I Take Off The Mask!

I have learned
that in order to be happy
I have to be true to myself.

I have to know
my limitations
but I must never let them
hinder me
from doing the things I could still do.

A bird after all is not useless
just because it cannot swim,
nor a fish worthless
just because it cannot fly.

Pondering about reincarnation…

Somehow I felt it could be true.

How I felt it too long to live in my present form forever. How I felt the excitement of starting over again someday. How we change and how we remain the same somehow. How precious the present moment really is because it would never happen again, because we will never be the same person again. How dying is like sleep, and how rebirth is like waking up again after a long slumber.

How my beloved had been there all along, and how love can wait, because love knows it could never be truly lost. How it knows it has eternity to live on – to live again and again and again, always the same love, and yet always new and fresh, always full of wonder and inexplicable joy!

Waiting…

Sometimes the hardest part of an undertaking is not the planning,
nor the work you perform.

The hardest part of an undertaking
is when you have already done everything you ought to do-
you have plowed the fields,
you have planted the seeds,
you have watered them,
and now all you have to do is to wait for your crops to grow.

Seems easy?
Nah!
It’s the hardest part ever!

Many of us would feel uneasy doing so, waiting.
We fear that it might rain so much
and our crops would be flooded,
we fear that someone else may steal them
and reap what they have not planted.

We fear so many things
that we fail to use the time given us
into something more beneficial.

Why do we have to wait at all?

We were given time to wait
so that we can rest,
and so that we can enjoy the vision of a bountiful harvest
and feel the excitement of reaping the fruits of our labor!

We wait not to be miserable.
We wait to be healed,
to be refilled of our energies spent in working,
to be whole again
so that when the right time comes,
we can be ready to receive
the blessings that were meant to be ours!

There are 525,600 minutes in one year, what have I done with those?!  Thinking about it, did I spend much of those minutes in things that truly count? Or have I merely let them pass, or spent them in things that didn’t really matter?

525,600 minutes.

What can I do with just one minute anyways?

In one minute -
1. I can sing a song.
2. I can kiss my loved ones.
3. I can shake hands with a new-found friend.
4. I can smile.
5. I can pray.
6. I can embrace a friend.
7. I can jump!
8. I can dance.
9. I can say ‘thank you’.
10. I can say ‘I love you!’

Looking back however at the 525,600 minutes that have passed, I ask myself these questions:

1. How many kisses have I given away?
2. How many smiles have I shared?
3. How many songs have I sung from the heart?
4. How many times did I jump for joy?
5. How many prayers have I uttered?
6. How many friends have I embraced?

Looking back, I must have slept most of the time.
I must have complained a lot of times.
I must have worried so many times.

So many wasted minutes.
So many moments that were supposed to be mine,
to enrich my life and that of others.

It is not too late however! It’s enough to have spent a few minutes looking back. But now it’s time to live the moment. May the next minute count therefore, and may it be truly blessed!

For me, the single best thing you can do to become more creative is to be wrong more often. Creative people are wrong all the time (look at Apple’s long string of failures). The goal is to create a safe place to be wrong, a way to be wrong without destroying yourself. - Seth Godin (Interview by The Happiness Project)

Seth’s words caught my attention because of two things: First, that creativity is my life, and Second, that I still am afraid of making mistakes and wasting everything I’ve ever accomplished in life.

The second part of Seth’s quote gives us hope however.  We need to create a safe place to be wrong, “a way to be wrong without destroying yourself.”

But how can we do that?  Just how do we ensure that we don’t destroy ourselves with our mistakes?

In my previous job as an auditor, I believe we have such a word for that - risk mitigation. Risks exist, whether we like it or not. Without risk, there can be no business venture, and no profit in return. What we need to do is to learn how to handle those risks, how to mitigate them as best we could so as not to let them hinder us from our goals.

Following are some of the things I’ve listed in order to help me mitigate those mistakes:

1. Have a backup plan. Have as much backup or alternative courses of action as you may need. When Plan A doesn’t succeed, you always have Plan B or C.

2. Be aware of the consequences of your actions. You must be able to calculate just how much you are willing to risk. If your plan doesn’t materialize, can you handle the results? What would it cost you? Can you afford the consequences?

3. Test small before you leap BIG. There are times when you don’t need to plunge your entire body just to test how hot the water is. Just dip your toes a little to get a feel of the situation you’ll be placing yourself into.

4. Get relevant trustworthy advice. You don’t need to experience everything just so you’d have the wisdom to accomplish something. There are lots of people who’ve been there before, people who can advice you and impart to you the wisdom they’ve earned through the years. Just ensure that you weigh also the advice given you and talk only to people you could trust.

5. Use your imagination. As J.K. Rowling mentioned in her speech at Harvard, “Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not… it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.” Use your imagination and envision what you’ll be up against. Feel it as though everything’s already happening. Will the worst of it destroy you or those that matters most to you?

6. Ready your safety nets. In case all of your plans fail, how do you manage your fall? Will someone catch you? Will you have facilities to assist you? Do you know how you will manage the pain you will feel? How will you heal and for how long?

7. Strengthen yourself. There is no better preparation than striving to be the best person you could ever be. Gain wisdom. Develop patience and maturity. Have the courage to face your challenges, and the faith that no matter what happens, you will be able to rise up from the ashes like a phoenix. Make mistakes, but not the ones that could destroy who you are, because who you are is the only thing you’ll ever have left even if you lose everything along the way.

Know yourself. If you know you have much to learn, and much strength to develop, don’t engage in challenges that are beyond your capacity. Know the battles that fit your current strength but could teach you enough to grow stronger.

As you gain more confidence in who you are, only then can you face those challenges that will not destroy you, but will bring out the very best in you!