Those who dislike you may not be your enemies. Those who like you may not be your friends. And those who say they like you but do ‘funny things’ behind your back are the most dangerous people to deal with. Hmm…I said this before. This is the real world. Even our ‘Big Brothers’ are not immune from it and have to face challenges and impasses sometimes. Some say life is tough and I tend to agree with them. We have to adapt and live with it. As the famous saying goes: a road without pot-holes is not worth traveling.
It’s challenging to work for or with someone with a strong personality and character. If their thinking and attitudes are aligned to yours, good for you. If they are not, then good luck to you. We can never change a person’s perspective and thinking. There’s a Chinese saying: 江山易改，本性难移, meaning, it’s easier to re-shape the mountain than to alter one’s mindset and attitude. To survive, we can only change ourselves to adapt or choose to leave the environment and away from these people. We have to take care of our mental health. It’s your choice, really.
One former big boss complained to me. When he was at the top with power, many people wanted to befriend him. Even his foes and some ‘ang-moh’ (Caucasian) queued up to meet him to further their own interests. Now that he had retired from corporations, many had already forgotten him and had never made any attempt to chat him up. He felt sad and disappointed. I told him this is the reality. This happened not only in politics, but so common in organizations and in some families. I told him If I had the time and money, I’d buy him coffee and tell him some jokes. This seemed to offer him some comfort as he nodded and gave me a weak smile.
