2010: Can We Finally Walk The Talk?

When the clock strikes 0000 hours, marking the time that belongs to both the 31st of December 2009 and the 1st of January 2010, planet Earth and all of its inhabitants will be celebrating a brand new year. A brand new year is, without a doubt, a good thing. Good for recreating hopes and dreams which were abandoned halfway through 2009, good for building resolutions and setting new and perhaps higher targets. In fact, a new year is, simply put, good for a brand new beginning. It is like going back to square one in a Snakes & Ladders game, but on to a new board, where previous falls and losses are left behind, where the snakes and ladders are arranged in a different manner, allowing the player to have new hopes and new moves to advance all the way to square one hundred.

Question: If it was possible for our so-called resolutions and dreams which we created at the beginning of 2009 to dissipate into thin air even before anything is achieved, why couldn't it be the same way too in 2010?

I myself am a victim of this vicious cycle. Year after year, I store in my conscious mind a list of "What I Want to Do & Achieve". Year after year, the list remains unchecked or perhaps, on a brighter side, mostly unchecked. Most of the time, I blame "circumstances" such as time inadequacy, parental disagreement, etc. Sometimes, I blame myself for procrastinating, for being lazy, for not being persevering enough, which really are common factors we all face when attempting to achieve our resolutions. But all this blaming, ultimately, results in self-pity and that's where the fall begins. Self-pity leads to self-indulgence which leads to selfishness. I have learned that anything that is done on the basis of self-importance does not give lasting satisfaction. And when we realise there is no more satisfaction, we give in to luring temptations and finally fall under the coax of "I will do this tomorrow". Needless to say, tomorrow never comes because tomorrow remains everyday, as tomorrow.

This is not saying though, that making resolutions is pointless and unrealistic. In fact, it is not unrealistic at all. The only factor that causes our resolutions to be unrealistic is the way we choose to make them. Many of us make big, major-sized resolutions which excite us at the moment of creation. As days pass, excitement evolves into an overwhelming sense of impossibility. Not only that, if we take the time to analyse the root of our resolutions, we should really question ourselves, "Why do I want to do this?" Most answers would point back to the questioner herself or himself.

Logically thinking, if one is not able to reach square one hundred in one throw of the dice, one should make paces, up the ladder and down the snakes. Similarly, if we are aware that we are not able to achieve the sky high dreams we set for ourselves in one go, wouldn't it be more feasible to make daily resolutions instead, small, minor ones, as we open our eyes to greet the sunshine of everyday? No humans are super, even aeroplanes need to ascend gradually till they reach the intended height. Perhaps if we spare ourselves a little time every morning to think about what we want to achieve, just simple things, such as making sure we say our thank you's and how do you do's, we would actually be able to realise our hope of wanting to live a life of gratitude and respect.

When making these daily resolutions, perhaps it would also be helpful to reflect upon why we make them. Do I want to live a life of gratitude and respect because I want to be happy and to feel good about myself or because I want my happiness to be felt by those I come in contact with? Do I want to participate in a certain charity organisation because I want people to know that I am not selfish and so I would feel better about myself or because I know that by interacting with someone or something else, directly or indirectly, I am making a difference for that someone or something, even if it is just a seemingly insignificant one? I am not sure myself as to what makes a life of serving to be able to bring more contentment than a life of satisfying our own needs. Perhaps when we are able to make the slightest difference to something or someone, there is this invisible thread of connection that binds two together. So the more our interaction, the more the number of connections. And perhaps these connections rejuvenate us, opening our hearts and minds to see the beauty that is contained in our surroundings, in people and in life's daily happenings.

Ultimately, resolutions, daily or monthly or yearly, big or small, should be constantly accompanied by gratitude. Being thankful is teaching me to be humble. Practising gratitude in every little thing that I remember to be thankful for, I am realising beauty I have not had the gratifying eyes to see before this. In fact, for having the words to write this blog post, my gratitude goes out to Mr. Bob Greene (who gave the idea of making daily resolutions in the Rachael Ray show I watched this morning) and Mr. Jason Mraz (who is an uplifter of a life of acknowledgement and gratitude). Being inspired about life philosophy from the television and from an artiste's blog may seem a little ungrounded. The question here is, to what extent would we go to to make 2010 a more fruitful year? And believe me, the possibilities are beyond our imagination.

I am publishing this post as a constant reminder to myself of the boundless possibilities that I would be granted with in 2010 through the resolutions I create. If, by any chance, anyone stumbles upon this post, I am thankful for the person who is reading for he or she is spending time to share with me, my little discovery.

Have an enlightening time creating your 2010!

Reversible, It Is.

My sister showed me this video and I thought it is worth sharing.

Ponder. To reverse, we may choose.

More Than Just A Man With Two Jobs

In my opinion, working two jobs in a day everyday is no easy feat. Working two jobs in a day everyday with equal zest and abundance of energy therefore defies my logic of the human capacity. In this case, one man has defeated the barrier of my self-created limitations. This is his story, told through my blessed encounters with him.

The writer remembers not of the details of the day she first met him but the memory of the man himself is a clear one, not of his physical appearance, but the clearly pronounced words which emanated from within him with such soothing audibility.

Watching her mother walking to a counter where cash competition entry forms are filled, clutching a few of those in her hand, the writer notices her mother was followed casually by a man. She hears the words "Wah, so many already ar?" uttered with genuine friendliness through the windscreen of the car she was sitting in. At that moment, the writer's thoughts about the man were merely passing ones, generally disregarding the warmth which he portrayed. But the memory was never erased. Unconsciously, as the writer and her mother left the petrol station, she was also storing this image and this voice in the spaces of her unknowing mind.

Five days later, in a cosily furnished restaurant, a waiter came to the writer's and her family's table to collect the dirty dishes. A familiar voice spoke with a very familiar clarity and audibility in his words, "Hi, may I collect these bowls? Thank you." The writer turned to the voice and gazed upon a face she was quite sure she had seen before. But as she attempted recalling the time and place she had seen the man, her memory bits served her too poorly. Time ticked and as she dug deeper into her mind spaces, she finally found the image and voice she had unconsciously stored five days earlier, as she was leaving the petrol station. An initial sense of relief for having solved the bugging familiarity came upon the writer, which was soon to be replaced with a level of respect with the occurence of the following conversation between her mother and the man. (The writer had exclaimed her revelation earlier to her mother, the only one in her family who had also seen the man before.)

"Eh, do you work in the petrol station there?"

"Yeah, how you know ar?"

"I saw you mah."

"Really? When ar? Yeah, I actually work two jobs. I do marketing in the petrol station. Actually last time I work there from 7 to 7. But now I just work from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Then I have two hours of rest and work here from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. At first they wanted me to work full time here but I tell them cannot lah because I still need to work there right. My boss is ok with me working here part time also. He also got ask me whether I can manage or not lah because two jobs right. Haha, see lah, I hope my energy is enough. But at least got two hours' rest so ok lah. I must manage my timing lah."

Then the family and the writer left, leaving that short encounter as the last till now. The writer had never spoken to the man, the man would not have noticed the writer. But she now knew the man as one whom she quietly grew her respect for.

"The man", till now, remains as "the man" for I have never found out what his name is. That encounter also remains as the last till now. An average man on the outside, but definitely not one on the inside. Just the clarity and audibility as well as energy and genuinity in his words are enough to portray his zest for life, despite now having to work two jobs a day, everyday. Exactly what holds this man up, I have yet to know. I wonder if I will ever know. I wonder if I will ever meet him anymore. But I know one thing - "the man" is living Jason Mraz's song - Live High, Live Mighty, Live Righteously. And as a secret admirer, I can only pray that wherever life takes him to, he would always preserve his humility and that his energy would be flowing in such abundance to carry him up as high and as mighty as he could, keeping righteousness as a constant guide. As for myself, the two brief encounters with "the man" is One which I am gladly adding into my bagpack of gratitude.

There is no denying though that perhaps the warmth shown by "the man" was out of his sense of responsibility for his job in the marketing sector in which public relations skills are of high importance. Then again, to maintain that same level of zest and energy in both his jobs with only a two-hour break is, I reckon, already a challenge on its own. Two encounters are, without doubt, inadequate for me to make any judgements, but they are definitely an evidence of his dedication to his jobs. Isn't that already an example we can all look up to?

Never forget the importance of living with unbridled exhilaration. Never neglect to see the exquisite beauty in all living things. Today, and this very moment, is a gift. Stay focused on your purpose. The Universe will take care of everything else.

- from "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin S. Sharma

Simple Thrills: There Is So Much We Can Learn

To these creative souls who have served to add just a little more colour to a life they have unknowingly touched, I extend my deepest gratitude.

How adorable, how simple, how childish, and yet how optimistically true.

- Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes)

- Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold!)

- The team at Les' Copaque (Upin & Ipin)

Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And everytime a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - box of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.

- Robert Fulghum

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

- Albert Einstein

If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Vastness & The Bagpack

Counted simply, I went in and out of the school hall 23 times within these two months, summing up to 23 papers. I thought it would be a pull through that period, but having officially ended secondary education, it really was more of a journey towards a new beginning. As 23 went down to 22 to 21 and finally to 0, as I descended the hill of exam, I was climbing up the plateau to a fresh phase. And now that I have reached the flat top, my vision is set upon a vastness I have yet to but am truly eager to explore. This vastness is rejuvenating, this vastness is refreshing, not in the slightest bit intimidating. Perhaps it is a will of my childishness to look upon a future so uncertain as Land O' Plenty. If that is the case, childish be me then. Looking upon this vastness that spreads before me, I'd rather embrace it than to endure it.

As I now stand at the peak of this plateau, I carry with me a bagpack of gratitude. Be it the period of 23 to 0, or the period to 23, or even the period after 0, I have much to be grateful for. All the little Ones which or whom have accompanied me through every day of living, each had and perhaps still is imprinting tracks of gracious deeds on the land I am travelling on. This bagpack I am carrying is a bottomless one, simply because there is so much gratitude I can and will put in it. As this bagpack gets heavier, then I know that I am that bit more enlightened.

This vastness is one that I am learning to embrace and this bagpack of gratitude is one that I will never cease to carry with me. Perhaps it is through this vastness that I am given the opportunity to make more bagpacks of gratitude to be permanent companions of the Ones who are and will be a part of my peristalsis.

With utmost childishness,
"I'm ready!"