Muse of July 20, 2010

Countless choices and countless forces constantly wage wars to beseech us.

Discussing with my friends about my grandpa having passed away yesterday certainly stressed an aspect I've been overlooking these days. Ever since his death transpired, I've been asking people how to complete this phrase, "Life is short..." One answer that peeled back my eyes and that struck me like a pan on my head was: "Life is short, don't waste time worrying about what people think of you. Hold on to the ones that care, in the end they will be the only ones there."

It's true that reputation is important and it's true that career is important, though this quotation ripped away the superficial. It coerced me to look at the significant, to consider what is it that makes me absolutely happy, instead of being caught up in the so-called "rat race". Come to think of it, all those networks we create and the auxiliary people we befriend pretentiously most likely won't be at our side during our crises. They won't be there at the hour we breath our last breaths, wishing us a peaceful passage from the living and reassuring us to not be afraid for what is to come.

The experience left me with the sense that I probably have my priorities wrong and should follow the 80/20 rule. Spend 80% of my time on the top 20% things that are most important to me (helping others is important to me) and 20% of time on the other 80% that is next in line. Seriously, I need to focus on what is meaningful to me instead of what is thrown my way. Life is too short to meddle shoulder high in things we can drop at a moment's instance for our passions. Life is too short to be swayed whimsically by people's thoughts of us.

Here's a tidbit from my mind from yesterday. People usually have only a few major thoughts that circulate in their heads everyday. The 80/20 rule is also applicable here. If I am able to pinpoint what I am thinking most of the time and harness what I really want to progress towards, think of the immensity of this tactic!


On another note, here's an excellent article that prescribes actions to save time and revamp productivity: "Top Ten Time Sucks" http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-slow/201007/top-ten-time-sucks-and-what-do-about-them

Particularly I like their talk about how we are becoming more reactive but not more proactive, which definitely ties into my reflection.

I've forgotten to write in my previous post about Y, about the counter-intuitive fortune of having a friend who challenges me, and allows me to re-evaluate myself. Maybe this is the effect of having sleep-overs with people. =D