I seriously think I have to stop before I really do. A friend commented over lunch that I am not very responsible when it comes to matters of my health. I agree with her. I not much of a control freak over the things I put into my mouth. I figure that I'm gonna die sooner or later so why deprive myself of my taste palate wants? I would refrain from actions and activities that would put harm into anyone else's life. But when only mine is at stake, I pretty don't care much. Idiotic huh? I thought so too. But aren't we all? My thoughts are that if I have any murderous tendencies, they are only to be directed to myself or to any inanimated objects (that are mine, as to prevent myself from commiting vandalism). If we all could really think that way huh? Here where the irony starts. For the name of self-preservation (or self-interests), man invented the excuse for destruction. For taking peoples lives. For preventing the loss of other lives that matter to them, which in many cases they wouldn't care much if those lives matter to somebody else. Thus, birth war.
Atomic Bomb Explosions Compilation - video powered by Metacafe
The phrase "digging our own graves" seems so apt and alive today. The media promote the get/do/see/live it now mentality. It emphasize instant gratification in sacrifice of greater good. The pathetic thing is, I'm falling for it! Consequences and reaping what I have sowed at times get no attention. I become a rambling idiot that "Lived for the moment" instead of "Seizing the Day". I feel so much like a sucker. Being led by the nose and my attempts to blend with the wall paper actually seems hard. To some its natural.
Oh..something else here too. I'm killing love. I have been keeping people at arms length lately. Especially lady friends. I don't think I would ever get married. So why put myself through such misery? Don't get me wrong. I want very much to get marry and to love! Then again...I so don't want it. Idiotic huh? Sigh...you wouldn't understand. The paradoxes that exist in life are idiotic. So my heart and mind continue the never ending Silent Rage. There are outcomes sometime. There aren't any sometimes too. What really matter, the Rage must go on. I won't and refuse to run away from it. I will let it shape and mould me. At the end of it all, I want to love the result of the rage. I want to love me. So I'll stop killing myself. Slowly, I'll learn. Then through it, I'll grow stronger.
Ain't Sucidial,
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
A Trainer's Dilemma
The Pot of Gold.
Ten people I told of a pot of gold,
Buried under the roots of an old oak tree.
Nine wonder how it would be nice,
For such gold be good for their pathetic lives.
Eight plot to make others dig,
And take the gold without lifting a pick.
Seven too seek the best time to go,
And making sure that nobody knows.
Six got ready with all equip,
But stay distracted with bones to pick.
Five wanted to sleep a little more,
Feeling comfy yet claim they are sore.
Four earn silver from dishonest trade,
Then lamented its all that they hate.
Three forgotten that they're told,
Of gold given by the wise and old.
Two weep with much bitter protest,
That someone made their life a mess.
Finally only One stood tall and went,
And dug up the gold with his own bare hands.
by WindyG a.k.a Michael Kuan
Ten people I told of a pot of gold,
Buried under the roots of an old oak tree.
Nine wonder how it would be nice,
For such gold be good for their pathetic lives.
Eight plot to make others dig,
And take the gold without lifting a pick.
Seven too seek the best time to go,
And making sure that nobody knows.
Six got ready with all equip,
But stay distracted with bones to pick.
Five wanted to sleep a little more,
Feeling comfy yet claim they are sore.
Four earn silver from dishonest trade,
Then lamented its all that they hate.
Three forgotten that they're told,
Of gold given by the wise and old.
Two weep with much bitter protest,
That someone made their life a mess.
Finally only One stood tall and went,
And dug up the gold with his own bare hands.
by WindyG a.k.a Michael Kuan
Sunday, October 21, 2007
但愿人长久
Just want to share this very nice poem by Su Dong Puo.
明月几时有，
把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，
今昔是何年。
我欲乘风归去，
又恐琼楼玉宇，
高处不胜寒。
起舞弄清影，
何似在人间。
转朱阁，
低绮户，
照无眠。
不应有恨，
何事长向别时圆。
人有悲欢离合，
月有阴晴圆缺，
此事古难全。
但愿人长久，
千里共婵娟。
“How often comes a bright moon?”
I asked this of the blue sky.
I held up my drinking cup,
As I pled for a reply.
I wonder, this night of nights---
Is what calendar year?
Above and beyond the clouds,
Is what celestial sphere?
I’d wish to ride on the wind,
To my blessed heavenly home,
With its marble halls and floors,
And its alabaster dome.
That would be magnificent,
But the cold I cannot stand.
To an earthling that I am,
It won’t be a happy land.
I prefer a cozy place,
Closer to the human heart,
As the shadow in my dance,
Can play its intimate part.
There’s nothing in paradise
That is of similar worth---
To living among mankind,
In his so-called mundane earth.
Soon moonlight will shift its place---
O’er the top of chambers red.
Through windows with their curtains,
To sleepless people, instead.
There shouldn’t be love or hatred---
Between mankind and the moon.
But why should it turn fully---
Upon those who’re part soon?
The moon has weather that changes,
Fine or foul; it does wax and wane.
Mankind is sad at parting,
Happy at reunion again.
From the utmost ancient times,
Down to our own very days,
The imperfection of all things---
Has forever been the case.
One can do no more than wish---
All people would keep growing strong.
And though they are far apart,
They’d share moonlight well and long.
明月几时有，
把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，
今昔是何年。
我欲乘风归去，
又恐琼楼玉宇，
高处不胜寒。
起舞弄清影，
何似在人间。
转朱阁，
低绮户，
照无眠。
不应有恨，
何事长向别时圆。
人有悲欢离合，
月有阴晴圆缺，
此事古难全。
但愿人长久，
千里共婵娟。
“How often comes a bright moon?”
I asked this of the blue sky.
I held up my drinking cup,
As I pled for a reply.
I wonder, this night of nights---
Is what calendar year?
Above and beyond the clouds,
Is what celestial sphere?
I’d wish to ride on the wind,
To my blessed heavenly home,
With its marble halls and floors,
And its alabaster dome.
That would be magnificent,
But the cold I cannot stand.
To an earthling that I am,
It won’t be a happy land.
I prefer a cozy place,
Closer to the human heart,
As the shadow in my dance,
Can play its intimate part.
There’s nothing in paradise
That is of similar worth---
To living among mankind,
In his so-called mundane earth.
Soon moonlight will shift its place---
O’er the top of chambers red.
Through windows with their curtains,
To sleepless people, instead.
There shouldn’t be love or hatred---
Between mankind and the moon.
But why should it turn fully---
Upon those who’re part soon?
The moon has weather that changes,
Fine or foul; it does wax and wane.
Mankind is sad at parting,
Happy at reunion again.
From the utmost ancient times,
Down to our own very days,
The imperfection of all things---
Has forever been the case.
One can do no more than wish---
All people would keep growing strong.
And though they are far apart,
They’d share moonlight well and long.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Interview with RSI
Hihi,
Been real busy with my 3 months old company Life Textbooks (S) Pte. Ltd. Very blessed and honored to be interviewed about my work by Radio Singapore International on the 2nd of October 07. It was broadcast the very night and will be again on the 16th Oct 07 at 7:40pm on RSI. It will be broadcast on 95.8FM also. Did also two interviews on 2 Redifusion Channels as well. Will upload it on the blog once i get the file.
Do keep me in your prayers okie??
Best regards,
Michael Kuan
Listen or download the interview below.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
客观性
客观性 - 虽然是一种罕见的理性才智，但有些人在这方面的能力极高。当人需要冷静明晰的思维时，客观性就显得很重要，但当人需要投注情感时，客观性却会形成障碍。身为辅导员，我们常会不自觉地陷入两种极端的“陷阱”中：太客观，我们就无法真情流露，凭直觉和真心去看待事情，而且也会破坏客观性所需的联系；太感性，我们就会过于感情用事，甚至导致同情心泛滥和错误判断，这对任何一方都不会有好处 。
至于那些因怜悯而投身辅导工作的人？请小心衡量这么做的代价，否则你的下场可能会是失去自我，变成宿命论的俘虏。正面的精神态度是许多“导师”所积极追求的。悲哀的是，能够触及相关领域并拥有平衡精神态度的“导师”却不多，只能期望或寄望学生们自行修正其后果。真实的后果往往偏差很大，不是太正面就是太负面。为了尝试给自己一个更加正确的愿景，我研制出一种五字诠译度量法，以恰当描述人们不同的精神态度，那就是：
宿命主义者—悲观主义者—现实主义者—乐观主义者—理想主义者
根据一般说法，人的精神健康是以他的感官所感知的现实，与真实世界（我们大部份人都认同的）之间的距离来衡量。我们每个人看待现实的角度都不同，但一般来说都会认同大部份的现实面。当一个人偏离所谓的正轨太远，我们会给他贴上“他不愿意面对现实”，或“他脑里少了一根筋”等标签。
但这里出现另一个问题：我们总是太快就给别人贴上标签。虽然一个人的精神健康和他对现实的醒觉性习习相关，但他想要改变和挑战现实的意念，却不该被误解为是精神失常。普遍来讲，那些伟大的男女，他们在某些生活层面上都显得有些疯狂。有时候，我们会认为成就伟大的那些人，好像都有偏执异常的个性，而且很难套入平常的行为规范之中。对他们而言，客观性就是达成他们内心所响往的境界。那表示他们将意志和心念合而为一，以心念为先。因此，他们处理抽象概念和矛盾反论的能力非常强。大多数人大部份时间都保持客观态度，但却是要达成意志所要的，而忽略心之所需。
重要的是，所有人都必须牢记：虽然我们要坚持明辨是非，但人类的“如果”想象力才是化腐朽为神奇的力量。在危难时刻，客观性确实有用，可是它越快助人解除烦恼，就越缺乏那种感性的心灵触动，让人们真的脱离烦恼。俗云：“当猫走了，老鼠开始作乐。”一个极端客观的上司往往只能使下属在视线范围内做他要他们做的事；一个懂得关心人的上司，却能保有一颗平衡客观的心，并成功让下属愿意去做他要他们做的事--- 真心愿意，而非威逼利诱。你明白我话中的重点吗？归根究底，一个人的动力并非来自他的意志，而是来自他的心念。一个成功虏获追随者的心的领袖，可以让他们陷入狂热状态，做出漫无目的、荒谬愚昧的事。 所以说，拥有一颗开放的心是极端危险的。我鼓励每个人都保有开放的意志，但却要战战兢兢地管制自己的心，这样才不会被虚无的意志俘虏，进而掉入失智的陷阱中。
4：23节经文：“管好您的心，才能凌驾一切之上，因为它会影响你所做的每一件事。"
感谢译者小果鼎力拔刀相助（译力双语服务 www.elitebilingual.com）
English Version
Thursday, September 20, 2007
坚持与变
主, 授予我平静的心,让我接受我无法改变的事,
勇气去改变我能改变的事,
和智慧知道区别。
- 祈祷的手
怪异的问题源自于此：太多原本应该永久保持的事物（爱、情感、价值观、信念和戒律），竟不断的在变；而应该改变的事物（思想、观点、系统、方法和技艺）却又固步自封。这样的差异往往令我们一筹莫展。盲目者引领盲从者，很多人都有美群心理，难怪突破是如此艰难，需要有切除毒瘤般的决心和勇气。只有极少数的人能回应社会中所需进行的改变。关于这点我毫不惊讶，因为我们连发生在自己生命中的变化都无能为力啊！
我们的直觉反应就是逃跑，因为突破意味着必须逆流前进。你需要的只是下定决心。是的，下定决心，就那么简单。哥伦布不畏艰险，坚持航海行程只为证明地球是圆的；莱特兄弟屡败屡试，百折不挠只为完成飞行如鸟的梦想；伟大的领导者（包括善恶两类）矢志推行自己的改革，展望更美好的世界。有人说，合法的事，却不是每一件都对人有好处。因此，去芜存菁，精益求益是很重要的。
我们都会害怕，而最害怕的就是未知。保持不变和作出改变都需要勇气。虽然许多人明白作出改变需要勇气，但他们却无法洞察保持不变（譬如戒律）同样需要勇气。为何如此？只因信守戒律需要坚持的勇气，不管到最后能否达致成功，都要坚持信守下去。当我们来到必须作决定的十字路口，往往会倾向两条极端相反的道路。为了生存而改变，或为了灭亡而维持现状，好个吊诡的两极论，不是吗？我们都讨厌这样的处境，久而久之便形成漫不经心或袖手旁观的消极态度。
我们宁可让别人来代为我们作决定，面对责任或结果时却束手无策。这么做，至少我们可以埋怨别人或其他事物。遇到生命中的逆境，我们渴望能破茧而出或跨过难关。然而，很少人能如愿…………因为我们喜爱玫瑰的芬芳，却抗拒她的刺；我们要观赏星辰，却不肯待在黑暗中；我们要到天堂享乐，却不愿死亡。这就是简单的真理。
人生不是自助餐；它只是一道菜肴，而你得全盘接受，与之共处。我们要适应它，有什么就物尽其用。抱怨、哀叹和悲诉都于事无补。欲烹调出美味又营养均衡的菜式，需要大量的智慧，及一抹乍闪的信念。向前进，凭着改变与遵行戒律这两项行动，我们将能踏入突破的领域。我们只须想通何时做好我们本该做的事。认清所应遵行的价值观 - 是作出改变或维持现状。它让男孩蜕变成男人、女孩蜕变成女人；平凡之辈蜕变成杰出人士。许多人总爱追究生命的真谛，对我来说，它的答案就是――依据每个人独特的宿命天责，让生活过得精彩充实。若你还没找到自己真正的天意，不要紧，只要你有恒心继续寻找；若你找到了，请改变那些拦阻在你面前的事物。至于应该保持的，请你专心致志的坚持下去。热爱生命，服务大众，我敢保证你必能领会到，原來割毒瘤并非如想象中那麽恐怖；你甚至有可能享受它，因为你已找到了自已。
Translated by Elite Bilingual Services
English Version
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Objectivity
Objectivity, it is a scarce non-emotional resource. There are those with too much of it though. It helps when clarity is needed, but becomes more of a hindrance when empathy is more applicable. As a counselor, we are constantly in danger of the two extremes. Be too objective, we fail to 'feel' or empathize with our charge and risk breaking the link objectivity desperately need. Be too emotional, we risk 'feeling' so much that we lose objectivity and end up having a pity party with our charge that will not bring anyone anywhere good. To those whose compassion is leading them to the helping industry? Count carefully the cost, or you may end up losing yourself into the pits of fatalism.
Positive mental attitude is hawkered by many 'gurus' with great intention. Sadly, not many of the 'gurus' touched the area of having a 'balanced' mental attitude. The consequences are expected or hoped to be self-corrected by the 'students'. Mostly, the actual results end up being very lopsided, either very positive or negative. In trying to give myself a proper perspective, I come to a five words description scale that aptly described people with different mental attitudes. They are;
Fatalist – Pessimist – Realist – Optimist – Idealist
It is said that a man's mental health is gauged by the distance of his perceived 'reality and the 'true' reality that most of us could agree upon. We each view our 'realities' differently, but would normally agree on most of it. When an individual strays far away from the agreed, we slapped labels like 'he is in denial' or 'he has a few loose nuts'. Here lies another problem; we are too quick on the draw to label people. Though a person's mental health is pegged to his awareness of realities, his will to change and challenge such realities are not to be mistook for a poor mental health. It is common for great men and women to claim that they were all at some point of their lives called crazy. It is also sometimes recognized that people that achieved greatness usually are somewhat eccentric and hard to be pigeon-holed in major behavioral norms. To them, being objective is about achieved what they set their hearts on. It meant they make their mind sync with their hearts, emphasizing on the heart first. Thus, they are very capable in dealing with the abstract and paradoxes. For the majority of us, most of the time to us being objective meant achieving what we set our minds on, disregarding the heart.
It is important for all individual to keep in mind that though we would want to insist in calling call a spade a spade, it is the ‘what ifs’ imagination of mankind that insist that a spade can be a heart after all. Objectivity is useful in times of crises, but while it gets people out of trouble sooner, it lacks the softer touch of empathy that keeps people out of trouble. It is said, “When the cats away, the mice starts to play.” Often, an extremely objective boss could only get his subordinates to do what he wants them to do when he is around. The considerate boss that balance heart with objectivity gets his subordinates to do what the he wants them to do because they really want to, not because the boss wants them to. You getting my point? Ultimately, a person’s motivation does not come from his mind, but from his heart. A leader that captures the heart of his followers can make them do ridiculous stuff with a fanatical passion even if there is no objective to accomplish. It is thus extremely dangerous, to have an open heart. I encourage everyone to keep an open mind, but guard the heart with fear, that it will never fall prey to words that inspires with nothingness.
Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.”
Heart Whisperer
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Chinese Version
Positive mental attitude is hawkered by many 'gurus' with great intention. Sadly, not many of the 'gurus' touched the area of having a 'balanced' mental attitude. The consequences are expected or hoped to be self-corrected by the 'students'. Mostly, the actual results end up being very lopsided, either very positive or negative. In trying to give myself a proper perspective, I come to a five words description scale that aptly described people with different mental attitudes. They are;
Fatalist – Pessimist – Realist – Optimist – Idealist
It is said that a man's mental health is gauged by the distance of his perceived 'reality and the 'true' reality that most of us could agree upon. We each view our 'realities' differently, but would normally agree on most of it. When an individual strays far away from the agreed, we slapped labels like 'he is in denial' or 'he has a few loose nuts'. Here lies another problem; we are too quick on the draw to label people. Though a person's mental health is pegged to his awareness of realities, his will to change and challenge such realities are not to be mistook for a poor mental health. It is common for great men and women to claim that they were all at some point of their lives called crazy. It is also sometimes recognized that people that achieved greatness usually are somewhat eccentric and hard to be pigeon-holed in major behavioral norms. To them, being objective is about achieved what they set their hearts on. It meant they make their mind sync with their hearts, emphasizing on the heart first. Thus, they are very capable in dealing with the abstract and paradoxes. For the majority of us, most of the time to us being objective meant achieving what we set our minds on, disregarding the heart.
It is important for all individual to keep in mind that though we would want to insist in calling call a spade a spade, it is the ‘what ifs’ imagination of mankind that insist that a spade can be a heart after all. Objectivity is useful in times of crises, but while it gets people out of trouble sooner, it lacks the softer touch of empathy that keeps people out of trouble. It is said, “When the cats away, the mice starts to play.” Often, an extremely objective boss could only get his subordinates to do what he wants them to do when he is around. The considerate boss that balance heart with objectivity gets his subordinates to do what the he wants them to do because they really want to, not because the boss wants them to. You getting my point? Ultimately, a person’s motivation does not come from his mind, but from his heart. A leader that captures the heart of his followers can make them do ridiculous stuff with a fanatical passion even if there is no objective to accomplish. It is thus extremely dangerous, to have an open heart. I encourage everyone to keep an open mind, but guard the heart with fear, that it will never fall prey to words that inspires with nothingness.
Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.”
Heart Whisperer
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Chinese Version
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Consistency & Change
Lord, grant me the serenity,to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
- The Praying Hand
Couldn’t have said it any better myself. Man, we are all but creatures of habits. Unfortunately for some, mostly they are bad habits. While there are some that would be bored when things remain consistently the same, there too are the majority that are terrified of change and resist them with every muscles they got. We are also people of extreme too. Here lies the big freaking problem, there are far too many that are changing what should be consistent (love, passion, values, beliefs and discipline) and being consistent with what they should being changing (thoughts, ideas, systems, methods and skills). We are clueless to the difference. The blind are leading the blinded with many having the herd mentality. No wonder breakthroughs require the individual to stick out like a diseased sore thumb. Too few answer the call to effect changes in the society, which I am not surprised by it. We wouldn’t and couldn’t even manage the changes that are happening in our lives!
Our primordial instinct is to run. To stick is to swim upstream and to decide not to conform. Decide, it’s as easy as that. Christopher Columbus stuck to his course to prove the world is round, the Wright brothers stuck with their dreams to fly like the birds and great leaders (both good and bad ones) stuck to their vision of a better world. It is said, while everything is permissible, not everything is beneficial. So it is important to separate the wheat from the chaff, and then to rid the chaff. We are also afraid. Afraid of one main thing, the UNKNOWN. To remain consistent and to effect change needs courage.
While many understand that to effect change require courage, many too fail to see that consistency (a.k.a discipline) requires courage too. Why so? Well, the discipline need the courage to face the probability of whatever they are doing consistently may not turn out to be successful at all. Where come to the crossroads of decisions, it tends to sway to two different extremes. Change to survive or stay focus or you’ll die. Paradoxical dilemma isn’t it? We hate this kind of scenarios and tend to be lukewarm a.k.a fence-sitter. We rather let others make the decisions for us and are petrified when we face with the responsibilities or consequences of them. At least this way, we can blame someone or at least something.
Face up with life’s adversity; we yearn to break free or breakthrough. But this is the hard hitting truth…we want the roses but reject the thorns. We want to see stars but don’t want to be in darkness. We want to go heaven…but don’t want to die. The simple true also lies here. Life is not a buffet. It is a one type dish. Take it all and live with it. Deal with it and make do with whatever you have. Whining, groaning and moaning bring us no where. The delicate balance requires a tremendous amount of wisdom but only a sprinkling of faith. Moving forward, we will be able to step into realm of a breakthrough, which do come about with two actions, change and discipline. We all just need to figure out when we need to do what we have to do.
To recognize the proper measures to be taken, to change or to stay the course makes a boy a man, a girl to a lady and the mediocre great. Many sought after the answer to the meaning of life, in my opinion; the answer is to live out our life according to our each unique destiny. Never mind if you haven’t find out what your true destiny is yet, just make sure you are still looking for it. If you found yours, change things that are getting in your way and stay the course without letting anything else distract you. Love life, serve all and I guarantee you will feel that sticking out as a sore thumb is not that bad after all. You might even enjoy it, coz you found you.
Be a zoom lens…all or nothing at all,
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Chinese Version
Thursday, August 23, 2007
A Fool with a cause...
I have owed myself this write-up for a long time. This post would be quite different from my normal posts as I am not blogging about a specific topic but about a person. I am blessed to be in contact with many types of people. Some were of unsavory character, some really quirky ones and also some that are beyond inspiring to me. The people that I would blogging about taught me things, philosophies and most importantly, how I should live this life. There are two purposes of why I am blogging about them. One, it is for me to remember the lessons taught well by them. Two, it is for others to learn how to learn from them. You will even see similarities about the person I am describing here that is a person that may be present in your life too.
While I am blessed to meet a lot of good people, there are also those that cause me a lot of heartaches. While I have asked those good people for their permission to put their names and faces herein, I would only be using close pseudonyms on those that has causes me pain through their ridiculous actions. I have to emphasize though, that these posts are written with a lot of emotional investments on my part. So in some I may come across as being very judgmental, condescending or even contemptuous. I would like to say that they are just serious in-depth analysis of a person’s character so that we can learn to know what we should learn from the described person and what we should not.
While I seriously advocate that we should be gracious to people that are in our lives, I also subscribe to the belief that there are the some that we should avoid at all cost. I also hope to be able to share on how I dealt with or communicate with these people and also when I know I must cut my losses and run away before I am dragged through mud by them. Now to get on with a right footing, I would first blog about someone that is truly amazing and inspiring in his own way. Mr. Y K Foo a.k.a Foozy (Click here for his friendster profile.)
An established photographer that seen places that we could only dream of, met people that we would drool over, and did amazing things that we couldn’t even begin imagining ourselves doing. Now in his early 50s, he still live life passionately and has a heart of love that could rival a teenager. Matured in thoughts and passionate in action, he does sometimes find himself in a fix that made him wonder how he got there in the first place. Father of three great boys and dedicated to his art, he often reflects on issues that many people at his age would instead be embittered with, he usually take deep breath to go at it again.
I met him about a year ago at a pub while I was with an unsavory character that I was trying to ‘learn’ from. My first impression of him was simply a blank. A simple looking man but yet you can’t really put a finger on his thoughts or find words to describe him with. Till now, he still continues to surprise me with little nuggets of info that will leave me rolling with laughter or bawling with tears. Modest in many ways, the humility I felt in him weeks after told my heart to get even closer. As I get to know him better, I found that he spent a big chunk of his life in England and most of Asia as a missionary. The people he has helped still remember him fondly and were grateful to how he has been their turning point. He was their compass that point to the light at the end of a winding tunnel.
While I could go on and tell you of his many virtues, he too is like anyone of us, an ordinary fallible human being. Like all of us, he has his weaknesses and bad habits but he still shines as he kept proper perspectives and triumph through it. Most impressionable, there are three things that I learn from him that I hope would stay with me for the rest of my life. They are;
Stay Real
Never be what you are not. Staying faithful to what you know and keep trying whenever you know you fall short. He never let me felt he has a ‘better than thou’ attitude towards anybody. I have never heard a word from him that would put me down. Being real is about calling a spade, a spade. He shows what he is struggling with to a privilege few and let them know he needs help and encouragement too. I have met many people in their 50s. Sadly, many of them are unteachable, worse when they are filled to the brim with pride. They are afraid to show their realness for fears that it would make them vulnerable and get hurt. Well, Foozy do get hurt when he laid himself bare to a friend, but it did not stop him from doing it again. Why so? He knows that the benefit of advice and wisdom that many would bring him would far outweigh the pains.
Stay Humble
No matter how good he is, he always knew that there are some that are better than him. You will never be too low or too high to be his friend. He treats you the same whether it be that you are some international celebrity or a Bangladeshi that cleans his studio. Through his photographic lens, everyone looks beautiful and he will make sure that it shows in his photographs. Foozy is one of the most accepting person I know as he believes that people will always have their good sides, no matter what they have done. Yes, there are those who try to make a sucker out of him. He would let them, but that would be the last time they do. In his humility, he found strength through the simple man and found wisdom with Kings. In his way, I am sure, he would always be on top of his game.
Love Anyway
Mother Theresa, when commended for her work amongst the poor in Calcutta said, “It’s easy to love people far away. It’s not always easy to love those who live right next to us. There are thousands of people dying for a piece of bread, but there are thousands more dying for a bit of love or a bit of acknowledgment. The truth is, the worst disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, it’s being unwanted, it’s being left out, it’s being forgotten.” Visiting a nursing home, she found the residents sitting in wheelchairs facing the door. “Why are these people looking toward the door?” she asked. “It’s like this everyday” the nurse replied. “They’re always hoping somebody will come and visit them. Their loneliness is eating them up.”
This being the last but never the least virtue he has, made him all the more lovable. You could really learn what the term “love your enemies” meant through him. His love stems from the love he receives freely. By allowing himself to be loved, it empowered him to love others. While many would love to have people loving them, they would unknowingly and frequently sabotage themselves by disallowing people to love them. You may wonder how one does that. Simply by having low self-esteem, selfishness and a haughty attitude would have been enough to put people at miles length. He cares much about knowing you as an individual and loves to give the abundance he has already received. Many would abuse his love, but he loves them anyway. He may grow weak and frustrated like any man when his love is not reciprocated, but when his heart’s storms settled, he makes a firm decision to love again and anyway.
He is quite an anomaly in life for as he will not conform his views to what is most popular or trendy. In fact, many would think he’s quite a foolish Foozy. I somewhat agree, but then he is above those who is proclaimed to be ‘wise’. He is a ‘fool’ with a cause, which made him surpass the ‘wise’, noisy and empty vessels.
Foozy, if you are reading this, thank you for being my friend. I pray that I would be strong enough to be the privilege shoulder for you to rest awhile when you are weary and the ass-kicking friend if you ever stray. Your wisdom is cherished and may you prevail in your race. Keep the faith, fight a good fight and finish the race bro. Race you in heaven.
A fellow fool…
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
While I am blessed to meet a lot of good people, there are also those that cause me a lot of heartaches. While I have asked those good people for their permission to put their names and faces herein, I would only be using close pseudonyms on those that has causes me pain through their ridiculous actions. I have to emphasize though, that these posts are written with a lot of emotional investments on my part. So in some I may come across as being very judgmental, condescending or even contemptuous. I would like to say that they are just serious in-depth analysis of a person’s character so that we can learn to know what we should learn from the described person and what we should not.
While I seriously advocate that we should be gracious to people that are in our lives, I also subscribe to the belief that there are the some that we should avoid at all cost. I also hope to be able to share on how I dealt with or communicate with these people and also when I know I must cut my losses and run away before I am dragged through mud by them. Now to get on with a right footing, I would first blog about someone that is truly amazing and inspiring in his own way. Mr. Y K Foo a.k.a Foozy (Click here for his friendster profile.)
An established photographer that seen places that we could only dream of, met people that we would drool over, and did amazing things that we couldn’t even begin imagining ourselves doing. Now in his early 50s, he still live life passionately and has a heart of love that could rival a teenager. Matured in thoughts and passionate in action, he does sometimes find himself in a fix that made him wonder how he got there in the first place. Father of three great boys and dedicated to his art, he often reflects on issues that many people at his age would instead be embittered with, he usually take deep breath to go at it again.
I met him about a year ago at a pub while I was with an unsavory character that I was trying to ‘learn’ from. My first impression of him was simply a blank. A simple looking man but yet you can’t really put a finger on his thoughts or find words to describe him with. Till now, he still continues to surprise me with little nuggets of info that will leave me rolling with laughter or bawling with tears. Modest in many ways, the humility I felt in him weeks after told my heart to get even closer. As I get to know him better, I found that he spent a big chunk of his life in England and most of Asia as a missionary. The people he has helped still remember him fondly and were grateful to how he has been their turning point. He was their compass that point to the light at the end of a winding tunnel.
While I could go on and tell you of his many virtues, he too is like anyone of us, an ordinary fallible human being. Like all of us, he has his weaknesses and bad habits but he still shines as he kept proper perspectives and triumph through it. Most impressionable, there are three things that I learn from him that I hope would stay with me for the rest of my life. They are;
Stay Real
Never be what you are not. Staying faithful to what you know and keep trying whenever you know you fall short. He never let me felt he has a ‘better than thou’ attitude towards anybody. I have never heard a word from him that would put me down. Being real is about calling a spade, a spade. He shows what he is struggling with to a privilege few and let them know he needs help and encouragement too. I have met many people in their 50s. Sadly, many of them are unteachable, worse when they are filled to the brim with pride. They are afraid to show their realness for fears that it would make them vulnerable and get hurt. Well, Foozy do get hurt when he laid himself bare to a friend, but it did not stop him from doing it again. Why so? He knows that the benefit of advice and wisdom that many would bring him would far outweigh the pains.
Stay Humble
No matter how good he is, he always knew that there are some that are better than him. You will never be too low or too high to be his friend. He treats you the same whether it be that you are some international celebrity or a Bangladeshi that cleans his studio. Through his photographic lens, everyone looks beautiful and he will make sure that it shows in his photographs. Foozy is one of the most accepting person I know as he believes that people will always have their good sides, no matter what they have done. Yes, there are those who try to make a sucker out of him. He would let them, but that would be the last time they do. In his humility, he found strength through the simple man and found wisdom with Kings. In his way, I am sure, he would always be on top of his game.
Love Anyway
Mother Theresa, when commended for her work amongst the poor in Calcutta said, “It’s easy to love people far away. It’s not always easy to love those who live right next to us. There are thousands of people dying for a piece of bread, but there are thousands more dying for a bit of love or a bit of acknowledgment. The truth is, the worst disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, it’s being unwanted, it’s being left out, it’s being forgotten.” Visiting a nursing home, she found the residents sitting in wheelchairs facing the door. “Why are these people looking toward the door?” she asked. “It’s like this everyday” the nurse replied. “They’re always hoping somebody will come and visit them. Their loneliness is eating them up.”
This being the last but never the least virtue he has, made him all the more lovable. You could really learn what the term “love your enemies” meant through him. His love stems from the love he receives freely. By allowing himself to be loved, it empowered him to love others. While many would love to have people loving them, they would unknowingly and frequently sabotage themselves by disallowing people to love them. You may wonder how one does that. Simply by having low self-esteem, selfishness and a haughty attitude would have been enough to put people at miles length. He cares much about knowing you as an individual and loves to give the abundance he has already received. Many would abuse his love, but he loves them anyway. He may grow weak and frustrated like any man when his love is not reciprocated, but when his heart’s storms settled, he makes a firm decision to love again and anyway.
He is quite an anomaly in life for as he will not conform his views to what is most popular or trendy. In fact, many would think he’s quite a foolish Foozy. I somewhat agree, but then he is above those who is proclaimed to be ‘wise’. He is a ‘fool’ with a cause, which made him surpass the ‘wise’, noisy and empty vessels.
Foozy, if you are reading this, thank you for being my friend. I pray that I would be strong enough to be the privilege shoulder for you to rest awhile when you are weary and the ass-kicking friend if you ever stray. Your wisdom is cherished and may you prevail in your race. Keep the faith, fight a good fight and finish the race bro. Race you in heaven.
A fellow fool…
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Sunday, August 19, 2007
What is Love??? (Part 2)
Click to see Part 1 Here.
What’s worth dying for?
Love. No more or less. In my quest to know of love, I found a treasure chest that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Again I must point out; the love I am talking about is not limited to romantic love. Sadly, most people could only associated love with what they felt for their spouses or with whom they are infatuated/lustful. Whether we like it or not, the sum of our lives are determine by who we love and who love us. Regardless of how you feel, someone loves you or at least once did or tried to.
You may have notice by now that my pet topic is love. It is my life's quest to know of love, to act on love and to be fulfilled by love. Life is too short for me to invest my time on anything or person that I can't love. My passion in life must grow continually and be felt intensely for me to consider my life well lived. Any ideas or passion that is half bucket is better not having at all. The strength love can empower and bring is the incredible extraordinary spirit onto any individual that is willing. If you think love hurts, well, it's because you think it did. Love never hurt for true love seeks the well-being of the object of love. The concept of self is always minimal and negligible in the one that knows the fullness of love. Nonreciprocating love becomes irrelevant as love is supposed to be given unconditionally.
I am fortunate to learn of love through great experiences. No doubt some experiences are not all too pleasant, they are nevertheless great experiences. Some people might even live through life without really knowing what love is all about. I too may not know fully what love is about, but I know clearly what love is not about. So thru this knowing, I may come to know love more. Take a walk with me and know what love is not; It's not...
About having
Contrary to what we would like, love is not about possessing. We want what we want. That's wanting, not loving. It's been said if you really love something, you have to let it go. It does sound lame most times, worst is when it sounds like a bad case of sour grapes. Frustrating it may be, man's efforts trying to reconcile with truth are all fraught with contradiction. What they felt contradicts what it is taught by the world. I do take comfort in a fact though, they struggle. In their struggles I could conclude, that in their inner being they are capable of true love.
About logic
I couldn’t figure out the whys of love. As it defies common logic and clouds the senses. I can see the effect and power of love but could not pin down the reasons behind it. Hope I’m making sense here ya? When the unlovable are loved with the same intensity as the lovable are loved, all logic went out the window in a zippy. Ever heard of the father’s love for the prodigal son? Is that true love? Suffice to say, it is. As illogical it may seems, it fulfill the pinnacle of love, the ‘Agape’ love. When man attempt to box love through the media and flowery philosophy, love breaks through it all and remains a much sought after mystery.
About now
Love always hope. Do you still hope when what you hope for is realized? Love looks to what can be, the future that is way beyond the context of now. If love is allowed to remain on the present (or immediate) or sadder still when love reminisces about the past, it starts to fall apart and decay. Love’s strength is drawn from hope; it breathes faith, endures with patience and conquers with kindness. Love knows the meaning of delaying gratification intimately.
There is much to know about love, as too there is much love would like to know about me. To know love is to seek wisdom and to love is to know the beginning of everything. Who or what then is love? Yes…love is a being too. Love is the Creator and the Creator is Love. Religiously airy words? Fortunately, it is not. Dwell upon it well and come to a conclusion on your own. If you beg to differ and are convicted by your thoughts that prove otherwise, then settle it with a private discourse with me. For I want to know what you think, as much as I want to know what I know that is proven wrong.
Always in Love,
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
What’s worth dying for?
Love. No more or less. In my quest to know of love, I found a treasure chest that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Again I must point out; the love I am talking about is not limited to romantic love. Sadly, most people could only associated love with what they felt for their spouses or with whom they are infatuated/lustful. Whether we like it or not, the sum of our lives are determine by who we love and who love us. Regardless of how you feel, someone loves you or at least once did or tried to.
You may have notice by now that my pet topic is love. It is my life's quest to know of love, to act on love and to be fulfilled by love. Life is too short for me to invest my time on anything or person that I can't love. My passion in life must grow continually and be felt intensely for me to consider my life well lived. Any ideas or passion that is half bucket is better not having at all. The strength love can empower and bring is the incredible extraordinary spirit onto any individual that is willing. If you think love hurts, well, it's because you think it did. Love never hurt for true love seeks the well-being of the object of love. The concept of self is always minimal and negligible in the one that knows the fullness of love. Nonreciprocating love becomes irrelevant as love is supposed to be given unconditionally.
I am fortunate to learn of love through great experiences. No doubt some experiences are not all too pleasant, they are nevertheless great experiences. Some people might even live through life without really knowing what love is all about. I too may not know fully what love is about, but I know clearly what love is not about. So thru this knowing, I may come to know love more. Take a walk with me and know what love is not; It's not...
About having
Contrary to what we would like, love is not about possessing. We want what we want. That's wanting, not loving. It's been said if you really love something, you have to let it go. It does sound lame most times, worst is when it sounds like a bad case of sour grapes. Frustrating it may be, man's efforts trying to reconcile with truth are all fraught with contradiction. What they felt contradicts what it is taught by the world. I do take comfort in a fact though, they struggle. In their struggles I could conclude, that in their inner being they are capable of true love.
About logic
I couldn’t figure out the whys of love. As it defies common logic and clouds the senses. I can see the effect and power of love but could not pin down the reasons behind it. Hope I’m making sense here ya? When the unlovable are loved with the same intensity as the lovable are loved, all logic went out the window in a zippy. Ever heard of the father’s love for the prodigal son? Is that true love? Suffice to say, it is. As illogical it may seems, it fulfill the pinnacle of love, the ‘Agape’ love. When man attempt to box love through the media and flowery philosophy, love breaks through it all and remains a much sought after mystery.
About now
Love always hope. Do you still hope when what you hope for is realized? Love looks to what can be, the future that is way beyond the context of now. If love is allowed to remain on the present (or immediate) or sadder still when love reminisces about the past, it starts to fall apart and decay. Love’s strength is drawn from hope; it breathes faith, endures with patience and conquers with kindness. Love knows the meaning of delaying gratification intimately.
There is much to know about love, as too there is much love would like to know about me. To know love is to seek wisdom and to love is to know the beginning of everything. Who or what then is love? Yes…love is a being too. Love is the Creator and the Creator is Love. Religiously airy words? Fortunately, it is not. Dwell upon it well and come to a conclusion on your own. If you beg to differ and are convicted by your thoughts that prove otherwise, then settle it with a private discourse with me. For I want to know what you think, as much as I want to know what I know that is proven wrong.
Always in Love,
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Sunday, August 12, 2007
A Vicious Cycle...
Think about this,
How we behave is affected by how people treat us.
How people treat us is affected by how we behave.
A vicious cycle of chicken and eggs.
For the cycle to break, one of the two scenarios has to happen first.
One, people must start to treat us differently first (very unlikely).
Two, we must start behaving differently even when people still treat us the same.
Just a food for thought...go think about it ya?
How we behave is affected by how people treat us.
How people treat us is affected by how we behave.
A vicious cycle of chicken and eggs.
For the cycle to break, one of the two scenarios has to happen first.
One, people must start to treat us differently first (very unlikely).
Two, we must start behaving differently even when people still treat us the same.
Just a food for thought...go think about it ya?
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Fallen from Grace
As grace fall away in one's life, so does he start to decent into a world of gloom and doom. The term ''fallen from grace", meant much more than only applying it in the spiritual world. A man who by his actions disallows grace completely in his life is filled with only bitterness and is totally void of love. To live a loveless life is to be better off dead. We are made to love. Yes...you read me right. We are not made to work for money or material things that would surely perish. They are just the necessary but not the purpose of life. Why do I link grace with love? Simple, without love there can be no grace. Not only that, there also wouldn't be joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and most importantly self-control. In fact, without love, the society we live in would be only pure anarchical in nature.Grace is one of the main expression of love. It is also the highest and lowest point, the beginning and the end of what love can achieve. Let me explain what grace is about by telling you about grace's lower form, mercy. Mercy is withholding punishment from a deserving person. Grace is the giving of goodness to an undeserving person. To not slap you when you slapped me (for no reason) is mercy. To treat your injured hand after you slapped me is grace (or o.k.a foolishness).
Though not a very good analogy for grace, I believe it is simply this, grace is the ability to give good gifts or kindness to an undeserving party. A person can be undeserving merely by being a stranger to me. Therefore being ungracious is to assert my rights when his rights conflict with mine. Being gracious meant I have to give up my rights so that his rights can be met.
For the later part of his career as Singapore's premier, SM Goh envisions Singapore to be a more gracious nation. As a society evolved to be more affluent, the members of such a society become more aware of their own rights. Therefore, they would naturally do two things with their new awareness. One, assert their rights to the fullest and become a selfish idiot. Two, give up some rights and let others have their rights fulfilled, thus apply grace.
For grace to exist, love must exist first. For those who are shallow and define love being only applicable to those they know, well, you are just being plain shallow. When love is expressed fully, the self fades into the background. It didn't cease to exist, it is simply someone replacing it on the pedestal. Love grows. Its intensity varies with the various types of love an individual is capable of expressing. The simple love for a fellow mankind is practice by the rare few. To have compassion for the hurting and in need is too be sensitive and conscious of someone besides ourselves.
I have been quite impatient recently, especially to people obstructing my hurried life. I asserted my right of way and shameless portrayed an ungracious side of me that I'm not surprised it exist. However, a simple revelations that it has emerged was quite enough to jolt me into suppressing him fast. We are quite capable of giving grace, but we give it selectively. Lots to our love ones, some to our friends and none to perfect strangers. Hurt and disillusioned enough, an individual can altogether stop giving any. He would then be filled with bitterness that you can taste in the air whenever he is near. Every words that leaves his mouth would be cynical, critical and skeptical. His actions tell the world that he's looking out for 'numero uno', himself.
As freely a person receives grace, he would also give grace unreservedly. The most gracious people I am fortunate to be acquainted with are people that felt they received a lot of grace. They are always patient and forgiving. Don’t treat them like a fool though for I assure you they are not. In fact, I find their wisdom to be very refreshing. They possess an inner ability to discern and dispense grace freely without being taken for granted or as “Uncle Roberts”. On the other hand, people that are ungracious finds themselves bitter without the ability to recognize the grace they are given, even when it is right in their face. When receiving grace, they were under the misconception that they deserve it as though it is their right. Perhaps they don’t find themselves at the receiving end of grace most time, and most time when they tried to give grace, they end up hurt or “jaded”. I have always told my fellow disabled that, “Whatever is given to us as a privilege must never be misunderstood as an entitlement”. The world does not owe us anything much less a living just because we are people with disabilities.
Whether or not I am a gracious person is not really my major grouse. It is only when I can answer truly to myself the question of, “Am I treating people with respect and dignity regardless of how I feel?” The dying of self is comparable to the mythical phoenix. It would rise as a beauty once again from the ashes. Provided, that I am willing to die to myself first. Being gracious to people around me would create a cascading effect know as the “butterfly effect”. It has to start somewhere, so why not me? Imagine when everyone is looking out for each other rights, would your rights not be looked after when you are looking out for somebody else’s? To live free from the carnal bondages of a demanding world, I have to not conform to it but live paradoxically. In the end, I would like to see heaven on earth in my lifetime.
A willing recipient and giver of grace,
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Saturday, July 21, 2007
I REFUSE to be another Adam Khoo!!
Well, I don’t mean that he is not a great person to be taken as a role model, but simply I will be ME! Michael Kuan Foo Siong!
For more than six months I have exiled myself to LALA land with only a privileged few that I kept in close contact with. I wasn’t just being plain lazy (sometimes I am), I was also doing some small projects on and off to keep me financially afloat. The bulk of the time I committed to reflect on what went wrong in my “employed” corporate career and to plan the next chapter of my life which I am about to embark. Most time I would feel productively discouraged and suck up the lessons it try to teach. Productively discouraged? Is there such a thing? Yes, there is.
Everyone would feel discouraged at some point in their lives. However, most never really thought about what discouragement is trying to teach them. Most would take it negatively and carelessly apply the “once bitten twice shy” rule on whatever that has discouraged them. It is quite a lame excuse for quitting, isn’t it? Discouragement doesn’t usually wants us to stop trying, but it merely attempts to let us know what truly went wrong so we can succeed the second, third or the gazillion time. Life is HARD. Live STRONGER then! By learning from my discouragement, I realized the ways of the future is never the ways of the present nor the past. To change dynamically in life thus becomes imperative and excruciatingly frightful. Being stubborn and blockheadedly subscribing to the “traditional” ways becomes a sure way of slow suicide or failure. People of success know that and are very fluid in methods but steadfast in principles.
On the 12th of July 2007 (two days after my 32nd birthday), Life Textbooks (S) Pte Ltd was incorporated and thus also the first step on my third attempt to setup a business. It is primarily a training company, but to me, it is more than that. My first attempt failed because I was building a business on myself. If I stop working, the business would too. Then what’s the point of having a business? I would have fare better being employed. My second attempt got me into hot soup because of wrong partners. Partners that are ruthless and would overtly exploit me. I figure if I am exploitable, then I should be the only person doing that. I ain’t no Uncle Robert to anyone. I will still remain generous, but not at the expense of myself anymore.
Setting up Life Textbooks has seen my life once again coming back a full circle. The time I had reflecting on what was done made me revisit and reflect the one most important question that would shape my life once again. What is my PASSION? My life can only be considered lived well if I live it according to my heart. I am a person that wields my words fluently and I have been able to use it to great effect. (Both positively and negatively.) My heart never fails to skip a beat when people’s lives were changed because of what I said. The glint in their eyes made it all worthwhile. Though acknowledging the gift of the gab I have, I must also be aware of the downside it could create. In the words of Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben; “With great powers come great responsibilities.” Or as said in the Book of Life; “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18) Not that I proclaim to be the smartest Alec on earth, I am merely acknowledging that I do have experiences that not many has.
I see two major stumbling blocks that could make or break the business. Pride and Privacy. Pride, being one of the seven deadly sins mentioned in the Bible is also what I believe to be the cause of the other six deadly sins. The thought of oneself being above all others causes one’s heart to become callous and deceitful. With that it set an individual to become a runaway train that only serve the “numero uno”, self. I have seen and heard of many good teachers that fallen from grace because of pride. The good intent of affirmations and wicked “boot-licking” of their audience blew up their heads to giganormous size that blurred their vision and forget their humble beginnings. My personal solution? Keep true friends close, real friends that would not reserve themselves to “kick my butt” when necessary. The challenge is in finding and keeping them when pride sets in. The effect of pride could also result in me pushing my true friends away when they are kicking my butt. That requires a great deal of wisdom that is not earthly by nature.
Privacy. To be a teacher is to be a role model, which means that every time I am doing or saying something, someone (other than God) is watching you intently. I cannot afford to be saying one thing yet doing another opposite. The saying of; “Walking the Talk” becomes more urgently real. Again many teachers I know that couldn’t manage this determine their early demise from teaching. The solution again is strength not earthly by nature.
To teach or train is to not only impart a part of himself as a teacher, but he also has to be sensitive of an individual’s right to self-determination. I once had a mentor that faithfully subscribe to the first but disregard the latter totally. He was practically shoving stuffs down people’s throat without even giving two-cents worth on anybody else’s opinions. I must not make or mould another me, but to let the person to truly be all he is. Many trainers and teacher subscribed to methods of sure success if applied. Not that I disagree with them, I only subscribe to something else. I believe every individual has their own unique destinies. My work is to help them find it and bring it out to its fullest potential. I have heard many “secrets” of success that are actually not secrets at all. They are only great habits that are consciously built as a foundation on which successes naturally blossoms. Whatever a person’s destiny is, his attitudes would determine where he will be going and would shape the characteristics he adopt.
I am who I am by the grace of my Maker. I have to make sure His Grace is not be without effect. So no matter who you take as a role model, Adam Khoo or Albert Einstein., remember well that you are made unique. Don’t dogmatically adhere to methods, only the principles that are sound and proven. Live a life of love, always learning and leave a legacy of yourself that help someone live his destiny to its fullest. To that I say again, I REFUSE to be another Adam Khoo! Not that he is a bad person, just only I will be me. Do pray for me.
“Soli De Gloria”
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
For more than six months I have exiled myself to LALA land with only a privileged few that I kept in close contact with. I wasn’t just being plain lazy (sometimes I am), I was also doing some small projects on and off to keep me financially afloat. The bulk of the time I committed to reflect on what went wrong in my “employed” corporate career and to plan the next chapter of my life which I am about to embark. Most time I would feel productively discouraged and suck up the lessons it try to teach. Productively discouraged? Is there such a thing? Yes, there is.
Everyone would feel discouraged at some point in their lives. However, most never really thought about what discouragement is trying to teach them. Most would take it negatively and carelessly apply the “once bitten twice shy” rule on whatever that has discouraged them. It is quite a lame excuse for quitting, isn’t it? Discouragement doesn’t usually wants us to stop trying, but it merely attempts to let us know what truly went wrong so we can succeed the second, third or the gazillion time. Life is HARD. Live STRONGER then! By learning from my discouragement, I realized the ways of the future is never the ways of the present nor the past. To change dynamically in life thus becomes imperative and excruciatingly frightful. Being stubborn and blockheadedly subscribing to the “traditional” ways becomes a sure way of slow suicide or failure. People of success know that and are very fluid in methods but steadfast in principles.
On the 12th of July 2007 (two days after my 32nd birthday), Life Textbooks (S) Pte Ltd was incorporated and thus also the first step on my third attempt to setup a business. It is primarily a training company, but to me, it is more than that. My first attempt failed because I was building a business on myself. If I stop working, the business would too. Then what’s the point of having a business? I would have fare better being employed. My second attempt got me into hot soup because of wrong partners. Partners that are ruthless and would overtly exploit me. I figure if I am exploitable, then I should be the only person doing that. I ain’t no Uncle Robert to anyone. I will still remain generous, but not at the expense of myself anymore.
Setting up Life Textbooks has seen my life once again coming back a full circle. The time I had reflecting on what was done made me revisit and reflect the one most important question that would shape my life once again. What is my PASSION? My life can only be considered lived well if I live it according to my heart. I am a person that wields my words fluently and I have been able to use it to great effect. (Both positively and negatively.) My heart never fails to skip a beat when people’s lives were changed because of what I said. The glint in their eyes made it all worthwhile. Though acknowledging the gift of the gab I have, I must also be aware of the downside it could create. In the words of Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben; “With great powers come great responsibilities.” Or as said in the Book of Life; “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18) Not that I proclaim to be the smartest Alec on earth, I am merely acknowledging that I do have experiences that not many has.
I see two major stumbling blocks that could make or break the business. Pride and Privacy. Pride, being one of the seven deadly sins mentioned in the Bible is also what I believe to be the cause of the other six deadly sins. The thought of oneself being above all others causes one’s heart to become callous and deceitful. With that it set an individual to become a runaway train that only serve the “numero uno”, self. I have seen and heard of many good teachers that fallen from grace because of pride. The good intent of affirmations and wicked “boot-licking” of their audience blew up their heads to giganormous size that blurred their vision and forget their humble beginnings. My personal solution? Keep true friends close, real friends that would not reserve themselves to “kick my butt” when necessary. The challenge is in finding and keeping them when pride sets in. The effect of pride could also result in me pushing my true friends away when they are kicking my butt. That requires a great deal of wisdom that is not earthly by nature.
Privacy. To be a teacher is to be a role model, which means that every time I am doing or saying something, someone (other than God) is watching you intently. I cannot afford to be saying one thing yet doing another opposite. The saying of; “Walking the Talk” becomes more urgently real. Again many teachers I know that couldn’t manage this determine their early demise from teaching. The solution again is strength not earthly by nature.
To teach or train is to not only impart a part of himself as a teacher, but he also has to be sensitive of an individual’s right to self-determination. I once had a mentor that faithfully subscribe to the first but disregard the latter totally. He was practically shoving stuffs down people’s throat without even giving two-cents worth on anybody else’s opinions. I must not make or mould another me, but to let the person to truly be all he is. Many trainers and teacher subscribed to methods of sure success if applied. Not that I disagree with them, I only subscribe to something else. I believe every individual has their own unique destinies. My work is to help them find it and bring it out to its fullest potential. I have heard many “secrets” of success that are actually not secrets at all. They are only great habits that are consciously built as a foundation on which successes naturally blossoms. Whatever a person’s destiny is, his attitudes would determine where he will be going and would shape the characteristics he adopt.
I am who I am by the grace of my Maker. I have to make sure His Grace is not be without effect. So no matter who you take as a role model, Adam Khoo or Albert Einstein., remember well that you are made unique. Don’t dogmatically adhere to methods, only the principles that are sound and proven. Live a life of love, always learning and leave a legacy of yourself that help someone live his destiny to its fullest. To that I say again, I REFUSE to be another Adam Khoo! Not that he is a bad person, just only I will be me. Do pray for me.
“Soli De Gloria”
Michael Kuan a.k.a WindyG
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Everything In It's Time..
Know i have not wrote for a very very long time. Been on a self-imposed exile to reflect, recuperate and recharge. So watch out world! I am alive and I'LL BE BACK!
In the meantime, enjoy this lyrics that touched my heart.
Everything in It's Time - Corrine May
Sometimes I wonder what lies ahead
How long till my hunger is fed
They say it’s hard to make it in this part of town
So many people on this merry-go-round
Some folks try astrology
Some turn to crystal balls
To find an answer,
To get through it all
I just fall on my knees and I try to pray
In the silence I can hear Him say
The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
I often feel like I’m two steps behind
Somebody must have moved that finish line
There are a thousand reasons
Why I should give up
But I’m stubborn in the things I believe
The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
’cause maybe there’s another plan
One I still can’t see
A little surprise, like Your love in my life
Funny how time changes how we see
The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
Everything in its time
In the meantime, enjoy this lyrics that touched my heart.
Everything in It's Time - Corrine May
Sometimes I wonder what lies ahead
How long till my hunger is fed
They say it’s hard to make it in this part of town
So many people on this merry-go-round
Some folks try astrology
Some turn to crystal balls
To find an answer,
To get through it all
I just fall on my knees and I try to pray
In the silence I can hear Him say
The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
I often feel like I’m two steps behind
Somebody must have moved that finish line
There are a thousand reasons
Why I should give up
But I’m stubborn in the things I believe
The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
’cause maybe there’s another plan
One I still can’t see
A little surprise, like Your love in my life
Funny how time changes how we see
The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
Everything in its time
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