Uncategorized

I love it

Summer Lotus July 6th  5 min read

Are you tired of this rat race? To be faster, better, and richer.

Many people long to drop out of this rat race because they feel that it is killing them and life gets meaningless running this thread mill. They look forward to early retirement.

I want to continue with my rat race because it fulfills my challenge in life which is the opportunity to always cope with the changes that are inevitable. I want to be active and proactive until I become a dead rat.

Even if you drop out of this race, the change will still get to you and make you feel like a helpless rat unless you stay informed.

Because I am not a country rat but a city rat and I operate on a different rhythm. I knew about this when I went to the beautiful laid back city of Perth for 4 days. The first day was a vacation, second day a relaxation, third-day boredom, and 4th-day confinement.

It was just me. I needed a faster pace of life to sustain me. I was looking for stress that would nourish me.

Because my rat race is a diverse one — My race is not just about work, it is about life in general.

While working, I could encounter different settings and sets of challenges in an ever-changing world with its many demands. I would be egged on to engage in problem-solving because I want to be able to think critically.

Off work, I expect to be an active rat to enjoy life in whatever forms it presents, interacting, and sharing with others.

Definition by dictionary.com says;

A rat race has been defined as a way of life in which people are caught up in a fiercely competitive struggle for wealth or power.

To most people, a rat race means continuous working, increasing stress, and health problems. I believe that I could make my rat race a pleasant one.

How?

Does a rat race mean continuous working? It is a matter of perspective.

I see the ability and availability to work as a blessing. If your customer still engages with you, it means that you are able to offer value in your service and product.

I would find ways to work efficiently and effectively. Strategically pace me and think critically to get things done.

Resources in today’s world are abundant and there are always smart colleagues that one can emulate.

I have learned many technological issues from my younger colleagues, they in turn learned from my experiences and avoid pitfalls.

Work brings income that enables you to pursue other passions which cost money. Whether work is continuous beyond your time frame is within your control. If you work in a smart manner, you need not be consumed by work.

When you succeed beyond your expectations, you could filter it down to others and they would also share their talents with you.

Continuous working is actually continuous learning. As work involves change, you will always learn new things.

Does a rat race increases stress? There are many ways to deal with it.

Stress arises when one is unable to find solutions to problems. When one does not have a passion for the task or job, it is time to make a switch.

I have encountered people who are so passionate about their jobs that their eyes lit up when talking about it.

That love comes from their constant acquiring of knowledge and skills and remaining competent.

When in doubt, I often look around and ask for a capable friend to advise me. In today’s world, there is Google that provides a myriad of solutions. Some videos on Youtube even takes you to step by step to solve problems.

Solutions always abound if you search for it. Start the day by solving the most difficult task first. The rest will appear much easier. If the first task cannot be solved, shelve it for the time being. I find that solutions often surface as an afterthought and the problem may even be less minuscule than you think.

The key is to remain calm and collected.

Live in airtight compartments. Do not bring your work home.

It is not the stress that kills, it is our reaction to it. — -Hans Selye

Does a rat race damage your health? How you can protect your health.

The rat race is often associated with long hours and deadlines.

One often forgets that destiny is in your hands. Structure your work by making a large task into bite sizes that can make it achievable.

Cut out unnecessary idle talk while working, delegating where appropriate, and always update on the latest strategy to get work done. When work is beyond your ability to cope, you need to voice out.

Make time for rest, for recreation and rejuvenation. Nobody is too busy for relaxation or exercise. It is just not your priority.

Time management is life management. — — Robin Sharma

The rat race will go on for me because life can be more interesting that way. To be honest, most of us would need money to enable a reasonable standard of living in a city with an ever-increasing living cost. This is to ensure that we can buy the necessary things that often make our lives more convenient.

Staying in the rat race keeps us in the loop, and you are always connected to others and inadvertently will hear about how to deal with any changes. If you fall through the cracks, you might not be able to find someone to help you out as others are in the rat race.

If you are an organized, active, and hardworking rat with a system of balance in your life, I guess it is alright to stay in the rat race.

It is alright to be a busy rat but be a happy and healthy one.

Only You Can Help Yourself

‘The best way to predict the future is to create it’ — Abraham Lincoln

I stumbled upon this quote when I was downloading a picture that I have created online using a paid software.

Every time, I hit the download button, a positive message would come up before the picture appears.

This became the source of my topics. I was doing exactly this, creating my future.

If there is anything that the Covid-19 situation taught me is that I cannot depend on my dental practice alone. A second career preferably a COVID-proof one is desirable.

Covid-19 crisis brought a large part of the economy to a halt particularly businesses that have contact between people. Travel, tourism, restaurants, retail, banking, entertainment, etc faced dire consequences.

On the other hand, some businesses experienced more traction.

The reason is obvious- they rolled with the punches.

With lockdown and quarantine being enforced and work from home became the new norm, companies who could pander to these needs thrive.

The key is the adoption and use of technology in this unprecedented era.

The most famous example is Zoom, a video conferencing platform that was pushed to the forefront of technology during the pandemic as it enables companies who wanted to work remotely.

It also facilitated contact between families, friends, social institutions, etc resulting in an exponential growth in revenue.

Microsoft Teams, Google meet also offered their free versions of video conferencing making the use of these platforms the likely mainstay of our future meetings.

In Singapore, healthcare shops like pharmacies, medical and dental clinics could stay open while all other non-essential shops were ordered shut. It helped that pharmacies were already online so purchases could be made.

Dental clinics suffered as the scope of work was restricted only to emergencies and even then, most were to be channeled to appointed hospitals to prevent the possibility of cluster formations. That is when I realized I need to turn to digital technology to bolster my income should the virus strike again.

Restaurants and many food outlets were also ordered to shutter and quite a number many folded up due to failures to meet costs as well as poor businesses. Those who quickly jumped on the bandwagon of food delivery apps were able to continue business daily. So did delivery companies business escalated.

In fact, the few eateries near my workplace have been running a brisk business to increased takeaway orders as dine-in was prohibited and special promotions with new menus helped further to engage more customers.

Technology backed companies usually do well. When schools were shut down, those tuition centers that quickly adopted technological means to continue with the students’ education stayed in business much to the relief of their parents.

The examples of people who thrived with technology are innumerable. When a friend used to lease out her apartment, it took the agent few months and many visits to view the place before a new tenant would sign up.

This time, using a good virtual tour, the agent was able to secure a tenant within two weeks. Everything was done without time taken by all parties to view the apartment and the deal was sealed based on trust and the condition seen in the video. Even documents were signed and forwarded through the computer.

As more companies turn to online for more presence, companies that teach soft skills like Website creation, building e-commerce stores, and digital marketing would see an uptick in interest to cater to these needs.

Herein, lies my interest to be technology savvy. Since I started learning about website creation, it had piqued my interest and increased my creativity.

Lockdown was bearable as I was engaged in learning this new skill. I have started creating websites and an e-commerce store and I do see this as an interesting and relevant side career.

We now learn that the companies that thrived well in Covid-19 are predicting their future by creating them by engaging digital technology. This is what I planned to do too — Continuous learning, adapting, and adopting the changes by being technologically savvy.

It Is The Most Underrated Thing We Do But You will Get What You Want.

Summer LotusJun 21 · 5 min read

I was a very reticent person. That did not stand me in good stead for the most part of my life.

When your world is closed up, the outside world is also closed up to you. I watched how some of my peers could get very far in life – most of them were sociable, gregarious, and outgoing.

Many reached high stations in their careers and satisfaction in what they wanted to do.

They get noticed because they can communicate. They asked questions and favors. They were not shy.

“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask remains a fool forever.” — Chinese proverb

It was due to the lack of this trait that made me searched for a public speaking course many years ago. I went through several courses but finally found a structured one in SIM2 Toastmasters Club where I have honed my skills for many years.

With an increase in self-confidence and improvement in expressing myself succinctly, it has made a dramatic change in my life. My career became more established and my interests and hobbies increased because I started asking questions and found out that Life has a lot to offer.

As a dentist, I learned to ask poignant and pertinent questions to understand my patients’ complaints, and l would listen to them more intently. Then I would offer my solutions. All customers liked to be heard and if you do not ask, they may not tell much so their needs would not be met.

Outside of dentistry, I had applied my art of asking in my learning whether it was a foreign language or a workshop. Before this, much of my learning was status quo because I did not ask enough.

But nowadays, I have decided to question more fervently. My modus operandi to attain more knowledge and skill in life is to ask questions. So much so that, at a recent workshop, a lecturer expressed in dismay that I was a cumbersome character but he still had to furnish the answers.

I was also speaking on behalf of my fellow classmates who were too fearful to ask any questions. Anyway, my queries were valid ones and I knew they would secretly thank me for them.

That led me to do better in my course and workshop. The typical important words of ‘what, why, when, where, how, and who. This is very much what we would apply in writing an article and making it an interesting story. I now used it in my daily life. Asking to find out more and asking to understand more.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s frequently quoted observation is that we often meet people who are often better than us at something and we must be eager to learn from them.

Socrates believed in asking questions. “ An unexamined life is not worth living”. Ask and discover for yourself the solutions and the truth to solve problems. Things do not just appear as they are, there must be a reason. If something is amiss, ask, and find out if they should be the way they are.

Back to my course on website building, I found out why are some websites more beautiful and engaging. Because they used the right tools. Because they have a good theme. Because they have good content.

Why is that important? Because if you run a business that depends on your website presence, users would linger longer on your website if it is interesting and they are likely to become your potential customers. How then to build a beautiful website? What are the important tools? How to use them? That is when you learn to use your creativity to fabricate one.

I would draw answers out of my Instructors the way one draws blood from a vein. Like a six-year-old.

Thanks to their good chat group support, I was able to quench my thirst for answers without interrupting in class. Every question that I asked, I noted the answers so as not to repeat them.

After that, I went to set up my own website, an e-commerce store, and a blog. It may not be the most beautiful one but it was a good start.

Then I had learned to ask some more questions. I have become pally with my accountant and through our meet-up, I found out that ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. ) may require companies to have websites to authenticate their existence. Many companies do not have websites.

Therein lies a gold mine of opportunities.

I shared with my accountant my work and she mentioned that she needed a company website too. I asked her to give me the opportunity to create one for her and she said yes.

In return, I gave her a deal she found hard to turn down.

In fact, many of her clients do not have websites so the road to more website creation has been paved.

These days, I am turning into a requester. There is no embarrassment in being that.

Knock and it shall open, ask and you shall receive.

You rarely not get what you want unless the request is absurd.

You rarely not get what you want if you could benefit the opposite party in return for the favor- it should be both ways.

You rarely not get what you want if you have applied all my persuasive skills learned at Toastmasters.

I rarely not get what I want because I believe that people are generally helpful and as long as we are sincere.

That is what I did, asking Wann Shing for a comprehensive guide to navigating Pathways, or I will never get started on projects.

The precondition is that one must first put in your effort when you are learning a skill or trade so that by asking questions and getting your answers, you can then progress and become good in what you do.

Don’t be shy about asking questions or for help. Just ask. It does not mean you are weak. It means you are wise and brave. If it is no, so be it. Try harder and someday, it would be yes. If it is yes, you are onto a brand new world.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” — — — Albert Einstein

Why it is a profitable activity.

Walking seems like such a passive activity but it has proven to be of immense benefits. It did occur to me so much until this lockdown happened.

Most of us know that walking, especially if it is brisk is a weight-bearing exercise that not only strengthens the bones and muscles, it can burn calories and improve your blood flow resulting in better cardiovascular health.

In addition to keeping your weight or reducing it depending on intensity, it elevates your mood due to the release of feel-good hormones or endorphins, improves your balance, and manages other conditions like diabetes and high cholesterol.

Many are still not doing it due to a lack of time /commitment. I think it is due to a lack of priority. One needs at least 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to reap the benefits. Otherwise, it would translate into a longer walk.

Living in a frenetically paced world, walking is undervalued for its contributions to our overall being. I used to see it as a perfunctory activity, to be done and get over with.

With the Covid-19 situation, becoming housebound daily for several hours over the last few months began to take a toll on one’s psyche. The aches and pain from sitting at the computer for long hours started to annoy.

At 6.30 pm, I strapped on my mask and got out of the house. 

I have been doing daily pre-sunset walks for months now and have realized the benefits.

Pre-Covid19, I have never looked at my neighbors’ houses with such curiosity.

Now, I noticed and began to enjoy the different architecture of each house, their lightings, plants, even the materials used for their construction. Many of these ideas could be incorporated into my house during our coming refurbishment.

The trees and the plants were so lush. We are indeed blessed with the beauty of nature and it is heartening and inspiring to see that people are very house and garden proud. 

Walking can be educational. During pockets of rest, I whipped out my phone and used the apps on the smartphone to identify plants and flowers. It is an amazing way to learn about them. 

In addition, I have noticed that quaint cafes and eateries have sprung up without my realizing them. I was impressed by their showcases and their ambiance that I told myself I would be back to spend a nice afternoon there to chill. Life around my residence was so vibrant but I was spending too much time at work!

A gelato parlor that was allowed to open also enticed me. Strolling along, licking my ice cream, and enjoying the views, hmm what a life! My life-long dream of opening a gelato counter was also rekindled.

I was happy to stumble upon a small Italian grocery shop where I found some fresh pasta and other high-grade ingredients that I could easily source for my Italian dishes. Why queue at the Supermarket when the price differences are not so significant?

I also chanced upon the blue pea flower bush along the road. With this special flower, I can make a caffeine-free tea or the liquid made from soaking this flower could be added to rice where it would become pastel blue, smell fragrant and taste awesome. But more significant is that Blue pea can be used to treat inflammation, conjunctivitis, induce brain health, and increase vitality.

There was no more need to go online to purchase it anymore. Some things in life are free!🥰

An important finding is that walking helps to boost creative thinking. It must be the increased blood flow as I always have eureka moments ( not just in the bathroom ) during walking. Many of my ideas surfaced during my walks and I would key them instantly into my smartphone. Writing this article for the Medium was conceived during my evening walk.

A Stanford study found that walking increased Creative inspiration by an average of 60% versus sitting. It is believed that walking if its well-paced, sparks connections between brain cells. The right rhythm induced thinking resulting in better working memory.

So, Walking is a brain elixir besides protecting your body’s health.

More credence to this claim comes from the fact that top thinkers all incorporate walking into their daily routine. From creatives like Charles Dickens and Hemingway to Scientists like Darwin and Einstein. These great minds have one thing in common- they all take long walks.

Long ago, the significance of walking probably arose since Roman times.

Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, conducted his lectures while walking the grounds of his school in Athens. An old fresco depicted Aristotle and Plato walking while discussing topics with their followers, holding books in their hands. The students were also called peripatetics meaning walkers.

Beethoven was known to take several breaks during his typical workday. Regardless of the weather, he would carry his pen and music sheets to write on in case inspiration struck.

Frederick Nietzsche was a philosopher, composer, poet, and author. He once wrote that “ all truly great thoughts are conceived by walking” He would set off for a two-hour walk every day with a notebook. 

There are many famous people with prolific works also related to suing walking as a routine or rest.

This seemingly banal activity has many different purposes from stimulating creativity to calming our nerves to preventing diseases. So get up, go for a walk, and awaken your inner genius.

Get out of your comfort zone or stay in the rut

I always thought that I would live and die a dentist. My mind works like a machine that is automated and systematic.

It is very much like what a dentist does in everyday work — —for example, when doing the filling, give anesthetic when required, wait for numbness, access and widen cavity carefully, remove caries, line with medication, build up the filling in layers if necessary, cure it, adjust and polish it.

For thirty-five years, I have been at dentistry and love it. Along the way, I also learned implants and more steps and systematic ways to carry out. So much so that, if I learn anything outside dentistry, I would list everything in order not to miss anything important. It works for me.

Dentistry is an art and a science. After all, aesthetics is a big thing in dentistry and we are moving towards better and beautiful in a big way. I wanted to develop my sense of aesthetics and art further.

Recently, due to the Covid-19 crisis, I joined some coloring competition that was organized by the National newspaper agency, The Straits Times that would give away $5K to the five top winners. Other private companies jumped on the bandwagon such as BMW and a famous art gallery.

It was a challenge for me. My systematic mind could only think of coloring each figure in a specific color. I knew that I lacked creativity. I tried anyway since I had printed all the copies and wanted to use my new coloring pencils kit which I had bought on a whim a year ago.

I seemed happy with my effort and even secretly thought I might win. Until the announcement of results. I was shocked at how creative some people could be. It certainly took a lot of effort and thinking for them to come up with such marvelous art!. I also believe that they were blessed with an innate talent.

They have inspired me to be hardworking and persistent. To open my mind to stimulation around me so that I could uncover my creativity. I like to believe that we have potential in us that need to be excavated. Even if the potential is low, it can be developed. Through more exposure to others who are good at what they do. To have the tenacity to give your best and not give up.

It is torturous for me but I started to join workshops that would require creativity. Sure, where there were steps to follow, it was a no brainer for me. But when it came to selecting or creating images, putting a cover photo, creating a logo, I was lost.

Last year, I started to learn about website creation and then moved on to an e-commerce site. It was very difficult for me as there were many things new to me. I was outside of my comfort zone. I looked around me and my young classmates were all operating in a flow state. Everything came easy to them.

I struggled with the technical process of going digital with the laptop. I was not holding handpieces in my clinic. I tried to link webpages that were shoddily created and the result was a disaster. My classmates already had much basic knowledge with them and the workshop was about building more skills.

I had started on a blank slate and felt totally lost. But I refused to give up. Steps, steps I told myself. I listed all the steps as the instructor belted them out and hit the keys at the same time. Sometimes it was disastrous but a good soul next to me helped me to correct it. I was becoming a nuisance to him but heck, I was going to persist with this challenge.

At the end of the two-day full workshop, I produced an incoherent website. Fortunately, my notes were with me as a guide. Over the weeks, I continued to drop in at their office to meet up with their co-ordinator to work out the process while new classes were conducted by the instructor. I refused to fall out by the wayside.

It took me almost a year to revamp my website and e-commerce site again and again. I learned new things. I forced myself to learn to take good photos and produce images and picked up tips for good photography and relevant images.

I would take templates but had to modify them in order to use them commercially without penalty. I could source free pictures from some websites but I found out that having my own pictures would give my posting more ranking on google.

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better—–Ralph Waldo Emerson

It almost requires a whole new mindset as I need to view my images from an artist’s point of view. It must evoke an emotion before people would want to read on about your post or your product. I came across a software that could test your creativity.

Now, I have two websites and one e-commerce website which I would continue to revitalize as time goes by to provide fresh content and feeling. I also had my first client, an accountant who was happy with my own works and signed up as a client. I created a simple website as requested by her and did it for a small fee.

I am very happy to take up challenges. Staying in my comfort zone means not feeling pain nor inconvenienced nor agitation from the unknown but my philosophy of life is always to stretch myself further.

Even if it takes time, I feel that one can only get better. If you work at something assiduously in a systematic manner and stretch your imagination by doing more work on the side, how can you not finally excel at what you want to achieve?

A mind that is stretched by a new experience will never go back to its old dimensions–Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

Summer Lotus May 23 · 5 min read

The lockdown opened up many opportunities for me.

It is a lockdown on your movement not a lockdown on your life.

People reacted differently under such circumstances. It was very revealing when your basic freedom is taken away from you.

I was afraid of allowing certain things to happen to me; Losing my momentum on my daily goals, losing my fitness as yoga classes were canceled, losing my patience, losing my passion for life, losing my sanity, feeling bored, becoming lazy, and dull-witted, etcetera.

It is not my nature to let them happen as I would fight against these possibilities but still, the fear was in me. I sensed it out there. At the shops, I encountered some staff who were just matter of factly doing what they had to do and going through the motion with malaise and no sense of vitality in their eyes. It did not do good for the general state we are in.

Yet, I met salespeople who were enthusiastic and making the best out of the situation. Unlike the ‘walking dead’. One lady persuaded a friend and me to take a look at the lastest collagen drink in a pharmacy that was allowed to stay open. She gave a running commentary of its effectiveness down to its specific ingredients and dose.

For good measure, she threw in enough sample drinks for each main box to make the purchase more cost-effective. She nailed the deal as we agreed to buy. The joy was palpable on both ends and an otherwise lackluster day ended happily.

For many years now, the world has been going at breakneck speed to achieve more progress in our lives. The rich were getting richer, poor much poorer and there was no time for introspection. Everyone was too busy with progress, defined by themselves.

Back home, construction was ongoing for years. My overseas friends used to say Singapore is in a state of “Construction in progress”. It is the same in many countries. More luxurious apartments at sky-high prices, more housing flats with smaller spaces, more train stops, more retail malls with more of the same chains, more people, less time.

Covid-19 crisis threw a spanner in the works. In a short interval of under two months, a lot has changed for people all over the world and many countries cope with this crisis differently.

Fighting boredom on an individual basis is up to you. You could just sleep away, sip beer, watch Netflix endlessly but this is a precious nugget of time and not a small one. It could be a time for re-education, developing new skills and interests that could be your second career, unleash new ways to survive on your own, resist and change bad habits that have plagued you for years, and so on. Many personal gains to work on.

How has it changed me?

For many years, my leisure time was spent on things that do not make me grow with the times. Like going to many movies just to kill time without really being selective. Like going to the supermarket with no intention to buy anything and it did not burn enough calories anyway walking around in the mart. Like looking for things to fret.

It lacked purpose. Being in lockdown, I decided to work on things that were in limbo. Like improving my website design which I learned to make for my business but was not good enough. Like getting my e-commerce off the ground instead of leaving it online in a pathetic state just because it is buried in the cyberworld and the chance of being discovered is zilch.

I discovered writing and the medium was one platform I got started and was glad that I did. With time away from work as dentists were restricted to emergency treatments only, many of us turned to read to get information and that was how I stumbled upon the medium. It is a new lease of life as it tested my writing ability which I am still trying to convince myself that all of us have an innate ability to write if only we believe and get started.

When yoga lessons were suspended, I worked on some of the moves that would oil my joints and relieve muscle tension and found that they were good enough. I could end my membership, saved some money, and a lot of time. Yoga practice has become my daily ritual.

Walking around my estate also opened my eyes to what my neighbors did to their beautiful gardens and the facade of their spacious homes. Even their choice of lightings was a pleasant sight to behold. The estate is always undergoing changes as the world changes. New cafes, ice-cream parlors, quaint shops have sprung up over the months or years without my knowledge and I was missing the good life.

All these years, I have never paid much attention to Social media, digital marketing, reading, etc as my life was pretty routine. It was work, home, time for my elderly siblings, outings, some volunteer work, travel, and some interests like Toastmasters Club and yoga activities.

During the lockdown, I explored the world of digital marketing. That was a real eye-opener. I have extended the learning of my website which was the basic foundation, to dive into digital marketing which is a hot topic.

With Youtube, I discovered many instructors who generously shared their ideas and dreams. My website started to have a direction, my eCommerce website became functional (though digital marketing may monetize it if I apply correctly)and my creativity is piqued.

The lockdown reminds us to be mindful of certain consequences if we did not want a repeat. Good hygiene, proper social distancing are all good practices in today’s world. We also started to attend webinars and learn to host or join a meeting on zoom or teach a senior how to use zoom which would help family members and friends to keep each other in communication.

Life after Covid-19 is certainly going to be a better one. Taking life a little slower, learning steadily that every adversity can be overcome and that human beings can choose to be resilient if they want to.

the sweet life

How long we live is not as important as how sweet we lived it.