Daily Reminder in Chinese

On April 7, 2009 I created a Daily Reminder for myself. Yesterday I translated it into Chinese. I am posting it here to share with people who read Chinese. It is not a perfect translation and I might revise it on a later date.

自我提示
(每天念一遍)


1. 我感谢(感恩)我所得到的一切.
活著本身就是一件幸事.

2. 接受, 认可和同情是我对人的态度. 但不是我对人行为的态度.
把人和人的行为分开看待.

3. 这个世界对我没有恶意. 我周围的人是爱我的.

4. 无论在何处, 我都有安全感.

5. 原谅所有人对我的伤害, 不管是他们是无意还是有意的.
不仅要原谅, 而且要忘记.
永远不要再提起这些事件. 装做从来没有发生过.

6. 更重要的是原谅自己过去犯过的错误.
永远不要再提起这些事情. 装做从来没有发生过.

7. 我需要的一切, 都能依靠自己得到.
所有不愉快的事情, 也都起源于自己.
能意识到这点, 心境才会平衡. 就永远不会太痛苦.

8. 我的责任是经常给自己立目标. 然后尽力去达到.
尽到力了, 即使没有完全达到目标, 也没有关系.

9. 活著就有可能受到伤害. 不要因为这原因而不去追求我的理想生活.

10. 过去的已经过去, 将来还在想像中.
每天都有可能是最终的一天.
不要多想过去, 也不要多担心将来.
把注意力集中到 “现在” 和 “今天”.

The English version is as follows:

1. I am grateful for all the blessings the supreme bestows upon me. I am glad to be here now.

2. I am a giving person. I give affection, love, approval, acceptance and understanding to others.

3. The world is safe and full of love. I am loved by all those that are close to me, expressed in many different ways.

4. I am relaxed and feel safe. No person, place or thing can hurt me.

5. I am eliminating the need to forgive.

Forgiveness is like surgery. It cuts out, eradicates, cancels and makes the wrong as if it had never been there. There must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. I do not condemn others, therefore, it is not necessary for me to forgive.

6. I have no remorse, or regrets over my own past mistakes. The past is simply written off, closed and forgotten.

7. I am in need of nothing but the awareness that all I need is within me.

8. My responsibility is to set up goals for myself. How I reach them is not my responsibility. It is the responsibility of my built-in inner success mechanism.

9. I am not afraid to “turn the other cheek”, remain vulnerable and go on living creatively.

10. I remain focused on the now. Look lovingly upon the present for it holds the only thing that is forever true. The past is gone and future is but imagined.

It's that time already

Happy holidays to all!

It is this time of the year when every one reflects what one has done for the year.

We replaced the last segment of the cast iron pipe in our building, in doing so Richard broke his leg, which turned out to be good luck after all. While learning how to walk again, we discovered the pleasure of walking. We now walk 8 kilometers a day along the St. Lawrence River every evening when weather permits; 3 kilometers in bad weather. Next year we will continue to do the 8 km walk in the evening and would like to add a 3 km walk in the morning.

I started blogging as a way of observing my own thoughts. In the process, we have set our course for the next 40 years for Richard and next 56 years for me. We are also implementing steps towards Epicurean way of simple life or Jerome K. Jerome’s simple pleasures. I will continue to blog next year first as a tool to find out what I think and then to monitor my thinking.

Richard is playing pool every day as a physical and mental discipline. He will continue to do so next year.

Richard has also joined the gym and lost 15 to 20 pounds in the course of three months. He will continue to go to the gym next year and will exercise in a way to maintain his current weight, which is 180 lbs for 6’2” height.

We have cut out sugar in our coffee. Richard has also cut out coffee for a couple of months, but we have decided that drinking 2 to 3 cups of black coffee a day are more helpful than harmful.

We always eat a lot of vegetables. This year, we have consumed more fruits than ever. We practically have an apple a day, but have also eaten tons of grapes, raspberry, blueberry, etc.

Meditation continued to be difficult for me. I tried and failed to form a habit to meditate daily. I will try again next year. Richard reads his Daily Bread (a Christian program) and following its program to read the bible cover to cover in a year.

I quit smoking since August 17 and will evaluate its merit next year. Side effects of quitting smoking includes weight gain of 12 lbs (12.5% weight gain), which helps my appearance; but hinders my agility.

We did some Lian Gong in 18 forms (type of exercise to combat modern forms of stress caused by bad posture, structure and balance) and will try to form a habit next year.

Richard kayaked several times in the summer with a friend and will do more next year.

What do you worry about?

Last night Richard asked me “what do you worry about?”

I worry most about some things are going too fast and others too slow. I worry that the medical breakthrough would not come fast enough for us baby boomers to benefit. I worry about the IT world is going too fast so that our privacy will be jeopardized. I worry that the economy in rich nations will stagnate and people will blame it on the emerging nations.

Being a Chinese in Canada 20 years ago compared to now is totally different. 20 years ago, the reaction of people in Canada to a Chinese was “Oh, poor you, you need help and we are here to offer the help to you as long as you do not ask too much”. Today, the reaction is “You guys make junky stuff; you take jobs away from us; if anything bad happens to you, you deserve it”.

I do believe that the rich nations have a duty to help the poor nations. We are all connected and related. We may have to sacrifice our luxurious life style for a few years in order to bring the rest of the world up to a similar level. From the selfish point of view, if the rest of the world is lagging too far behind us, we cannot ascend to the next level.

Right now these are the things I worry about, all in all, though, I am optimistic about the future and living my life trying to achieve the highest good in Epicureanism, a tranquility derived by the absence of agitation and the highest positive pleasure, a society of good friends. I think these two qualities can also be interpreted as faith and love.

Another way to describe the same lifestyle is by Jerome K Jerome:

Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need - a homely home and simple pleasure, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing. You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so much if it does upset; good, plain merchandise will stand water.

The First Snow Storm

The first major snow storm hit Montreal yesterday. We did our usual walk along the river yesterday evening. It took us the same amount of time to go for only a quarter of the distance we usually do (2 kilometers for 1 ½ hour versus 8 kilometers).

A lot of snow has fallen. The photo on the right was taken half way through the snow storm.

Everything looks quite beautiful and serene with the white fluff everywhere and covering everything. Take another mental picture in February; we will all be fed up with the freezing cold. Snow will not be so white and pure as it gets mixed up with sand and salt. And I will be in the tropical sun eating papaya.

Why are we here? And what shall we do about it while we are?

Comedy writer John Lloyd said that there are only two questions worth asking in his TED talk titled "inventories the invisible":

Why are we here? And what shall we do about it while we are?

To help answering these two questions, he quoted two philosophers. One is Ludwig Wittgenstein, who said: “I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.” Another one is W. H. Auden, who said: “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know.”

It was a funny 10 minutes talk. However, the two questions are very serious. We tend to ask ourselves all the time. My own take on these two questions is that we should not ask the first question at all.

If you have a strong will to live and are having a good time here on earth, why should you bother asking “why are you here”? For example, if you go to a party and are enjoying yourself, would you be asking “Why am I here”? By asking “why am I here” might get you kicked out of the party. It is a question which gets asked when we are depressed.

If you do not ask yourself the first question, then the answer to the 2nd question shall come quite easily. I shall have a good time for as long as possible. Or in other words, I shall have a happy and pleasurable life for as long as possible.

There are many interpretations regarding what is a happy and pleasurable life. I find mine so close to Epicurus, it makes me wonder whether I had read Epicurus in Chinese translation when I was a teen and forgot about it. He counseled his disciples to live a quiet, secretive life apart from society, avoiding responsibilities in public life or social life. This avoids the pain of ambition and fear caused by others. The highest good in Epicureanism is ataraxia, a tranquility derived by the absence of agitation. And the highest positive pleasure is a society of good friends.

This is the simple life I prefer.

On downgrading lifestyle

From September 2008 onwards, I think majority of the people in North America have downgraded their lifestyle, including us or us in particular.

Is it necessary? I think so. Every time we upgrade our lifestyle. We do not just spend more money once. We basically commit ourselves to spend more on all our future years until we decide to downgrade. The best example is for someone to decide upgrading by moving into a bigger house. All of a sudden you are paying more for mortgage, insurance, property tax, utility and other miscellaneous expenses for the next 25 years or longer. We know we can afford it now, next year and maybe even the next 5 years; that was good enough in 2006, when everyone is living high. But now, one year after the crisis, we are thinking longer term. We are realizing that more is nice and it is human to want more, but less is equally nice and does not make us inhuman.

I myself always prefer less, the way of simple life, which is consistent with my desire for freedom. Less means less obligations and less obligations lead to more freedom. So I choose to live the way I prefer. How wonderful!

However, the whole world cannot live the way I live and most people choose to have more if they can. I salute these people. By consuming what others produce and producing for others to consume, isn’t that the way we are organized to live?

A woman stole from me

A woman just stole two necklaces from me in the store. I was following her with my eyes and then I took my eyes away for a minute to give her some privacy. When I started to look at her again, I noticed one of the necklaces she touched went missing. So I asked her to tell me where she placed it (I was giving her a chance to put it back). She could have said "Oh, I am sorry, I misplaced it here". She could have taken the jewelry out of her pocket and put it on the shelf (I was sure that she dropped into her pocket). Instead, she pretended that she did not understand what I was talking about. So I said to her "You just took a necklace from me, please put it back". She ran out of the door and left. After she was gone, I noticed a 2nd necklace was missing also.

I do not think that she will ever come back to the store, even though one can never be sure. I used to manage a Salvation Army store, and caught a few thieves and banned them from the store. But they kept coming back and kept stealing.

By the way, there is an interesting talk by Dan Ariely regarding stealing, if you care to listen to.

On Gold

Gold is in a bubble, that I have no doubt about it. The price of gold today is about 4 times its value in 2000 and Hugo Chavez is stockpiling them.

There is a great article called"Gold - a six thousand year-old bubble", which describes all I would have liked to say and more about gold.

In line with the opinion of the author of above article about not to argue with a six thousand year – old bubble: I thought that if IMF sold gold, it might have driven down the price. Nope, India just bought 200 tons of gold from IMF two weeks ago and the price of gold continues to go up.

Should gold be considered as an investment vehicle? Not for me. I would buy stocks such as Coca Cola, McDonald etc. any time before I ever consider buying gold. People eat at McDonald and people drink Coca Cola, therefore, both companies have intrinsic value.

Disclosure: I own stocks of Coca Cola.

On Midlife Crisis

I think that almost everybody goes through midlife crisis, but academics disagree. They believe that only 10% of the population who go through age-related midlife crisis. Of course, it all depends how you define midlife crisis. To me, midlife crisis is a period of dramatic self-questioning, as a result of sensing the passing of youth and realization of the imminence of old age and mortality.

I do not think that one has to go through the symptoms of the followings as described by Wikipedia to be considered having midlife crisis:

Abuse of alcohol
Conspicuous consumption
Depression
Blaming themselves or their spouses for their failures
Paying special attention to physical appearance
Entering relationship with younger people

I believe that the above symptoms are the results of failing in dealing with midlife crisis.

Again, I believe that majority of people go through midlife crisis. Those who are successful at it will become wise. They attain wisdom after a period of dramatic self-questioning. Those who fail experience the above symptoms.

I started my serious self-questioning about two years ago. Now, I am very close to getting over the midlife crisis and have not had any of the above symptoms. Wow!

I am happy

I have read somewhere that the opposite of happiness is not sadness, it is anxiety.

I would like to add that the opposite of anxiety is not happiness, it is serenity.

The opposite of sadness is not happiness, it is joyfulness.

Happiness to me is a whole lot of things. I am happy when I am not starving. I am happy to be warm when it is cold out. I am happy to have leisure time. I am happy to appreciate beauty in nature. I am happy to be in good health. I am happy to go out for a walk along the river whenever weather permits. I am happy to feel secure financially. I am happy to escape a few months of winter every year. I am happy to have a great partner. I am happy to be alive.

Right now at this very moment, it is the sunshine streaming through the big window into the kitchen where I am sitting that makes me extremely happy.

Update on air tickets

Update on the post from last Friday November 6, 2009:

Unfortunately, the route and airline of our ticket to the East have been altered. Reason? Air Canada would not give Air China the connection flights from Montreal to San Francisco. One way to beat competition, I guess that’s what Air Canada thinks. But it is a lose-lose situation. We did not buy Air Canada tickets. Instead we will be flying United Airline from Montreal - Chicago - San Francisco – Hong Kong.

Excited on trip next January

We bought our air tickets to Sanya, China today for our usual trip from January to March. The tickets are not only cheaper, but will get us directly to Sanya. We used to have to fly to Hong Kong first. Once we were in Hong Kong, it was up to us how we went from Hong Kong to Sanya, as all North American airlines would only get us to three major cities in China, namely Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Next January, however, we will be flying Air China. We are familiar with Air China and other Chinese airlines since we have been flying around inside China with them every year. Besides having delays (which probably are more airport infrastructure problems than airline problems), the services they provide are way better as compared to the airlines in North America. So we are very excited that we will be treated as human beings rather than worrying about being yelled at. Check out this article. Unfortunately what is described by Tim Ferriss happens way too often.

At least for us flying to Asia, we now have new players. Hopefully this will wake up the airlines in North America.

The missing ingredient for success – plan of action

In the previous two blogs (Is it harder to attain success than to maintain it?, Self discipline – 2nd most important aspect of success), I have outlined that the most important aspect for success is to continuously set goals and the 2nd most important one is to have self discipline.

Some people might say “But, but you did say anything about the how.”
As the saying goes when the why becomes clear, the how is not important as it will come automatically.

In other words, if your goal is clear and definite and you have the self discipline not to sway from your goal, then the plan of action will come to you sooner or later.

According to Maxwell Maltz (author of Psycho-Cybernetics), we all have a “Success Mechanism” built into us. However, this mechanism must have a clear-cut goal, objective, or “problem” to work upon. Your plan of action will come forth if you think about your clear-cut goal often. You should not wait to act until your plan of action is perfect. Do not be afraid of making mistakes or discouraged by temporary setbacks. Instead you improve upon your plan of action through trial and error.

We begin with a goal in mind, an end to be achieved. Do you have a clear picture of where you want to be in 5, 10, 20 and 50 years from now? If not, work on it now and this is only the first step towards a fulfilled life.

The delicate balance between feeling safe and vulnerable

native Sanya boy getting coconuts

We all want to feel safe and secure. Yet you can feel imprisoned in your own security. Wanting too much security can limit freedom of movement. Remaining vulnerable is an essential ingredient so we can experience all possibilities of life.

And sometimes feelings of safety could be just feelings, illusionary rather real. One example illustrates the danger of illusionary safety is how Richard broke his ankle.

Richard has been doing some renovation related work on a wobbly ladder for years. One day this summer, he bought a sturdy ladder with wide foot steps. First time he was up, it felt so secure, he forgot that he was on a ladder and stepped sideways. Sure enough, he felt down 6 feet and broke his ankle. With the wobbly ladder, he always knew that he was on a ladder and felt vulnerable. Therefore, he stayed alert and was safe.

Are you safe? Is your security real or illusionary?

Keep your mind open

According to Beau Lotto, all creatures, from honeybees to humans, came to see the world not as it is, but as what proved useful. If you believe in what he demonstrates, keeping your mind open should enable you to see way more.

I am a firm believer of this concept when it comes to opportunities. For those whose mind is open, they see opportunities everywhere. For those others whose mind is closed, they see obstacles instead.

To keep one’s mind open, you have to be willing to put yourself in a vulnerable situation, which is very scary sometimes. Therefore, I am using the Daily Reminder, which is like a personal mantra, to help centering myself and to believe that the universe is benevolent and abundant. Once you have aligned yourself with the positive energy of the universe, you can then see and seize opportunities that come along the way.

Today, we bought a few shares of U.S. stocks that pay about 7% dividend in average. It is true the value of stocks could go down in short term. I do not believe that the value will go down in 8 year, which is about a full economic cycle. We are going to keep these stocks for 8 years or more, therefore, I see today’s purchase as a great opportunity seized to park your cash in high yield investment (7% versus 1% in savings account).

Another point I wish to add here for future reference. According to gurufocus.com, as of today, the Total Market Index is at $ 11067.6 billion, which is about 78.2% of the last reported GDP. The market is therefore considered fairly valued. In our case with real estate, we only bought fairly valued properties and still did very well.

Self Discipline – the 2nd most important aspect of success

In my last blog “Is it harder to attain success than to maintain it?”, we have established that it is equally hard to maintain success as to attain it. There is no standing still. Success is a continuous journey, as Einstein said it: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
We have also pointed out that the most important aspect of success is to continuously set and re-set goals. However, setting these goals was not enough. We have to work on them.

Therefore we bring about the 2nd most important aspect of success, self discipline or the ability to delay gratification. Unfortunately, it seems that only one third of pre-school children have been taught this skill as illustrated by the video of Joachim de Posada from TED talks “Don't eat the marshmallow yet”.

How do we achieve self discipline?

There are many different ways to help us to achieve self discipline. One way of achieving self discipline is to intelligently cultivate our mind so that only intended actions will spring forth.

Then, we have to remind ourselves our goals constantly. On our way to our destination, there are many distractions we encounter. We must constantly remind ourselves where we are going in order not to get lost. The first emperor of China had himself reminded every day that his destiny was to unite China. So he was able to do unpleasant tasks that were needed to achieve his destiny.

Right now, my focus is health. So I have my Daily Reminder, which is to deal with stress. Then I have a list of daily routines that I tick off after I accomplish each one.

Hope you enjoy reading this article.

Is it harder to attain success than to maintain it?

When it comes to success, most people believe that it is harder to attain it than to maintain it. I believe that it is equally hard to maintain it as to attain it. You can find examples in people who succeed young and hear how often they become dependent on drugs to keep up with their success. Michael Jackson exemplifies how hard it is to maintain one’s success. Another example you can find is from people who lose weight successfully just to gain back a few months down the road. It is not that easy to maintain success.

As Richard St. John said it, “Success is not a one way street. Success is a continuous journey.”

Most people whether consciously or unconsciously know this. Therefore, the fear of success kicks in. If you do not succeed, there would not be any pressure to maintain the success. The fear of failure is pretty much the same thing. If you do not succeed, you cannot fail. It is like; if you do not take the test, you cannot fail. You can go through adult life without taking any tests.

How do we then, overcome the fear?

One way to do it is to not focus on the success. We focus instead on what we want to do. If you love to do something, it is enjoyable even if you do it poorly. After doing it over a long period of time, you probably get very good at it, and success comes eventually. However, it is not easy to find out what one loves to do most. So far, I do not think that I have found out my singular passion yet.

Do not despair. If you are like me, focus instead on what you do not want to do. I know absolutely for sure that I do not want to go to work (work in this sense is defined as 9 to 5 on salary or wage). In order not to work, I had to work (and convince my companion to do the same) intensively for 7 years. We both remembered clearly the conversation in the early 90s’. I said to Richard that we should work for 7 to 10 years and save $100,000 and buy a small cottage in the country and an old truck. We would then make our living selling some kind of crafts. So far we have achieved more than what we have set out to do. Richard quit his work in 2002 and I quit mine in 2003. We are living in a semi-country setting and Richard drives a relatively new truck. I am selling beaded jewelry through C-Cassia. January to March every year, we leave Montreal to stay in tropical Sanya in China. Last year, we took a week detour in San Francisco and will do the same this year.

It is possible to do what you do not want to do as long as there is a time span, in my case it is 7 years. Most children know that. How many of them like to do what their parents tell them to do? They do them because they know (think) once they leave home they can do whatever they want.

We are now living our dream life because the goal we set in the past. Our new goal right now is to form habits that will allow us to live healthy and gracefully, which I shall talk about it another time.

Therefore, my conclusion is that the most important aspect of attaining and maintaining success is to continuously set and re-set goals.

My money story

Every one has a money story. Looking at mine, I find that there are a set of principles I adhere. It evolves over time. Here they are:

1. Your happiness about the amount of money you make should be based on the absolute level you set on yourself.

Every time you make money, it usually involves another party (other parties). Ask yourself whether you are happy with the amount and be done with it. Do not compare with others. For example, let’s say that you invested $100,000 in a business venture and you are making 15% return a year and you are happy with it since it is the best you could find at the moment. Then, you find out that the other 5 partners are making 25% return a year. A lot of people would be angry about the situation and feel totally ripped off. It is not a good idea. Instead you should ask yourself whether you could get better return at the same risk level. If not, leave your investment in the same venture and congratulate the others for the amazing return. If you could find a better return at the same risk level, then you should look for ways to get out of this venture.

Another example is about your salary. Just because someone else doing the same thing as you in a job is making more than you do does not justify your grudge against your co-worker or the company. This happened to me while I was working in Germany in a warehouse. So I asked this girl who was making 1 Deutsch Mark per hour more than me whether I could disclose her when I went to ask for a raise. In that case, she did not mind and I got a raise. Another girl who made less than me used my case, but did not get a raise. Nevertheless, she was still quite happy with how much she got paid. My suggestion in this situation is to go ask for a raise (do not disclose names if nobody has given you permission to do so) anyway, but evaluate your happiness based on your own situation at the moment only. If this happens to you often, then you should really ask yourself whether something in you that attracts people who take advantage of you.

2. You don’t have to recoup losses the same way you lose them.

Tim Ferriss wrote this on his blog (click here). I also copied and pasted here:

“I own a home in San Jose but moved almost 12 months ago. It’s been empty since, and I’m paying a large mortgage each month. The best part? I don’t care. But this wasn’t always the case. For many months, I felt demoralized as others pressured me to rent it, emphasizing how I was just flushing money away otherwise. Then I realized: you don’t have to make $ back the same way you lose it. If you lose $1,000 at the blackjack table, should you try and recoup it there? Of course not. I don’t want to deal with renters, even with a property management company. The solution: leave the house alone, use it on occasion, and just create incoming revenue elsewhere that would cover the cost of the mortgage through consulting, publishing, etc.”

3. Do not involve close friends and family members in your business ventures.

Friends and family members have different expectations from you and vice versa, involving them in business ventures could creative conflict of interests.

Sorry, I cannot elaborate more on this subject.

4. Do not lend money to friends or relatives

You are not a bank. It is not your responsibility to lend out money. This is something I have to learn hard way. However, if you can afford it, consider giving money to friends or relatives in distress.

5. Only spend the “fresh money”

I designate my money into two pools, old money and fresh money. Money that is mine for 3 months and older is considered “old money”, which is allocated for investment only. Fresh money is used for daily expenses and discretionary spending.

This is a principle evolved over time and is applicable now as I am more secure financially and have minimum need to save.

6. Give away money

Set aside 5 to 15% of your net income annually to give away to charities. Yes, you do get income tax credit and satisfaction in giving. Most importantly, it is part of exercises in maintaining your wealth. Wealth, like success, is not that easy to obtain, nor is it easy to maintain. Giving is an essential part of wealth and success. In addition, it is much better to give some money away to causes you believe in than to be taken away from you.

7. Abundance is easy.

Abundance is easy and available to everyone in a developed country. You simply spend less than you make. In the end of year, if I have a surplus, I have abundance.

People who make $40,000 a year and spend only $32,000 have more abundance than people who make $80,000 a year and spend $90,000.


C-Cassia

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you." - by James Allen

Why anyone would expose one’s thoughts to the public? That is the counter argument of those who are against blogging. Why indeed?

As for myself, the sole reason I blog is because I do not believe that I can hide my thoughts even if I want to.

James Allen explains it better in “As a Man Thinketh”: the aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts….

Since what I think manifests my whole character, I should at least try my best to watch my thoughts.

Therefore, blogging in this sense serves as some sort of a tool for personal growth. More accurately perhaps blogging acts like a mirror that reflects his/her thoughts.


C-Cassia

I am a voyeur

St Lawrence River

I feel like a voyeur, flipping through faces that sharing some common interests to me. We are all voyeurs, hiding behind a computer screen, killing time. So far I am only belonging to the group of bloggers. There are millions of profiles that you can flip through, take a peak look and go away. There are others that you linger longer and read their stories. Then, there are those few that you say you want to follow. So far I am only following a few popular ones and nobody has chosen to follow me yet.

Interesting numbers I find under Blogger profile:

Industry: Arts 13,400,000

I have just chosen Arts as my industry. Is it really? No, but there was no category of Design that one can choose from. So Arts is as close as it goes. I was kind of surprised to find 13 million profiles on Blogger.

Occupation: Idler 119

What a disappointment, I dropped from belonging to a group of 13 million people to just over 100. I sell beaded jewelry that I make myself for the meager part of my living. I have a rich part of my living that does not come from selling artisan jewelry. The part I am selling is DESIGN. I, because I live in North American, can never compete in price with craftspeople in Asia. But my design is unique and outstanding (standing out in a crowd). Without any idling, I would never have come out with any new designs. Since I have way more idling time than the time spent in making new designs. I call my self Idler.

Location: Montreal 88,500, Canada: 15,300,000

Quite a shock to find out that Canada has 15 million bloggers and the total population is only 33 millions. It must be a mistake somewhere. I cannot believe that half of this country's population belongs to the Google’s blospot and most people we know do not blog. Maybe they are closet bloggers.


C-Cassia

The Science of Getting Rich

I would like to remind myself of this book "The Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace D. Wattles. The following is the summary:

There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which in its original state permeates, penetrates and fills the inter-space of the universe.

A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.

A person can form things in his thought, and by impressing his thought upon the formless substance can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.

In order to do this, a person must pass from the competitive to the creative mind, otherwise he cannot be in harmony with the formless substance, which is always creative and never competitive in spirit.

A person may come into full harmony with the formless substance by entertaining a lively and sincere gratitude for the blessings it bestows upon him. Gratitude unifies the mind of individual with the intelligence of substance so that the person’s thoughts are received by the formless.

A person can remain upon the creative plain only by uniting himself with the formless intelligence through a deep and continuous feeling of gratitude.

A person must form a clear and definite mental image of things he wishes to have, to do or to become, and he must hold his metal image in his thought while being deeply grateful to the supreme that all his desires are granted to him. A person who wishes to get rich must spend his leisure hours in contemplating his vision and in earnest thanksgiving that the reality is being given to him.

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance of frequent contemplation of the mental image, coupled with unwavering faith and devout gratitude. This is the process by which the thought is given to the formless and creative forces set in motion.

The creative energy works through the established channels of natural growth, and of the industrial and social order. All that is included in his metal image will surely be brought to the person who follows the instructions given above and whose faith does not waver. What he wants will come to him through the ways of established trade and commerce.

In order to receive his own when it is ready to come to him, a person must be in action in a way that causes him to more than fill his present place. He must keep in mind the purpose to get rich through realization of his mental image. And he must do, every day, all that can be done that day, taking care to do each act in a successful manner. He must give to every person a use value that is in excess of the cash value he receives, so that each transaction makes for more life, and he must hold the advancing thought so that the impression of increase will be communicated to all with whom he comes into contact.

The men and women who practice the forgoing instructions will certainly get rich, and the riches they receive will be in exact proportion to the definiteness of their vision, the fixity of their purpose, the steadiness of their faith, and the depth of their gratitude.


C-Cassia

Recharging

In the journey of self improvement, I tried to observe my own thoughts. However, in the last few days, my thoughts are chaotic and clouded. Actions are kept at minimum. You can say that I look and act somewhat depressed.

We have reached a point where we have envisioned ourselves to be. We have a place to stay, food to eat, no debt and have savings. In other word, we have simple comfortable life money can buy without ever having to work for anyone else for the rest of our life.

So why am I feeling down?

Some people might say that it is only normal that we have ups and downs. When we are down we needed to be re-charged like those batteries.

Batteries are recharged with electricity. How do we get re-charged? The followings are some of things I used to do:

1) Take a vacation.
2) Change hair style/color
3) Stay in bed
4) Read something interesting
5) Watch a movie

This time I watched a video clip of John Maeda on simplicity from TED talks, which lifted me up a lot.


C-Cassia

Sharing with a skunk?

my small garden with a creek

The other night, we were sitting in the garden by the tiny creek and having a good conversation. All of sudden, we heard some noises by the fence. I went with a bamboo stick in my hand to investigate, and saw a big white and black tail. Richard came inside so quickly. I followed.

A little puzzled by Richard’s reaction, I asked him “This is not a cat. Isn’t?” Richard asked me if I have ever seen a skunk before. Imagine a skunk in our garden!

We have a very small city garden, about 25’ x 25’. The creek we made is probably only 15’ long. On the other hand though, we live only 500 meters from St-Lawrence River. Because of the running water in our creek, we attract all sorts of animals. Cats and squirrels drink from it; birds bath in it. A raccoon tried to sleep in the corner. Now we have a skunk. Poor skunks, not bad looking creatures. But nobody wants to befriend them.

If you make your garden nice, you have to be willing to share it with uninvited creatures, even including skunks.

My daily routine

St Lawrence River

My daily routine:

- Get up at 7:30 a.m.
- Have Aloe Vera jell, rolled oats, raw almonds & Vitamin B for breakfast.
- Go for a walk along the river for an hour or so.
- Open the store at 10:00 a.m.
- Sit in front a mirror and cite my Daily Reminder.
- Take a nap till 12:30 p.m.
- Have lunch (cold meal: salad, cheese/ smoked salmon, bread or soup)
- Mind the store while Richard plays his pool (100 balls).
- Richard takes a nap.
- Have supper at 6:00 p.m. (a hot meal with seafood/fish and vegetables)
- Drink a coffee without sugar (Richard is one step ahead of me, he drinks his coffee black)
- Go for a walk along the river for 2 hours.
- Take a shower.
- Sit around in the garden for an hour or so.
- Go to bed at 12:00 a.m.

I consider not working for other people a form of freedom and privilege. In order to keep my status of having the freedom and privilege, I realize that I have to keep a rigid schedule.

It sounds contradictory that you must discipline yourself in order to have freedom. I always thought that freedom is the ability to act according to one’s own will, which in my younger years was interpreted as to do whatever I liked. I definitely do not like to get up early in the morning. If it is left entirely up to “me”, I like to sleep in till noon and stay up all night until 3:00 a.m. At one time of my life, I literally reversed night with day. I stayed up all night till 7:00 a.m. and slept all day till 4:00 p.m., and realized that nothing good came out of it. Both my mental and physical health deteriorated.

As I grew older, I slowly discovered that there are a few parts of “me” and they do not always think in sync. One part of me would like to stay healthy for sure. The easiest way to stay healthy is to form healthy habits. Habits are formed by repeating a routine day after day.

Hence, the daily routine has started.

AH, I S THIS NOT HAPPINESS (1)

Pansy

Richard came home around 11:00 p.m. After a hot summer day, we sat in the garden by the creek, listening to the sound of water running, sipping cold Pu-Er tea and having a good conversation. We felt a little bit hungry. So I cut a few cubes of Brie cheese, took out some frozen grapes, ate them under the stars. We went to bed around 2:00 a.m. As soon as we lay down, I realized that I forgot to put the tea in the fridge to make a cold pot for tomorrow. So I said to Richard “Can you go? I am too dizzy”. He actually got up and walked to the kitchen, which was not possible a month ago. AH, IS THIS NOT HAPPINESS!!!



c-cassia

Sooner or Later

Richard Mark Didsbury & Ping Chen

I know that my husband and I are in the minority, which is that we do not depend on somebody offering us a job to live. And saying it out loud in this environment when unemployment is high and people are losing money will sound insensitive. Still, it is something everybody has to learn how to do it sooner or later. Most people retire at around age 65. In addition, this blog is to help organize and cultivate my own thoughts.

Even though we do not work for any one else, we do not like to label ourselves retired, not because we are not at the age of retirement. I believe that the concept of retirement can get one in trouble. Retirement means that you no longer work. In my mind, if your whole or partial income derives from savings invested, you still work. You have to work on your money, which involves thinking about, checking on and changing your investment strategy. A lot of people get into trouble, when they let go control of how their retirement savings are invested.

I am not defending criminals who commit fraud and I do sympathize with people who have lost money in this manner. On the other hand, if you have ever hired anybody and the person stole from you, do you ask yourself whether you have made a bad judgment or somehow your system has aided this type of behavior? When it comes to your money, you should ask the same thing.

We know we are on our own; we do not depend on, nor do we wish to be employed for our living. We live on a pool of income – apartment rentals, sales of my artisan beaded jewelry (c-cassia) and dividend from stock equity. We are constantly working on every single source of income. We do not do a perfect job, but all the mistakes are our own. We learn from and improve upon our mistakes. To achieve maximal freedom is to put all the responsibility on our own shoulders, therefore, is to live a self-disciplined life.

Abundance

“Simple living is not a virtue; it is a preference”.

- Leonard Cohen

In this economic downturn, many sites that advocate simple living and frugality have become increasingly popular. As for myself, simple living is a preference rather than a virtue, to quote Leonard Cohen. I had done a fair share of shopping with friends in the past as leisure outings. But it gave me more headaches than pleasure.

Even though impulse shopping is a very rare occurrence in my day to day living, it happens to me when I am on holidays. Every year we spend 2 to 6 weeks on the same tropical island in Southeast Asia. Whenever I am on the beach under the tropical sun, I have this urge to take a break and go shopping in the mall next to the beach. I do not understand the change in me except by saying that the sun has cooked my brain. I was in denial when this was first pointed out to me. Look at deals I get. Now at least I am aware, which is the first step towards cure. The next step is to set a budget and keep it. I am now at this stage. After that, I will take a look at the inventory and see whether I have been wearing them. The final step would be to plan what I need to buy and stick to my plan.


Simple living is not a virtue, but I do believe that impulse shopping is a vice and is not the opposite of simple living. The opposite of simple living is lavish living. I personally know people who are like that. They still shop according to their plan except that their needs are greater than folks who prefer simple living. I have a brother, who constantly upgrades all electronics in his household and buys brand name clothing. Since his need is greater, he uses this as a motivation to earn more money, therefore, he is never under water.

The point I am trying to make is that frugality is not a solution to all the financial woes. Living within your means is. It is not a matter of how much money you make, as long as you have money left over in the end of year, year after year, you have abundance.

Picture explanation: a Chinese abundance charm that literally says “surplus year after year”.



c-cassia

Is public health care better than the private one?

There is a great debate going on with our neighbor south of the border regarding Heath Care Reform. Here in Canada, most people are very proud of our public health system. Whenever, there is a discussion of what is better, I seem to be at odds with the majority of the people. For the 20 years I have been in Canada, I have not had very good experience with the system. I had been wrongly diagnosed, turned away by clinics when I was very sick and found quite a few receptionists and nurses rude. I do not even go to medical facilities often, on average, probably once a year. Because of the bad experience, I practically avoid health facilities unless it is absolutely necessary.

Then, 40 days ago Richard broke his ankle (spiral fracture to be precise) falling from a height of 6-7 feet. He had a surgery done and a stainless steel metal plate fitted in with 8 screws. Out of the 40 days he has been house bound for 32 days. A nurse from CLSC came to dress the wound every other day for 2 weeks and twice weekly for 2 weeks.

Besides $125 dollar ambulance fee, $25 dollar pain killer prescription and $25 dollar crutch rental, it did not cost us any money. Overall, I would say the public health system did a good job.

So far based on my personal experience, I would say that if you have accident related treatment, the public health system is very good. On the other hand, since medical care is free for all and there is much abuse for people who do not need urgent care, if you have chronic illness, you probably do not get a nice treatment. I heard a nurse complaining that a man walked into emergency room because he had one cough in the morning and demanded to have anti-biotics. Then there are some extremely lonely people who want to talk to somebody.

I was turned away by a clinic when I had hyper-thyroid activity but before it was diagnosed because the government put a cap on how many patients a general practitioner is allowed to see per day. Some doctors will see a certain amount of patients over and above the limit per day for free. Others will ask the receptionists to turn away patients without appointments. I was almost in tears when I was told that if you had been feeling sick for a month without seeing a doctor, you could always wait for 2 more weeks. I understand all the reasons for the medical professions to screen people first in order to help the really sick people. But when it is happening to you and you are really sick, it is really no fun.

I do not think this kind of treatment happens when you pay for the service. Dental care in Canada is not part of the public health care system and you get treated very differently. I was even told by my dentist that in case of emergencies (such as unbearable toothache); she would make time to see me on Sundays (her clinic is normally closed on Sundays).

Is public health care better than the private one? I think the answer is very complicated. If you are poor, the answer is yes since you do not contribute in and you get a free ride. If you are not poor and you are healthy, the answer is yes also since the only time you need care is when you are in an accident. If the person is not poor and is terminally ill, the answer is probably mixed. Some relatives say the good thing with public care system is that it does not bankrupt your family when a member becomes terminally ill; and others say that the way you are treated, you do not get to die with dignity. There are many other scenarios and there are valid arguments for both sides.

So in the end, I do not have an answer.



c-cassia

Innocence

On all of c-cassia jewelry we always say that they are made with 10% innocence, 30% sophistication, 60% cheerfulness. This comes from the maker who was known as the most innocent face on campus when she was a 16 years old freshman at a university with about 10,000 students in Shanghai. Now her friend said to her that you only have 10% innocence left. Well, many years have passed since she was the most innocent face; a guaranteed 10% innocence is not so bad? Isn’t it?

According to Wikipedia, innocence is a term used to indicate a general lack of guilt with respect to any kind of crime, sin or wrongding. Innocence can also refer to a state of unknowing, where one's experience is lesser. The reason I had the most innocent face probably is because I was a child in an adult world even though most of the adults were only 2 to 5 years older than me.

When one gains more experience, it is harder to keep oneself void of guilt with respect to sin or wrongdoing. That is why in my daily reminder number 6 is written “I have no remorse, or regrets over my own past mistakes. The past is simply written off, closed and forgotten.”

Happiness cannot be achieved if one is not void of guilt. Therefore, the 10% innocence and 60% cheerfulness are actually related. How much sophistication? You decide.


C-Cassia

You need what you have got

columbine flower

During the good times, people tell you that you need to put cash away for three months living if you lose your job. During bad times like now, some will tell you that you need the cash to live for two years.

A lot of people also ask how much money they need to retire. My answer is that you need what you have got. If you’ve got a lot you still need more. If you’ve got a little, you still live. We make do what we’ve got.

The purpose is to achieve balance of your mental state. You need to worry some about your finances. But once a while, you should let go and release the burden.

Photo: a columbine flower from the garden with a few asparagus leaves makes a nice cut flower with no extra cost.

c-cassia

Is there anybody out there?

Sitting by the ocean in Newfoundland

After three months in China, prices of all the essentials here in Montreal have gone up at least 25%. My old bottle of soy source from Chinatown has a price tag of $3.99 and now I pay $4.99, which is a 25% increase. The bitter melon tea went from $3.99 to $5.99, which is a 50% increase. A package of salmon at Costco went from $15.99 to $19.99, another 25% increase. The first two items I could not do without; I will continue to buy them. The salmon, however, not only the price has gone up, a 4% saline was injected into them. In addition, they were labeled Atlantic salmon from Chile. How is it possible? Chile is on the Pacific ocean, unless Google map is wrong (Ha Ha).

Is this quantitative easing (government printing money) at work already? Then how come all the data are showing we do not have inflation?

Is it only me who are noticing this?

Simple Pleasure

Canadian duck on the St-Lawrence River

“Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need - a homely home and simple pleasure, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing. You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so much if it does upset; good, plain merchandise will stand water.”
Jerome K Jerome "Three Men in a Boat"

One of the simple pleasures we enjoy lately is the amazing walk we do along the St-Lawrence River in Verdun in the evening. It is only 5 minutes walk from our home. If it is not raining, we are out walking. We go about 3 km towards west along the lower path right next to the river and take the bike path on the higher ground to come back. In the midway back, we drink some tape water that comes out of a stone. It takes us about 1 ½ hours for the round trip. In addition to doing it as a physical exercise, we also enjoy the scenery. Everything is green now. The air feels fresh and crisp. You almost do not hear any city noise on the lower path.

To be, or not to be an idler

my small garden with a creek

"Every man is, or hopes to be, an idler."
Samuel Johnson "Selected Essays (Penguin Classics)"

That being said, I myself am always struggling to have a balance of wanting to be an idler, and not getting bored. Beading and Gardening for me are the perfect tools to achieving that goal. Whenever boredom sets in, I either play with beads or do gardening. Beading takes more focus, so it is better form of meditation. However, once a piece of jewelry is finished, it is final. You can no longer add or take away components, unless you cut it up and start all over again. A garden is never finished in a sense. There are always weeds you have to dig up, plants becoming way too invasive that you need to control or those that have grown too big you have to divide them. Of course, there are other creatures that live in your garden that you have to think about how to control them so they do not do too much harm to your plants. On days when there is nothing for you to do, you can still observe the progress of things growing and enjoy the flowers. We made a tiny creek in our garden so it is absolutely amazing to hear the sound of the water running while enjoying the sun.

Playing with beads (c-cassia.com) brings me in a little bit of income. Gardening so far only costs money. Now, if only I can grow my own vegetables that will offset the expense. Our garden is very small (see the picture). Temporally, it is not feasible to grow vegetables yet (only because I do not want to sacrifice the flower garden). We are constantly thinking of a way so that we can have a bigger garden.

We all want to be happy, healthy and comfortable

Richard playing golf

We all want to be happy, healthy and have creature comfort. How do we obtain them? It is a journey. You have to start with your thoughts and then allow time to elapse.

Whenever we want something, we want it now. We were like that when we were children and there is an inner child in everyone of us. Instead, try to keep a steady thought of what you want and allow some time to pass. You will be surprised at what will happen. If the result is not what you have wanted, it is because you have let your thoughts to wander. If you can tame the train of thoughts, keep them on the track, you can surely obtain what you want.

It is simple to say, yet very difficult to do. First step is to observe your thoughts daily and correct their course whenever they go off the track.

Individual responsibility must be absolute

old building in Guangzhou

Today I would like to quote James Allen in “As a Man Thinketh”:

“In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own and not another man's. They are brought about by himself and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's……..

It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor!" But there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves."

The truth is that oppressor and slaves are cooperators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality, afflicting themselves.”

Beware of politicians that are extremely popular. All left wing dictators were extremely popular (Mao, Stalin. Castro just to name a few) at some point of their political career.

How an investment formula worked

In the down market of real estate, all the articles out there are about how you can get caught investing in real estate. Thinking back on what we did; we used a formula that had worked for us. Of course, you can no longer find any properties that fit this formula any more in Montreal, but maybe in some other cities in North America.

We were only looking at rental market. Our goal was to make 5 – 10% a year from the down payment of a mortgage and let the rent taking care of mortgage and other expenses. Therefore, even if the property did not appreciate over time (which is very unlikely, property will appreciate over a span of 25 years, at least to the amount to offset inflation), one still makes money owning it.

Between 1998 to 2002, you could find quite a few triplexes (3 x 3 bedroom apartments) in the not so hot neighborhood in Montreal for about $160,000 (this number is picked just for easy calculation). 25% down payment comes to $40,000. Monthly payment of a mortgage at 6.5% for $120,000 for 25 years is $804 (yearly at $9,648). Cost of property tax, insurance, maintenance (minimum amount) is about $6,000 yearly. Let’s say rent is about $600 per month at the time of purchase (now is more or less between $850 and $1,200), which gives you $21,600 a year rental income. All said and done, you can make 15% for your $40,000 down payment with this property.

$5,952 = $21,600 (rent) – $9648 (mortgage) - $6,000 (expenses)

Now if you worked very hard and spent very little and saved an additional $105,783 (which is the balance of what you owe after 5 years) when mortgage was due in 5 years and you paid off this property 100%. Rent by then had increased to $800 a month and you moved into one of the apartment. You would then be able to live rent free with an income of $13,200 ($800x2x12 - $6,000) yearly. If you live in a city like Montreal without a car, you embrace simple life style, and you do not have to pay rent, surely $13,200 is enough to get you essentials to live on.

If you pay rent to yourself, with an investment of $160,000, you are making 14% a year (14% = ($800*3*12-$6000)/$160,000).

All you had to do was 10 years of hard working and saving. In my own case, I did 7 years of working and saving.

Of course, if you sold your property between 2006 and 2007, you would have made $190,000 before tax and expenses, as by then triplexes like that sold for about $350,000.

People can call this speculative. It just happened that we and some of our friends have lived through this period and experienced the benefit of it. So if you pay attention, you can always find mis-priced things. It may not be in properties, it could be stocks. I personally believe there are a quite a few mis-priced stocks around in today’s market. I have yet to find a way to screen out all the noises and find value.

Beauty is not skin deep

About 3 years ago, I saw a British Chinese woman on television in China. She is probably over 60 years old. She looked so calm, healthy and content. I said to my husband that I would like to look like that when I am at that age. I realize that the only way to achieve this is by cultivating my thoughts. Beauty may be skin deep when you are under 20. Beauty in old age is definitely a reflection of your inner thought. You are what you think, that includes how you look as well.

Just remember that the Universe is benevolent and it will help you to achieve whatever you can think of.

I thought I have figured out a way to make money

Last year we renewed our mortgage. We took the option of “open variable”, which means you can lock it in anytime the mortgage is going up. It started with 3.75% and it is now at 2%. We have a friend whose open variable mortgage is only at 1.6%. He has a savings account that pays him 2.5% a year. Just imagine you can make money by borrowing the money from the bank and then put it back into the savings account in the same bank. Unfortunately, to make about $50,000 a year you will need a mortgage of 5.5 million dollars. Banks are just not willing to lend this kind of money to guys like you and me, any more. Oh, well.

The Daily Reminder

I have completed the 40 day daily reminder. Here it is:

1. I am grateful for all the blessings the supreme bestows upon me. I am glad to be here now.

2. I am a giving person. I give affection, love, approval, acceptance and understanding to others.

3. The world is safe and full of love. I am loved by all those that are close to me, expressed in many different ways.

4. I am relaxed and feel safe. No person, place or thing can hurt me.

5. I am eliminating the need to forgive.

Forgiveness is like surgery. It cuts out, eradicates, cancels and makes the wrong as if it had never been there. There must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. I do not condemn others, therefore, it is not necessary for me to forgive.

6. I have no remorse, or regrets over my own past mistakes. The past is simply written off, closed and forgotten.

7. I am in need of nothing but the awareness that all I need is within me.

8. My responsibility is to set up goals for myself. How I reach them is not my responsibility. It is the responsibility of my built-in inner success mechanism.

9. I am not afraid to “turn the other cheek”, remain vulnerable and go on living creatively.

10. I remain focused on the now. Look lovingly upon the present for it holds the only thing that is forever true. The past is gone and future is but imagined.

Repeated action for 20 days makes a habit. Repeating it 40 days reinforces the habit even stronger.

relaxation is the key

For a year now, I have embarked on this mental training thing. I have read “Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life” and “The Science of Getting Rich” a few times. Do I have control over my own mind? Not yet. But at least I feel more relaxed, feel and look healthier.

For those who have not heard of Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cybernetics, I highly recommend it, even though it is an old book (first pocket books were printed in 1969).

The following is a summary I put together for the book:

We all have a self image whether we know it consciously or not and all our actions and behaviors are in consistent with this self image we hold. Therefore, our happiness and success (or lack of) are consistent with this self image. The good news is that this self image can be modified or changed so that we can live a happier and more successful life. Since our mind does not distinguish what is a real experience and what is imagined, we can imagine good and positive things. That is the first key to change self image.

For your mind to accept your imagination, we must be totally relaxed and the imagination must be vivid. Relaxation is a theme that runs through the whole book. It helps to accelerate learning, reduce stress and live healthier. This book shows you how to do relaxation and imagination exercises.

To change your self image, you also must remove old emotional scars. Forgiveness is the way to remove those scars. Forgiveness is very easy to do, because there is nothing for you to do, as there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. We find it difficult to forgive only because we like our sense of condemnation and our sense of feeling sorry for ourselves. True forgiveness comes when we are able to see, and emotionally accept, that we should not have condemned or hated the other person in the first place.

You must also learn to forgive yourself. Recognize your own errors as mistakes, but do not beat yourself down with self-condemnation, remorse and regret. You make mistakes - mistakes do not make you.

The cycle goes on

poppy flower

People debate what started this recession. I do not really know. But we know that all contractions follow over expansions, and vice versa. The cycle goes on. As we have had two decades of great time, this contraction might run a little deeper and longer.

Let's say a group of Joes who worked hard and saved a million dollars in their retirement portfolios. Now they see their portfolios shrink to only half million. So everyone panics and wants to save money now, including those who still have money to spend, which is fine. We are all humans. It is hard to save when everyone is spending and to spend when everyone else is saving. We need to save money sooner or later so why not do it with the flow.

However, with the government pumping all the fresh money into the economy now, eventually (the unknown part is when), the Joes will see their portfolios back to one million on average (some will have more and some less). The money, though, will be worth much less since it has gotten diluted by freshly printed money. However, people will not notice this part right away. They will all be happy to see that their portfolios back to break even or grow somewhat. So, they will start to spend money again, including those who do not really have extra cash to spend. And expansion will start again.

If you have kept the money you have saved in cash, it is great in the contraction period, as the destruction force during contractions would not be able to touch it. We all know that during the contraction, values of all things are going down except cash. But we must worry a little bit about the cash we have saved. Cash is the hardest thing to hold for long. In addition, when expansion starts, the cash needs to be put into things (real estates, stocks etc.) again. During the expansion, values of all things are going up, but cash value can only go down.

As I said before, the unknown part is when, that is why everyone is so obsessed in finding the bottom. It might be too hard to find the bottom. If you pay attention, you might see the beginning of the expansion. It will still be fine to convert your cash into things at the beginning of the expansion.

The worst would be to wait until expansion is almost at end; then convert your cash into things. As at the end of an expansion, things will be the most expensive. Some people, then, have to convert things back into cash during contraction because you really need the cash to live. We see this happen to some of the best people.

Do not believe the general concession, that if you are an average Joe hard at work, you do not need to understand the economy. You do need to understand somewhat in a simplistic way. Just worrying about not losing your job is not enough.

Keep this in mind; you may be able to earn money with the cash you are saving.

Just remember, the universe is benevolent. It is made for you and me to succeed in life.

1 Great Day at a time

Since the title of this blogger is called 1 great day. I shall explain that the title comes from my husband. He always says "one day at a time" and now it is evolved to "one great day at a time".

We live our life one day at a time, so why not one great day at a time.