love is unconditional. Expectation makes love conditional which is nothing more than a manipulation. Love is about accepting the person as who they are totally. No requirements. Nothings need to be done. I often wonder why two persons get into a relationship expecting the other to change. Is it because they don’t know each other in the first place? Or is it because they think they can change the other to their liking. Isn’t it easier if they just find one that fits all their criteria…. Why makes life so hard for each other.

It is only though unconditional love which one can really grow. It is also where you start to be gladful of their being. How wonderfully unique and cute they are. Without expectation, everyday is a surprise when they do something for you. ^_^
Here is a beautiful story about love.

Judging using past experience
A lot of misunderstanding arises when one party uses past experience to assume how the other party will react now. This is nothing further than the truth. We are all changing. A person can change within 1 year, 1 month or even 1 day. Most of us are constantly learning and growing.

Pre-assumption will prevent one from seeing the real reason. How can I expect to see blue if I had already put on a pair of red lens? I had once assumed Niki to be angry due to jealously of me going to meet other girls due to past history. But she was actually unhappy as she had planned to spend the holiday with me. How different is the underlying reason between the two.

So please don’t be like me. Please avoid using past history to assume reaction. Assume makes an ASS of U n ME. It is best to clarify the reason and no lens on. Believe me, it will be an enriching experience.

That’s all for now folks. Wish you well in your relationships.

Beware of Milk

2009-01-28T22:02:00.003+08:00

Like many other people, I was brought up believing that drinking cow milk is good for our bones and body. Daily industry actually claims that having 3 glasses of milk per day will strengthen our bones and keep osteoporosis away. Look at all the commercials on dairy products in the past and now, all of them tell us that it has calcium and nutritional value that is essential for our health. This belief is so deeply instilled in my parents and most people that even though my brother was allergic to milk, he was served milk nevertheless since it supposes to help him grow.

I remembered days where I had 1 litre of milk almost everyday, thinking that I will become stronger and taller. It is also said having a cup of milk before sleeping helps in sleeping. When the truth came banging in my face during 2004, my reaction was of aghast. It was a magical moment for me at that time, something you believed so strong in for more than 20 years becoming nothing but a fluke of the marketing gimmicks.

Animals produce milk for their off-springs.
Humans for humans, cows and sheep for their calves, dogs for their puppies, cats for kittens, sows for their piglets and the list goes on. Come to think of it, we don't see puppies going for milk of a cat, neither do we see cattle going for the milk of sheep. It is because the nutritional contents are the same species. Humans are the only kind of animal that drinks other species milk. Why is it ok to drink the milk of cow but not of pig, this is one absurd point which I can't comprehend. Humans are also the only species that continue to drink milk even in adulthood. Other animals have already outgrown the need of milk after 1 year or so.

Milk is full of impurities and poisons
Cows are given hormones injections to produce more milk. However, hormones injections result into health complications for the cows in which they are also injected with large amount of antibiotics. Please don't forget to include the pesticides and fertilizers which they took when they ate their feeds. So you get a drink which is filled with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and fertilizers. Not quite as healthy as we thought, don't you think? If you are interested for more information, you can read them here.

Milk does not prevent osteoporosis
On contrary to public belief, milk actually speeds up osteoporosis. Apparently, calcium and animal protein does not work well together. Animal protein actually speed up the loss of calcium as it makes your blood acidic and your body react by neutralizing it with calcium from your bones. So we actually pass out the calcium through our urinal system. Furthermore, absorption of calcium can only happen with the presence of magnesium which milk contains only a tiny amount. There are studies from Harvard Medical schools which shown that women who consumed the most calcium from dairy products broke more bones than those that did not.

There are other calcium alternatives other than animal milk
Many people are unaware that they can actually get calcium from non dairy products. We can get them from beans, broccoli, tofu, grain and green leafy vegetables.

Hope that this helps you in your health and give you a glimpse of what companies will do to earn profits. Tobacco industry had done it once when they claimed that smoking was actually good for health. We now have the dairy industry doing the same gimmick. Be a lookout on what is advertised from the media. Don't take them word by word. Like Mad Eye Moody always say “Constant Vigilance!”

Uniqueness - Leo Buscaglia

2009-01-27T16:05:00.004+08:00

There is a story by Leo Buscaglia that beautifully illustrates our uniqueness.

The animals got together in the forest one day and decided to start a school. There was a rabbit, a bird, a squirrel, a fish and an eel, and they formed a Board of Education. The rabbit insisted that running be in the curriculum. The bird insisted that flying be in the curriculum. The fish insisted that swimming be in the curriculum, and the squirrel insisted that swimming be in the curriculum. They put all of these things together and wrote a Curriculum Guide. Then they insisted that all of the animals to take all of the subjects.

Although the rabbit was getting an A in running, perpendicular tree climbing was a real problem for him; he kept falling over backwards. Pretty soon he got to be sort of brain damaged, and he couldn’t run anymore. He found that instead of making an A in running, he was making C and, of course, he always made an F in perpendicular climbing. The bird was really beautiful at flying, but when it came to burrowing in the ground, he couldn’t do so well. He kept breaking his beak and wings. Pretty soon he was making a C in flying as well as an F in burrowing, and he had a hellava time with perpendicular tree climbing.

The moral of the story is that the person who was valedictorian of the class was a mentally retarded eel who did everything in a halfway fashion. But the educators were all happy because everybody was taking all the subjects, and it was called a broad-based education.

So please embrace your oneness, your uniqueness and do not conform to something just because others want you to be (the mentally retarded eel). Be you.

The story links to our current education system also. Please don’t assume that if you don’t do well in one subject or two subjects you are a failure for life. You are the genius in your own field.

Who Am I?

2009-01-26T09:22:00.004+08:00

I am not Andrewson Tan. That is just my name and my identity.

I am not just male and female. That is just my sex. It does not entail who am I.

I am not this physique which is 175 cm and 60 kg. I am not the label that is tall, short, skinny, fat.

I am not Chinese. There is just my race and my skin color. It does not determine who I am.

I am not my history and experience. Those are just my experiences I had in this lifetime. How can I be them since I can be different now as appear from 1 day ago.

I am not my thoughts. How can I be aware of them if I am them. They are just rattling of the mind.

I am the awareness, the consciousness that is observing all these happening. I am what I choose to be. I am the silent observer.

Fear of Darkness

2009-01-26T07:48:00.004+08:00

It is scary to realize that how conditioned I am towards the fear of darkness when I went for my run this morning at 5.30am.

It is intriguing to see the amount of negative thoughts that ran through my mind just because I perceived darkness in my surrounding. During my run, I started to imagine stray dogs attacking me from the dark. (somehow in my reality dogs come out in dark and are broader when there are no lights.... wonder where i get this ridiculous assumption from) Fear of running into ghosts. Fear of meeting hooligans that is going to rob or beat me. Fear of snakes that may come out from the grasses. Fear of stepping on snails and animals on the path during to darkness. It actually makes me wanted to turn back and just run on the jogging path which is away from nature and seemingly safer. By entertaining the thoughts, it actually increased my heartbeat and warily looking around.
Just a small tree standing in the darkness will make me jump as I imagine it to be a man or something. It reminds me of the days in the nature where I am all tense up if I hear a twig snap, imagining it to be a beast moving about. All these imaginations don't happen when I jog with sunlight.

Why did these happen? Where and when did I cultivated these habits of ridiculous thinking that makes me worry for nothing? Firstly, it maybe in our gene that we inherently fear the unknown. Being in the unknown will freak most of us out. For example, going on stage to make a speech is an unknown territory to many people. You won't know how people will react to your speech. Which makes fear public speaking actually the greatest fear above the fear of death.

Secondly, I believe is our upbringing. I remembered the days where I was taught that if I dont go to bed early, monster will attack me in the darkness. Indians (dark people) will abduct me if I am not behaving nice or go out to play alone. Ghost will pull my legs if I go swimming in the dark and many more dark based fear.

Then comes the television. All the ghosts and Pontianak which will appear in the dark. The news that keep focusing on people getting attacked at night. TV programmes that always show bad people only do their evildoings at night etc etc etc.

With all these wonderful education we are getting, how can we not fear darkness which is totally unnecessary. If i had bowed to my fear just now, I would not have the great time I had just now. Because that I don't entertain the thoughts eventually, nothing happens at all.

Try facing darkness. You may love the silent and serenity like I do. ^o^

Early Riser – 30 days trial

2009-01-25T09:09:00.002+08:00

Today I started my 30 days trial as an early riser which involved waking up everyday at 5.30am. I will just wake up and go for a run and then mediate for 45 minutes or so.

I guess many people will find this absurd haha. I understand and frankly speaking I will too if someone told me about it 1 year ago. I will say “CRAZY!! Can sleep don’t sleep.”

So what is with the change? Hmmm…. For many reasons which I enjoy. Firstly, I seem to get most of my ideas running in the morning. I enjoy my train of thoughts especially during my jog and it gets me doing stuffs which I will usually delay. Secondly, I love the breeze and the quietness at these weeps hours. It is totally different from midnight where there are likely to have some hooligans or gangs prowling around. I can have the entire silent to myself when I mediate. Thirdly, it makes me sleep at 10ish which is said to be the best timing for sleeping as it is where your rejuvenation rate reaches its highest. I guess that explains why on large late sleeper usually seems to have poorer skin and temper conditions.

So let’s go!

That’s the way it is - From my lecturer

2009-01-24T12:28:00.004+08:00

Here is a joke about company policy which my lecturer shared with me. It is applicable to many aspects of our life. ^_^

10 monkeys are put into a cage. Inside the cage, a bunch of bananas is hanging on a string and a set of stairs was placed under it. Before long, a monkey goes to the stairs and starts to climb towards the bananas. As soon as he touches the stairs, all of the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt and faces with the same result -- and all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, any monkey that tries to climb the stairs, will be beaten up by the other monkeys as they do not want to be spray.

Eventually one monkey is removed from the cage and is replaced with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wonders why no one is trying to get it. He attempts to climb the stairs and to his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, another of the original ten monkeys is replaced by a new monkey. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Not knowing why he is joining the beating but feeling glad that he is not the target this time round.

Likewise, the third original monkey was replaced with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know, that's the way it has always been done around here.

And that, my friends, is how a belief comes into place. Look at company policy, commercials, movies, superstitions, religion belief, culture belief…. No one asked why and just blindly accepted what they were told to believe in. Because That’s the way it is.

How to sleep well

2009-01-24T08:03:00.001+08:00

Sleeping well seems to be a problem for some people. I was one of them in the past. The after effects are black eyes patch, easily irritable, tiredness, bad breath, aches, heavy headed and many others. It happens especially during the times when something big or serious that is going to happen the next day. For example, before an exam, going to new places, going on a date….

What is the reason behind it? I believe the main issue is due to the unnecessary amount of effort that we made to fall asleep. Sleeping is not about doing something. It is all about not doing anything. The motion of trying to fall asleep is actually the culprit keeping us awake. You may say that “But I have to sleep! Tomorrow is an important day for me!”. Yes, I understand, but I will like to say that this is where things go wrong.

In the action of trying to sleep, many activities run through our mind. Such as reminding ourselves of the importance sleeping well now to face tomorrow’s event and what may happen if I don’t get adequate sleep now. At best, it will only makes us feel unrest as we start to blame yourself and body for not being able to quiet down, while not knowing that it is the motion of thinking that is keeping us awake. Then you start to feel itchiness all over your body which is actually a sign of unrest, start turning here and there and eventually woke up feeling pissed. I even know people who go to bed expecting that they are not going to sleep well (Insomnia).

So how do you sleep? The formula is to just lie down and relax. Focus on your breathing and just clear your mind. It is actually like meditation. Many of us thought that we need to ‘sleep’ to recover our body. That is not true. Our body will recover by just staying in inactivity. You don’t need to sleep to rest.

For example, I was unable to fall asleep yesterday. Probably due to me messing up my own sleeping patterns as I had been sleeping at 2 am for past 2 days. As a result, I was pretty awake for the whole night. In the past, I would have been irritated and try to force myself to sleep. But this time, I assure myself that my body will recover without me “sleeping”. All I need to do is to lie down and relax. Focus of my breathing and be aware of what is going through my mind and clear them. In the end, I woke up at 5 am and feeling afresh which I sit on the motion and went down for a morning jog. It is an amazing experience. ^_^

Hope you will find it useful

P.S. For better effect, stop watching television at least 1 hour before you sleep as the scenes usually stay on in our mind and it will inhibit our sleep

How banks use your savings

2009-01-22T23:47:00.004+08:00

Was in a microeconomic class for this 4 days. The lecturer is amazing. He is a very dynamic person who just love to be himself. There is a lot that he had shared with us and I will like to share this on the blog.

Have you wonder how banks use your money and why did the banks in America collapse?

Here is the formula. All banks have a reserve ratio which is usually 10-15%. What does this mean?

It means, for every $1.00 you saved in the bank, they will only keep $0.10 in their bank! The rest are used by them to lend out with much higher interest and for their own investment. So it is to say your $0.90 are out there somewhere which they use for their own profits. Yes, this is what they do to your money. It makes one ponder how come the interest which they pay back to us is so bloody tiny. 0.25% -_-

This is the reason why the people in US is unable to take back their money as it is not there in the first place. All you see on your bank book is just a figure with no physical existence of the cash.

So why did the banks in America collapse? It is said that during the 2007 real estate boom, banks start to lend money to sub prime borrowers (people who does not have good credit). They thought that they will be able to make profits since the economy is so good at that time. Then came the real estate crash which left many of the debtors unable to pay back.
As a result, banks are unable to pay back to the people since there is only 10% of what is saved in the bank to begin with.

Interesting? haha to me it makes me think twice to invest in bank again. No wonder banks are so profitable.

Dealing with Adversity - Dr Wayne

2009-01-17T23:06:00.006+08:00

This is an interesting tale from the book "Inspiration" by Dr Wayne regarding how to deal with adversity when they arise in your life

Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee

A young woman complained to her mother about the hardships and difficulties in her life. She didn't know how she was going to continue and wanted to give up. The young woman said, "I'm tired of fighting and struggling. It seems that as soon as one problem is solved, a new one appears." In response, her mother took her to the kitchen and filled three pots with water, placing each on the stove over a high flame.

Soon the water came to boil. In the first pot she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about 20 mins, she turned off the burners. The mother then fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She removed the eggs and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she said, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After peeling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich flavor.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, Mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, boiling water, and each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile, its thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior, but after the boiling water, its inside became hardened. But the ground coffee beans were unique-after they were in the boiling water, they'd changed the water itself.

The message? Be the coffee beans. Change your adversity into something wonderful that shape your world.

End of 2nd week as Vegetarian

2009-01-17T22:38:00.005+08:00

Its been 2 weeks since I started vegetarianism and it is actually not hard at all. I don't feel deprivation nor lack of choices. Choices of food are so much simpler also. Just find something without meat whenever I step into a dining place. It will even spark your creativity as you start to think of ways to make dishes without meat and make it taste better than with meat. Yesterday I had tried making a vegetarian Ba Gu Teh and Niki was so pleased with the dish. Next dish on my list is Vegetarian green curry ^o^

Just within 2 weeks, I can even see positive changes happening to me and my family. First thing which is noticeable is the increased amount of vegetables my parents are taking nowadays. In the past, we will normally have 2 meat dishes and 1 vegetable. But now, we have 2 vegetables and a small portion of meat on the dining table. In my action to change my diet, I had also influenced them to eat healthier too. Interesting isn't it?

Secondly, I found out that my awareness is getting stronger. As you can see from my past blog, I did not force my parents to cook vegetarian food for me. So normally, they will continue to cook the normal dishes with meat and I will just avoid the meat. One day we had fish head curry for dinner. They had prepared lots of vegetables in the curry for me. When I started to have the vegetables from that curry, I smell a very strong stench from the curry. Apparently, this has been the similar smell that I had been taking all along when I have fish head curry. It is the strong seafood stench. The only difference is that in the past I had convinced myself that enduring and ignoring the stench is the right thing to do. Which I had been doing so many times that I had subconsciously accept the smell the way it is. However, when I start to listen to my senses, it is just feels not right and overpowering for me.

Lessons from Family - Wayne Dyer

2009-01-16T08:46:00.008+08:00

From his book "Inspiration- Your Ultimate Calling", Dr Wayne wrote the following,

As I readied myself to make the shift from an exclusively spiritual being in the world of particles in 1939, I had the following conversation with the Creative Intelligence I'll call God

God: What would you like to accomplish on this journey you're about to undertake

Me: I'd like to teach self-reliance, compassion, and forgiveness

God: Are you certain this is what you wish to dedicate this lifetime to?

Me: Yes. I can see the need even more clearly now.

God: Well, then, I think we'd better put your little ass into a series of foster homes and have you stay there for a decade or so, where you'll learn to experience relying upon yourself. And we'll remove your parents so that you won't be dissuaded from your mission

Me: I accept that. But what about my parents? Who will best facilitate my life's purpose?

God: You can select Melvin Lyle Dyer as your father. A prisoner, an alcoholic, and a thief, he'll abandon you as a baby and never show up in your life. You'll first practice hating him and seeking revenge, but you'll ultimately forgive him, long after he's left his body. This act of forgiveness will be the single-most important event of your life. It will put you on the path that you're signing up for.

Me: And my mother?

God: Take Hazel Dyer, Lyle’s wife. Her compassion for all of her children will give you an example to follow. She’ll steadfastly work herself to the bone to reunite you and your brothers after ten years or so of her own suffering.

Me: Isn’t it an awfully cruel fate for my father?

God: Not at all. He signed up for this 25 years ago. He dedicated his entire lifetime to teach one of his children the lesson of forgiveness – a noble gesture, wouldn’t you say? And your mother is here to show you how true compassion shows up every day. Now get down there and participate in becoming a particle.

End

If one is to adopt the mindset that one is responsible for whatever that has happened in his/her life, what lessons or experience were you asking for when you were born in your current family?

From my dad, I had learn to give my girlfriend the freedom of doing what she wants and being who she is. I had learn not to use violence in the mid of anger. I had learn not to adopt favoritism and to put family first. I had also learn from him that smoking, gambling and drinking are both bad for self and the family.

As for my mum, I had learn to be responsible for my own life and stop blaming others for it. I had learn how to cook and do household work. I had learn not to take superstitious seriously. I had learn not to do things in the way just because others say it is the right thing to do. And I had also learn to start doing what I love now or else in time to come, I will regret and felt miserable.

Thank you Dad.. Thank you Mum.. Thank you for being such wonderful beings and dedicating your life to teach me these. Thank you for being my parents ^_^

How about you? What valuable lessons had your parents gave you? Had you thank them yet?

Birds of the same feather flock together

2009-01-12T11:08:00.004+08:00

If the above old saying is true, what kind of bird will you want to be and attract?

An Eagle? - One that envision far and does swift strike
A Swan? - Elegant on surface but peddle hard beneath the water
A Peacock? - Beautiful on the surface but poisonous within
A Dodo? - Unable to adapt to evolution and face extinction
An Ostrich? - Run and hide at the fastest speed when faced with perceived dangers
A Vulture? - Living on the remains and the dead
A Chicken? - Live in containment and keep doing what one was asked to

Personally I choose to be a Phoenix 不死鳥. Rebirth when destroyed.

What will you choose?

Greatest obstacles in becoming a Vegetarian

2009-01-08T16:44:00.010+08:00

In this article, I am going to share on what are the main obstacles we may face and ways to overcoming them.

Effort needed
One of the main obstacles is the lifetime changes involved and the discipline that is needed to become a vegetarian. We are often afraid that whether we are able to stick to the decision. No one likes to fail and feel like a loser.

The solution? A 30 days vegetarian trial. Just try it for 30 days and get back to the old eating method if you don't feel like it. With this 30 days, you will eventually get a feel of what it takes to be a vegetarian and usually you will able to experience the benefits by then. Anyway, it is just 30 days. It will pass regardless whether you do anything or not.

Value Association
Another challenge which you will face is the your value association between meat and vegetables. In our society, most of us place a higher value on meat than vegetables. For example, you may not mind paying $16 for a Australian Ribeye Steak at Botak Jones but a Vegalicious Burger for $13 at Green Room Cafe, may make you cried out “Its so expensive!”.

Negative associations on vegetarianism
Around us, many people have the belief that vegetarian is for religion or people who are trying to reduce their sins. One personal example is my girlfriend's mum's reaction to my conversion into vegetarian. She asked my girlfriend if I had done anything wrong recently. ^o^ Interesting isn't it? As you can see, there are so many negative associations with being vegetarian.

So how to overcome them? Firstly, one has to work on how they associate price with things. For example, guys may find girls incredibly stupid for spending more than $500 on that Prada bag. On the other hand, girls will think guys are super childish for spending more than $500 on that game station set. Its all about value association.

Think about what you are paying for and the values you are getting when you are deciding to buy the dish. Are you paying for their cooking skills, creativity, preparation work, ingredients and the health benefits. Or are you paying for the so called 'class', the saturated fats and the convention belief that meat should worth this price. Personally now, when I look at the price of a steak, I get disgusted by the fact that I am paying them for killing the cow.... Yucks.

Try watching this video, give it some thoughts and let it run through when you decided to have meat on your plate again. If you have decided to eat on, by all means go ahead and I respect your decision. The important thing here is being conscious of what is happening and make a decision on it. Choosing to be ignorant will only hinder one's growth.

Protein Myth
Many of us (including me) are also taught to believe that we are unable to get the necessary amount of protein from vegetables alone. It is nothing but a myth. This shows how ill-informed we are in this society and what the marketing gimmick has made us believed. You can easy get protein from nuts, beans, grains, seeds and in vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, cauliflower and many more... So have fun with your vegetables and fruits, there is no need to fear of protein deficiency.

Support
Don't expect your family to give you the all out support just because you feel that it is the right thing to do. Actually, one should be ready to expect most resistance from your closest family members and friends if you are going to becoming a vegetarian.

Why is that so? Reason being that they will most probably perceive this as a dangerous symptom that usually scare human race. Changes. Many of us are highly afraid and resistant to it without knowing. Your family members and close friends thought that this may threaten their current lifestyle (what to cook, where to go for family dinner etc) and the world they used to know.

The scariest thing is the thought that you may want them to change with you. That will be extremely horrifying. Especially if you go on telling them why they should change, why ain't they changing, how wrong are they... They will definitely resist the idea as we do not like to feel wrong or be made to do anything. This may not be the right time for them now.

So how do you reduce the resistance and even get them to support you? First, you have to convince yourself if you ready want to go on this path. You have to show determination and resolute. If you can't believe yourself, who will believe you? Tell them that you will like to try vegetarian trial for just 1 month to see the result. Also inform them that there is no changes needed in their cooking ways. They can continue to cook the vegetables with prawns or meat but please reduce dishes which are mainly meat based as you will not be eating them. Of course, it will be best if you are able to cook on your own.

As for your friends, meet them for dinner in places where there is variety of food. Don't force them to eat vegetarian with you. Everyone has their right on their choice of dietary ways. If they start to discourage you or chide at you, you may want to think again on having them as friends. If they can't even support you in this, it is a lousy friendship you are having there.

Lastly, lookout for groups who are of the likewise mind. Join vegetarian communities, forums, check out on cds, anything that can support you along the way.

So these are my take on the obstacles and hope it will help you if you thought of going on the dietary path that is not of the mainstream. Good luck and have fun ^_^.

Am Vegetarian

2009-01-07T11:07:00.007+08:00

Today is my third day as a vegetarian. From the dictionary, vegetarian is someone who does not or do not believe in eating meat, fish and fowl.

Why do I want to be a vegetarian? There are several compelling reasons which can be divided into for self, for environment and for compassion.

For Self

I remember reading on comparative articles that humans are more a herbivorous than a omnivorous or carnivorous. The articles compared human’s body structure such as teeth, strength of jaw, size of intestines and etc against the other species. I also find that I am naturally disgusted with the smell of raw meat and blood. I always have a unsettled feeling in my stomach especially when I have a meal with lots of meat.

In the past, I was conditioned to believe it to be normal. But as I started to listen more to what my body is telling me, this feeling is definitely not normal. Imagine sinking your teeth into a life cow or chicken and tear it out … Errr…. Not as tasteful after all isn’t it? At times I looked at our pet dog and wonder what if one day we humans were to treat it as food also.. It sadden and upset my stomach immediately.

So for health and natural reasons, I decided to be vegetarian for good. It is also said that vegetarians supposedly live longer, less prone to major health problems, have more energy etc. Look at Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Anthony Robbins and Steve Pavlina, they are people whom I will like to emulate. So for me, its too good a deal to give up.

It is also interesting to know that even though the amount of pesticides and fertilizers on vegetables and fruits that we ate are regulated by the government, the ones eaten by the animals are not. So the equation goes, animals eat crops rich in chemicals and human eat animals rich in chemicals…hmmm.... *Yummy.

If you are then thinking fishes are ok, think again. They are the least regulation meat in the world. Out from the sea, into the port and woah la, you have your seafood cuisine. With all the man made pollution in the sea currently, I guess it is safe to say that they are not so safe to eat after all.

For Environment

Large hectare of trees and ecosystems are destroyed every year to provide lands to grow crop for the animals which we are consuming. It is said that 16 pounds of grain is needed to produce just 1 pound of animal flesh! All that plant food could be used much more efficiently if it was fed to people directly. Think about all the hungry people in the world.

While the factory farming are destroying our lands, commercial fishing are destroying our marine system. Commercial fishing boats indiscriminately pull as many fish as they can out of the sea, leaving ecological devastation and the bodies of non-target animals in their wake. Do you know that, they just throw away the non-targeted animals? This is what I called by extreme wastage, I think all fishing industries should go for a course on environment friendliness.

There are also many other factors such as fecal pollution and global warming caused by the meat industries. The facts can be found on www.goveg.com if you care to find out.

For Compassion

The last reason is compassion to animals and all other living beings. Ever wonder why most of the times we ain't allow to visit slaughter farms or choose not to go there? It is because of the cruelty and bloodshed involved in there. We want to eat meat, but we do not want to know how meat comes to our dining table… It is what I called self-deceiving prophecy? If one have watched the documentaries such as Earth from Above and Meet your Meat, you will see how cruel can human be when it is towards animal when they are looking at profit gains.

In the movie, The Corporation, milk cows are referred as production units and injected with hormones and antibiotics to increase their milk production capabilities. So by not eating meat and drinking milk, I am actually saving not just the animals directly involved on my plates but also the animals who’s environment is being destroyed to provide land to farm the meat I am eating.

So far those that I had listed pretty explains why I go into vegetarian. Please understand that I am not converting you into one. What I am doing here is just to share what is happening out there and my piece of thought. As Steve always says, "Live consciously"

Who are you?

2007-07-09T09:34:00.001+08:00

You are not your job, you are not your label, you are not the title on your desk.
You are you. Those identities cannot justify you. Your identity comes from the Internal Truth not external factors.

Intelligence

2007-06-29T16:37:00.002+08:00

Was reading steve's blog and it gave me a new perspective.

Intelligence can be trained. The more challenge/new things you participate in, the better your intelligence grow. He state the example of Leonardo Da Vinci. People think that he is a genius as he can do many things, from painter, engineer, scientist, inventor. To Steve's perspective, he is a genius because of the vast variety of activities he got himself into. In short, he is clever because he did so many different things. Interesting? It strengthen that we can train intelligence. we are not doom to a level

Information about Hep B

2007-06-29T11:38:00.002+08:00

Hep B is a infectious disease that causes scarring on the liver, in time possibility of leading to liver cancer/failure. The virus is spread when the blood of an infected person goes into the other.It does not transmit through sharing of food, saliva, kissing, coughing or hugging. It can last outside body for 7 days and still capable of causing infection.

Possible symptoms of infections are:
- Bloating of stomach
- Yellowing of skin and white of eye
- Tiredness
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Dark Urine
- Joint Pain

When you are 1st infected with Hep B, its named as acute stage. 90% of ppl will recover and gain lifetime hep B immunity. 10% will develop into chronic hep B stays throughout life, which is the one we want to avoid.

I'm sharing this as not knowing how the details had once left me traumatized when I was helping Rou with her dad. I would have reacted differently if I know how difficult it is to transmit and reduce the unnecessary fear. It gave me a good lesson if facing diseases. Learn as much as we can get from it and you will know how to deal with it for the right way.

Negative and Postive thinking

2007-06-27T10:22:00.003+08:00

Was running through my email on Monday and I got an mass email from my VP stating that there is a meeting on Tues 9am. At the end of the email, he added "Andrewson - can you take notes please? Thanks!"
When i first look at this sentence, I felt that he was being sarcastic and single me out as the only person who has to take note that the meeting existed. -negative thinking. 10 mins later I get myself together to think that he is just being nice just in case i missed out the email.(which i do sometimes). - positive thinking
However during the real meeting, all he wanted me to do is to take notes of the meeting.
Moral of the story, neither negative or positive thinking can bring you to the truth. Both of them coloured you perception of truth that is out there.
Best look below and ask whats the truth

My Reality My Creation

2007-06-25T10:37:00.002+08:00

When there is no Out there and I'm responsible for everything created in my life, what did I asked for that Rou's dad got the cancer again. What do i want to experience.
Frankly speaking all i tok at 1st was backing out, why the hell did this happened, why did it happened to me, am i obliged to help, etc etc etc. Not including all the future "reality" which i came up with.

My girl was doing much better than me at that time, she pondered about the question which i phased out in the 1st paragraph. Now i can see how am i responsible for this creation.
I always hope that they can improve their dietary and their health, which was made possible when they see what it did to their dad. Its for myself to remember the importance of health. Coz of her dad, i got back on supplements, conscious choice of meals and exercise regularly. It starts me back on the route of self-consciousness. It got me to see my own reflection and to look at Uncle as a cute person.

I'm thankful for what happened.
Thank you God, thank you uncle

God Send Us Nothing But Angels

2007-06-25T10:31:00.003+08:00

Everyone that comes to our life, is here to assist us to learn something which we asked for.

Slow Death

2007-06-25T10:01:00.002+08:00

Recently Niki's dad was paralyzed below the hip with no sign of recovery. It was the cause of his liver cancer which spread to his spinal cord and created a tumor. After removing the tumor, it seems the nerve cells ard the spinal cord had been damaged, resulting in the disability.
From that day onwards, he lost all the privileges to walk, to lay down as his wish without ppl helping and all the trivial things which we had been taking for granted(like changing of own cloth). imagine that you cant even go to pee on your own.... unable to scratch ur toe when it is itchy... Many of us had been taking our body for granted. It seems as if nothing will ever happen to us. We have the mindset that things will only go mildly wrong when we are 50 plus (abit of hypertension, eye blurriness, back ache). And if anything did happened, it will only be to us and it will be swift.

It don't seems to be that way at all. When you lose ur health, it will usually go very slow and no one can really be certain of the time when reaper come knocking at your doorstep. It dont go mildly wrong also, it will usually be dead serious. Stroke, Cancer, diabetes, lose of eye sight, osteoporosis, any degenerative disease you can think of. And believe me, they seldom cause swift death. So don't go thinking, if it hits i will die clear, without affecting anyone. Death is not as easy as it is said.Many times, you cant just die.

None of these diseases starts suddenly too.... its a cumulative result, which starts from the day when you are born. Please don't go thinking since im only 30, i still have 20 years to afford.
So please... anyone who had read this blog. please please, start taking caring of your health. Its hard to get it back once you lose it.

Identity

2007-05-02T13:47:00.002+08:00

If we take away our name, our family, our car, our job, our religions, our beliefs.
Who are we then? Why do we always set an identity for ourselves?

Fear of Future

2007-04-24T08:46:00.002+08:00

Yesterday while was impatiently waiting for 136 to Niki's house i had some reflection abt what am i feeling at that time. It occurs to me that a lot of negative feeling happen due to the fear of future. Example, dreading of going Niki's house due to possibilities of boredom over there, the need to wake up earlier and travel longer. However all these are actually not true, its just an uneasiness of getting out of comfort zone.

There are much i can bring and do at her home.I enjoyed running there also and waking up earlier can be compromise with just sleeping early. It dont really matters. Another example is calling vendors, the anxiety and procrastination kick in with the fear of not getting the messages across or sounding stupid. Interesting that we had so many fears which go beyond our conscious thoughts.

From CWG Book 1

2007-04-24T08:44:00.003+08:00

"You are not here to discover who you are, You are here to create who you are" - God

Law of Attraction

2007-04-23T09:49:00.002+08:00

Ever since i had learnt about Law of Attraction, things just come to me whether i did it conciously or subconsciously. In the Law of Attraction, everything you think about, you attract. Be it a relationship, a car accident, a crisis and even a bus that is late. Its all our responsibility. Let me quote from Deepak Chopra, "There is no Out-There"
Whether you believe or not, its the truth.

Let me give you 2 of my recent personal experience, not to mention quite a ton non recent ones.
1st one is about Jill Lore International. About 3 weeks ago, Yuanwei went for her grooming session and was sharing with me how good. There i was thinking sounds cool, if only i can go for it too. That thought was actually made subconsciously and i just get to know there this friday, my company actually had this training schedule for us with Jill Lore on "Projecting a Professional Image" haha wonder huh?

2nd experience is on the topic "Discipline". I was thinking on how to train mine(even blogged it down) and this blog http://zenhabits.net/2007/03/discipline-is-illusion-motivate/ just comes to me. Believe me, i didn't even went searching for it.
In short. it works whether im consciously thinking about it or not

Ways to get out of bed

2007-04-23T09:39:00.002+08:00

Woke up today as usual with an urge to hog back into my seductive bed. Thats where i put what i learnt so far into use. 1st thing to counter the urge - get out of the bed and stop thinking/looking at it. 2nd things start some warm-up, for me, to be more effective i even did 15 pumping and situps. Aim is to get ur body temperature up and start sweating. you sweat, you defeat the urge.
I had also started a new regimen for the preparing of my IPPT, most of all a healthy body. Beside jogging, i had improvised pumping(start with 15) and situps(start with 20). Moderation is the key to building habits and keeping a healthy lifestyle ^_^

From CWG Book 1

2007-04-23T08:41:00.002+08:00

"If I dont live from Within, I live Without" - God

From Knight in Rusty Armor

2007-04-19T11:29:00.002+08:00

" I dont expect, I accept" - Rabbit

Lying

2007-04-19T07:43:00.002+08:00

Yesterday,i admitted to my teacher colleague that i had lied to her on the task which i didn't do for her. During the conversation, she remarked that im like a student. Didn't know what she is implying exactly. To me its the right word to describe me. Im a student in learning honesty, a student in learning discipline, a student in learning responsibility, a student in learning consciousness, Im a student learning.
I have decided to live on the truth.

@ the Pool

2007-04-18T18:24:00.002+08:00

During my stand-in duty @ the pool. One thought comes to my mind. As ppl always say JCs are easier to teach than Sec and Sec are easier to teach than Primary. Reasons being they had became more mature and ask less questions. Is that the case? what does mature implies? say yes more?ask less question? It seems that mature ppl are the one who are more down to earth. survive, no dreams,less questions,less trys. Does it mean that the older you are in the education or life, you ask less questions? is it due to we know the answers or it just that we dont dare/wont care to ask anymore.
Hmm ponders ponders

Discipline

2007-04-18T13:59:00.002+08:00

Woke up in the morning tinking maybe i should go running tonite instead. and when i pulled myself to the door, i start thinking i shouldnt run with that 69.90 shoes, wait for the army shoes. Thats when i learn that i have little ounce of discipline inside me. Come to think of it, i dont really understand discipline nor do i train or embrace it. Which brings me to the light that i had not master much things in my life due to the lack of it.
Today shall be the day which i start learning what discipline is all about.
Jogging every morning and 1 hour of reading on things i wanna master everynite shall be the start of the journey to learn.
Discipline.I shall be your disciple. I will embrace you. I will master You. This I Swear To MYSELF. Assist me, Andrewson ^_^

From My VP

2007-04-18T13:40:00.002+08:00

VP came to find me today, through he went ard the bushes, basically hes impling that im had not been doing my work fast enuff especially tasks he gave me. At 1st i kept finding ways to defend myself. Be it lying, be it overstating what i had done, be it excuses, at the end of it.. I dont feel good about myself. I know deep in there that im the one not doing my work. My VP had been super nice to me and therefore i had been taking to for granted. Anything he gave me, most of the time i will feel that its not as urgent as other things(which is an excuse actually i just afraid of getting more work to myself by doing what he tasked). Till today, i can see the disappointment on his face. Becoz its the second time i delayed his task already.
Thanks to the meeting we had today, i finally know what's priority and responsibility.

Priority means doing the right thing fast and first. Things like, jobs given by P and VP, do it first. this can actually implied to the four quadant i learnt before, important level and critical level. they go into the important and critical.
Its also time to take on what i should do instead of avoiding the work. Nvr test my limit, i will nvr know or learn how to cope. the fear factor. Anyway i had been spending sometime reading comic now and then. if i have those time it means i can work also.
Day to start afresh. Thank you Andrew(VP) !!!

Dinner outing @ Ms Clarity

2007-04-17T15:44:00.003+08:00

Organized this dinner with (Rou,John,CW,Jessie n Joan) @ this cafe called Ms Clarity. Its @ pulvis street just opposite Bras Pasar. During our journey there on 147, a commotion happened where an uncle was scolding the bus driver non-stop. from my guess the uncle was unable to pay the bus fare and he became aggressive coz of it. There starts his verbal abusing.After abt 5 mins, unrestness starts to form about the passengers. Some start shouting shutup, some say to each other ask him to get off the bus, some starts pitying the driver but however the thing is no one dares to go up to make him stop even me. Y? fear of getting hurt, fear of losing face if no other helps n fear of trouble. How will i react differently? How will a counselor react in this situation. On the other hand, thanks to the ppl who gathered together to make noise and scare him off, the driver was saved ^_^. As for the questions, need to ponder on it.

Ps. Dun ever go to Ms Clarity @ nite. the wait will exhaust your Will and heart. And if you are looking for a place to chill also.. dun go there.. its as noisy as a rock band concert

Reflection of self

2007-04-17T11:52:00.002+08:00

An interesting topic to think about since it seems to surround my life recently.
Show and books like "The Secret", Conversation with God, Demartini, Vitaloe, Steve Pavlina and to-date therapeutic Counseling

What does the title means? In short, it means that everyone is a reflection of ourselves.
to explain further, its saying that every relationship we have, be it with a lover,a relative,a friend,an enemy,a dog or anything is just a mean to know more about ourselves. What you are saying to others is actually what you wanna say to yourself. For instance, I always tell my girl to exercise and to stay healthy, im actually saying that to myself. When she dun listen, i feel angry but actually not at her, its to myself for not listening to me. Most of the time i grow frustrated with ppl who dare not step out of their comfort zones but deep inside am i frustrated with myself for not daring enuff to venture? yes i do.

Interesting abt reflection is that it goes in both polarity.what you dun like abt others = what you dun like abt yourself. its also goes saying what you like about others = what you like about yourself. hahaha. do you feel so too?

Self-help Junkies

2007-04-16T13:43:00.003+08:00

Case
Was reading steve's blog on self-help junkies and it actually hit me quite alot. Questions go in my mind on "Am I.... Am i not.... am i..." Well fact is that i am. Did the knowledge i gained so far was put into any use? not much of the reality side. So changes maybe... hug my mum, say i love u.. but isnt thats all? Im a boast and more of a person who preach but dun do what he preaches.Preach healthy lifestyle to ppl and my baby, but i dun exercise myself. Preach John n others to follow their heart n go for their dream, im making an excuse that i dunnoe my dream yet. Preach abt cooking, most i teach i havent cooked it before. Even the dishes i declare which i cook werent true. I just want ppl to be impressed by me. how will i reply if they ever ask what have you done before.

Sometimes i even lied abt what i have done or i have not. Friends still just a little. "Name me your friends", my answer will be "John, CW, Max(feel guilty of leavin him out in Usana), Weijun(dont contact much), colleagues and girls? none. woah realli not much huhs... then i will go, good friend one or two can already..Tts just an excuse, im too lazy to maintain relationships.

What to do after knowing
I want some reality to manifest in my life.
Lets start with the most basic. Physical. Wake up every bi-morning for a jog. starting from tomolo. Make a conscious effort keep myself healthy by eating the right food and regular intake of vegetables and fruits. 2 vege n one meat for mixed vegetables rice. bring fruit to work everyday. Theme of my life. Conscious effort. Stay conscious

-Ps learnt one thing from job today. When comes to money especially big sum. confirm their decision with penalties incurred when cancel. Make them think twice before anyhow signing on.