One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Friday, May 9, 2008
Facing dangers
One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Bearing crosses
It was quite a gut wrenching feeling I got as I read off the words under “Religious Views” in my friend’s Facebook entry. It read “I believe in God, but he doesn’t believe in me.” That, together with a line of a song’s lyric that played on the television that went something like… “I called Jesus, but he put me on hold.” Now that’s gotta hurt.
Wished I had some words of comfort to offer my friend back then he shared a little of how his girlfriend had upped and left, leaving him with a broken heart. But honestly, I guess I didn’t want to sound off being crude since I’m not much good with words, except for those in my mind.
See, as much as it feels noble and all that, one’s happiness cannot hinge on someone else. Unless we can all find that solace and reassurance in being ourselves first and foremost, to harbour all hope, happiness and meaning on another person is not only unhealthy, it is downright cruel.
Think of it this way. No one is built to be the foundation for another person’s existence – that job is God’s and God alone.
Also, unless we ourselves begin building our own mental immunity system to withstand the ravages of the daily grind, we will constantly be at the battlefront, determining a fight or flight without some time for rest. Now, that can be truly wearisome.
So, my friend, please spend some time to appreciate and to hold yourself to a higher esteem than you have right now because that’s the time when we get to rebuild our defenses, our immune systems and wage a good battle in the daily war.
Start respecting yourself and don’t harbour hope for someone else to take up that cross on your behalf, especially more so if its someone that we love. We all have to bear our own crosses.
Wished I had some words of comfort to offer my friend back then he shared a little of how his girlfriend had upped and left, leaving him with a broken heart. But honestly, I guess I didn’t want to sound off being crude since I’m not much good with words, except for those in my mind.
See, as much as it feels noble and all that, one’s happiness cannot hinge on someone else. Unless we can all find that solace and reassurance in being ourselves first and foremost, to harbour all hope, happiness and meaning on another person is not only unhealthy, it is downright cruel.
Think of it this way. No one is built to be the foundation for another person’s existence – that job is God’s and God alone.
Also, unless we ourselves begin building our own mental immunity system to withstand the ravages of the daily grind, we will constantly be at the battlefront, determining a fight or flight without some time for rest. Now, that can be truly wearisome.
So, my friend, please spend some time to appreciate and to hold yourself to a higher esteem than you have right now because that’s the time when we get to rebuild our defenses, our immune systems and wage a good battle in the daily war.
Start respecting yourself and don’t harbour hope for someone else to take up that cross on your behalf, especially more so if its someone that we love. We all have to bear our own crosses.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Here's one for you
Darn it, ran out of something to write for the day. No, its not a matter of writer’s block – rather I was feeling kinda lazy and thought it a bummer to have to drag myself out to bed tomorrow to work. So, what’s a guy gonna do to fill in his daily blog? Okay, how about a math puzzle? Hahah… yeah right!
Three guys went into a restaurant, ordered food and when finished, asked for the bill. Amount came up to $25. Each one promptly took out $10 each and passed it onto the waiter.
Now, the cashier punched in the figures, and returned $5 to the waiter who thought that it would be kinda hard to split the fiver between the three customers and so decided to pocket $2 and passed on $1 each to the three blokes.
Now, that would mean each person paid $9, right? Now think about this. Three multiplied by nine is 27. Plus that with the $2 that the waiter had pocketed and you have $27+$2=$29.
So, what ever happened to the missing $1?
Yes, the IRS works in very mysterious ways!
Three guys went into a restaurant, ordered food and when finished, asked for the bill. Amount came up to $25. Each one promptly took out $10 each and passed it onto the waiter.
Now, the cashier punched in the figures, and returned $5 to the waiter who thought that it would be kinda hard to split the fiver between the three customers and so decided to pocket $2 and passed on $1 each to the three blokes.
Now, that would mean each person paid $9, right? Now think about this. Three multiplied by nine is 27. Plus that with the $2 that the waiter had pocketed and you have $27+$2=$29.
So, what ever happened to the missing $1?
Yes, the IRS works in very mysterious ways!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Cutting some slack
Oops I did it again… yes, I’ve missed out on another day of blogging, just a few days after I’ve said I would try not to. So, okay, I’ve again been loaded with work, having to make a diversion to another state for a total of eight hours’ drive before catching the last flight back, reaching home with a headache, cough, sniffles and you know, just the usual…
But hey, honestly, I’m not feeling all that bad about missing out on one day’s worth of writing. Somehow, shit always happens, or rather, re-happen the very moment you’ve made a declaration that it won’t. However, maybe we shouldn’t kill ourselves over it. Or even take things too seriously that it becomes stifling and weighty.
Yep, just as much as there is a whole lot of truth to pushing oneself to excellence, there is also a whole lot of truth that we need to cut ourselves some slack. See, there are more than enough people (ie. Employers, relatives and such) that pick and peck almost incessantly on our shortcomings or even at times when we’re just taking a breather.
Hey, know what? Screw the whole lot of them. At the end of it all, do you think that they would bother to lend a helping hand if you hit skid row? No, it’ll all be just a matter of each person for himself/herself. So, you must always look out for number one – yourself.
A little selfish, you might say? Well, look at it this way, I’m not asking you to be selfish to your loved ones, just the ones that can’t be bothered if you lived or die, just so long as you would “pull up your straps” and get the job done.
Learn to distinguish character in yourself as an individual and not a generalisation of what’s good or bad. Avoid falling into the trap of wholesale labelling just because it’s easier and less taxing on our own minds and beliefs. And for God’s sake, cut yourself some slack sometimes.
But hey, honestly, I’m not feeling all that bad about missing out on one day’s worth of writing. Somehow, shit always happens, or rather, re-happen the very moment you’ve made a declaration that it won’t. However, maybe we shouldn’t kill ourselves over it. Or even take things too seriously that it becomes stifling and weighty.
Yep, just as much as there is a whole lot of truth to pushing oneself to excellence, there is also a whole lot of truth that we need to cut ourselves some slack. See, there are more than enough people (ie. Employers, relatives and such) that pick and peck almost incessantly on our shortcomings or even at times when we’re just taking a breather.
Hey, know what? Screw the whole lot of them. At the end of it all, do you think that they would bother to lend a helping hand if you hit skid row? No, it’ll all be just a matter of each person for himself/herself. So, you must always look out for number one – yourself.
A little selfish, you might say? Well, look at it this way, I’m not asking you to be selfish to your loved ones, just the ones that can’t be bothered if you lived or die, just so long as you would “pull up your straps” and get the job done.
Learn to distinguish character in yourself as an individual and not a generalisation of what’s good or bad. Avoid falling into the trap of wholesale labelling just because it’s easier and less taxing on our own minds and beliefs. And for God’s sake, cut yourself some slack sometimes.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Great pretenders
To know that you do not know is the best.
To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.
Lao-Tzu(604 BC - 531 BC)
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