As you go through some of your stuff, you always happen to come across several of your old things. Or when you are shopping in the supermarket, you come across something you haven't had in a while.
Oolong Tea, one of my favourite tea during high school.
An old GO book. Time to pick this hobby up again. I have someone I need to beat.
Everyone has their own crunch times: projects, work, personal issues. Unfortunate, but it always happens, there will always be times like this where you get crushed under the onslaught of multiple problems and issues. When I encounter these, I think of one particular Chinese saying.
苦中一點甜
Its not anything awe-spiring or telling people the meaning of life. All it means is "A bit sweet in the middle of bitterness". As it implies, it is used to refer to the little bit of good thing when your life goes into crunch mode. It doesn't tell you to take an easy way out, it doesn't give you advice on what to do, it is used to describe that little bit of nice things.
For me it reminds me to take a breather, despite the pressure, take a quick breather now and then. Do something you enjoy, and continue on. That "苦中一點甜" is exactly what is needed to keep you working.
Take some time, drink some water, get a snack, and continue on. Work hard my fellow exam time students :)
Even though I do not particularly love sweets, a little sugar in the middle of an overload work is always helpful.
I'm sure at one point, this is a question that everyone would come across once in their life: If you had a superpower, what would it be?
At one point in my life, I wanted telepathy. The ability to know all the answers to my quizzes and test, I mean, who wouldn't want that. But is it alright to understand the answer without going through putting in the effort? Is it alright to know instantly the motives and real meaning behind people without learning about them?
At another point, I wanted the ability to be invisible. The ability to hide away when I didn't want people to notice my weakness and flaws. The ability to be ignored when I didn't want to deal with people, it will be as if... I was invisible. But do I really want to hide just because I am ashamed of my flaws? Is it alright to just ignore my strengthens and talents and focus on my weakness?
For now I want the superpower to be courageous. Courageous to take the next step and continue on even when I am afraid, afraid of the potential risk or rewards. Sometimes it's a simple power which makes the difference, not a superpower.
So what's your superpower?
I have no idea what his obsession about Emma Watson is, but a friend of mine decided to turn his obsession into a blog. He is including some hilarious material as well. Definitely worth a quick scan if you are into Emma Watson as well.
Its a much delayed post. In fact, it has been close to 2/3 weeks since I have received my ring. It is amazing how all the work I have done in the past 4 years is represented by one small ring, but truth be told, this ring embodies even more.
Lets be brutally honest, not many people will recognize the value of the Iron Ring, in fact, this ring itself is representative of something that engineers should abide by whether or not they have the ring. Its true. The importance of the ring lies not in the ring itself, but rather it signifies the understanding that the "material will always fail us". As engineers, we know that it is always inevitable that things will fail: power outage, collapsing bridges, broken communication, plane crashes, etc. The importance is to understand that things will fail, and ensure that we minimize the factors that can cause it to fail, and to understand and take action to prevent future occurrences. As time past, it is easy to forget that, and this ring is here to remind you.
If you let it be a ring, it will always be just a ring. Remember the meaning, and this will be much more - an embodiment of responsibilities, of commitment. Truth be told, I don't know which I will be, only time will tell.
Iron Ring. A symbol of responsibility.