Individual

Every individual in an organization is motivated by something different.
Hmm.. what are you motivated by? :)

Stronger Than Lightning

Love is stronger than lighting.....
brighter than fire, faster than light
*****
Sometimes people travel all around the world, in search of fame, wealth or answers to life frequent questions. Sometimes, people travel to seek happiness and to run away from problems. And at other times, people just travel.. no precise destination; just wondering and accepting whatever awaits at the end of the journey.

Sometimes, people find what they are looking for as the plane landed. New place, new life, new beginnings. Others travel to the end of the earth and came back empty handed. A few went as far as they can, and find happiness right at the place they started. Funny isn't it? What they were searching for was right there in front of their eyes all this while. Hopefully, it is still not too late when they realized that.

Life has a way of giving you hope and at times taking it back when you least expected it. Take it easy k..and just don't worry too much. We do the best that we can...one day at a time.

Let It Be

A friend was complaining that the thought of the upcoming Valentine's Day is making her upset. You can almost see the fumes coming out from her ears. While others are planning or expecting to get flowers or love letters, she's just hoping that Valentine's Day would come and go as quickly as possible.

She's just tired of people asking her 'Why are you still single? You will feel lonely when you are old and no kids of your own to look after you.' she said while making a moue. 'What is so great about being married?' she asked.

How to answer her? Well, it's just the public perception. They see a married woman as having achieved all of a girl's dream: having a partner for life. Never mind that some of them are cheating on each other and keep on fighting for every small thing. All that matters is that they tie the knot.

But in reality, it all depends on luck. Happily married friends will keep on trying to match you up and saying things like 'hope that you will find the love of your life soon.' Those unhappily married will otherwise envy you for staying single and having the freedom minus the heartache.

Why does some women ends up being single? By choice or by having no choice. And again, of course fate has something to do with it. As usual.

Alas, it's not easy being married. It would mean spending your life with someone who is less than what you imagined he is. To give in to your fear of being alone should not be a reason to accept a proposal. There will be consequences and a price to pay at the end.

Being single also is not easy. But not every single woman is sad, lonely and desperate, isn't it? In fact, she could be happier than her married friend who is saddled with children, in-laws, third parties or an abusing spouse.

Just let it be, dear friend. Maybe it's just not your time yet. Enjoy your single status for the time being!

Follow Your Dreams

Do you remember your dreams when you were little?

When we were kids, we were so full of imagination. We can be anything that we wanted to. The sky is the limit. Nothing could stop you from being a superhero, a princess, a soldier, a monster or a cat.

At that time, we were able to create stories and be the hero/heroin in them for days, weeks and months. Anything that we see and touch could be used as a toy: a fairy wand, a rifle, a sword to fight evil dragons or the blanket used as a magic cape. The imagination has no limit.

But then we grew up. And as we grow older, we met 'real people' living in the 'real world' and talking about 'real things'. Some may have messed up our ability to dream, others managed to steal and destroy those dreams.

There were moments in school when you were mocked for your 'stupid ideas'. There were also times when your parents crushed your dreams without even trying to understand our point of view. There were husbands who just ignored your dreams because they think that you were just a woman filled with silly ideas. There is also the boss who dismissed your suggestions as being 'impractical' without even giving it a chance to be explored.

The 'Dream Takers' are people who have lost their dreams and now attempt to discouraged others to dream by giving 'advices', sharing their bad 'experiences' and always talking about 'I have seen it all before'. They tried to convince us to stop dreaming by words laden with discouraging remarks and blaming everyone on what has happened to them. These dream takers are all around us: parents, friends, teachers or colleagues.

Life would be dull without dreams. No creativity, no hope and no new challenges.
Find a someone or surround yourself with positive type of friends who believe in you and who can fuel your passions and ambitions. Yes, you can. You will never know your full potential if you never try.

Let's dream big and go for it!

Mirror, Mirror..

Olivia Wilde as the Evil Queen and Alec Baldwin as the magic mirror from Snow White,


“I don't know if I can continue, even today, to always like myself.
But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself.
It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable.

But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, 'well, if I'd known better I'd have done better,' that's all.
So you say to people who you think you may have injured, 'I'm sorry,' and then you say to yourself, 'I'm sorry.'

If we all hold on to the mistake, we can't see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror;
we can't see what we're capable of being.
You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one's own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that's rough.

But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don't have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.”

-Maya Angelou quotes (American Poet, b.1928)-

Always in My Mind

We may be surrounded by many people, but we may still feel lonely.
We may have whatever that money can buy, but we may still feel empty.
We can afford many things others can only dream of..
but we only want that one thing we can never get.
Blessings come in disguises they say, but sometimes we do not see it..

Once in a while, during an event at the hotel or outings with work colleagues, I do find myself looking around the familiar faces and thinking that something seems missing from the picture.

What is it..? I'm not sure. These are all friends..sharing the same workplace and problems from the office. One of us made a joke and everyone burst into laughter. It was a successful night. Everyone was happy. But..there was a touch of sadness there too. Someone is not here to share all this..

Looking into the night sky, gazing at all those stars winking back at me. I have always been fascinated with what goes on high up there in the sky.. stargazing and daydreaming. The air is fresh.. and the soft wind blowing a tendril of the hair across the cheek. How the feeling brings back a familiar memory.. as time goes by..

Dad, if you could look at me now, I wonder what you would say. Would you be proud of me? Or would you be sad instead..?

They are now doing the closing speech. Time to put aside the memories.

As Jung says: There are as many nights as days. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. Living every minute of life with love, grace and gratitude.

Signing off,
Aidahana

Captain of My Soul

Once, I was ignorant of poems and poetry.
For me, all those sing song rhymes belongs to the world of primary school. :p
However, 2 years back, my eyes were finally opened to the beauty of poetry. Every poem tells you of a story: happiness, joy, love, sadness , sufferings, madness and even death.

Words that traversed the world and touched the hearts of so many people. One of the poets that I always like to read is William Ernest Henley.

William Ernest Henley (1849-1907) was a British poet and critic who suffered from Tuberculosis of the bone and had a below knee amputation. He wrote this poem in reaction to his fate and in defiance to his suffering.

Out of the night that covers me
Black as a pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find, me unafraid

It matters not how straight the gates
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul!
*****

Wonder how it feels to be really the captain of your own soul...

Bricks and Thin Walls

What are walls made of?
Bricks, you would say.
How do bricks become walls?
By staying glued together with cement, of course.

Zabrina went one step further by asking : What if, in order to save costs, in some sections/corners the builder put in other things instead of cement: example : sticks, stones or mud? What would happen to the wall? Just imagine: some parts of the house has bricks cemented as wall, others has mud as the glue factor. Imagine a house that has 1 part cemented with cement, 1 part with glue and the rest with mud.

Would the house be equally strong everywhere? Would you feel safe living in a house that one part of it is just waiting to fall down? Would you even consider living in that house?

Life is a bit like that. Maybe. Most probably.
Even if the part where the bricks are being held together by cement, would not be able to stand firm against a strong wind. The weaker parts will pull the strong part down as it falls.

Someone was suggesting to boss to organize a team building session for the whole Sales Department. Team building? Cat and boss were exchanging surprised looks. Does that someone knows the meaning of that word? That someone answers : 'yes. we will all go to the beach, play volleyball together, eat grilled freshly caught fishes, snorkelling..

Ah, that is called 'going on a holiday'. Not 'team building' certainly.
Being a 'team' would mean helping one another. If one of the colleague tells you that she is out of her wits trying to manage 3 accounts at the same time, while you currently do not have anything on your hands, what do you do?

There are 2 choices: Try to see what you can do to help (give some ideas, take over one of her smaller account) or you can just pretend not to hear, see or notice. If we can share something good with the other team members, something that can benefit the whole department and make the wall stronger, then why do we not do it? That is a better description of 'team building'. We would want our team members to be strong and supportive. No back stabbing, no telling tales about one another.

Well, it's not an impossible task. Only that it would need us to patiently put cement layer upon layer of cement on each brick and giving a helping hand to those who are slow so that all can have a rest at the end of the day and enjoy a nicely built house that has strong walls..

Signing off,
aidahana