Terribly ordinary

"terribly ordinary", is that a good thing?

On a terribly ordinary day, something good or bad happen to someone. If it is a good thing, we often think that this is not a terribly ordinary day, it is a special day. If it is a bad thing, we often think why such calamity happens on such a terribly ordinary day.

Ten Perfections

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of renunciation

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of perseverance

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of loving kindness

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of resolution

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of wisdom

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of moral practice

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of forbearance

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of equanimity

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of truth

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of giving

Being here and now

Being here but not now ... dreaming about the future not yet now

Being here but not now ... dredging up things from the past

Being here and now ... accepting the past and not thinking about the future

Being here and now ... living in the moment... the current moment

Walking trail ... Living trail

Shapes, colors, and sizes of leaves ... reminder of experiences in life

Uphill steps .... reminder of challenging times in life

Downhill steps .... reminder of joyful times in life

Windy days .... reminder of uncontrollable circumstances in life

Other walkers .... reminder of acquaintances in life

I am an island

I am an island .... I am wavering the storm and the rain

I am an island .... I am here but you may not see me from a distance

I am an island ... I am a place of comfort when you want to get away from life

I am an island ... I am not in your mind when you are in the midst of life

Street walking

Pause and observe street walking styles ... what do they tell us?


Walking ... Aiming for a destination

Walking ... Enjoying the journey

Walking ... Rocking left and Rocking right

Walking ... Sailing and following the wind

Walking ... Searching, Looking, Finding

Conan O'Brien's 2011 commencement address at Dartmouth

Conan O'Brien gave commencement address at Dartmouth. I found his speech to have several useful life lessons to teach new graduates, freshmen, as well as everyday individuals on perceived failures, successes, and identity.

Here are some of the excerpts:

• Eleven years ago I gave an address to a graduating class at Harvard. I have not spoken at a graduation since because I thought I had nothing left to say. But then 2010 came. And now I'm here, three thousand miles from my home, because I learned a hard but profound lesson last year and I'd like to share it with you. In 2000, I told graduates "Don't be afraid to fail." Well now I'm here to tell you that, though you should not fear failure, you should do your very best to avoid it. Nietzsche famously said "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But what he failed to stress is that it almost kills you. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting.
  
  
• Now, by definition, Commencement speakers at an Ivy League college are considered successful. But a little over a year ago, I experienced a profound and very public disappointment. I did not get what I wanted, and I left a system that had nurtured and helped define me for the better part of 17 years. I went from being in the center of the grid to not only off the grid, but underneath the coffee table that the grid sits on, lost in the shag carpeting that is underneath the coffee table supporting the grid. It was the making of a career disaster, and a terrible analogy.
  
  
• There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized. ... Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42. One's dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course. This happens in every job...
  
  
• It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It's not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound re-invention.

• So, at the age of 47, after 25 years of obsessively pursuing my dream, that dream changed. For decades, in show business, the ultimate goal of every comedian was to host The Tonight Show. It was the Holy Grail, and like many people I thought that achieving that goal would define me as successful. But that is not true. No specific job or career goal defines me, and it should not define you. In 2000—in 2000—I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that. But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

• Many of you here today are getting your diploma at this Ivy League school because you have committed yourself to a dream and worked hard to achieve it. And there is no greater cliché in a commencement address than "follow your dream." Well I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that's okay. Four years ago, many of you had a specific vision of what your college experience was going to be and who you were going to become. And I bet, today, most of you would admit that your time here was very different from what you imagined. Your roommates changed, your major changed, for some of you your sexual orientation changed.
  

A boy and a red balloon

We often hear a story of a kid and a balloon told from a kid's perspective. Now, let's hear it from a different voice, a balloon.

A red balloon is happy because finally it finds an owner, a nice little boy
A red balloon accompanies the boy everywhere he goes ... just following along, bubbly and happy

After a few days ....
A red balloon finds that it has become smaller, less shiny, and full of wrinkles
Before long, a boy did the unthinkable ... letting go of the red balloon
A red balloon is lost, scared, sad, confused ... It wonders where that nice little boy goes?

Move on

Stop worrying where you're going, move on
If you can know where you're going, you've gone
Just keep moving on.
....

Move on!
Move on!

Stop worrying if your vision is new.
Let others make that decision . . .
they usually do!
You keep moving on.
Look at what you want,
Not at what you are
Not at what you'll be ...

"Move On", From Sunday in the Park with George

The waiting places

This is a follow-up post on Dr. Seuss's "the waiting place". I believe that there are so many waiting places these days.

• School system: Waiting for Superman
• Higher education system: Waiting for meaningful reform
• Financial system: Waiting for moral behaviors
• Economy: Waiting to move beyond wealth accumulation as a measure of progress
• Individual: Waiting for meaningful life experience
  

Words of wisdom from Dr. Seuss

I am re-reading words from "Oh! The Places You'll Go" again. Here are the words/phrases/sentences that jump out to me:

• You'll look up and down streets. Look'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there." With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down a not-so-good street.
• You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly-perch. And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch.
  
• You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump.
• And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
• The Waiting Place ... for people just waiting.
• Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.
• Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So .... get on your way!
  

Today's thought

Today's thought is inspired by what I read in the book "The Soloist":

"Do not worry about far-off future. Just get off the street safely and be thankful. Honor your mother and father. Don't be disrespectful to people, be good and maybe life will take care of itself."

Integrating Buddhism's wisdom to Leadership

According to the Dalai Lama, leaders should respect three values in their decision making:

• Dependent origination: The law of cause and effect or action and consequences. Competent leaders should think deeply and holistically about consequences of their decisions before making actual decisions.
  
• Interdependence: All our actions and decisions have effects on ourselves and on others.
  
• Impermanence: This concept is sometimes referred to as "emptiness". It means that things keep changing. This belief helps all leaders not to become victims of adherence to ideas, profits, losses, etc.

From the book "The Leader's Way: The Art of Making the Right Decisions in Our Careers, Our Companies, and the World at Large

Silent talk

You don't have to speak but I can hear you.

You said "I don't want to survive, I want to live."

You pondered "Can you live when trust and respect are broken?"