27 Lessons from 27 Years of Living

On April 10 I turned 27. And this post is a reflection of my 27 years of living.

1. Education is important. It does not guarantee that I will make (and save) a lot of money but it helps me to be a more well-rounded person. What’s more important than education? Self-education.

2. I can’t please everyone. So the only person left to please is myself.

3. Have your own plan. Because if I don’t have my own plan, somebody else is willing to impose theirs on me.

4. Collective wisdom is not necessarily true. Get a degree, get a job, get a car, get a house, get married and have kids. That is the convention but I’m not sure if that would be my convention. I have taken the vow to be celibate (you think this is real?). I have taken the vow to live my life without owning  a car and without owning a house. Less overhead and less headache.

5. Advertising is good ……..and bad. It is good because I am presented with more choices. And bad because sometimes it makes me want something that I don’t need. And at times, I pay for the advertising as part of the stuff that I purchase.

6. You only need two things to get laid. Which are Attraction and Logistics. That’s why I always assume a girl likes me until it is proven otherwise. And “protection” is part of logistics 😀

7. Most of the reality is perception. Watch The Matrix to delve deeper on this philosophy. A lot of times I read a very impressive biography of a certain seminar speaker but when I get to see that speaker in person, he only speaks in public by reading from his presentation slideshow.

8. Nobody cares more about my finance than I do. Not the banker, not the insurance agents, and certainly not the government.

9. If you can’t travel to a lot of places (for now), read. Through reading I am actually learning from somebody else’s experience. His or her experience that is recorded in a book.

10. Everyone will always have something to say. And not everything that they say counts. Their values are not necessarily the same as mine but it does provide another angle of looking at things (if it’s not a cliche)

11. Most of the things in life are actually simple.

12. Excessively modified cars, houses or gadgets are a sign of being stuck in the middle-class way of thinking. Who borrows their sense of self from the stuff that they own. Thank God I am slowly out on my own way. I am no longer keeping up with the Joneses.

13. An organized house with a clear floor equals to peace of mind. Everytime I feel like I have some untangled emotions, the first thing I do is to do some housekeeping.

14. Whatever I see in another person is a way of me interacting with my innerself.

15. Religion is just a lense through which I see the world. It is not the world itself. So I have to be very careful with what kind of lense that I use 😀

16. I want to have sex like a Buddhist.

17. And be religiously spiritual like a Hindu.

18. And be selective about the food like a Muslim.

19. And also be loving and kind to each other like a Christian.

20. Always do a favour without expecting a return. But the other person most of the time will always feel indebted to me. Because of this I have to bear in mind that I need to…

21. Liberate another person from a debt. If he/she feels like she/he owes me something and needs to return the favour,I will let him/herm do it. It relieves them from feeling indebted to me (eventhought they are not)

22. A habit takes time to develop. So I need to watch my habits and ensure only empowering habits develop itself and not the destructive ones.

23. Sometimes when I hit the bottom of the barrel, that is the moment I gain the momentum to rise up to the challenge.

24. A stained cloth can be washed. A pure heart is irreplaceable (Pakaian yang kotor boleh dicuci, hati yang suci sukar dicari)- credit to a detergent advertisement.

25. I should always get in touch with the child in me. A child always see everything as possible and to them the world is a playground.

26. I am the total sum of the 5 persons I always get in touch with. So I should choose carefully who I allow to get close to me.

27. What do I learn after 27 years of living life? The bad times always end with the good times – credit to HSBC Bank copywriter.