3rd Fundamental Thought - The Path of Wisdom

Good day people! We have arrived at our 3 part of this mini-series on having the right mindset to approach the 22nd century and beyond. If you have read my previous posts on Health and Wealth, you will probably know or guess that the next topic will be about Wisdom which involves understanding and the correct use of knowledge to further benefit oneself and society. It also involves something of common sense and the ability to tell true from false as well as the courage to act in accordance with the right way. It also can be said it is a combination of one’s principles, reasoning, knowledge and experience to be able to make wise choices or take the right paths in life for oneself and for others as well. Wisdom would also cover living life in moderation and allowing the flow of life to help in one’s endeavors rather than against.

There is a saying that goes if a man was given an axe to cut down a tree, the foolish would start immediately and take 6 hours to complete the task while the wise would spend 3 hours sharpening the axe and 1 hour to cut the tree down. That would be the personification of becoming a wise person. This too combines with spiritual factors and a little bit of luck. Before I go into the action steps that we can take as a measure to increase our wisdom, let me leave you with a prayer that we could all use in our daily life (taken from the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr):

“God, grant me the serenity;

To accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And Wisdom to know the difference”

Where or how to find Wisdom?

• Fail, and fail again. Better to have tried and failed than not tried at all. A wise person has probably gone through more failures and learnt from each experience than those who are even afraid to try or fail.
• Be humble in your successes and proud of your failures
• Realize of the natural order of things. There is no such thing as a permanent situation. Things come and go; live and die.
• Read a lot of books and don’t stop learning. Leverage of the authors and writers who have already gone through their path and discovered the secrets of their field
• Meet more people and tap into their experiences. As one person living their life, you are only limited to one perspective; get out there and socialize and see the world in a different light!
• Live life simply and enjoy the small pleasures that surround us. It takes an awareness just to slow down to appreciate life that is surrounding us and brought us here in the first place
• Appreciate what or who you have with you. Family, friends, relatives and even the stranger on the bus. Sometimes we should not take things for granted especially with our loved ones
• Look at the big picture. It is easy to fall into the trap of looking out of our individual perspectives but seeing how your perspective fits with the rest of the world allows you to gain insights where those who do not
• Reflect and review yourself often. How often we stop to think about how our actions align with our overall purpose in life can represent an indicator of wisdom. Those who rush headlong without taking time to correct the course are heading into disaster or a road that goes on aimlessly.
• Be polite, kind, sincere; mind your manners and have a sense of empathy. If you let it, everything and everybody is out to get you. A wise person knows that he gets more done when he applies proper manners when reaching his objective. Have you ever seen a wise person as a rude, obnoxious, arrogant or self-centered?

I hope you have found the information as inspiring as much as I had when compiling it. As a parting message to those reading these lines, “may you find and be blessed with wisdom in your life.”

2nd Fundamental Thought - Wealthy Living

In this second part on facing the 22nd century is one of the most sought after and most thought about thing a person can imagine of. It can drive people mad and it can also bring joy. What exactly am I talking about? Well, that would be simple; it is the age old thought of Wealth. Everybody, and I mean everybody at any age or era, race or religion, from kings to paupers have at least thought of it at least once in their lifetime if not more (definitely a whole lot more than once). Ever since humans have developed commerce to allow the very first barter trade to the modern age credit card, each one of us is plagues or blessed with the lack of or the abundance of wealth. Now, I think every person is entitled to be wealthy but to their each personal level. There is a tipping point where once there is enough money to go around, people will be satisfied to live their lives the way they see fit. However, greed and envy, has always been the negative factors which pulls down successful people while they are still at the top.

In my opinion, every person with a good head on their shoulders should have a plan (no matter how basic it is) to escape being a slave to the possession of wealth (or too much of it). It is simple to be dragged along with the consumerist mindset and spend like there is no tomorrow when in fact we can live on very little but the bare essentials. Another thing about wealth is that everybody wants it quick but if there is a shortcut, there is also bound to be a higher amount risk. And this works out to be vice-versa. If you are like me, I would walk the middle lane and come out trying to get the best of both worlds. I want to be sufficiently free from the constraints of worrying about money without taking too much risk but also biding my time and moving when it is right not when it is dictated by somebody else. So at the end of the day…

What do we do about Wealth?

• Monitor daily spending habits. Being aware is the first step to identifying alternatives and methods to handle wealth
• Break it down in smaller sections and categorize it accordingly; For example: expenses – must spend, entertainment – wants or investment – future retirement
• Focus on the bare essentials and if possible, discard or at least reduce the excess wants or non-essentials
• Have a savings plan to keep a portion of wages, salary or whatever is feeding you preferably 10 percent or even more aside for investment
• Research the types of investment available; once you have a regular savings plan going, the money will be put to better use when it is being put to work in mutual funds, stocks, property investment or other investment engines
• Re-invest the investment; at a later stage, you will begin seeing the returns on your previous investment and this is a good to re-invest the amount in the same or some other investment engine (you may take out a small portion to enjoy the fruits of your labor if you feel inclined)
• Along the way, we also want to create more sources of income (preferably passive income) which will minimize risk to your monetary warehouse by diversifying sufficiently enough that it is now a hands off (or most of it) revenue generating system to put you safely into retirement or at least a way to start preparing for your passions or dreams to pursue in your later years

1st Fundamental Thought - Healthy Living

I was thinking to myself while sitting in the train that day what article should I write about in my blog and thought that since I included in my blog a name called Compass, it should also incorporate the ideas that made me decide the name of the blog in the first place. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I needed to keep a journal or a memoir on the ideas that I believe would survive time immemorial throughout human history. I believe I am looking for a sort of compass to guide myself and if I may say humanity’s search for meaning in this very physical existence. Since the ideas itself is on four main factors that drives human reason, logic and behavior, I have decided to break it into four portions to give each one ample space to be reflected upon. Call it a 4 part mini-series on what would be considered as important ideas to keep in mind when facing this new millennium. Without further introductions, let’s get started.

The first of which I consider the utmost important is definitely Health. Without a healthy body which is the engine to drive your thoughts forward and into action, you might as well forget the other 3 other major thoughts. You might as well focus on regaining your health or else you would be too sick or weak to move to greener pastures. While a majority of people may insist that your mind is the more important portion of the equation, your mind is still attached to your body and your body to your health. Just as the Buddha discovered that by fasting in excess and not taking care of your body well enough or in proportion (as in participating in the extremes rather than the Middle Way), he could not have found enlightenment. It has also dawned on me that in order to think creatively or perform extraordinarily in any endeavors, I would still have to be in great shape. I was sick not too long ago and the feeling during that period can be described as just horrible. Being fed with antibiotics and plastered with medication that makes you feel sleepy or lethargic is not a situation that anybody wants to be in especially for long stretches.

What’s the solution?

• By feeding your body the right kind of foods or proper nutrition
• Taking the appropriate supplements (like vitamins)
• Preferably continuous 7 to 8 hour sleep cycles
• Daily exercise (yes, daily) or at a bare minimum 3 to 4 times a week for 30 minutes or more
• A daily dose of sunlight
• Self-massage or get somebody to do it for you
• Maintaining proper hygiene and sanitary practice

Remember to keep this as top priority before any other thoughts since this alone may determine whether you literally live your life the way you meant to live or put yourself into an early grave.

Saving your life when strangers are around but nobody is helping

Living in a 3rd world developing country, I was taken aback many a time when I would notice people crowding around the site of an accident hoping to see what is going on but not actually helping. I was ever since appalled at the behavior of my fellow countrymen and still am. How could so many people look on at the victims of a car accident (surviving no less but requiring urgent medical attention) but not do a single thing to assist whether it may be calling the ambulance or getting the police. However, after reading an article the other day, I discovered that in order to increase your probability of survival in a car accident, you can't expect or should never expect a good Samaritan to come to your aid. This is not a Hollywood movie where things will go your way. Instead of depending on somebody else to hopefully understand the predicament that you are in, the suggestion here is to take control of the situation yourself (you have to be aware first that you are in need of help) by directing the people around you to help you out. You have got to identify the person you need help from and instruct them to call the police, get an ambulance or just assist you. This snaps them out of observer mode and into action. Hopefully by example, the people around the area will start to take note and join in to help out. So the lesson here is, "If you want to be saved, don't wait for somebody. Help yourself by being aware and taking control of the situation". Just like everything else in life...

How I Overcome Procrastination to Start a Blog

Once upon a time in a land far far away, there was a guy who was always procrastinating on when he will be able to set up a blog and get started with Internet revolution. In fact, it started a long time ago but I am like a dinosaur trying to learn to use roller skates when it is beginning to get out of fashion. So what is it that drives me to do it now? Why start blogging now when you could have done it ages ago? Well, it came boiling down to one video while surfing on the Web. So I guess I overcame an obstacle and that is my mind and boy, ain't it liberating. After seeing all that could be possible and all the opportunities that could probably exist out there without my minuscule worries. I should be like what Kirk should be doing on Star Trek and go boldly where no man (or in this case, myself) has gone before. And what video is so grand enough to get me moving, well it was a Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

If there is another thing I have learn is that sometimes you just got to start doing it no matter what seems to be in your way. You may drag your feet or protest but once you get cracking, you just do it. And there is no substitution to that. Let your actions dictate your mind. Hopefully this inspires you to do what you need to do if you have not done it as well.