Expectation

"She wanted the world
and he wanted a girl."

Heard this song playing in Centra (local convenience store which I've taken a liking to [for the goods not the songs!]) and it's probably the first time ever (or maybe since the Beatles) I've heard a lyric from a young British singer and thought: "that's actually quite well thought out." Most times it's a far stretch to even say: "that's thought out"! And in popping into Streat every day and seeing the screen on the wall playing the top twenty, so sad to see a nation of young artists with nothing to sing about and call people to except flings!

I am

I am the sum of my travels.
I am the sum of my experiences.

Optimists and pessimists

Says the optimist in times of success
"My efforts came together."
and in times of failure
"External factors are to blame for this."

Says the pessimist in times of failure
"I am to blame for this."
and in times of success
"External factors came together."

Says the attentive mind:
wake; find the middle ground.

Busy

I find myself

always busy

yet I end each day thinking how little got done;

wanting change

yet I remain me all the same;

trying to pause

yet I can't help but plan my next move.

All this and

yet I know: I am where I was always destined to be

following my trail.

Make redundancy your goal

I don't understand the gloom
that surrounds the word <gloom> "redundancy" <gloom>...

Redundancy should be the outstanding employee's goal,
dream almost,
the fulfilment of putting in place procedures and people,
technology even,
to do the work, freeing one's self up, to move on...

And try and learn and do something anew,
afresh, liberated :)>

Film Review: Persepolis

On my way home from Cambridge last night I came across this quote in 'emel' magazine: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." (Attributed to Aristotle) And it was with that that I put on Persepolis which aired on Channel 4 a couple weeks back and which I had saved on my digital box. Whilst it very bluntly portrays the Islamic leadership of Iran, its followers and religionists in general as backward, culture-less beings, and whilst I sat there remembering the unquestionable negative Western coverage of the Iranian elections a year or so back, I couldn't help think a trip to Iran in the near future should be scheduled! I'm not so sure how welcome I would be but the only way to verify the state of a country is to visit it 🙌 Anyway, putting those negatives aside if you can, it was a good movie from an artistic perspective and a nice coming-of-age story following a girl growing from childhood, innocence & ambition on to adolescence, mistakes & despair and finally on to adulthood & maturity.

'It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be', by Paul Arden

"Your vision of where or who you want to be is the greatest asset you have."

"Without having a goal it's difficult to score."

"Talent helps, but it won't take you as far as ambition."

"You will become whoever you want to be."

I had a menial task at work today so I flicked through this book from my manger's book shelf in 30-second spells when stepping away from my computer for short refresher breaks. It's a small book by a former leading figure in the advertising industry containing advices along the theme of the quoted passages above. What really struck me though was one of the closing remarks at the end of the book...

"I wish to thank my old friend and mentor... the first person to make me feel I wasn't quite as useless as I thought I was."

... and there was the answer to something I had been thinking about this past week: if I will need to find a new job (because there's no new project secured for me to move onto after the present one at my current work place), it's not so much the right job I should seek (whatever that is) than it is a good mentor who'll expand the bounds of my being.

Ambition

"Ambition creates work."
Three words.
Simple.
Yet,
these words
have me rocked.

I guess it's because I've always held 'contentment',
being happy, satisfied with what I have,
to be my high virtue,
my 'ambition' almost,
but contentment alone,
I'm starting to see,
is like living life in neutral.
It's ambition that's the gear that moves us...
and makes the world a better place :)>

What makes a good team great

Statement I came across;
Paul Scholes (formerly of Manchester United and now retired)
commenting on present day Barcelona FC,
perhaps the best team in the history of the sport:

"I think the biggest thing about their players is their unselfishness.
I know [Lionel] Messi scores 50 goals a year,
but not one of them is out for personal glory."

Quite profound words I thought,
and not just in the context of football,
but organisations and compositions of people in general.

The Resonant Idea

Based
in that it's coolly calculated and thoughtfully designed.
Sensible
in that it's consistent and coherent.
Practical
in that it's focused and limited.
Purposeful
in that it's intensely personal yet genuinely communal.
Convincing
in that it's precisely articulated and unambiguously clear;
simple on the ear.
Penetrating
in that it's sincere and built on love...
or oft-repeated and oft-received...

Tough Love

The difference between good and bad relationships

is not whether there is conflict

- all relationships have conflict;

it's how we get to know one another -

but how we deal with it.

Vital and nourishing,

seeing it for what it is,

it's time to worry instead

when not sharing views is the more attractive course.

(Consolidation of the chapter entitled 'Fight Club' in the 'Tough Love' section of 'The Mind Gym: Relationships'. Good book!)

The fail fast, fail small philosophy

Be not afraid to try.

Failure isn't fatal.

The idea is to fail fast

in an idea that's wrong,

not getting emotionally attached to a sinking ship,

and move on,

not repeating mistakes.

See failure as a stepping stone to whatever you do next;

one step smarter.

(Summary of a feature article in this month's Wired magazine)

The problem with the thinking man

The problem with the thinking man,
the type more often than not
stuck in thought,
neither doing nor not,
is that his life spent in thought.

Lessons from the PhD experience

Three of the greatest lessons I learnt from the PhD experience (the past four years):

1. put in the effort without going overkill and allow things to ripen by God's permission in their own due time;
2. if things are not working out, don't get stressed, get up instead and go for a walk;
3. things always work out better than planned so enjoy the ride.

Not everyone who is sure, knows!

Note to self: Not everyone who speaks with certainty knows what they are talking about. People will be people.

The greater difficulty I guess is in discerning those who know they do not know from those who don't know that they don't know... and reacting accordingly.

Reuters

Doing a fair bit of reading/browsing about Reuters (or Thomson Reuters as it is now called). Remarkable company. In particular, how they do what they do keeping strict to their principle of objectivity/impartiality. A couple of examples: (1) Up until very recently no-one could own more than 15% of the company; (2) Their refusal to use the word "terrorist" in reports except as a quotation.

Complaint to TFL regarding bus driver

Complaint I wrote to Transport for London just now regarding a racist/Islamophobic incident I witnessed yesterday on the bus on the part of the bus driver...

"I witnessed an incident yesterday that smacked of racism or Islamophobia perhaps. The bus driver took on all passengers and closed the doors. There was traffic ahead so he waited at the bus stop. An Asian lady came (visibly Muslim, wearing a headscarf) and gestured for him to open the door and let her in. He did not. That is strange but overlookable. She stood there right beside the door and clearly in the driver's view for what must have been at least 15 seconds, though he would not look directly at her pretending he could not see her. It was raining slightly and the driver wasn't going to open the door so she stepped back to take shelter under the bus stand. Then, another man came running, knocked on the boor and bizarrely this driver opened the door without a qualm. The lady from before saw the door open and stepped forward to get in. The driver without doubt saw her and closed the door in her face. I was fumed but did not kick up a fuss on the bus so as not to turn this whole situation into a fight and trusting that tfl has procedures in place to deal with such blatant abuse of position.

Btw, I didn't get the registration number but the driver had a yellow card in front of him with the number 208 on it if that is useful.

I have experienced such behaviour myself once previously from a bus driver and did write a complaint. However, after a number of weeks and queries from tfl for further information I was told no driver I described matched my description. I will be extremely disappointed if this happens again and will look to take this to higher authorities, whoever that happens to be. Apologies."

Don't like to complain and especially don't like to see bus drivers abused (my dad is a bus driver) but what I saw yesterday was just plain wrong. Maybe I should have kicked up a fuss on the bus there and then?

The D Word

"... The British public, never keen to look too long at death, were not invited to go deeper. That mysterious place was illuminated only by The Sun and Mirror pieties, where the angels were calling and Jade would be 'the brightest star in the sky'..."

(Source: The Economist, March 28th 2009, Obituary in memory of Jade Goody)

Inevitable. Tough but inevitable.

Mental State

"[Usain] Bolt's ability to stay relaxed is the key to his success..."

Quote taken from a feature entitled 'Anatomy of a Speed Demon' in today's issue of 'Sport' about the runner Usain Bolt and his ability to remain calm and cool-headed even in the heat of the race.

That is what separates the good from the great in almost any sport or endeavour: the ability to stay relaxed.

Another Friday Another Problem?

Every Friday I help set up for the congregational prayer at college. Something unexpected occurs every week. It is something we have come to expect. Today was no different. So, as I am walking in, I say to one of the managers, "Another Friday Another Problem". He responds,

"Another Friday Another Opportunity".

Indeed, in problem is opportunity. And all praise is due to Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.