The second factor is impulse control from the book ‘The Resilience Factor’ by Karen Reivich & Andrew Shatte. (p.39-40)
“It makes intuitive sense that emotion regulation and impulse control are closely related, and our analyses bear this out – people who are strong on the Resilience Quotient factor of impulse control also tend to be high on emotion regulation. We believe that the connection in these areas exists because they tap into similar belief systems in us. So if your impulse control is low, you will accept your first impulsive belief about the situation as true and act accordingly. Often this produces negative consequences that can hamper your resilience.”

Yesterday the subject of “career path” came up in a conversation and it dawned on me that there is a predominant view about it.
Let us take a moment to ponder a bit on it.

A path means a journey or an experience in a broad sense. The word in itself does not imply “climbing up the corporate ladder” though it is a popular perception. The latter is more specifically referred to as career advancement, but not just career path.

In a pure sense, a career path like happiness itself is a personal matter. Someone may choose a career path to work on a different career every few years while someone else may prefer to stay at the same job for the rest of his/her life. It is definitely not a case of one-size-fits-all (“moving up” is only one of the many possibilities). There are certainly influences (implicit or explicit) from different sources including the society, peers and family to conform, but one should be encouraged to be different if one chooses to be so.

Last Thursday I was on a return flight from Amsterdam Schipol airport back to London. The original 7pm flight was delayed and then eventually canceled around 9:30pm. I was rescheduled for 7am flight the next morning and sent to an airport hotel by a shuttle bus. Despite such misfortune, I would like to acknowledge KLM for doing a few things right.
1) Hotel arrangement:
a) A separate line at the hotel reception was designated for all the “stranded” passengers’ with a full name list prepared. I was called “Stranded KLM #1” on the hotel access card.
b) Buffet dinner with hot meals (though no wine) was arranged at 10:15pm.
c) Buffet breakfast was set at 4am. The pastries were excellent.
2) Flight rebooking: I was automatically rebooked for the next available flight with an aisle seat (like my original flight)

Alright – Flight delays and cancellations do happen, but the way the airline handles it makes a huge difference. In my case, KLM did it with the Dutch efficiency :>

Again I could not contain my happiness though it was not a big deal.
Two copies of my book sold online in July:>
One printed copy was sold in the U.S. and one electronic copy was purchased in Portugal.
I am very happy as my book is still “out there”, and there are copies sold via Amazon from time to time.
Slowly but surely “conquering” the world one copy at a time 🙂

I was in Paris last week and was urged by two French friends to try the gallette (apparently quite a celebrated regional specialty in Brittany) for lunch at the local creperie after being corrected that it is actually a meal and not a dessert.

I arrived on my own at the creperie with excitement for the adventure. I politely asked the waitress to recommend the signature dish of the “house”. She suggested “Boudin Noir” after dutifully counter-checked with her colleague. My dish with 8 pieces of “black sausage” arrived in 10 minutes and I sank my teeth (literally) into it with tremendous enthusiasm. To my surprise, the texture of the sausage was not what I had expected. I took a deep breath and told my very good self that I needed to finish it with a very open mind. And I did it with such courage and dignity!

Came Monday morning and I recounted my experience to a French colleague. She asked me if I knew what the sausage was made of. I replied “non”. She burst into laughters and said it was made of PIG’S BLOOD! It was what the English called Black Pudding! It was no pudding to me :s

Emotional regulation is the first resilience factor from the book ‘The Resilience Factor’ by Karen Reivich & Andrew Shatte.
“Emotion Regulation is the ability of stay calm under pressure. Resilient people use a well-developed set of skills that help them to control their emotions, attention, and behavior. Self-regulation is important for forming intimate relationships, succeeding at work, and maintaining physical health. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions often emotionally exhaust their partners at home and are difficult to work with. Research shows that people who lack the ability to regulate their emotions have a hard time building and maintaining friendships. There are probably many reasons why this is so, the most basic of which is that negativity is a turnoff. The more you associate with the angry, sullen, and anxious, the more angry, sullen, and anxious you become.”

There is a time for everything. The key is have control over your own emotions, in particular the negative ones and avoid spilling them over to others while keeping the positive energy going strong!

Resilience is the ability to handle difficult situations and circumstances, and to rise above them becoming stronger and better. It is more important than ever in this world full of uncertainties and changes.

I am reading an excellent book called “The Resilience Factor” by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte. I would like to share some of wisdom of the book in the next few blogs.

The authors Karen and Andrew identify these seven key components of resilience in their book:
1) Emotion regulation – the ability to stay calm under pressure
2) Impulse control – the ability not to act out of one’s impulse
3) Optimism – believe that things can change for the better
4) Casual Analysis – the ability to accurately identify the causes of their problems
5) Empathy — the ability to read other people’s cues to their psychological and emotional states
6) Self-efficacy – our sense that we are effective in the world
7) Reaching out – the ability to reach out to others and have a positive impact on their lives

As some of you might have noticed, I was “inactive” on my blogging during the last couple of weeks. Excuses/Resaons aside (that in itself probably requires a few blogs to elaborate. Let us not get there…) I have decided to break the inertia by simply doing what I am doing now – posting a blog.
I do apologize for not having much of content this time. Well, as some people suggested, one way to overcome a “writer’s block” is to start writing (anything at all). Ok, I considered the “spell” has been broken. Raymond is back. Watch this space for more food for thought and/or taste of eccentricity!

On the back of my previous blog on coping with the heat wave, a good friend of mine has made some excellent suggestions.
1) Take (additional) cold shower(s) if needed to cool down. If personal hygiene allows, use minimum/no soap to save water.
2) Put a small wet towel around your neck if social etiquette allows (probably at one’s own home)
3) To reduce the temperature of your flat/house, block as much light as possible entering it during the day and let in as much cooler air at night.

Being a resident of London, I reckon I should not be complaining too much about the recent hot weather. And yet it happened twice this year already. Close to 30 degrees Celsius without air conditioning (AC) can be a challenge.
Some of my suggestions to cope with it are:
1) Get out of town: Go to the beach/coast/lake/pond where it is cooler and closer to the water.
2) Go swimming to cool yourself down.
3) Don’t forget sunblock if you are outdoor unless you want to look like a lobster afterwards.
4) Wear appropriate clothing: Wear something light and of bright colors.
5) Drink plenty of water.
6) Stay out till sunset if your residence has no AC (most than 90% of the cases in London).
7) Use an electric fan (you can even buy a small chargeable one and carry it along with you where you go – apparently “fashionable” in Asia).
8) Watch a movie at a cinema where it is well-equipped with AC.

Please send in your suggestions. I have the sense that a few more heat waves are coming our way.