Celebration of LIFE

          In life, we have numerous occasions that we termed as milestones. What makes them deep-coloured is when we have the chance to celebrate them with good friends and special people in our life. We have gatherings such as work anniversary, golden wedding anniversary, retirement, birth of a new baby, birthdays etc.. 

          As I celebrate one highlight of my life, my birthday, I am grateful to all people who have come and made it colourful. At the outset, I am thankful to God for the gift of life that He has entrusted to me. And although I know that it is but a borrowed one and that sooner or later, I am going to return it to its Creator, I am but extremely joyful that I embrace this life. Consequently, I recognise that I have a great responsibility to take care of it thus allowing it to grow into the kind of life that will make its owner happy. On the other hand, knowing that I have both yin and yang of this life (light and dark shadows), I also have the accountability to grow into a more mature person and to share this life with others.

          I am also thankful to God for showering my life with wonderful people, first and foremost, my two treasured gifts- my wife Yanyan and our beloved kid, Kurt Kristoff. Being light bringers, they both radiate a constant positive energy to me to get up and face squarely whatever is at stake on every single day. As a social being, I am also indebted to other people who have  shared both my pains and joys. People come and go in our life and I am forever thankful to those who have helped me achieve the person that I am  now and would still be willing to journey with me to the rest of my life. 

         No matter how simple or challenging this life journey could be but with the presence of all these significant others in my life, I know that I could acquire the positive energy each day to continue with this journey. 

 

                                          

Moving Interstate: How to Beat the Challenges

A Guest Post:



Change is a part of life. Every day we face different scenarios. Sometimes, we have no control over them. While, sometimes we do. Thus. the graph of life's activities is never constant. One such challenging activity is moving interstate. When we put in such a position,  most shudder at the thought of all the work involved. But, we have to go through the process if it has a positive impact on our career, family, or education.

Moving interstate is a task which could get very annoying and complex, even for those who are used to moving locally. But, getting all irritated and giving up is not the solution. One must learn how to deal with this hectic and time-consuming task efficiently. 

imagecredit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Moving_house.JPG

Presented below are some techniques that will help you get through this frantic challenge. 

1. Pre-Packing Plan

It is very important that one must start their preparation of moving correctly, from the day the news is out. Planning well will buy you time to make sure all your important stuff is packed. Other than that, it will also save you from breaking and losing your fragile stuff in the process. This is the first step to help you beat the upcoming challenges. Once you are done with this part properly, the rest of the difficulties that would have had to deal with when moving interstate become easier to execute. Keep in mind that this step also includes where you would start packing your stuff from. 

2. Time to Pack your Stuff

Once you are done with the first step, it's time for you to start packing your things. Make sure to check and clean every drawer and closet systematically to avoid missing and losing any precious items. Try to pack the same category stuff in one place. Books in separate boxes, clothes in others, electronics in another, and the list goes on. Make sure to list down the category name on the boxes. Try to leave the items that you will need at the end until the last day.

3. Contact Friends and Family Living in that State

Remember to contact your family, friends, colleagues, and relatives (if any) living in the state you're moving to before you move.  This will be of great help for you if you are a complete stranger to the state. They can help you get to know the area and people in your new state a little better. 

4. U-Haul or Movers

There are quite a few reasonably priced movers that can help you move from your home state to wherever  it is you're moving to. However, they are priced higher than what it would cost to move yourself. U-Haul and other trailers that you could hire to move your things are also available for affordable rates.  Consider both options carefully before you decide one. 

imagecredit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2064/2224917035_88115fd957_b.jpg

With a mover, you'll have to pay more but do less. Whereas, if you hire truck then you'll save more but will need to do a lot more. 

5. Unpacked Systematically

Once you've moved to your home, you're faced with the last challenge - unpacking. Try to come up  with a system rather than aiming to unpack everything simultaneously. Setting up furniture in the bedroom should be the first step, you would also most likely want to unpack some of your clothes second. The process can take hours to weeks depending on how organised you are. The above-mentioned tips can be of great help in facing interstate moving challenges. Remember, there really is no one-size fits all approach to moving. However, moving can be easy or the most difficult thing you ever do based on how well you've planned. Good luck! 

This article is shared by the expert removalist team @Walkmove

For more information about their company, check this link.

                                      

Why are We Afraid of Failures?

" Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up."- Thomas Edison

          Every now and then, we hear of people saying, " I'm tired of this world.", "I'm such a failure." "I don't want to move on anymore."..... so on and so forth. 

          How then do we gauge our life? Is life merely a matter of collecting successes (and never failures) along the way? Or is it the other way around?

          At times, what makes us think that we are a failure is the standard that we put on ourselves and that of others. As Thomas Edison said beforehand, many among us fail when we are supposed to be at the verge of success. 

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          Actually there are varieties of meaning to failure yet the very common one among them is the reality that no one among us wants to experience that hurt and pain as a consequence of failure. Our willingness to step one foot forward is hold back by the many "ifs" that we have in ourselves. Consciously or unconsciously, we are telling our mind of certain negativity such as "what if I fail?...what others will tell me if I will not attain that grade?....if I will fall down, would I be able to get up and continue the fight?....

          Thus, for us to be able to embrace this thing called failure, we need to convince both our minds and our hearts that it is still alright if we stumble and fail. We need to believe that we are more than the failures that we have in life. After all, and whether we agree or not, life is but a race and only those who are fit and have the will to move forward can finish the race.   

                                                     

T.G.I.F......What's in a Friday?

          It's Friday once again. It may not sound true to you but it is just a personal observation that when it is Friday, the atmosphere around and everywhere is that of excitement and thrill. I know that it is probably a matter of mindset but for many people, Fridays means time for break from work, time to spend with loved ones, opportunity to relax after spending much time in offices, shops, workplaces etc.

          From a woman's point of view (my wife), it sounds though much similar to mine like Fridays and weekends are days to spend for bonding, relaxing, having time together for activities that could build further the relationship as husband and wife, as friends, as ordinary people.

          In my workplace, when Friday comes, people are so excited in coming to work and in ending their respective responsibilities also. This is contrasting to what Monday brings to people. Mondays are the opposite meaning some people seems to be still floating in the air having the after effect of the weekend's activities. Others are feeling sluggish coming into work. 

          Anyway, whatever our motivations for Fridays, may it always be for the betterment of our being and that of our relationships with others. To spend quality time with people dear to us is highly priceless. So come..... let us spend this day and the coming weekend in a way that both we and our loved ones will share alongside each other moments of togetherness and oneness. After all, life is meaningful when it is shared with others. 

                                          

Learn to Overcome Negativity

          Ever since I grew up as a child, little it be known that each day brought us all two possibilities- either good news or bad news. yin or yang, light and shadow. Moments that I cherished the most were those filled with laughters and other pleasant memories while we also tend to delegate somewhere else those not so pleasant ones. You and me, we all have that tendency to cherish the good and reject the bad. However, as I mentioned earlier, life in itself is made up of these two realities- the good and the bad.

          On the other hand, we have various approaches to pain. Others may tend to welcome them and grow positively from them. Some will tend to be overly affected by them that at the end of the day, they seem to have lost their energy to walk "one more mile". Moreover, there are also those who are more inclined to put the blame on others of their miseries. Such trivialities or not as losing one's pen, forgetting one's notebook at home, mindlessly leaving the car key inside when stepping out of it and locking everything etc., they also result to losing their focus and energy to welcome the new day. 

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          Meanwhile, there are also approaches which could enable us to get up from those tumbled moments:

1. Be open- let it be and let it go. Though by nature, this is not an easy thing to do for we have the tendency to internalise either knowingly or unknowingly every painful event in life. However, in order for us to overcome such pain, we need to go down into ourselves and learn to accept it then let it go. Never let the painful experience lingers more in our mind since if we do so, it will surely affect the rest of our activities and may possibly block our desire to nurture relationships with others;

2.  Be alert- in every event in our life, there is no sense to spend so much time on it for it will lead us to nowhere. Instead, step back and learn to evaluate the event then check what went wrong. Start from there then the next step that you will take will surely lead you to the right one.

3. Ask for help- pride is one thing that can make us down. On the other hand, humility also can be our way to grow and become better persons. It's not really bad to ask for other's assistance and comfort during our trial moments. Rather, we somehow acknowledge our own limitation and at the same time, we tap other people's resources to help us move on. 

4. Finally, learn to pray- whoever is your personal god and whatever name you attribute to this divine being, learn to constantly submit everything to Him and ask for graces so as to grow more in His way. 

                                       

Possibilities Abound

          One time while at work, I was listening to the music and at a certain moment, the DJ greeted all his listeners of the day then wished everyone a great new day. While listening to him, I was struck by what he once mentioned that in each of our days, many possibilities are bound to happen. And I moved on with the rest of my day responsibilities, I once in a while thought of it and realised that indeed, what he said is true. 

         Everyday exactly is full of surprises for all of us. And even though no one among us knows exactly what will happen during the course of the day yet it is always beneficial for us to stay positive on things. Learn to say good bye to those bad energies in the past. Allowing oneself to move on is difficult especially if the pain inflicted by another party is deep penetrating. However, if we convince ourselves that we can move on from this pain and rather stay on what is positive out of the experience then most probably we will learn to step forward.

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          In short, let us not allow any distraction to block our way to self development. On the other hand, let us enjoy all the possibilities brought by a new day such as enjoying the company of our family, relatives, friends and others. Sharing time with good and special people in our life nurture our day. Let us also open up ourselves to other possibilities at work like fulfilling all our tasks of the day, or receiving a salary increase from our boss, or helping a workmate at his job, so on and so forth.

          Hence, every new day brings opportunities for growth not just for ourselves but also for others whom we come into contact any time of the day.