Notes to Myself

Being young is both an asset and a liability:

The former; because you have a lifetime ahead of you - to do what you love, to make a living, to live life the best you can.

The latter; because you have to constantly keep up with others who have had more opportunities, more experience, much more mileage than you.

Learn to balance - between confidence, humility, and teachability. And learn to walk at your own pace, be your own age, every second of every day.

Ur efforts 2 win God’s affection r unnecessary. Ur fears of losing His affection r needless. He loves u because He has chosen to. Period.

— Max Lucado (@MaxLucado) May 25, 2012

24 hours in a day:

8 hours for sleeping,

8 hours for working,

8 hours for everything else!
Eating, drinking, commuting, showering, cleaning, laundry, banking, paying the bills, fixing broken things, shopping, entertainment, exercising, gardening, catching up with friends, quality time with family, events, praying, reading, learning, thinking, creating…

Where do people find the time? How do people not burn out?

They learn to be productive - do more with less.
They learn to prioritize - gain some, lose some.
They learn to say no - to others, to themselves.
They learn to rest - chores become joys, not work.

Guard your time. People will always try to take it away from you. But remember, a busy life isn’t the same as a successful life.

Time is the only thing you have on earth that truly belongs to you. Use it wisely.

I looked at the little TV aerial
Atop the neighbor’s house;
Against the clear blue sky -
Silver, gleaming in the sun.

On it a yellow bird perched,
A common pigeon, maybe.
It ruffled its feathers,
Then took off with glee!

The TV aerial shook so hard
With the momentum of the kick -
Left and right, back and forth,
It looked like it was going to break!

But soon after, it stopped,
Went back to its original state;
Almost like nothing happened -
Silver, gleaming in the sun.

What mechanism is this?
I thought to myself,
That it bends and moves
So easily!

Yet it never breaks,
That little TV aerial;
Through thunderstorms
Stands strong.

In the same way, we
Must flow with the wind;
To bend, but not break
To move, but not be moved.

In the storms we are made strong.
In the floods we will soar.

What is life, if not -
To make a mark,
To make a change,
To leave a legacy, however small…

To make something
Truly yours;
To create something
Uniquely you.

People pleasers
Flee conflicts;
Yea-sayers
Shun controversy.

To gain popularity -
But at what cost?
Nodding goodbye to wishes,
Smiling goodbye to dreams.

Respect is earned
When one takes a stand,
Not easily swayed
By waves and trends.

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” - Bill Cosby

Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter

Day after day;
Month after month;
Year after year -
The Earth goes round and round.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens: 
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV)

Though sorrow may last through the night, joy comes in the morning.
(Psalm 30:5)

Nothing on Earth is permanent. That is the way things work around here. Have hope.

I heard a story about a man who was robbed, and despite his misfortune, was thankful for a few things:

“1) That I look wealthy enough to be worth robbing; 
2) That despite everything I’ve lost, I still have my life; 
3) That it is I being robbed, and not me doing the robbing.”

An amazing lesson on thankfulness & perspective.
Thank you for the sharing, @isaacooi @chckl.

As a perfectionist, I tend to spend way too much time thinking instead of doing.

But all that planning, conceptualizing, comprehending, brainstorming -
would be useless without an action following after!

Learn a lesson from Titanic: the 100-year-old too-good-to-be-true tragedy.

People over-apologize
for trivial things…
When the better thing to say
is simply, ‘Thank You’.

The former is a negative word -
It emanates guilt, regret, distance.
It says, “You shouldn’t be nice to me”
It says, “I am not worth it”.

Say it often enough,
and others might just believe you.

The latter is a stronger word -
It affirms, encourages, inspires.
It says, “You are so kind. I appreciate you” 
It says, “I am worth your effort”.

It does not regret for taking, 
for it is ready to give back.  
It gives favours
a reason to go round. 

Turn misfortunes into happy opportunities; Say ‘Thank You’.

When we were younger
We chose our friends:

Who we wanted to associate with
Who we wanted to be seen with
Who we allowed to know us
Who we let in. 

Involuntarily
We outcast some
Inevitably
We lost some. 

Now we are older
More settled, secure
Stronger 
and hopefully wiser.

Now we know
We can
Influence, and not be pulled down
Inspire, and not be let down. 

We choose our friends 
Who we want to associate with
Who we want to reach out to
Whose lives we want to touch.