I might have shared this before. It's one of my favorite quotes from Dalai Lama and one that I keep close to my heart, to remind myself of what is truly important.
The heart is feeling heavy tonight. Its been a long day that ended with tuition. The tuitees are preparing for exams, and there's all that prep talk about life and their future. But the real reason for my heavy heart was work. Not exactly work, but a conversation I had with my colleagues at work.
One of the managers said that he realized early in his life that you need to make friends that enrich your life and have something to offer. It's important to learn how to spend time nurturing meaningful relationships and network with people who could help propel you forward in life. The other management trainee said that it is like a business transaction, there's an exchange of something that each party is interested in.
It makes me sad.
I suppose there is some truth in it, that one should not spend time with people who makes you feel bad or put you down. But somehow I can't bring myself to agree that the basis of a friendship should be whether or not they can give you something in return. I don't befriend someone because I think I can get something from them!
My question to them is, what happens if you are down and out and do not have anything to offer anymore? Does the 'friendship' then breakdown?
Most of the time, I feel like there's a mismatch between me and my work persona. I don't feel like I'm on the same wavelength as the people I work with. I feel suffocated by the power struggles by observing how things unfold in the corporate world, how quickly people fall out of favor, how people go all out to butter up strategically, how people change for the sake of power and money.
It's always about power and money isn't it?
It's during your climb up that your values become important as they define you as a person. Will you go against your values or bring harm to others just so you can profit from it? I can't see myself there. I suppose that these are just things which we have to grapple with in today's world. No matter how I dissociate myself with these, I'm still part of the game.
Sometimes, it's not easy to hold on tight to what is important and make it a priority.
The heart is feeling heavy tonight. Its been a long day that ended with tuition. The tuitees are preparing for exams, and there's all that prep talk about life and their future. But the real reason for my heavy heart was work. Not exactly work, but a conversation I had with my colleagues at work.
One of the managers said that he realized early in his life that you need to make friends that enrich your life and have something to offer. It's important to learn how to spend time nurturing meaningful relationships and network with people who could help propel you forward in life. The other management trainee said that it is like a business transaction, there's an exchange of something that each party is interested in.
It makes me sad.
I suppose there is some truth in it, that one should not spend time with people who makes you feel bad or put you down. But somehow I can't bring myself to agree that the basis of a friendship should be whether or not they can give you something in return. I don't befriend someone because I think I can get something from them!
My question to them is, what happens if you are down and out and do not have anything to offer anymore? Does the 'friendship' then breakdown?
Most of the time, I feel like there's a mismatch between me and my work persona. I don't feel like I'm on the same wavelength as the people I work with. I feel suffocated by the power struggles by observing how things unfold in the corporate world, how quickly people fall out of favor, how people go all out to butter up strategically, how people change for the sake of power and money.
It's always about power and money isn't it?
It's during your climb up that your values become important as they define you as a person. Will you go against your values or bring harm to others just so you can profit from it? I can't see myself there. I suppose that these are just things which we have to grapple with in today's world. No matter how I dissociate myself with these, I'm still part of the game.
Sometimes, it's not easy to hold on tight to what is important and make it a priority.
THE PARADOX OF OUR TIMES
Is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers
Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints
We spend more, but we have less.
We have bigger houses, but smaller families
More conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense
More knowledge, but less judgement
More experts, but more problems
More medicines, but less wellness.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often
We have learnt how to make a living, but not a life.
We have added years to life, but not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back
But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.
We have conquered outer space, but not inner space.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted our soul.
We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
We've higher incomes, but lower morals.
We've become long on quantity but short on quality.
These are the times of tall men, and short character;
Steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare,
More leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorces;
Of fancier houses, but broken homes.
It is a time when there is much in the show window, and nothing in the stockroom.
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