Joyeux Noël !

Time flies. It's Christmas again. Everything of last Christmas is still so clear in my mind. It surprised me how I miss the place I lived, the people who cared about me, and the time of my life there. Somehow, so many regrets left over... It doesn't matter that the memory was good or bad, happy or sad, I appreciate it. It is and it will always be a part of my life.

Christmas recalls my memories. Furthermore, it is the time to wish the best to my cared ones and myself. I have made a list of 2009 for myself. It contains all my wishes of 2009, the things I want to do and the goal I want to acheive, and the things I want to get in the new year. To all my dear friends, I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the happiness and prosperity in the year ahead! And, I wish all of our dreams come true in this new year.

PEACE!

Tough Choices

The first time I was about to make the choices which I considered tough was in France. I felt so helpless. That was the first time I felt I was on my own. My family and friends were not only far away from me but also not capable to help. What I wanted was only their suggestions or ideas. They didn't even know what's going on out there on the other side of the world, how could they possibly figure out what I was supposed to do. That was the most complicated time I experienced in my life till now. Then I realized how lucky I was when I was in China with my family and friends...

However, different problems would appear right at our face as long as we go on living. Now I am at my home in Shanghai, I got to choose where I am gonna work between two companies, US vs. UK, big vs. small, settled vs. adventurous, specialized vs. broader responsibility... This time I feel again I am standing at the crossing road, puzzling of which way would lead me to the finest end. But I do know, no matter how, I am the one and would be the only one who should take the damn responsibility choose and deal with it.

Dilemma one: I wonder if I would ever know which one is the best. Probably not... So why should I be anxious? Go with the heart say.

Dilemma two: I might not know what would be the best in the end, but would I regret when things didn't go well as what it was supposed to be? Of coz! Then how? I would probably never know which one would the worst either.

I understand one thing at least. I would never be frustrated making tough choices but grateful. Thank God, I still have the choices! The ultimate freedom, yes? It's tough making choices, yet, isn't it the beauty of life? All the unknown, the aspiration of learning... The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences. <---Best quote ever!

I am convinced it's the meaning of life. Just free your mind, figure out what you really want to do and go for it. Why suffer yourself? I'd rather die if I simply sit here every single day wondering what if I did wrong or what would be right. Well, sometime I do make terrible decisions, such as going to France. But it didn't kill me because you never know when the experiences would do you good. I wouldn't be afraid of experiencing more... everything possible. But I guess lots of people around us are holding off and finally would lose the chance of having the desirable dream life ahead.

It's tough to make a choice. But you gotta move! Move forward! Chop-chop! Believe that whatever you decided to do, there is always 50% chance to be right!

WHY

Big question mark. Why? Does anything have an answer? No matter there is an answer or not, people like asking why for sure. It's porbably the propulsion of the evolution of human civiliation.

Some people asked me Why do you write these things and share it with all those strangers? I suppose that happiness only real when shared. Sadness, jealousy, rage and all kinds of strong emotions are likewise. But is there really a WHY behide all these? I don't even know.

Into the Wild

Into the Wild is a very inspiring movie. There are so many classic lines are totally blown minds. I couldn’t stop thinking that, are we the natural spirits which have been trapped in the civilizations, society, certain human relations or any other kind of rules of life? What’s the purpose of life? I wonder how many people actually thought about this question, and how many wild dreams and soul have been covered under the day-to-day routine.

I couldn’t agree more that the core of man’s spirit comes from new experiences. People lock themselves in an empty place with money and work their ass off to get the so called “success”. Do they really have time to face themselves or to figure out what is the meaning of all this? If that’s all what you want, fine! Good job! But if it’s not, why should you go on this path only because it’s the normal way of life? Is there a normal way of life indeed? I want to see more of the world. Different people, different places… live in different kind of life with my partner, to share all the touching moments, beautiful scenes of nature and many of others which we might not able to imagine right now. That sounds like a rich life to me. As long as you have a brave heart, no matter how much money you have, you will get there.

I appeal the society stop pushing people to only one direction. Wealth is not the only thing in our life. We should care more about the inside, the moral soul, to free ourselves out of the false norm to the higher spiritual level, to find the comfort of your own, to do what your heart feel like doing. I believe there are always choices, the only thing matters is what you want. All kinds of possibilities are out there. If you want something in life, reach out the grab it.

Let’s go to somewhere left no one else but ourselves, to facing our true self, to feel strong, to clear our minds. Let’s jump out of the concrete and go into the wild.

The Bottle of Life

One day, a time management expert made a demonstration to a group of business students. It's so impressive that those student probably wouldn't forget of their life time.

In front of those talented young people, he said "let's do a test", then he put one wide mouthed bottle on the table. After, he took out a pile of fist-size rocks and put them one by one into the bottle carefully till the rock over the top. He asked: "Is the bottle full?" All the students answered:"Yes, it is." The expert asked again: "Really?" He took out a bucket of gravel under the table. He poured it into the bottle while patting the bottle wall. These gravel filled up the space between the rocks. "Is the bottle full now?" He asked again.

But this time some students started to understand, "Probably not," one student answered. "Very well!" the expert said. He took out a bucket of sand under the table and poured it into the bottle slowly. The sand filled up all the small gap between rocks and gravels. He asked the students again: "Is the bottle full now?" "No, it's not." the students answered loudly. Again, he said:"good!" Then he fetched a jug pouring the water into the bottle till the water even the top.

He headed up and asked: "What does this example mean?" One student spoke: "It tells us, no matter how tight your time table is, as long as you put effort, you can always do more things!" "No," the expert said, "That's not the its real meaning. This demo told us, if you don't put the big rocks first, then you could never put it into the bottle again. So, what are the rocks in your life? The time you spend with your lover, your religion, your education, dream, or same as mine--guiding others? You must deal those 'big rocks' first, otherwise, you could never do that for your whole life."

I couldn't stop thinking after I read this story. I try to ask myself this question: What are the 'big rocks' of my life? Am I focusing on the right things now or I've given too much weight to the gravels or sand or even water?

Have you asked yourself?