This is a Blog about Getting Lost, Wasting Time, Finding Yourself and Achieving Greatness in your Own Terms!
Aloha! Go buy that loud Hawaiian shirt you have always wanted to wear! You will mahalo (thank) yourself for doing something spontaneous and unbecoming of you! If not now, then when?
If I could offer a word of advice to my younger self, I would tell him, “Don’t be too hard on yourself. It will be alright in the end”. I cannot travel back in time but I am glad to have imparted this wisdom to my kids, years ago when they were young.
Take time to have some crucial, energising me-time. It’s totally okay to waste time and be imperfect! Get off the treadmill for a while. Take occasional breathers. The key words are, “for a while”. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Spoiler alert: the moment you finished sweeping your floor, it’s dusty again.
My Motley Crew Of Imperfection (above image). I love my motley crew, they remind me not to take Life too seriously.
It is okay not to be perfect, have some fun, be paunchy or bald, wear what you are comfortable in, let your long hair down, be dopey. Be comfy in your Journey. Be like the optimistic guy on the right (double meaning) – holding a big comb despite being bald.
But somehow, you know, through it all, the fun motley crew will come through just fine. So. Will. You. Do read my blog, “The Joys of Imperfections”.
The Journey’s the Reward, not the Destination. Wear a Hawaiian shirt!
1) GO WONDER
My Used Idaho “THINK” License Plate (above image). When they say “Think before you leap”, they meant, leap for joy! Always!
It’s refreshing to daydream and wonder. Dream big! Dreams do come true, but you must wake up with your feet firmly on the ground and start walking (doing).
My Used 2001 Montana “PONDER” License Plate (above image). To me, to Ponder takes a deeper precedence than to Think.
Ponder involves the Brain and the Heart. That’s the realm where Instinct and Intuition gut feelings dwell. Instinct is a fast, innate, biological drive for survival or action. Intuition is a quiet, learned awareness or “knowing” drawn from accumulated life experiences and pattern recognition.
2) GO WANDER
My Used 2012 Kentucky “WALK” License Plate (above image).
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs loved his walks, it stimulates his wondering, creative mind. With countless wondrous ideas, I’m sure Jobs incorporated those into his various wonderful Apple iProducts throughout the years.
When I go for my serene walks, I like to people-watch. I am reminded that things could be better but then things could also be a lot worse. I don’t envy people who have more than me because I am also aware that there are people who would like to be in my shoes. I have enough.
When I was a college kid in the USA, I went on a two-week road trip from Texas to Florida with my college buddies. On the way I took fun and impulsive offramps to Tuscaloosa, Alabama (and also Tallahassee, Florida) along the way. Guess what, years later I am still giggling I did that.
They say if you want to travel fast, travel alone. if you want to travel far, travel with (showered) friends.
The best holidays I have enjoyed is when I purposely got lost. Sometimes the best eateries and shops are hidden away in a corner.
3) GO YONDER
Go beyond your capabilities. Go take that curious peek beyond your horizon. Go the extra miles (spiritually not literally).
The more you travel the globe, the more worldly (wise) you become. And how small you realise you are.
Start where you are – Say Hi to your neighbours. Hug that difficult friend. Thank your teachers. Forgive your enemies (make sure they are disarmed first).
My Used 1996 North Carolina “FINALLY” License Plate (above image). The Final Frontier.
By all means, have a good Life. But the wiser of us is prepared to welcome a good Death as well. They can sense the serenity that lies over Yonder. As they exhale their last breath, they have their beloved ones around them, have happy thoughts and zero regrets.
You know what single fact grounds me as an investor, or as a family man or as a human? When we expire, we cannot even bring a single strand of hair to Heaven (or whichever direction we are heading to). As mentioned before in my previous blog, when the Game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same Box.
They say build treasures in Heaven. I say why not build treasures both in Heaven as well as on this blue Earth (troubled and fickled as it may be). Have you seen the beautiful, glorious pictures of Earth taken by astronauts from outer space? Have you enriched others and left the world a better place than you found it?
Sometimes being born with a gold/silver spoon is a curse. Blessed are those who appreciates what it entails to simply have Enough.
So I say to you Readers, as I have said to my kids or wish to say to my younger self – “Don’t be too hard on yourself. It will be alright in the end.” Have confidence in yourself, have faith in others (and God) and take one small step at a time. When in doubt, head upwards (the harder road). When you reach the Summit, look downwards at the valley and your journey travelled and say to yourself, “Hey, I didn’t do too badly after all!”. Do read my “Aspire!”, “Perspire!”, “Inspire!” trilogy blogs.
Go Wonder, Go Wander, Go Yonder!
