Mediocrity

I am furious, with myself for not being super-motivated to achieve what I want, and with the world for being satisfied with mediocrity. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I slip into resting in my comfort zone, not wanting to move out. But when I notice this gets too far, I jerk myself into motion and get things done. I wonder why isn't everyone the same.

How the hell can people be satisfied living an "average" life? Accepting what is given to them, or what falls on their laps and whatever is out of their reach, they don't bother to get up and go for it. And if this isn't bad enough, some people even HATE the people who actually work for things in life. They come up with all sorts of justifications that these "achievers" are simply behaving badly and dictate what people SHOULD or SHOULDN'T do based on their own biasness and standards (or the standards society imposes on them).

"Music cannot earn me much money.If I want to do music I MUST follow THIS path. Anyone else who thinks otherwise will NEVER make it and they are NOT thinking about their future." This is absolute bullshit. First of all, I'm fine if more people think this way, it just means more opportunities for me. But what takes it overboard is when they impose their closed-minded values onto me and how I live my life.

I believe that I should do what I enjoy doing and even if it means just living hand-to-mouth, I do not mind. Who are you to tell me that I "will never make it" and that "I'm too young to understand it now". I have my goals and my plans in front of me, and as I move along in life I change things to suit my situation. But it doesn't mean I'm not thinking about my future; that I am not planning ahead. If you want to live your average 8-5, get married and have kids and work to support them, kind of lifestyle, go ahead. But don't tell me what I can or can not do.

I say that "confidence is half the battle won" and you say that is cliche. Yet you NEVER have confidence and fail, and you blame your failures on everything else. I share with you what works for me and what I believe to be true, it's alright if you don't accept it. But if you're so quick to reject ideas before even trying them and want to live in your close-minded world of mediocrity, go ahead.

Seriously, what is it with people saying they "cannot" do anything? That "some things are just meant to be like that" and that we "have to follow and submit to authority". These are the people who live average lives, and who have no impact on ANYTHING at all. In all history - Science and Arts - it was the REBELS who revolutionized the world. From Galileo Galilei to Isaac Newton, from Miles Davis to Michael Jackson. These were the people who made history. So what's with you people telling me that I should "listen to authority because that's what we SHOULD do" and that "they are right". And pushing me to "challenge the SAF". Damn right I'll challenge the SAF to anything I feel that isn't right. I'm not a rebel without a cause, I actually use my brains, unlike you social robots who listen to whatever people who claim to be authority tell you to do.

If you haven't heard of the Milgram Experiment, do read it here. This is exactly the type of people you are. Mindless and heartless.

And lastly, it seems that people fear what they don't understand and are very quick to judge people before even knowing what is going on. I've been reading a lot of dating and social dynamics, what people think is socially unacceptable and treating women like objects. People tend to be quick to throw judgements of what THEY think it is before even knowing what it is.

A news (yes, the supposedly UNBIASED news) report caught my attention. Even these media are quick to throw in their judgement and twist the whole story to what they want it to sound like. And you think you get the truth from news. That's why I only read news from the PEOPLE and most of the time, from multiple sources.



Anyway what this video is about is a ABC reporting on a dating company, Love Systems. They think that people who join these programs are sexually-repressed nerds who are looking to manipulate women to have sex with them. There may be a minority of such cases, but they don't see the big picture. These companies are teaching men to be SOCIALLY confident, to treat women, hot or normal, as PEOPLE. Instead of putting beautiful women on pedestals and being afraid of them.

There is no magic bullet, unlike what most people may assume. These dating coaches aren't teaching lines for men to attract women, they are teaching lifestyles and building characters. Society enforces the fact that beautiful women (models and celebrities) are better than the average person, and that it is near impossible to get a woman of that caliber. The media DRILLS that into the head of every man from the second he enters the world.

What these companies are doing are breaking that mental barrier. Showing that beautiful women are just normal people and helping you smash that mindset by putting you OUT there and showing you personally that it's as easy to approach a beautiful woman as it is, a "normal person".

The reasons why they have lines is so that there is NO excuse not to approach. And the "classroom" lectures are basically just a breakdown of what people know instinctually, but cannot emulate when under the pressure. It's a lot like music. We learn music theory not to play music or to compose, but we learn music theory to understand and analyze music. But when we're playing, we're flowing from the soul.

Likewise, when they teach social dynamics, they are merely pointing out to you what goes on in a desirable interaction, but when you actually go out and have a conversation with someone, you don't actually "apply the tactics".

Social interaction is a skill set, but unfortunately people overlook this. They think they are great communicators and that they are above this. Yet they see a model and they are afraid to approach because they feel that they don't deserve someone of that social status. Even if they do, their lack of confidence kills them before they even open their mouths.

Of course there are people who are natural speakers, but not everyone is born equal. So my whole point up till here is to say this one thing: Don't be satisfied with mediocrity. Push yourselves to your limits until you actually DIE.

Of course the social-brainwashed will just brush this off as cliche, and nonsense. But whatever, the more of these kind of people in the world, the better for me too.

Major Change

With time, comes change. Everything changes over time; buildings weather, seas rise, people age. The magnitude of change varies, though. A rock cannot decide to be cut faster under a waterfall, but we as sentient beings, and further more of higher intelligence (I use this term loosely) can choose to what degree of change we bring into our lives.

People often distinguish between living and existing. What is the difference exactly? Existence basically is just "going with the flow", letting the tides push you along in life. "Whatever happens, happens" is what they usually say. People who merely exist, don't take action. They sit around and wait until everything falls into place. They take things as they come.

Living, however, requires more work. There has to be intent and action. People who merely sits and dreams of change is an idealist; people who take action without intent (goals) are lost. If you want to live, you have to develop; you have to grow, be it for better or worse.

No one said that change is always good. Sometimes people change for the worse. I read somewhere before about the 90/10 principle. Basically it's about how you "control your destiny" by controlling your reactions. Won't go into detail, more here http://harrycheese.blogspot.com/2007/11/9010-principle-good-in-theory-dumb-in.html .

Whether it's dumb in reality or really practical is entirely subjective. I tend towards the more positive side, and would agree with the person who came up with this principle. It's a good thing to live by. Anyway back to the topic on change.

As I was saying, self-improvement is necessary if you want to "live". They say the quest for knowledge is for a lifetime. While this MAY be true (who knows?), seeking knowledge for the sake of is totally redundant. What we should be seeking for is how to apply the knowledge we obtain to better ourselves. This is why for a long time, I gave up my reading habit. I realized what I was doing was just reading to know more, and as a result, often got into debates (or what most might call arguments) with people over things that even if they did matter, weren't relevant.

Strangely enough this epiphany came to me while I was in my BMT phase, and I'm glad it did. My endless pursuit of age-old philosophical arguments have come to a standstill. I know what I needed to know, but now it's what I do with that knowledge. I'm not saying I totally stopped learning, but I no longer force-feed my mind with endless pages of words that my subconscious would probably force into the archival recesses of my mind, never to be referred to again.

So, starting in baby steps, I began to make changes in my life. Some changes were bad, most were good. Bad in the sense that given a choice, I wouldn't want to make those changes. But sometimes we have to walk the road of darkness before we can really appreciate the saving grace of the light. Seek up, is what they usually say. But we have to be down before we can look towards the heavens.

But I can say, in regards to the overall picture, this change that I am aiming towards is ultimately a good thing (to me that is). Many might contest it because, frankly, it's against what most people would agree with. It's not necessarily a bad thing, because shouldn't we all be hated? If the world agrees with you, then it's likely you're doing something wrong. Anti-social or social? It's not really my concern. My concern is solely whether or not it's beneficial to me (think long-term, as in reeeeeeeeeally long-term. like eternity-long-term).

So after talking about all that nonsense, I guess you might (or not) know what I'm heading towards. What it is exactly, I will not reveal yet. In due time. But just know that it's a major change in my life. Do not worry. I'm not gonna kill myself. The new year is soon approaching. Make your resolutions, stick to it. I'm just having a head start because I need it.

There are only 2 things that are important to me: Music and Love, both of which are who God is.

Christmas is Coming

Just for verification: TR3RSEADWZCD

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It's the most wonderful time of the year and it'll come and go in a month's time. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of the year, not so much the presents and lights but the sort of atmosphere that it has even in sunny Singapore.

It makes me happy. Perhaps this year's Christmas will be different. It's gonna be a blast, I'll make sure of that.

Bigger than You

It's amazing how people tend to box themselves up within their realities. Anything that seems "out of this world" or if it messes with their reality, is thought of as "impossible" and "impractical".

We all like to dream big, but how many actually chase that dream? And how many actually stick to it? Some people work towards seemingly huge goals and give up almost upon encountering the first failures. But most, don't even try. Time travel? "Impossible". Rock star? "Not feasible". Getting that chick sitting across the room? "She's probably a slut anyway". People love to judge situations before jumping in, sometimes it's good but mostly it's counter-productive.

Judging is good if we are objective about it, if we are conscious of the situation. But what is messes the whole thing up is when we drag subjectivity into the mix, when we become self-conscious of the situation and we bring personal biases even before acting. What's even worse than that? Bringing other peoples' personal biases into the picture.

Who said you couldn't be famous? "No one, but if it were that easy everyone would be famous."

Have you tried? "Not much, I joined a few competitions before."

What happened? "No one called me back, so I didn't bother."

"Anyway what I want now is to be rich, get lots of money and perhaps then everything will fall nicely in place."

Reality check: Not everything will fall into place. Most of the things you want, you have to work for. Sometimes other people work for things and give them to you. If that's the case, be thankful but don't get complacent. Sometimes I see people get opportunities that I've worked hard to get but never gotten, and these people become lazy and complacent, often chronic procrastinators. Sometimes I get angry, but then I realize that the world is fair. People will get what's coming to them. What we get, we cannot control. But what we do with the things we get, and the consequences, is entirely up to us.

There is a story about 3 men who got a certain amount of money from their master. One had 10 talents, one 5 and another only 1. Of course, it would be unfair that each of them got different amounts. The man with only 1 talent could have complained that he didn't have enough capital to invest or that it was unfair that the other men had more than him. But his actions were what his master punished him for. He was lazy. And that's the whole point, control what is given to you. Don't be spiteful, but in all things: give thanks.

But that doesn't mean that if you work for it, you'll get it. You have to work smart, and for the right reasons. People seem to think that "being in reality" means that you have to lead a normal life - study, work, get married, have children, die.

How real is that actually? Giving up your autonomy to the system? Sure, if you just follow the masses everything will be given to you. It's true, but is living a life chosen by others (I'm not saying whether this is intentional or not, but more of social conditioning) really living a real life?

Is lack of money and opportunities a reason to give up thinking big? Opening your mind to endless possiblities? To make the "impossible" come through? If you try to move mountains by yourself, it will never happen. Because of your lack of faith in yourself and, if you believe, God. Optimism is half the battle won. I told that to a friend who is kind of a worry wart, and he laughed at me. He said if it were that easy, he would just need to be confident and he wouldn't screw up. I told him yes. That was precisely how my "test" went and I pulled through just fine. But he wouldn't take my word for it. Perhaps it has to do with his personality, but unless you are willing to reject whatever the world tells you nothing will go right for you, sadly.

I'm not putting him down, but some things just have to be said. If you think you're going to fail, you will be nervous OR not put enough effort into doing it. And anything done half-assed or done without confidence WILL fail.

If asked, most people would say that they are open-minded. But how true is that actually? If I said you could fly, would you believe me? Jesus walked on water, and so did Peter. Faith CAN move mountains, if you believe. But yet again your purpose and intention has also to be considered. If you are trying to test God, then of course nothing will happen. God has nothing to prove to you.

Opening your mind is not being vulnerable and believing everything you hear without question. On the contrary, only the closed-minded people believe everything that society, their mothers, "they" tell them. Being closed-minded is not questioning the possibility of things and coming up with conclusions and thus being vulnerable to being manipulated by people you respect or are forced to "respect".

If we are beings of higher intelligence and are autonomous? Why do we choose to give up these God-given rights? Why do we choose to be slaves to the world and give up our ability to make choices? That, I will never understand.