我不批评也不比试，只想挑战自己的画功。
I don’t contest nor comment. Every artwork is
a personal challenge to assess the level of difficulty for each face. Surely there
were difficult times but no difficult face to draw. Only some difficult persons
to deal with sometimes. This is life.
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it”, said Confucius.
Art is a subjective matter.
If you like it, the artist may get flattered.
If you don’t like it, it doesn’t really
matter.
Artists are just like children. They won’t
stop doing what they love. 😊
有些买家投诉我把他们画得丑陋和太逼真。改了又改，他们还是不肯收货，坚持要退钱。
所为人在江湖身不由己。我无奈退让说：没关系。只要确认把画毁了，钱可以退还。我只是个老画家，不是整容专家！您可以找别的画家。在江湖打拼多年，我意识到我不能改变别人的看法。我只能改变自己的想法。此为自我保持心理健康之道。
Haemin Sunim, a Korean Zen Buddhist monk said: “If you focus on the things you do not have now, your life become one of lack. But if you focus on the things you already have, your life become one of gratitude.” This is easy to say than done.
If everyone adopts this mindset, there would be less mental health issues among living beings.
At middle age, some already feel old. Some feel they’re like a half cup of coffee: it’s neither full or empty. When you have kept enough reserves and maintain good health, who really cares? The key is where to find good and cheap coffee. But if you’re still trying to find your own means, you have to accept that many things are really beyond our control like the forever rising cost of living and medical insurance premiums. It’s very hard to swallow but we have no choice but to take it! ☹
I’m a senior work horse(老马). I work 18 hours-day, 7 days a week non-stop (马不停蹄) for the last 35 years. I have no social life. Just work and sleep. Recently, I slipped (马有失蹄) and one part came loose and caused many broken parts and excessive damages. I hope it’s not my fault because a team looks after my well-being full-time. They clean my body and check my health every night per SOP (不马虎) when I sleep. If my Boss and driver (马夫) blames me for this slip up and wants to retire me, I hope to attend the career conversion program to join the hotel of F&B industry. Or sell me to Malaysia (马国)for the strengthening ringgits (马币) instead of sending me to the slaughter house.
When you’re young and well-known, everyone
thinks you are skilled, talented and can always offer something valuable.
People often look up to you, want to be seen with you and to be engaged with
you. Jobs and good things would come looking for you! It’s lucky to be young
and enjoying life.
If you have special or super skills, you don’t really have to work for anyone. You can be your own boss. You just do what you think is right. Of course, your life and days would be lonely as you’re doing things alone without the need of others! Of course, you can masquerade as a ‘blur’ or unskilled person to blend into the crowd to enjoy living the challenging work environment!
If your new boss is “blur”, unskilled yet demanding, you’d feel stressed, frustrated and de-motivating.
If your new co-workers are also “blur” and unskilled,
you’d feel upset and often deprived of your energy.
But if you’re a bit “blur”, unskilled yet
have gotten this high-paying job, you just need to keep quiet and continue to
enjoy all the benefits while you can. But always get your luggage ready for a surprise
exit anytime!
As a new worker, if your boss likes you, everything will fall into place for you. You could soon become a star with blue eyes if you “play” the game right!
But if your boss doesn’t like you, then
everything falls apart, you could become a stud and everyone
starts hitting it. Whenever a new person joins a new organisation, it’s always
a star-studded event as all eyes are
looking at this new person!
When you have decided to “jump ship”, it’s better to look wide and deep before you jump! You have to do your own risk assessment. You won’t know what is really inside till you get in. Sometimes, such jump is called a leap of faith. Others called it a leap into hell. Whether you survive or perish in the new environment, it all depends on luck!
Some people told me they hated their jobs or their bosses. They asked me should they stay or go. It’s a decision they have to make. I’m not in their shoes.
Some people could not leave their jobs and
have little motivation and always feeling “xian” (boring) going to work. They asked me how to cope. I told them to find
a new hobby or interest to find joy & up-keep their mental health. Best if
they cost nothing to start and maintain. But would anyone listen to a nobody?
But if you have found it and are still struggling day to day to get by, perhaps you’re in the wrong industry or with a wrong boss! You have to start looking outside.
Just Keep looking…
If you have saved enough and kept some reserves, you can retire comfortably and start to enjoy life.
But if you are still slogging it out every
day at work to pay the bills, it’s better to be a ninja warrior (not turtle:
unless you prefer a slow, boring& long life) than
a ninja delivery man. More skills mean more opportunities in many
possible roles to make money! Find your own niche!
I have given my all. But still no big break-through for me. I had never thought of winning. I tried very hard not losing. But time and physical conditions are not on my side! So I have to do side gigs and keep some ‘reserves’ for the tough days ahead when my full-time job ends. Some people said you can lose but you can still be a winner. But can this absurd thinking bring food to the table?
When you have little energy left at the end of the day, use them to focus and do one or two things you love to do and do them well. Most likely you would succeed in the long term. Motivate yourself along the way. But don’t follow my modus operandi because after more than 15 years of trying, I’m still looking for my big break through. Sigh.
Age is guaranteed to catch up with everyone. I know it because many things seem to be going slower and it seems there is lesser energy to do many things. There is so little remaining energy left in the tank to focus and do just one or two things and to do them well. Confucius had advised: “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” It’s better to listen to this wisdom to comfort oneself!
We can choose how to live, work and play.
But one thing we cannot choose is to stop growing old. My left brain tries to think fast but my right brain says no stamina to work fast. Also my muscles are shrinking, my movements are slower, vision is slightly blur and more pains are felt at many joints. Mark Twain said: “Age is an issue of mind over matter-if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” He might be senile and not meant what he said. Age does matter and it matters a lot!
Based on my decades of observing, working and dealing with different kinds of people, I can conclude one fact. Most people care and do things only for themselves and for their own interests. This is nature for every living-being. Me-First attitude is hard to eradicate in human. If their weird actions and behaviours don’t affect me, I just roll my eyes upwards and ignore them. If they do affect me, I’d retaliate. The problem is, I think too much and too long before taking action. The culprit is already out of sight. Sigh!
There are always different perspective and controversy over things people do.
Like the wall mural by an ang-mo artist or
close to a quarter B-dollars of taxpayers’ money spent to build a founder’s
memorial. But many are afraid to voice their views in public for fear of being
‘invited’ for coffee in a dark room. Everyone knows this wisdom: the poor can
never win against the rich. The rich can never win against the powerful!
It's best to keep your mouth shut when you’re enjoying peace at the moment!
In all your working life, you’re doing tasks helping others to achieve their goals and KPIs. It’s time you take action and do something for yourself: to be happy. In the book of finding happiness and purpose in life, The IKIGAI Journey, the authors’ parting words are worth reflecting:
“Wherever you may be and whatever you may accomplish, always remember that everything is still to be done and everything is in your hands.”
Always give your best.
Nothing less.
But not everyone would appreciate your
efforts or like your work. Often, they do not see how your work adds value or better
their lives. Does it really matter? Someone once said: “Not
everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be
counted.”
What count the most is you have peace, are happy doing what you love!
Do and give your best in whatsoever you love to do.
Give away what you dislike or dislike to do if you can.
When you reach a stage in life, you’d find more joy in giving than receiving or acquiring things. Life can be simple. You need very little or simple things to get by actually.
Most people do not have any big plans. Many are just living and enjoying life day by day. The mantra is things often do not go according to plan. But for some, the older we get, the more problems and challenges we may have to face. Be it mentally, physically or financially or all of the above! It’s part and parcel of growing old and planning on the go. Better if one could prepare early for unexpected events to come.
Not everyone dreams or wishes to be famous,
be successful or make it big. Most people just want to live a peaceful and
comfortable life with good health, enough money to last and do things they love
without stress.
Mother Teresa once said: “In
this life we cannot always do great things. We can only do small things with
great love.”
Wishing everyone well and happy in today’s unpredictable and uncertain world!
Everyone has dreams.
Not all would come true. Instead, some would face challenges and need to deal with hardships. Sometimes, we need to bite the bullet and endure the rough moments and just hope that tomorrow would get better.
As I look back and reflect on my life in the last 20 years, I ask myself: is mine getting better or worse?
Today, sea-water level is rising rapidly due
to climate change. So are our temperature, inflation, cost of living,
healthcare costs and insurance costs. My income has dropped significantly
despite doing more jobs and real wage growth just cannot keep up with all the
cost increases! Many places are now overly-crowded with strange-looking and
weird-behaviour people competing for jobs, facilities and services everywhere. This
is my own perspective at this moment. What’s yours look like?
See full transformation video here: https://youtu.be/DeDKfHqrJrg
In career or life, it’s extremely rare for anyone taking only one path till the end. Most people have to take different routes either by choice or circumstances. There is always an element of anxiety and fear for anyone taking a new path for the first time. But when you see familiar faces along the way, the new journey may seem less daunting.
When adversity and setback find us, some would go to a corner to cry. Others would be stuck at the denial stage and hope the clock would turn backwards. Many would lose their ability momentarily to think about what to do next. It takes time to climb out from the pit by oneself. But with someone close-by to render support and help, one could get out and up faster.
Life can be unpredictable and bad things do happen. It’s easy to fall into the self-blame trap. Someone once said: “As humans, we are very good at remembering the bad stuff. It’s always the pain that gets you.” We have to accept what’s ever happened to us that are beyond our control. It’s better to pause for a moment to think about how to deal with it. But this is easily said than done!
In the past, someone once said: “Difficulty strengths the mind as labor does to
the body.”
When someone goes through hardships to earn what they need, the more they learn that things do not come easy. They would appreciate more on what they have, not what they don’t have. Life is not always smooth sailing. Sometimes, it can be challenging and tough for some.
In the past, some believed life could be perfect if you maintain good health, be happy and have ‘enough’ money to get by. Today, only a very few can attain this perfect life in all 3 aspects. Most people can only attain one or two. Either you have lots of money but in poor health and unhappy. Or you are struggling and trading your time and health for money. A lot depends on which aspect is your top concern. Life is imperfect!
In the past, I thought as long as you produce quality works, others would want to acquire them.
Today I realize this is not to be. It’s not about what you create or produce. It’s about what perceived value others believe they would get when they buy your works. It’s the selling that counts. Who cares about quality work?
I don’t like to follow and do the same thing as others. So I developed my own style of doing and creating things. I did what I liked, not what others liked.
Now after years of sticking out, I paid the price. I conclude that my style didn’t sell well enough to free me from working. I’m paying the price for refusal to change. This also explains why I’m still need to keep my day-job to pay my bills and put food on the table! Sigh.
In the past, someone once said: “if you keep
doing the same thing, you’ll always get the same results.”
When you’ve achieved success and are still
winning, you must of course keep going and doing the same thing. But if you
have been doing the same old thing for 10 years and achieve nothing, it’s time
to do something new. Don’t stick to old habits and refusal to change and adapt.
You are getting nowhere just like me.
In the past, I had never thought about how to
be successful. All my time and energy were used to navigate and survive the
harsh and cruel work environment.
Now I realize to be successful, you need to have something ‘special’ or extraordinary that others desperately want to buy, even at exorbitant prices. This is the real world, I just strive to survive!
Life is imperfect.
There are so many challenges, problems and
obstacles.
One Kung-fu master once said:
“Don’t pray for an easy life. Pray for the
strengths to endure a tough and difficult one.”
We do not know what’s coming next. But we can always prepare for it with the best of our abilities.
In the past, I knew early that we cannot always have what we want in life. But I realized late that unhappiness is doing no good to the heart and mental well-being.
Now I have to reframe my thinking and keep
‘talking’ to myself: Life can be simple with little needs. You have enough and
may be already more than some people. You don’t need more. Just be happy with
what you have.
In the past, I tried very hard to influence
and change others’ thinking and mindset for solutions to problems.
Now, I realize change is not possible without
power and self-empowerment. I have since stopped trying to change others. I can
only change myself to adapt to the weird world. Frustration and sulk can only
worsen one’s mental health. Avoid them always.
In the past, I’d get frustrated and upset when things did not turn up right or in my favour.
A Zen monk once said: We
cannot change what happens in life, but it is within our power to decide how to
deal with what happens. It’s about preparing yourself. It’s about accepting
reality for what it is.
Now I have to accept reality for what it is and things I cannot change.
Some said: Change what you can and can what
you can’t.
Things are not looking good this new year and many things are not in my favour. I have little choice but to keep running forward in the tough terrain ahead. I wish all my friends and fans:
A Happy Lunar New Year.
May the new dragon year brings joy, prosperity and happiness to you and your family.
In the past, it was very tough mentally to
give 100% to produce quality works for people I didn’t like. Especially those
who always take my credits! I had to put up a fake front to deal with them.
Now, I choose to either reject the job
up-front or name a high price for my works! At least, there is something to
motivate me to work. This explains why I’m still poor today. But at least I
feel happier surviving with just bread and plain water. 😊
In the past it was quite easy to spot incompetent workers and poor performers just by looking at their outputs.
Now it’s a challenge to find them unless you
spend time observing and talking to them.
If I don’t need to work with them, I just
ignore & leave them alone. If I need to work with them, then I demand
quality outputs from them. If they
cannot give what I need, I’ll
take them out (with
power/authority). If I cannot take them out, I’d just give up and call it a day!
☹
Some problems are extremely tough or near impossible to resolve when they are created by powerful forces. No one can resolve them unless one has accumulated enough ‘power’ and resources to counter them. In the past, victims just chose to gave in or gave up. Now, there are new game plans in play: quiet-quitting and lying-flat when someone chooses not to leave. If you need to work with these people, good luck to you!
Everyone has their own problems to deal with. Whether personal or
work-related problems. Not all problems can be resolved even with strong
will-power, especially those problems created by others. Only a few fortunate ones
are able to pass their thorny problems to others and call it a day! Most people
have to carry their problems on their backs wherever they go.
This new year looks more gloom and doom.
GST hike has increased by 1% but many cooked food stalls have again
increased their prices by more than 10% to even 20%. Damn! Where is the end to
this? We have so many raw food import sources, yet prices keep going up. This
explains why many price-takers, including myself cannot feel it’s a happy new
year.
