Change, Its Only Natural

Humans are creatures of habit. We like familiarity. It’s in our traditions to like to stay the way we are. We like what we’re used to. So often, when we’re faced with a choice between two elements, one familiar and the other mysterious, we’d choose the familiar. It can’t be helped. It’s only part of nature.

Look at art, architecture, dance, education. All these realms resist change and only accept it in trickles and drips. Take architecture for instance, it took years before the modernist movement started getting recognition. It started in the early 1905 but only after 25 odd years of pushing and struggling did the modernist approach gain acceptance by the public. Change is hard.

The only reason why change is hard, is you. That inherent fear hibernates in familiarity but manifests itself like a shroud veiling your eyes when an opportunity to change comes. You’d hear yourself saying: Its impossible! Preposterous! What a crazy idea!

But Change is what makes reality possible. Change is what drives the human mind forward. Change is the propellant for technological advances. Change is that piggy bank waiting to be smashed open. Change is when you feel that rush of freshness shooting up your spine. Change is that ethereal lightness in your body. Change is the moment you spread your wings and leap. Change is the only constant. To change is to be human.

Its easy to shun change, but when an opportunity for change that can benefit you trods along, pull onto its reins and ride it like an adventure! You never know where you’ll end up at.

Smile!

The importance of "MY" time

It’s been a while since I had time to blog, well, I just came back from a 17 day trip from Beijing to shanghai to hongkong and back home. One word fits what I feel as soon as I went to work today – invigorated. It was good to take a break.

Yes I know it’s hard to postpone your appointments, reschedule your meetings, shift everything in your daily routine to make time; it’s hard to make time for the most valuable asset you own: yourself.

But you see, that’s what’s causing alot of things to go awry. We need to take a break every so often. A man who goes without sleep for more than 48 hours gradually feels his bodily functions shut down on him and in no time he’ll start hallucinating; our body knows that we need to rest; do we? I’m no christian but I know that in the book of genesis, even god rested on the 7th day so why shouldn’t us mortals?

Ok I agree it’s almost impossible to take as long a trip as I did. But it is very possible to take the weekend off.

One of the most common problems that busy people face is burning out. Burn out causes you to slow down in productivity, turn wry your thinking process, become forgetful etc. the list goes on. In my opinion, the best cure for burnout is going some place far far away from the city, like a sunny little island that is not frequented by tourists, long stretches of soft silvery beige sand, cool blue waters that are so clean u can see the fishes swimming, a nice little bar to get a cool drink amd a shady spot to laze in and read. That’s my ideal getaway, it could be different from yours, that’s fine. So long as you feel relaxed and good about the place, that’s YOUR perfect spot.

If after reading this article makes you feel like going somewhere away from the bustling city, away from the constant sms, away from the invading email, then it could be time to call for a break.

Book a time with yourself, commit to it, have a cocktail and chill.



Smile!

The Secret of Happiness

     A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn the secrets of happiness from the wisest man in the world.  The lad wondered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wiseman lived.

    Rather than finding a saintly man, though our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with every one, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man's attention.

    The wise man listened attentively to the boy's explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn't have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He sugested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

    'Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something', said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. 'As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.'

    The boy began climbing and descending the main stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

    'Well,' asked the wise man, 'did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?'

   The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

   'Then go back and observe the marvels of my world,' said the wise man. ' You cannot trust a man if you don;t know his house.'

   'Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all the works of art on the ceiling and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which every thing had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail every thing he had seen.

   'But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?' Asked the wise man.

   Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

   'Well , there is only one piece of advice I can give you.' said the wisest of wise men. 'The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.'

   - Adapted from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.

   - Photo: warm enough? Courtesy of Vato Bob