Making Room

Need breathing space?

Beneath the bustle, we have priorities that beckon to be met. While we truly want them to be met, sometimes we just don't.

Routines and obligations keep us from doing so, but that isn't how it should be.

Make room in your daily schedule, so you can breathe easier. So that not only do you fit in the things that matter, but really do focus on them and well, allow them time to likewise breathe into your life.

Does family matter to you? Friends? Personal happiness? Does money/career/things really mean more to you than these?

It will feel uncomfortable to make adjustments. So might it be worthwhile?

I think it will.

Loved

Loved

The truth is every one of us wants to love and be loved.

We are moved by scenes of couples getting together, getting married, families enjoying time together.. In real life or in drama.

How do we know he or she is the one? How do we know our future with our loved ones will last and will work out for the best? How do we know relationships and friendships will last?

By faith, that's the answer.

Brian Eno: Three Variations on Pachelbel's Canon

Quiet In A Noisy World

Reading Susan Cain's Quiet is plenty enlightening and assuring. If you simply understand and are at peace with how your introverted self thinks, behaves and instinctively responds, then you're more likely to find balance in this hyper-connected social time we live in.

Why does an introvert usually shun social gatherings, novel situations and even just getting out of the house? One, he is highly reactive and sensitive to his environment. Feeling things more deeply, he can be overly stimulated and more exhausted. Another thing is that he prefers meaningful relationships and thinking more deeply about things. Perhaps he hasn't learnt to interact and speak up with multiple parties at once, and doesn't like being labelled anti-social. At the very least, he prefers friendly and cooperative group settings.

Can an apparently extroverted person actually be introverted within? Yes, as he has learnt to project such a persona, whether motivated by work obligations or a cause he passionately pursues. He is usually highly observant and empathic, even towards a group audience. This is however demanding and energy-sapping for him, that's why he's got to find "restorative niches" to recharge himself.

He could even make a great leader. Because he is astute, listens well, takes carefully calculated risks, is persistent, and probably appreciates how other introverts operate and will afford them the space they need to thrive. Many fine examples stand out in human history, belied by whatever front we remember of them: the fiery, oratorical sort; the unassuming, behind-the-scenes worker; or the powerful, letter-writing influencer.

Coming to a place of self-awareness and self-acceptance is definitely key to finding personal happiness in what he does for a living, how he manages his time and energy everyday, how he complements and makes compromises with his life partner, how he deals with conflicts and stressful situations etc. Otherwise when confronted and overwhelmed by fear, guilt or anxiety that is triggered by others voicing their criticism or venting their anger, he shuts down his natural empathy and becomes avoidant.

Well, the world needs both introverts and extroverts, Cain reiterates in her book. And they both need each other. The extrovert very well seeks meaningful lifelong relationship which he finds possible with an introvert. The introvert finds conversation with the extrovert easy and interesting. Effective, well-considered decisions are made with the inputs of both achievement-oriented and properly analyzed views.

Learning all this makes me feel more at peace and hopeful of applying myself well in life. It's timely because I'm realising that my priorities include paying attention to the nearest and dearest around me--and not money, career success or material possessions. All the better if I can relate better to my family and close friends, be they introverts or extroverts.

Melancholy Songs

Pointers For Managing Self

Some pointers I gleaned so far from Tony Schwartz's Be Excellent At Anything: The Four Keys To Transforming The Way We Work And Live:

1) Our attention span typically lasts 90min max. Anything more and performance suffers. Yet most of us in desk-bound jobs easily find ourselves sitting down for hours at a stretch. Schwartz's suggestion: Take frequent renewal breaks, be it active (running, read a book) or passive (napping, lunching).

2) Sleep is important. With sufficient rest, your mind and body are better able to perform optimally.

3) Exercise is key, including cardio which keeps your mind alert and your heart beating strong and healthily and strengthening which maintains muscle mass requisite for daily activities (especially crucial for aging bodies).

4) Our brains programme us in fight-or-flight emotional responses when our sense of self-security is threatened. Triggers include being scolded or being neglected. Whichever response is instinctive to you depends on your personality. To better deal with such situations, try to take control of yourself (breathe & stay calm) and respond in a way that is atypical of you.

Question now is how do I apply these pointers practically and consistently in my daily life? Conscious self-discipline is certainly the key.

See The Big Picture

Look

God With Us

One of the toughest struggles for a Christian is that God can seem absent in the darkest of moments. Or we feel His presence but our cries for help go unanswered and our pains don't go away.

Does God care, does God know what I'm going through, we wonder.

Best we remember moments when He impresses a word, a verse or a thought upon us. Because that's what sustains us. That's what gives hope and assurance.

I choose to remain hopeful and to remind myself that He is Immanuel "God with us".

And in spite of what I've gone through in the past one & a half years, I choose to be thankful for things worth thanking God for.

Life is a journey, a friend reminded recently during a conversation. Which direction are we heading? Where do we want to go? And who's going along with us?

Go in the direction of your heart. Find your focus and be established in fruitful living where daily joys keep you going.

I wanna go to Marz

Marz by John Grant

One two three four...

Bittersweet strawberry marshmallow butterscotch
Polarbear cashew dixieland phosphate chocolate
My tutti frutti special raspberry, leave it to me
Three grace scotch lassie cherry smash lemon free

I wanna go to Marz
Where green rivers flow
And your sweet sixteen is waiting for you after the show
I wanna go to Mraz
We'll meet the gold dust twins tonight
You'll get your heart's desire, I will meet you under the lights

Golden champagne juicy grapefruit lucky monday
High school footall hot fudge buffalo tulip sundae
Almond caramel frappe pineapple rootbeer
Black and white pennyapple henry ford sweetheart maple tea

I wanna go to Marz
Where green rivers flow
And your sweet sixteen is waiting for you after the show
I wanna go to Mraz
We'll meet the gold dust twins tonight
You'll get your heart's desire, I will meet you under the lights

Shape Your Habits, Direct Your Life

Reading Charles Duhigg's The Power Of Habit really enlightened me and encouraged me on how one's personal habits can be changed and even harnessed for greater effectiveness in life.

We all know that everyone struggles with habits in various areas of our lives--that is, bad habits that call out to be managed and good habits that we always struggle to keep. Think new year resolutions.

First the bad news: habits, once formed, can't be gotten rid of because neural pathways are formed in our brains and even when we stop practising the habit, the pathways are still there, waiting to be activated.

The good news is that bad habits can be changed! And once we understand the anatomy of a habit, we can learn to form good habits! And it is through our daily habits that we can begin to build the life we desire.

So what's a habit? A habit is made of a loop which is first triggered by a cue such as mid-afternoon when you start to feel peckish. Once triggered, you begin to feel a craving and desire that begs to be satisfied. That's how we get into a habitual routine which serves to achieve a desired reward (e.g. hunger is satiated, feel good from endorphins etc.). And all this can happen without much forethought because our brains have been programmed through repeated habit cycles. This latter point can work both for us and against us.



Two examples:
- Cue: running shoes left next to the bed. Routine: run first thing in the morning. Reward: endorphine rush and a healthy breakfast.
- Cue: feeling sad. Routine: drink. Reward: forget the troubles.

Grasp this: The key ingredients to building instilling good habits are:

• Belief - Whatever your habit is, if you believe that your habit can be changed, it makes a critical difference whether you can sustain and follow through your habit change. Whether your belief is based upon spirituality or otherwise, Duhigg cites research such as recovering alcoholics that demonstrates how crucial belief is.
• Willpower - Don't give up! As we say in my church, keep on keeping on! Your breakthrough is round the corner! Another advice given to me by someone who recovered from depression by forcing himself to do what seemed really difficult, be ruthless. That said, willpower is like a muscle that can tire, such as after a long day of meetings and important decision making. That's why often we find it hard to kick ourselves to go for a run at the end of a tiring work day.
• Identify keystone habits - A keystone habit is one that causes shifts in other areas of your life and other good habits begin to fall in place. Such as regular exercise which usually leads one to eat more healthily, smoke less and sleep more. Interestingly, this habit might not even seem related to what you're trying to achieve. Duhigg reported about the power of visualization through how Michael Phelps' coach got him to repeatedly watch a video tape of a perfect swim every night and every morning.
• Understand moments of immense stress can trigger old habits - Duhigg mentions about people who do recover from alcoholism or drugs, but when a serious, personal crisis hits, these people lapse back into their destructive habits.

I simplify the practical habit-changing steps offered by Duhigg:

1) Identify the triggering habit cues. Think along five areas: time, location, emotional state, other people & the immediately preceding action.

2) Experiment with rewards to identify what is the gratification you're really after. It might not actually be the food you take during a tea break, but it could be company and a reprieve from work.

3) Think of a plan to change your routine according to the identified cue and reward. This step is essentially because otherwise you will feel compelled to lapse into your old habit. Separately, I've heard Dr. Robi Sonderegger explain that a temptation lasts about 7 minutes and that your planned distraction or new habit has to engage you emotionally if it is to be adopted effectively.

Read how Duhigg explains these steps.



And I'm absolutely inspired! I hope to apply this newfound wisdom not only to physical habits, but also to financial habits and mental habits. I also recognize that this is a journey and positive change won't take place place overnight. But bit by bit, if we keep at it, doing the right things and picking our bruised selves up when we do stumble, we can direct and transform our lives towards where we want to go.

Final note: Duhigg actually studies not just the habits of individuals but also in organizations and he goes into the realm of marketing strategies, corporate culture and practices. So you'll definitely find this book enlightening in many ways.

Stop Everything You're Doing & Be Grateful

The Why Question

Who hasn't wondered if God is real, and if He is, then why does He allow distress, troubles and even calamities and crises in our lives?

God has never really answered my "why" questions. It's left me wondering, searching and even bereft at one time.

At some point, I believe my purpose--His purpose for my life--will be understood.

For now, it takes trust. That is, trusting that God will move and act in His time to bring about the best outcome and path for me.

How will things turn out in future, we wonder? For good, I believe. I'm learning that one's past does not determine one's future.

Can you believe that positive change and progress will come in your life?

Move from Why to Yes. Your life depends on it.

Understanding Introverts

Marius Ziska (Live on KEXP)

Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

Pointers gleaned from John C Maxwell's book - How Successful People Think.

1. Cultivate Big Picture Thinking
- What are the needs? And their causes?
- Who are the stakeholders? What are they thinking or doing with respect to the needs?

2. Engage in Focused Thinking
- What goals can be identified?
- How to achieve them?

3. Harness Creative Thinking
- How can we see/do things better?
- Who can we learn from?

4. Employ Realistic Thinking
- Face the facts
- Identify the pros, cons, worst case & resources needed

5. Utilize Strategic Thinking
- What's your plan?
- Who are you teaming with?

6. Explore Possibility Thinking
- Dream bigger & more fantastically
- Learn from achievers

7. Learn from Reflective Thinking
- Spend time reflecting
- Reflect in terms of what matters to you
- Make real changes

8. Question Popular Thinking
- Think for yourself
- Do things differently
- Do new things

9. Benefit from Shared Thinking
- Value others & enjoy interaction
- Plan for meetings: What's your agenda? Invite those who can contribute.

10. Practice Unselfish Thinking
- Give to benefit others
- Give anonymously if possible
- Check your motives

11. Rely on Bottom-Line Thinking
- What are your purpose and goal?
- How's your daily progress?

Changing The World

Two books have been on my desk: How To Change The World: Social Entrepreneurs And The Power Of New Ideas and Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide.

They report numerous accounts of individuals (from the past and more recent) who aren't famous but yet are worthy of remembering because of how they worked against immense opposition and deep-rooted resistance to, well, change their world. They've effected changes that remove or reduce discrimination against groups of people like women and disabled people, that provide them the means to survive, that bring a sense of near-normalcy and deliverance to places of oppression and helplessness.

Change starts with...not so much the idea, but with men and women who dare to envision a different, better circumstance. Social change, business change, culture change...whatever it is, they see it and actually live it.

What gives courage to pursue change and to keep pursuing it through one's life? The deep burden to see the lives of loved ones, fellow ones removed from suffering? Anger at the ineffectual institutions that don't seem to care enough to bother? The will to believe that things can get and will get better?

It doesn't have to require a noble, grand cause and a huge effort to get started. Just meet one need at a time, around you and me. Little needs, not-so-little needs... And don't do it for recognition or affirmation, but do it simply knowing that you tried to make a difference.

Hanoi Trip (Oct 2012)

The Sound Of Two Songs (by Mark Power)

The Sound Of Two Songs is a photo-project by Mark Power spanning 2004 to 2009. He documents and presents his take on Poland, its landscape and people.

...instigated by Magnum Photos to document countries joining the European Union that year. Despite having no familial ties to the country, he soon became fascinated by Poland. Over the next five years he made a further twenty visits, often accompanied by Polish photographer Konrad Pustola who generously shared his knowledge of his native land. Over time Power’s focus shifted from an investigation into the effects of EU membership into a more subjective, poetic and autobiographical response to a country he grew to love...

Power’s images exemplify his belief that ‘ugliness can be profoundly beautiful’. They present Poland as a land ‘bursting with visual contradictions… like listening to several melodies at once to the point where it’s difficult to hear anything clearly’, a notion which inspired the title of the exhibition. It is a place seen by a foreigner, an outsider; a position Power has resolutely maintained throughout. A highly personal body of work, The Sound of Two Songs nonetheless remains an important historical document of this fascinating period in Poland’s history.

Thai Photography Of The Past

74-year-old Pornsak Sakdaenprai talks about his photography work half a century ago in a small Isan town. Video courtesy of Bangkok Post. In Thai with English subtitles.

Thinking About Consumption

Caught DIVE! a documentary by Jeremy Seifert on America's food waste problem. Proving that dumpster food can be safe for consumption, he along with others rifle through dumpsters regularly--not compelled by poverty but by a reluctance to see valuable food go to waste.

Seifert reports that America dumps 96 billion pounds of consumable food every year, which takes up 20% of landfills. Key fact to remember: there is a cost, i.e. resources, that's expended to produce food, although it's not visible to the consumer. So throwing away a single pound of food means we actually waste all the resources that went into putting it on our dinner table.

It's not just a film that aims to change consumer behaviour, but more than that, to highlight how food companies have a crucial role to play in deciding how to manage excess/expended food.

Something to seriously think about as we bite into our foods, not just our favourite but also those that we don't fancy and would feel nothing about letting it go to waste.

Which leads me to...



In Must-Have: The Hidden Instincts Behind Everything We Buy, Geoffrey Miller breaks down how consumers' display of their lifestyles, through the cars, music, clothes, books, foods, life partners, opinions etc. are all driven by innate evolutionary desires to appear more attractive and therefore better able to mate and find success.

Miller offers many ideas and explanations for our consumer behaviour--he can be tongue-in-cheek at times--including "Central Six" attributes and not demographics that can fairly accurately predict behaviour. He concludes with suggestions to change social norms such as imposing extra retail taxes on brand new products to curb consumption, raising the prices of products with intangible costs (e.g. social costs such as ammo for guns).

The main takeaway: Consider and weigh our own motivations for lifestyle choices.

Food for thought: What motivates people to give or get involved in charity? If it's sympathy-inducing situations coupled with latent desire to do good without being too inconvenienced...why do most of us brush aside people who beg on the streets? Do givers/carers need to have positive giving experiences in order to encourage them to continue giving/caring?



e² design by PBS features inspiring projects and architects/designer who have consciously implemented designs that are--here comes the E word--environmentally conscious.

Key points: Good design requires forethought and consideration of context and culture. Implementation of bold ideas requires willingness and flexibility to try. See the larger picture in order to appreciate various factors at work.

It's not about tree-hugging sentiments, but actually about practical concerns such as how to save costs in the long run, how to reduce energy usage, how to create a conducive, comfortable and culturally-relevant social space etc. If only we can just stop and ask ourselves them questions.

Rethinking & Reusing

A house that took just 3 days to lay its two-ton concrete slabs and structural steel beams that were disposed from Boston's Big Dig.





Reusing something that's trashed--disposed highway parts in this case--to build your own house, is seldom the first thought that comes to mind to most of us. How do you incorporate such materials with a design that fits its neighbourhood and surroundings?

This project was featured in e2, PBS' documentary series on green architecture design. You can read more about its development here.

Rediscovery & Remaking

I just finished reading India Calling by Anand Giridharadas, an Indian native who as a youth moves to America with his parents and later decides to relocate back to his homeland, I suppose, to rediscover his roots. He writes about India's transformation in its social castes & the relationships in-between and its values towards success in life, towards family & marriage. It depicts each new definition through various characters he recalls through his family lineage such as his parents and their parents as well as those he encounters who each represent the old and the new India and the tensions therein.

You can read a review as well as an excerpt of this book here by NPR--it also includes an interview with the author as he talks about changes he witnessed.

And now I'm thinking about my own place in my country: a dwelling place where social ties and fond memories reside, a marketplace of making a living and pursuing aspirations, and a place of belonging where my loyalty is demanded.

One can lament some things, yet one can also be grateful--for those same things and also for others. Perhaps the crux of our identity lies in how we choose to make a place: Do you choose to belong and to contribute to shaping it? And if you do nothing, you either shape the status quo or you allow others to shape it along with you in it.

Questions that are being asked today: Where do we want to head and at what cost? Who should bear responsibility for each aspect of the systems we're building? Should we allow age-old institutions to adapt to modern lifestyles?

As a friend recently responded to my suggestion for him to join the national conversation even while he's abroad, how can I who am currently out of the system voice out for a matter which the local actors have the say and probably already had theirs?

In short: First, choose to be a stakeholder. Then, choose how you want to remake your place.

Awareness

Half The Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is an immensely sobering and absorbing read because it puts the spotlight on the gritty issue of the sex trafficking of women. I'm a quarter through it...

Heavy and stirring it is. Its real life accounts of women coerced and trapped in prostitution illuminates the complexities involved in efforts to liberate these poor women. It also inspires how women, whether victims themselves and/or community heroes, are trying to help others.

Awareness is the first step. I'm not sure what's next...because I'm just learning about a whole lot of world issues demanding our attention.

Stay tuned and continue this journey.

Selecting

When deciding on a major decision and direction to pursue, you have to weigh what matters to you. Not pragmatically or directed by other's expectations, but being true to yourself.

Perhaps look at the examples of those around you. Are they doing what you wish you were? Can you see yourselves in their shoes?

Sometimes you hit a bump and you gotta make a change to find that breakthrough you been dreaming about. And sometimes no one can really help you; they might give you advice but you're the only one who can try it for yourself.

Keep looking forward, pressing on. Only you can forge the future you want.

Making Room

Been clearing my room progressively. All useless things of no sentimental value must go.

Photos & journal entries hark back to days long past. Of earlier thoughts, events and seasons.

Oh how we move on...

We all have memories we want to discard. We thought we already did, but they bubble up, sometimes unexpectedly, from the recesses within. Perhaps memories are as powerful as you ascribe them to be.

Whatever's happened in the past, don't be beholden to it. It doesn't determine your future. Today's choices do--unless you choose to do nothing.

How do you know you've room for new things in your life? It's certainly not just about diving headlong into them and expecting instant adaptation. It's not about juggling more and more things together, because some will quickly fall from the lack of focus. So what is it?

Accomodating through space and behavior seems to be it.

Without the new, the mundane & routine dominate.

Make a choice.

Mentalist

Homeland - Putting your finger on suspicions

Though a drama, yet the terror radicalist situation it depicts feels real and quite believable. Because the issues are close to its nation's heart: of war veterans and their psychological wounds and of a war that is ongoing as shown by recent events.

What captivates must be its 2 central characters: an CIA agent battling externally through rogue means and also battling internally as well to keep herself together and functioning; and a soldier recovering from terrors of war whose malintent is played out gradually and whose tortured mind is revealed through flitting memories and demons.

What gives us tenacity to cling on to a mission of eradicating an elusive enemy through all possible means? Is it loyalty to a cause and to one's country? Is it to vindicate one's hunches and actions?

Stay tuned as more is revealed next.

Breaking Bad - What your gut is capable of

Pressed by circumstances in life, it seems everyone and anyone can turn to the latent dark side. Life can be tough and cruel. It's all about how we choose to respond, isn't it?

Unmet needs feed our addictions which some try to hide and deny when confronted. The need to be accepted, affirmed and loved. The need to do something purposeful in life employing your abilities. The need to fight on when your survival is threatened.

The line on morality is drawn into question: How far would you go to save yourself and to give up what you've tried to hold on to?

Plans

Change comes about when you take action. Progressive change is when the action is according to the plan you have determined.

What's your goal? Are you convicted that it's a worthy one and your motivation is right for you?

Have a plan of action.

If it's a problem to be solved, you need a plan.

If it's to enhance your quality of life, get a plan.

Even if it's to discover something completely novel and untrodden, I'm pretty certain a plan is still essential.

Plan practical steps to break routines, change ways of thought, learn new ones, form new connections, explore new places...

You'll get there. You only simply have to get started.

Change

(chānj)
• To undergo transformation or transition.
• To go from one phase to another, as the moon or the seasons.
(Courtesy of www.tfd.com)

If we want to move into a house that is bigger, better & more posh than the previous one, I guess we'd better leave our baggage and old keepsakes behind. Wouldn't want the clutter of old to come along with you, would you?

With each change in life, there are uncomfortable moments of uncertainty and perhaps anxiety. But better to be drawn and motivated by new opportunities than to dwell on the past. It's not easy to unshackle mindsets and familiar ways of rationalizing and doing things--sometimes it takes another to point it out--but if we don't try...what if we end up like the frog in the slow-boiling pot, or worse, flash-fried frog! 反求诸己 or self-awareness and self-checking is definitely a good thing to have.

I recently read Entrepreneurship: From Idea To Success by Farhad Foroutan-Esfahani. An anecdote about seeking answers in the proverbial "Book of Answers" struck me. Its moral summarized: The learning and discovery is in the journey--no one can tell you the answers from the onset.

With our each moving on from one [blank] to another (replace [blank] with job, life stage, marital status, social group etc), uncertainty is always present. Hopefully it is the new pasture that's beckoning. Or if you can't see it, then start taking steps to find it. At least I know I will--gonna take 1 step, and another, and another. And if I take the wrong step, God help me.

It is better to finish a matter than to begin one... For now, all I can simply do now is to close the previous chapter, however it happened, and move on. Self-berating helps no one, I've found, and least of all, yourself.

Look ahead. Look up. Look far! The rest of the journey's just begun!

Life Mission

Why would a man risk his own life just to capture tumultuous events on film?

Watched a documentary on photojournalist, Philip Blenkinsop, and was struck by his lack of fear and trepidation. What drives him?

"It can be depressing. You spend time with people under constant threat, but once you've actually spent time with these people, and you have put the pictures out on the world stage through magazines, and you have actually arranged to draw attention to these people and bring them to the politicians who you think it should matter to, and make a difference, you realize it doesn't change a damn thing." ~ Taken from here

See his work here and here (warning: disturbing graphic images)

Reel Ideas

1. 那些年，我們一起追的女孩

Romance and aspirations of your youth, remember them? Of doing silly things that you don't really regret?

Feels like a while back.

One character in the show said, "我想成为一个很厉害的人，因为有了我，让这个世界，而有一点点的不一样..."

Whatever life throws at you, just hold on. Does your heart bury one thing while in pursuit of another?

Well, gotta realize what matters to you. Else regret is inevitable.



2. The Amazing Spiderman

Having already decided to take a beginning leap of faith towards a mission to save the world (literally), things can line up in your favor to aid you along. And if you don't take that step, you won't even know this and experience this.

Perhaps lack of success and even failure can happen. But in the eyes of others and especially the One, we want to see you keep on going. Our hearts are sustaining you.

Well, there are heroes in this world. There are also hero-supporters and enablers in this world.

Take a leap...at the right moment.



3. Bernie

Do many good deeds negate a wrong? Does it matter how a person lives his/her private life if many people around are being helped?

For sure, what takes place in the dark eventually comes to the light. Fully revealed, do you even like what you see?

Live a life that is true to yourself and to the right values.

Happiness & Mystique

Consumption

Finished reading "Freedom", a novel by Jonathan Franzen. Meet 3 characters who fell for each other in their own way and even as they grew older, they never saw what it was that truly brought them joy and acceptance. It's a book about, well without saying enough, finding love, parenting, holding on to ideals, self-discovery... These folks never quite gave up their pursuit of that thing till resolution does come many years later. The amazing scene for me was when P made a desperate attempt to get back together with W and they finally saw eye-to-eye with each other. Everybody makes mistakes in life, but it's how you learn and move on from them that matters.

Also read "How Starbucks Saved My Life", a short autobiography by Michael Gates Gill. Was touched when Mike persisted in calling his doctor to help his boss's uncle who was having heart difficulties. I think meaning and purpose really do come from everyday moments where actions meet needs. I'm not writing book reviews here. That said, if you need a jolt on which direction to pursue in life, you should pick this book up.

Watched "Cool It", a video about Bjorn Lomborg, a gutsy yet sounds-sensible environmentalist cum professor who is controversial for disputing with recognized bodies on the cause and seriousness of global warming. What seems most sensible in the video is simply that we should put things in perspective: For the solutions that we want everyone to implement, what are really the benefits and necessary costs, and could we better invest these resources elsewhere? And go back to your motivations: Are they more fear and emotion-driven than being rational to examine other possible causes?

Moving On

It's less about the passing of time but about taking responsibility, being positive and shaking the dirt off one's feet.

In the face of uncertainty, the risk of failure is...there. Don't want to regret, don't want to worry, but to plan ahead and then to let go.

Joy rekindled is what I need.

Silence

Onward

Hands that are used to washing & wringing clothes over decades continue to do so.

Memories of past decades, earlier times & deeds (& misdeeds) etched but slowly fade.

How much can one go through in a lifetime--life, death, loss & joys? How much can one eat & enjoy?

Surely onward we continue, upward we aspire. A better new day of happiness & fulfillment we hope of.

Don't give up, most of all, on yourself.

Sense & Sensibleness

Cousin's wife passed away on Saturday morning. She's 36yo, chirpy personality and, as my uncle describes, a brave person who endured braved a 2-year battle with breast cancer. And none of us knew of this.

We sat with my uncle, Uncle Jack, at the wake and though his eyes were a little red, he was upbeat and talked on and on. Cousin looked worn. He was occupied with other well-meaning visitors.

My uncle said some things which I want to remember:

#1 - Whenever Ah Gong (grandpa) calls him and asks him for something, Uncle Jack would agree even before Ah Gong completes the sentence. My grandpa is 95yo, practically blind and his hearing isn't good. So, as uncle put it, he has to deal with B-O-R-E-D-O-M as he can't watch TV or listen to the radio. Most of all, Uncle Jack says, do what you can now--don't regret on the day Ah Gong passes away.

#2 - "I'm an adventurous person. I've tried MANY things." Even as he related how he used to be a "tang kee" (spirit medium), he thinks it was all hypnotic trance-inducing hocus-pocus. Man of little fear he is.

It's not for me to compare my uncle with myself or my own dad. But there is much good sense to be caught for one's own life, wouldn't you say?

Kishi Bashi: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Kishi Bashi is the pseudonym of singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter K Ishibashi (born November 4, 1975). Born in Seattle, Washington, but growing up predominantly on the east coast, Ishibashi has recorded with and toured internationally as a violinist with such diverse artists such as Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche, and most recently, the Athens, Georgia based indie rock group of Montreal, of which he is currently a member. Ishibashi is also the singer and founding member of the New York synth rock outfit, Jupiter One. In 2011, he started to record and perform as a solo artist, opening for Sondre Lerche, Alexi Murdoch, and of Montreal. He will support of Montreal on their upcoming spring 2012 tour. Ishibashi has a side project called Cop Gravy, he plans on releasing his first EP under this moniker on the Joyful Noise label in late 2012, it has the tentative title "I Lost My Wrestling Match To Davey Pierce On The Big Black Bus".

Read more on Wiki...

Positive Change

Truer than true, youer than you. Don't want to regret at the end of your life?

Could I have worked harder? Nah... Smarter? Oh yeah.

Spent more time with friends? Definitely.

Watched Coldplay's tribute to Adam Yauch and the lyrics went, you've gotta fight for your right to party.

Be remembered for what matters to you. Imagine your eulogy.

Live with joy, purpose &...gratitude.

Restitution

When you done wrong
when you took too long
Guilt lingers.
Where does closure come?

Expect scolding
Wrath
Words that...

Goodness me, what am I to do??

Forgiveness we all seek
Restitution I guess we should make.

Weekend in revue

This weekend marked the 10th anniversary of Sun's crossover project. We ended by singing the song, 愿意为你. Amazed I was by all that was shared. But most of all, what touched me was the love that Pastor has for Jesus. The willingness to obey, no matter how trying it can be.

You can't say, "Having done all" unless you've truly done & been through it all. And that will be the real test of your temerity & willingness.

Awoke to the same haunting chinese lyrics.

Caught Trainstopping: 2011 The Year In Review. Hilarious, well-delivered yet also suitably poignant in its recall of infamous events & phrases. A great beginning for this brand new company.

Now taking the train home as I type this. Public transport, essential, experienced everyday, taken for granted most of the time.

Real Life

Man approaches to ask for money - $1.50 - for supposed bus fare. I think he's begging to feed something else & I decline. He walks away & I notice he's got a decent looking watch on. He turns the corner & turns again onto the pavement in front. I look at him, he looks back & I look away. Suddenly I wonder about my safety and Singapore's supposed surreal safety.

Boy breaks loose from grandpa who's still holding his older sister's hand. He dashes a little onto the road while grandpa yells. Grandpa lurches forward, grabs him roughly & scolds him. All this while there's no traffic on the road. Sister's silent. I carry on walking.

Dad scrubs sweet potatoes with kitchen sponge. I think about the germs on the sponge. Now what would you do next?
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Identity

The way we talk, dress, move... The things we value, activities we do, the people we associate with... Our attitudes and perspective...

Alone or together, you see it.

The person you want to be. Who you see yourself as. What you want to embrace and pursue. Who you allow to speak into you and challenge you to transform your ways?

Get out of your own skin, yet be true to who you are--do you know who you are?

End Goal

Instead of asking what outcome is defined for one, how about asking what we want to see achieved?

The word's been given, hasn't it? Glimpses of the future are caught...

Should we quit asking what's next, but start planning what's next? Realisation, as long as you can still do something, didn't come too late.

What kind of change, movement, shift do you want to see? Don't stop there. See it? Outline it.

Follow your heart and you shouldn't go wrong. Divine correction brings you back on course if you veer off. Peer support makes it easier to get through. But you--you're the driver. Or co-driver, should I say?

Active is a state of keeping balance by moving forward--like unicycling, a friend recently shared. Forward, back, forward, side, forward for sure. Thoughts might be raw, views inchoate, but in time, character and conviction and right daily choices will see you to the end.

Polarizing

Why is it wrong to use public funds to profit a private entity even when it is expected to lead to public good? Why is it lamentable that the powers that be aren't doing enough to redistribute wealth to help the underprivileged? Why is it sad that iconic buildings that encapsulate memory and meaning are torn down to make way for new progressive developments?

Issues, problems that we tangle with daily, they demand solutions that are effective, sustainable and some would say, equitable. Whatever their interests, we elect leaders to lead us in the future. Yet no man-made governance is perfect, no man-leader is faultless.

I would say, collectively, intelligently, creatively, we together gotta each make a difference.

From awareness to being equipped to acting out your conviction to fine-tuning and constant innovation, positive change comes through...well, the heart, really.

What provokes you, stirs you, impassions you to action?

Value the good values that will ensure posterity.

Swift

Wine skin. Paradigm. Heart. Epoch. Underwear.

Figured the common denominator?

When the rules of the game gotta--What's the game anyway?

For profit? For social benefit? For staying above the water?

Beyond the novelty, what keeps one coming back for more? With many mouths & hearts to feed, who do you target?

Listen and feel the wind. What's rising? What's falling?

Learn to surf and ride the tide. Away the rip that pulls you under. New lands, new shores, new heights to conquer.

No music, did you realise?

Power is the capacity to apply your strengths as needed--or not needed.

At what point does a tortured soul turn maniacal? Tortured by others yet not seen by others. Without an other, what grinds and tests one's reasoning and maturity?

We don't always have an answer. We don't always need to know.

If I could fly...soar...speed...thrust through the air...can I escape gravity? Reality?

Morality, what a word. We don't need to philosophize, but what is good? Okay, too big a question. To what extent is it okay to expend or hurt something that seems trashy for the sake of getting and saving another of importance to you?

Moving through the day, activity, tasks, completion, progress...What gives one sufficient vision to realize where you actually are?

Awareness illuminates. Reach out with unseen hands and fix the pieces of your future. Muscles unused don't grow. Unused muscles will feel raw, weak, but given exercise AND nourishment, they grow.

Strength to strength, you can do more. Do what, you ask?

Liberty given, liberty lived. Don't be captive to the chains and weights that can be easily broken. Easily is not an easy word.

Turn on the music. Life should be enjoyable, fruitful and legacy-building.

King of the Lane

Come to terms with (fill in the blank). When a disruptive event occurs and you realize something precious to you is lost, the correct thing to do is to change, to adapt and to make reparations.

What if you can't?

What if, at that point, you start to see yourself for who you are, and the other in more clarity?

Then the ground gets pulled from under you...

Life is brief. Read Psalm 90.

Serving the needs and expectations of superiors and others is important, isn't it? When one's attitude is apparent for one to see...can't close eyes and shake it off...

Worthy of pursuit is--not activities with temporary gain--the realising of deep-seated purpose. Like rain reaching through the ground and meeting the water table.

Find that purposeful living and make it yours.

****prints in the sand

One night I had a wondrous dream.
One set of footprints there was seen,
the footprints of my precious Lord,
but mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared
and I asked the Lord, "What have we here?
Those prints are large and round and neat,
but, Lord, they are too large for feet."

"My child," he said in sober tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
but you refused and made me wait.

"You disobeyed, you would not grow.
The walk of faith you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up,
and there I dropped you on your butt.

"Because in life there comes a time
when one must fight and one must climb,
when one must rise and take a stand
or leave their butt prints in the sand."

Writer unknown

An Animated History of Human Communication

1965 Educational Film about the Telephone

People

This week, two people in the pool caught my eye as I lapped past them. One was a paraplegic with shrivelled legs who was swimming front crawl in an effortful manner. Maybe he's used to people staring, well, it takes some degree to guts and self-acceptance to bare himself like that.

The other man whom I didn't notice at first had a three-lined scar centred on his chest. I imagined the doctor cutting through below the rib cage and then snapping through the sternum. Explains why he was swimming slowly I guess. Perhaps recovering post-op.

Whatever that brought us to where we are, are we letting it have a stranglehold? A baggage that's familiarly heavy? A wound that we keep picking?

Maybe someone else is looking at you and wondering how you came to be. Maybe the scars or limitations aren't obvious... Are we living like they're there?

Live strong, I say.

Currently Reading - Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know by Robert Paarlberg

Holstee Manifesto

Thoughts of Artistry

It's about working with the gifting that we have, I told a friend yesterday over coffee.

Was Van Gogh's life a tragedy? Or more accurately, a tragic life that left a deep legacy that will continue to affect thousands? Plagued--yes, constantly wracked and worn--by insanity, talented before his time, loved and supported by his loved one to pursue his art... Makes you wonder what's the best way to leave this world? ...and the best way to live in this world?

Dare we pursue what we're created for? What if there's no promise of success and prosperity and all the comfortable markers of making it in society?

Reading T.L. Friedman's books and watching programmes which lay out the case against rampant globalization, ravaging of the natural environment, nature ravaging us in turn, the ill-privileged poor, it really makes one wonder what one is doing to tackle or at least acknowledge social problems around us?

If I want to leave a legacy that ripples and that future artists can leverage, what must I do?

Find a cause--or let it find you. Gather up courage. Stir up creativity within, sometimes without. Then carry on!

Thing is, we are who we are. Like Elphaba, green as can be, yet finding home and ease in a city as green as she. Each needs acceptance, to be hugged and embraced by people. Finding our place, no matter how quirky or unique we think we are.

And remember this, the human spirit is indefatigable, even in death--that is, if he or she so chooses. What makes one give up? What makes another persist?

Rise above your feelings, rally up your daily passion, and be the artist you were meant to be!

Let Go

By Jess Penner

are we or are we not hanging like icicles from the rooftops we are growing in the cold taking shape and taking hold because this is our time now

I know that things are so different than you imagined but you imagined so donʼt stop now because weʻre gonna see the dream before we drop drop drop drop down drop drop drop drop down oh oh

let go let go let go itʼs gonna be ok ok I know weʼre gonna fall fast yeah but then real slow youʼre gonna find your wings have finally grown (let go let go let go)

I swear I swear sometimes youʼre just so serious itʼs like youʼd crack your face with a smile If you forget yourself for a while the world might crumble in

let go let go let go itʼs gonna be ok ok I know weʼre gonna fall fast yeah but then real slow youʼre gonna find your wings have finally grown (let go let go let go)

are we or are we not hanging like icicles from the rooftops we are growing in the cold taking shape and taking hold because this is our time now

Tell Me A Tale

By Michael Kiwanuka

Tell me a tale that always was,
Sing me a song that I'll always be in,
Tell me a story that I can read,
Tell me a story that I believe.

Paint me a picture that I can see,
Give me a touch that I can feel,
Turn me around so I can be,
Everything I was meant to be.

Lord I need loving,
Lord I need good, good loving.
Lord I need good, good loving.

Show me some strength that I can use,
Give me a sound that I won't refuse,
Tell me story that I can read,
Tell me a story that I can believe

Tell me a tale that always was,
Sing me a song that I'll always be in,
Turn me around so I can be,
Everything I was meant to be.

Lord I need loving,
Lord I need good, good loving.
Lord I need good, good loving.
Lord I need good, good loving.
Lord I need good, good loving.

Swimming Through Life

The same medium, all human, but each goes a different stroke, a different goal & a different pace.

Is the aim to be the fastest? The least splash? Or the longest influencing ripples??

Maybe we look at another and think we know better, we can do better. Seriously, not everyone wants to be coached.

The odd is, when others start to leave, the awkward competition stops and you want to get out too.

Stick it till you complete your laps. Routine but surely there's an end in mind, no?

Liminality by Obsquare

Where are the courageous men?

We choose. To act. Not to act. To accept ourselves and the choices we already made.

Good or bad, it's sealed. Now what matters is how you're responding to it.

Equipped with more knowledge & experience, we should be making better choices. But often we go back to the same. Because "that's who I am"..."That's how I've been feeling"..."I don't like to..."

If you don't know what to say, don't say anything--that's something I often hear internally.

If the situation arises and your precious is threatened, courage will arise. If the cause manifests itself, courage will arise.

Ask yourself what kind of person you want to be, what would you do differently if the same thing happens? Perhaps that will help guide our choices.

Life should be pursuing what matters. We know this but not always what matters. That's why clarity and confirmation matter.

Foster the right thoughts that'll help you make right choices.

Happiness

What's the difference between pursuing spiritual goals & material goals? Between godliness & wealth, while not diametric, what is worth pouring one's energy into?

For the love of life, do something that will bring you lasting happiness. We say this but won't you just live it??

Quit the lousy feeling and get the groove back on. If you've tried something and it didn't work out, just shrug it off and move on.

Like a retro techno-beats song that echos... "Got-ta move on... Got-ta move on... Got-ta move on..."

Others can see the unhappiness ON you already. So quit saying "I'm okay" when you're not okay.

Lesson learnt from yet another movie last night: Don't keep hanging your hang-up because for all you know, it's not justified at all and you could have thrown it out a long time ago.

Get over it! Move on! Cheer up!

A Matter of the Heart

Our actions & words can betray what's in our hearts. But what's really brewing within? What thoughts are going through?

Maybe at the subconscious level, even we don't know ourselves. Maybe that's why we need an other to show us what we're really exhibiting.

A man without a vision will always return to his past, this has been echoing within, since I heard Dr Bernard's podcast message. Progress comes of a desire to get better coupled with a ruthless cutting off of poorer ways. Advancement should come of one's own agenda...what if I have no agenda?

What if I'm dissatisfied pushing another's agenda? The Son does what He sees the Father does. Sounds like the pattern in life.

In the next Timothy Keller message I heard, he spoke of sonship. A son is one who has access to the father--Keller used this great illustration of how while he might ignore his spouse waking him in the middle of the night to ask for water, he would definitely respond to his son's request for water.

The Father is not one who would give hard non-satisfying stones in place of sustenance-giving bread. Do I--do we--know that?

We speak of love. Beyond the lips, what is love really? Forgiving & tolerating any and all mistakes? Sayang-ing and providing emotional balm any time it's needed? Offering ready company and attention? Sounds more like infantcare/childcare.

The Father wants us to grow up, to grow strong, to grow closer... Have you, have I, have we grown this year?

Push to grow & keep growing, crucially, in the right direction and season.

3 days to Christmas

Yesterday I heard another sermon podcast by Timothy Keller of Redeemer Church. The Prodigal God, it's called (get it a la iTunes).

We're all (errr, believers) familiar with the story of the prodigal son. As Ps. Keller points out, it's easy to spot yourself in the prodigal son "younger brother" syndrome. But there's an "older brother" syndrome that traps believers in a self-righteous mindset that's also unappreciative of the Father.

Instead of behaving like a son that the older brother's entitled to, he's behaving like a slave and resenting his spiritual "duty". Thing is, this older son's just as lost as the younger, Keller points out.

Earning our right before the Father, judging ourselves by the amount of prayer, good works and good attitude... The believer's walk should focus on the beauty of adoration. Maybe this is the struggle for those like me who grow up with a legalistic inclination.

Listening to Tomlin's Glory In The Highest, I ask myself, how do I glorify God? Browsing John Sung's biography, seems he interprets that as his life work of winning souls. That is important, but I don't think it's the end-all. Sung emphasizes that spiritual gifts are important but love is the greatest gift of all.

Love of God, love of men, reconciling differences--after all, we all stand before God as equal one day.

In stressful times, tempers flare, spiteful words erupt. But it would be naïve to dream of a lovey-dovey work environment.

Perhaps how we glorify God is simply how we live with love each day. Love, the commitment to doing our best. Love, the consideration for others. Love, keeping watch over loved ones in prayer. Love, asking what's on God's heart and He's placed in the hearts of shepherds He's appointed.

Our favourite Christmas ballad goes, Have yourself a merry little Christmas now. Make it merry & blessed, be happy and keep finding meaning in the everyday.

Rampart

Leaving office now at 4plus in the morning. It's less of having many things to do but rather feeling weighed down. Met Dan for lunch and talked about having the balance in our lives to pursue own interests. Choices, I said, it's up to us, really, to stay or to go.

Checked out a new "instrumental" CD which I usually avoid, because they're usually bland stuff. But this one's lush, genuinely moving orchestral motifs really got me. Reminded me of my friends too. Highlight of the day, I say.

Now, I'm reminded that I gotta be like Habbakuk to watch & listen.

Watch & listen. To without & to within.

Ssshhh.

Ramble

Substance

Over the past 6 months, I've seen more about myself, corrected myself. Stretched, yeah, and then feeling sore, sometimes utterly spent and discouraged and contemplating a way out.

6 months in, I'm still here. Move on beyond Why, now it's What's Next? What Now?

Sermon after sermon, week after week, resolve after resolve... No, it's not about feeling emo. Dad gave my good advice almost a week ago, to the effect of "Rise above how you feel."

What have I done? is what I'm thinking right now. Logical but not rational, inspirational but not spiritual, radical but not...clear.

Discern, clarify, determine, decide and do.

Thrive

By Switchfoot

Been fighting things that I can't see in
Like voices coming from the inside of me and
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

I've been awake for an hour or so
Checking for a pulse but I just don't know
Am I a man when I feel like a ghost?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes

No I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
A steering wheel don't mean you can drive
A warm body don't mean I'm alive
No I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
Feels like I travel but I never arrive
I want to thrive not just survive

I come alive when I hear you singing
But lately I haven't been hearing a thing and
I get the feeling that I'm in between
A machine and a man who only looks like me

I try and hide it and not let it show
But deep down inside me I just don't know
Am I a man when I feel like a hoax?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes

No I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
A steering wheel don't mean you can drive
A warm body don't mean I'm alive
No I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
Feels like I travel but I never arrive
I want to thrive not just survive

I'm always close but I'm never enough
I'm always in line but I'm never in love
I get so down but I won't give up
I get slowed down but I won't give up

Been fighting things that I can't see in
Like voices coming from the inside of me and
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

No I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
A steering wheel don't mean you can drive
A warm body don't mean I'm alive
No I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I want to thrive not just survive

I want to thrive not just survive

I've Decided

By Galvin Sng

Better?

When you keep feeling inadequate and failing to please, should you still try to get better?

Name me a few characters that never failed to get better in their quest for meaning.

Thoughts that normally don't fill my mind now do. Negative and non-edifying, they gotta be dumped and replaced.

I can get better, I can learn from mistakes, you are here to help, you know my weaknesses...

Thought of giving up returns. What am I working for? Am I in the wrong place?

God help me. And I need a life.

Hands up

How do you get people to volunteer to meet needs?

Step 1 - Identify your willing people. What character qualities are necessary? What about skills? Level of availability?

Step 2 - Decide how you're going to call them out. How are you going to mobilise them? And train them--character and skills withstanding?

Step 3 - Call them.

Step 4 - Equip them, empower them, inspire them, encourage them, know them, befriend them... What's your real motive now?

And there's a crucial prior step of seeking and defining a worthy vision. That's right, the V word that's oft said.

Hey, V also stands for Volunteers. Now, make sure you live out the example that paint with your words. Don't be hypocritical.

So is that it?

There's a journey of learning, a journey of building.

Start with the willing, persist with your will, and dream big.

To be lived.

Processes

This thought occurred to me while on the loo: Why do we (my company) pay so much attention to details? Because we want the product and outcome to come out to be of a particular standard and quality.

Nit-picky? Fussy? Yes, with reason. Anal? Oh yeah, sure I gotta be. If I don't, someone above me will.

Don't expect handouts along the way, or live without outlaying any effort. Ditch the wrong beliefs and sow the seeds of faith.

Success, victory and breakthroughs come through hard, effective work and pushy persistence.

Seethe with righteous anger if you have to. Stamp on in authority. Live with vitality.

Be purposeful, absolutely so. So that you don't lose your edge and your dream.

Live--by the process you need to achieve the outcome you want.

Park Bench People

By Joses James

Running a race

In a race, you're thinking, will I make it? Can I meet the timing I had set?

Songs, memories, thoughts... Am I in the wrong race? Am I in the right race? Who can tell me?

Who's cheering you on? Who do you see? Actually there are others that you don't see, but they are there.

Put in your heart, soul and mind. Strength and creativity. All to bear.

Balance is the key. Keep the fellowship or lose it. Find solace where it's available, not where it empties your heart.

Yeah.

The Word, the Man, the Way

Reading the crucifixion in a matter of minutes while remembering it was a whirlwind sequence of events. Imagine you're one of the disciples and Jesus tells you, I'm going to die. Imagine you're a bystander witnessing Jesus tried by the Sanhedrin. Remember the parables He told just before those God-willed events.

Did Jesus know exactly how everything would pan out? From the rooster crowing to His betrayal to His crucifixion to resurrection to rising to glory??

Internal struggles with obedience and choices, external stoic facade--at least that's what many of us imagine--and an unwavering focus towards the cross and everything it stood for.

The Parable of the Talents (or Bags of Gold as translated in the newest NIV) speaks of 2 men that received resources and were faithful in getting to work right away and being fruitful and also confident about it! Who doesn't want to be like that?

The Parable of the Wicked Servant and the account of the Sheep and the Goats speak of having mercy and love. Who prays often to be able to love but feels he's not measuring up to it?

Wherefore does it start a change, a switch, a shift, a deviation from habits and standard practice? Change is born of a desire to...well, change. If not, it's forced by circumstances.

Gotta keep reading, keep meditating and living in joy and fulfilment.

Let it be.

What sets you apart?

Money? Possessions? Yesterday I spied a young chap in his 20s driving a sports car. Capability? What makes a leader a leader, able to effect, to decide on goals and get the results in spite of the problems?

Faithfulness. If the world were to close its eye, what would you be up to? Being sharp. Am I putting in my heart & mind, anticipating, planning and endeavouring?

Being dependent on God. Like totally. Not just words leaving one's lips, but a true attitude and way of life. Determining, listening, following and producing.

Things To Do abound...by the dozens of dozens of dozens. Am learning to prioritise.

Desire drives action. What are you looking for? What do you want to achieve?

Faith is...stretching out to grasp His hand.

So stretch.

Life is as boldness does

It sounds sexy to declare that you're bold and daring. To say that you're creative, progressive and visionary.

Living it is an entirely different story.

Why are we where we are? Are we the victim of choices made while we were hapless?

Surely there's a purpose behind my being here and doing what I do. Do you not see it? Do you not seek to live it?

The day we die and go to heaven, what will that day be like for you? For me?

What can we live for that warrants giving our all? Yes, that elusive calling that many say they do not know.

The need is the call, have you heard?

I need you, I call you. Ha!

God needs you, God calls you! Ha, you follow? Or harrumph, let's see about that...

What's the most crucial quality that decides your destiny? I believe it's willingness. Yes, many things are factored in, such as faith, commitment, smarts etc. But willingness? It's like the rudder of a ship. You don't see it immediately but you sure see where he's heading!

Decide to dwell on the positive, major on what matters to your Superior, persist till fruits are born and do your best, no matter how you feel.

Get better, not bitter--have you heard this?
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Ps Kong - 17 Sep (Sat) - Wisdom

Wisdom is a gift from God. Solomon asked for it.

Wisdom is better than gold, better than strength.

There was none like Solomon after his time.

Pro 30:24-28 - 4 things caught his attention. 4 little creatures, so insignificant, yet got the attention of the world's wisest man.

Some scholars say that if you can understand these creatures, you'll understand the entire Proverbs.

1) Ants

An ant can lift many times its own weight!

They have houses and structure. They are wise in their...

PREPARATION

During summer, they store food for winter. Eventually winter comes...no food, it's unbearably cold.

Their message: You got to prepare for the winter season.

Every failure is a stepping stone to success. It's okay to fail--as long as you fail forward!

Improve your EQ and emotional relationships because they will determine how successful and happy you'll be.

*Must improve interpersonal skills*

God has put eternity in my heart. Like the ant, we got to prepare for our life in heaven. Seek the Lord!

Heb 9 - Look for Him.

Lk 22:9-12 - Look for 4 things:

- City: Seek righteousness
- Man with pitcher: Submit yourself under a spirit-filled ministry
- House: Fellowship, connected with one another
- Upper room: To serve and minster--OVERTIME

Upper room is a place of power!

*Live with urgency! Because one day you stand before Jesus.*

Remember: Winter will surely come. Eternity will come. Prepare and prepare and prepare!

2) Rock Badgers

Feeble, yet make home in the crags.

It is very vulnerable and timid. It's slow-moving!

It acknowledges its weaknesses. So it seeks protection from the rock.

Everyone has a weakness...

Make the rock your HABITATION

Whatever your weakness, make the Rock your protection!

Psa 61:1-4 - What are you building your life upon?

3) Locusts

Unity: Agreement = Power

UNIFICATION

They have no king or leadership. Alone, a locust is powerless.

When locusts come together, they become the great army of God!

They work and flow together.

2 can put 10,000 to flight!

Individual tools can't do much until they come together!

Pro 6:16-19 - In every church, there are people seeking to sow discord. And it is an abomination to God.

Satan's strategy is to Divide and Conquer.

*Stay connected*

4) Spider

DETERMINATION

Nothing can sweep a spider away.

A spider just keeps weaving its web and staying in the king's palace.

In any trial, don't give up!

*Take hold of your calling and destiny of God!*

*Dont quit!*

Edison, Einstein, Beethoven, Disney all didn't give up!

Gecko - Secretes a solution in its hands to cling.

Faith is clinging on to the promises of the bible.

*I will still hold on!!!*

Gal 6:9 -
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To Confront Or Not To Confront

We are relational people. We are also imperfect people. Faced with behaviour that's less than what's becoming, what do you say to correct it? To correct him or her?

The word of God is active and alive. Let it uncover our inner being. God doesn't want to harm us or belittle us, but only to better us.

We might be task-oriented, but God's always destiny-oriented. So don't be afraid of being corrected and humbling yourself to change, willing yourself to try something different.

Faithfulness is this, I guess.
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Honestly

How honest are you with yourself and with others?

Just started reading this book, Honestly by Johnnie Moore, who starts off sharing his personal crisis of faith, sparked by his parents' divorce and then asks, are we living out what we say we believe in?

Recently a friend shared how his fellow member was so frustrated while trying to organise a gathering among the group, he exploded and posted an uncensored rant in their Facebook page. My friend mentioned something in this person's rant that got me: that others weren't doing what they espoused.

Can I end up praying one thing, repeating that one thing, yet living altogether a different thing? A person of faith's gotta have faith. A person loved gotta love others.

Reputation speaks a lot. What do others remember of you? What does your boss think of you?

Can life be simpler? Sure it can. Find a field somewhere and rear your own crops for subsistence.

Get better? Yeah... Do it.
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Divine Connections

Pray for divine connections. Get divine connections.

People of the same spirit draw together, move together in one direction.

You never know how God can move you, move on your behalf, move others.

Move.

Our God moves. Surely, not glacially, on time, in season, on target.

Am I being flown on an unseen autopilot or am I flying my own?

I don't understand everything. Do I need to? I'm not the brightest or boldest. Yet in the fullness of time, everything I have gone through comes to bear.

Live for the things that matter. Love the people that matter. Make wise choices and stay committed.

God, help me to move in the might of God and with divine strategies.
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Soaring

Isn't it amazing that a hunk of a plane--fuselage, hull, cargo, passengers--can take off into the air, propelled by comparatively tiny but powerful engines?

Exploiting physics and aerodynamics, we owe it to man's willingness to imagine, persist and innovate.

From what starts as a vague dream with raw starts, sophistication kicks in as the creator learns to grasp rules, principles and the knack of taking off into the sky--literally and metaphorically.

What keeps us from imagining? Thinking possibilities? Serving a God of no impossibilities, yet we naturally limit Him and ourselves. Easy to blog about, takes a lot to confront and change.

Let's aim to soar upon creativity.
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Be Strong

One of those days and moments that you're asking why why why and want to cry cry cry on the sofa.

Fulfilment comes from, not a day packed with tasks, but when God says well done.

How do you know you're on the right track? First you gotta see the track, seek clarity and direction, and check the signs I guess.

Sigh.

Did You choose the wrong person? I can't help wonder. But I know the answer.

Be strong, bold, persistent and creative.
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Condition

Struggling from task to task, I'm losing sight of an easier, more efficient way to do things. Be smarter, ask for smarts, look smart. For now, it's just smarting, lacking sleep and progress in good order.

No matter, you've got to try and keep trying. And don't give up. Most importantly, see the need beyond yourself. Bill Wilson says, "I have to go." In spite of age, dangers, real wounds, you just have to keep going.

Now go get better, bigger, brighter!

But don't lose sight of what you're doing it for. Is that happening to you?

Leaders lead forward. Every hero of faith mentioned is a leader. Am I a hero? Are you a hero? What makes a hero? Certainly the willingness to stand for something.

Make something your mission. It doesn't have to be a great and noble thing. Even something small can be significant.

Now what season am I in? In a thick season, that's for sure.

Thoughts, tasks, issues, replies...What can I keep my head above the water, above the thick of things where there is air and clarity?

The condition within--heart, soul, spirit, body--affect the conditions without. We should know this but like an onion, not every layer peels off easily. It's not that you'll cry but that there's a season for that too. Is this an excuse, masking a reluctance to deal with issues?

I hope not.

Condition, conditioning, conditions. Identify the issues impacting you and others. Else breakthrough will be elusive.

Life Lesson

It's only when we are accountable to others that our character begins to be shaped.

Morning

Live out your dreams & plans. Just be bold and do it. God moves when you move in faith.

Unlearning

When you realise the tasks at hand demand a new you, when you realise it's absolute high time you drop the old way of doing things, when you are urged/prodded/kicked into doing...SOMETHING, that's when change is fomented.

Growth (again)

We all work for a better life, don't we...

...don't we?

Without progress--the desire and ability to progress--what else would keep us going?

More money? Better work-life balance? Children who can enjoy a better life? Fulfilling a Grand Purpose? Doing good so others can enjoy a better life?

What's the alternative?

Do nothing. Do the same. Do a little more?

Should we expect radical improvement? Certainly!

Do we work radically hard? Of course!

So...what gives? What's keeping us--me--back from breaking through?

Progress is the keeps of hard workers (check), smart workers (err, check), anointed workers (hmm, check), selfless workers (hmm).

If someone else isn't up to par, or so you think, what do you do?

1) Give him a shelling
2) Give him encouragement
3) Teach him how to progress
4) Give him incentive
5) Threaten penalty...
(repeat ad infinitum)

To what extent do you do the above?

Change, challenge, progress...at the heart of it, yieldedness, methinks.

10 ways to be productive

Courtesy of the 99percent.com

Here are 10 laws of productivity we’ve consistently observed among serial idea executors:

1. Break the seal of hesitation.
A bias toward action is the most common trait we’ve found across the hundreds of creative professionals and entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed. While preparing properly as you start a new project is certainly valuable, it’s also easy to lose yourself in planning (and dreaming) indefinitely. We must challenge ourselves to take action sooner rather than later. The minute that you start acting (e.g. building a physical prototype, sharing a nascent concept with your community), you start getting valuable feedback that will help refine your original idea – and move forward with a more informed perspective.

2. Start small.
When our ideas are still in our head, we tend to think big, blue sky concepts. The downside is that such thinking makes the barrier to entry – and action – quite high. To avoid “blue sky paralysis,” pare your idea down to a small, immediately executable concept. Can you trial the idea of a multi-day festival with a smaller performance series? Take an idea for a skyscraper and model it in miniature? Work out the flow of an iPhone app by sketching on paper? Once you’ve road-tested your idea on a small scale, you’ll have loads more insight on how to take it to the next level.

3. Protoype, prototype, prototype.
Trial and error is an essential part of any creative’s life. As Ze Frank says, usually when we execute an idea for the first time, it kinda sucks. The important thing is to synthesize the knowledge gained during the process to refine the idea, and create a new-and-improved version. Serial idea-makers like Jack Dorsey, Ben Kaufman, and Studio 7.5 all attest: Prototyping and iteration is key to transforming a so-so idea into a game-changing product. Rather than being discouraged by your “failures,” listen closely and learn from them. Then build a new prototype. Then do it again. Sooner or later, you’ll hit gold.

To avoid 'blue sky paralysis,' pare your idea down to a small, immediately executable concept.


4. Create simple objectives for projects, and revisit them regularly.
When working on in-depth projects, we generate lots of new ideas along the way. This can lead to a gradual expansion of the project’s goals, or “scope creep.” This insidious habit can make it impossible to ever really complete anything. The best way to avoid it is to write down a simple statement summarizing your objective at the start of each project. (If you have collaborators, make sure there is agreement about the objective.) And then – this is the part we overlook! – revisit it regularly. When scope creep starts to happen, you’ll notice.

5. Work on your project a little bit each day.
With projects that require a serious infusion of creative juice – developing a new business plan, writing a novel, or just learning a new skill – it’s incredibly important to maintain momentum. Just as when you run everyday, the exercise gets easier and easier, the same thing happens with your brain. Stimulate it regularly each day, and those juices start to flow more freely. As Jack Cheng argues in a great blog post, “Thirty Minutes A Day”: “the important thing isn’t how much you do; it’s how often you do it.”

6. Develop a routine.
Part of being able to work on your project a little bit each day is carving out the time to do so. Routines can seem boring and uninspiring, but – on the contrary – they create a foundation for sparking true insight. In his recent memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami writes about how a rigorous routine – rising at 5am and going to bed at 10pm every day – is crucial to his impressive creative output. (In a side note: Alex Iskold derives a series of lessons for start-up entrepreneurs from Murakami here.)

7. Break big, long-term projects into smaller chunks or “phases.”
To help manage expectations and stay motivated for year-long or even multi-year endeavors, break each project into smaller chunks that only take a few weeks or a month to complete. The dual benefit of this approach is: (1) making the project feel more manageable, and (2) providing incremental rewards throughout the project. It’s crucial to pause periodically to take stock of what has been accomplished – even if there’s a long way to go.

With projects that require a serious infusion of creative juice, it’s incredibly important to maintain momentum.


8. Prune away superfluous meetings (and their attendees).
Few activities are more of a productivity drain than meetings. If you must meet (and this should be a big “if”), make sure everyone knows what needs to be accomplished from the outset. If people are present who don't help out with achieving that objective, let them leave. Qwest COO Teresa Taylor, recently interviewed in the NYT's Corner Office, starts her meetings with the question, "Do we all know why we're here?" and then follows with, "Does everyone need to be here?" To trim the runtime of internal meetings, you can also try the standing meeting.

9. Practice saying “No.”
Creative energy is not infinite. Seasoned idea-makers know that they must guard their energy – and their focus – closely. Take author Jim Collins for example. His books Built to Last and Good to Great have sold millions of copies. His business acumen and insights are in demand. Yet, “even though Collins demands over $60,000 per speech, he gives fewer than 18 per year.” More than that and Collins wouldn’t have enough time to focus on the research and writing that yield those bestselling books. When you’re in execution mode, keep in mind that “unexpected opportunities” also mean distraction from the work at hand. Saying no is an essential part of the productivity equation.

10. Remember that rules – even productivity rules – are made to be broken.
Did we say develop a routine? This and other tips here should only be followed as long as they are working. If forward motion has become impossible with your current routine, try something else. Whether it’s taking a long distance trip, popping into the art museum, walking around the block, or talking to a perfect stranger, make sure you occasionally shake up your normal routine. Breaking habits offers new perspective and helps recharge us to head back into the fray.

Hollow by Cut Off Your Hands

Cut Off Your Hands - Fooling No One from They on Vimeo.

Be Energetic

Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
~ Philippians 2:12-13 (Msg)

In the end

Who knows how we'll end up in end?

A glorious, magnificent step to a new day? Or cast aside into the deep?

I'm tired. Physically.

Need hope to keep me going, faith to keep me working. And... love?

What gives bigness of heart? Shoulders for others, on top of one's own load.

End of a day marks the beginning of another.

Enjoy the pursuit, we are told. Move in the direction of your dreams, we are reminded.

*sigh*

Way of Life

Today I saw 3 air-con technicians come into my office and 2 risked their lives. One had to climb up a ladder and standing almost 2 meters higher, he extended upwards to reach the ceiling air-conditioner. Off-balance would mean off-ladder.

The other's task was more daunting--as the compressor was mounted outside the window, he was to perch over the slim window sill to unscrew the compressor cover. Did I mention it's an old building with a simple window frame? The other technician had to prop up the window pane (it swings upwards) while grabbing his buddy's pants. 10 minutes in, I heard the supporting technician complaining his hand was trembling.

My dad says that many years ago when he used to climb trees, he fell from one. Stunned and paralysed momentarily, he said he couldn't move. He tells me maybe I wouldn't be around today if something had happened to him.

We all have a way of life. You and yours. Me and mine. No matter how connected we think we are, some paths will never meet.

What opens our eyes, mind and heart to another's realm? A care for others? A willingness to get into another's shoes? A realisation that it's really people that make us human? A hunger to do business and make money? A drive to make a difference?

Reading Thomas Friedman's book and he writes about the Chinese duplicating the American consumerist way of life. What is enough to bring contentment?

Passion and drive are great...necessary for meaning in life! But where do you draw the line?

Passion vs. Passivity. Purpose vs. Plodding. Prayer vs. Powerlessness.

Perceive. Position. Produce.

Choose a way of life that'll be praiseworthy and productive.

Man of your word

Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Your 5 minutes be 5 minutes and not 5 hours. Tomorrow mean tomorrow. Get it done means completed and ready.

Promises and estimation of time are what we frequently give. How hard do we hold ourselves to them?

Let your words be like gold, carrying weight and value. Not fluff that's airy and inconsistent. Do you want people to trust and respect you? Or to dismiss and take you lightly?

It's gonna take commitment, discipline, organised thinking and most of all, a personal of becoming a man of your word.

Learning

One, think like a start-up. Feel like a start-up. Take on the heartbeat of the company.

Two, be inquisitive. Learn how things work, why they work, when they work.

Learn to learn. Get better.

Prospering

How can I prosper, keep on prospering until I become very prosperous?

Face-in-Hands Moment

Intent and clarity need to guide busy-ness and activity to produce fruitful productive work.

I'm working, you say.

Working on what? What are you aiming to achieve?

What drives you? Keeps you up at night. Determined to solve that nagged problem. Applying different tricks till it works.

Tired-ness sinks in. You wish. You wonder. Your head whirls.

Hope. That snatch and glimpse of a future that's bright, glorious and totally incomprehensible! Who you are then won't be who you are today!

Don't just say "Interesting" but can you live out the "Nothing is impossible" attitude?!

A faithful spirit, a clean heart, a desparate cry, a trying-and-keep-trying...

Originality is the stuff of hard work--in a foreign and uncomfortable place. Sleepless, no doubt.

Specificity beckons while bigness of thought looms.

Surrender. Surrender. Surrender. Surrender.

Surrender.