21 Precepts of the Samurai - something to live by.

I came across the Budo Sai (21 Precepts of a Samurai) a few months back and I find them somewhat enlightening.

The 21 Precepts of the Samurai are:

1. Know Yourself (Jikoo o shiru koto),


2. Always follow through on commitments (Jibun no kimeta koto wa saigo made kikko suru koto),


3. Respect everyone (Ikanaru hito demo sonke suru koto),


4. Hold strong convictions that cannot be altered by your circumstances (Kankyo ni sayu sarenai tsuyoi shinnen o motsu koto),


5. Don't make an enemy of yourself (Mizu kara teki o tsukuranai koto),


6. Live without regrets (Koto ni oite kokaisezu),


7. Be certain to make a good first impression (Hito to no deai o taisetsu ni suru koto),


8. Don't cling to the past (Miren o motanai koto),


9. Never break a promise (Yakusoku o yaburanai koto),


10. Don't depend on other people (Hito no tayoranai koto),


11. Don't speak ill of others (Hito o onshitsu shinai koto),


12. Don't be afraid of anything (Ikanaku koto ni oite mo osorenai koto),


13. Respect the opinions of others (Hito no iken o soncho suru koto),


14. Have compassion and understanding for everyone (Hito ni taishite omoiyari o motsu koto),


15. Don't be impetous (Karuhazumi ni koto o okosanai koto),


16. Even little things must be attended to (Chiisa na koto demo taisetsu ni suru koto),


17. Never forget to be appreciative (Kansha no kimochi o wasurenai koto),


18. Be first to seize opportunity (Hito yori sossenshi kodo suru koto),


19. Make a desperate effort (Issho kenmai monogoto o suru koto),


20. Have a plan for your life (Jinsei no mokuhyo o sadameru koto),


21. Never lose your "Beginner Spirit" (Shoshin o wasurubekarazaru koto)

I some-what am embarass that I fail in some of the obvious things for living life and I can hear the doom-sayers saying, "Easy said but you fall short."

But, as Precept 1 ask of us to Know Yourself, the process of knowing oneself is always a walk into the valley of darkness. For one may learn more by standing in the dark then when in the light.

Can I ever live up to the ideals stated in these 21 precepts? Some I can and some I may never attain. But a start is a start and better than those that do not start at all.

Others may ask me, does this compromise your religious stands? These are precepts, as much as the Chinese are called to be filial and respect their parents, which is one of the central teachings of Confucius in The Analects of Confucius or Lun Yu (Chapter 1 verse 2,6,7 & Chapter 2); yet readily accepted by the Chinese regardless of religion. Precepts are sayings or guides for living life, often times universal ideals that transcend religion.

What other precepts that you know of that form universal ideals every man/woman can live by?

Technorati : 21 Precepts, Budo Sai, Life, Samurai

Del.icio.us : 21 Precepts, Budo Sai, Life, Samurai

Zooomr : 21 Precepts, Budo Sai, Life, Samurai

Flickr : 21 Precepts, Budo Sai, Life, Samurai

Read more...

Mind Mapping my organised mess - working well for less

My desk is a mess, a collection of memos, letters, reports and print-outs. My organized mess of work. You sure can't lose anything when you throw it on top of all that and somehow I like it that way.

To a certain degree, my thoughts are often jumbled up like that. Meshed together in a mess that at times may not be organized. And it is this chaotic string thoughts that I plan to organize in the coming weeks.

In my search for Mind-Mapping tools, I came across Get-It-Done's article "Manage Life with a Personal Dashboard" and it struck me with its simplicity and ability to organize chaos.

I've been using mind-mapping to map out ideas and minute meetings but I've yet to use it to manage my life by organizing thoughts and events and tasks. In my initial mind-map, I found that putting down my tasks and everyday work items into a visual form is fantastic. It allows me to see the amount of work, the number of tasks and relationship the tasks have with each other. Anything can be thrown into this mix and then organized into its own section or category. For now, I am trying hard not to complicate my current mind-map with unneccessary nonsense. Most projects start off well but get swallowed up in un-needed complexity that it grinds to a halt and ends up dead in the water.

Give this a try and see where it takes you. Free mind-mapping toosl you can use are FreeMind (Mac OS X, Windows) or MindNode (Mac OS X) or iMindMap (iPhone) or VUE.

Cheers!.

Technorati : Life, Mind Mapping, Organization, Tips, Work

Del.icio.us : Life, Mind Mapping, Organization, Tips, Work

Zooomr : Life, Mind Mapping, Organization, Tips, Work

Flickr : Life, Mind Mapping, Organization, Tips, Work

Read more...

Idiots do Multitasking, Geniuses Single-task.

"Multi-tasking". Say it...say it. What the hell does it mean? Seriously, take time, now, to just ponder the meaning of that word. "Multi-tasking", what does it mean and imply?

Seriously, I don't do multi-tasking because it's for idiots. The smart people in the world single-task and that's really the natural order of things. Human beings were never made to multi-task. Multi-tasking in the office was a cheap way to cut down on employing more people and to enforce a form of slavery in the modern office. Yup, slavery is not confine to third-world countries, you can find it in modern air-conditioned offices. And the slaves are those of us who ever got slap with the "you-can-multi-task" stick on note.

Single-tasking is the way we were meant to be. Because we are single-track-minded beings. Our linear minds are most efficient handling a SINGLE train of thought instead of jumping from track to track. It's just the way we are hardwired in the nugging.

Leave the multi-tasking to computers and machines, why? Because that's why we invented them. Computers have multi-threaded capabilities embedded into their CPUs. They are built to handle several data streams at one instance. Multi-tasking was meant for the computers. How on earth, did this virus jump from the computer to human species is beyond me. But I bet it was some idiotic HR manager who wanted to save on paying for an extra employee.

So next time someone pushes the "You can multi-task" line into your face, do the smart thing. Reply back, "I'm single track minded, so I work best on a single-tasking model."

Cheers!

Technorati : Life, Multi-tasking, Productivity, Single-task, Technology, Work

Del.icio.us : Life, Multi-tasking, Productivity, Single-task, Technology, Work

Zooomr : Life, Multi-tasking, Productivity, Single-task, Technology, Work

Flickr : Life, Multi-tasking, Productivity, Single-task, Technology, Work

Read more...

My FaceBook Persona is not Me.

Listening to Prof. Bibo White talk on the future of social networking, where FaceBook leads the way with over 400 million members, actually making it the 3rd largest country in the world (in terms of population); I started thinking how my FaceBook account has taken over my life.

Every morning, I open FaceBook before my office email. I run TweekDeck; which allows me to update FaceBook and Twitter; without the need to visit the websites and browse through the status updates sof my friends. Yup, I am part of the FaceBook nation but how much of what I put on FaceBook really represents me?

FaceBook is my online persona, and it may or may not be true to who I am. I can safely hide behind a digital mask and none would be the wiser to me. And I am beginning to catch myself telling people I meet to search me on FaceBook. I don't carry name-cards anymore, choosing instead to ask people to Google my name and it will lead them to my blog.

But FaceBook is not me. It represents me, yet it is not me. It doesn't capture me as a person. Instead, you read what I want you to read. And I can make up whatever I want you to read. I can be a hard-convict in prison and online, I can make myself to be the granny that lives next door you to you.

And looking at my FaceBook account, I have almost 500 friends yet in everyday life, I tend to talk to only 3 people. And these 3 people know me as I am, not the FaceBook persona but me as a human being.

Technorati : Facebook, Social Networking, Technology, TweetDeck, life, self realization

Del.icio.us : Facebook, Social Networking, Technology, TweetDeck, life, self realization

Zooomr : Facebook, Social Networking, Technology, TweetDeck, life, self realization

Flickr : Facebook, Social Networking, Technology, TweetDeck, life, self realization

Read more...

To Those That Don't Understand, It's Spelt 'DEPRESSION'

"Let it go." "Get over it." "Move on with life." "I don't like the change in you." "Just think happy thoughts."

I've heard my fair share of comments. The comments are fair and spoken from well-intended motives. The people are sincere and trying their best to nudge me along.

But they got it all wrong.

I often dismissed this form of positive-emphaty as being the inability of the commenter to understand the true nature of the condition that has gripped me. For in all fairness, only those who suffer would know how it truly feels.

It's spelt DEPRESSION and here are some points a care-giver should know:

1. 
   
   Understand the condition and then the person. It is a condition the sufferer may not fully comprehend themselves (I sure did not) and in most cases, they do not know why they are in the condition they are in. So do your homework. Study the condition and use that knowledge as a platform for reaching out.
   
   


2. 
   
   
   
   • 
     
     Depression: Beyond Serotonin
     
     
   
   
   • 
     
     The Evolutionary Reason for Depression
     
     
   
   
   • 
     
     Exploring The Links Between Depression, Writers and Suicide
     
     
   
   
   • 
     
     The Cantopher Document
     
     
   
   
   
   


3. 
   
   Stress. Stress plays a key role in the on-set of a depressive spiral. We all face stress in some measure through out our lives. Unfortunately, the sufferer has lost or lack the mechanism to handle stress. DO NOT add to the stress they are already facing. Stress could come in the form of a simple question such as, "Why are you feeling this way?" Yes, finding the answer to why is stressful. DO NOT push them over-the-edge by unnecessary questions and fact-finding activities.
   
   


4. 
   
   Trauma. An overwhelming blast of stress causes trauma and this broke the brains natural ability to cope and thus begins the onset of depression. Studies have shown that exposure to a traumatic experience in early child-hood makes the brain hypersensitive to stress which contributes to the onset of depression in adults. Understanding the traumatic experience in the life of the sufferer will help. In some cases, it was a series of traumatic and stressfull incidences that hit the individual at the same time that caused the depressive spiral.
   
   


5. 
   
   Personality Change. Understand that once depression has set in, the person's personality and character has change. They will not be the same person, you once knew. Why? The body compensates and adapts itself to the new condition. The body is trying its best to cope. These changes are in itself, confusing to the sufferer. Don't stress them out by pointing out the change, instead accept it and allow the sufferer the space to reconfigure themselves to their new state. In some cases, the changes do not stick and the sufferer reverts back but in some, these changes are permanent.
   
   


6. 
   
   Walk with us. I cannot emphasis more on the importance of this point. Walk with the sufferer. Don't merely say, "I understand." but instead add, "We'll walk through this together." There is a deep sense of hopelessness and loneliness in the sufferer. Leaving them alone or on their own enforces this prevalent feelings. Most sufferers commit suicide, not because they are stupid or attention-seeking, but rather because they want the pain to end. If you are sincere and genuine, walk the talk. Don't just say you want to help but be the help. If a care-giver does not owe up to what they say, it would merely push the sense of hopelessness and loneliness deeper into the sufferer's psyche. Walk with us, show us that someone cares and trust me; change can happen.
   
   


7. 
   
   Antidepressants. I am NOT an advocate of this form of treatment. Why? To me, it merely mask the condition. It represses the condition into a dormant state and really doesn't help the sufferer. In all the readings, I've read; I've come to the conclusion that antidepressants do not cure the condition. It merely brings it down to a manageable state. Problem with that is, without the antidepressants, the condition may return with a vengence.
   
   

Once broken, can this be fixed?

I am incline to say, NO.

The scars are buried deep in the psyche and mind. The brain has changed and this is not something that can be fixed that easily. Yet, there is hope. The brain is a wonderfully flexible organ and it can re-wire itself to work-round the handicap. A sufferer can start these processes along but they cannot do it on their own. They need care-givers around them to help them along, until the brain has rewired itself, well enough for the sufferer to manage on their own.

This is a plea for all to understand because only through understanding can one help to beat down this condition. For sufferers, I know it's hard but we too need to understand as best as possible what we suffer from.

Sun Tzu wrote, " It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."

Understand this condition called DEPRESSION, understand yourself and we can win this battle.

Technorati : Depression, Feelings, Life, Lifestyle, Relationship

Del.icio.us : Depression, Feelings, Life, Lifestyle, Relationship

Zooomr : Depression, Feelings, Life, Lifestyle, Relationship

Flickr : Depression, Feelings, Life, Lifestyle, Relationship

Read more...