just finished an unexpected good read

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

my dad passed this book to me, citing "it's a good book" (yes, men are not meant to be very descriptive... gotta get used to it)

I looked at the cover, and a passing thought, " my dad? fiction? thought he was more into autobiographies". Seldom do I pick up a novel, most often you will see me lingering along the "Management, Self-Help, How-to" aisle...

anyway, this is a must pick up, the emotions are very well captured by the author and he takes the reader on a very emotional ride. One quote which I liked very much, "a man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer".

On a side note, I guess times when we actually do feel guilt, in a way, it is a good thing as it only confirms that we have some good in us....? :-)

unlearning is learning

When we touch a kettle of hot water for the first time, we burn our little fingers, and from then on, we learn not to touch it again. We get a little "smarter" and we tap it to check if it's hot or cold instead.When we eat ice-cream for the first time, we like it, and we don't need to be encouraged to give it another lick the next time.

As we grow, we learn what to do, and what not to do. We go through knocks and bumps, and we learn to avoid them. Our good and bad experiences mould us to what we are today, how we perceive our surroundings (events, people, behaviour, etc.). We see and react to the world through "moulded" lenses, we understand it the way we have experienced it. We put up certain barriers so that we don't burn our little fingers again. Experience taught us to do so.

Sometimes, these barriers that we have placed restricts us from changing, or to see and understand from the other person's point of view, to learn new things, or even to love again. We're afraid that by doing the same thing, we'll burn our little fingers again. That would be stupid, right?

I believe in order to learn, to change, to be a better human being, we have to first learn to unlearn. Stop for a moment, forgive ourselves for the mistake that we've made, and give "it" a chance again. I once read, "Wisdom is between Stimulus and Response". For example, we've learnt that, when someone barks at us, we react defensively immediately, never admitting fault and barking back. Applying "wisdom" would be to give ourselves a moment to think and understand why this person is barking at us, and to choose a better response. It is not about the other person winning here, the other person does not win by you choosing not to respond as aggressively..., just appropriately.It's not an easy task, but it can be made a habit. As I believe, "all that is easy were once difficult".

Learn to unlearn something today, and experience something different. See if it suits you better....

I miss my coffee talk

I cannot say it any better; I have to resort to plagiarism....

An extract from The Zahir, Paulo Coelho:-
"The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don't talk anymore, they don't sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theatre, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather round a fire and tell stories."

peoply buy from people

on the 31st, intentionally, i left my badge behind.. no longer can i "beep" through these glass doors, and greet Selvi, our receptionist with a great big "good morning"...

will be missing the usual chit chats (or brainstorming sessions as how i would like to call it), my desk and certainly the complete set of stationaries..

I should share with you the main piece of advice that my boss gave me during my departure meeting with him, that is, "remember cheo, people buy from people".

Thank You to all that I have worked with during my tenure with Organon. May our paths cross again one day.