Tag: inspirational

Your addictions are toxic

Addiction

This is a topic I have been meaning to write about since last year, but I kept putting it off.

Addiction is something we are all aware of. It’s when you’re constantly ingesting a substance or engaging in an activity that you find pleasurable. For example: drug, alcohol, gambling, shopping, gaming, and etc.

While the substance or activity itself may bring us pleasure, it is very harmful to us in the long run.

Why?

1. You lose self control. You’re no longer able to “live” without it because you’re constantly thinking or craving for it.

2. Time and money is scarce. We only have 24 hours a day. If you spend 5+ (or however long you spend) hours feeding your addiction, you will have less time to do other things, or take care of other responsibilities.

Continue reading “Your addictions are toxic”

Shaming

Shaming

For the week, I would like to talk about shaming.

Shaming happens everywhere. Shaming is when you make a person feel ashamed, humiliated, or inadequate. It is terrible, but in China (or perhaps in all of Asia), they take it to another level.

What do I mean? Well, in school, students are ranked according to their grades. The teacher will actually read out each person’s name and their “rank” to the whole class. For example, #36 (name of the child).

If you are one of the top students, you will be praised. However, if you are one of the poorer students, your classmates will look down on you and may possibly make fun or avoid you (in case you make them stupid).

It’s messed up.

I still remember how one of my classmates had forgotten his agenda in Grade 1. The teacher punished him by making him stand outside the classroom for an hour.

Basically, the “shame” is supposed to make the child never forget his agenda again.

In my opinion, it does work. However, instead of fostering love and kindness, the child is taught to resent and hate.

Continue reading “Shaming”

Don’t judge a person by the cover

wise

For this Monday, I would like to share a true story with all of you. This post is about a boy whom I used to tutor. I will call him “Richard” to keep him anonymous.

Richard is a family friend and I’ve known him all my life. I am nine years older than him, and I am also friends with his older brother. Due to our big gap in age, I have actually seen him crawl around his house in diapers.

When he was around 8, I started tutoring him because his mother had asked. Although he was only in Grade 3, Richard was already struggling a lot in school. He was diagnosed with a learning disorder as well as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). He couldn’t sit still nor pay attention in class.

It was very, very, VERY difficult to tutor Richard. We would literally read a paragraph together and I would ask him, “Okay, what is this paragraph about?”

He would reply, “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

I was so frustrated, “HELLO!!? We just read it like less than a minute ago! How can you forget everything so fast?” Continue reading “Don’t judge a person by the cover”

Think and Grow Rich

Originally, I was going to write a post on, “Why I hate the Education System”. But I’ll save that for next week since the book “Think And Grow Rich” is freshly on my mind.

I’ve heard great things about the book, so I figured, why not read the book? After all, you can never be too inspired, right? 😉

Anyhow, in my opinion, the book is powerful BUT some of the chapters seemed a bit repetitive and/or unnecessary. I definitely didn’t read every word, but there are some very meaningful/deep points that intrigued me. I would like to share them with you:

1. “A quitter never wins – and a winner never quits.” 

This is so simple and obvious. However, I find it so inspiring. If you want to succeed in anything, you have to keep going even when things are tough. If you quit, then you automatically lose.

This reminds me of a time when someone told me, “I never listen to quitters.”

Many times, quitters will tell you that you cannot do things because they themselves couldn’t do it. Has a winner ever told you to quit? 

Continue reading “Think and Grow Rich”

Recap

2015 New Year celebration

As 2015 draws to a close, I want to take the time to reflect on what I have gone through this year.

This year, I’m done quite a few things I never thought I would do.

  1. I started composing my own melody/songs (I never thought it was possible until I tried).
  2. I started blogging regularly (every Monday but I’ve been late lately *It’s 11:56PM right now*).
  3. I started creating raps (I never thought it was possible until I tried). You can read my first rap here
  4. I started translating a Chinese novel into English (I never thought I would translate a novel, especially when I’ve never actually read a book in Simplified Chinese before). It is definitely challenging, but it is not impossible. You can read my translation here
  5. I went speed dating (I never thought I would actually try something like that). It was an interesting experience. You can read about it here
  6. I went to hand out socks for the homeless. You can read about my experience here

I did a lot of things I never thought I would do. I guess I just wanted to experience newer things. I feel like most of the time, we try to convince ourselves of why we don’t want to do something because we’re afraid of failure.

Continue reading “Recap”

My observations of men and women (In general)

men vs women

Disclaimer: This is based on my experiences. There are definitely people who do not fall under what I say as well. Please do not be offended.

Throughout my years, I’ve noticed some extreme differences between guys and girls.

Here is what I have noticed about guys:

They tend to be more logical. For example: If taking Route A will get them to their destination without issues, they will continue taking Route A from now on.
Continue reading “My observations of men and women (In general)”

When Kevin Won

basketball

This story is from Chicken Soup for the Soul. It touched me a lot, hence I decided to shorten it and share it with you guys. I hope you will like it.

Story is by: Janice M. Gibson (as told to her by Rev. Steve Goodier

——

If you had to choose one word to describe Kevin, it would probably be “slow”. He didn’t learn his ABCs as fast as other kids. Regardless of subjects, he was usually one of the students struggling.

However, Kevin was great with people. He was always smiling and his enthusiasm for everything was contagious. Everyone enjoyed being around him.  Continue reading “When Kevin Won”

Helping the Homeless: Happy Feet

Socks from car view

Yesterday, my friend Jasmine and a bunch of us went downtown to hand out socks to the homeless. Approximately a month ago, Jasmine wrote a facebook message in her community group asking for sock donations.

Facebook group msg

Within 24 hours, over 100 people responded to the post!

likes

People were extremely giving. Some wanted to donate toothpastes, gift cards, toothbrushes, money, and so on. But Jasmine decided it was too unfair since only some of the homeless would get the extra stuff. Therefore, she made it clear that only socks were accepted.

Donation box

In addition, SIMS Medical Corp donated a huge box of BRAND NEW medical socks to us. We are extremely thankful.

So yesterday, we met at a parking lot in downtown Toronto. Upon our arrival, we were surprised by another kind deed.

Parking meter

A previous car owner had paid for full day parking but left early. He/she decided to leave his/her ticket for the another person to use. SO KIND!!!

Anyhow, here’s a picture of the amount of socks we had.

Socks from car view

Continue reading “Helping the Homeless: Happy Feet”

What is Success?

This week, I would like to talk about success. Please pause and take a moment to think about it. What does success mean to you?

In my opinion, in today’s society, we are too consumed by money. It seems like money is what we use to define someone who is “successful”. The more money you have, the more things you have, the more you are “winning” in life.

While I do believe money is important, I believe the process of attaining the money is important as well. What do I mean by that?

Well, are you satisfied with your job? What are you trading in order to get the money? Continue reading “What is Success?”