Friday, April 17, 2015

Remembering Heroes: A Tribute to The Selfless



Heroes are remembered, loved and provide a sense of comfort. 

I got your back. 

History of heroes are inspiring as they (mostly) came from zero beginnings. Nobody notice them until they have done something amazing. 

They battle their way to be victorious for the common good. Putting their personal interest at the bottom of their list. 

Sacrificing what they long for. 

In exchange to save others. 

Even for a complete stranger. 

Looking back 

Back then, heroes were celebrated after victories. They were remembered as the one who saved the day. 

Object of appreciation such as medals, clothing, even monetary equivalent were provided. 

Surprisingly, they had no expectations of such gesture. 

They simply knew the need to step up, use all their power, and make sure after every struggle there is harmony for EVERYONE. 

They just have this 'I have to do something about it' attitude. And they are really hardcore about it. 

"Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the hero within us is revealed." - Bob Riley

How about now?

Now, during our 'civilized' age, it's uncommon to be a hero. 

You get laugh at. 
Be criticized. 
No support. 

And worst, left unappreciated. 

That's the society we live in. We don't feel any threat and we don't need anyone helping us. 

Stubborn people. 😀

Well, a few things happened that's why. The war ended about 70 years ago. Countries learned to get along. People became independent. And we got a sense of comfort knowing that being alone is better than to work with others.

We got our own backbone. 

We became our own heroes. 

Moving forward 

Hopefully, peace will be consistent. Laws are abided. And common respect will be a day to day thing. 

Heroes today live within us. Those are the 'stop' behaviors before misbehaving. 

And a sense of guilt if we can't help (or won't) others in need. 

We became self protecting that we won't be needing a hero to help us. 

We don't want to feel helpless and miserable. 

We fought little battles within that avoids bigger ones.  

Luckily, that seems to keep a harmony for now. 

Additional Reading and Resources:

New York Post: The Amazing Moment Mystery Hero Pulls Crash Victim from Canyon Wreck:

http://nypost.com/2015/04/16/mystery-man-rescues-driver-from-suv-dangling-over-canyon/

Wikipedia: Hero

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero

Throwback Thursday: Remembering ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’ 35 years later


http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/throwback-thursday-remembering-star-wars-the-empire-strikes-back-35-years-later/#/0

Artwork by Will Murai

Hero of Iroas
http://www.willmurai.com/Hero-of-Iroas

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Lift The Heaviness: Personal Thoughts About Over Doing


Along the way, as we get things optimized, we are left with a lot of things in our mind. We feel a certain heaviness because of our tendency to overthink. 

Most things that we do (including thinking) must be moderate. 

Over analyze. 
Burned out. 
Over fatigue. 
Over slept. 

All that we do 'over' creates a big bowl of demand that 24 hours is not enough. 

Mortality is true and we do need to think of the past, present and future. 

Just don't overload. 

Try to notice for the sake of unloading worries. How many times have you thought about a problem (no matter how small or big)?

I bet you might have done it more than 3 times. 

And let me be silly for a second that you might have Googled the answered amd read an article or two. 

And to add up to my craziness, you might have had the answer inside all along. 

I'm one of those guys who is a professional procrastinator. 

It has roots from the environment I have grown up from, places I have been, books I have read and so on. 

Name the influence and the product is our own behavior. 

A couple of weeks ago, an elder from our family half joked someone that cooking a meal is just common sense. 

I know that he was joking but from the tone and timing, he must have conveying a deeper meaning. 

Yup, common sense these days aren't as common as it was. 

Why?

Because of all the sources of 'answers'. The fear that what we know already must be wrong. 

Our undying anxiety that we are not good enough. 

That if we can't do something or we don't know something becomes a handicap. 

I am a victim of that. 

When I'm already good enough I still worry. 

Then how the heck you lift the heaviness?

It's gonna be down to the basics. To learn the common sense is really and should be common. 

Tell yourself everyday that you're good enough!

Be the first person to love yourself. 

It has to start somewhere and that place should be inside your soul and heart. 

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation. - unknown source. 

Additional reading and sources:

Our Daily Bread: Don't Worry!
http://odb.org/2015/04/14/dont-worry-2/

The Art of Manliness: Stop Hacking Your Life 
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/04/13/stop-hacking-your-life/

Artwork by violator3: An Unpleasant Sense of Heaviness
http://violator3.deviantart.com/art/AnUnpleasantSenseOfHeaviness-60483428


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

The flexibility of human foundation

As time goes by, most buildings will suffer wear and tear. It's a universal law and not even the strongest is exempted. 

It applies to us too. Well things like that won't cross your mind for the next 30 or 40 years from now. 

But it's not a bad thing to just have a mental note. 

When you look back to make sense of what you have become it will reveal that there are key foundations that you're not aware about.

Maybe because you just got used to it. 

It also answers the question why history is so important. 

Even if we know that in reality that we all have mortalities, it's also true that we can look back and make amends. 

Just a single seed of urge to change to avoid the same outcome will have a huge impact. 

It won't happen overnight. 

Foundations are meant to be the strongest part of a standing structure. 

Good thing for us, we can rebuild it any time. 

Thursday, April 2, 2015

What you need: the battle between needs and wants

I have to admit, most of the time that I think about my future, i end up re-writing my goals. 

I want to have this...

I need to have that...

That's a better idea...

I need to stop this...

Just a few thoughts to challenge what is ahead. Well it's good to innovate ideas, but it needs to have a good reason. 

The battle between needs and wants will remain constant. You just need to choose your side. 

What is so stressing about choosing the need is that it takes too long to achieve. That's where the virtue of patience is truly tested. 

What's good about the wants is that it is easy to get. The rewarding feeling is instant. And you can easily touch and see it. 

That's the battle. 


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Why reading is cool

Since me and my wife moved to a different location, I have a lot of time reading. I don't read books because it bores me. 

I stick with current events, short articles and the daily bread. 

I find it easier to learn with short reading materials because it has a straight forward approach. 

Hopefully I can get back to an old fashion big book reading. 

The reasons why reading is cool are:

It kills time in a productive way. Let's face it, there will be times that you'll find yourself waiting and can't figure out what to do. 

Good thing these days, reading a worthwhile article doesn't have to as hard like before where you carry a magazine or go to a nearby shop just to pick one. 

What I do is I get a chunk monthly subscription of data for my smart phone. 

Expensive as it sound but if you'll compute, you'll end up saving more. 

For me, my favorite site to read are:

Odb.org
Artofmanliness.com
Men's health
Yahoo Digest
Google news
Mit ocw

*note: I'm not affiliated with the above sites. 

(I wish... 😊)

All your doubts will be answered. 

Have a question like? "How to invest?", "where to spend holidays?, etc. 

Eventually, you'll have an 'aha!' Moment. 

Hopefully this change your reading habit, you might find that reading can, not only save you money but you might find ways of making some. 😎

Pain is temporary

No one likes pain. 

It's in our survival instinct to avoid situations that will endanger our existance. 

Yet most of the achievements in life can't be achieved through easy way.

You'll notice that all successful people have their story of hardship. 

Be willing to trade temporary pain for a lifetime moment.