Just play the shot, it's either up or down!

"You really think too much!"

That's what my colleague said to me a few days ago. It got me scratching my head a bit. It did get me thinking if I was thinking too much. One of those catch 22 situations - "thinking about thinking".

I think there are some of us who just go with the flow of things and react during the moment whilst there are some of us who likes to figure things out first before doing anything. I apparently, fall in the latter.

Last night, out of the blues while reviewing professional squash matches over YouTube I stumbled upon a special interview footage with Amr Shabana, the former world number one squash player and the current world number two.

In the interview, he was asked about what does he think about when it comes to shot selections during a match, how does he decide on what shot to play, the thought process. I was rather startled with his reply. He said something like this (my quote may not be accurate), "I don't think about it. If I think too much and try to think about options I usually end up making a mistake. I just don't think about it and play the shot, there is a 50 50 chance - either it's up or down."

At the back of my head, the first thing that entered my mind was the "You really think too much!" statement my colleague made about me. I was beginning to wonder maybe I shouldn't think too much about everything and just 'play the shot'. Either way, it's going to be a 50 50 chance if I play the shot rather than sitting down and thinking too much about it only to find myself in a predicament!

Most importantly, rather than being resourceful to those around me, I may end up becoming a burden instead. It also places unnecessary emotional stress and mental stress on myself. I would know, since I inherently placed myself in such a convolving position. As I am typing the words out for this post I am thinking to myself, "silly me!".

Just got to get out there and 'play the shot'. Won't know until I 'strike the ball' I guess........

All it takes is a little encouragement

"A Life at Work" by Thomas Moore is currently the book I am reading. I have reached about half way so far and it has really given me a lot of in sight about my destiny or at least pointers to get me on my way to figure out what my life work is (i.e. your ideal work, work that fulfills you from the inside, food-for-the-soul kind of work). It's still a work in progress thing for me; a long way from reaching the full discovery point (if I ever reach it).

Your life work can be as simple as helping old folks in need in a nursing home to something as simple as being a life guard. Simplest of work can be the most rewarding to a person's hear that's deep down. Of course, there's no denying that it is different for everyone.

But sometimes, if not all the time, all it takes is a little encouragement from the people around you. Sometimes it is as simple as, "a job well done chump!" or "way to go bud!" or "you hit the home run mate!" or even "great job!". And sometimes, these words mean more than a billion dollars to certain people. It's the joy of knowing someone out there thinks you have done something worth appreciating.

I personal experienced it. It's a wonderful feeling because I feel like I have made a difference in someone else's life. I am not talking about making a life defining moment in another's life and neither I am saying that I made a difference in another person's life. What I am saying is that someone out there in this world thinks I am good at something.

I experienced it via this small, humble blog of mine. I have had people giving negative comments on my posts and sometimes positive comments but I take it at a stride and see if I can learn something new from the comments I get. Yesterday, I had a multiple strings of negative comment about a post I wrote recently. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel offended but what I realised was that it was only one person's opinion as compared to the other many positive comments I have received thus far.

In fact, on the same day in the night one of my online friends said to me, "I really like your blog. You are really good at writing. Don't stop writing.".

And that made the difference. It gave me a ray of hope that tells me to keep on blogging. Most importantly, I recognised the fact that I don't need big, material rewards to encourage me and keep me going. Even small gestures of appreciation is all it takes to give other's a little encouragement.

the people around~

Where I work, I get to see, witness and feel the vibes of many brilliant people (with the exception of myself). In this small department I work in, exists a small group of people who are really good at what I do. The sort of people who know what they are doing, knowing where to start, steady and simply having their mojo working (with the exception of myself............. again).

One word to sum up what I feel most of the time at work

"CLUELESS"

or

"BLUR"

Kidding people isn't what I am trying to do right here. What I say is the truth and nothing but the truth. After all, I have nothing to hide. =)

In a car race, the one trailing usually gets the benefit since he gets to see the driving style and techniques of the one ahead of him. With work and life, it is quite the opposite. Trailing behind everyone else is anything but good. It's like trailing behind a a bus running on diesel in a traffic jam. Too much exhaust is far from good for your car.

So here I am hitting the red zone, trying not to get left behind. Hopefully, I won't run out of fuel while continuously hitting the red zone or otherwise overheat before I catch up to them.

The good thing is that it points to the direction that tells me there a lot of room for improvement. Which is, effectively a good thing.

A friend of mine summed it up very well saying, "It's good to be number 2 because you get more satisfaction chasing the one ahead of you and in the end to overtake him. It's a feeling so great you will never forget it!" Ironically, I can't help but agree with him.