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November 19th, 2009
12:19 am
"The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that is it possible." - David Viscott
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/ankthinkg.gif) pensive
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12:13 am - Learning styles
Something I noticed about myself that became more apparent recently is that I am a very verbal learner.
What do you do first in an art museum? Look at the art piece intensely and skip the detailed explanation or focus on understanding the meaning behind the art work through the description?
I always zoom to the words. I was actually irritated by myself that I spend so much time reading the explanation and story before the display work and so little time visually appreciating the art work.
So I tried to force myself to focus my eyes on the art work.
But now I understand my learning style better. It was my instinct to read the words, because I can appreciate the work better if I knew the story behind it.
There are other instances where my eyes are drawn to words on paper. I love quotable quotes for instance. And the bible in printed form is so wonderful. Hmmm... I can't really think of examples for now. But I really enjoy reading.
I know some people like listening (auditory learners), some like looking at pictures (visual learners), some are physical and like playing around with things (kinesthetic learners) but I like reading (verbal learner)! I like writing too because I can read what I write! ;)
What about you?
I hope knowing this helps me capitalise on my ability to learn best through words and reading and also helps me to understand others. A book that transforms my life might not have the same effect when I lend it to someone. Some people just hate to read.
I feel lucky too that the world is filled with books. :) I think verbal learners do have an advantage over other dominant type learners with the traditional method of teaching and learning. But teachers are getting better these days and are trying to help all types of people learn well.
Prof. Tan made us to a test to find out our learning styles back in the University. He wanted to be able to help all of us learn. I remember those who are equally dominant in all learning styles are very lucky. :) They learn no matter what in life. Maybe those with first class honours have this trait! :) Any statistics done to test this?
Yes, capitalise on your strengths! :D
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November 18th, 2009
11:57 pm - Time management updates
Just an update how things are going on my side.
In my heart and mind, I make it a point to bathe the moment I come back home and make my bed the moment I wake up. It's my mini first steps to achieving an organised life.
I've done some tidying up of my cupboard, but it's really not impressive. Still too much stuff. I couldn't bear to throw the England and Man Utd stickers I collected as a kid. I even couldn't bear to throw the bus tickets I collected as a kid. Bus tickets. Can you imagine that? I secretly think inside, maybe 30 years down the road, I can sell them as antiques.
I'm still disorganised in thoughts and have been rushing.
But I make it a point to do the things I need to do immediately and forcefully. (It takes a lot of force to move a phlegmatic person)
My life is still cluttered, but there are small changes.
加油 Shuyi!
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November 15th, 2009
11:42 am - Project Systematisation - organising the chaos
"Have a time and place for everything, and do everything in its time and place, and you will not only accomplish more, but have far more leisure than those who are always hurrying, as if vainly attempting to overtake time that has been lost."
- Tryon Edwards
"At home and away, at work, at school, and at play, being organized touches every aspect of your life. It means being prepared for meetings or shopping trips; being neat and orderly in the way you present yourself and in the way you arrange your belongings; remembering appointments and ideas; being on time and allowing enough time for all you have to do. Being organized involves keeping track of a wide variety of things; it means keeping track of people, updating address lists, and remembering birthdays and other occasions; and it means keeping track of your thoughts so you can make clear arguments orally and in writing. In short, it means developing the tools for living a happy, productive life."
- Sheree Bykofsky
"Life is a time management game."
- Tan Xin Ying
Today is Day 1 of getting things in order. What I hope to achieve is to pick up some tips and skills that I will be able to apply and keep with me for long - to "making my home beautiful and my life clutter free".
To give some context, I have great trouble in organising my life - my time, my possessions and my thoughts.
My time - I do not use this aspect properly and rushing is something I often do as a result of it. I hope to put in prioritisation.
My possessions - My possessions are always in a big mess. I do not know where I keep things. And I often lose things. It is also seen in the way I deal with money. I have little self-control and do not have an organised way of spending money. I also need to invest more in personal grooming.
My thoughts - It's clearest when I try to articulate my thoughts. Many times the order is wrong. I think I should give more time to sorting them out, especially since I'm a thinker and generate a lot of thoughts each moment.
I also often lose thoughts. It sounds crazy, but as much as I lose possessions, I lose memories. I often cannot remember what people tell me and even shared experiences with people. I need a way of storing these as well.
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November 13th, 2009
10:14 pm - Part 2 - The lost ATM card
I think I have been super blessed, despite the way things unfolded.
:)
You know losing the ATM card did not just mean the inconvenience of canceling the card and going down to make one.
I had to make an additional trip to Braddell today to purchase the items I selected yesterday but was unable to pay. And yesterday, one reason I really wanted to go to the bookshop was to buy a birthday present for Lishan. Mabel the bookshop staff offered to pay for me first! :D Where on earth can you find such a service?
And losing the ATM card meant I had limited cash yesterday. Strangely, the day before, my Dad dumped 10 over dollars worth of coins into my hands and asked me to lighten his load. So I was able to pay for my $17+ worth of dinner with Yanmei, Shiyu and Yvonne yesterday! Pity the poor cashier boy who had to count the coins!
And the fact that I can make it back to the bookshop today, also meant I had free time today! Had Friday been a packed day, such a disruption to my original (lousy) plan would not have been possible! :D
Also there was a POSB bank at Jurong Point today where I met Lishan for breakfast and Sonny wanted to come to the Popular in Jurong Point to look for English reading materials. So things fitted strangely together quite nicely.
:)
I'm so grateful for such an experience! :D 谢谢神！
Happy Birthday Lishan! :D
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12:26 am - This is the last straw - time management
Received this from Kok Sheng! Thank you brother for faithfully sending me devotions! :)
Spend Minutes Wisely
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Psalm 39:4-5
In Psalm 90, David shows his mindfulness of his brief time on earth. He asks God to help him number his days, which ought to be the prayer of every leader. Wise leaders work to redeem the time they have.
A leader needs to wonder if the task is worth the time investment. What would happen if the leader wasn't the one doing it? Is there someone else who could do it just as well, and for whom the task would be time better spent? A good leader knows that time is like gold, and good "spending habits" are essential. It's just that in this case the units are minutes, not dollars.
If you don't know where your time goes - that's a danger signal. If you can save small bits of time and consolidate them into a chunk of time that can be spent on something worthwhile - that's like "found money." If leaders can number their minutes and hours, "numbering their days" will be easier.
The Maxwell Leadership Bible
This is the last straw because this is the dunno-how-many-times today my attention has been drawn to this topic of organisation/time-management/discpline/self-control that I'm convinced God wants me to change in this area!
It started in the morning when I once again, did the thing I always do, last minute before I was to leave home to meet Angelina for lunch, I suddenly wanted my Michael Jackson songs in my handphone for me to listen. So I frantically started to transfer the music into my phone. Then I suddenly remembered I needed this piece of information for me to be able to do the work I needed to do that afternoon, so I frantically ran to my laptop to do a transfer. Then, I realised the washing machine was calling out to me to hang out the clothes, so I did that as well.
So I was almost certain that I would be late. :( But Mummy redeemed my fault by sending me to the venue. Thank God for Mummy.
There was another moment this week when I did something stupid and someone else had to redeem for me. That was when I wasn't able to settle some Hope Resource deal and Charmaine said she would handle it instead.
And today, I lost my ATM card. For someone with a very limited conscious mind to play with, it is a very common occurrence. With the MJ music in my ears, still enamored with the experience of talking to some Dutch students about Singapore's weather and people and thinking about what I had to do next, I went to top up my EZ link card. I did not take back my ATM card.
If you remember a similar incident, I actually withdrew money without taking the money before.
So it's this lack of brain consciousness. When I'm preoccupied with something in my mind, I cannot focus on the task at hand. When I look very attentive when I listen to someone, it's really because I cannot multitask. I'm either fully listening or I'm not listening at all.
Mum and Dad and Grandma knows it. There are times they talk to a wall.
I overly side-tracked.
What I wanted to say was that I struggle in this area of management of my time, my resources, my ideas, my work.
What it results in is mistakes, wasted time, loss of reputation and opportunities and much inefficiency.
I told God this morning that I often feel out of control in my life because a lot of times I do things because I feel like doing it. So what happens is that the things that need to be done, never get done. The things I should do less, I keep doing. I'm like trapped in some kind of cycle.
Today, God replied me that the answer is organisation/time-management/discpline/self-control, something along these lines. And it's repeated enough times (in the bookshop, I keep seeing words that tell me the same message) that I sincerely want to be transformed in this area of my life.
I've had enough of rushing. I'm trapped. But God please pull me out!
Hmmm and about redeeming mistakes. Gosh, God, thank You for the greatest act of redemption ever - Christ's sacrifice for our sins.
It's like lessons in grace. I so don't deserve anyone to help me when my own folly resulted in the awful consequences I ought to bear, yet, as if I did not do anything wrong in the first place, the awful consequences were removed from me. Gosh, what grace. :)
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November 8th, 2009
12:47 pm - Psalm 63:6-8
I was recording some of the songs I've written recently when I found a song I wrote and recorded in February.
And I believed I have improved much in my singing!
I was really quite shocked. I think I can articulate and project better today than before. So I re-recorded the song.
Gosh, if it really is so, I think vocal lessons are one of my better investments in my life so far (my guitaring skills appear to be about the same as when I first started off and I can't seem to get past using my favourite few chords). :) Really grateful my guitar coach at that time encouraged us to pick up the singing technique.
Also, looking back. I realised had not God allowed me to go through such turbulent times in my life, I really have no such song to sing.
http://www.steekr.com/n/50-17/share/LNK35334af657fb238bb/
PSALM 63:6-8 (NLT)
Verse
G Em
I lie awake thinking of You
C D
Meditating on You all through the night
I think how much you have helped me
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings
Chorus
G Em
And I follow close beside You
C D
Your strong hand holds me secure
And I follow close behind You
Your right hand leads the way
Bridge
Em C
Even though a valley I face
G D
Even there Your lamp lights the way
Copyright 10/2/09 Shuyi
I wrote this song at the peak of my Final Semester in NUS. It was really stressful. I remember just waking up in the morning in my hostel room with great fear and dread in my heart of what is to come. But the verse Psalm 23:4 (the bridge) comforted me.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
There are times when I see myself walking in total darkness with great fear in my heart, walking in the valley, but then I adjust my eyes and see the comforting glow of a warm light, and I know God is holding the lamp and is right beside me as in Psalm 119:105.
This is the basis of the song. :)
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November 6th, 2009
11:45 am - Lost and found
Reading my old sermon notebook is so encouraging to me. To see that little child in me so desperate for God. So desperate to put into application whatever I have learnt and so desperate to hear from Him in every situation I'm in.
Here is a prayer from 21/8/04 after my guitar was accidentally exchanged with someone else's guitar in NJC.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for fulfilling your promise to return (my) guitar to me! :) Thank You that through this experience of losing and finding, I learnt more about Your character. I experience the pain and anxiety of losing and the exhilaration and joy in finding. Thank You for revealing Your urgency for the return of this lost sheep. Help me live a life worthy of the title: child of God. Not fretting, not afraid, because my mighty God is in charge. I may fall, but my Lord picks me up. I may stumble, but I am not devalued. I may sin, but still loved. I thank You for life transformation. I see with my eyes, believe in my heart. I believe.
In Your name, Amen!
Or my plea with God to help me with my studies on the 25/8/04
... Lord, I want to trust in You, again and again, that You are my Lord, my Saviour, my Victory in all circumstances. You watch me, You guide and help me with Holy Spirit and You love me so much. Lord, please help me. I'll do it the way I best know of, picking up from every left off moments. Lord, uphold me, help me, fight for me.
In You, life is worth living, worth trying again and again with each fall, because Your plan never fails (unlike mine), nothing I could ever do, could change Your great love and plan for me because You are God and You are in control.
With such a great and awesome God behind me, how could I give up? Or admit defeat? No, my God will help me, rescue me in every situation I undergo. I love You Father. Help me Holy Spirit, help me be righteous, help me not sin against You, nor grieve You. Watch over me, fill me with the peace, only You can give.
Gosh, does this give you the goosebumps? It's like very 肉麻 (romantic, lovey-dovey) Gosh, but that is what I love about my relationship with God! Gosh, look at the faith in the prayer. It's scary right? Haha. :) Gosh, maybe that is what child-like faith is. It sounds incredible.
And that is just what I need today and everyday. :)
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November 3rd, 2009
04:03 pm - Impressed with A star's selection process
Gosh, I am suitably impressed by the way A star assesses its potential employees!
First, a written test, to test writing ability and ability to conceptualise and express ideas.
Now, a DISC personality test! They do take each candidate seriously holistically, instead of leaving it to just an interview.
Very impressed!! :D
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October 30th, 2009
10:18 am - The camera story
There's something about print material that fascinates me a lot.
I like how moments are captured for almost all eternity, or least my lifetime and beyond.
When I began to desire possessions, books were some of the first items I really wanted, also at that time a Man Utd jersey and a football (which I kicked against the grille of my window, only for it to rebound for me to kick again - soccer practice for Shuyi). I collected Man Utd magazines for about 5 years before I gave up. These printed material were some of my most treasured possessions for a period of time.
The next item I hoped to get was a film camera when I was in Secondary Four. I still remember Auntie Lian Hoh bringing me to a camera shop at centerpoint to get my first Nikon camera. It was with this camera that I took my Prom night photos in MGS. Again, there was something about capturing that unique moment almost for forever that fascinated me.
My sister borrowed it and left it in a cab shortly. And she bought me another film camera to replace that one I was in my first year of Junior College. That was the camera I brought with me to the Maldives, where an unfortunate accident happened. With my camera around my neck, I bent down to touch the water. But that did created some special effects in the photographs taken that made them special.
It was also that time, that I learned there was such a thing as digital cameras. Some of my friends on the Maldives trip encouraged me to get one.
I waited, till after A levels and asked my Daddy to get me a Sony digicam. Why Sony? For the simple reason the advertisements on Time magazine at that time showed beautiful nature shots that were taken with the Sony camera. I cannot resist well-done advertisements.
So that's the camera story for me. :) I love bringing my camera out with me, for those special moments that happen during the day. That for me was the best way I could share with another that special moment. Almost exactly as it is, before I could manipulate and distort it verbally with my own perceptions and inability to express.
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October 25th, 2009
03:24 am - Even the security guard recognises me!
I walked past the security guard (I have been doing this often since the sidegate broke down) today and he made a comment that I always come back so late on Saturdays (and that I look very happy today, cause I was very encouraged by re-reading Edwin's SMS right at that moment). :) I was amazed he recognises me!
I mean I wear different things every week! So if it's not by my clothes, he recognises my face, gait, built and my routine of returning home late on Saturdays. I mean he recognises me as an individual!
I have the same amazement whenever friends recognise my voice over the phone. Is my voice really unique to me that you can remember and recognise it?
I don't know why it still amazes me. And the fact that dolphins also have this self-consciousness. They know they are unique individuals (learned this from The Cove movie).
Maybe it's not too hard to believe God really knows us as individuals and is acutely aware of our uniqueness and differences from one another. He interacts with us as individuals.
I'm starting to use many homophones in my writing. It's time to sleep! But my heart and mind are just racing with excitement from the day's activities and revelations.
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02:26 am - My two very small copper coins
Luke 21:1-4
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
Even before Bruce explained his prophetic word, I knew in my Spirit what God wanted to tell me. It's multidimensional and complex, but I will try to break it down here.
One aspect that I have especially been very troubled over lately was my nervousness with being assessed during the interviews. Closely linked to it was my fear of speaking up before a crowd or clearly articulating what I think. Many jobs that interest me involve outreach and educating in some form.
My ability to express myself in speech, this eloquence, has never been my strength.
And this weakness has been greatly magnified lately.
As I pondered this issue in my heart, I realise this really was a stumbling block in any interview I would go for in the future. It also caused me to compare myself to others. When I see people confident in speech, like for example the speech and drama teachers at the Nurture Programme Yeu Ann kindly invited me to, I become envious of this ability/gift/strength.
I feel very lousy about this thorn, if you'd allow me to use this term loosely, and it has shaken not just my confidence in myself but my worth before God. Because I felt that my meagre contributions to His Kingdom in this ability of communication in speech were really pitiful.
This is when the widow's story speaks to me. I believe it's God's encouragement to me that though I have very little to offer to Him in this area, it doesn't make my meagre offering any less pleasing or valuable to Him. My contribution might look really small especially when place side by side to what more eloquent and verbose people have to offer, yet He understands when I give all that I have.
It is this tenderness that God offers me that really brings me to my knees in worship. The world out there really doesn't care a copper coin whether I give from my poverty or wealth, but God really sees the heart.
:)
One application I hope to apply practically is not to always be so quick to delegate speaking roles to others. Often, my delegation comes more from a fear of using this weakness of mine than from recognising the strength in others. I hope to be faithful in my caregroup, to allow God to use this broken vessel, to communicate my mind and heart to my sisters and brothers. It was partly for this reason that I chose to explain the CG game to the CG on Wednesday instead of delegating it to Sharon, who I knew clearly would do a more than excellent job.
To allow God to use this broken vessel once again.
Not only in the area of communication, but in the area of giving my all at interviews and any other areas that might be revealed to me over time. Yes! God appreciates my meagre contributions, so I am going to offer them with greater gusto and joy, knowing even if Man think otherwise, God thinks heaven of me!
Even if that means facing my fears and putting me in uncomfortable and difficult situations. Yes, this is my prayer and desired application. I want to keep giving my two very small copper coins faithfully to God! :D
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October 18th, 2009
08:39 pm - Abstract Reasoning
When I did the Caliper test in December, it revealed that I was good naturally at abstract reasoning, meaning it's part of my personality.
"Abstract reasoning questions require candidates to recognize patterns and similarities between shapes and figures." (http://www.wikijob.co.uk/wiki/abstract-reasoning)
Today, I finally understand that's the technique I use during the examinations. I recognise patterns in questions and can replicate answers to other similar questions according to these patterns. This is especially helpful in Mathematics problems.
This would explain why I often can solve problems yet when asked to explain how I solved them, I cannot explain concretely the steps to solve them. This in fact affected my confidence quite a bit and I felt I did not have an in-depth grasp about the topic. Had I known I was good at abstract reasoning, I might have felt less bad and tried to develop it more!
In contrast, from my reflection, concrete thinkers are those who need to understand every nut and bolt about an issue, before they are confident to translate their learning to another situation. I see it in some friends who need to know exactly how each step is derive to learn. I rely on these friends a lot when I need to understand how I derive the answer to a question.
I understand now why I'm attracted to certain disciplines like Taxonomy or Systematics. It's because I really like patterns. I like to classify things according to their similarities. Perhaps Architecture has some appeal to me because I like how a simple structure can have so many different manifestations. Like tear away all the fanciness, a house, however it looks, is simply a house. Also, the fact that architecture can be classified as well - Western, Modern, Oriental, South-East Asian, Colonial etc.,
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12:57 pm - From Careering Upwards by Pauline Grant
Should you bluff to gain interviewers' favour?
NO!
"Throughout this book you will find that you are never encouraged to bluff! This is on pragmatic as well as moral grounds.
Firstly, it can be difficult to sustain bluffing through a structured assessment process, and, if you come across as less than genuine, you will immediately reduce your chances of being successful.
Secondly, if you are one of the rare people who can bluff well and can maintain it long enough to get the job, the chances are that you will be unhappy, whereas if you found a position that suits your style more closely you would gain more satisfaction.
Thirdly, and this might appear to be a more subtle point, job hunting can be a difficult experience, carrying as it does the possibility of repeated rejection; what does it do for your self-esteem if you convince yourself that you have to lie to be acceptable?"
Gosh, I love the third point so much! :D Yes, I want an employer who values my strengths and is willing to groom me in my weaknesses, like accept me for being me! :D Not one who puts down my strengths and reinforces my weaknesses. If one things I'm not fit for the job after an honest and objective assessment of me or if I find that the job is not suitable for me, then I shall trust their and my judgment and look elsewhere.
But first, I must take this selection process seriously. The fact that they have chosen me to go for the interview shows they see potential in me and want to give me a chance to be considered for the job. So I am going to do my best to present myself to them to show them what I can potentially offer and who I am.
Hmmmm... But this really begins with first being comfortable with who I am and valuing my S.H.A.P.E. which I'm forced again and again to deal with when preparing for an interview.
"Compromising positively."
"You need a way of presenting yourself honestly that, at the same time, shows that you are an attractive candidate."
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October 16th, 2009
10:03 am - Taking Revenge
There's this interesting newspaper article in today's Straits Times about this man who taught the guy who cheated his girlfriend out of $30,000 a lesson by pouring a bottle of urine over his head. He further committed another offense by posing as a navy officer in hope that the assumed status would cause the police to pay more attention to the case and expedite it.
I was shocked at this man's love. It appears to me that he was motivated by love and he did what his creative and warped mind could possibly conceive (pour his urine to humiliate perpetrator and dress in a navy officer uniform) to make sure his girlfriend received justice, quickly.
Gosh, frankly, don't we all want somebody to stand up and defend and protect us like that, with all his or her heart, especially when we know we cannot help ourselves? Gosh, imagine being cheated of $30,000!! That's a lot of money. Or in the case of single mother Madam Magdalene Tan whose only son died in an accident last week. In her shock and hopelessness, her son's army officers went the extra mile to comfort her and help her make funeral and other necessary arrangements. (15/10 Straits Times Forum)
When you just lose something so valuable to you, the pain is unimaginable.
Yet, there are people that who catch these people just before they hit the ground.
I know Jesus is such a hero.
"Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." Romans 12:19
He is in no way blind to the crimes committed against Man. God's goodness is not just seen in his great love for man but his great hatred of evil done onto man. He will not let sin go unpunished.
But he ask that we trust Him for this and not to take our own revenge.
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21
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October 15th, 2009
12:59 pm - Equal opportunity employer
On a second note, while reading a book, it was brought to my attention that God is an equal opportunity employer, based on the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
This trait of God really captivates my heart.
God accepts the unwanted, the out-casts, those condemned by the world to have no real "use", or condemned for life for committing "unforgivable" crimes, those who need help, those with prison records, with handicaps etc,.
He wants us all.
It is this that appeals so much to me. Unlike the harsh eyes of a worldly employer who only gives chances to people who can prove they can do a job well, God picks up the unemployed and offers them a job and pay as good as the high-fliers in society.
Doesn't this just appeals to you? It basically means everyone is important to God and significant to Him, regardless of their track performance. We all are sinners in need of grace.
It is also this realisation that might cause him who thinks he is a nobody, who hates to work or feels he has little to contribute, to decide that because someone sees value in him and believes in him, he is going to do his best in that opportunity given to him.
I started off like that. But with time, I have accumulated a resume which I fish out of my pocket and shove into peoples' faces, and sadly even God, whenever I feel my position threatened. This resume ought to be viewed with the right mindset, that it was God who first "employed" me, and all experiences and opportunities are but employment given by God, who knew my worth and value. This should not create pride or false humility in me but true humility, the conviction that I stand on the shoulders of God.
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October 14th, 2009
08:01 am - The value of a degree, a good one
The verdict is out: yes, having a degree and a good one at that, really makes a difference whether you get a comfortable job managing a group of people, or a job with less comfort being managed.
A first class Honours and 2nd upper class will make you the head. A 2nd lower, will put you close to them. Anything less than a degree would mean being in a separate camp.
This is the Civil Service!
I think knowing this, just makes me appreciate my degree much much more. There is this trust in the education system. When you graduate with certain qualifications from a University, it means certain things. For example, you can think, you can lead, you are a role model, you can relate with people fairly, you can learn things more easily, you can produce high quality work, etc. And employers in the Civil Service tend to make this connection. No need more explanation, your degree suggests this.
So I want to be a good role model, of a good worker, a good leader and make use of this training I've received to be a good contributor.
Note: You might better understand my sentiments towards this post, if you previously knew that I felt there was no difference between different types of qualifications, in particular, a University degree. I felt having a degree was a mask to one's capability and I could not understand why certain jobs only considered degree holders.
So to qualify myself, I add that, grades are not all employers look at! They also look at your character, your personality, your experience, your passion, abilities etc.
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October 12th, 2009
12:28 am - On My Way
This verse and this song are of particular significance to my life as this point of time! As I make a faith decision to step out of my past into the future God has for me!
Philippians 3:13-14 (NASB)
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I’m far away from what I’ve known
And there’s static on the radio
Just a girl in a car on a lonely highway
I’ve been up and down this winding road
It’s getting dark, the stores are closed
The map is wrinkled, my coffee’s turned to grey
But I’m on my way, I’m on my way
There seems to be no end in sight
But I know I’ll be alright
‘Cos I’m on my way, I’m on my way
Sweet embrace, I’m on my way
So many beat-up cars on this dirt road
I see them sputter and start to choke
How many miles must I go till I rest in your grace
I feel like giving up and letting go
Let the world invade my mind, my soul
Will this road make me, a sinner or a saint
But I’m on my way, I’m on my way
There seems to be no end in sight
But I know I’ll be alright
‘Cos I’m on my way, I’m on my way
Don’t give up on me, I’m on my way
I can picture your smiling face
Your arms stretched to hold me
Waiting there by the gate
If I ever get lost
I know that you’ll find me
There’s a cross on a hill saying
“Do not be afraid.”
I’m on my way
If I keep you in my sight
I know I’ll be alright
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12:01 am - Why journalism catches my eye?
Maybe it's the way journalists write, how one sentence just connects to another, as if one were having a conversation and writing it out on paper. It's real easy to follow and I like that. :)
I also like the aspect of bringing to life the ordinary. How a writer can breathe life into inconspicuous entities. Writers of architecture bring to life buildings and reveal the passion of architects. Writers of people reveal the stories of famous personalities and the ordinary man. I love how from one word springs one captivating story.
I enjoy the connection of ideas. How from nothings, something came to be, because someone was curious, researched and piece together a new story.
Also, for newspaper it is touch and go. Everyday, new things happen. One can only follow a story for so long. Trends changes as well. So there's this element of spontaneity/dynamism that comes with a faster turnover rate of having to publish everyday. Being able to spot the latest happening and comment on it before anyone else does it in a manner the common man can understand. I think this is one aspect that sets journalism apart from scientific research writing. I have a very short attention span and tend to start more things than I finish. So if the job requires me to do things in bursts and spurts, I might perform better.
We all love the news part of the newspaper. Just clear reporting to give us a quick overview of things going on around us and in the world. Depending on how interested I am in a news report, I either scan headlines, photographs and captions, first paragraphs, first sentences of each paragraph or the whole article in close scrutiny. This I learned to do with more skill as soon as I realised I don't have the whole day to read the newspaper.
And I wonder if it's unique to me or common to all man. There's this thrill of seeing my name on the newspaper. Do you also long for that? When I was younger I tried my luck at those Dear Aunt Aggie sections in newspapers and magazines to ask questions to try to get published. Nowadays, I try the Straits Times Forum whenever I am stirred emotionally about issues.
And yes, I first started blogging partly because of this!
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October 10th, 2009
01:23 am - How do you spend your time?
After "how's the job search", the number 2 most commonly faced question by the job seeker, must be "how do you spend your time?"
Having finished school and having not found a job, means I have much availed time on my hands.
How then do I spend it?
Here are some activities I have done to fill up my days:
1. Visiting museums/exhibitions and recently, the zoo (educational)
2. Visiting the library and reading books
3. Refining the trade of a job-seeker - resume writing, searching the classified ads and online job portals, dressing up for the interview, preparing documents for the interview, practicing how to answer questions at the job interview
4. Meeting up with friends
5. Volunteering at the church bookshop - learning the trade of purchasing and administration
6. Mentoring others and being mentored
7. Visiting other countries - Malaysia and China so far
8. Re-thinking my values and challenging my mindset
9. One week of A level Chemistry tuition + self study of the subject
10. Trying to answer the question: What job should I do? Which employer would employ me?
Things I hope to further pursue:
1. Building up physique through exercise
2. Learning a language --> Malay as a course, Spanish for leisure and fun
3. Pick up where I left of for vocal lessons, learn the art of singing
4. Find a part-time/temporary job to supplement my pocket-money
5. Bible study and scripture memorisation, especially for real-time application
6. Write more?
7. Photography?
8. Consider further studies?
Hmmm... A question I ought to seek God in prayer for is: How does He want me to spend my time? After all, my time is His time.
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shuyi's journal