Confinement and Appreciation

One down, five more to go! The past week had been a living misery as I’m literally living by the day and counting down to the day when my “leg cover” would finally be off. Prior to fracturing my calf bone which called for the need to be put in cast, I’d always wondered how it would be like to walk with crutches. Now that I’ve had the privilege (or rather curse) to experience it myself, I’ve got the answer to that question and it’s simply “frustrating”.

The first couple of days were still bearable but by the fourth day, I was already in agony; eagerly looking forward to the day the orthopedist would remove the cast. To start off with, moving around is a hassle and I’ve been under “house arrest” or confined to the four walls of my bedroom most of the times bar dinner time when I have to take a 5 minute climb down one flight of stairs. On days when I chose to turn up at the office, I dread the thought of having to collect printouts from the printer which is just stationed less than 10 meters away. The crutches which were supposed to be my “temporary legs” definitely does not make life any easier as the friction against my body each time I move around is making me sore. The list of misery and inconvenience goes on and I haven’t even started narrating the experience of taking a shower with just one leg!

Nonetheless, I’ve had more reading times that before and have flipped through every single page of the local dailies (including the classified section) apart from some other junk books I would not mention too much off. What caught my attention was an article in The Star on mock funerals held in Korea where “healthy and living” individuals are placed in a coffin and buried for 15 minutes with the intent of making one realize the importance of life and not to let a moment while past without living live to the fullest. This “out of the box” remedy is fast becoming a fad in certain parts of the world but I doubt it would be well received in a country like Malaysia where taboos and belief in the supernatural is still very much part of our daily lives.

Relating this back to my own experience, the confinement that I’m going through is perhaps an indication for me to learn how to truly appreciate what I have. Friends who offered to come pick me up for drinks and meals and family members taking turns, buying me lunch and delivering it to me are a sign I should appreciate these people more. Not to mention a sister who’s been kind enough to chauffeur me around town and hardly saying no to any requests - no matter how ridiculous some could be such as driving through crazy traffic, heading from one part of town to the other so that I can hunt down the best deal for a PS3. I would not even attempt to start talking about how appreciative I am of the fact that I am physically abled (for most part of the year) with the liberty to commute around and to do things that my heart desires.

Well, I guess a broken leg and being confined does have its perks but none could be as valuable as the reminder for us to appreciate and cherish what we would most often take for granted. Word of advise from a “temporarily handicapped” person is that we are all truly blessed with many great things in life that we hardly notice. My immobility had given me the opportunity to realize this and I’m thankful for this reminder for I might have just went on without realizing it until when it’s too late.

We should all start living life and be appreciative of what we have. A nincompoop would be able to figure the importance of doing so and I think we’re all sensible enough to realize this without the need to lie in a coffin for 15 minutes in the context of a mock funeral. I sure am glad I broke my leg for now I’m realizing things I might have missed out on.

On a separate note, someone recently commented that I should have had more time to post and blabber about nothing these days considering that I’m confined to home. I initially thought this would have been the case too but somehow, it turned out to be quite the exact opposite. My rationale for this could be illustrated in the equation below:

C (HA) = NO = BLIT = NFIOWTW

To save one from guessing which could potentially lead to various funny or probably indecent thoughts, the equation can be simply translated to confinement or house arrest leads to no outings which would then result to being less in touch as a result of limited interaction with others. The end result of all this is that I have no freaking inspiration on what to write which explains the lack of postings.

By the way, this is just a cover up for the truth lies in the fact that I’ve been spending a lot more time APPRECIATING my new toy – PS3!

Break a Leg - for Luck!

As defined by Wikipedia, “Break a leg” is a well-known saying in theatre which means “good luck” and it is typically said to actors before they go out onto stage to perform. The expression is a theatrical superstition that replaces the phrase “good luck”, which is considered bad luck. Over time, the expression is used outside the theatre as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use.

If using the phrase itself were to indicate good luck, it seems that I’m all set for a great (or maybe a superb) year! Being a firm believer of the fact that action speaks louder than words, I literally broke a leg with a fracture on my fibula or otherwise known as calf bone. If breaking a bone by itself was not a strong enough indication for better things ahead, the nature by which I broke it should seal the deal. Within 5 seconds of kickoff in my regular weekly football game, I was already sprawling on the ground when a player from the opposing team somehow or rather mistook my leg for the ball. Till now, I’m still left wondering which part of my leg seems round enough to resemble a ball!

Breaking a leg (for luck) in a football game in less than 5 seconds from kickoff on the second day of the New Year must surely rank way up there and I’m already getting excited with the prospects of what else is in store for the year. Probability of breaking a leg in a football game is probably in the region of 2% if not lower. Multiply that with the fact that it happened in the 5th second of a 90 minute game on the second day of a leap year and any mathematician would be able to share with you that the probability of such an incident happening is 0.00001% or 1 in 9,882,000 to be exact.

Considering that Malaysia has a population of approximately 27 million or in the circa of 30 million if we were to include our friends from Indonesia, Bangladesh and some other countries who entered the country via the backdoor, I would probably be 1 out of 3 “lucky” ones. With the (former) Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek taking the other spot for the recent revelation of his “kinky” encounters, there could only be one spot left. In case one is wondering why he would be the other “lucky” one, think about the number of politicians who made it as a minister and multiply that by the probability of being caught with his pants down. Having done the arithmetics, he probably deserves top spot since the likelihood of that happening is even lower still.

Back to the topic of luck leading to a superb year, all that I’ve scribbled above were probably nonsensical. Whilst I do belief that luck does play a part in most things, I’ve came to realize that luck fancies those who at least make an effort to get lucky. In the “Book of Luck”, the authors Heather Summers and Anne Watson wrote “If you want to be lucky, remember it lies in your own hands. Even if we can’t control the events that happen to us, we can control our reaction to them and therefore the results. Choosing to view events as good luck makes the impossible become possible. And the opposite is also true – viewing events as bad luck makes the possible impossible.” In that context, breaking a leg, elbow, neck or any other part of the body would not really matter for it all boils down to what’s in the mind.

Even before the turn of the year, I’ve pre-conditioned my mind that 2008 would be a great year and I would not let Mr “I thought you leg was the ball” or anyone else for that matter to get between me and a great 2008. Looking at the bright side of things, I’ve got 14 days of medical leave and getting offered to be chauffeured around for the next 6 weeks. Furthermore, my immobility would mean lesser outings which then means more savings which could only mean that I can get my PS3 much earlier than expected. Of course there’s many other perks that comes along with a broken leg but I’ll leave that to you to find out for yourself and if anyone’s keen to do so, I’ll be more than glad to hook you up for the football game next Wednesday. It’s only Day 3 of the New Year but I’m already loving it!

In Search of Enrichment

Blame it on the influence of Star Wars where every episode has a theme ranging from “Phantom of the Menace” to “Attack of the Clones” to “Revenge of the Sith”, I could not help but to start thinking of my personal theme for a new calendar year. If 2006 was “A Year of Discovery” whereby I developed a better understanding of life, 2007 was “A Year of Learning and Character Building” laced with plenty of lessons that built on to the realization and discovery in the year before. Having made a discovery, learnt and built character, wanting to further improvise becomes a natural progression. Hence, I’m hoping for 2008 to be “A Year of Enrichment”.

Discovery would have been the unearthing of something new. It was a phase of realization and getting full clarity on what I had wanted. Being a “virgin”, there would have been plenty to learn and as I went through a steep learning curve, it did shaped and built character. Although enrichment would mean continuously learning, the key difference would have been that it would be in search of a deeper understanding for a subject which is already known unlike the initial learning stage where everything is so new.

To paint a clearer picture for the different phases, Discovery would be like going through an orientation prior to signing up for a specific course or subject. Learning would then be like taking the first semester of a course and in this case, the subject is “Living Live 101”. Considering that I have barely scraped through that subject in 2007, I hope to be getting better results as I embark on a new semester whereby I would be taking “Living Life 201”.

Part of the syllabus of the new course would require some application and practical. Along the way, there would be a need to step up the game and to go extreme lengths to apply all that has been taught and learnt. Character building would be further tested; perseverance and ability to crack tough situations would be expected. No longer being a freshman means that the expectations would be much higher as there would be a lower tolerance for mediocrity. Funnily though, the expectations were not set by the lecturer or dean and all these higher expectation to excel is self inflicted.

To start off, I have randomly listed down 50 things to be done in 2008 in search of “Enrichment” and 12 months down the road, I hope to be checking each of these items which are now on my to-do list. Amongst the things that I have set to do as part of “Living Life 201” is to participate in a community service event as well as to initiate a self introduction at functions or events amongst many other things. Giving up smoking or drinking however did not make the cut into the top 50. The list of the 50 things could not be shared due to the “indecent nature” of some of the items but I do hope to be sharing my thoughts and recollection of some of the tasks upon the completion. In the meantime, a Happy New Year to all!

For those who might be keen to have a to-do list of their own as we usher into the New Year but have no idea where to start, there’s plenty of ideas posted on http://www.todolistblog.com/

A Year of Learning and Character Building

It seems as if it was just not too long ago when I started penning down my thoughts titled “The Year That Was…” towards the end of 2006. Time did breeze through amazingly fast and a full year has passed since. Whilst 2006 was a remarkable year at work intertwined with a packed social calendar, I did recall stating that I was not really “living life”. As predictable as it is, the turn of a New Year calls for a reflection for the year that just passed.

For the lack of a better phrase, 2007 was a “year of learning and character building”. Whilst things have been smooth and going my way in the previous year, 2007 was definitely a whole lot more challenging and brought with it many unexpected incidences and moments. Looking back in retrospect, I feel that I’ve learnt so much more and I think I can gladly say that I did start living life. The lessons that I’ve learnt would probably be sufficient content for a 300-pages book but I will attempt to summarize my key takeaways from the year in five points.

Shelve the ego and swallow the pride – Over the cause of time, each of us would have developed a certain ego and pride which is usually related to what we do or are good at doing. This could be an upper or a downer pending the situation. On the bright side, this pride and ego gives us a swagger that builds confidence; pushing us to strive for more. On the other hand, it could dampen the bigger picture since it would be hard for us to admit that we are probably not as competent as we perceive ourselves to be. On occasions when we have to eat such awfully tasteless, humble pie; some might find it hard to accept - leading to either a drastic drop in motivation that would then impact the drive, hunger and desire to achieve more or it could lead to the birth of a rebel. Either way, it’s a sure lose for the individual. Hence, there are times that one would need to shelve the ego and swallow the pride. Being able to do so is in itself, a sign of strength that would most likely lead to bigger things to come. However, shelving and swallowing it does not mean losing it. Afterall, a dash of ego and a tinge pride are the ingredients of a driven and ambitious being.

Tough times don’t last, tough people do – I came across this phrase on a bumper sticker in a car and it has since caught on to be one of my favorite taglines. In a challenging year where the thought of raising the white flag crossed my mind countless times, this phrase gave me the strength to go on. The difference between those who “live” through tough times and those who “went” through tough times is that the former always comes out stronger with plenty lessons learnt whilst the latter would probably drop off along the way. I have always believed in a cycle whereby tough times would come to a halt, making way for better days and vice versa. Those who “lived” the tough times often draw learnings from what went wrong which would then serve as a reminder of what not to do whereas those who “went” through it would probably need to continue running away from it. One could quit and move on to supposedly greener pastures but then again, even the nicest and most well-laid turfs would have weeds and the only choice for that individual would then be to continuing running until when they settle on an artificial turf. I’m not a fan of “fake” stuff so my choice would be to live the tough times with the belief and faith that it will toughen me up.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint – For those who’s ever watched a marathon telecasted live on some sports program, one would notice that the head of the pack would change several times throughout the race. Usually, the one who starts off in the lead would seldom end up winning whereas the winners usually come from the middle of the pack. In a marathon, the early leaders are known as the pacers who’s task are to set the pace for the rest to follow but they hardly win anything for they would probably be too tired to push on towards the end of the race. The ones in the middle of pack with a sight of the leader throughout the first half of the race would eventually pick up their pace and gradually climb to the front towards the end of the marathon. This is the same with life. Many (myself included) see life as a sprint where we often want to be in pole position. Getting to the front might be tough but sustaining at the head of the pack is an even more daunting task. Hence, we need not always be in the front seat to win the race but we need to be mindful that we always have an eye on the leader and keep within a reasonable distance. I’ve hardly seen any marathon runners winning a race when they have fallen too far back with no sight of the leaders and the same applies to life. Run hard and run fast but one need not be the fastest at all times. The one who crosses the line first would be the winner regardless of who spent more time at the head of the pack. Life is a marathon and never a sprint.

The power of NOW – Eckhart Tolle, the author of the book titled “The Power of Now” quoted “You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are!” The past and future is unrealistic. One has passed and we can hardly do anything about it while the other has yet to come and things could change along the way. This gives great importance to the omnipresent and eternal “now”. One could go on whining about the past and planning for the future but the real difference boils down to what we intend to do in the present. I’ve always enjoyed procrastinating and I’d be damned if not many share the same interest. Nonetheless, one of my biggest learnings from the year is to live in the moment and to act on the present. We can be mindful of what could or would happen in time to come but that would all depend on what we are doing now. It might sound like a paradox but in the Now, the present moment, problems do not exist. In the Now, we discover that we are complete and perfect. If one is to think otherwise, something is not quite right and something needs to be done and the time to do it would be ….. you guessed as much – NOW!

People deal with people – Throughout the year, I came across several instances whereby a simple gesture from my end derived a more than expected response from others. A simple greeting card was returned with an unexpected gift. A random act of kindness to a stranger developed a new friendship and a candid, no-secrets kept discussion with an acquaintance led to a whole new level of bonding and relationship. With that I conclude that it all comes back to the simple fact that people deal with people. Even the toughest and meanest bloke would have a soft spot and if we were to press the right buttons at the right time, this lean and mean beast could well turn out to be a gentle giant. The year brought along new insights on the importance of building relationship with people, especially loved ones, family, friends and those we interact with. Over the year, I’ve discovered many new things about my family members, close friends and colleagues and this has (to a certain extent) elevated our relationship to a different level. Looking back at that, I still feel like banging my head against the wall each time I think about the times when I chose to be an arrogant prick who was all over myself. In all those “the world is about me and only me moments”, I would have probably let go an abundant of opportunities to get to know a potential mentor, a potential confidante, a potential drinking partner and the list goes on. Bottom line is that we need to be sincere and genuine and treat others the way we would want to be treated. Once we start making that a way of life (which I still need lots of practice on), we would suddenly realize that there will be a friend readily willing to lend a helping hand at any time.

The 5 points above would merely be the silver lining to a whole lot more lessons learnt in 2007. If the previous year (2006) was a year of “Discovery”, the most recently concluded year was definitely a year of learning and character building. Whilst I still haven’t got the keys to my dream car and neither has my fair maiden came into the picture, 2007 was a good year. I bid thee farewell and thank you for the lessons learnt that would no doubt serve me well in time to come. Adieu 2007!