Aldous Huxley

I wanted to remember this quote by Aldous Huxley-who by the way has many other brilliant quotes- which says that:

“Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.”

And with the time I had wasted in 2009, I thought to myself: "Was it an experience at all?" I think that I had many experiences in 2009.. and I hadn't completely wasted my time. But my life was definitely on the 'PAUSE'; that is my academic life, my work life, and that definitely put a 'PAUSE' on my future.
Then there comes the question 'WHY' did I waste time. I was indecisive, un-reasonably depressed, over-overwhelmingly lonely, helplessly lazy, and afraid of the future &about taking action.
Now the wise will ask 'WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?' [in 2010]. This 2010 I must vow to take action, risks, manage my time well, work&earn money, volunteer, attend church, and gain more wisdom than forget them.
I am overly childish, and I realize more than ever now how inappropriate it is for a nineteen-turning twenty to be this idiotic.

A dream is only good when we aren't living a dream, living in reality is much better than living in a dream because living in a dream is like not living at all.

[my take on remembering something I read somewhere] Besides humans are social creatures and we can't dream forever.

5 Improvements

Well I realize that people don't always agree with me, and that I am a lot hard headed. So this Sunday I decided to find some new rules in life to live by.
Here is the words of wisdom from Sheila Easton that I found on her blog.

Here are five ways to become more likeable in any situation.

1) Think happy thoughts
According to Peter Pan, think happy thoughts and you will fly. This applies to your attitude toward the challenges that come your way. For instance, if you received low marks for your exam, don't think of it as the end of the world. Instead, be grateful it happened because it will motivate you to study harder and manage your time better next time. Behind every dark cloud is a silver lining. If you keep this as your mantra, you will never have to harbor depressing thoughts ever again.

2) Contribute something
Whether its a group project or a personal endeavor, contributing something of value, no matter how small makes a big difference. If you compare a person who always mutters about how difficult a task is and a person who acknowledges the difficulty but tries to lighten the mood by finding humor in the activity, you'd want to go with the latter, right? If you want to be likeable, don't put others down and bear more weight on a challenging activity.

3) Rein your insecurities in
There is none more annoying than a person who throws a pity party for himself or herself. Examples of insecure people are those who always have to be right at everything, those who always say 'just kidding' at the end of every comment, and those who do not know how to laugh at themselves and their mistakes. An insecure person is a crab. A crab is animal that brings everybody down when he or she is down. If you want to have more friends, don't be one. You don't have to apologize for everything you say with 'just kidding.'

4) Believe in what you are saying and stick to it
A person who keeps changing his or her opinion or merely mimics what other people are saying about a particular event or object not only has zero personality but a very low likeability rate, as well. You don't need to have an opinion about everything -- that would be equally annoying, but you don't need to say 'yes' to what others say either. You'll only end up looking like a desperate sycophant.

5) Avoid judging others
Finally, if you don't want to be judged, don't judge. First impressions might sometimes put you off but it pays to know the other person better than to immediately make conclusions about his or her character. Judgmental people, if you notice, are the ones who usually eat alone at the cafeteria because his or her colleagues are tired of hearing him or her point out the flaws of others. Surely you don't want to be this person.

Sheila, I'll definitely use these rules for life; and hope that I can become a better-liked person and make more friends!