Regrets

It's probably impossible to live a life without regret, without detours, without wasted time. We just have to face this reality. We just have to accept that life can't be perfect and shouldn't get bogged down by its little imperfections. At times of accidents, we can always blame ourselves for doing something to prevent it, but hindsight is always 20/20. If we could predict all outcomes of our actions, life would be too easy. By being bogged down on the little blips in life, we are wasting even more of our life. What's important is that we learn from our little mistakes and to move on. These regrets represent sunk costs. We can no longer do anything about them. What we can do is to make the most out of what were the consequences of our decisions - either good or bad.

"Forget regrets, or life is yours to miss" - from Jonathan Larson's "Rent"

Change for the better

I promise to be a nicer person from today forward.

Change?

I can feel that I'm changing. And I don't know if it's a good or bad thing.

Satisfaction

Sorry for the hiatus from my little blog here. I would usually say it's because I'm busy but to be honest, it's because I didn't feel there was anything I wanted to write on here for the past few months. And here I am again. Reading some notes which I got from a very dear friend as a present last year has inspired me to write this post here tonight. I cannot guarantee that I will continue posting here on a regular basis but I just suddenly had an urge to post something, so here goes.

I was wondering why is it that a lot of us like to focus on what we do NOT have, what we did NOT achieve, instead of what we DO have or what we DID achieve. It's quite a shame that some of us are never satisfied with what we have or what we have achieved. I find myself getting stressed out at the end of the day because I feel like I haven't completed everything that I have to do. But then again, was it reasonable to have expected myself to complete all those things in one day? Maybe, or maybe not. By having that expectation to never having a blank to do list is not reasonable. There will always be things to do and goals to work towards. Once I'm done with what I have to do today there will be more tasks I have to add to my to do list tomorrow. It's only normal. We shouldn't stress. Set reasonable goals and then at the end of the day, take note of what we've accomplished and not what we have YET to accomplish.

Being content

You can try to please everyone, but at the end of the day, you cannot be friends with everyone.

You can try to change yourself to be someone else who seems to be "better", but at the end of the day, you need to be yourself.

At the end of the day, do you reflect upon what you've done wrong or think about your accomplishments?

Live in the present, not the past. Be content. You actually have more than you think. People can be greedy and want something more when they realize they are losing it, whether or not this thing may be suitable for them. You have to realize that you can't have everything, and it's ok not to have everything :)

Counting my blessings

I might not be outgoing, but I'm blessed to have amazing friends.
I might not be pretty, but I'm blessed to not be disfigured.
I might not be wealthy, but I'm blessed with a home.
I might not be a size 0, but I'm blessed to be healthy.
I might not be great at talking, but I'm blessed to be able to talk.
I might not be a prodigy, but I'm blessed with an education.
I might not be satisfied with my decisions in the past, but I'm blessed to have a chance to make better decisions in the future.
I might not be happy, but I'm blessed with the choice to be happy.

Be like Jason Chan's latest CD and Change

Why are we so afraid of change?
Why is it so difficult to take a leap of faith?
What if? What if I fail? What if I don't like it?
What IF?
Wasted time?
Wasted money?
Or would you rather waste life by not living it to the fullest?
Don't be afraid of change. Don't be afraid to try.

2009 Lesson #4

We can be a lot happier if we are able to take good things in as they come and not to question or doubt their existence. If something great happens to you today, try to accept it at face value. Have little celebrations in life for small achievements, because we never know when our next achievement may be. When you feel happy, feel it, live it. Don't hold back.

2009 Lesson #3

I realized that when we expect something, we never get it, then we face disappointment. So, perhaps the key to happiness is not to expect anything. Then maybe our lives would be filled with pleasant surprises.

Bad things do happen to good people

I have not done anything majorly wrong in my life. I have (or at least I try very hard to) not hurt anyone but sometimes I say things that are totally not what I meant to say. Why can't I speak my thoughts? Someone once told me: if you don't have something nice to say don't say it. I really try. I try really hard. But my words seem not to match my thoughts or my intent. I really don't know what I can do anymore. I HATE how the world can easily misunderstand what I say. I really really hate it.

吃得苦中苦,方為人上人

Positive thoughts. Don't lose focus on your goals. You will get through this.

2009 Lesson #2

Don't be afraid to help. Say what you need to say. Do what you feel is the right thing to do right away. Don't wait because then it may feel awkward later on which may deter you from helping. Don't let others suffer as a result of your shyness.

2009 Lesson #1

Don't be afraid to voice your concerns. If something doesn't feel right, chances are, it isn't right. It's better to look like an idiot now than to look like a bigger idiot later :)

My Way

I just realized there are lots to learn from Hins Cheung's My Way.

一直在酝酿
一直在盼望
爸爸和妈妈唯一的理想
二月第一天
一九八一年
我第一次对他们眨了眨眼
等待快点过去多少个明天
希望这个宝贝快快长大一点一点
身体要健康所有的事情都如所愿
baby长大以后就是小轩
i will find my way
i want a different way
i'll change the wind and rain
there be a brand new day
小时候受伤有人心痛失落有人安慰
现在遇到困难自己就要学会面对
i will find my way
i want a different way
nothing will stop me now
no matter what they say
困难要用我的坚强和努力勇敢面对
现在用心去追
感觉就对
i'll find my way
i will find my way
i find my way

一直就这样
找我的方向
不理会别人奇怪的眼光
直到有一天
我忽然发现
梦想已经在实现
等待快点过去多少个明天
看着自己已经慢慢长大一点一点
我的生活应该让我自己学会掌握
想信自己
不怕风雨再多

Merry Christmas

With two more hours until Christmas and a week before the new year arrives, what are you thinking about? It's during this time of the year where we all tend to count our blessings. It's been quite a crazy year full of ups and downs and without those around me to support me, I don't know how I would've survived it. Thank you everyone for lending an ear and reaching out whenever I was upset or confused. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year full of happiness. If there's one thing I need to put on my New Year's resolution list for 2009, it would be to learn to grow up and to be a more positive, happy person to lessen the burden on those around me.

人生的冤枉路

Life is full of detours. This may be hard to accept for someone as type A as myself, who cannot stand to waste a minute. However, this is something we must all learn to accept.

Someone once told me something that's really true. I choose not to use profanity, so I will censor this, but she said "**** (crap) happens." Indeed it does. And it happens to everyone, so if we could be positive and stop thinking of ourselves as the most miserable and unfortunate person in the world, then maybe we can be that much happier.

I made two mistakes today:
In one case, I did too much.
In another case, I didn't do enough.

This just shows that you never know at the moment what is the right thing to do or not to do. You may not be where you want to be right now. You may be full of regrets and have considered giving up. You may have to turn back to get to where you want to be. But in the end, you will get there.

未來

每天起床，都不是平靜的。每次都是因為在想什麼而不能再睡。我說我是 a morning person, 或許我只是 a worried person. 我發現人不只是被過去的遺憾纏繞著，也會為未來的事而擔心。做人真的不容易。我要加油！

Regrets

Do you always find yourself saying: "Oh shoot, I shouldn't have said that!" or "Oh no! Why did I do that?" Is your life always full of shoulda, coulda, woulda's? If we all could turn back time, we would. We would want to undo all our mistakes and the detours we've made in life. We would have practiced that much harder for a performance, studied that much harder for an exam, loved that person that much more. In that case, we would all become very successful and happy people. But we can't turn back time. We cannot undo the past. We can only move forward and we will always only have control of the present and the future. Of course self-reflection is important to learn from what we've done wrong so we don't repeat the same mistakes, but drowning ourselves in negative experiences will not help. Why waste time dwelling on the unchangeable by wasting precious time we can spend doing something more productive now?

Time

You know how I always say that time seems to fly by and how I seem to be wasting my life away? Sometimes being so results-oriented makes us forget about the small accomplishments in life. Is spending time with friends, catching up with former teachers/coworkers etc., helping out with little things at home, thinking about and working towards what lies ahead, and staying active really considered "not doing anything"? I don't think so. Even time spent in front of the computer doing not-so-productive things can be considered "smelling the roses" time. And time commuting from place to place on the bus can be considered "being aware of world events" time with a 24 in your hands or "appreciating the art of music" time with an earphone in your ears. It all depends on how you look at it. So why be so harsh on yourself and enhance the aging process by worrying so much? If you don't believe me, make a mental list of what you've done today. Did you really accomplish "nothing"?

人比人，比死人

Some people are self-motivated and always keep on going despite the circumstances, while others constantly have self-doubt and easily fall down.
Some people are hard working and always try their very best, while others are just happy with getting by.

Don't compare yourself to others for you will always be disappointed. People are always going to be different.

If you think you're smart, there will always be someone smarter.
If you think you're pretty, there will always be someone prettier.
If you think you're great at what you do, there will always be someone better.

Learn what you can from interacting with others but don't expect yourself to be exactly like others.