Generation Gap

Old age is fifteen years older than I am

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

I had a birthday recently. I try not to make a fuss about my birthday; in fact, I get kind of embarassed when people wished me a Happy Birthday. It's not that I don't like my birthday, it's just that I feel the generation gap widening ever so slightly on my birthday. And at my age, with the people I am surrounded with, it might as well be a chasm, for what it's worth.

The fault is mine, I must admit. I am lousy at socialising, mainly because half the time I have no idea what they were saying. Maybe I'm just dense. But it's just me. My colleagues and friends, even my kids, I know they're speaking the same language as I am, but I have absolutely no idea what they were talking about. They might as well be speaking Martians for all I know. Make no mistake, I love them all dearly, but sometimes this generation gap is really frustrating. Oh well, that's what I get for getting old(-er)....sighhh

The younger generation must think I'm a dinosaur. That's what I thought of the older generation when I was their age. How difficult it was to get the elders to understand me. I thought they just didn't get what I was about. I was afraid to rebel out in the open, so I did the next best thing. I rebel in silence. But I guess it's true what they say, with age comes wisdom. I'm far from wise, but I have since learnt a few things, mellow out, taking things in my stride, for which I am grateful. Generation gap aside, I am glad that everybody has been very patient with me.

Until next time...

Perseverence

In our quest for perfection, we sometimes forget that we are merely human.

Anonymous

This year I was forced to learn something new, out of necessity, not because I want to. I had to grasp a very alien concept, totally far removed from my comfort zone. I was sceptical at first and very sure I WILL NOT be able to follow through. I had to fight myself tooth and nail to finish it. To make matters worse, I had one peer who was as blind as I am, I knew nobody in this area, and had to plough on my own. That was hard. I learn one important lesson from all this, step out of my comfort zone to re-tune my way of thinking. I hope I'm a better person for it.

Learning something new is hard. Learning something totally alien is no mean feat. It requires tremendous mental strength and endurance to follow through. I think if it weren't necessary, that there weren't people depending on me, I would have abandoned it halfway through. Thank you God for giving me the strength, for opening my mind and my eyes to the wonders and joys of learning. I may gripe and complain, but deep down I am grateful and happy to be learning something new.

I still have a long way to go. I will persevere and God willing, I will succeed.

Until next time....

Self-Sabotage

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.

Ross Perot

Do I sabotage myself? Let's see. I read this article titled Self -Sabotage: The Enemy Within by Edward A. Selby, Timothy Pychyl, Hara Estroff Marano, Adi Jaffe, published on September 06, 2011 in http://www.psychologytoday.com/ and most of the issues discussed hit me right on the nose. I don't know if I'm sabotaging myself, some days it feels like I am, others not so much.

Okay, let's proceed.

1. Dodging Emotions: The Help That Harms
We often get into trouble trying to escape intense negative feelings. Umm, yeah....sometimes. The article talks about comfort eating, shopping, procrastinating as a coping mechanism, I think mine is sleeping. No wonder I sleep a lot.

2: Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go?
We fool ourselves in the minute-by-minute choices we make. We make an intention to act, the time comes, but instead of acting we get lost in our own deliberation, making excuses to justify an unnecessary and potentially harmful delay. Who makes this decision? We do. The self, in fact, sabotages its own intention. Umm....yeah...almost daily. It's like this, the will is strong but the flesh is weak. Why do anything today that I can put off until tomorrow?

3: Extreme Modesty: The Case of the Disappearing Self
There is a point at which ingratiation is corrosive, and women too often find it. Umm...I'm not so modest.

4: Addiction: The Long Slide
"I Did All the Things I Wasn't Supposed to Do"....Umm...not all of them!

Last, but not least, beating myself up, sometimes over nothing. So, self sabotage? or not? No idea, maybe....hmmmm

P/s: for the full article please go here

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201109/self-sabotage-the-enemy-within. I claim no copyright whatsoever to the article quoted. Please go to the website for full details on copyright. Thanks

Catching Up

With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.

Abraham Lincoln

How true. I have been extremely busy lately. I am serving two very demanding masters, each with his own idiosyncracies (sic!), demands and needs. My workload has doubled over the past two months, but truthfully, I don't mind it, really. I just have to be more efficient...so to speak.

To be fair, I must admit I have been treated quite lightly. My colleagues have been scrambling around, trying to catch up with their paperwork and hypocrite that I am, I have been feigning ignorance. I just KNOW that I will have to do them as well, but now, at his moment, I am going to try to put them off for as long as I can. At least until April anyway.

An acquaintance once asked me out for drinks after work. I asked myself after taking a raincheck, what does "after work" means? I don't have an "after work". I work all the time. My working days starts at 7 a.m and ends at 10 p.m. Any free time that I have left I will use them "wisely" (ahem!) .... for sleeping.

Well, busy as I am...I think my sister is ten times busier. My poor sister has to travel outstation at least three days a week, leaving her husband and children behind. Keep the faith, Sis! Which goes to show, as bad as we think our situation is, there are others who got the shorter end of the stick.

Sighhhh....until next time.

P/S: Abe Lincoln got it right...laughter is the best medicine...

Everything's in Moderation

Sebab pulut santan binasa, sebab mulut badan binasa

Malay Proverb

This Malay proverb is akin to the English saying that states "think before you speak", or "the pen is mightier than the sword"...(something like that). I have seen many, many instances where people jeopardize their future, (and their freedom!) for saying exactly what they think. It's not wrong to state exactly what you think but you should set some boundaries. You may think you are right, but other people may have a very different view from you.

Sometimes I am amazed at the things that people would post online. Far be it from me to preach what is right and what is wrong to people, but I always tell my kids, be careful what you post online. They may come back to bite you in the butt! (ahem!) The consequences can be far reaching and devastating. It's sad, really. On the one side there's the freedom of expression, on the other side there's the sanction, be it the law, morality, whatever you may call it. And the worst part is, it can (and will) get blown out of proportion.

The best way is to strike a balance between the two. How? I leave it to you to decide.

Until next time....