Water is pretty the beacon of life. Staying sufficiently hydrated throughout the day keeps us going. But all that is water at a medium to large scale. Ever wondered how significant a water droplet can be?
I don't think most of us take a step back to imagine where all the water come from. I guess, like everything else around us, there must be a start from someone or somewhere or somewhat. So let's see where a water droplet may lead us to and how we can relate to a tiny drop of water.
The easiest of an example of a water droplet would be dew. Tiny little drops of water that form on leaves or surfaces early in the morning when its pretty cold. For those of us who are fairly early birds, you can catch the sight of dew in the your garden or your backyard. It may not be noticeable but if you notice areas in your home where it is leafy, you quickly notice that some parts of your garden tend to collect a small pool of water. I haven't sat down beside a plant to observe where all the dew goes to but I can logically hypothesize that the dew get accumulated on leaves and as more and more accumulate, the leaves cannot hold the weight of the dew, and then gravity does the rest.
So let's take a step back and ask ourselves, "have we ever stopped to realise when dew forms, where does it go to or what it does for us?". I am guess probably be not because even I never really thought about it, being too busy with life (or at least that's what all of us say). I may have noticed dew on the plants in my backyard but let's face it, we tend not to notice small stuff like this given that we are cultured by society to think BIG, look BIG, no?
Notwithstanding that dew can be the impetus for unruly fungus that inhibit the growth of certain plants, did you know that all that dew either goes into the earth to hydrate the plants around it or evaporates to create the moisture in the air so that we get rain and not dry up?
Whilst its the big waves, and continuous rains that causes the likes of tsunamis and unwanted floods, we often forget its dew that keep our soil furtilised and moisture in the air, and who knows the tiny drop of dew was the advent of great lakes and wonderful scenery that come with it!
I guess if we equate it to our lives, big splashes sure hits the headlines but headlines create expectations and with great expectations comes great pressure, which can turn ugly - famous people in divorce cases, family problems, unwanted publicity and what not. Small little miracles in our lives on the other hand creates the big waves in our hearts - the birth of a newborn, your first pay check, your first car......... Small little miracles are like dew in that they don't make the news but it complete us from the inside!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
pace of change
Leapfrog would probably be the best adjective to describes today's environment in which we live and work in. Means of communication has gone from smoke signals to snail mail, to sms, to mms, to e-mails and today, e-mails on the go. Even then, leapfrog might still be an understatement to describe the change we have all undergone.
Change, according to many, is the only constant in our lives. I think we all cannot deny the truth in that statement. But change like all things has its good, its bad and its ugly side.
Let's take a step back and observe the good this leapfrog change has brought us. We now have Internet, we can connect with virtually anyone in the world with a blink of an eye. Some of us who dare venture into the world of business and e-commerce find themselves an ocean of money churning, mouth watering opportunities. Some of us simply find good entertainment in mediums such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Convenience is now at a whole new level when you can shop, pay bills and do a plethora of chores with a couple of clicks from the comfort of your own home.
Then, there's the bad. The very medium that brings us convenience and entertainment has now become the same source of misdemeanour and crime. Online crime has increased at a burgeoning rate, we more and more cases of e-fraud, identity theft and much more taking place. It appears, that e-money-making can be done the good way or the bad way. Some have even gone as far as using the Internet and other sophisticated hardware for espionage work. With the capabilities of technologies reaching the skies, so does the ample number of opportunities to prey on misinformed, it seems.
Bad, I guess isn't enough and hence, we have the ugly. My take on change is that radical change is good for shake ups and in times when you want to jolt someone from dream land but radical change without control can lead to a plethora of issues. We need not stray far to find examples. We need only to look at the state of our country for instance (Malaysia, for those who are not aware). But before I go on, please note this is not a post about which political party is better. Today, Malaysia has gone from mining and agriculture into a time of industrialisation and now, quasi-industrialisation-service-based. We find people have higher purchasing power, more liberty to have luxury items. 10 years ago, the ability to turn on the air conditioner for long hours was for the rich and famous, these days everyone can afford to turn on the air conditioner for long hours at a time. Luxury cars like BMWs, Mercs, Audis, were toys of big guns 10 to 15 years ago when you would only see middle-aged or older people driving them because they had reached the top, these days you see people as young as in their mid-twenties driving these hefty price tags on wheels.
As much as luxury products sound good, there is a flip side to all this. You'd realise there really is a great divide between the rich and the poor. Those people in the in-between are slowly being forced into either one of these categories. Singapore is another example, despite all the talk about it and the talk about fortunes rolling in that country, you still see many living in poverty or a majority of its people still leaving in Government subsidized flats. The most adverse of by-products from rapid change is social problems. 15 years ago in Malaysia, you could walk out on the streets in the middle of the night with a Rolex and have midnight tea. These days, you'd be lucky to walk away from just having the watch taken from you without losing your hand.
Change is good in that, in forces to improve and better ourselves but we ourselves have to be clear in our minds that we are not merely existing to keep up with the Joneses. Otherwise, we simply end existing with the pace of change and not living on the pace of change......... this is my food for thought for the day....
Change, according to many, is the only constant in our lives. I think we all cannot deny the truth in that statement. But change like all things has its good, its bad and its ugly side.
Let's take a step back and observe the good this leapfrog change has brought us. We now have Internet, we can connect with virtually anyone in the world with a blink of an eye. Some of us who dare venture into the world of business and e-commerce find themselves an ocean of money churning, mouth watering opportunities. Some of us simply find good entertainment in mediums such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Convenience is now at a whole new level when you can shop, pay bills and do a plethora of chores with a couple of clicks from the comfort of your own home.
Then, there's the bad. The very medium that brings us convenience and entertainment has now become the same source of misdemeanour and crime. Online crime has increased at a burgeoning rate, we more and more cases of e-fraud, identity theft and much more taking place. It appears, that e-money-making can be done the good way or the bad way. Some have even gone as far as using the Internet and other sophisticated hardware for espionage work. With the capabilities of technologies reaching the skies, so does the ample number of opportunities to prey on misinformed, it seems.
Bad, I guess isn't enough and hence, we have the ugly. My take on change is that radical change is good for shake ups and in times when you want to jolt someone from dream land but radical change without control can lead to a plethora of issues. We need not stray far to find examples. We need only to look at the state of our country for instance (Malaysia, for those who are not aware). But before I go on, please note this is not a post about which political party is better. Today, Malaysia has gone from mining and agriculture into a time of industrialisation and now, quasi-industrialisation-service-based. We find people have higher purchasing power, more liberty to have luxury items. 10 years ago, the ability to turn on the air conditioner for long hours was for the rich and famous, these days everyone can afford to turn on the air conditioner for long hours at a time. Luxury cars like BMWs, Mercs, Audis, were toys of big guns 10 to 15 years ago when you would only see middle-aged or older people driving them because they had reached the top, these days you see people as young as in their mid-twenties driving these hefty price tags on wheels.
As much as luxury products sound good, there is a flip side to all this. You'd realise there really is a great divide between the rich and the poor. Those people in the in-between are slowly being forced into either one of these categories. Singapore is another example, despite all the talk about it and the talk about fortunes rolling in that country, you still see many living in poverty or a majority of its people still leaving in Government subsidized flats. The most adverse of by-products from rapid change is social problems. 15 years ago in Malaysia, you could walk out on the streets in the middle of the night with a Rolex and have midnight tea. These days, you'd be lucky to walk away from just having the watch taken from you without losing your hand.
Change is good in that, in forces to improve and better ourselves but we ourselves have to be clear in our minds that we are not merely existing to keep up with the Joneses. Otherwise, we simply end existing with the pace of change and not living on the pace of change......... this is my food for thought for the day....
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
bad day?
A "bad day" is something most of us go through these days with the pressure from family, work, finances and what not. Show me a person who says every day is a beautiful day and I'll show you God. Don't get me wrong though, I don't meant to be pessimistic, I am a realist.
Although not 100% of the time, but I tend to hold this belief that:-
"What I need to get done, I get it done as soon as possible with the least energy. What I don't need to do, I just don't do".
We spend, at least in this part of the world, a good 12 to 14 hours working, rushing to meet deadlines and commitments so much so that burning out is something you see coming straight at you like a bullet train and you having no time to dodge it. Despite the lucrative monetary benefits that can even get you salivating, we still burn out and next thing you, every day is a bad day - you get irritable, people annoy you, the littlest of sounds prick you like a 1000 needles, and suddenly the world is against you!
I was browsing around the net over the last few days just before catching a shut eye after a long day at work. Ironically, I was listening to Daniel Powter's Bad Day. I love the video clip, the melody and the lyrical irony thrown into the song. Then I realised that I haven't really heard or seen much of Daniel Powter.
Did a random search and turns out after making millions from Bad Day, he spun off into a life full of promiscuous sexual relationships, drug abuse and alcohol. Again, the irony in the fact that the same person who wrote a beautiful song about a bad day seems to had a long drawn out bad day working through rehab and getting himself back into the right frame.
Now trying to bounce back, I quote and unquote Daniel, "I thought maybe I should sleep with hundreds of women and do drugs on the road to live up to the pop star image, when really I’m just a regular guy. But I lost touch with reality and the trigger for going to rehab was that I was so paranoid and underweight, I was in danger of dying".
I guess for most of us it's not surprising he became another statistic considering how many pop stars wind up in such a situation but point to take home is that (and you may agree but I am penning it down anyway! =0P) we go all out trying to make that one extra buck so you can buy that car, that necklace, that house, that wedding ring and all the "wants" in life you can come up with. But to what end? When you finally got what you want, you realise your list of "wants" grows longer and you keep pushing hard to earn a few more extra bucks to maintain and entertain those "wants" and before you know it, you find yourself living a life full of "bad days" having succumb to what I call the need "social acceptability".
So take a step back and ponder about it before you decide to run off chasing the dream of "wants" because you might just end up living a life of "bad days" spending time, money and effort on things in life you don't need so you can please people you don't like.
Hope you have a nice day! =0)Although not 100% of the time, but I tend to hold this belief that:-
"What I need to get done, I get it done as soon as possible with the least energy. What I don't need to do, I just don't do".
We spend, at least in this part of the world, a good 12 to 14 hours working, rushing to meet deadlines and commitments so much so that burning out is something you see coming straight at you like a bullet train and you having no time to dodge it. Despite the lucrative monetary benefits that can even get you salivating, we still burn out and next thing you, every day is a bad day - you get irritable, people annoy you, the littlest of sounds prick you like a 1000 needles, and suddenly the world is against you!
I was browsing around the net over the last few days just before catching a shut eye after a long day at work. Ironically, I was listening to Daniel Powter's Bad Day. I love the video clip, the melody and the lyrical irony thrown into the song. Then I realised that I haven't really heard or seen much of Daniel Powter.
Did a random search and turns out after making millions from Bad Day, he spun off into a life full of promiscuous sexual relationships, drug abuse and alcohol. Again, the irony in the fact that the same person who wrote a beautiful song about a bad day seems to had a long drawn out bad day working through rehab and getting himself back into the right frame.
Now trying to bounce back, I quote and unquote Daniel, "I thought maybe I should sleep with hundreds of women and do drugs on the road to live up to the pop star image, when really I’m just a regular guy. But I lost touch with reality and the trigger for going to rehab was that I was so paranoid and underweight, I was in danger of dying".
I guess for most of us it's not surprising he became another statistic considering how many pop stars wind up in such a situation but point to take home is that (and you may agree but I am penning it down anyway! =0P) we go all out trying to make that one extra buck so you can buy that car, that necklace, that house, that wedding ring and all the "wants" in life you can come up with. But to what end? When you finally got what you want, you realise your list of "wants" grows longer and you keep pushing hard to earn a few more extra bucks to maintain and entertain those "wants" and before you know it, you find yourself living a life full of "bad days" having succumb to what I call the need "social acceptability".
So take a step back and ponder about it before you decide to run off chasing the dream of "wants" because you might just end up living a life of "bad days" spending time, money and effort on things in life you don't need so you can please people you don't like.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
might as well go all the way if you are halfway there..
Ever since i got my car about a decade ago, wiping my car and keeping it gleaming had become a part of my daily to-do. Actually those close to me call it my must-do because no matter how late i get back from work i'd still clean my car before i head to bed.
Call it OBD it you may but i simply care for my car above and beyond thd level of an average joe and it's really a matter of preference when it comes to giving my car that bit more detail of attention.
Ok, anyway, this post isn't about my car although it does make reference to me and my car. Well, for the past 5 weeks or so, I have been getting back from work at obscene hours. I am talking about leaving the office at 2am, 2.30am, 3am sort of crazy times. I think that works out to about 18 working hours a day on average. Believe you me, it's not a very nice way to spend your day.
Despite coming back home in the wee hours of the morning, I'd still wipe my car. When I mean wipe my car, that'd be the top, the bottom, the wheels and then the interior. Since I don't own a large, luxury car or a large reasonably priced car, I only need about 30 minutes in all to wipe my car down.
There some days where I took a step back and thought, "Most people are only going to look at the top and the wheels, so maybe I can skip wiping the bottom and get me a bit more sleep time.". Then, I took another step back and realised that if I have already expended my energy on the top and the wheels (wheels typically take a bit more time due to the patterns on the rim and the more dirt it picks up), I might as well just spend the next few minutes doing the bottom and I'd eventually get a gleaming car from top to toe or rather, "roof to wheels".
All so often we think of doing something and by the time we finally get started on it, we somehow lose steam and shy away from completion. But if we really sit down and gave it some thought, it doesn't make sense because you would expended quite a fair bit of time, energy and in some cases money simply to get you halfway day only for you to abandon ship. Is it not then wasteful to a very large extent?
I like to use my car as an example because it's easy to explain. Every night when I am finally done wiping the car, I can take a step back and just look at the gleam. It puts a smile on my face and ends my bad day at work. Had I just stopped at the top and the wheels, I'd still see the gleam on my car but I know, in the back of my head, I'd be telling myself, "Hmmmmm.... but you didn't do the bottome.....". It's not really an honest piece of satisfaction, if you know what I mean.
So the point I am trying to bring across is that, if you have already committed to something and you might as well go all the way and see to the finish line if you are halfway there, irrespective of the results. At least you tried, you know you tried and that's more than enough a reason to give yourself (I mean YOU) credit and be proud!
Call it OBD it you may but i simply care for my car above and beyond thd level of an average joe and it's really a matter of preference when it comes to giving my car that bit more detail of attention.
Ok, anyway, this post isn't about my car although it does make reference to me and my car. Well, for the past 5 weeks or so, I have been getting back from work at obscene hours. I am talking about leaving the office at 2am, 2.30am, 3am sort of crazy times. I think that works out to about 18 working hours a day on average. Believe you me, it's not a very nice way to spend your day.
Despite coming back home in the wee hours of the morning, I'd still wipe my car. When I mean wipe my car, that'd be the top, the bottom, the wheels and then the interior. Since I don't own a large, luxury car or a large reasonably priced car, I only need about 30 minutes in all to wipe my car down.
There some days where I took a step back and thought, "Most people are only going to look at the top and the wheels, so maybe I can skip wiping the bottom and get me a bit more sleep time.". Then, I took another step back and realised that if I have already expended my energy on the top and the wheels (wheels typically take a bit more time due to the patterns on the rim and the more dirt it picks up), I might as well just spend the next few minutes doing the bottom and I'd eventually get a gleaming car from top to toe or rather, "roof to wheels".
All so often we think of doing something and by the time we finally get started on it, we somehow lose steam and shy away from completion. But if we really sit down and gave it some thought, it doesn't make sense because you would expended quite a fair bit of time, energy and in some cases money simply to get you halfway day only for you to abandon ship. Is it not then wasteful to a very large extent?
I like to use my car as an example because it's easy to explain. Every night when I am finally done wiping the car, I can take a step back and just look at the gleam. It puts a smile on my face and ends my bad day at work. Had I just stopped at the top and the wheels, I'd still see the gleam on my car but I know, in the back of my head, I'd be telling myself, "Hmmmmm.... but you didn't do the bottome.....". It's not really an honest piece of satisfaction, if you know what I mean.
So the point I am trying to bring across is that, if you have already committed to something and you might as well go all the way and see to the finish line if you are halfway there, irrespective of the results. At least you tried, you know you tried and that's more than enough a reason to give yourself (I mean YOU) credit and be proud!
Monday, June 25, 2012
keep looking upwards, you'll only get a neck ache
Looking up to someone, admiring someone, yearning to be that someone, working towards being that someone is a wonderful thought don't you think so? Every now and then, we find ourselves procrastinating about how nice it would be to be a high flying CEO, CFO, COO, partner of a law or accounting firm, big time entrepreneur. It can be rejuvenating and at the same time motivating knowing that some day, some time in the future, all your back breaking effort and hard work will finally pay off.
On the flip side, we can find ourselves stopping at the procrastination part and not moving forward. That is to say, mere thought with no or little follow through actions.
I find it very common among my peers to talk about some of the following topics:
1. That someone really got up that position fast.
2. That someone is the youngest person to be made partner.
3. That someone drives a Porsche to work.
4. That someone has a yacht.
5. Somebody, somewhere has something (you know what I mean from hereon).
You would likely find it common that the people who say those things above are the same people who find themselves in the everyday rut wondering why they never seem to progress or the whole world seems to be plotting against them. Yet, it is either that they choose not to admit it or they are simply naturally ignorant to the fact that they are not doing what is needed to be that someone.
One does not become the next Yo Yo Ma by merely playing simply cadences or practising a mere half hour a day. One does not become the next Roger Federer by hitting tennis balls aimlessly without proper technique (putting aside talent). One does not become a Sebastian Vettel hopping into a race car and flooring the accelerator. Some of these people are the product of dedication, self belief and most importantly, repeatedly doing what needs to be done to differentiate themselves from the world at large.
The best example I can give you is Rafael Nadal. Some of you may not necessarily agree with my views and please do beg to differ if you do feel the need to. I started following Rafa's progress in the world of tennis when we beginning to move the rank. In the initial years, he would always get whooped by Federer in many Grand Slam finals and eventually he would overcome Federer. The one thing that set him apart from many including the great Federer is the fact that in every match Rafa always ran down every ball, every shot giving all he could to retrieve every ball that came into his side of the court. Another one thing was that he never changed his coach, Uncle Toni despite certain moments in his career when everyone, including me thought he was on the downhill. Not changing his coach meant his uncle has spent so much time with him to know his match temperament, techniques and shortfalls. Basically Uncle Toni knows the good, the bad and the ugly of this game due to sheer time they have spent together and the bond they have formed.
Rafa's rise to fame and the many wins he has secured is the product of him looking upwards at someone he wanted to emulate but at the same time looking in front of him, clearing one hurdle at the time. For someone like him who looked up and looked forward at the same time, what he got was a linear growth.
For the ordinary people like the most of us who always procrastinate more than getting down to the action, we are stuck in the looking upwards mode. Only problem is, if you keep looking upwards, you'll only get a neck ache......
On the flip side, we can find ourselves stopping at the procrastination part and not moving forward. That is to say, mere thought with no or little follow through actions.
I find it very common among my peers to talk about some of the following topics:
1. That someone really got up that position fast.
2. That someone is the youngest person to be made partner.
3. That someone drives a Porsche to work.
4. That someone has a yacht.
5. Somebody, somewhere has something (you know what I mean from hereon).
You would likely find it common that the people who say those things above are the same people who find themselves in the everyday rut wondering why they never seem to progress or the whole world seems to be plotting against them. Yet, it is either that they choose not to admit it or they are simply naturally ignorant to the fact that they are not doing what is needed to be that someone.
One does not become the next Yo Yo Ma by merely playing simply cadences or practising a mere half hour a day. One does not become the next Roger Federer by hitting tennis balls aimlessly without proper technique (putting aside talent). One does not become a Sebastian Vettel hopping into a race car and flooring the accelerator. Some of these people are the product of dedication, self belief and most importantly, repeatedly doing what needs to be done to differentiate themselves from the world at large.
The best example I can give you is Rafael Nadal. Some of you may not necessarily agree with my views and please do beg to differ if you do feel the need to. I started following Rafa's progress in the world of tennis when we beginning to move the rank. In the initial years, he would always get whooped by Federer in many Grand Slam finals and eventually he would overcome Federer. The one thing that set him apart from many including the great Federer is the fact that in every match Rafa always ran down every ball, every shot giving all he could to retrieve every ball that came into his side of the court. Another one thing was that he never changed his coach, Uncle Toni despite certain moments in his career when everyone, including me thought he was on the downhill. Not changing his coach meant his uncle has spent so much time with him to know his match temperament, techniques and shortfalls. Basically Uncle Toni knows the good, the bad and the ugly of this game due to sheer time they have spent together and the bond they have formed.
Rafa's rise to fame and the many wins he has secured is the product of him looking upwards at someone he wanted to emulate but at the same time looking in front of him, clearing one hurdle at the time. For someone like him who looked up and looked forward at the same time, what he got was a linear growth.
For the ordinary people like the most of us who always procrastinate more than getting down to the action, we are stuck in the looking upwards mode. Only problem is, if you keep looking upwards, you'll only get a neck ache......
Monday, May 28, 2012
knowing you did something about it
There are always those unmistakable moments when you take a pause in your life and you'd say, "I should have done it!". I think it's common for most of us because of mistakes we make and sometimes, the indecision that tends to hinder our decision making process.
Let me tell you about a real experience I had with a close friend of mine. For anonymity sake, let's call him Eric.
Couple of years back, Eric was battling out a business law suit that nearly shattered his business and his family. I knew Eric through my lawyer friend who was handling his case. I used to help out at a small law firm to earn a couple of bucks to add a bit more to my miserable bank account balance. And that's how I knew about Eric and his unfortunate law suit.
It was a tough 6 to 9 months for Eric and us, battling out the case. It was a tough case and and uphill one at that. The cases were against us, Eric dropped the ball at the early stages of the trial and due to the legal system here, the law was simply against him from almost all angles. To make matters worse, his was also battling out the prospects of a divorce with his wife who didn't think he stood a chance in surviving the law suit. Not very nice of his wife, if you ask me.
Anyway, we spent many weekends working the case out at the small legal firm premise, running through cases and cases and stacks of cases plus discussion with Eric to make sure we got the affidavit as concised as and as accurate as possible.
After all the tiring weekends and long hours of discussion, the case was heard by the judges, plenty of hours of debating facts and the law. Eventually, Eric won the case as the plaintiff could not prove that Eric indeed committed an act of criminal breach of trust. It was great! I mean Eric finally went back to business as usual, kept his marriage going, the firm won the case and I got my pocket money.
Through it all, I actually asked Eric what would he have done had he lost the case?
"Honestly, when we finally go to the hearing stages of my case, I wasn't certain what to make of it. I mean we came this far in preparing for the case and I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope to win the case. I guess, I already money set aside for the kids and my wife. If she insisted on a divorce, I doubt I could stop it from happening. Not everyone can live we being associated to a bankrupt with a CBT label over his forehead. But I don't think it's all about winning the case but deep down, I merely need to know that no matter the outcome, I can look myself in the mirror and firmly tell myself I knew I did something about it.
Having gone through this moment in my life, I can now honestly say that not matter what you decide to do, you just have to make a decision move on with the decision and never look back. Because some day, some where, you are bound to make decision that could change your life forever. And when that day comes, you want to be in a position know you did something about it irrespective of the outcome."
Let me tell you about a real experience I had with a close friend of mine. For anonymity sake, let's call him Eric.
Couple of years back, Eric was battling out a business law suit that nearly shattered his business and his family. I knew Eric through my lawyer friend who was handling his case. I used to help out at a small law firm to earn a couple of bucks to add a bit more to my miserable bank account balance. And that's how I knew about Eric and his unfortunate law suit.
It was a tough 6 to 9 months for Eric and us, battling out the case. It was a tough case and and uphill one at that. The cases were against us, Eric dropped the ball at the early stages of the trial and due to the legal system here, the law was simply against him from almost all angles. To make matters worse, his was also battling out the prospects of a divorce with his wife who didn't think he stood a chance in surviving the law suit. Not very nice of his wife, if you ask me.
Anyway, we spent many weekends working the case out at the small legal firm premise, running through cases and cases and stacks of cases plus discussion with Eric to make sure we got the affidavit as concised as and as accurate as possible.
After all the tiring weekends and long hours of discussion, the case was heard by the judges, plenty of hours of debating facts and the law. Eventually, Eric won the case as the plaintiff could not prove that Eric indeed committed an act of criminal breach of trust. It was great! I mean Eric finally went back to business as usual, kept his marriage going, the firm won the case and I got my pocket money.
Through it all, I actually asked Eric what would he have done had he lost the case?
"Honestly, when we finally go to the hearing stages of my case, I wasn't certain what to make of it. I mean we came this far in preparing for the case and I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope to win the case. I guess, I already money set aside for the kids and my wife. If she insisted on a divorce, I doubt I could stop it from happening. Not everyone can live we being associated to a bankrupt with a CBT label over his forehead. But I don't think it's all about winning the case but deep down, I merely need to know that no matter the outcome, I can look myself in the mirror and firmly tell myself I knew I did something about it.
Having gone through this moment in my life, I can now honestly say that not matter what you decide to do, you just have to make a decision move on with the decision and never look back. Because some day, some where, you are bound to make decision that could change your life forever. And when that day comes, you want to be in a position know you did something about it irrespective of the outcome."
Monday, May 7, 2012
Enlightenment Part 2 of 3: Buddhism in Yogyakarta
The highlight of the Yogyakarta was the awe-infusing marvel of the Borobudur temple located about 2.5 hours drive from Yogyakarta city. I have been to Angkor Wat in Cambodia so I have had experience with ancient Buddhist relics and amazing Buddhist temples inscribed with pin hair detailed carvings.From the trip's itinerary point of you, I visisted Borobudur first but I decided to talk about Hinduism first to talk about Yogyakarta's religious transition from the sequence of which religion influenced Yogyakarta first from a historical perspective. Hence, Hinduism and now Buddhism.
The plan was to wake up at 3.30am in the morning so that we would be there by 4am to witness the scene of a beautiful rising sun from the pinnacle of the Borobudur. Unfortunately, the weather was less forgiving given that it rained from the day before right up to 3.30am when we woke up for the sunrise. So, we did not get to witness any beautiful sunrise and there definitely was no "egg yolk" in the horizon from atop the Borobudur. It was slippery, cold and cloudy throughout the morning.Despite the rain plus all the other inconvenience the rain brought along, Borobudur was still worth the visit and the walk up the slippery steps. On that note, the rain was a real pain for me when it came to trying to set up my camera and the tripod to capture a good shot.
The Borobudur was designed as such that you have to walk all levels of it from the bottom to the top and it signified the path to enlightenment. If I recall correctly, you are supposed to walk in a clockwise manner all the way to the top. Each level signified a specific level of the enlightenment process and each level had different carvings on the walls to tell a story. It ranges from Buddha's path to enlightenment to the different folk stories of how sin would ultimately be returned in internal suffering in your second life.
The rain threatened to ruin the trip but the luckily it was all but drizzles throughout the visit and I still got some good picturesque shots..........
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