Scratching the Surface, is that enough ?

Have you in your lives ever reached the surface ? Obviously.

Have you did what needs to be done at the surface ? Absolutely.

Have you dived beyond the surface and did what needs to be done deep down there ? Probably, right ? And likely, rarely, for some of us.

Listening to Og Mandino, 'always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later'.

So what's the fuss here ?

It's the surface man, that's all and there lies the root of a big chunk of our failings, our failures.

Why ?

Because most of us would exert efforts right there on the periphery, on the surface. To this breed of so-so's, once they sweat, it's a milestone achievement already for them !

Really ?

Oh indeed, this is not a fallacy because we do witness this in our lives, even in our homes, amongst family members, amongst your closest friends BUT have you felt guilty about it yourself ?

There you go,

you got a real problem at the palm of your hands,

if you don't realize that most of the time you were sweating, you were just somewhere at the surface.

To write bluntly about it,

most of us [and that includes me in the past, especially during my early school days], we failed and we stumbled because after sweating over at the surface, we stopped, we got stalled, we got stomped, END, FIN [in Espanol & French], OWARI [in Nihongo].

To quote Jackson Brown, "If you're doing your best, you won't have any time to worry about failure".

And that's it. We don't have to diagnose further how and why we failed. And this is what separates the men from the boys. This becomes akin to the parting of the Red Sea. And this is where we witness the greatest competitive sportsmen we ever saw and heard. And by coincidences, this recognized very competitive sportsmen in Michael Phelps [swimming], Manny Pacquiao [boxing] and Magnus Carlsen [chess]. Oh, let's add in this A-List the world's fastest man, Usain bolt whose sprint time of 9.58 seconds in a 100-meter sprint remains a record till to date.

If these names still don't ring a bell for you, let us quote the American celebrity, Oprah Winfrey, 'Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do'.

How Every Vote is Sacrosanct

                                             How Every Vote is Sacrosanct

Who doesn't treasure DEMOCRACY?  I guess it's a minuscule of the population who have that venomous and vitriolic intent to dump democracy as they push their selfish agenda that is founded along the lines of authoritarianism and despotic rule.  Those manifesting that unfathomable abhorrence and aversion to the truest ideals of democracy are the evil intentioned politicos so focused to extend their control of the corridors of power, often times by perpetuating their control from within the same immediate family.  Heard of a non-politician lawyer who gets appointed in a political office?  And runs for election thereafter?  And when he reaches the term limits, he slides down to the backdrop while his spouse runs in the next election to circumvent the term limits of election laws?  And heard of the next member of the family runs in the subsequent election?  Till we hear of siblings rivalry all because of utter and wanton greed for power [and the unlimited largesse they may potentially reap in office]?

Whereas in America, in each election day, we could bear witness how every vote is deemed sacrosanct.  No one can tamper it.  No one can breach its integrity.  No one can flip it over and dump it, swapping it en masse with spurious and fabricated ballot.  Yesterday, when Americans went to the polls, there was a record turnout from the estimated one hundred million voters, a huge surprise when everyone else felt that this covid-19 pandemic will deter people from going out of their homes and exercise their right of suffrage.  But they turned out in huge numbers, another affirmative confirmation that America remains the vanguard of DEMOCRACY, the global policeman policing democracy.

Swinging over to the fragile Third World, it is guns, goons and gold lording it over.  Banner stories get splashed with cache of guns unearthed, millions of monies stashed and changing hands and what else is new, masked men armed to the teeth and roaming around playing real-life roles as LORDS of the RING.  Even politicos themselves are callously brandishing their high powered firearms with no slightest modicum of delicadeza.  To flip a comedy into a horror story, have you heard of the scion-politico of one of the world's most infamous and corrupted dictator who won't and can't accept an electoral defeat fair and square?

Whereas postal mail is literally dead in a third world country, in America, postal mail is very much alive and in yesterday's elections, a huge percentage of Americans wary of the risks of this Covid-19 pandemic opted to vote via postal mail.  Despite the tons and tons of newswires that abound in America, was there a report of mail pilferage?  Mail swap?  Counterfeit votes via postal mail?  Nil.  Nada. Zilch.  Now, the election results is hanging in the balance because the USPS [U.S. Postal Service] failed to deliver yet more than 300,000 votes cast via postal mail.  How swift is democracy in America?  A U.S. District Judge ordered the USPS to sweep mail processing facilities in response to instant lawsuits from the influentials like NAACP and Vote Forward advocates.

Whereas in a third world country where automated voting was introduced, it led to creative techniques of massive cheating [no thanks to the dynastic corrupt politicos of the hapless country].  Where it not for the option to vote via postal mail, the results of the U.S. presidential elections would have been officially completed within 24 hours, barring lawsuits here and there.  This truly reinforces America as the last bulwark of DEMOCRACY.  Regardless whether Trump or Biden prevails, we salute AMERICA for this latest democratic exercise showcased to us all.

Being Neither Here nor There is Unacceptable

                                 Being Neither Here nor There is Unacceptable

📌Democracy has always been a two-legged structure that has survived the 'fury' of the Fuhrer, the 'hell' out of the Holocaust and now, ironically despite this long drawn pandemic, democracy is very much 'alive and kicking', so to speak.

What continues to ensure that it is the best way forward for us all is its two-legged structure that insists that we, you, have to either be here or there, nothing and no one in between.

What happens if and when you are neither here nor there?  You get disconnected.  You get off-tracked.  You lose traction.  Why?  It's because being 'middle of the road' leads you to nowhere.  To quote Kavesan Reddy:  'In life, we are neither here nor there.  Life is made up of three things, truth, fact and opinion.  It is up to us to decide right from wrong and what to believe'.  Looking back into our lives especially the past eight months we are pushed back by this pandemic, we should realize that you can never be within the line, within the margins, within the precipice.  Gotta make up your mind, dude!  Gotta to take risk.  You can end up on the wrong side but having taken that decision, you stand on your principles, your courage, your sanity.  You don't want to be compared to that headless chicken running from one end and over to the other end.

Bertrand Russell, the respected British Philosopher deftly said: 'When envy is inevitable, it should be used as a stimulus'.  How did envy get into the picture?  Admittedly, I am seething with envy as Americans went to the polls today.  Whether the voter is for GOP or the Democrats, America is the very testament that you gotta be here or there.  In America's political landscape, you can't be an independent politico who'll eat his cake too.  You gotta seriously consider either the GOP or the Democrats because these are the very democratic institutions that have endured centuries of American politics. And never have they been dented.  The farthest independent politicos have gone was in the 1990s when American billionaire magnate Ross Perot pushed for his candidacy.  How far did he go?  He went as far as gaining 5% of the votes.  After his debacles, being an independent has further entrench the stigma of being an independent in the midst of America's very robust two-party system.

This is where I truly admire Americans because you can't find fence-sitters across the continent.  It's either the GOP or the Democrats.  Translated into our daily lives, this is a stoic reflection of one's steadfastness.  At your workplace, you can't be a fence-sitter.  You stand for what is right, ethical and compliant.  Where you dissent, articulate it transparently.  Never keep it to yourself.  In your homes, you gotta take a stand on any issue.  If it means taking sides with your spouse/partner or your relatives, so be it.  Courage is a double-edged sword.  It is what it takes to stand up for what you believe.  Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen, acquiescing to what is right or even leaning towards what is right.  Fence-sitters, get pumped up with that adrenaline rush for you to jump off away from that rickety fence. 📌

God Bless America

                                     God Bless America

Tomorrow, November 3rd, Americans will go to the polls and decide between President Donald Trump and his Democrat challenger Joe Biden.  As a foreigner, we should be the last one to meddle into America's domestic affairs but hell no, why the hell on a gloomy and dark Sunday morning am I blogging about America when Super Typhoon Goni [Rolly] is showing its wrath consistent with it being tagged as 2020's strongerst typhoon ever to hit our planet earth. My curt reply:  I continue to be enamored with America because it is the bastion of democracy regardless of the Ups & Downs of geo-politics.

Why am I still enamored with America's democracy? It's because its feat in being the guardian and vanguard of democracy has remained unparalleled and unsurpassed despite the fact that we have healthy democracies around as well when you look regardless whether you look towards the east or west.  As a lifetime student of geo-politics, I can personally attest that from the White House to the halls of the U.S. Congress and all the way to the revered U.S. Supreme Court, America has become the perennial protector of all the democratic ideals we value.  And when and wherever democracy gets threatened, America has been a solid voice of influence.  In the Third World, politicians switch parties as often as they change their clothes.  There's this Southeast Asian country wherein one day, a 200-strong support for the Speaker of the House of Representatives switches from the incumbent to his nemesis overnight, yes come the next day, those chameleons switched colors.

Not in America though.  The primaries was so gruelling with favorites Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as the major casualties.  Even cancelling one's party affiliation to become an independent is by itself banner news in America.  And although changes in party affiliations do happen at the state level, at the national front, you are doomed to fail if you ever attempt.  That explains why even billionaire ex-mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg decided to forego his candidacy because no way it will take off at all.

So while multitudes of poll surveys point to Biden as the strong runaway winner, never never give up on Donald Trump.  Four years back, Hillary Clinton was all set for the post-election celebrations until the poll returns showed Trump squeaking past her despite the popular vote going Hillary's favor.  Credit it to the intricacies of the U.S. Electoral College, so even as we speak, I'd say it remains a toss-up.  As the campaign has heated up to the finish, zero-in on the battleground states, those swing states which will literally swing the elections and spring another shocking surprise similar to Hillary's debacle in the 2016 elections.

Looking back at the Democratic Party's presidential primaries, the favorites were Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren.  So, how did Joe Biden squeaked past them?  Credit it to the turnaround he achieved with that overwhelming turn of events at the South Carolina primary causing the 'also-rans' to drop from the race and when SUPER TUESDAY came, Biden solidified his lead over the pack.  Beyond and outside America, is democracy alive.  Yes it is, if you count the democracies in Europe, Australia and Canada. 

Elsewhere, this is my 2-cents:  democracy is clinging and clutching on straws, still hanging on there with its flickering hopes but the scary part is whatever remains of the straws and ropes of democracy may just snap UNLESS and UNTIL the people themselves collectively let their voice stand out.  In America, democracy remains robust because the voices of the people never get drowned, not even by pollsters, not by the political machineries.

Oh, through sheer luck, i stumbled across this poster and its decibels ring more than a thousand times because this says it all, i.e. WHEN PEOPLE REFUSE TO OBEY, THEN DEMOCRACY BECOMES ALIVE.  And this is happening now as we speak.  In Thailand, people continue to protest and  some even boycotted the graduation rites where King Maja guested.
 

Stop the Bleeding

 

Stop the Bleeding !

Were you got bruised? gashed? gored? That should be the least of your worries. But what if there's that unabated bleeding? hemorrhage? spurt? Ohgeeee, that is fatal, pull all stops before the game gets over.

In the boxing ring, besides the boxer, the highest paid role player in the ring is the cutman. For the best pound for pound boxers, they will pick the best cutman they want to be with them for thirty six [36] minutes equivalent for a cool USD one million paycheck! That's how critical the role of the cutman in the ring, in fact, in between rounds because if there is unabated bleeding, first things things, Mr. Cutman has got to stop the bleeding at all cost.

In life, when you're down, you need to figure it out VERY QUICKLY if you're into a bleeding situation or if it's just a bruise. And if you are unable to discern if that's something fatal or not, tilt on the safe side, take it as veering towards a fatal one, so you got to pull all the stops, whatever it takes.

But before anything else, you got to be calm and in control of things. There's no way you can wiggle out of that potential fatal situation unless you restore sanity within yourself.

This is the hard lesson all of us have surely went through. Especially getting hit hard in your most unguarded moments, those times when you [wrongly] told yourself: 'Hey dude, keep it cool, you'll be fine'. In many other regrettable blunders in life, we [wrongly] thought that there's still a tomorrow, there's a lease of life right at the palm of our hands.

At the end of the day, always take the balancing act. As John Wooden said, 'Be quick but don't hurry'.