A Binary World?

I spoke to a few people in the past few days and one common theme came up: “Do we see our world as binary?” Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinions, but let us ponder on the following questions as food for thought. 1) In your circle of people, are there only 2 types: Friends […]

A storm in a wine glass

Last night I went for a drink with a friend to catch up after work in South Kensington, a posh neighborhood. After discussing for 15 minutes where to go, I finally put my foot down and declared “Excuse me. Do you think I am common? I don’t want to go to a local pub at […]

The last weekend of summer

The arrival of August Bank holiday marked the end of the summer in the U.K. We had an average summer this year with fewer than 3 weeks of hot weather. In a way, it is not bad as most of the U.K. residence has no air-conditioning. I was not complaining when the 2 weeks of […]

More than a survivor!

Sometimes I hear other people (and myself as well) say something like “I survived!” or “I am a survivor!”. It sounds alright on the outset. However, on second thoughts, there is an element of passivity in those statements. Perhaps a more positive way of describing the mind-set is “rising above the tide” or “making the […]

Appreciate Gracefully – Part 2

Another personal example arrived last Sunday at church. The speaker was in his late twenties and from a much younger generation than me. He used his own experience, mostly his university years, to illustrate his points in his sermon. Well, university years are actually quite a distant past in my long “memory lane”. However, instead […]

Appreciate Gracefully – Part 1

I think sometimes we (more mature people with me included) may be a bit too harsh on younger people (or people with less experience). Take my very self as an example: My regular Pilates instructor was absent yesterday morning and the replacement, shall we say, was less inspiring. One student walked out. Instead of criticizing […]

London Commuters

According to the survey by Time Out London magazine: 1) 48% commuters take the tube, 16% by train, 10% by bus, 10% walk, 9% by bicycle and 7% by car. 2) The longer your commute, the worse you feel. 3) You hate people sneezing on the Underground. 4) Walking is the nicest way to go. […]

An Average Londoner!

The Time Out London Magazine published the results of their City Living Survey of 12,350 Londoners this week. Here are some of the interesting statistics: 1) You get seven hours and 43 seconds of sleep a night (when you’re not worrying about work). 2) You set your alarm for 6:50am. 3) You take the tube […]

Mind the Swing

It is not uncommon for us to OVER-compensate in certain situations and ended up to the other end of the spectrum. For example, a man growing up in a family with a weak father may over-compensate his experience and become too dominant in his own family. A worker who had an overbearing and controlling boss […]

Reboot – Element 12 (Hope)

Good things come in a dozen. Let me finish this mini-series on rebooting career on a high note of HOPE. I am sure you would agree with me (to a certain extent at least) that there are miracles in our lives and we are blessed in certain ways. Our future is ahead of us and […]