Day 212: Resourcefulness, Carefree Day 11

Today's theme is Resourcefulness. Many businesses are successful because of the leader's resourcefulness. Resourcefulness is the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.

I have many challenges in my life. As I reflected, somehow or rather, I managed to overcome them one by one. Some people say it is perseverance, some people say it is grit.

I personally think it is resourcefulness. What are the resources available at that point in time to resolve the issues? The knowledge, connection, materials, logistics, time frame, effectiveness, experiences.

Nothing is too big that can't resolve. It is matter of time. I always think that if the Universe gave me a challenge, there must be something I need to learn, to realise so that I will be able to grow in my wisdom.

Here are some examples of challenges that I have learnt to overcome.

I had health issue.
I learnt to eat well, sleep well and exercise regularly.

I had money issue.
I learnt to manage my own funds now. I keep track of my own finances.

I had anxiety issues.
I learnt about my own traumas and I am healing myself.

I had emotional issues.
I choose to face the truth and let down of my own walls. It gives me a lot of courage and strength.

I had TV addiction.
I understood why I need to watch dramas, esp traumatic events to distract myself from seeing my own pains. I can empathise the male lead/female lead because it is much easier to empathise with people who have similar pain then to see my own.

I have fear to show up.
This is probably the next one that I need to work on.

It is never about what has happened to me, it is how I respond to it.

Day 211: KDrama - Hyde, Jekyll, Me

Hyde Jekyll, Me was a story about someone who diagnosed by D.I.D (Dissociative Identity Disorder), a was kind of mental illness where the sufferer has two or more different personalities. The main character, Goo Seo-jin (played by Hyun Bin), was diagnosed with D.I.D. He was the son from Wonder Group, and also the Wonderland’s director.

Since Goo Seo-jin has two different personalities when he was Goo Seo-jin, he was someone who couldn’t drive, a serious person, he didn’t like to help other people, he was cold, he never laughed, and had no tolerance at all. Meanwhile, when he was controlled by his other personality, his name was Robin. Robin was someone who had a friendly personality, was kind, someone who can drive, cheerful, and always smiled.

Goo Seo-jin met a girl named Jang Ha-na (played by Han Ji-min) in Wonderland, where Goo Seo-jin worked. Previously, the Robin psyche hadn’t appeared for the past 5 years, but since Goo Seo-jin met Jang Ha-na, Robin started to come out frequently. Moreover, when Dr. Kang, Goo Seo-jin’s therapist, was kidnapped, Robin’s appearance was more often being shown. Robin was really in love with Jang Ha-na and always taking care of her, meanwhile, Goo Seo-jin never liked her.

It turns out that when Jang Ha-na and Goo Seo-jin were children, they once met and Jang Ha-na was trying to save him when he was about to suicide, although as adults, they haven’t recognized each other. Jang Ha-na never knew that Goo Seo-jin and Robin were the same person, since Goo Se-jin always said that he was Robin’s twin. Robin and Jang Ha-na’s relationship was close, then it became romantic. But still, Jang Ha-na didn’t know that her boyfriend had two different personalities. She still thought that Robin was Goo Seo-jin’s twin.

Reflection
After Dr. Kang was rescued by Robin, I don't have the heart to complete it anymore. The plot is more or less expected, so I went to watch episode 20, where Robin and Jang Ha-na were getting married! Even though, sadly, it was their last chance to be happy together, right before Robin disappeared to heal Goo Seo-jin’s mental illness. The beautiful part was when the memories of Robin were integrated with Seo-jin, Ha-na can finally love Seo-jin wholeheartedly.

As I study the basic of IOPT (Identity-Oriented Psychotrauma Therapy), all human beings have 3 psyche parts, the healthy, the survival and the traumatised (unconscious) parts. In every trauma biography, be it big or small, any kind of the traumatic events will cause the person's psyche to split, so that the person does not need to face the trauma. The traumatic events could be a natural disasters or as a childhood event that wasn't protected, loved or wanted. The survival mechanism will kick in, to protect the traumatised parts, to keep the child alive. The child or the person will start to normalise things, in order to survive. Even when the situation isn't okay but internally, the child or the person will tell himself or herself, it is okay.

However, when the consciousness knows the truth and the person is willing to accept the truth, there are integration of healthy parts and traumatised parts. There is no need to hide the traumatised parts anymore. The survival mechanism / old energies can be released. Hence, that is where the true healing takes place and the healthy parts are strengthen.

For this case, at the much later part of the drama, Seo-jin finally sees his own truth and there is no need for Robin's existence. Remembered, Seo-jin got kicknapped as a child and his father refused to save him. It is a traumatic event for him. Just that he couldn't recognise Robin as a part of him, treated him like an enemy because he has to split off his own personality, in order to survive. This survival parts or an illusion personality is to be around to keep him safe or feels protected. That is why when he finally see his own truth, he can free himself to be who he really are.

Day 210: Re-open Asiaworks wounds

Yesterday, I had a heart to heart talk with Evelyn Lim, who deals with emotional healing. I told her that I am very grateful to meet her in Mar 2012. It seems like yesterday. She saw me how much I have shifted in my life. She told me that psychiatrists or counsellors can never do so much to heal a person.

Somehow I recalled I had depression in 2011, 10 years ago. It took me about 2 years to get back to normal state. In fact, as I am willing to face my own childhood traumas, The wound of Asiaworks (AW) is unable to hurt me anymore. I can recalled clearly what has happened during AW. After sharing my AW training experiences, Evelyn said that it is pretty normal for trainers to use different tools and strategies to open up the participants wounds so that they can "heal".

Yah right, AW training open up the childhood traumas but they didn't know how to heal them. Instead of me getting healed, I got retraumatised. In fact, I went back to a space that no one can reach out to me. Because I need to live my life as per normal. I had to pretend that I have "healed" and continue to live unfulfiled life.

Fortunately, I met Evelyn in 2012 (she deals with emotional healing) and Christine Wong in 2018 (she deals with childhood traumas). I was afraid to go through the emotional pains especially I had depression previously. Somehow these 2 women made me teared unconsciously, which I feel that they may have some answers that I need. I plucked my courage and faith to go with them. I decided to open my heart again to allow myself to be supported and be healed.

It wasn't easy in the beginning but it became easier as I went along. I understood what has truly happened to me in the past. The immerse amount of sadness, pain, disappointment, abandonment and sorrow that I had to go through, from birth till now. Because I know the truth now, I am able to heal myself. To acknowledge the young part of me, was badly hurt. I can empathise myself a lot more. I choose to love, protect and care for myself now.

Franz Ruppert shared that when we are suppressing our negative emotions, we are also suppressing our positive emotions. All emotions can co exist so that we can respond appropriately. To resolve the emotional issues, I allow myself to feel the pain. Because I cried a lot as I feel my own pain, I can smile, laugh and feel the joy truly from my heart now.

The truth truly hurts but it also sets me free. I can leave my past behind now.

Learning and understand myself is never ending. In fact I seek wisdom in my learnings. I'm sure I have learnt much about myself in this AW basic and advanced training. Don't let these pains go into waste.

I always, always remember beauty comes from inner beauty. Yes, I do agree our social image is important in some extent but what really important is my mindset, my beliefs, my values behind the beautiful face :) Educate myself for my personal breakthroughs and chanllenges and I will become the confident person that I always wanted to be!
Jia you and I love you,
Rachel

Day 209: KDrama - My Holo Love

My Holo Love is about the events that occur when a lonely woman meets the artificially intelligent “Holo.” The drama is filled with stories of heartbreaking loneliness and tear-stained love.

Go Nan Do is the owner of an IT research company. As a genius inventor, he started the company, and all projects were created through his hands. However, the only people who are aware of his existence are his stepsister and the official CEO. He was a hacker in a major case 10 years ago and supposedly died while being pursued.

Han So Yeon is an assistant manager at a glasses company. Whether it is working on brand marketing or the logistics of the launching party for the company’s flagship store, she shoulders on her work and stays ahead of the industry’s trends. She meticulously takes care of her clients and her work. However, when it comes to her personal life, she keeps her distance as she suffers from face blindness, the inability to recognize faces.

This romance drama is has a twist. The difference was having one actor playing two characters. One a hologram, one a human. The story was cute. It has only 12 episodes unlike the usual 16 or 20 but it did not feel short or rushed, it was well paced and you don't really feel bored waiting for the next moment.

It is really interesting to watch and had some amazing insight into how many people communicate or choose to communicate today. For me, this somewhat exposed how dependent people are on technology and how we often connect more with technology than we do with other people. Being lonely, creating your own world and friends is what society has become.

It was very symbolic and heartfelt. I enjoyed the upbeat moments and the internal conflicts, childhood traumas that were exposed and conquered. A bit thought provoking.

Day 208: Self Love Secrets

Thanks Evelyn for giving me her book. She's the lady to go to for inner self love support. I still remembered the times when I went to her for support to find back myself.

When she asked me to say,"I deeply love and accept myself completely." I felt I was so fake when I said it. It was so difficult and in fact I rejected myself totally.

After many years of spending time with myself, giving myself love that I need, showing myself self care. I can feel that I really able to love and care for myself.

I realised that I need to feel whole again before I can love another person. This is a more healthy way of having a long lasting relationship.

Of course, self love goes a long way. I am still work in progress. #SelfLove #LoveMyselfUnconditionally #WorkInProgress

Day 207: Vesak Day 2021

Every year, I seek Buddha’s blessings and guidance. He never fails me and he always guides. I am grateful to walk in my own path of realisation.

Today I choose to show up more in my life. I light up my own light. I feel more energetic, more calm and peaceful. Finding my little gems of wisdom each day.

Happy Vesak Day to all. #VesakDay #WorkInProgress #IncreaseInWisdom

This year theme is turning the wheel of the Dharma, focus on the Dharma.

Yesterday, I light up the candle. The flame is gone after a day of burning. It reminds me nothing is permanent. The rising and falling of life. When we are not attached to the outcome, we suffer much lesser.

In difficult times, let us embrace the goodness and challenges to increase our compassion and wisdom.

On this beautiful Vesak Day, it is lovely to watch this video. How we are connected in our heart, breath and mind. I am feeling grateful, I am divine being, experiencing human form in this lifetime.

Day 206: Brene Brown - The call to courage

Evelyn recommended me to watched this inspiring documentary from Netflix, The call to courage.

This is not my first time watching her sharing. She is humorous and inspiring speaker. I love her message.

Vulnerability might lead to failure or to a life full of joy and love. A vital message about being truly courageous.

She shared how she started as a TED talk speaker and some people just shamed on her.
When she was trying to hold herself back, she saw this quote,

"It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;
who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

― Theodore Roosevelt

Her 3 realisations
1) I am going live in the arena.
I am going to be brave in my life.
I am going to show up.
I am going to take chances.
This is the choice I make every day.

Today, I choose courage over comfort.
I can't make commitments for tomorrow
but today I am going to choose to be brave and I know what it means for me.

2) It is having the courage to show up.
Even when you can't control the outcome.
Vulnerability is not weakness.
It is an accurage way to measure courage.

3) You can't take criticism and feedback from people who are not being brave with their lives.
It will just crash you. We care what people think about us. The deal is that you have to be very specific about people whose opinions of you matter.
Good Feedback are people who love you, not despise your imperfection and vulnerability. But because of your imperfection and vulnerability. Their feedback matters.

What are the stories I tell myself?
We make up our own stories.
We are so afraid to be seen.
To love is to be vulnerable.

Love, Belonging, Joy
Ironically, we hurt people we love the most.

Sense of Belonging is not fit in.
True belonging is you belong to yourself first.
Speaking your truth, Telling your own story, Never betraying yourself for other people.
True belonging doesn't require you to change who you are. It requires you to be who you are and that is vulnerable.

Some people are scared to receive joy. They felt that once they receive joy, something bad may happen to them.

How to show up authentically?
Practise Gratitude.
To show up compassionately.
Instead of chasing extraordinary moments, look into simple ordinary moments.
Capture the moments in our mind, heart and emotions.
Choose joy and fun. Just do the joyful things. No ROI, payoff or upside.
Time spent without purpose.

Where comes to work, bring our whole heart and whole self to work.
Opportunities come when we are putting effort and take up chances.
For companies who do not want to take risks, No vulnerability, No Creativity, No Innovation.
Talk to people, instead of talk about people.
By having conversations, you get to listen, empathise, learn by asking questions, see the blindspots, moving forward.

I love the last story Brene has shared about her daughter has to go for her 100 yard swimming race.
She knew she is going to fail and yet Brene and her husband encourage her to go for it.
Brene can see how hard her daughter has struggled through out the race.
But when her daughter came out of the pool, she said,"I was brave and I won."
I teared. It was so moving and touching.

Winning is not about coming in first.
Winning is doing the real brave thing.
For me, winning is just to show up authentically in my life.

I must say Vulnerability is hard, sometimes scary to me and dangerous.
But it is not anymore once I cross the huddles.

As getting to the end of our lives and having to ask ourselves
What if I would have shown up?
What if I would have deliver what I truly want
To be seen, to be loved, to answer the call of courage because I am truly worth it.

Day 205: Everything Is Connected - Tom Chi, Carefree Day 10

In this talk Tom Chi shares one of the most powerful ideas you can learn: it transcends science, religion, politics, social responsibility and humanism. He describes in practical terms how we're all interconnected.

TIMESTAMPS OF THE IMPORTANT LESSONS FROM THIS VIDEO:
01:30 3 simple stories
Heart
If without the Galaxy collides, we couldn't get generations of stars.
If without generations of stars, we couldn't accumulate iron required to create the earth.
If without iron, we couldn't move the blood that moves every single one of our heart beats right now.
In that way, from the very beginning, everyone of our heart beats is directly connected.

Breath
3 Billion ago, there is no oxygen in this earth.
Ozone layer helps to creates the atmostphere.
Every single breath that we took contributed to the possibility of countless life after us.
We struggled with our lives and question ourselves do we have life purpose?
The purpose of our life is longer than our consciousness last.

Mind
How our minds and thoughts are connected. There is a set of people who invented piano is 1700s and their pattern of thoughts propagated forward and opened up the bound for many people to go and play around the piano. Other people develop interesting styles and able to teach other folks to study the instrument. This piece of work allow us to open up entirely new vistas of human experience and possibility. Those thoughts were directly connected in a chain of possibility.

16:51 The palette of being
The way we live our life, we can add colours. The people that got together and took their mechanical engineering power and invent the piano. They added the color to people lives. It meant that every bit of civilization afterwards now has a new colour to work with.

20:48 What are we?

25:59 What is our quest?
The opportunity of all of our lives to be able to deeply embrace and play with all the colours from the palatte of being, but through what we want to create in this life.
Through Relationships
Through What we know
Just our basic way of being to add colours so that future generations are able to invent, live, be in a different way with each other.

28:27 Consciously building a toolkit for the psyche

Do not underestimate what you do as a human being with that same amount of patience and dedication.

As an individual, we can affect our family and friends, society, environment, physical universe.

State of Inter Becoming
7% of our body is gone each day, it is the mass of our arm. Atoms comes and goes. We are the earth and earth is us.

Things that we do, which is the deep work of being inside ourselves.

Living our lives with full presence the things that we are contributive to collective consciousness and the expansion of consciousness in the universe.

People are worthy whether they are aware or not. In the process of seeing them, our consciousness continues to expand.

Day 204: KDrama - W

W centers on the clash between "two worlds": the real world and an alternate universe inside a webtoon. W, the title of the drama. It consists of 16 episodes.

Oh Sung Moo, the father of cardiothoracic surgeon Oh Yeon Joo (Han Hyo-joo), mysteriously goes missing while writing the last chapter of his webtoon "W". Yeon Joo goes to his office looking, but a hand from his monitor suddenly pulls her in, and she finds herself on the rooftop of a building, next to a man bloodied. She manages to save the person, only to realize that he is Kang Cheol (Lee Jong-suk), the main character of her father's webtoon. Yeon Joo later discovers she can only enter and leave the webtoon depending on Kang Cheol's feelings.

W is an exciting, fast-paced, fantasy-thriller drama that leaves me constantly guessing on the flow of the drama. The storyline is extremely unique and the main leads did a fantastic job in playing their roles. The acting was powerful and I really felt for them in some of the scenes. W has a strong start and bittersweet ending. The ending to the drama mirrors the ending to the webtoon, in the sense that it's sad but realistic – the paradox of Kang Chul and Oh Seung-moo's existence made it impossible for both to survive.

W was quite a ride! A great fantasy story in place with very capable casts. There was never a dull moment. There were a lot of twists and turns in W. Never get to comfortable because you just never know what’s going to happen in this crazy world. The storyline makes the drama so intriguing and it does makes me wonder if parallel world do exist.

Day 203: KDrama - Strong Girl Bong Soon

Do Bong-soon is a petite, unemployed woman born with superhuman strength that comes from the long line of women possessing it. She appears little and sweet on the outside, but she is in fact very, very strong. In her family, for generations the women have been gifted Herculean strength to use for the greater good. If abused, however, their power will be taken away.

Whilst standing up for herself after gang members bully her, she finds herself approached by Ahn Min Hyuk, the handsome and somewhat childish CEO of Ainsoft, a gaming company. Ahn Min Hyuk, who holds a great distrust towards the police, witnessed the whole exchange of Bong Soon's superhuman strength, and now wants to employ her as a bodyguard after being threatened by an unknown enemy.

Min Hyuk falls in love with super-strong Bong Soon at first sight, but there's a catch. Bong Soon has eyes for someone else; police officer and childhood friend, In Guk Doo, whom she has known since high school. When chaos ensues after a series of kidnappings in Do Bong Soon's hometown of Dobong-dong, Dobong-gu, Bong Soon must decide whether to use her strength and stand up to evil, or play it safe and keep her powers hidden from the world.

I kinda like this Kdrama because it is a mixture of romance, superpower, trailer and light hearted. But maybe the storyline is bit messy in a way that the light heart scene suddenly changed to trailer and suddenly back to normal scenes. The flow doesn't really go well. It is quite of cute that thugs who tried to fight with Bong-soon and turns out that all ended up in the hospital. I like the contrast of Bong-soon and her twin brother is the doctor, trying to heal those people who have injured by her.

Moral of the story: Just like any super heroes, with greater power, it comes with greater responsibility. When we use our inner power purposefully, we can help others.

Day 202: KDrama - Mystic Pop-up Bar

Mystic Pop-up Bar tells the story of a mysterious pojangmacha (outdoor drinking establishment) run by an ill-tempered woman named Weol-ju (Hwang Jung-eum), an innocent part-time employee named Han Kang-bae (Yook Sung-jae), and a former afterlife detective known as Chief Gwi (Choi Won-young) who visit customers in their dreams to help resolve their problems. Kang-bae has a unique ability that is useful to Weol-ju - with a touch, he can make people pour out all their troubles. This is very useful to Weol-ju who needs to settle the grudges of 100,000 souls.

I like this short drama with just 12 episodes, the Korean drama Mystic Pop-up Bar can knit the story perfectly even when there are no moments that feel rushed. Interestingly, there are still two characters with mysterious backgrounds that make me feel curious about what their relationship with the three main characters really is. Mystic Pop-up Bar, has comedy genre but full of meaning of life in it. Although this story can be considered fiction, there are many learning elements that can be taken from the storyline or the characters of each role, both lead roles and supporting roles in this drama.

Everyone's fate is decided by the Heavens.
But the Heavens is more easily moved than you might think.
Little things you say and do may change your fate.

If changing your fate is called a miracle,
miracles may be happening every day.
The miracle of being alive.
The miracle of having the person next to you.
The miracle of being able to have a drink with that person.

Day 201: Meridian Tapping

Thanks Hui Fang，founder of Ouch，for inviting me to her 1 hour of self care TCM workshop. Her class is captivating and a lot of hands-on activities. She uses acronym ACE, Acupressure, Concoction of Herbs, Exercise, to make people remember the steps easily.

In this session, “Combating Digital Fatigue the TCM Way”, I’ve picked up several helpful tips! For instance , “Dang Shen” can strengthen our metabolism and reduce fatigue. I also learnt that tapping on Large Intestine/He gu xue can relieve headache, tapping the points around the eyes can reduce eyes fatigue, tapping on the Gallbladder jian jing xue / feng ching xue can clear the stiff neck and shoulders. I am gonna try them out! 😃

Thank you, Hui Fang, for your generous sharing.

Day 200: IOPT Study Group - Career

Tonight was the bonus round of IOPT Study Group, relating the Career.
Here are the 8 possible Blindspots
1. Outlook
Certainty - Lack of Certainty is a blind spot. You don't trust your own views, you are unsure and unclear about your life. Have to convince yourself and people around you.

Optimisim - Pessimistic about current state eg. feeling future is bleak, thinking the worse of everything, affects your outlook in life.

If you have these blindspots, it will certainly impact your productivity.

2. Innovation
Persistance - How innovative you are requires persistency. Overcoming obstacles eg during covid, many businesses have to think of new ways to overcome the obstacles. If you are not persistent enough, you tend to give up halfway. You struggle to see through an idea. When you faced with an obstacle, you quit or find a new job. If you start a business, and it doesn't work out, you find a new business partner.

Tempo - When you faced an obstacle, tempo not fast enough to overcome an obstacle. You tend to procastinate, go into denial mode. Often wait until it is too late to do something about it. You sit on the problem, pretend it is not there. The best time is to find help when you have no problem. That is when you have enough energy and strength to look at it.

In business or in career, there are surely obstacles, if you procastinate and go into denial mode when you meet obstacles, it will surely affect productivity.

3. Motivation
Self Motivated - How much you enjoy challenges? Are you really self motivated? Are you able to move forward and get things done?

Stress - Some people are stressed on the inside and cool on the outside. If you are not relax, people can feel your stress. When you become stress to the point your body cannot support, you become burnout.

4. Decision
Problem Solving - You don't enjoy problem solving. Do you enjoy looking far ahead? If you are blindly optimistic, you don't really enjoy looking far ahead, you will tend to fire fight a lot. Unconsciously creating fire for yourself to fight. If you are in a leadership position, and you don't enjoy problem solving, it will create a lot of problem for the team.

Authoritative - You don't enjoy making decisions. You end up asking others to make decision and take the responsibility, and when things go wrong you blame your team. Unconsciously you are scared to make the wrong decision. If you are too authoriative, you tend to take too much responsibility, you tend to not include others in the decision-making process. Others will also feel that their views are not important as they don't feel included.

Discussion
1. In what ways are you similar to your parents?
I think probably my tempo is same as my dad has a slow tempo. Sometimes we take too long to react or response when we are unclear. When he is stressed, he goes into his denial mode, which sometimes I am similar to him. When he is stressed he will stress everyone in the family. That is when his Gan Jeongness kicks in.

2. Are you aware of your own blindspots and how does it affect you?
For me, I used to give up things halfway because I don't see hope at the end of the tunnel. As my tempo is slow, I end to wait until things become too late to do something about it.

Now I am able to see my blindspots better. I will plan early and I will followup closely, so that the projects meet its deadline. FGS Venerables have trained me to make decisions, I learned to make decisions for myself and people who are working with. I also understand teamwork that gives me the opportunties, to empower myself and others to be the best version of themselves using their own talents and skills.

3. Are you ready to make a change?
Yes, To learn about myself, continue to attend new study group dates.

Day 199: KDrama - The Heirs

The series follows a group of rich, privileged high school students as they are about to take over their families' business empires, overcoming difficulties and growing every step of the way.

Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) is a wealthy heir to a large Korean conglomerate called Jeguk Group. He was exiled to the U.S. by his brother Kim Won (Choi Jin-hyuk), who tries to take control of the family business. While in the States, he meets Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye), who went there to look for her sister. Despite being engaged to Yoo Rachel (Kim Ji-won), a fellow heiress, Kim Tan soon falls in love with Eun-sang. When Kim Tan returns to Korea, his former best friend turned enemy Choi Young-do (Kim Woo-bin) begins picking on Eun-sang to irritate Tan. Tension ensues when Young-do also falls in love with Eun-sang, and Kim Tan is forced to choose between his responsibility of pursuing the family business or love.

This is the typical rich guy poor girl story. I find this storyline is a bit too common. I also feel that Park Shin-hye continues to make herself very pitiful and undecisive in the middle of the story, when the male family opposed their relationship. I think I have watched too much such stories already. There are so many recycling plots that I don't find this drama appealing to me. In fact, I didn't complete the entire drama.

With all the flaws, the drama reminded me that at one point in my life, when I was much younger, both me and my partner love blindly, truthfully, sweetly. We went from bliss to pain; to stay together to let go of each other and it has improved our love prespective as a person. Whatever love moments have happened are just part of my life experiences.

Day 198: Bonus Round of Own your Future Challenge, Carefree Day 9

Bonus Round - Producing Podcast
Video and sound checking

Prepare materials in advance
1. Research the guest, background check
2. What do he wants me to accomplish?
3. What do I need to capture?
4. How is he going to repurpose it?

Learn more about Business Owners and their Business
1. Hear and learn about the information
2. Working with Marketing team and understand their objectives and goals
3. Meet cool people who are passionate in what they do

Questions are the answers

Should ask questions (SAQ)
What do I need to know?
Take one step at a time.
Having the courage to move forward.

7 Levels Deep
1. I find my own why. I connect with my inner self.
2. I learn and understand myself.
3. I want to be in control of my life.
4. I connect myself authentically.
5. I choose to trust and love myself.
6. I am able to move forward.
7. I free myself.

10 Learnings from Own your Future Challenge
1. Resourcefulness
There is no magic formula, find the answers that I need to know, find the information and gain knowledge and experiences.

2. Choose Courage over Fear
Find my faith, find my courage.

3. Regret
Cost of inaction. Not doing anything. Freeze.
Are you satisfied with your current situation?
If no, change it.

4. Expenses over Investment
Is this a great investment, buying capabilities, pay for speed and time.

5. Choose to say 'No'.
Say NO for the things that don't serve in your life. Open time in yourself.

6. Commitment over Convenience
Learning the easy way, hard to live in future.
Learning the hard way, easy to live in future.
Do the hard things now, learn now by investing time in myself.

7. Schedule it
What am I doing for?
Needle work (Have a workout plan, breakdown the tasks required to accomplish it)

8. Decide who is going to run it?
It takes 15 secs to decide how I want to run my life. Listen to my inner voice.

9. The first step is always the scariest Design my corporate video, create my own workshop, share my web and brand experiences with others.

10. My certainty is stronger than anything else
People do not understand, it is okay.
Model people who have done it before.
Plan -> Design -> Implement -> Deliver

The DOT Step by Step
1. You must choose the Dot
Group of People that I truly want to serve.
Pick a dot: Solopreneurs

2. Show up to love and serve the people that make up Your Dot
How can I show up more, provide value and help them to become better.

3. If you fail to choose the dot, you are choosing to fail

Why you must choose the DOT?
Reason 1: Imposter Syndrome will go away.

Reason 2: When you are commit to your Dot, you can easily Discover What the Problems they have, so that you know what to offer them.

Reason 3: When you are commit to your Dot, you now know what to say in all your messaging, FB live, stories, Ads, Funnels. You will know who you are writing to.

2 Possible Outcomes
Option 1: You picked the Right Dot First.

Option 2: You learn that this is not the Dot for You, You take what you have learned and now with more information and better skills. You pick a different Dot, then you show up to love and serve the people that make up your New Dot.

Question is how can you serve and who can you serve?
Key is Focus and Consistency.
People buy from people they like, trust and love.
I trust that I can do it, believe in myself again.
Making Progress, build momemtum.
1. Brand awardness, marketing strategy
2. Create Interest, consideration, intent, evaluation
3. Purchase
4. Consume the service
5. Gather feedback, build loyalty and support

Validate the course that you want to build first before rollout.
Check if people really want the program.
Serve the people from heart. Tap into Faith, Serve and Help people.
Some of the tools required.
1. Mobile
2. Aquired Skills and knowledge
3. Facebook Group (Build a Community)
4. Took the next step each time completed 1 task.
5. Communicate effectively.

Day 197: 5 Days of Own Your Future Challenge

I joined Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi's Own Your Future Challenge from 11 May to 15 May. It was a 2 hours webinar daily. I gather many insights from the 2 of them and other speakers. Of course, I Understand they want people to join their Mastermind Group, That was the whole idea. I am glad that they didn't forced people to sign up, they just encouraged people to get started.

As a business owner myself, I understand where they are coming from. They want to give value to people who want to follow them, learn from them, apply the knowledge, build capabilities and scale up the business. All these efforts need time. Fortunately, they allow people to watch the replay. I spent 2 days watched through their 5 days of training. They are impactful and insightful.

I always think Tony Robbins is very drama when he teaches. I didn't really like it but maybe someone loves to hear this. This time round, I keep my mind opens, surprisely some of his words do make sense to me. If I don't like the way I work, I need to change it. Fortunately, Dean's energy was more down to earth. Somehow I like the way Dean shares his stories from a sincere heart.

To be honest, I am more relateable to Brendon Burchard, his story is more believable and I could feel his sincerity. His words of wisdom did touch me. He had a car accident after his first love left him. That was the turning point that he started to question about his life. He was in depression. In the end, he decided he wants to live. He doesn't want to die. Now, everyday he will ask himself,"Did I live well? Did I make a difference? Did I matter?"

It reminded me how I suffered from depression previously. I was so desperate, helpless, mentally and emotionally suffering. I feel like I was dying every single day. I felt so useless and invalid. My heart was empty. One day, a friend of mine cried in front of me. Another friend wrote positive words to me frequently, just to uplife me. It makes me realised that I have at least make a difference in my friends' life. They gave me the strength that I want to live.

1st Day - Mindset
What is the one limiting belief that I had?
It was hard to earn money.
What can I shift to change this belief?
I can start building my networks and build new business relationships.

2nd Day - Finding the Dot and Taking the next bold move
Finding the group of people to serve: Solopreneurs
Taking the next bold move - Show up more in social media, sharing my message

3rd Day - Service Leadership
What are my gifts and talents?
How can I serve?

4th Day - Roadmap
Share my story
Compelling reasons to learn from me
Past Works
Process, Tools
Implementation

5th Day - Implementation
Social media
Podcast
Blog

Create Awareness, Interest, Purchase, Service, Loyalty

Day 196: KDrama - Legend of the Blue Sea

Legend of the Blue Sea is delightful to watch. It's a fun mix of romance, friendship comedy, action, fantasy and past lives that make the storyline unique. The story follows reincarnated star crossed lovers across to 2 timelines - with the Joseon timeline as a dramatic backdrop and the modern day story played out with more comedy and romance. This drama tells the love story of a con-artist and a mermaid who travels across the ocean to find him.

Great acting by all the main and supporting actors, though, and I do love the juxtaposition with the Joseon period to modern world. The cinematography during the old scenes were visually stunning and added an extra layer of interest. I really like the story. What attracts me is truly the blue sea. By looking at it in the most of episodes, makes me feel really relaxing. It could be better if episodes from 20 to 16 as some parts are quite draggy.

This drama was actually my first experience watching Lee Min Ho. I thought I finally got why he was such a "big deal" a few years back. While he impressed me fairly well in the first part, later his character becomes a bit flat. Jun Ji Hyun, though, has become one of the actresses that I enjoy very much. She has a great comedic sense and stands out from a lot of the Korean actresses I see. She did an excellent job in this show as well. Generally, the couple has romantic connection with each other.

I thought all the side characters were interesting and well-acted for their roles. Especially all the actors doing double duty as past and present characters. The music was pretty good, but nothing that was extraordinary. It's not something I would like or enjoy listening to them over and over again. I just found out that the writer of this drama was Park Ji Eun who happened to write "My Love From Another Star" too, that explains why it felt so similar feel to it.

Listen to Legend of the Blue Sea OST
https://www.kdramalove.com/LegendBlueSea.html

Day 195: Why I didn't want to take the Vaccine

Recently a few of my friends send me this article: 18 Reasons I won't be getting a covid vaccine

After reading it, my personal take is. These 5 points make sense to me.
1) Trust issue about the vaccine. I trust my body more than the vaccine. I believe our immune system is better than taking the vaccine. Vaccine reduces the quality of immune system.

2) Integrity issue. The vaccine is not really well tested at this point in time. The pharmaceutical industry just want to roll out the vaccine quickly so that they can make money in future. People are getting the side effects for now. People just normalise it because they feel they have no choice or tricked by the media that vaccination is good for them.

3) Safety issue. NO INFORMED CONSENT. What most who are taking the vaccine don't know is that because these products are still in clinical trials, anyone who gets the shot is now part of the clinical trial. They are part of the experiment. Time will tell how this experiment works out.

4) Health Protection issue. After taking the vaccine, you are still not protected, you are still open to the chances of getting the virus. The chances of getting covid is really low. it is 99.7% but if you take the vaccine, you increase the higher chance (90%) of getting it.

5) Transmission issue. The vaccines do not stop transmission or infection. You are not protected by the pharmaceutical industry or government if the vaccine fails you.

Day 194: Graduation Reflection

Looking back one and half years ago, I was about to leave my volunteer work at FGS Dharma class, Venerable Miao Mu asked me to stay. She just told me,"You just need to manage your time well."

These few words just opened up my mind. I was thinking how could I make it possible? Can I really cope with so many things at one go? The fear and doubts set in. What if I failed? What if I can't cope? What if no one supports me? Of course, none of the worst case scenarios ever kicks in.

True enough, although it was quite a crazy year, working, volunteering, studying and networking. I managed to pull them through. Things changed due to Covid fortunately, many things from face to face became online. That made a lot of things easier for me to cope with.

It's possible to do it when we prioritise our time properly. 🤪 The key to success is to take one step at a time. Focus what matters truly at that point in time and do it mindfully.

I am grateful for my lecturers' knowledge and experiences and classmates' support especially, Evelyn. We pull through thick and thin for all our UIUX projects. We shared the same values and good learning attitudes. I must say Evelyn's design work is wonderful and I hope we have opportunities to collaborate together.

I remembered there was 1 project, both of us were so eager to share all our learnings with the rest, that our marks got deducted. Thinking back, I just felt so amused as we didn't follow the "guidelines". It's easy to score points in school when you know the school rules. In real life, it's all about relationships, other factors involved and it is a different type of ball game.

It's a crazy yet magical year, things just flow through nicely for me. I finally understood what it really means by going with the flow. I am thankful for people who have helped me in my learning and gave me the lessons I needed to learn. I am grateful for the learning experience.

It was also lovely to take some beautiful photos and catch up with Evelyn today. May we continue our friendship, hopefully we can reconnect with other classmates soon.

P.S. Thank you Mr Allan Tee, hobbyist photographer, for offering his kind help, to take some professional shots at the river bank, which both of us were least expecting. #WorkInProgress #SPGraduation #MovingForward #Breakthroughs

Day 193: I cherish myself

I helped Pandora to do IOPT healing process.
It is the first time I felt I truly cherish myself.
I could feel my emotional wall from opaque to transparent and finally disappear.
I never feel this before. It is my first time, feeling being cherish by myself.

Tears just rolled down naturally. I teared, not because I feel sad but
rather I feel happy and touched that I am able to feel that I cherish myself.
I am ready to accept myself for who I am.
I always wanted to accept myself deeply, fully and unconditionally.
Today is a beautiful healing process for me, Jess and of course Pandora.

Day 192: KDrama - Memories of the Alhambra

Memories of the Alhambra is a 2018 South Korean television series, starring Hyun Bin and Park Shin-hye. Primarily set in Spain, the series centers on a company CEO and a hostel owner who get entangled in a series of mysterious incidents surrounding a new and intricate augmented reality game inspired by the stories of the Alhambra Palace. This drama "Memories of the Alhambra" started very strong, but by the end I felt extremely disappointed. There were so many elements to the story that I loved, but there were also too many things that could have been better.

What I loved about the story is the main plot revolving around the augmented-reality videogame. It's hard to go to into it without giving away too much, but I loved the world they created, the unexpected twists in the story, and the mystery element that intrigued me to the very end. I also loved Hyun Bin! He was great as reluctant hero Yoo Jin Woo and always plays the charming jerk role so well. He is one of my favorites, and it was great to see him as a leading man again. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the leading lady.

Park Shin Hye as Jung Hee Joo is probably the thing I dislike most about this drama. The writer made her character so pathetic. I really think a better actress could have made the role work. Even though I have liked her in other roles, in the drama she seemed out of her league. She had zero chemistry with Hyun Bin in my opinion, and he really seemed to be trying much harder to make their romantic storyline work while she basically cried and looked slightly surprised most of the time. He had much better chemistry with his Secretary Seo Jung Hoon than with her. I felt sad when Secretary has to died more than the couple can't be together. Hyun Bin even had better chemistry with the little sister, and the romance becomes a minor element in the story since it fails to bring sparks in the storyline.

The rest of the cast, in general, was good but there were times when the side character stories seemed more like filler, made the story drag, and didn't hold my interest. I kinda pity the NPC Cha Hyung-seok, where he has to repeatedly come out to be killed all the time. Some of it made sense and added to the story, like the scandalous love triangle between the two bffs, and the father played by the always brilliant Kim Eui Sung, but most of the side stories just didn't live up to the excitement of the game world. I didn't care at all about Jin Woo's second wife or Hee Joo's friend zoned guy pal. I would have much rather learned more about the development of the game. I liked the show much more in the earlier episodes when there was more focus on just the game world.

I was also impressed by how this drama looked visually. The Spain locations were great, and the virtual world elements looked impressive and believable. I liked the incorporation of the Spanish guitar too which made a beautiful melody so creepy, especially if it happens to be raining while you're watching.

I understand why people were disappointed with the ending but I was more indifferent. Parts of the end actually made me tear up, and other parts made me roll my eyes. In the middle, I kind of feel bored when the killing is never ending, eg. the endless of zombie and korean assassins and they keep repeating the previous scenes. It seemed more like a set up for a sequel than a real ending anyway, but I think they did their best to give most of the characters some kind of closure.

Overall, this is a drama where there may be plot holes, lapses in logic, an overuse of narration, and a love story that lacks chemistry, but it makes up for it in originality and intrigue. I was excited to watch the latest episode all the way up until the end, which honestly felt like it came too soon. So I would still recommend this drama, even with its flaws. It's another ambitious story that may not have lived up to its full potential, but it definitely stands out among other dramas.

I really hope to see Hyun Bin as a leading man again soon, with a better leading lady. I also look forward to the next sci-fi drama, although there were flaws, it was certainly memorable... *cue Spanish guitar and thunder* o.O

Day 191: Why am I building my business? Care free Day 8

I remind myself daily on my big why. I stand in my own light.
As I get too comfortable where I am, I need to remind myself my own purpose of building my business.
Complacency is the downfall of any success.
#GettingOutOfMyOwnComfortZone #RWDC #WorkInProgress

Day 190: Self Control TV Addict

I am quite shocked that I watched 7 Korean Dramas in a month and 16 Korean Dramas within 2 months! Although most of them 16 episodes and one of them has 51 episodes. Be aware that I have spent 347 hours watching these dramas. I need my life back. Would it be better if I put my time to connect with myself, family and friends?

No doubt, these dramas have depth in the story, these are frictional stories.

1. It is okay not to be okay
- Understand about childhood trauma

2. Live up to your own name
- Learn about Western and Traditional acupunture medical

3. What's wrong with Secretary Kim
- Just a Light hearted Office Romance

4. Pinocchio
- News Broadcasting between Truth and Lies.
- The female lead newcaster hipcups when she lies.

5. Romance is a bonus book
- Book Publishing

6. Crash landing on you
- Romance between North and South Korea

7. Memories of the Alhambra
- Augmented Reality Gaming, pretty cool technology

8. Legend of the Blue Sea
- Relive past lives Romance

9. The Heirs
- High School Romance

10. Mystic Pop-up Bar
- Heals people wounds and traumas

11. Strong Girl Bong Soon
- A superpower girl that fights for justice and help the weaker people

12. W
- About a couple living at different dimensions in a fantasy-reality romance.

13. My Halo Love
- About a girl with an AI romance

14. Hyde, Jekyll, Me
- About a CEO has to split of himself as 2 personality due to a childhood tramatic event.

15. Secret Garden
- About a CEO falls in love with a stunt woman

16. The Empress Ki
- Frictionised based on Historical Character Empress Ki, about the life of a girl from Koryeo who becomes the most powerful woman of a Yuan Empire and her loves as she is torn between two countires.

17. Her Private Life
- a romantic comedy about an idol fangirl Sung Deok Mi who works as a curator at an art museum and tries to hide her fangirl side, but her secret becomes in jeopardy of being exposed after a new director Ryan Gold arrives.

18. The King: Eternal Monarch
- a fantasy K-drama, a fight between good and evil between two parallel universes set in Korea.

19. The Tale of Nine Tailed
- Mystical about a Nine Tailed Fox who has given up on his mountain spirit status and keep wandering the Living realm to look for his first love.

20. Hotel Del Luna
- A young man who is forced to manage a hotel for dead souls, an elite hotelier gets to know the establishment's ancient owner and her strange world.

21. Vincenzo
- a Korean-Italian mafia lawyer gives an unrivaled conglomerate a taste of its own medicine with a side of justice.

22. Bride of Habaek
- God of water who fall in love with a human being.

23. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
- a young woman chasing her dream of weightlifting, about a group of college athletes who are fighting for their dreams, experiencing and finding love in the process, and growing every step of the way. Inspired by the life of Olympic gold-medalist Jang Mi-ran.

24. Coffee Prince
- a rich guy falls in love with a tomboy, who later becomes a barista.

25. About Time
- A woman has ability to see other people’s life spans and knows that her own time is limited.

26. Cinderella and the Four knights
- Eun Ha Won is in her third year of high school with dreams of becoming a teacher. A Grandfather wants Eun Ha Won to bond his 4 grandson together to take care of his empire.

27. Pasta
- The workplace romantic comedy is about the dreams and struggles of a young woman who aspires to become an elite chef.

28. 200 Pound Beauty (Movie)
- A talented but obese girl, who ghost-sings for a not-so-talented pop star, undergoes extensive plastic surgery to become a slender beauty with a new identity.

29. Accidentally In Love (Chinese)
-A popular singer, Your Highness decides to go back to school, becoming the center of attention there, and meets an ordinary female student, Chen Qing Qing with a dual personality.

30. I hear your voice
- Jang Hye Sung (Lee Bo Young) is a bold, sassy, thick-faced, comical female government lawyer. Cha Kwan Woo (Yoon Sang Hyun) is a serious, passionate and macho former police officer who becomes a government lawyer. Meanwhile, Park Soo Ha (Lee Jong Suk) is a 19 years old boy who has the superpower to hear people’s thoughts. Together they will team up to solve the cases that no one else wants, cases that only have a one percent chance of being found innocent.

In the past, I watch Dramas be it local channels, hong kong dramas, JDramas or KDrama in order to feel better. TV offers distraction and escape. When I had a difficult or stressful day, I watched Dramas to distract myself from looking into myself or move away from my real life problems.

For now, I watch KDrama is more for relaxation. There’s nothing wrong with occasionally using drama to help relieve or express painful, anxiety emotions. I personally enjoy fantasy dramas, over romance dramas.

I need to be aware that problems can develop when TV becomes my primary coping strategy and keeps me from seeking out more productive methods of dealing with distress. Dramas can’t help me to resolve whatever I am dealing with. It can help me feel better for a while, but chances are, my improved mood won’t last until I take steps to address any problems.

After 12 Kdramas, I think I have enough of the dramas, my work is coming in already. I will stay away from Netflix now. Remember, I need to stay in the present.

Day 189: KDrama - Crash Landing On You

A freak tornado, a paragliding misadventure, and a love that crosses the divide between North and South.

Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is a millionaire K-beauty South Korean entrepreneur and also a pro-am paraglider with her own lifestyle brand. She has just been nominated as heir to her father’s business empire, surpassing two numbskull brothers who are incapable running the business. Testing out some athleisure wear while paragliding, Se-ri gets sucked into a freak tornado and dumped into the demilitarised zone between South and North Korea. There, she’s discovered by an extremely dashing North Korean soldier (Captain Ri Jeong-hyuk, played by Hyun Bin) who tries to help her return south, but she runs in the wrong way and ends up in hiding. Over time, they fall in love, despite the divide and dispute between their respective countries.

It is like a twist on the age-old Romeo and Juliet trope, Crash Landing On You tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, how they met and after twist and turns, they come together finally. Unfortunately, the supporting female and male couple didn't make it in the end. Overall, the emphasis is on a shared humanity, a shared Koreanness, despite the divide. And that can be genuinely touching.

Reflection: What I like most about this KDrama is the beautiful scenery of Switzerland and Mongolia. It is my first time get to know how North and South Koreans live their lives. I also like the 5 army boys, they are so funny and loyal. Finally, I am glad to see how female lead Se-ri resolve the conflict with her step mother. Generally, It is worth to watch to see this 16 episode of korean drama. Oh Yah, Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin came together in Jan 2021 after few years of acting together. They look sweet together. Hopefully, their relationship in reality can be lasting as well.

Some people became better as they aged. This 2005 MBC drama turned Hyun Bin from a rookie actor to a star. “My Lovely Kim Sam Soon” centered around the life of a bachelorette in her 30s (played by Kim Sun Ah). Hyun Bin moved audiences to laughter and tears with his portrayal of Hyun Jin Hun, who was working through his past trauma.

Next, I am going to watch Hyun Bin's "Memories of the Alhambra". It is about Augmented Reality gaming.

Day 188: Essential Oils Blending @ Soaprise

I had a fun afternoon with Lydia at Soaprise. We learned how to make 1 essential oils candles, 2 essential oils rollers and 1 spray mist.

As I used essential oils for a few years, mixing 3 essential oils together is the first time. I made memory booster, deep breath and sweet flora.

I try to make my own recipe: orange, rosemary and wintergreen for candle. It smells lovely. I need to wait for 24 hours before the candle can be used.

Essential oils have their own benefits. Different people have different liking and needs. You can read up on your own if you want to learn more or we can exchange our experiences 🙂

#EssentialOils #Soaprise #FunActivity #WorkInProgress

Day 187: Zen Art - Star from the heart

《星心》 Star from the heart
天空上的星星，数不完
唯有自己的心，看得清

Day 186: KDrama - Romance is a bonus book

Cha Eun-ho is a successful author and a senior editor at a book publishing company. Kang Dan-i is a mother and former successful advertising copywriter. When Cha Eun-ho was a child, Kang Dan-i saved him from an accident and was injured. Kang Dan-i had Cha Eun-ho help her while she was recuperating in hospital and later on bedrest for one year. By helping her acquire books to read from the library, Cha Eun-ho himself became interested in writing. The two youngsters stayed close friends well into adulthood. However, their friendship was strained after Kang Dan-i started dating a selfish, inconsiderate man. Although he disapproved of her choice in a partner, and she too expressed doubt at times, Cha Eun-ho stands by her decision to marry this man.

Now in the present, Cha Eun-ho enlists Kang Dan-i to help him find a housekeeper - but he has no idea Kang Dan-i is the one doing the work and taking payment. Her husband has cheated on her, and she is now single and unemployed, but he is also unaware of her living situation and the hardships she is facing as a divorced single mother with a large gap in work experience trying to re-enter the professional world. Eventually Kang Dan-i is no longer able to keep her secrets from him, and Cha Eun-ho lends her a helping hand. Their lives become even more intertwined when Kang Dan-i applies to be a temporary task support worker at his publishing company. Although Cha Eun-ho is initially worried about how she will perform, Kang Dan-i surprises him and other senior executives with her creativity and hard work.

Reflection: Romance is a bonus book is a heart-warming rare drama full of suspense and meaningful quotes interweaved throughout. This was so beautifully written and perfectly unfolded just like a perfect book. The storytelling had an artistic aspect and flowed almost fluidly.

The setting was at Publishing Company. The drama had a cozy, sweet atmosphere at first. It was interesting to watch Female Lead, Dan-i, who was having her life ruined, but never gave up and stayed positive. It reminds me about the days I worked in Advertising Agency, where I worked very hard and stay positive whenever I faced challenges. I loved the way how the characters valued the process of publishing the books and the team worked together to make each book publishing a success. They also overcome mistakes and challenges along the way. I like the book concert to create the book awareness.

A well written book lives forever in the hearts of the readers.

Meaningful quotes in the drama
1. We are like books. We wait for someone to find us and open us to see what’s inside.

2. We are trees that branch out in solitude and bear fruits. We are beautiful trees with growth rings of our lives.

3. Your feelings for me were beautiful and precious, so I didn’t want to mistreat it. The woman I’ve known for three years is passionate, diligent, and beautiful. That’s why you will find a better guy than me. Someone who recognizes you. Someone who makes you shine. Someone who makes you happy. At least, someone who won’t pretend not to know your feelings. (Eun-ho reply to Yoo-jin when Yoo-jin tried many times to express her love for him.)

4. Everyone has their own tunnel to pass.

5. A book that inspired others may not always inspire you, so find a book that does.

6. Keeping a promise is rare like a star in darkness that is meant to shine.

7. Passion spreads like the warmth of a fire spreads. It becomes comfort, hope, and happiness.

8. I opened up an old book of mine again. It was good when I first read the book but when I read it for the second and third time, this book made me underline the sentences over and over again. I find new sentences in this book everyday. It’s a book that stayed with me the longest.

9. The book is the same but the heart of the reader has changed.

Day 185: Jam Art

Hot Air Balloons, may my dreams take off. Another Jam Art Experience with friends on 2nd May.

The beauty of acrylic painting is you can make all the "mistakes" that you want and amend later. I took even shorter time to paint this time, 2.5 hours for simple painting works. It is so therapeutic!

Today, I learned that different brushes have different usage. I didn't know the different brushes could be used for different effects and techniques.

I get learned 6 types of basic brushes and their usage.
1. Wash brush (background)
2. Angled brush (paint flowers and special strokes)
3. Flat brush (tidy the sides, gives a neater look)
4. Fan brush (trees leaves)
5. Round brush (outline the items)
6. Fine brush (draw the trees trunk)

More explanation found here: https://youtu.be/7a8meJdWsVs

Learning something new everyday hahaha :D
#WorkInProgress #JamArt #AcrylicPainting

Day 184: Why losing your job can be the next best thing? Carefree Day 7

This book is an easy read and it's an inspiring which teaches us how to deal with the knocks of everyday life.

"When one door closes, another door opens, but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." - Alexander Graham Bell

It was written with a sense of humour, empathy and honesty.

I know some of the business tips but it's a good reminder to think and reflect why I do what I do currently. The process can be tweak and modified according to the market needs but never lose the vision. #FunReading #WorkInProgress

Day 183: KDrama - Pinocchio

As a child, Ha-Myeong (Lee Jong-Suk) grew up in a family with his firefighter father, mother and older brother. Ha-Myeong and his older brother, Ki Jae-Myeong (Yoon Gyun-Sang) both possess higher than normal intellect and are proud of their father. A fire at a waste facility though destroys his family. His mother dies a short time later and Ha-Myeong ends up being scooped out of the ocean by an unknown man (Byun Hee-Bong).

The man that pulls Ha-Myeong out of the ocean is the grandfather of In-Ha (Park Shin-Hye). In-Ha's grandfather believes Ha-Myeong is his eldest son Dal-Po, who died 30 years ago. Ha-Myeong is then adopted by In-Ha's grandfather and his name is changed to Choi Dal-Po. In-Ha and Dal-Po now live together as uncle and niece, although they are in the same age range. In-Ha has a Pinocchio Syndrome. Whenever she lies she gets the hiccups. In-Ha and Dal-Po get along well until Dal-Po learns that In-Ha's mother, Song Cha-Ok (Jin Kyung) is the reporter that covered the waste facility fire that destroyed his family. Dal-Po tries to distance himself from In-Ha, but he also develops feelings for her.

Years later, Dal-Po and In-Ha's family are now living in Seoul. In-Ha attempts to become a reporter like her mother. In-Ha meets her mother for the first time in years at a job interview for MSC Broadcasting Station. Her mother is the person giving her the job interview. In-Ha though fails the job interview. Her mother rejects her because of her Pinocchio Syndrome.

Dal-Po is now driving a taxi to support their family. One day, Dal-Po meets In-Ha's mother and decides to become a reporter.

Reflection: This drama is pretty nice although there is tragic in this storyline. People needs to scarific themselves, cover up their own wrongdoings and lies. It is good to know being honest is a best policy. No matter how much cover ups, eventually the truth will come into light. I remembered this phrase,"A thousand of darkness will come into light one day."

Pinocchio has that nice mix of a beautifully woven story along with comedy, romance, and drama that all come together. I like the way how this storyline is written because of its well-rounded and emotionally engaging stories.

Day 182: 2021年人间佛教阅读研讨会 -- 成就的秘诀《金刚经》

Meaningful Sharing and Discussion of Diamond Sutra

《金刚经》的一句经文

有5个层面

妄想与理想
如果只是想没有实现。只是妄想
如果想了又去探索，学习，想办法实现，是理想

好笑的是：
为什么钱不可得? 🤣
钱没有赚到，不是你的
花了，也不是你的
放着不敢花，也不是你的
你死了，也不会是你的

为什么我要浪费时间担心钱？
因为是"不可得"所以我要好好善用钱.

钱是一种能源，用在对的地方，会帮到自己和别人.
享有而不是拥有. 星云大师曾经说钱用了，才是自己的.
以下是四种善用钱财的地方:
1) 日常生活的开销 Daily Expenses
2) 储蓄 Savings
3) 投资 Investments
4) 布施 Donations

我们的心是自由的
太在意，所以容易有烦恼
不要太在意， 就会自由自在

金刚经的精华： 不要升起烦恼
要努力，认真的态度面对.

Reflection: Today learning is very fruitful. Last time I have money issues but I think I am learning how to manage my money clearly. I feel a lot more confident and I don't have to worry about money. I have enough. It is really what shifu said use the money wisely and it will come back to you when you need it.

I remembered how I stole my mother's money to pay for a classmate who blackmailed me. The money $50 was meant for my bus fee. It was the first time I lied, because I was afraid of my classmate.

The truth can't hold anymore as the bus auntie told my mum that she didn't received the fee. When my mum asked me, I told her I lost the money. Another lie. My mum forgave me but I didn't forgive myself even though I wasn't truly my fault. I lied. I punish myself for not deserve to have money. I can't trust anyone. I can't trust myself. It was a painful experience.

Tonight dharma has kinda released the emotion about having constantly worry about money. I can receive the money that I want and use them wisely and I deserve to have money. I can see and speak the truth now. The truth sets me free. I can face myself now. Nothing is attained or can be grasped.