Thursday, October 18, 2007

Conflicting Desires

Guess what? This is the third time that I’ve fallen sick, with a short window span of about 3 weeks of good health in between.

I was asking myself why? I got various replies from my body.

Yes, I talk to my body. At times, I negotiate with them. Like this time.

I asked them to let my body recover as soon as possible, so that I’ll be ok to speak in my “Relationship Blueprint Seminar” this coming Saturday, 20 Oct.

My body wanted me to rest.

Well, so do I. But with so many things pending, I really couldn’t afford to rest too much. And even when I did, either taking a nap or watching TV, I found myself worrying about the outstanding tasks that I couldn’t concentrate fully on the rest itself.

So realistically speaking, I wasn’t in complete and total rest.

I negotiated with my body – let me pull through this week, have a good seminar and next week I promise I will rest more.

I guess my body agreed, though slightly reluctantly.

You see, what I’m experiencing now is the presence of conflicting desires. While my body would prefer a life with much lesser stress, my spirit and desire is pushing me to do more, like to promote my book, hold more talks, conduct more seminars and workshops, create more products etc.

My spirit is willing to do more so that I can help more singles and couples to have a better relationship; my body is willing me to have more rest. Quality rest that is free of worries and stress, at least during that period.

While I know what the best scenario is, I also knew that this isn’t quite possible in the short term and in the foreseeable medium term. So what I can do to resolve this gap as a result of the conflicting desires is to find a compromising point and do my best to strike a deal.

You heard me correctly. I need to strike a deal so that I can please both sides – my body as well as my spirit. The outcome, though not a complete balance, should still satisfy both sides enough to have a peaceful situation so that I can continue doing what I need to do.

Therefore, I’m still in full force preparing for my seminar and rushing for the last minute marketing and promoting of this event. Though time is really running short, but I’m still very hopeful and very enthusiastically looking forward to this 4-hour seminar.

Reason is very simple. I have so much confidence in the materials and information that I’m going to share that I know whoever who walks out of the event will definitely be much better than before he/she came in.

I have that much belief. The only thing now is to fill up the seats, at very short notice.

Oh ya, and also to recuperate as fast as I can while still finishing up as much things as I possibly could too! 

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Honestly… Honesty Is The Best Policy, Until…

I’d like to think twice. I failed to do that during an interview which probably cost me the job. Or so I thought.

What happened was this – I was asked a very simple question then. Simple because if I looked back, that was probably one of the most frequently asked question one can expect in a job interview.

He asked “If you can learn a new skill, what would you like to learn?”

Guess what I said?

“Arranging flowers”

What in the world was I thinking of, or not thinking of, to tell my interviewer I want to learn the art of arranging flowers when I was seeking for a post of a Business Development Executive?

I couldn’t believe it when those words came out from my mouth. I don’t suppose he did too. That’s probably why he didn’t shortlist me for the second round.

I wouldn’t too if I were him.

So much for true-blue untainted honesty in it’s purest form.

In fact, I am someone who loves to learn and pick up new stuff. It doesn’t really come as a shocker that I’d want to know how to arrange flowers since I do love those colourful blooms.

I could have continued rattled on “Learning piano, pick up a new language etc” if not for the disbelief and intense pang of regret I felt after shooting the first answer too fast. In case you are wondering now, I have many areas of interest and I don’t want to be just interested, I’d like to dip my hand into it.

At the risk of appearing silly to you guys, I hope you can all remember what I’ve gone through and learn from my experience.

Of course, honesty is the best policy. We all know and agree. But I’m sure you can give a much better answer, something that will sell your value to the company, and still remain honest.

Preparation is the key here. Plus a healthy dose of confidence (you don’t want to appear arrogant) and you should be on your way to your potential employer’s heart. 

Saturday, October 13, 2007

The Second Time Is Always Better

Titanic. Ratatouille. As I searched desperately for more movie names, there wasn’t anymore than these two.

Yes, the reason for such difficulty is because I hardly go back to the cinema to watch a same movie twice.

Oh! Now I remember - “Wallace & Gromit” can now join the ranks.

Though I return to the same show for different reasons, one comman point stood out - the second round is mostly the best one too. Well, not that i’ve tested it enough to make such a bold conclusion. So I shall accompany this with my opinion in a feeble attempt to ‘’justify’’.

I know, the first time gives you all the surprises, or shock for certain films. Perhaps it’s due to such nice unpredictable turns that catches our attention. But as a result, how much of the movie’s plot & internal emotion of the characters do we notice?

The second time lets you enjoy the luxury of not playing the smart aleck figuring out what’s the next scene or who’s the murderer. Thus, we concentrate on the finer things in a movie.

The acting. The story. The expression. The details we missed out the first time.

So I’d recommend those movie lovers & people who appreciate this form of art to see the same movie at least twice. Of course, some discernment is required.

Enjoy your nachos. I mean popcorn. I mean, erh, the movie.