Standing On Top of the World at Look Out Point

It was an unplanned destination but an enlightened one.

On 12 March 2011, my friends and I decided to travel to the famous Look Out Point after savouring Korean delicacies in Korean Village located at the heart of Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I often hear that this little place on hill top is the place one can overlook the whole city of Kuala Lumpur. However, before this journey, I really had no idea on how it really feels standing there!

The moment I saw it, I just felt enlightened, as if all my worries were drifted as fast as the movement of the clouds. It was awesome, a complete canvas painting, with the sunset being the accompaniment (my friend joked that the whole Google map was in front of us now).

It was so serene, as if I was standing at the top of the world observing the world of the mankind, as depicted in JJ Lin’s Love Chronicles:

我站在世界的屋頂 I am standing at the roof of the world
用放大鏡看天地 Using a magnifying glass to see the world
發現太多的神奇 Discovering that there are many miracles
一起去尋覓 未知的命運 Together we search for the unknown destiny
爱不会绝迹~林俊杰 Love Chronicles~JJ Lin

As if I was the master of the game, like how an author controls the fate of his characters of creation.

Having followed the breaking news of the double blow disasters that hit Japan a day before (11 March 2011), I started to wonder, to ponder. What’s life after all? Are all these achievements sustainable? Are we, the mankind, prepared to accept drastic changes? How would we react then?

Life is indeed full of mysteries, full of miracles. No one knows for sure what will happen the next moment. Hence, why not just let it go and enjoy your life to its fullest? This is what we modern mankind lack of – the ability to enjoy life at every single moment because we are juggling with so many responsibilities that are beyond our capability. Fussing over career, family, household, relationship, other people’s demands etc.

This morning, I woke up with this on mind:

“Life is like driving a car. If you’re moving too slowly, you’ll be honked for obstructing the way and left behind. However, if you’re driving too fast, you’ll end up in an accident one day, injuring both you yourself and other innocence people, because you’ll someday lose control of the steering. Hence, always maintain a moderate speed where you won’t obstruct others while at the same time, the speed is fully under your control should there be any mishaps. Balancing is the keyword.”

Perhaps, this is related to we call “Live life in moderation”.

*Love and Hope for better tomorrow*

~Si3wLiNg~

20110319

Inner challenge vs External challenge (Part 2)

I myself feel trapped in this fast-moving environment where only a minority will care about the process, until at times, I just feel lost, feel tired of it, feel less focused with my freedoms being ripped off me.

It is not easy to find a way out and ‘isolate’ myself from the busy environments because I still need to meet my basic needs and fulfill my responsibility as a daughter and a contributor to the society. Sometimes, I hope that I could retreat to a secluded place and enjoy what I love to do, away from the disturbance of the stressors, frustrations, material gains, illumined freedom and the need to report to anyone and helping others to achieve their goals while being forced to neglect mine.

I always heard people saying results are important and as long as we are able produce good/best results in the shortest time, the process is not that important. However, to me, the process and the results are equally important. They can’t live without each other. Why? It is because if I did not enjoy the process, I might not be able to produce the best result I could at that time and I won’t feel happy and satisfied at all though others praise it as a job done well because the ‘heart’ is not involved. In other words, results are just a mere guideline, an aim of the process.

So, what is my ideal process? The one that is not rushing and last minute. The one that I enjoy and don’t feel frustrated and stressed out. The one that my brain still can breathe the essence of life and think deeply, clearly and rationally. The one that makes me focus. The one that creates the highest satisfaction even if I did not achieve the top. The one that makes me feel emotionally positive and not suppressive emotions.

Here are some of the golden secrets I try to apply and hope to fully achieve them one day:

1.      Practice a good time management. If a task can be done in one hour, give yourself some air to breathe by setting the limit to an hour and a half and lower target, for example. You will find that you will be able to complete it earlier than expected and surpass the target because you are not chasing against time and working under stress.

2.      Do not rush over completing a task. Spend some time to think deeply, clearly and rationally. If I do it in this way, will it be better and will anyone benefit from it? Will I be able to improve my skill? What other areas I can improve on so that the results will turn out to be better? Allow yourself to do few drafts before you feel satisfied with the results.

3.      Use your “heart” (love) when you work on the task. You will be amazed by the wonders.

4.      Focus on one task at a time. Try to avoid answering calls, electronic messages and other clutters (this might be difficult in some environments but try your best to cut down on it).

5.      Do the task alone at your designated place, not in a group because you will tend to divert your focus on others when working in a group, such as sudden rise of discussion.

6.      If you need to work out something as a team, try to spare some time to think and come out with some ideas on your own first before having discussions with others. Most of the time, discussions without any pre-planning/pre-thinking are just a mere waste of time without achieving any results.

7.      Never ever think of comparing and competing with others. Seal only one thing on your mind: “I will only compete to improve myself.” This way, you will be able to achieve the desired results without realizing it.

8.      There is still a limit to everything. If you are slow-learner, then allow yourself more time to achieve your goals because if you follow the speed of a fast-learner, you not only will not be able to achieve your goals, it will also penetrate into your life and destroy you.

*Love and Hope for better tomorrow*

~Si3wLiNg~

20110313

Inner challenge vs External challenge (Part 1)

“我只跟我自己比。其实每一个人的敌人都只有一个，那就是自己。” ~ Smiling Pasta <微笑Pasta>, a Taiwanese idol drama

(Translation: I will only compare with and challenge myself. Actually, each and everyone of us has only one enemy, which is our own self.)

In today’s competitive society, with the hustle and bustle of the city where city dwellers chasing to compete to become the top, to win the heart of the majority and to gain more material goods, we have somehow lost touch of our origins and the basic.

Ask yourself:

·         Do you compare yourself with others and wish that you could do better than that person to be crowned as NUMBER 1?

·         Do you feel frustrated and stressed out when you could not reach that standard in the shortest time possible?

·         Do you push yourself to the limit, working out 24/7 while neglecting the most basics of human life?

·         Is it that all you think about is the word WIN but not self-improvement?

·         Do you at the first place aim to improve yourself but in the progress, you have been blinded by all those material gains and fame?

·         Have you ever thought about “what’s the point of competing after all these while?” From study, work, family, old age, deteriorating health to death, are you constantly challenging others until you are unable to slow down and breathe in the essence of life because once you stop, you might lost what you have been building all these while?

·         Do you feel that you have lost your morality and rational thinking in the process because you want everything to move fast like a bullet train?

·         You may say that “Well, competing with others is also a way to improve myself. So, what’s wrong with it?” There is nothing wrong with it but do you feel happy? Do you feel life? Do you really improve yourself or otherwise? Will you feel happier if you pour out all your energy into challenging to improve yourself instead?

This is our reality. This is the environment we are in. This is the environment we are being brought up with. These are the situations we will face at least once in life.

Confucius has warned us that rather than fighting with others, it is better to struggle with yourself, and try to 

find ways to improve yourself.

It is time to set aside some time daily to ponder on these questions and find solutions to them.

*Love and Hope for better tomorrow*

~Si3wLiNg~

20110306