motivation

June 6, 2017

Getting Real

Getting real

Before I started my venture online, I used to click links that promise me how to earn online. Not just earn. But earn millions. Naive as I had been, I keep giving them my emails and read every word they promise, that one day I end up like them: doing the things they love while having fun at the same time.

To my dismay, no promise was ever real. I was just lead to click links that either a scam or which I have to pay. Most of these promises turned out as leads to links of courses I have to take in order to get that promise of earning millions.

I have no problem with online courses. They help to a certain degree. What I don’t like is the ‘promise’ of a million. Most of the successful online gurus built their millions and brand for years. Neil Patel for one built his empire for five years. Not in a month, or even a year. But why couldn’t they be real?

As time pass by, I slowly unsubscribe to the sites that offer great promises. I retained in my inbox the ones that helped me along the way to be the best that I can be.

I no longer aim for the millions. I aim for the stars. Earning for the stars means I have to follow my passion, give to others what I can give sans false promises, and do the hard work required for its achievement.

There’s no need for me to follow the steps of others. They may serve as my inspiration as the going gets tough.

Mark Zuckerberg did his own thing. So did Steve Jobs. They innovate. They think outside the box, and perhaps never utter promises to others to help them achieve millions.

What these two great men did was inspire others to be the best that they can be, that one day, they too may make something of themselves that could help millions of people.

No false promises. Only a certain grip on reality.

 

pwnezel

Daily Prompt

May 17, 2017

Kindness Unlimited

Kindness unlimited
Are you kind? I often hear angry people say, “I’ll be kind if you’re kind. But when you’re mean, I’m as mean as you.” Competition it is. This is an attitude of people who wants to be understood than to understand. But I don’t want to judge anyone. Each one has his own story to tell. What I’ll be telling now is my story of kindness and how magnanimous it is.
Kindness is beautiful. I’m unsure whether it is learned or a gift given to someone at birth. I’m glad to have a fair share of it. Perhaps it’s one of my innate qualities. Or, maybe a gift that I could give to anyone who needs it. But, hey! I’m not that kind twenty-four seven. Or else, you’d be talking to a saint. I also have my qualms. Or so it seems I’ve tamed myself that much. Okay, enough about me. Let’s focus on kindness.
According to Mark Twain,

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Some people refuse to be kind for the reason that, like niceness, it signifies weakness. For them, it’s much better to appear unapproachable than appear kind and be abused. Abuse is another story. A kind person is never abused. He is kind because that is his quality. That is his strength. When someone considers himself as a victim, then that’s the time he is abused. One is kind because one is loving. He couldn’t be unkind because to be kind is his quality.
If kindness is a gift, it’s not given in a perfect shape. It needs to be honed and applied in actual situations. Real situations had been my school to sharpen this skill. For more than a decade I was confronted with a vengeful boss. She wasn’t that bad altogether because she could be nicer to others even on the surface. That’s quite an effort. She’d say nasty words, insults and I even feel she hates me for some reasons she alone knows. At times I feel she wants me to be some kind of a person I refused to become. Seeing that I am just what I am made her dislike me. Office politics made the situation worst.
When I started with that job I was a bit immature. I easily got hurt. So, I started to loathe that boss too. As the years passed there were no smooth seas between us. She openly displayed how much she disliked me, while I stayed in the corner licking my wounds. Until the time came that I started the self-development journey. Then and there I remained kind to her despite the reaction I got. I kept telling myself it wasn’t me for I’ve tried to do my best at work despite her criticisms. It’s her. And she’s that due to her unfulfilling personal life. Professionally, she was a success. Personally, it doesn’t appear to be. So it seems.
Some of the employees wasn’t that genuinely kind to her. They deal with her nicely on the surface yet scorn her at her back. It’s a common reaction everywhere, whether in the workplace or not. It’s a domino effect, one that follows the saying to don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you.
So the situation goes on and on. She seems to be confident showing me that nasty side of her being aware that I couldn’t be unkind in return. Until the time came that I decided to quit. I quit not because she hates me. I quit because I know I owe it to myself.
There were no sentimental reactions when my resignation letter was read. I thanked her on my last day of work but never got a response. Someone advised me to indirectly pour out all my feelings about her in social media. But I refused to. That seemed easy to do since most people do it. I refused the temptation. Surely, I posted something on my wall about my resignation on a more objective and deeper level. A post that neither hurt anyone nor showed me as a victim.
Two months passed, I received the good news that I was to receive an amount from the company, as a recognition for the length of service that I’ve rendered. That was small but huge for me. I sent a message to my former boss thanking her for her generosity. The kindness paid off. She replied to me and wished me a happy Lenten celebration. Three short sentences but meant the world to me. A stone seemed to be lifted off from my heart. I was on cloud nine. At last, things ended well for the both of us.
Whether her words were genuine or not, the fact that she said it made it all worth to be grateful for.
Now let me leave these words with you: Treat others kindly not because that’s how you want to be treated. Treat others kindly, because they need to be reminded that kindness resides in their hearts too.
pwnezel
Daily Prompt
May 11, 2017

Reflection and Tranquility

fallsIMG_20170507_120634

A rushing water could NEVER reflect an image clearly. It takes a tranquil surface for light to settle and for any object to be reflected off. Indra Devi puts it more succinctly:

Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and the trees only so long as its surface is undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly relaxed.

In today’s age and time, rushing seems to be an acceptable way of life. Taking a slow pace means being left behind. But what’s all in the rush if we’re chasing the wrong things? We need to slow down. We need to settle in order for light to come upon us and make us give off good reflections.

If it’s impossible to cut the hustle in life, we may at least, set aside a downtime for reflection and quietude. After all, it’s in this profound activity that we get much of our inner power. The pursuit is worth it.

pwnezel

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflecting

Daily Prompt

January 19, 2017

3 Ways to Pursue A Lasting Legacy

3 ways to pursue a lasting legacy

It is still January, there are a lot that we could still add to our 2017 goals.

I happened to fall in love with this message of John C. Maxwell. It is very timely to my transition from a boxed life to a life of freedom. I am in the process of re-aligning everything in my life. And re-aligning it with my core values is the ideal way it should be.

These 3 ways to pursue a lasting legacy are my guides to living a life worth living.

Significance Over Success

Success is self-fulfilling, while significance is touching lives while we are on our way to success. I guess success is not something of an end goal. It is something that is with us all along the journey. It is doing the right things when no one is watching. When we have done much, others get to notice it. We are then recognized for the things we do rightly. That is when we or others consider our undertakings a success.

But being recognized for what we do does not satisfy our inner longings. It just takes one innocent soul to say how we have touched his life that makes us really fulfilled and successful.

Influence Over Awards

Awards end with us. Influence is passed down from us to the next generation. It is carving something in other’s hearts. It is etching something in their minds that make them share stories about us. It is the mark that we leave long after we are gone.

Impact Over Income

While money is a great tool in managing our lifestyle it is still never enough. It does not mean we stop pursuing it. We still need to earn money to pay the bills, send kids to school and make life more comfortable. However, it should not be our end goal.

On our way to earning money, we should not forget about the people we meet along the way. Especially when they are the very people who put us into the pedestal we are standing on.

We leave our impact into the world when we invest our time and energy with people. Adding value multiplies impact. The people whose lives we touched usually turn around and touch others’ lives too. The legacy then continues.

The biggest impact we could impart is planting the seeds of significance in the lives of others. We may not live long enough to see the fruits of the trees we planted, what matters is we have started something that makes our life worthwhile and fulfilling. This is truly the legacy worth creating.

Let us live a life of significance, influence, and impact!

pwnezel

 

 

January 17, 2017

Chasing Dreams

Reaching High

“Only as high as I reach can I grow,

Only as far as I seek can I go,

Only as deep as I look can I see,

Only as much as I dream can I be.”

***

Reaching out, chasing dreams is not only for the young ones but for the young once as well. I am talking about her. Yeah, she opens her childlike heart with us. She feels so free and so young now that at last, she listened to her inner child and give time to chasing her dreams.

Perhaps that dream is the purpose God places in her heart. She has done the grown up’s business. However, she finds it boring and chasing bubbles in the air. Life is simple. Her childlike heart knows that. She wonders why people have to complicate simple things. Why do they have to boast their toys such as brand new cars, signature bags and whatever they feel could boost their morale, when in fact, God loves them just as they are?

Now, she does not care. She does chase her dreams, and reach, and seek and look and be all that she can be.

Life is too beautiful to let go.