Tag: life

Taking Responsibility

Responsible

This is a topic that has been on my mind for quite some time. In life, we have a tendency to blame others for our problems or failures. When something doesn’t go the way we want it to, it’s usually, “Oh, it’s because of ________.” Or it’s because ________ happened”.

Most of us rarely admit, “It’s our fault.”

That is because, we don’t like thinking it’s our fault.

We blame everyone but ourselves. 

For example, if you had a bad professor and you did poorly in the class, you might say, “It’s because of the prof! He/she can’t teach! It’s so unfair. He/she is totally biased.” And so on.

However, stop for a minute and ask yourself.

What did you do? 

Did you attend every class?

If you did, were you paying attention?

Did you procrastinate on your assignment?

There are many factors that could affect your grade. Yes, perhaps the professor was bad, but you were the one who made the choice to attend class or not; to pay attention or not; to procrastinate or not.

You are responsible for your own actions. 

Remember, bad things happen to everyone, but you do not have to react a certain way.

If you blame everyone else for your problems, you are literally saying you have no control over your life. Don’t allow others to dictate your life. Be the driver of your emotions.

In addition, if people can sense how you will react, they can easily choose to manipulate you. Think about it. Those who are successful are not easily fazed.

Accountable

P.S. I have another award nomination post that I will be posting this coming week! (Basically, I have to answer some questions about myself, haha) So if you want to find out more about me, stay tuned! I was nominated 2 weeks ago but I had to complete the quote challenge first.

Check out my quote challenge, guys!

Your eyes show the strength of your soul

Quote Challenge 3/3

This is my last post for the quote challenge.

Tuesdays with Morrie quote

This quote is from “Tuesdays with Morrie”, one of my favourite books. I really like this quote because it’s so true. We all know we’re going to die one day, but in our minds, that’s not going to happen for another 50-70 years (depending how long you think you’re going to live).

As a result, most people continue living the same way that they’ve always lived.

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Reflection

Reflection

Yesterday, I turned 27. I feel young and old at the same time. Young- because there are still many years ahead of me (hopefully). Old- because some of my friends are already starting families of their own.

I start reflecting about my life. What have I done? What have I accomplished? What have I overcome?

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The Little Prince

The Little Prince

Many of you may have heard of the book called, “My Little Prince”. It is a well known classic although most of us may not have read it. I’ve had a copy since I was a child, but I never got passed Chapter One because I was young and foolish back then. Recently though, thanks to Ramexabella, I decided to give the book another try.

Now I can say it’s my favourite fictional book.

This is a very bold statement considering how much I used to read.

It is so good that I am inspired to write about it. I want everyone else to read it.

What makes it so special?

There is so much depth and meaning. The words stay with me even after the book is closed. It’s about life, childhood, and mankind.

I don’t want to tell you what the story is about, but I want to share some of the lessons from the book.

Back in the little Prince’s planet, there were invisible seeds. Some were good, and some were bad. At first, everything looks alright. The baobabs (bad seeds) resemble the rosebushes (good seeds). Therefore, one must check regularly to see what is growing. As soon as a baobab can be recognized, it must be torn out. If you intervene too late, you will never get rid of it. Its roots will spread all over the planet and your planet can explode.

5.0.2

This may seem ridiculous, but it’s a matter of discipline. “Before they grow to such a size, baobabs start out by being small.”

The way I interpret this is that the baobab represents our negative thoughts. We’re constantly surrounded by negativity. We are not aware of the impact it can have on us if we allow it to grow. If we leave it, it can be indestructible.

Personally, I know some people who cannot see the good in anything. They are so negative that all they feel is hate, anger, and sadness. They have allowed their baobabs to multiply and it has consumed their world.

Lesson: It is important that we reflect on our actions and thoughts on a regular basis. If there is an issue that bothers or saddens you, deal with it immediately! Don’t wait.

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A society with messed up values

Values

A couple weeks ago, I had a very interesting conversation with a friend. I was telling him that I don’t have facebook on my phone because the app is too heavy (takes up too much space) and my phone cannot handle it. Surprisingly, he told me his phone cannot handle whatsapp!

Clearly, we should get new phones.

But we are both reluctant. We both shared our reasons.

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Blogging and Life

Blog

Since I have started blogging, I have been noticing some similarities between blogging and life. Here are 4 things that really stood out to me:

1.Timing is important

Depending when I publish my post, the amount of views I get can vary drastically. For instance, if I publish a post in the middle of the night, very few people will read it. However, if I publish a post during the peak hour (when people are most likely to be on their phones/computers/fb), then my chances of getting more views increase dramatically.

Just like in life, timing can make a big difference. We can react very differently depending on our age and experience.

Sometimes, the right person may come along, but the timing is off. Perhaps you weren’t ready, or perhaps it was too late.

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Communication

romeo__juliet_communication

Effective communication allows you to deepen your connections to others and improve teamwork, decision making, and problem solving. 

Effective communication means:

+ The parties understand each other’s perspectives.
+ The parties feel like they are being acknowledged.
+ The parties feel like their needs are being met.
+ There is no misunderstanding.

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Fear

Fear
Fear can stop us from achieving a lot.

We all have fears. Fear is that unpleasant emotion we feel when we are afraid of someone or something. It is likely to be something dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Some of the most common fears are: fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of being alone, fear of failure, fear of losing loved ones, fear of rejection, fear of heights, and so on.

In my opinion, humans like to be in control of their emotions and destiny. However, fear takes that away from us. When we are fearful of something, we want to avoid it as much as we could because we imagine the worse case scenario. Now, of course, there are things we cannot avoid even if we wish to. Death is an example. Regardless of how much we want to avoid death, we’re all going to die one day. It’s a matter of time.

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How most Asian parents think

A plus

Instead of blogging about motivational things this week, I want to share something that I find quite interesting and true for most traditional Asian families.

Note: This post is based on my experiences, as well as many others. It is not to say all Asian parents are like this.

Punishment
Asian parents believe it is totally acceptable to beat their children. They believe that punishment will deter an undesirable behaviour from happening again. Perhaps the child will be too afraid to get hit, so he/she will be too frightened to misbehave.

Once, my friends and I were randomly discussing over getting beaten as a child, and we went through a circle telling each other what we were hit with. Surprisingly, all of our parents used different things! The list consisted of: hand, a stick, a feather duster, a broom, newspaper, a ruler, a coat hanger, a rope, a hockey stick, and even a baseball bat. When we heard “baseball bat”, all of us were slightly amused and surprised at the same time. We all went, “Woaahhhh.” After all, baseball bats are so heavy/hard! That’s brutal!! But we had a great laugh. We all turned out fine, I think.

The Western society might find this shocking and unacceptable, but it is very common if you grew up with traditional Asian parents.

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The World In Green

green

There once was a very wealthy merchant who had everything he wanted. He hustled day and night to achieve his financial freedom, and was quite satisfied with his result. But one day, he developed a splitting headache that wouldn’t go away. He travelled far and wide to find a cure, but none of the healers were able to get rid of his pain. The merchant was in despair.

“Oh, what good are my possessions if I must constantly suffer from this terrible headache?” he cried. The merchant decided to reward a pot of gold to the person who could cure him.

The reward attracted people from all over town. Each day, hundreds line up in hopes to cure the merchant. Sadly, all of them leave in disappointment. Just as it seemed like all hope was lost, a man named Alexander came up to the merchant and said, “Sir, your headache will disappear if you look at green coloured things.”

Continue reading “The World In Green”