Cling to the TRUTH, full stop.

Cling to the TRUTH, full stop.

We may not live in the deep forests except for the bears and those animals where the forests remain as its habitat.  But let's look at the bears.  Despite the fact that they continue to lurk in the darkness of the forests, they always end up bagging their prey, all because they continue to Cling to the TRUTH, full stop.  Obviously, to the bears, the TRUTH is nothing more than looking for the TRUTH, which is finding their prey, their foods for survival.  Back to humanity, we are no far different with those bears lurking in the dark heavily forested  habitats.  The most bothering challenge is how can we remain so steadfast and focused to Cling to the TRUTH despite all the widespread disinformation around.

Regardless as to where we are in life now, there will be instances when the essence of TRUTH comes into the picture because let's face it, TRUTH is at the very core of our life.  If in a relationship that is strained or hitting rough patches, surely TRUTH will be one of the constants [and not a variable] of the equation.  

Why are we harping so much with TRUTH?  Simple.  Our communities and countries may be in turmoil if TRUTH begs to prevail but it gets suppressed by DISINFORMATION and MISINFORMATION. Even TRUTH itself, it cannot be broke up into a fraction of less than one.  TRUTH has to be ABSOLUTE and UNCONDITIONAL.  

The book by Keith Hoar on REVISIONIST HISTORY hits this widespread concern with regard TRUTH at its very core.  So, what we need to be watchful is not just the widespread dissemination of half-truths [which by itself are NOT truths at all] and innuendos but even the systemic actions being initiated by sinister quarters with the clear intent to revise history.  Without sounding political, an Asian country which had its national elections recently, the purported polls winner has spoken as early as now, with NO 'delicadeza' at all, that school textbooks need to be revised.  Indeed, this is no casual threat but coming from the the purported incoming head of state, this is extremely alarming at the very least.

Why are we making NOISE with regard TRUTH?  Simple no-brainer.  If we live with and live by anything that is less than a 100% TRUTH, we will be living in a farcical world that will be absurd and preposterous to say the least  Who cares to be in a relationship with less than 100% TRUTH?  And if that cancerous state of TRUTH spreads out deep into the core of governments and democratic institutions, will our life be worth living after all?  Just  Cling to the TRUTH, full stop❗❗❗

Pick Up From WHERE We Left Off

Pick Up From WHERE We Left Off

Oooops, we shouldn't even be talking about this, right?  This is just another no-brainer.  Picking Up From WHERE We Left Off.  Problem is, many of us don't even realize this very basic ground rule.  As many things in life CAN'T just be all done in one go, it pays to get embedded with this discipline of Picking Up From WHERE We Left Off.  And what are the consequences if we are even aware of this ground rule?  A lot of consequences.

How do we convince you to embed this discipline of  Picking Up From WHERE We Left Off?  Simple.  Use any of the technologies and tools we have everyday.  Go back to MS Office or O365.  If you are in the midst of inputting or updating any MS Office Word or Excel file and suddenly, your laptop battery conks out, what happens next?  When you relaunch MS Office, it will prompt you if you want to Pick Up From WHERE We Left Off.  So, there's the buy-in even from technology.

Let's go back to our school days when we were so immersed with our book lessons. If yesterday you were so sleepy reading your lessons and you ended up somewhere Chapter 5 of your textbook, you WON'T start all over again from Chapter 1, right?  In a relationship, in case you and your partner/spouse are in a 'process' of rebuilding/repairing things, you Pick Up From WHERE you Left Off

Even Corona, the Windows Tool is scripted to be Picking Up From WHERE you Left Off.  At work, if during your stint with your company, you hit some rough patches and you're in a 'process' to bring you back to the mainstream, you CAN'T always start from Square One all over again because you got to figure it out where you ended before you took a break from the process.

Similarly, when you bump across a long-lost friend, you start Picking Up From WHERE you Left Off.  If you're an entrepreneur and you suffered serious setbacks in your previous business initiatives.  When you restart your commercial attempts, you must have learned your lessons enough such that you DON'T go back to Square 1.  Doing so would mean you will repeat and RE-DO the things and steps you have earlier completed.  Picking Up From WHERE you Left Off may seem like a no-brainer but it's NOT because many of us tend to ignore its weight in life✅✅✅

When DOUBTS Worsen To Become DUBIOUS

When DOUBTS Worsen To Become DUBIOUS

Life is never without doubts.  DOUBTS can emanate from ourselves or it can be those DOUBTS others will heap on us.  And there is no way to avoid it as it is all part and parcel of life.  Where's our common slip-up?  It is when we give DOUBTS a pass by simply looking the other way around and/or shutting off our eyes.  And when we do, that's When DOUBTS Worsen To Become DUBIOUS.

When doubt creeps into our life, it's like the most harmless aerial virus that will lead us to catch colds.  Colds?  Yesssirs it could be as petty as catching colds.  So where's the beef?  It is when after catching colds, things will go down south, when things spiral from BAD to WORSE.  But could that have been averted?  Absolutely.  But here's the catch.  We got to lift our finger to turn things around.

Shielding ourselves from these hazards of life is NOT even an option.  Instead, we need to accept and admit that once you are in dire straits, there is no other way to go but pull the bull by its horns before you end up locking horns with it.  If it pertains to relationships, be it in the workplace or even with your partner/spouse, it means 'nipping things in the bud' no less.

Sometimes, a full-blown conflict starts off with just a minor friction, those instances when two people's moods are on opposite ends and expectedly about to collide.  Not an excuse but let's understand a woman's monthly struggles with her emotions when their monthly cycle kicks in.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed but I had a taste of it, so it helps to be cautious.

At the end of the day, we just wanna enjoy life, right?  And enjoying the best moments of life is what we all clamor for because that is what life is all about.  So, why don't we set our sights for those blissful phases of our life when and where you need not needlessly spend your emotions and efforts fighting things out when all you deserve is to be HAPPY and ENJOY LIFE to the hilt❗❗❗

 

There is NO 'Middle Ground' in Life

There is NO 'Middle Ground' in Life

This is a huge gaping hole most of us fall and get trapped, thinking that in life, to be on the 'safe side', it pays to be sitting on the fence, be on the middle ground since on that note, you will not end up being flagged down as being on the wrong side of things.  Pardon my words but taking that stance reaffirms that that person has 'no balls' because in real life, it's either the right one or the wrong one.  There is NO 'Middle Ground' in Life, in fact.

By definition, what is the 'MIDDLE GROUND' anyway?  With apologies, it has NO definition simply because it is NEITHER HERE nor THERE.  But for sensible discussions, everything boils down to FACTS no less.  Talk about vision and even policies for our communities.  Many decades ago, for Americans, the Vietnam War was a very polarizing issue.  While many were against for America to send its troops to the Vietnam War, once the U.S. government lowered down the boom, everyone had to toe the line.  Of course, history tells us that the U.S. lost in the Vietnam War but it is what it is.   There is just NO 'Middle Ground' in Life.

Let's look back at America's last presidential elections. Former President Trump was badly hit by both centrists and even leftists.  Why?  Because to him, there is just NO 'Middle Ground' in Life.  For every single issue, he took a stand and never waivered from every stand he took.  Some of his political whips at the Capitol lobbied for him to take a middle ground but he stood pat and just won't budge for every single issue he stood for.

In life, it just makes sense that we need to include in our mantra that indeed there is just NO 'Middle Ground'.  Between two people, be it a teacher and student, a boss and his subordinate, the hubby and the wifey or even between two bff's, many will argue that we can end up in a compromise.  But where does that lead the protagonists?

Oh yes, a compromise is just so tempting especially if it is between couples, between bff's but what ground do all parties gain by striking such compromise.  If two parties were acrimoniously arguing for either a Plan A or Plan B, a typical middle ground so that the friction will not worsen into a real life, that may mean that both parties have forged on a modus vivendi, a 'truce' so to speak but can we guess what's the consequence of that compromise.  Likely, it would mean both parties will NOT pursue either Plan A or Plan B.  Does that really make sense?  Think about it.  There is just NO 'Middle Ground' in Life✅✅✅

Historic Events Happening Once in a Lifetime

Historic Events Happening Once in a Lifetime

My sincere apologies, for the first time, I missed out posting my daily blog yesterday, Saturday, May 7th.  Why?  Because, on [and my wife's] own volition, we decided to be a part of a Historic Night That Never Happened Before [and God knows if that may be repeated in the future, if at all].  For the first time, please allow this piece NOT to be political even as I have remained apolitical throughout the grueling seven-month campaign here.  Instead, what I want to accentuate is that when democracy works, it works best for the people, for the country.

And yesterday, it was such an experience of a lifetime to be one of a crowd that was counted at one million by 9pm.  Last night, I am very sure no one can claim 'BEEN THERE, DONE THAT' because what we went through was a once in a lifetime experience which similarly did happen once across

various countries the past decades.  Name it,  the collapse of the Berlin Wall leading to the reunification of the two Germanies, the total breakdown of the Iron Curtain across Europe.  All those historic events shared the same denominator and that's the undeniable fact that people and humanity were the catalysts that shaped and drove such events to happen.  To quote historians [and NOT politicians], sovereignty RESIDES in the PEOPLE and no one [and NOT even the powers that be] can take that away from the PEOPLE.

For the third time in my life, the financial district of a Southeast Asian country turned into a sea of humanity.  Bewildering and mind-boggling is how can human bodies can get squeezed yet in a very cool and comfortable way.  No banging.  No pushing.  No threatening apprehensions around you.  There was NO YOU versus ME.  It was one huge community with the same manners, same values, same mindsets, same discipline.  What I witnessed was an instantaneous sharing of food and drinks around.  When there were cases of people fainting, medical assistance responses came in the quickest turnaround time. That community mindset a.k.a. 'BAYANIHAN' was manifested practically throughout that nine-hour event.  I'm unsure now when will I get to witness another event of such magnitude.

Fast-forward to today.  What's really the 'real power' behind 'people power'?  Today, it is social media no less. One post leads to a like, to a share.  A tweet can even get retweeted half a million times.  What this tells us today is to be responsible enough with social media. When such opportunity arises for you to be an integral part of history, grab that 'once in a lifetime' chance because very likely, that won't come again in your lifetime.  Let us NOT be a complicit part of trolls and fake news.  Let us be a part of historic events in a legitimate and morally upright practice❗❗❗

DON'T Let Your PAST Ruin Your PRESENT

DON'T Let Your PAST Ruin Your PRESENT

How many of us are still 'hostaged' by our PAST?  I'll bet all my salaries that at the very least, a plurality of everyone one remains 'hostaged' by their PAST even as we speak now.  Why is that? Why let your PAST ruin your PRESENT? Regardless of the severity and magnitude of one's PAST, everyone needs to have a better PRESENT and even a much better FUTURE.  But we will end up with plain words and semantics if we claim, purely by words, that we deserve to depart from the wrongs of our PAST.

Indeed, the PAST maybe just that, as another past but the PAST can bring a lot of heavy baggage as you live and breath air now in the PRESENT and even as you move towards your  FUTURE. If things remain as murky as mud and as dark as the skies in the night, that murkiness and that darkness will remain, dim, nebulous and dreary.  And all these murkiness will remain to be the main blockage as you face your PRESENT now and your FUTURE.
 

Can you imagine if you will continue to carry all those baggage from the past?  And typically, that baggage in the past may include NEGATIVITIES and MIS-EXPECTATIONS.  Unless you clear it all, are you just fine to continue facing and living with the same NEGATIVITIES and those MIS-EXPECTATIONS of the people around you, whether they are you workmates, your bosses, your family, your partner/spouse, recalibrating is a must so that both parties are aligned.

When we speak of the PAST, we speak in shades of black and white.  It's like our mind erases the space in between those moments of perfect happiness and blinding pain.  And what happens next ?  We end up living in those OPPOSITES.  When we wander through the BLACK, we end up remembering those painful experiences.  Problem is those flashbacks of failures in the past could continue to run in an endless loop.  That is why we must LET GO OF THE PAST not necessarily forgetting it but turning our eyes forward towards healing instead of using them to stare back at the past.  Just DON'T Let Your PAST Ruin Your PRESENT❗❗❗

The Biggest RISK is NOT Taking Any RISK

The Biggest RISK is NOT Taking Any RISK

Who says that if you'll be fine if you DON'T take risk?  And that if you DON'T take risks, you WON'T fail? But hey, do we agree that the biggest RISK is NOT taking any RISK?  Indeed, it's a huge miss in our life if we [wrongly] believed that taking RISK is just an option and nothing more than that?  If I have to vociferously disagree, I'll disagree on that.

Thing is, that FEAR of taking RISKS may be holding you back in life.  Frankly, you need to take risks challenge yourself and try harder if you want to grow stronger and become better.  In our daily life, our brain will constantly try to convince us to PLAY SAFE.  It will tell us that we CAN'T succeed or that we SHOULDN'T bother trying something new.  But even when these thoughts lack a rational basis, sometimes we would allow our anxiety to prevail.

But hey, RISKS DON'T HAVE TO BE RECKLESS.  And while avoiding risks might seem like a smart way to manage our anxiety, in the long run, playing it small is the perfect recipe for depression.  The problem is that we often base our decisions on emotion rather than logic.  We incorrectly assume that there's a direct correlation between our FEAR LEVEL and the RISK LEVEL. But more often than not, our emotions are just NOT rational.  If we truly understood how to calculate risk, we would know which risks are worth taking and we would be a lot less fearful about taking them.

Whether you are afraid to take a big leap with your career, or you're terrified to take a small social risk like inviting an acquaintance out for coffee, learning to take healthy risks can open new doors and improve your life.  Sometimes, you need to take RISKS, CHALLENGE yourself and try harder at things if you want to grow stronger and become better.

So, what's the antidote to our FEAR for RISK?  BALANCE YOUR EMOTIONS WITH LOGIC.  Too often, we think our fear is directly related to the level of the risk.  The scarier something feels, the riskier it must be.  Then, do TAKE STEPS TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF SUCCESS.  Or maybe you decide to wait until your side hustle is consistently delivering income before you quit your day job and become an entrepreneur.  This might be a wise calculated risk to take.  Lest we forget, the biggest RISK is NOT taking any RISK✅✅✅

Life is What You Make It

Life is What You Make It

This may seem a run-of-the-mill expression and although this has aged, to blurt out "Life is What You Make It" can never be much closer to our heart because through your own lens, you must have witnessed various versions of both success stories and even stories of dire failure.  BTW, who says we can't dream?  Too bad, there are quite a number of cynics who would openly put you on the spot and give you a tongue-lashing that you must be that crazy for you to give so much weight to dream and dream big.

But this poster will prove all naysayers wrong because it's not a rocket science to declare that dreaming will be easy.  Truth of the matter, dreaming at the start seems easy. not until when you start to translate your dreams into CONCRETE words which later on needs to be translated into CONCRETE action that will lead to CONCRETE results.  Anything less than CONCRETE won't be acceptable at all because that will NOT bring you closer to your dreams.

Why is it many times many people get lost along the way [in life]?  If you take a random check of those who got waylaid along that treacherous and figure out their common denominator.  Either they NEVER planned or equally frustrating, they did plan but they planned either WRONGLY or LOUSILY at the very least.  Either way, it explains why their dreams seem to have been doomed right from the very start.

BTW, this piece is NOT just intended to ensure our lives are NOT off track.  This says much as well with regard countries who end up with inefficient and utterly CORRUPT leaders.  But if a country's leader is someone CORRUPT, the very fault lies NOT on that corrupt leader but the onus falls back on the people who voted him into power, to office.

Regardless of one's destiny, we need a high-resolution 360-degree camera that will monitor us every step of the way.  When political exercises come in, similar to elections of leaders, that becomes an opportunity NOT to be lost at all.  WRONGLY choosing your elected leader will boomerang back on you.  Over in France, the people voted back to office the incumbent Prime Minister Macron at the expense of Le Pen, the rightist candidate.  For those awaiting to vote in an election, please DO NOT turn it into an exercise futility in our democracy❗❗❗

You Deserve a BREAK, Seriously!

You Deserve a BREAK, Seriously!

Everyone deserves a break, right dude?  Even machines and engines, even the high-octane ones, even have scheduled annual shut downs.  So we owe it upon ourselves as well as it is a moot and academic that we Deserve a BREAK, Seriously!  But the biggest question is, what happens once you finally get that break, when you can shut off yourself away from work, when you power off all your gadgets, isolate yourself even if the cell site signals are damn strong enough to even blow you away.  So what gives?  And what benefits will you reap back once you finally get that very coveted break?  Hmmmm, you better use up that break to the hilt for you to deserve future rounds of breaks again.  Word of caution:  those breaks that we deserve DON'T mean that we can wantonly waste our time by simply uncorking one bottle after another, with a never ending intoxication till you drop on the floor.  Whew

We can't lose sight of the fact that we are not just the engine or locomotive that chugs chugs chugs in our life.  We are the very power source, power bank that will be the very originating source of energy and power that will keep our engine going.  Let us discuss just the low hanging fruits without getting into arguments and debates.  Truth is, there are just one too many consequences if we [wrongly] think that working non-stop will bring us closer to our goals in a much shorter timeline.  Theoretically that is correct but realistically, that's not just doable because the likelihood is that you'll stumble somewhere.

By now, have we all figured out WHY Friday is always the most exciting day for us?  It's because we [wrongly] think again that when the weekend kicks in, that will be sufficient for us to take a break from the rigors of our daily life.  But hey, we all got it all wrong because weekends are barely enough for lots of our 'FIX IT' stuffs to attend to.

So, to my readership, my apologies for missing out to pitch in my blog for yesterday because I literally went offline and trekked over to locations that were literally disconnected from all the internet connectivity.  I'll bet, once you decide to go offline to disconnect yourself from our daily rat race, you would realize that every minute spent with your loved ones is the best way to really wiggle out our way❗❗❗

What IGNITES Your Life ?

What IGNITES Your Life ?

Surely at some points your life got ignited from time to time.  But the bigger and rather lingering question is" What IGNITES Your Life ?  Generally, we get ignited by SUCCESSES.  That's when euphoria hovers all over us.  You have seen those victory parades because we all love WINNERS [and not LOSERS].

However, having said that, it is dismaying to say the least that most of us get IGNITED in life when we are on the UPside, on the UPturn.  WHAT IF we fail to achieve a goal, WHAT IF if we stumble down, WHAT IF we end up being out there in the cold, out in the streets jobless? Do you think you are still IGNITABLE when you are down there below?  

The key challenge is how do you IGNITE yourself when you're down there?  If in the past, joining the bandwagon was effortless [and IGNITABLE], there is NO bandwagon when you're down there.

Yes folks, this is the biggest question staring right on our face.  HOW WILL WE IGNITE OURSELVES [especially when you are so badly bruised, figuratively beaten black and blue for stumbling down on the ground over and over again.  This is when you need to summon everything from deep within you.  It's ALL HANDS ON DECK, you got to give it all, you got to LOCK-IN for you to RE-IGNITE your life.  Yes that may seem a steep mountain to climb at that point in time BUT isn't that a better option rather than raising the white flag❓❓❓