Procrastination is the Thief of Time

I have been so lazy. Have not been updating my blog in the longest time!
There are many reasons (or excuses) for this. Mainly I have been going through a rough patch in my personal life. Can’t really begin to tell the story here as it is not so simple.

The truth is, for the past few weeks, I have been grappling and trying to get a grip on myself and my emotions. Remember the Whitney Houston song of yesteryears, “Where do broken hearts go?” Well, that song sums up nicely on how I had been feeling.

Been trying all sorts of ways to pull myself up. In the midst of all this, I was assigned to a business trip to Monaco. A dear friend commented that when one is down in one’s luck, one should go `down south’ to `change our fates’, so, we happily concluded that the location of Monaco in Southern France is really `down south’, hence things should be brighter & better when I return.

So I went… came back…got immersed in work and spend my nights absorbing tv series (Grey’s Anatomy is a great `escapist’ show!)….and whadda-ya-know, the weeks FLEW by…then the months (well, 2 months to be more exact). The next thing I know, `TIME’ seemed to have came and went, and left me breathless! Suddenly there are things that I haven’t been doing all this while during my escapism trail, but yet, now I can’t turn back the hands of TIME.

What started out as just purely a survival instinct of escapism had turned into a form of laziness and putting-off-till-tomorrow-what-can-be-done-today…

Procrastination! Ah… indeed it is the thief of time..

The FAQs of Life !

Received this beautiful piece some time back. Am sure all of us would have asked some of these questions at some juncture in our lives, esp when the going gets tough! Found it kinda cute the way all these `frequently asked questions (FAQs)' are being presented, hence would like to share it here.

Kudos to the author (`ANON') who wrote this. :D

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God: Hello. Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No. Who is this?

God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will Chat.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something.

God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.
Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

God: Well, I wanted to resolve your fight for time,by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the Medium you are comfortable with.
Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?

God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.
Me: Why are we then constantly unhappy?

God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.
Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.
Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty...

God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life becomes better, not bitter.
Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?

God: Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.
Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?

God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons to Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.
Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading...

God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.
Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?

God: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.
Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?

God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.
Me: What surprises you about people?

God: When they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me?" Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.
Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.

God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation.
Me: How can I get the best out of life?

God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered la.

God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat. Its is pretty inspiring.

God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live!

Ahn Neyong Ha Seyo! ~ Memoirs of Korea

Was flipping through my photo album and suddenly realized that I have actually traveled to many places in the last 2 years, but I have yet to `story’ anyone either on my travel tales or via pictures! (you will see from the date of the photos, there were taken some time back! Haha.. )

So shall now attempt to rectify that. :p Some of the photos are really interesting, so would be kinda a shame not to post them…

I was there for 1 week sometime in late 2005. Was there for an official function. However, after a few days of being `locked in’, was feeling pretty restless and finally ventured out to have a look at the city, Seoul.

Although traffic itself in Seoul is pretty horrendous, fortunately, the city has an excellent public transport system, in its subway system, and also, the hotel concierge was extremely helpful (i.e. writing little cards of directions in Korean for the non English speaking taxi drivers), I was pleasantly surprise to discover that it was relatively easy to move around.

On my walks in the business district, found the foodstall below, at the five-foot way of a busy street! Bbq sausages and also all kinds of meat products. Sure looks yummy!


at nightfall, ventured into one of Seoul’s famous night market, Nam Dae Mun. There were all kinds of different merchandise on sale, from clothes, to foodstuffs to lingerie.
Giant mushrooms seemed to be one of the more popular items on sale, and yes, the infamous Korean ginseng as well.

If one is to walk along the smaller alleys, one can really find and get to savour the `real’ taste of Korean cuisine – the local food. And that was exactly what I did. Saw a few variety of dishes/noodles, but guess what I ended up eating?

Ended up tasting one of the weirdest dish of my life…- Beef spinal cord soup! (sorry..can’t find the pix).. Hahah… didn’t know what it was at first but saw lots of locals relishing the dish. But finally, together with two doctor friends, managed to confirm it as spinal cord! Surprisingly…it really did taste good! :D

World in Figures - a Quick Snapshot

Just learnt today that according to the Economist's Pocket World in Figures 2008:-

1) Norwegians enjoy the world's best quality of life, followed by Icelanders and Australians; (hey, that’s pretty cool ! the Vikings have it good…:P )

2) Greeks smoke the most cigarettes, Japan reads the most newspapers and Ecuador has the most murders per head of population, 18.3 murders per 100,000 inhabitants;

3) Japan also has the world's largest proportion of elderly people with 26 per cent of its population over 60;

4) while tiny European country Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita (pretty cool for a small country! Been here before..nice little place but thats all I could remember though..);

5) The United States has by far the biggest prison population with 2.2 million behind bars (no wonder they can come up with such excellent plot for the `Prison Break’ series :P);

6) while China carries out by the far the most executions — 3,400 in 2004 (! Oh dear! ) ..

My oh my.. Certainly some of these figures would raise eyebrows!
Does make me wonder.. where exactly would be the best place to live in this world?

Accept the Pain

Been meaning to update my blog for the longest of time! But life sometimes runs faster than one can manage to keep up..

Anyway for starters, for the past year, life had not been that easy for me, both on the career front, or on the personal side. Many a times when life is down, I consider myself blessed that there will always be someone, somewhere, usually a friend, who’ll send me some forwarded messages that suddenly helped to brighten up my day and warms my heart. These messages give me encouragement to strive on, sometimes they are just simple messages that tries to make sense of our very existence in this world. At other times, they do not carry any serious messages, but simply, just a kind warming gesture showing you that you are not all alone in this world, and somewhere, someone is thinking of you.

So, sharing with all..the latest that I received this morning from a friend. Its called,
“Accept the Pain”. Enjoy.

No Pain No Gain… Accept the Pain, Future will be Fruitful…
Don't feel the work you are doing is pain, because there are always a reason for that pain or work.
So face the pain, for all the pain you face, there will definitely be happiness & success ahead.