Tag: wisdom

Luck

These days, I have been thinking a lot about luck.

I am currently reading a Korean novel called, “The Second Coming Of Gluttony” and it really inspired me to write this post.

In the novel, the main character, Seol Jihu, basically gets a second chance at life. He gets recruited and is given the Gold Mark in which he is given a lot of cheats.

The MC basically starts off with more money/items than the rest, and has an ability to see colours. Red signifies danger, orange – do not approach, yellow – take caution, green – safe (there are still more colours to be unlocked, I’m only 100+ chapters in).

However, as I keep reading, I really feel like it’s so unfair. Yes, he works and trains hard, but he had all these abilities/things that others didn’t. In my opinion, he already had a huge unfair advantage against everyone else.

Next, I thought about how all the MCs in dramas are usually rich guys who are already hot, those who already have power, status, and money. They don’t even have to do shit and all the women just flock to them. It is so unfair.

I can’t help but feel, “You’re just born lucky.”

Then, I thought about myself. How much of my accomplishments were based on my abilities alone? Am I just born lucky too?

I want to take credit and say I got to where I am with my hard work and persistence. But there are actually a lot of things that played a factor. For instance:

I mainly grew up in Canada, so English is the language that I studied in school. English happens to be an international language, which is used worldwide. This made it easier for my translations to get popular. Imagine if I had translated into Russian or something; most likely, only Russians would be able to understand. Continue reading “Luck”

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The Art of War

The Art of War

The Art of War

Yesterday, I was on amazon.ca browsing through books. I happened to come across “The Art of War”. I’ve always heard a lot of great things about the book, so I decided to give it a try. I noticed it was free to read on kindle, so I downloaded a copy and read it on my laptop (I’m not sure why it’s free, but yay for free stuff!! :D). But since it was relatively short, it’s probably not the full version. However, I thought it was rather powerful so I wanted to share some of my interpretations with my readers.

In this post, I’ve only chosen 5 quotes from the book that resonated a lot with me. If you like what you read, head on to download the free copy on amazon and read it yourself!

Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.

There must be a purpose for your men. Why would they risk their lives for their country unless they feel threatened? It is crucial to drive emotions into them. If they don’t see any benefits of their sacrifices, they are not going to fight. Fear and anger are powerful forces. As my ex-student Johnson says, “They took everything, and they’ll do it again.” (His slogan for his propaganda poster). You need a strong purpose to carry on.

Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

Oftentimes, we may believe that in order to win a war, we must fight. The more men, weapons, machinery we have, the more superior we are. But, your goal shouldn’t be to use up all your resources. Instead, aim to win your battle with ease. If you’re able to crush your opponents without fighting, you are truly skilled. Continue reading “The Art of War”

Thinking ahead

long or short term planning or thinking

This post is based on my own views and experiences. My mind has grown a lot in the past year or so.

Some of you may or may not know that I translate a Chinese novel into English. Due to my translations, I have managed to gain over 600k views on my blog. Compared to huge sites with millions of readers, 600k is actually a very small amount. However, I’m very proud of what I have built on my own. From translating, I’ve learnt that:

1. People are giving me views because I am giving them something they want

This is a crucial point. The only reason why 95% of my readers come to my site is because they want to read the novel but they cannot read Chinese. Therefore, they have to come to me in order to read the English version.

So, if I want to gain more views or make more ad revenue, I need to give the people what they want.

2. Translating is short term pain but long term gain

Honestly, translating a novel takes hundreds and hundreds of hours. It is extremely difficult, tedious, and requires tremendous amounts of concentration. In fact, it is so hard that most people quit after a couple of chapters. Continue reading “Thinking ahead”

Some more wisdom

book-wisdom

I actually wasn’t going to write this post. However, my friend Jack was like, “I went on a trip to Asia for 3 weeks and you still haven’t posted anything new!”

Sooooo… I’m going to share some meaningful lines I’ve recently read from a book. The book is by Deepak Chopra, and it is called “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”. It was given to me by my Uncle Aaron. (Thanks, Uncle).

“Being ego-based power, it lasts only as long as the object of reference is there. If you have a certain title – if you’re the president of the country or the chairman of a corporation – or if you have a lot of money, the power you enjoy goes with the title, with the job, and with the money. Ego-based power will only last as long as those things last. As soon as the title, the job, the money go away, so does the power.”

Hmm.. honestly, I feel like that’s how our society define success. You have to have certain things and make a specific amount, or you wouldn’t be considered “successful”.

Having money definitely makes life a lot easier. I am sure all of us want to be financially stable. Who wouldn’t want to have more?

But how much do you need before you’re satisfied? If you only see your value based on what you can buy with money, I think that’s rather sad. Continue reading “Some more wisdom”

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”

Why I hate the Education System

Education

This picture basically sums up why I hate our education system. However, compared to many Asian countries, Canada is already quite lax and accommodating to their students. In my opinion, though, it is not enough.

At the end of the day, there is still a curriculum we have to follow. Kids are still forced to learn certain subjects/things whether they like it or not.

In my opinion, school is important to a certain degree -learning how to read and write, basic mathematics, working together in groups, and so on. HOWEVER, I feel like the majority of the things we learn in school are irrelevant and useless to our lives once we get into the “real world”.

In addition, just because a child does poorly in school, it doesn’t mean he/she is stupid. Perhaps, he/she simply doesn’t care? The topic doesn’t interest him or her? It’s boring?

Or what if the child is just more hands on? Perhaps he/she may not be able to write down clear instructions on how to build a table, but can actually build one? What is more important?

I feel like those who are good in school = they are able to comprehend and retain a lot of information.

It is important to be able to comprehend and retain information, but that’s just one aspect of life. I hate how most people and companies mainly judge you by the papers you have.

Continue reading “Why I hate the Education System”

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)”

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.

Continue reading “The Little Prince”

Wise Words

Wisdom

The material I am using for this post is based from a book called, “How to live without fear and worry” by K.Sri Dhammananda.

1. Modern life is a struggle -a struggle to gain monetary rewards, comfort and luxury. Instead of bring happiness, this lifestyle brings anxieties and stress. 

When I read this line, I was slightly stunned. I’ve always known that life is not easy, but I have never really thought about why life is so hard. Is it hard because we are always trying to attain something we don’t have? Why is it so difficult to be happy with our lives? Some may blame society and the media for causing us to be so ungrateful, but stop for a second, and ask yourself, “What are you chasing after?” 

Continue reading “Wise Words”