Life in UK

Greetings from London, UK!!! 

Yes I'm right now in the land of football and of Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II. Currently I'm at Starbucks in Maida Vale. The funny thing about the Starbucks in UK, you have to purchase a card which they call it the StarbucksCard Reward costing £5. Well I don't think that I will be using much of internet here. In this card you have to reload it so that you can use it and they say it's FREE WIFI! Yeah right!!!

Anyways, during my first week in England, I had the chance to stay at my godparents' place for few days. I must say that the life in Haywards Heath is totally different from Malaysia. It's a town where you can find a lot of nice people. When I was walking on the streets of Haywards Heath, my godmom kept greeting people all around. It's pretty interesting. I also went to Brighton on a sunny day, which is apparently very rare on an autumn. Thank God that I had the chance to go there and it's indeed a very interesting place. Old but very nice and peaceful. I also found out a lot of things about UK itself. These are the following:

1. Britons are very polite people. 

I was really impressed by the politeness of the people around here. They would greet people and they have very good manners such as they say words like "thank you", "I beg your pardon", "oh you're welcome", "please", "have a nice day" and lots more. I felt very warmth by their greetings and felt ashamed at the same time. They were genuinely sincere when they said those words. When I'm in Malaysia, I will never hear people say those words in a sincere way, which is quite sad. I must say that I've learned a lot from the people here and it helps me to be a better person. 

2. Britons measure in miles NOT in kilometers. 

When I landed at the airport of Stansted few days ago, I was so excited to feel the weather here. It was very cold. When I reached here, it was 5'C. I was really happy about it and I'm still happy about it! My godparents came and fetch me from the airport and I was asking about the places around. They were telling me the distance of certain places in miles. I was wondering, "Why do they count in miles?" I was ignoring it at first but I realized that they count every distance in miles and NOT in kilometers like in Malaysia. Their car speed is even in mph and NOT in km/h. So I had to take out my phone and make the conversion from miles to Km. 

3. Britons can never predict the weather

The other day we were looking at the weather forecast and it kept saying that it's windy and raining everyday and that it's gonna be very cold. Well at least the weather forecast predicted right on the cold part. There was this once where I woke up a bit late and my godmom said, "Robin, come down and have your breakfast! We are going out soon!" I was like, "That's so random!" Well it was indeed a random plan. We went to Brighton due to the sunny day. The sky was clear and it was shining brightly and we decided to go to Brighton. I guess from the word Bright in Brighton that changed everything! Indeed I had an enjoyable moment in Brighton and I have tried the seafood there. I had a REAL fish and chips! It's nothing compared to what I have eaten. The next day, the weather forecast said that it's gonna be raining the whole day, but it was getting sunny in the afternoon. 

Anyway I LOVE UK SO MUCH!!! 

Will be posting soon! Heading to Hatfield later! Cheers!!! =)

90/10 Principle

90/10 Principle of Stephen Covey

Discover the 90/10 Principle. It will change your life : (at least the way you react to situations).


What is this principle?

10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%. How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.

Let's take an example. You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just what happened. What happens when the next will be determined by how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit. After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home, When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.


Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day? 
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?


The answer is "D".

You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened. Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say," It's ok honey, you just need, to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having. Notice the difference? 

Two different scenarios.

Both started the same.

Both ended different.

Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.


Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.


If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc. How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work ? Why let the cars ruin your drive? Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it. You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job. The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle.

Have a great day! :)

This is what I'm eating now for dinner! =)

This is something that I cooked and which is pretty simple. It's just chicken luncheon meat with onions, garlic, thyme and eggs. Enjoy! :)

Learning how to deal with difficult people

Dr A.R Bernard

Today I was reading Dr AR Bernard's Facebook. Interestingly there's 3 notes that I haven't read from him and it's very interesting. It talks about "Learning how to deal with difficult people." I believe that all of us have encountered difficult people in our lives. Well I have compiled his notes into my blog and I want to share it with you. =)

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Bad temper is contagious - don't get infected.

Proverbs 22:25 MSG

Learning the art of happiness means learning how to deal with difficult people.  After all, even the most saintly among us can be difficult to deal with at times.  So it's inevitable that, from time to time, you'll encounter folks who behave inappropriately in the same way, or worse.

If you have occasion to deal with difficult people, remember the following tips:

1.  Make Sure That You're Not the One Being Difficult: Perhaps the problems that concern you have their origin, at least partially, within your own heart.  If so, fix yourself first (Philippians 2:3).

2. Don't Lecture: Lectures inevitably devolve into nagging; nagging creates animosity, not lasting change.  Since nagging usually creates more problems than it solves, save your breath (Proverbs 15:1)

3. Don't Become Caught Up in the Other Person's Emotional Outbursts: If someone is ranting, raving, or worse, you have the right to get up and leave.  Remember: Emotions are highly contagious, so if the other person is angry, you will soon become angry, too.  Instead of adding your own emotional energy to the outburst, your should make the conscious effort to remain calm-and part of remaining calm may be leaving the scene of the argument (Proverbs 22:24-25).

4. Stand Up for Yourself: If you're being mistreated, either physically, emotionally, or professionally, it's time to start taking care of yourself.  But remember that standing up for yourself doesn't require an angry outburst on your part.  You can (and probably should) stand up for yourself in a calm, mature, resolute manner.  And you should do so sooner rather than later (Psalm 27:1).

5. Be Quick to Forgive: If you can't find it in your heart to forgive those who have hurt you, you're hurting yourself more than you're hurting anyone else.

A Simple Step

Insist upon logical consequences to irresponsible behavior.  When you protect other people from the consequences of their misbehavior, you're doing those folks a profound disservice.  Most people don't learn new behaviors until the old behaviors stop working, so don't be an enabler (Hebrews 12:5-6).

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WOW!!! I'm truly inspired by his notes and it's very relevant in one's life. I was just talking to my dad earlier and it was telling me his problems and that his children don't really care about him. Well it's not true. We do care, it's just some communication problem and a generation gap. We don't see things on the same angle. I love my dad and respect him for who he is. He has been dealing with some difficult people and I believe that this note came just in time. I hope by sharing these tips to you, your life will be improved too. If you want to know more about Dr AR Bernard, you can wiki him or you can go on his website. 

Life Book

Two days ago I woke up in the morning and the first thought that I had, I've posted it on FB. I've posted it and just ONE DAY only, I had 12 Likes, which never happened to me before. I believe that it's quite a good thing also. So I just want to share with you what I've posted on FB that day. 

"You cannot tear out the pages of your past, you can only turn the pages over and write a new one. Our past may be a sad one but it reminds us how naive we were and how mature we are now. It also reminds us how good it was, better than what it is now. The new pages to write are the future of hope. Just hold on the pen and keep writing."

I had this thought because I was just reminded about my past. I believe that a lot of us had some bad past which we wouldn't want to turn back. A lot of us would want to erase it. Well this is what I tried to do when I first stepped on the land of Malaysia. Before I left Mauritius 4 years ago, I told myself that it was time to live a new life. By telling myself this, I thought that I would have freedom and would eventually forget about my past. As the time goes by, I realized that I can still remember of my past. It doesn't torment me, but it is just remembered. From that time, I came to my senses that our past can't be erased. 

Our life is like a book. Ever since we were born, we tried to write our life, but it's quite vague. Because as a small kid, we don't even know how to write yet. But as we grow up, we learn how to write. We eventually write down everything in our mind. Therefore here comes the memory. Our memory is the organism that has the ability to store, retain and recall information such as events, pictures, symbols, etc. Some memories are thoughts mixed with feelings, which make us to remember them. In my past, I had a feeling that people around me who didn't appreciate me much for who I am. 

Before I came to Malaysia, I had my farewell done at my house and 60 people were invited that day, which consisted of relatives and friends. I served drinks and some snacks to my guests. It's quite sad to say that some of my friends didn't even greet my parents when they came to my house, which made my mom upset. Most of the time, my friends were just mingling around and the attention was not on me, when I was sitting with them. They were just among themselves, talking among themselves and I didn't even exist. It's quite sad to say that they enjoyed free food from my mom who cooked for the whole day and she was still cooking while the guests came. Well moms are really amazing! They can do everything to make us happy! Well she didn't tell me that she was upset till the end of the farewell party and that we had to clean up. It's crazy how it is after it has ended. We had to do a lot of cleaning up, especially those spilled drinks. I was quite upset also with some if my friends because they didn't even have a respect for my parents. They didn't even greet them nor say thank you for the food. Imagine that your friends go to your house for your party and never greet your parents and never say thank you, wouldn't you think that it's rude??? From that time I knew who were my real friends.

After I left Mauritius for Malaysia, I enjoyed my life here and I would always keep in touch with my friends back home. I would always email and tell them how am I doing. For your info, I wrote personal emails, meaning I wrote to them individually. It's quite sad to say that some replied me a month after where I have already shared my feelings and experience here in Malaysia. So to reply them was a bit outdated because of the fast pace life here. With time, I started to get busier. That's where I started blogging. I blogged about everything that is happening in my life in KL. I've called it The Adventures of Robin in M'sia (My previous blog). Every week I would blog, I would email them at the same time. But I've realized that nobody replied me, and nobody even read my blog posts. I was writing in vain. It's kind of frustrating at times when you email your friends about yourself and you get no reply at all, especially to those closer friends. 

You may wonder why am I blogging about life is a book, then I talk about the past and now I'm talking about friends. Well let me tell you that all these things are related. Well the more friends you have, the more you feel loved and have a sense of insurance. Having very little friends and just being a loner isn't very good for health. Friends make you laugh, friends share good moment and support you in your tough and sad moment. A loner lives life on his/her own without having people around him. Maybe he/she doesn't want to be disturbed. Having lots of friends is not having lots of friends on Facebook! Friends in real life are there for you! It's not those people who just say Hi and Bye to you. Friends are those who are there in good times and bad times, always by your side to always put a smile on our face. Friends are the most essential thing in one's life apart from parents! They always there to listen and support. Friends are the M&Ms of our life. They make your life colorful when it is just black and white. 

Today I must say that I live a good life. Despite of the past hurts, the wrong relationships, the failures of the past, well all that we can do is to move on with life. That's what I did. I'm living a very good life now, having lots of good friends around, having a quite average university and the most happening church in Malaysia. I have no regrets of my past. Past has passed. The present is where we want to live for our future. Life might be tough at time. It doesn't bring out good things all the time but life shapes us to be a better person. We may have a very bad and hurtful past, but now life goes on. Life goes according to what we are going to write in our Life Book.

Keep writing! :)

the mrbrown show: your mother's tongue

I like this one the most!!! =)

the mrbrown show: your mother's tongue

the mrbrown show: single in singapore

I've been listening to podcast a lot these days and I really love this Singapore Podcast called "The MrBrown Show". You can check it out, this is their latest podcast. Enjoy.

the mrbrown show: single in singapore

Life is a beautiful thing

This morning I was feeling a bit lazy to do my devotion. Instead of reading the Bible, I switched on the Podcast to listen to Joel Osteen's sermon #440 You Are Blessed and Cannot Be Cursed and #438 Programming Your Mind for Victory. If you want to listen to it, subscribe to Joel Osteen Audio Podcast. Oh... you will need to download iTunes so that you can listen to his Podcast. The good thing I like about Podcast and iTunes, it's that they are FREE!!! So don't waste your time, go and listen now!!!


Today I woke up today feeling a bit lazy and just wanted to sleep the whole day. But I woke up with the alarm ringing and ringing. It was time for the morning prayer meeting. I started out morning prayer meeting with Caleb for more than a month now and I can tell you that it may be tiring in the morning, but never regret to pray together. Like what my pastor says, "A church that prays together, stays together." Well ever since we pray together, it was only the 2 of us who started out, it was good and started to get better. Our bond grew stronger. Later on, Joshua joined us and then there were Silvia and Wen Sen also. The more we prayed together, the more our bond was getting stronger and we started to hang out with each other. We went for breakfast, eating cheese naan, going for movies, going for bowling and even going for concerts. Oh last week I went for 2 concerts - Jaeson Ma's Rally Concert and a Malaysian Top Artistes Christmas Concert.



Anyway praying is very important in my life because it keeps me moving. It keeps me on track. I know that sometimes I do slack but by praying I always have the strength and I always feel that there's a greater being inside of me. I'm touched by the sermon by Joel Osteen today. It's refreshing. In one of the sermons I've listened, he said, "Don't let your heredity stop your destiny! You are a person of destiny, you are talented, you are created. God planted seeds in you; Seeds of blessing. The blessing God put on YOU will ALWAYS overwrite the curse. The blessing on YOUR LIFE will get you where you're supposed to be." My mom has always told me in the past, not to be like my relatives on my dad's side. Sometimes we would say that I'm just like my relatives from my dad's side. It's kinda hard to think at it. I had a past where I was just living my life with the flow. At times I acted tough. But acting tough didn't mean that I was tough. So this word blessed me, saying that I'm special, I'm a person of destiny, I'm talented, creative and a blessing. I feel that prayer unlocks the door to a blessed and meaningful life. 


As I listened to the other sermon, it also empowered me. Joel Osteen says that we shouldn't let ourselves think that if we want to be free from an addiction, we have to tell ourselves that we are already free and not saying that one day we'll be free from it. The difference is that we are God's creation. We were created in His image and in His likeness. God has already blessed us. He has already gave us favor over our lives. All we need to do, it's to grab it. Being in the likeness of God, it's to think like Him. Think that we ARE free in Christ. Think that we ARE a successful person. Think that we ARE healthy. Think that we ARE prosperous. You might say it is stupid to think such a way when we are not. Well let me tell you, this is called walking in FAITH. Faith without action is dead. Faith works together with action! When we act upon it, that's where what we proclaim we are, gonna come to pass! 

Well it's time to live a beautiful day and it's time to speak of blessing!!! =)

Prophesying over my life!

Healing Rain is falling down! Let it rain! Rain down blessing, prosperity and love! Open the floodgates of heaven! Let it rain now!

Rewrote new year's resolution

It's August and it has been a long while that I haven't been blogging. Oh man!!! That's like a little more than half a year ago. Wow!!! Anyway, it's always good to come back again and create a new look for this time. How do you find my latest blog background design? Nice right? I was trying to find some other ways, but I think that Blogger has improved a lot by provided new designs.


Today I was reflecting back on what I have been achieving this year. It was kinda random because I was going down the lift, I was thinking that I didn't achieve much in this year. I realized that I've only achieved few in terms of relationship with people and in terms of ministry. I must admit that I have slacked a lot in other areas. Maybe I've put too much things to achieve for this year. Maybe it's a burden for me to manage all these things at the same time in my life. Therefore this time I'm trying to narrow it down so that it's easier for me to achieve it.


Here they are:

1. Learn to drive

2. Earn money

3. Study hard

4. Go gym

5. Become a Cell Leader

Yes... it's as simple as that. Earning money is something that I need to do on my own from now onwards. Last year after earning my own money, I've seen how precious to get paid and it's always a joy to receive the salary at the end of the money. Maybe this time I will either try finding a job (which I'm working on it) or I will start investing. 2 Semesters ago, I've read some articles and books online about Warren Buffet and how he earns by investing. It's a big thing. Should learn more about it and start sowing into good grounds.



Yeah I really need to drive. No car has been a hassle for me to travel from Cheras to Sunway week in and week out. I need to start learning and start driving... For that I need to manage my time as well for the classes are that yet to come.


Well all these need hard work! It's time to replan, readjust the gear, and move on! Not a minute to waste, not a second to lose, there's a great future that awaits for me! MOVE ON!!!

New Year Resolution 2010

This is only the 2nd week of the new year and I still haven't wrote my new year resolution yet. Now it's time to write it down. hehe...

I will break my goals and vision for this year 2010 in different parts. Here it goes:

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*HEALTH*

1. Go to GYM at least twice a week!!!
2. Start to eat fruits on a daily basis.


*FINANCES*

1. Manage my expenses and income (SPREADSHEET!!!)
2. Tithes and Offering (Give and it will come back to you)
3. Other - other funds


*RELATIONSHIPS*

1. Communicate with my parents more often, at least once or twice a week.
2. Communicate with my brother and be an elder brother he will require
3. Communicate with my sister and encourage her to do new stuffs everyday.
4. *ahem* To be attached ♥
5. Be socialized with other people in uni, although they are not my friend
6. Do not despise juniors!!!


*WORK*

1. Study smart, plan well, focus, discipline and act on the spot!
2. Plan a time to study and a time to play
3. STAY FOCUS!!!
4. Work part time


*MINISTRIES*

1. Love my cell members more
2. Become a cell leader of 2 cell groups! < I'm gonna make it happen! :)
3. Prepare for cell group meeting every week without neglecting
4. Pray more!
5. Recruit more people in choir
6. Train and disciple them to be a leader
7. Create a choir ministry that is Passionate, Engaging and full of love
8. Build lives through ministry
9. Be more accountable to my leaders Kristy and Faith. (email every week)

*OTHERS*

1. To have a clean room
2. To be organized
3. Walk with a diary always (Become my own PA)
4. Get a Mac
5. Get an iPod Touch 32GB
6. Learn to drive + Get a car
7. Disciple 2 people per semester

*
*
*
THAT'S ALL

New Year, New Post, New Blog

Today is the 12th January and it's still a brand new year of 2010! Happy New Year to all! :) In this new year, as you can see, I have changed the layout of my blog and I will change a few more things in the days to come! :) 2009 has indeed been a great year but I believe that this new year of 2010 will be even better.

During the last 2 months of 2009, I've been doing my internship and indeed working life is not that easy as I thought. It is a very different life from studies. At least while I'm studying, I have more time to enjoy myself, I can blog (hehe...), I can sleep more, meet friends around and can catch up with the latest movies! I must say that during the past 2 months, I thought that I was anti-social, I was not meeting up my friends, I seldom talk to people online, I seldom eat good food, and lots more... Now that working period has ended, I started to appreciate every single friend that I have.

Well I will blog more later on... Coming soon... My new year resolution and my journey in choir... and lots of good ones to come... :)