The Power of One Word: YOU

"The single most powerful word I know: "You"!
Therein lies the power.
It is within you, each and everyone of us to transform our lives.
Not only are you the block, but also the power to undo it and the power to complete your work on this planet."

- Geoff Michaelson, Ph.D.

Feeling Motivated Again

I just realized how much damage my previous company had done to me, making me lost my true self. However, the events I attended yesterday and today did give me some kind of encouragement to the dying 'fire' in me.

Yesterday:

I attended a free motivational seminar on entrepreneurship with my friend. Though the talk was geared towards asking participants to sign up for the organizer's paid programme, which I didn't sign up (about $2,660 after discount), I did get some 'booster shot' from certain things said by the charismatic speakers. I was motivated and gained back a little of myself again. After the talk, I got together with two friends and we had a discussion on the possibility of an educational business plan. Need to check things out before we commit further.

Today:

Just came back from my students' Graduation Ceremony this afternoon. It's good to see my students graduating, especially to hear the speech made by two of the top students, where they showed their gratitude towards their lecturers and mentors. The event once again renewed my passion for teaching. :) Below are a few shots which I took secretly (not allow to take actually). :p

The overall top 3 students (standing far right) who have excelled both in CCAs and academic results, plus receiving many awards from various companies.

The Top Specialist Dip (ECE) Student

School Fee

Nothing much to write about my study, except that the university is asking me to pay the new semester school fee (start in Nov) now though I had just paid for my last semester fee (Jun). ~sigh~

I Am Already Dead

I heard a very interesting, simple yet profound, message this morning during my Church service. The text was taken from Galation 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The main points of the message are:

1. I HAVE BEEN crucified (not will die, already dead)
2. I LIVE by faith

So if I am already dead, then I will not have any trouble... nothing will make me angry, or worry, or fearful. Whatever I do now I do it for God.... how true!

Visited the Library

I went to the library to returned 4 books this afternoon. In return, I borrowed another 4 books, one of them is not related to my study... hehe. It is called "Living With Books", a book with many photos that shows how we may store our books in different places, including odd corners. This book caught my eyes 'cos I have so many books in my home, in the course of my study, and I am really running out of space to store them.

I looked at the photos in the book with envy... if only I have such big study room or living room... if not, I might make do with creating book shelves at the dinning area just like the photo below.

And yes, looking at these photo from "Living With Books" really gives me the motivation to study.... home decoration was my long lost passion, as a result of my busy life style.

Study Room 1 - spacious, clean and neat - don't think I will ever have such a big study area.

Study Room 2 - conventional and organized - possible arrangement

Living Room 1 - good divider cum book storage - only for spacious living area

Living Room 2 - wow! I like this! - so cosy - need big living room too and make sure I am not half blind.

Dinning Room 1 - practical alternative, space saving - I probably have to make do with this

Dinning Room 2 - this is also a practical arrangement when running out of space

Research Tools Found

Cling! Cling! The phone rang this morning. 'Hello," I answered with my eyes half closed. "Sorry, wrong number," the caller replied. Aiyo, why so many 'wrong number' calls? Anyway it served as an alarm for me to get out of bed... it was 11 a.m.

Got up, feeling drowsy still as usual, washed up and had my late breakfast. Refused to take the Rinityn as prescribed since I knew it would made me drowsy the whole day and night through again. I applied the Gentrisone cream though.

Read my book and did a net search for study material. Found the Research Tutorial website useful for my study. I need to double up in writing my draft. So I shall not take anymore antihistamine.

So Drowsy Today

I didn't study the last one week and feeling guilty and thinking of catching up and follow my study schedule closely this week. But alas! my skin itch* that started again one month ago is getting from bad to worse. Finally I decided to see a doctor yesterday and was given the following medication:

Atarax (antihistamine, night, cause drowsiness - for itch)
Rinityn (antihistamine, morning - for itch)
Gentrisone (dermatitis cream - for itch)
Votraren (for inflammation of my arm)
Cimetidine (for inflammation)

10.30 p.m. last night:
Took my medication and within one hour I already felt the drowsy effect from Atarax.

12.30 a.m. last night:
Couldn't stay awake any longer and had to go to sleep (one of my earliest record).

12. 30 p.m. today:
Awaken by a 'wrong number' phone call. If not for that I would still be sleeping. Still feeling drowsy but decided to get out of bed anyway. Ate my 'breakfast cum lunch' and did some readings. Other than the undesirable effect of drowsiness, the medication did help as my rashes and itch have subsided. Perhaps what Chris said about resting helps recovery did make sense now when used with Gentrisone.

3.30 p.m. today:
Took my medicine again. I thought that Rinityn wouldn't cause drowsiness since it's not stated on the label, but somehow I felt so drowsy soon after taking it.

5.00 p.m. today:
Went to take a nap unwillingly. :(

8.00 p.m. to night:
Forced myself to get out of bed for dinner, as sleeping so much made me like a 'vegetable'.

I guess I will sleep early again tonight but hope I could stop the medication totally by tomorrow.

(*About 4 years ago I kept some hamsters and quails at home as pets. I loved them very much and enjoyed watching them play everyday. But soon I started to experience non-stop 'running nose' and skin itch, especially when I was near them. I didn't know that those were symptoms of allergies till I went to see a doctor. I was referred to the skin specialist and I went through a series of tests at the hospital. The specialists could not establish the cause of the allergies, and could only guessed that the pets I had at that time had triggered the reaction. )