Just spotted this book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking by Susan Cain in Amazon. It looks very intriguing and interesting (watch the video below) so I daresay this could be my next book order.
You can even take a simple online 12-question quiz at Susan’s website here. I took it and I wasn’t surprised to find that I’m a complete introvert (and I love it!)
And check out Ward Sutton’s excellent graphic review of Susan’s book. Click here or the picture below.
A few years ago, I was engaged in a conversation with my ex-boss when he remarked about my job position in the hotel. He said very casually, “You’re the electrician.” I was caught by surprise. Umm, I’m a pianist, or at the very least a musician. Not an electrician. My ex-boss didn’t elaborate. I didn’t quiz him about it. So we left it at that. Now I know what he meant.
Everybody takes electricity for granted, especially in an establishment like a hotel. Everybody takes it for granted, that is, until something happens and the juice runs out. No problem, the staff say. “Let’s call the electrician.” The guy comes along, ascertains the problem to be one of the circuits in the main electricity panel boxes, fixes it, and…we have power, folks. If the guy isn’t there or available for some reason, then we have a problem. But until such a situation happens the electrician pretty much isn’t in anybody’s thoughts.
I guess what can be gleaned from this is that we’re all important, in one way or another. We all have a role to play on this Earth, no matter how small we think it might be. For a long time I thought of myself as just a pianist. Another guy may think of himself as only a janitor. A clerk. A paper boy. A ______ (fill in the blank) We’re all interconnected, in one way or another. I might just be a pianist, but I like to think that I have given pleasure and comfort to people who listen to my music—I can recall numerous occasions when friends and even strangers have come up to me and said they appreciated my music.
There’s this guy who looks after the restrooms in the hotel. He’s quiet, looks foreign and probably doesn’t know much English, but each time we meet we exchange a smile and a hello. And with that, two people connect albeit for a brief moment. I guess no matter how bad his day has been he still acts in a cordial manner towards me. And you know what—I respond likewise. I feel good, and I’m sure he does too.
If we can treat people nicely in a simple way such as this, we can treat our lives in the same manner. Of course we have our up days and our down days, but believe me, you attract what you feel and say. If you wake up and tell yourself, “This is going to be a shitty day,” guess what—it’s probably going to be exactly that. If you think that this is just spiritual, new age rubbish, think again. This is fact. It’s actually the law of attraction. You attract what you think.
Norman Vincent Peale has one of the best quotes about this: “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Of course it might not change immediately; time has no hold on the universe and whatever is going to happen in our lives will happen in its own course. However, we have to set the stage for it. So the question is—how do you see your world? How do you paint it? Choose your colors wisely. Paint the world in dull tones of gray and black, and that’s what you’ll receive. Paint it in brighter colors and that’s what you’ll get too. The choice is yours, and yours alone. Choose wisely.
One of my Christmas presents was an MPH book voucher from a student, so today I decided to head for the bookstore at Gurney Plaza. I remember that the last time I bought a Chicken Soup for the Soul book was way back in 1997. And gosh, the range has expanded tremendously…there were so many titles to choose from. However, two caught my eye, as you can see from the picture—Find Your Happiness and Think Positive. And look at those cute critters on the covers—I’m beginning to miss a certain rabbit now.
What can I say, I’m a self-help junkie.
May you play more, laugh more, love more, live more, give more, receive more, and celebrate more!
May you open to the vast possibilities and boundless love and wisdom of your grander truer self.
May the doors to your brightest futures swing wide open.
May you know the full extent of your worth and deserving and open to receive all that your heart desires.
May gifts, synchronicities, serendipities and successes dawn effortlessly in your world.
May you connect to and experience more of the love, beauty and light that you are.
May you sparkle and gleam with merriment and magic.
May your laughter refresh the world daily, brightening all those around you, including yourself.
May you know that you are loved, loving and loveable, ever and always.
May you enjoy a blessed and happy life, a life you truly LOVE!
With thanks to Aine Belton.
The 1885 was transformed into something fantastically different on New Year’s Eve. The balloons with trimmings, the table décor, the menu…everything looked so elegant and you could actually feel a charge of gaiety in the air. Later on it was packed with diners who were obviously intent on having a good time as the last hours of 2011 loomed. I was at the piano as usual, except that I “charged” myself up with two glasses of red wine, heh heh.
During my break I walked to the old Sarkies (which was very quiet now) and snapped some pictures with the lovely staff there. I’ve said it again and again, the staff make the hotel what it is—a home away from home.
(Above L-R) Me, Normala, Christy, and Azhar pose for a picture at the old Sarkies.
(Below) That’s me with Normala and Amisha.
Happy New Year, everyone.
New Year’s Eve saw me working as usual in the E & O Hotel. Lately I’ve been taking my dinner at the new Sarkies, in the Victory Annex wing. This place is really big; I understand that it can accommodate close to 500 people including alfresco dining. I was there early and that’s why there’s no hustle and bustle yet. The photos show both the interior and exterior dining areas.
(Above) I met the lovely Kamelia and asked her to pose for a picture. This was taken just outside Sarkies; I had to use my Speedlite 580EX II and work fast as she needed to be on duty and it was getting dark.
I knew my marriage was falling apart for the past few years. Like a plane going on a tailspin there wasn’t any other choice except to bail out. So I moved out in 2010 and earlier this year I filed for a divorce. It had to be done. It was the only viable and sane option for me. Now the ordeal is finally over, thank God.
I won’t go into details but suffice to say there are no winners in a situation like this. The attorneys can argue and fight for all it’s worth, but in the end a tinge of remorse still remains. However, I have decided to let go of all that has happened…life is beckoning me onward and forward and…I will survive.
Everyone has to face their vicissitudes in life, so we have to learn the lessons from them and then decide whether to mope about it or to move on. I have chosen the latter. I have dreams, hopes, aspirations but I need to stay rooted in the present. This is where we should endear ourselves to be. Not the past (it’s gone) or the future (it’s not here yet). The present is the only moment we truly have.
And the saga continues…
