Life

God has not promised

Skies always blue,

Flower-strewn pathways

All our lives thro’;

God has not promised

Sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow,

Peace without pain.

God has not promised

We shall not know

Toil and temptation,

Trouble and woe;

He has not told us

We shall not bear

Many a burden,

Many a care.

But God has promised

Strength for the day,

Rest for the laborer,

Light for the way,

Grace for the trials,

Help from above,

Unfailing sympathy,

Undying love.

(Annie Johnson Flint)

God is always faithful, regardless of our faith. God is always listening, whether we talk to Him or not. Most importantly, God’s grace is always sufficient for us.

Love is patient; love is kind

and envies no one.

Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;

never selfish, not quick to take offense.

There is nothing love cannot face;

there is no limit to its faith,

its hope, and endurance.

In a word, there are three things

that last forever: faith, hope, and love;

but the greatest of them all is love.

(1 Cor 13)

Some time back while having coffee with a couple of friends, one of them happened to put the following words together into a sentence, “Thio Li-Ann”, “Teach” and “Human Rights”. We laughed.

Till now, I still can’t help but snigger at the thought.

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,

but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine,

we consciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.

Sometimes when I feel like giving up, throwing in the towel, or kicking the bucket, I’ll always read this beautiful prose by Marianne Williamson and be reminded that we’re born to manifest the glory of God within us.

As I’ve have been listening to dance remixes, I always wondered how DJs transition and mix between each track, while maintaining the tempo at a constant. Obviously, with technology these days, it isn’t that difficult but still requires some bit of skill. Imagine the days of turntables and a mixer board only.

I guess DJs are a spontaneous bunch of skilful sound engineers.

One of the things I’m trying very hard to improve is my expression through written and verbal methods. I find it troubling and difficult to express what and how I feel in accurate and concise terms. Unintentionally, it leaves people with an inaccurate impression of what I originally intend to mean. The implications aren’t so bad when the subject-matter is largely technical, but when it comes to things that matter to the heart and soul, unintentional problems and misunderstandings can arise.

Although I’m an INTJ according to some personality tests, I have great passion in trying to empower people I meet to be able to do “meta-learning”. Rather than knowing as much data as possible to be knowledgeable, why not know as many possible methods of seeking out information and solutions instead? That way, whatever problems that you come across, you’ll have the tools and skills to discover the solutions and answers yourself.

As I hand over my work in the current organisation, I’d spent almost all available time trying to impart thinking ability rather than rote-memorisation abilities. The nature of my work is largely ad-hoc problem solving and fire fighting; being able to know how to come up with solutions when you’re out of ideas is the key to surviving comfortably.

Little did I expect however, in the words of Henry Ford, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it”. I can only resign and sigh, wishing them all the best.

One of my good friends once asked how I seem to be able to have access to timely intelligence information pertaining to everyday life and happenings in the organisation. I’ve always maintained that it’s the result of a robust “Int[elligence] Network”. The concept is extremely simple—people volunteer interesting information of what they see and experience during casual conversations. As long as you do more listening than talking, you’ll be able to gain a wealth of information. It sounds awfully like gossip but it isn’t as long as you don’t volunteer nor listen to unreliable information about other people behind their back.

With a little bit of induction-deduction and a lot of listening, you’ll be able to obtain a lot more information than most people. A plus if you are observant as there’s as much information volunteered as restrained; double-plus if you ask the right questions; triple-plus if you know the right people for the right type information. With a good memory and pleasant working relationships, you’ll be powerfully connected.

So really, these are the little things in office that keep me mentally entertained in an alternative way; true to Apple, Inc’s philosophy—Think Different.

I was glad.

Having been in Australia for 3 weeks, I haven’t been doing much physical training as the conditions, i.e. dust, sand and all, are extremely bad for my asthma. Upon touch down, I must take my IPPT before ORD-ing in just 7 days.

Today is the day I cleared it finally in the far west; To God be the Glory.

Today, something rather bizarre happened. While I was ordering coffee, I felt like having a hot coffee as the environment was rather cold there and drinking something warm would feel good. Little did I realise, I made an order for an iced version instead, without even realising the thought inconsistency. I was offered a packet of sugar which I promptly refused as my drink to come is cold.

It was only when my coffee arrived that I realised that the coffee is cold and that I actually wanted hot coffee instead in the beginning. All these happened within the span of 20 minutes.

This is really bad; I’m severely sleep deprived and still jet lagged. I shall have a sleeping pill tonight and hope that I don’t wake up at 4 am tomorrow morning again, as it has been the last 4 days.

If this still doesn’t help, I need to find a way to reset my Circadian rhythm, fast.