It's about what you can, not what you can't.

Today, I had a little chat with a very intelligent man.  We were having some idle chit chat when suddenly he brought up the new iOS6 which improved the overall usability of apple products that support the platform.  It happened in an instant!  What was supposed to be an idle chat between two best of buds quickly became a debate about humans' dispositions.  I argued that due to certain environmental constraints, humans, albeit being equipped with all the necessary resources, will not be able to shine and cast away the shell of oppression.  However, this intelligent man argued that blaming one's impotence on the environment is a lame excuse.  He proceeded to saying this, "It's not about what you can't do, it's about what you can.  Throughout civilizations, empires rose and fell.  Particular individuals shone and paved the way for a brighter tomorrow.  Is it because they were born in such an environment that they were able to succeed?  NO!  It was because they had the determination and conviction to become better!"

He talked about how Steve Jobs went to India to learn Zen and Buddhist's teaching when he was retrenched from apple.  He did not lose hope, he persevered and by doing what he could do, seizing every available opportunity and experimenting, he was able to come out on top and beat his competitors.  "Gates wanted everyone to use Windows; Jobs envisaged homes with their own personal computers."  Due to this, the world changed.  When I heard his points, I was perplexed.  Who is this person I am talking to?  Just a few weeks back, he still sounded like me, an immature kid who didn't know the reach of his arm but within a few trials, he has grown to become such a wonderful person!

After we talked, we talked some more about how we were faring with our current lives and what we had planned for the future.  When we parted, the words he said kept reverberate in my head, "It's not about what you can't do, it's about what you can."  That's goddamn right!

"You are what you choose to be!"

The Calming Breeze

Shudder...Shudder...
It doesn't matter,
Winter is fading,
The winds are changing.

Outside my house,
Not a squeak of a mouse.
Wonder if I was doused,
Whilst fumbling on my couch.

I can see the light
of the morning blinding my sight.
It feels so nostalgic
and I can't help thinking it's magic.

Spring is here.

The calming wind,
The blossoming buds.
The warm feeling that permeates
into my soul and whispers
in my ears:
"Lift up your head
and move forward"

What is Teaching?

More often that not, people perceive teaching as the teacher does the talking and the students listen.  This has been the definition of teaching since ancient times and until this very day, some society still perceive it as so.  However, a great lecturer once told me, "Teaching is learning.  You learn what the students have to teach you."  When I first heard this, I was also confused since I am one of those "orthodox" person and listening to this simply left me baffled.  I mean, what could the students possibly teach you that you don't know right?

Fast forward to today when I was teaching, I finally understood what my lecturer meant.  Students are constantly learning something new, not just from the teacher but also from their interactions with their surrounding.  What teachers teach to them is technical knowledge from books that abides by the social norms but what students teach teachers is the knowledge about how to respond to a human being.  Students are all living beings and the teacher's everyday behaviour will be observed by the students and they will react accordingly.  For example, if you are constantly happy in class and you always use a soft voice to teach them, they will infer that as you are a friendly person and they can get to know you without any fear.  This also applies otherwise.  Hence, after years of teaching, a teacher will swiftly advance to becoming a professional psychiatrist.

So, what is teaching?  Teaching is learning and what you learn will ultimately shape what you teach and what you can become.  Cheers.

The Start of A New Day

When things take a turn for the worse and you feel like you do not want to wake up tomorrow, let me tell you something, bygone be bygone.  A new days will always come, and in that new day, there will always be new sensations to experience.  So, whenever you are feeling frustrated or lethargic, just calm down and think and understand that, no matter how bad things may seem, a new day will always come.

Reliving The Past

People say that the past can make one stronger.  In historians' eyes, the past can either make or break a person as societal expectations and pressure come into play.  Nevertheless, regardless of the past we had experienced, I firmly believe that reliving the past is what defines us humans.  We have seen in movies often the characters just pushed on even though something bad happened to them.  Let's face it, if all of us could do that, then there wouldn't be terms such as "developing countries" and "third world countries".  It is exactly because humans fail to understand the severity of their own actions that lead to blunders happening time and again throughout the course of history.  Reliving the past will not only help people to understand their mistakes better but it will also serve as a reminder that they have lived through it.  No matter how difficult or painful, be it happy or jovial, that part of the past makes us who we are today.

That is why, to you readers out there, don't discard the past please.  The greatest past one could ever see in one's family is his/her grandparents and parents.  They are literary walking fountains of knowledge and experience.  I won't say wisdom here as some adults are completely negligent to it.  That aside, listening to a few advice they have to give will never hurt but only benefit us.  I am not saying that we need to conform completely without cogitating but more often than none, the advice they give is worth the while.

With that, I would like to bring the curtain down on today's topic by sharing a fabulous music with everyone.  This musical score comes from a very heartwarming movie I watched when I was still a child, please enjoy it.

Mysteries...

Today, our world is filled with mysterious happenings and some of them are completely out of the humans' interpretations.  Often, we find in newspaper and magazines cases which involve murders, assaults and abuses. And this really gets you thinking, why do all these mysterious things happen?  Humans are said to be able to make justified discretions based on their innate intelligence but from what I can see, some of these humans lack that and portray, albeit not explicitly, signs of acute moral insanity.

So comes today's main topic, are extraterrestrial lifeforms more bizarre than humans?  The answer, from my perspective, is obviously no.  Humans are by far the most complicated and elusive creatures I have ever laid eyes upon.  Every action they take, every word they utter and every motive they have completely defy the rules of relativity.  Sometimes the consequences are so covert that you contemplate the likelihood of scandal.  So before we even dwell into the 4th dimension or outer space, it is imperative that we get to know ourselves first. Only then do we have the right to disseminate our principles and thoughts.

"So what are you?"

An Amazing Song!

Well, as the title suggests, I just came across an absolutely marvelous song!  Days of searching and continuous effort finally paid off, I got my hand on the full version of the song and I must say the full version is incredible!  Where is this song you may ask, sadly I cannot reveal it to you as it is copyrighted but it can be found on youtube.  The song is called Sora wa takaku kaze wa utau and it is currently used as Fate/Zero's ending theme.  My previous post talks about the power of music but this will be focusing on songs.  Indeed, once in a while, we will come across incredibly powerful songs that can touch the soul and this is one of them.  It may appeal to some and appear totally loathsome to the rest and I perfectly understand this logic as no two men are the same.   Babbling aside, I present to you the cover of this song.  Enjoy.