For some the glass is half full. For others the glass is half empty. For others even when the glass fully filled with their favourite drink, they will find reasons to whine about the glass. 

This is a story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody asked Anybody.

… and it was Everybody’s fault.

Actually, the last line was not in the original story. I added the last line because it would appear to be the natural end to the story. Yes, the natural end to a story of a task gone wrong is always about someone being blamed and taking the fall for the wrong.

The more time is spent on finding a person to be blamed, the less productive an organization becomes. The only goal achieved from such unproductive exercise is the passing of the proverbial buck ad infinitum.

When problem arises, one should be concerned about how to solve the problem, not who to be blamed.

Wouldn’t it be better if the story ends with:

… and Everybody decides to do what Everybody should have done in the first place. 

So, when anybody asks you whose fault is it, tell them that you are least interested in finding a scapegoat and more concerned about solving the problem.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

There are those of us who think that the glass is half empty; and others who think that the glass is half full. Just drink what’s in the glass already and get on with life.

We take our assumption of what people think of us to be a true statement about ourselves subconsciously. And the truth is, the more we deny it, the more we believe in the truth of the statement.

If someone calls me a drug addict, I feel indifferent, because those words mean nothing to me. Words that mean nothing to us won’t hurt us. Only when our subconscious believe that those words represent us that we feel anger, resentment and disappointment.

Because truth hurts, we generate such reaction (anger, disappointment etc) to shift our focus, to minimize the effect of the statement to our psyche.

But remember this, almost invariably, we are always reacting to our own assumption of what others think about us. Those assumptions may be false. And even more important, remember that what others think about us can’t hurt us.

The ultimate truth really is this: what we think about ourselves hurt us the most.

So, who’s really judgmental now?

3 years, 203 posts, 9965 hits. Have I finally grown bored of blogging?

I’ve got tonnes of drafts saved, none of which I feel like posting. Have I gone overtly-critical and over-cautious of my own writing?

There is no secret to the Law of Attraction. Think positively, it’s a precursor that drives you relentlessly to your goal. The probability of you succeeding is higher when you WORK towards something you believe to be achievable. So, stop thinking that you will strike it big by mere positive thoughts.

I don’t think I have ever been away from blogging this long.

Oh, it’s that time of the year again when we start drawing up our New Year resolutions, take stock of how we have progressed (or regressed) over the last twelve months, and fervently swear that we will repent from our sins, turn over a new leaf and be better persons for this coming year.

But, I can’t think of anything that is worth recounting and recalling as I write this customary New Year post. Isn’t there anything in my life, over the past one year that is worth mentioning? What made my year?

It wasn’t a bad year. In fact, it’s one of the best years I have experienced, not a year that I would want to forget.

But, I have reached a point in my life where I accept that the past matters little. What you have done, achieved or accomplished in the pasts is just that, the past.

It may shape how you think or act in the future, but it is not something that you should hold on to. If you take too much pride in what you have achieved in the past, you will be living in the glory of the yesteryears, and forget about moving forward because you feel so comfortable about where you are. If you dwell too much about your failures and mistakes, you can never lift yourself away from being a failure.

And this path before me, it matters not what I have done or achieved. I am starting on a clean slate, like everyone else. The next six months is crucial. If I get it right, and I WILL get it right, it will take me away from the struggles and difficulties that I have been in for the last ten years.

And to say that one should not hold on to the past too much, but it is the past that pushed me to work harder when I feel like giving up. But I did not and will not let the past tell me what I cannot do and cannot achieve.

I’ve gamble all my chips on this, so let’s work, and wish for a glorious and awesome 2011 for me!

My new year resolution? To hit the fifteen hours productivity barrier

I was never physically gone from this frantic life of mine, but my mind was. I let my thoughts wandered into the abyss, and now it’s time to bring it back aground. So every once in a while, I will embark on a journey of soul searching, where I question my motives, principles, goals, and the very purpose of my existence.

In the abyss, I feel the unreality of life. I was detached from my surroundings, and it was as if I was watching life from outside a fish tank where the unreal life is in existence. But at the same time, I felt that I am a part, an inseparable part of this unreal life. So I asked myself, if life is unreal, then how do I explain my consciousness and feelings?

If life is unreal, then the motives, principles, goals – that I (if there is any “I”) thought as being important are also unreal.

As you can see, that is how I ended up in the abyss – trying to find the answer to the questions of my existence.

Maybe Douglas Adams was right. The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42.

There is one universal principle in life – cause and effect. Everything we do in life has a cause and effect. Every action will generate a certain reaction. Because there is a causality between an act and the end product thereof, doing things differently will cause different effects.

What is then the cause of our birth, and the effect of the things that we do in this life? If death is the be all and end all of this life, then there is no purpose of living our life differently than others.

Aquinas said that the telos (end) that man has to achieve is to live in the City of God. Everything we do must path our way to Civitas dei. What would then be the reason of our existence in the City of God? Gratification?

And it is because of this gratification, the wanting of a good end, a better “effect”, that we continue to live like there is a purpose in life. Life is therefore a never ending cycle of cause and effect, because of our gratification of the effect of an act in life.

What is then the effect of my desire of a good life?

God made a plan.

“Okay, maybe we can do this instead of that,” thinks Chiew Ee.

“I have a plan, all laid out for you. You don’t try messing with it. I can physically put you back into the plan, if you try to deviate,” says God.

“Yup, let’s do this instead of that,” thinks Chiew Ee

God exercised his dictatorship powers to put Chiew Ee back at where she should be.

“Oh, so now we are back here doing that,” thinks Chiew Ee

“See, I told you so,” God smirked

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Some things just cannot be explained rationally. Some decisions just cannot be made rationally. There are times when following your instinct and heart, instead of your rationality will lead you to the right path.