ThE CLimB.... sOmE tiMeS I'm GoNNa hAVe To LOse

Be Optimistic and Stay Healthy and Live Longer.

Glorious Sunrise!


Do you know that our outlook on life can impact our health in terms of feelings of well-being, quality of life and even longevity? Some of us are born pessimists but do not despair because we can change this through some self help strategies. Shifting from this dark side would need us to become aware of our pessimistic ways that influence how we think and feel, ...... Eureka!

The followings are some steps we can take:

■ Refocus our perspective
Everyone has ups and downs. Just because something goes wrong, doesn't mean we're doomed to fail. Refocus when our thinking is clouded by negative thoughts.

■ Look for the good in life
Try this in situations we might normally feel depressed such as losing at the stock market, look at the loss as an opportunity to learn more about tactical investing and to be more vigilant.

■ Be grateful and savour good times
Take stock of what we have to be grateful for. Gratitude can help us focus on what's good in our life. Cherish the time when all is well - those memories can be invaluable when times are rough

■ Look for pleasure in small things
Find simple pleasure in everyday things, like sitting and talking with a friend, sipping a glass of cool fruit juice or reading a good book.

■ Practice random kindness
Reaching beyond ourselves to treat friends and even strangers with unexpected kindness not only enriches them, but it also can help us feel better.

■ Reconsider our pessimism of others
Constantly thinking or talking in a pessimistic or critical way way won't help solve problems and can dampen our mood and the moods of those around us. Reduce the frequency of discussing issues (or even bad gossiping) that irritate us instead try challenging ourselves to look for the positive aspects in things we dislike.

All these remind me very much the Obama speech to the Muslim world two weeks ago at Al Azhar University in Egypt.... we are here together on this planet earth, but for a brief time!

So be optimistic, stay healthy and enjoy our life on this wonderful earth intelligently blessed by Nature for our survival.

IT-savvy... not for some people

Moonrise
A celestial wonder


I remember some years ago when we were first introduced to the computer. Many of us then were quite ignorant on how to use it and marveled at those who could. What most young people took for granted today, was quite foreign to us. People were not willing or shy to learn when they have reached a certain age. Moreover the cost of a good computer then was quite prohibitive. This kept away a lot of people. Now computers, PCs or notebooks are available at affordable prices and thanks to Tun M who brought us all, kicking and screaming into the IT world.

I managed to persuade my boss to buy an IBM computer costing about RM27,000 and forced myself to learn Word Perfect and Harvardgraphics ( no windows then!). The reason was simple, I had been accepted as a fellow at the International Child Health Institute, University of London, and one of their conditions, I must be computer-savvy! I had no choice but to jump on the technology bandwagon. Imagine,we had to use Medline for our extensive literature search, it was archaic compared to the present-day internet. We had no hand phones and facsimile was also new.

I know of people who do not use the internet despite having the facilities. I once came across an old schoolmate who gave me her hand phone number but when I sent an SMS to her she never replied till one day I met her and asked why and she told me she did not know how to send an SMS... unbelievable and I dubbed her an alien. The same with email, there are people, especially the over 50 who do not know how to send emails!

Communication and Information Technology is instrumental in promoting a virtual world. We are living in an exciting time, albeit slightly tempered by the current economic downturn, people need to be IT-savvy to realise its full potential. It is hard for some people because they refuse to learn, because the technology was not there when they were young or because they are just being complacent... the case of a lazy mind.

Frustrating.... but well worth it.....

Knowing your audience before you give a talk or presentation is very important. Finding out who they are, what is their educational status, their preferred language will help you to tailor your presentation to suit their level. This is common sense, I could hear someone sniffing! Yes, so common that I totally disregarded it, much to my chagrin. As I was so used of giving talks to English-savvy professionals, I assumed my next audience to be in a similar orbit.

I spent days preparing the materials, refreshing the basics,reading the latest developments on the subject, talking to the specialists,borrowing and pasting photos on the slides and ended up with 46 slides, perfectly done with Window Vista Microsoft power point. I was in the library and at the club ( for its beautiful, tranquail environment, its air-cond and its WiFi) and mostly because I did not want to be distracted had I been at home, whatmore with our unreliable internet connection! Nevertheless, the night before my presentation, I did not sleep a wink due to last minutes slides refinements.

So much for my hardwork ( which by the way I enjoyed doing), and when the day came, I noticed a few minutes into my presentation, all in English, that most of my audience had a blank look on their faces... yes, your guess is right, they could not really understand English.. I then blabbered slowly in the national language (BM), but it was frustrating to have to explain things like "blurry vision", what do you say in BM? " closed-angle glaucoma".... glaucoma sudut tertutup? Didn't sound right to me..wait till I had to explain the mechanisms of structural damage to the eye giving rise to open-angle glaucoma.. malfunctioning trabecular meshwork, say that in BM.....frustrating I can tell you.

Am I not glad I am not a lecturer? Imagine,preparing materials in English then having to translate them into another language! Despite all the misgivings, the exercise has made me more computer and internet-savvy (thanks to my ex IT officers who guided me through mobile phone!) and having been used to getting things done by other people in the past, I now can hold on my own with no sweat. I am pleasantly surprised that a complete presentation can be accomplished by just having a computer and an internet connection. My past ignorance spoke for itself.

Needless to say, most of the technical materials are in English, so I wonder about those who are not conversant with the language, what are their chances of keeping abreast with the latest? How do we stay competitive in this globalised world if we lack K-workers?

MotiVAtion to ReAD, REad to Be MOtivAtED

The motivation for me to read now is based on the premise that I do not know many things in my life and I want to know them. I want to know what other people go through in their lives, so I read memoirs or biographies. I read about President Obama's quest to discover himself in "Dreams from my father", it was enlightening and now I am reading a book by Clarence Thomas, "My Grandfather's son". Clarence Thomas is the first black to be elevated to the US supreme court.

The heart-rending experiences both men went through, I believe, have made them exceptional men today. I am motivated to go on improving myself, be it in professional or social spheres because my belief in the human spirits is strengthened by such non-fiction.

I also read to keep abreast of the ever dynamic field of my profession. Being a professional, I have to ensure my knowledge and skills are current for the interest of the clients I serve. I am proud of my profession and will not tarnish it by being ignorance of new advancements, I owe it to my clients! So I am motivated to keep reading.

I also read for pleasure, for example, I love short stories and crime novels. I found a free website on best "American short stories". They are beautiful and intriguing stories, short and sweet, you can read each story in 15 minutes! I really enjoy them.

I read blogs as I found them weirdly interesting,blatantly unbelievable, utterly honest, glaringly dishonest, grimly true, sadly told, angrily expressed,truly laughable and totally free! You can only have these feelings through reading My Dear Noor..

I am also able to cook new dishes through reading the recipe blogs... what else motivates me?