Life Reflections of a Life Coach

Life Reflections of
a Life Coach
Revelations from a Personal
Journal
Harish Shah
a.k.a Coach Harry

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Life Reflections of
a Life Coach
Revelations from a Personal
Journal
Harish Shah
a.k.a Coach Harry

2
Life Reflections of a Life Coach – Revelations from a Personal Journal
Copyright © 2020 by (Harish Kumar Janak Shah)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.
Published for free dissemination by Harish Kumar Janak Shah (Singapore)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harishshah

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Dedication
Firstly, I dedicate this effort to all the educators I have had the
humble honour to learn from, who believed in me and invested their
generous effort in my education. I also dedicate this effort, to my alma
mater, The University of Western Australia, where my own personal
journey of evolution truly accelerated.
Secondly, I dedicate this effort to my wife, who has put up
incredibly, throughout our marriage, to my adventurous pursuits off the
beaten tracks of life, that few persons I myself personally have known or
met, would ever have dared to steer or veer from.
Thirdly, I dedicate this effort to my children, who are my primary
source of inspiration at this time, for whom I wish this to be my legacy.
Fourthly, I dedicate this effort to the rest of my friends and family,
for having always somehow found the energies necessary, to stand by the
unpredictable divergent that I have never failed to be, at any point in my
life, or theirs where I have been involved, regardless of the situation.
And not to the least in any way, I dedicate this effort to anyone, who
will expend their time, to read and take something away from this effort
that I have made, in which I have invested a precious part of my life into,
to give away, for free of any monetary cost.

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Table of Contents
About the Author ...................................................... 6
Introduction .............................................................. 7
Namaste ................................................................... 9
Education ................................................................ 11
The Pen................................................................... 16
My choices….in my own words .............................. 20
Secularism .............................................................. 23
Racism ................................................................... 26
Righteousness ....................................................... 27
Wisdom ................................................................... 29
Being Real .............................................................. 30
A Life Reflection upon turning 36 ........................... 33
Living Life….A Reflection at 39 .............................. 35
The Conscience ..................................................... 37
Our Imperfections ................................................... 39
Time ....................................................................... 41
Success .................................................................. 45
Observing My Father’s Life .................................... 47
Parenthood & Parenting ......................................... 50
Becoming a Parent.................................................. 56
Love, Romance, Dating and Marriage .................... 73
Making Progress .................................................... 76
Fake People ........................................................... 78
Respect .................................................................. 80
Humility ................................................................... 81

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Miscellaneous Thoughts ......................................... 83
Words to a Son, from a Romantic Dad ................... 85
Resolutions I made ................................................. 87

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About the Author
Harish Shah, is a Professional Futurist cum Life Coach from
Singapore.
He has been engaged as an Opening Keynote Speaker, at major
conferences for C-Suite leaders to speak on a variety of future-oriented
topics, to address pressing contemporary issues that different industries
are faced with from time to time, and he is particularly known for the
electric energy he brings with him onto the stage.
As a Coach, Harish has had the opportunity to work with clients
from all walks of life, to help each of them to best live up to their
respective individual and personal potential. His clients have varied
widely in age, ranging from children as young as ten, to senior
professionals above sixty.
Harish graduated from The University of Western Australia, with a
Bachelor of Commerce degree, that he pursued on campus in Perth,
scoring a distinction average in each of his three declared majors;
Management, Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management.
While there is nothing he enjoys more, than to help others be well
prepared for the future, before it arrives for them, occasionally Harish
also involves himself as an actor in short films and television
docudramas.

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Introduction
After completing and releasing my first self-help eBook, Evolve, in
the first half of 2020, which was a culmination of my experience as a
Life Coach, I found myself in reflection mode. And as I reflected upon
what I had done with my first eBook writing effort, I realised that
something had been omitted therein. Something was missing. Perhaps,
because I could not have thought of a way to include it, to be honest with
myself.
As a Life Coach, clients come looking for me, seeking me out, when
they get stuck on life’s directions and meanings. I am sought, to be a
trusted listening ear, a confidante and an advisor, when a person is in a
dilemma, a state of confusion or just needs an alternative living mind to
bounce ideas off for clarity. Part and parcel of the job, is to make
suggestions, for better or clearer thinking.
Yet, how does a Life Coach think? It is a valid primary question on
the minds of folks who would engage any Life Coach, whether the
question is actually asked or not. A secondary question in tandem would
be, how does a Life Coach perceive life? These are questions that I never
answered in Evolve. And I think it is fair, that I share the answers to
those questions, to whomever, that would be interested out there.
With this eBook, I am opening my own thought train and thought
processes, for anyone who will spend time to read it. Not all Life
Coaches may think alike or similarly. Yet, because we live as we think, a
peek into the thought train and thinking patterns of a Life Coach, may be
of some use, to someone out there, to frame his or her own perception of
life, and the experiences therein, while moving forth.
Throughout my adult life thus far, I have maintained a habit of
“logging” my life, in one way or another. This includes “logging” my
thoughts. A lot of what you will find herein this eBook, for which there
is no preface, is known about the way I think, to my friends and family.
Without chapters or sections, I am sharing my selected reflective
thoughts, from my own personal journal, for you to read, think about,

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weigh or critique. And to do with them, what you may, to benefit
yourself.
What I present herein this eBook, are my internal conversations, my
epiphanies and quotes to myself, from over the years, that have been
fairly accessible to those closely related to me, and privy to details of my
life, and musings.
My thoughts, my internal self-talks or conversations with myself, are
influenced and shaped, by my own life experiences, including journeys
through extensive, voracious readings, explorations and learnings. It is
the thoughts as you will find herein this book, that make up my mindset
and mental model, which I bring to any table, with any client, as a Life
Coach.
A lot of what you read herein, will sound or look like it is “advice”
or “telling” aimed at someone other than myself. However, that is how
self-talk happens within my mind, for me. That is how my own inner
musings happen, which I then tend to log in my journals, as they come to
my mind.
This is a very short and crisp eBook, as was Evolve, because being a
compilation, of reflections about life, it had to be so. The best of my
friends have told me, at various points in time, that life is as complicated
as we make it. As a Life Coach, I have tried to simplify life situations for
others. In my own life, I have tried to keep things simple. And hence,
much of what you find ahead in this eBook to the last page might seem
pretty simplistic. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, you decide,
for yourself.
Also, in this eBook somewhere, I have included an open letter, that I
penned for my daughter, days after her birth, for it is a reflection of me
as a father, and therefore, it is a reflection of me as the person, that my
thoughts constitute me to be.
After this introduction, for anyone who chooses to read on, I open
my mind, to you. Namaste.

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Namaste
Namaste, came into renewed spotlight and attention globally, in
2020, as a response to the pandemic conditions of Covid-19, where
global leaders and influencers started to lead by example, in greeting
others using the method.
Even without and long before any pandemic circumstance, Namaste
has been used as a greeting, to maintain, express and exercise respect in
an optimal manner.
When I greet you with a namaste, I am protecting you, from
whatever I may be carrying, without being aware of it possibly, that I
may not yet have been tested or diagnosed for, that could otherwise
spread to you, from me, if I were to touch you.
At the same time, I am protecting others that are either around me or
will be around me, by not taking upon me, what you may be carrying,
without your knowledge, for you may not yet have been tested or
diagnosed for it.
The idea and concept of avoiding transfer of disease or negativity is
not new. It was the very reason why namaste was constructed as a
greeting, in the way it was, millennia ago.
At the same time, when I greet you with a namaste, I am not
invoking or evoking, God, or religion, or doctrine, or dogma, or
superstition, or my personal beliefs, to do with faith or religion or
subscription of perceptions to do with divinity, in any way. The Sanskrit
term namaste to describe the greeting, in its form with two hands put
together close to the chest or above, in itself has no religious or spiritual
connotation, implication, reference or association. Therefore, I am not
asserting to you or imposing upon you, any spiritual or religious concept,
whatsoever, meaning that, the greeting is completely secular and
libertarian, maintaining your liberty, and respect for it at utmost levels,
along with my own liberty. It has therefore the same meaning for any
person of any religious or spiritual thought, subscription or belief,
including a non-believer, an agnostic or an atheist.

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That the hands are put together at heart level or above, whether or
not the head is bowed or tilted, humility is expressed, implying, I am
coming from a place devoid of ego or arrogance.
While namaste is a Sanskrit word, it has been practiced across
cultures around the world, east or west, also for millennia. The Thai
word for it, for example, is Sawadika. The meaning, message and
purpose, everywhere in the world, is the same though, whatever the
name, for the form of greeting.
My point? The above explanation is not necessary, even if some of
the details mentioned above are not known, for people who are educated.
And to the uneducated mind, even all of the above, or any part of it, will
not make sense. And even if it makes sense, an uneducated mind, can
choose to not believe or buy into the truths of a simple, innocent
greeting, such as, namaste. And that is the difference between education,
and the lack of it. And there, in that difference, lies the importance of
education.
An educated mind is rational, pragmatic, reasonable. An educated
mind, is not dogmatic. An educated mind, finds balance between
spiritual trajectory, and secular society. It is not in a certificate or a piece
of paper. Education lies in an individual’s ability to live with the truth.
But truth is subjective - the symptom of poor education of minds,
and therefore unevolved minds.

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Education
Education, was never originally, in any geography or culture, meant
to be an instrument, an apparatus, a system, a pipeline, for preparing
labour, for economy, industry, commerce or the world of work in any
sense.
The Sentinelese are the most isolated tribe on earth, possessing no
concept of modernity or formal systems. They definitely have no system
of schooling or learning. And yet for tens of millennia, on a remote,
inaccessible and isolated Indian Ocean island, they have survived,
without education, finding and gathering food, consuming it, fending off
the threats of the elements and environment with their primitive
uneducated ways. Just the same way, in any other geographic society on
earth, education has never been needed for people to earn money, put
food into their stomachs, and to clothe their children.
And in all practical honesty, all politics, propaganda and subjective
beliefs aside, education will never be a requirement for people to
continue to make a living off their own labour devoid of educational
foundation. So much for the value or importance for education. Right?
Wrong! Absolutely wrong!
One of the most dynamic creators of commerce and opportunities of
commerce in the history of humanity, Sir Richard Branson, barely has
any basic education to show or speak of. It is another matter that without
surviving the basic stages of formal education, the billionaire serial
entrepreneur extraordinaire has a higher degree of knowledge and
intelligence than most people who have earned the highest degrees
possible, from the best institutions of advanced learning that there are,
across every field of study that exists. What is the qualification or
achievement of the last person you heard saying that education is not
important or education is not everything? That is an important question
to ask anyone who makes a statement undermining education’s value
Can you quote someone purely from the private sector like Mark
Zuckerberg or Bill Gates as such? That is an important secondary
question, to very precisely pin the thought train of a person undermining

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education’s value. The outcome of such questioning, will certainly leave
little room for doubt on the subject.
The most successful people one can think of, in contemporary times,
who have themselves never completed a college or university
programme that confers a scroll, such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark
Zuckerberg and Sir Richard Branson, throughout their careers, have been
very selective, particular and insistent, about the sort of higher degrees
candidates bring with them, from a select list of top varsities, to qualify
for jobs, in particular positions above a certain level of seniority or
function, in their own respective enterprises. That is how such persons
will always continue to value, cherish and respect education, in its formal
form, as far ahead into the future, as we may logically foresee.
Still, billionaires or multi-millionaires can be self-made without
education. Absolutely. Money, a living, a home, can be made without
education. Absolutely. That is not the point. Back to the top, education
was never meant to train people to make a living. That was never its
original purpose. The question is, is that original purpose, whatever it
always was initially, still fulfilled today? And if so, what is the value of
that fulfilled purpose today?
The purpose of education has always been to bestow literacy. The
ability to properly speak, comprehend, read and write. The ability to
calculate, analyse, and weigh options, independently, with pure
objectivity. The ability to think credibly and converse credibly. The
ability to express thought, meaningfully, purposefully and constructively.
The more one is educated, the more one is responsibly,
conscientiously, respectfully, humbly, constructively and productively,
independent and self-sufficient.
The lack of education coupled with the failure to appreciate what it
has to offer, has lead people to bring certain species of wildlife, from
certain geographies, into direct human contact, in ways that should have
been avoided, and that has triggered the great Covid-19 pandemic of the
year 2020. More likely than not, that is the root cause, that is going to be
very difficult through the course of time, to objectively, scientifically
deny. That same sort of lack, in education, or respect for education, has

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triggered every pandemic, or sustained one, since the start of the 21st
century.
Thousands of years ago, from the Eastern ends of China, to the
Western edges of the Roman and Greek empires, schools and
universities, and libraries, which were then institutions of learning rather
than just places to store shelves with binary texts, were in existence. And
those institutions were about collecting and sharing knowledge of what
exists. They were about noetics. They were about epistemology. They
were about methods of thinking. They were about meaning. Universally
so. Across every culture and geography. Without exception.
Today, it is sad, that not only is education thought of as a filtration
system, and a tool for artificial societal engineering, in significant parts
by means of pivoted indoctrination, in many countries, it is very even
designed to be just as much, and no more than that. An absolute tragic
waste.
Sure, if someone who has not successfully passed out of medical
school comes offering me health advice, I will have very choice words
for responding to such a person, as should anyone. I would not go to an
engineer to seek advice on my legal rights, nor should anyone. There is
no finite limit out there in life, to how much there is to know. And
education serves the purpose of ensuring, that what is already within
reach that needs to be known, is known to persons, that can make
constructive use of it. And because there is so much, well more, than
possible for one person to be able to learn, let alone apply, in a lifetime,
there comes a progressive stage in education, where and when,
individuals with the best suited preferences of thought, stream
themselves, into their preferred streams of knowledge, to productively
learn in those respective streams of knowledge with adequate focus. Yet,
to a large extent, this reality has been co-opted as a front, an excuse, a
manipulative lie, to construct, and justify, artificial societal engineering,
that does not necessarily always serve the greater collective good of all
humanity for the longer term, by stifling minds with different abilities,
manipulating them to falsely believe themselves to be less competent
than others around them.

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Yet, somehow, even today, wherever education is delivered, where it
can be accessed, by anyone, education still, even if inadvertently
depending on where, serves the function of enabling and empowering,
with literacy, and it still serves to enable and empower the elevation of
minds, by enabling objective constructive thought.
The more one goes through education, the more the rigor of learning
the individual endures, the more seasoned the mind becomes, in its
ability to decipher and construct. And that leads to the mind becoming
more able to see through the fogs of ignorance, subjectivity, fallacies,
falsities, untruths, irrationality, corruption, decadence, biases, prejudice,
superstitions and dogma, that surround.
It is another matter, that really intelligent individuals, have worked
themselves through the highest degrees of education, to climb to helms
of governments and commercial enterprises, only to abandon then, the
truly meritorious gains from the process of education, to then engage in
satisfying primitive desires, all stemming from greed, that has triggered
the latest climate change process, that has led to human rights violations,
that has led to extinctions of life forms and that has led to the destruction
of communities.
Yet for as long as education continues to be held sacred by some
segments of humanity, worshiped and even practiced as a religion, by the
rationalist spiritualists for example, there remains hope, that education
can yet be relied upon, and utilised, to maintain the preservation of the
human species. And that is precisely, what each individual as well as the
collective of all humanity stands to gain, from the acquisition of proper
knowledge, through adequate education. The more education therefore,
of any individual therein that collective, the better, for everyone else.
So then what is the value of education? For humanity, for the human
form, the human life, education is, everything. This can never be
overstated. It is the most precious treasure and wealth, even if one who
acquires more of it than most, somehow ends up financially poorer than
most - for that sometimes happens, and that is fine. Some say, there is no
higher religion than love or humanity. It takes education though, to truly
understand the magnitude, of the power, that humanity is, and the power

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that love is. I am convinced therefore, that there is no higher religion or
form of worship, than education, for education makes good righteous
minds, and therefore good righteous people, who'd be the custodians of
values, upon which planes are not crashed into buildings, but rather upon
which, the existence of the human species is sustained, preserved and
prolonged effectively.
Regardless what anyone says, I believe education empowers the
mind, giving one purpose and life meaning, especially if that education is
of quality, allowing the student to explore, enquire, freely investigate,
discover, express, grow, debate, tinker, experiment and envision.
When I say education empowers, I mean it gives power to the mind,
to conceive, conceptualise, plan and strategize. Most importantly, it gives
the mind the power to create. At the same time, while empowering,
education humbles. Through learning we realise the limits of it and
therefore the limits of how much we can know out of so much there is.
Education makes us more human. It makes us better human.
A degree is not a testament to one's competency for a job. A degree
is a testament to one's self, that that much in a subject, one is prepared to
commence learning from that point on, through the rest of life. And that
is why, education is and must forever remain, sacred for all mankind.
I have a Bachelor's degree from a top university. Am I necessarily
more qualified, capable and intelligent than others my age around the
world who due to circumstances, lack of resources or lack of access
could never go to university or even to school? I never had a chance to
pursue post-graduate education, up until today, due to an array of
reasons. Am I necessarily less qualified, capable and intelligent, than
anyone who does have a Master's Degree or a PhD? These questions are
important to ask, for a start, to lead ourselves to very important questions
pertaining to society, humanity, social justice, equality and life. It seems
at the end of the day, we are only the results of the opportunities that
were either handed to us or that we managed to win through our
struggles, that not everyone had a fair or equal chance at. For
explanations, the words "luck" and "fate" are inadequate, and unjust.

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The Pen
There are very complex subjects to learn about, in the human
experience, to understand existence, its functioning, its rules, its
directions, and to build, for progress, for prosperity, for happiness, and so
on.
There are subjects like systems thinking, design thinking,
aerodynamics, quantum mechanics and so on and so forth. Not easy stuff
to learn or talk about.
Even individuals, who barely know just a tad little bit, to an
insignificant extent, about relatively much easier subjects and concepts,
are susceptible to think of themselves as the smartest in the room, if not
in the species, for that little problem, which is not that little at all really,
called the ego.
Whatever one's assessment of one's self, whether beneficial or
destructive, one basic fact needs to be conceded and acknowledged - that
nobody is incompetent. Nobody is imperfect, but nobody is incompetent
either.
Nature, in itself is a system, and everything we perceive within the
human experience, is constructed by nature, and nature has designed
nothing in existence, without purpose, and that includes the human mind,
of each individual human being. Off course, it takes Higher-Order
Thinking to recognise, acknowledge and live with appreciation of this
truth about nature, and its output in the form of human mind capacities
within each human being. An order of thinking not possible to trigger,
without some very deep, extensive and sound, self-exploratory
education. Nonetheless, if nature does not produce anything without
purpose, we need to acknowledge, that it creates no mind, one that is
functioning, without purpose, and therefore, no individual is
incompetent, truly.
Yet, not every individual human being, finds useful, productive ends
to his or her competence. It must be conceded, that a very significant
proportion of human beings, throughout the human story, have never
been availed fair opportunities, to sufficiently utilise their competence in

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the best of ways. And then for others, of course, the ego gets in the way,
for want of more grandiose ideas of one's own image, wasting one's
actual true potential, for what one can actually truly do, with greater
conscious self-awareness, and humble acknowledgement, of one's
optimal abilities that are inherent, and more real than imagined.
Interestingly enough, the ones who are truly self-aware, and
conscious of their individual abilities as well as limitations devoid of any
influence of an ego, achieve constructive ends, more often than not with
the use and application of very complex subject areas of knowledge no
doubt, but yet they tend to do so, with reliance upon the most basic of
skills and competencies. Basic, in the sense that they are skills and
competencies, that are strengths equally at the disposal of all human
beings, virtually, to develop and tap upon, for as easy as they are to
master and build up. The wisest, the most intelligent, the most creative,
the most inventive, utilise those most basic skills and competencies, to
extents, that most others would take for granted. And those skills and
competencies, are tied to the simple, humble, pen.
Human ancestors have declared, and that declaration has been
standing true, for millennia, that the pen is mightier than the sword. It is
a declaration that is incomplete though, for the reason of that conclusion
is not explained. Let this be debated if it can be debated - the pen is
mightier than the sword, because the sword can take existing lives, while
the pen can facilitate the birth of countless lives over generations,
starting with generations far ahead in time, beyond the contemporary
generation, of the holder of the pen. If one is intellectually capable of
contemplating this reality, one can appreciate and imagine, that there'd be
little else out there in infinite existence, more powerful than that.
If described in a spiritual context, the sword is the base tool, of
death, while the pen, is the esteemed instrument, of Divine God.
One imagines, that anyone who passes through kindergarten, learns
to write, and is therefore capable of reading. And if one can read and
write, one can speak. So, those most basic skills and competencies of
human beings are covered, and the matter rests there. However, consider
this, that the one who truly masters the craft of the pen, becomes a master

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communicator in writing and speech. He or she has the prowess of the
logically sound debater. He is or she is capable of finding ways to
understand what he or she gets stuck with, when reading. One who truly
masters the pen, no longer requires any further formal education of any
form, for that individual becomes capable of self-teaching anything that
can be taught at any university, anywhere, without ever attending any
university anywhere, for the bookshop or the library should suffice for
self-teaching.
When one masters the pen, one is capable of writing that is educated,
and speech that is educated. And with that, the master of the pen, is able
at adequate translation of thought into comprehensible words, in a logical
comprehensible manner, for straightforward comprehension by someone
else, who can benefit from that thought.
Education leads to certificates, diplomas and degrees. It does not
have to. There can be no greater education, than exceptional mastery of
the pen. And that is just an example to justify, the first sentence in this
paragraph here.
With exceptional mastery of the pen, persons like Bill Gates and
Mark Zuckerberg were able to acquire on their own, before getting to
university, knowledge in their preferred subject matter areas to the
extent, that they were more competent at those subjects, than any faculty
member anywhere, past, present or foreseeable future, in those subject
areas, and therefore could justifiable see no purposeful point in
completing the degree programmes they were enrolled in.
With mastery of the pen, a Steve Jobs dropping out from university
for the cost burden upon his parents, was still able to continue his own
education independently, by floating around across diverse subject areas,
to start a series of ground-breaking and game changing enterprises, that
have played significant roles in defining the human experience for
billions of human beings in his wake.
No matter how much one knows and understands about astrophysics,
biochemistry and seismology, what good is any knowledge, or any
competency, if it is not useful to another human being, or to the human
society in general? And any individual's competency or knowledge

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within himself or herself, is only as useful, to society, or any other
individual, as his or her oratorical prowess, or the ability to essay thought
into writing.
Therefore, for such a reason, am I egoistic, or am I arrogant, or am I
ignorant, to think, that any person, with a long string of skills certificates,
a whole folder full of degrees, or a resume reflecting a long list of the
world's top universities, attended, for graduation from the toughest of
courses, is only truly as educated, as is the manner in which he or she is
able to oratorically present himself or herself, whether at a rostrum, or in
a conversation? Am I wrong to conclude, that real education, should only
be judged, by logic presented, and clearly apparent to see, in one's
written essays?
Afterall, we celebrate the likes of Einstein and Newton today, for
what they wrote, for generations after to learn from and build upon. And
that tradition, has contributed to our evolution, against the otherwise
overwhelming current of pressures, towards devolution.

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My choices….in my own words
What are we here for? This human life, what are we in it for?
1. Be born.
2. Learn to crawl, then walk, and then talk, and run, eat on your own,
and get potty trained.
3. At 4 years generally, roughly, start kindergarten to learn counting,
reading, writing.
4. At 7 begin basic education which takes you through most of your
teens. Work hard to qualify for further studies. Homework, tuitions,
enrichment classes.
5. Go through higher education and by the time you are done, you
are past 21 generally.
6. Get some additional certifications, often learning stuff you learnt
far more than at university, to financially enrich the licensed provider or
programme franchisee, to superficially satisfy prospective employers.
7. Chase a first job. Possibly, if you are unlucky enough, work for an
idiot who is your boss because he or she got there first, and make him or
her coffee, laugh at his or her stupid jokes at meetings, do unpaid
overtime every day to do that boss's job for that boss, for a couple of
years, in hope for a promotion, that just might never come.
8. Wake up, go to work, go home, next day repeat. When there is a
clearance sale, burn your weekend there for discount office wear. You
need to save for that wedding and marital home.
9. Every couple of years "invest" hard earned, hard saved money for
learning new skills to remain employable.
10. In mid-to-late 20s or early 30s when enough is in the bank, get
married and feed folks, many of whom you are related to but have never
seen in your life before, and some, you will never see again, though they
will live long lives. Basically, you spend a fortune.
11. What remains in savings after wedding, you put it all in a down
payment for a home. Take loans for the rest, for renovation, for furniture
and appliances.

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12. Slog for the next 30 years in jobs, sometimes with the great luck
of great colleagues and bosses, sometimes with the terrible luck of
having to put up with real terrible folks all around, to settle your debts.
13. Along the way you have kids, each of whose education is going
to cost 6-10 times more than what your own education had cost. So, you
start investing.
14. Each time you lose your job, you get paranoid about financial
balance, and start paying doctor's bills for physical manifestations of
what your emotions are doing to you.
15. Each year, besides investing for your kids' education, you spend
money, and precious time away from work at courses you don't know
will benefit your job security or prospects for sure.
16. By the time all is done, your hair is all silver, teeth are falling,
eyesight is weak, you can't remember stuff, the knees hurt. You are
lucky, that you are alive.
17. Then you die.
Is such a life worth living? Especially when you know, that if you
live as such, surely, so will your children, and then their children, and
theirs.
When we were in school, when we were in university, did we look
forward to such a life? When we were children, is this what we dreamed
of?
I broke away. I chose for myself a different path. I could not do the
above routine, for a lifetime. Yes, huge risks come with the choice I
made. It is not a safe decision. If I die, it will be once. At least I will live
a little.
I needed to dream. I needed think and to write my thoughts. I needed
to act in front of the camera, even if you never saw me on TV, or even if
nobody will ever remember. I needed adventure. I needed to read, and
explore history. I needed to envision the future, and do something about
it. I needed debates for deep entertainment. I needed to do things that are
different and not routine. I needed to enjoy my home that is going to take
so much of me to maintain and my family, which is not a boardgame of a
process to build. I needed to see my children. I needed to be a present

22
father. I did not want to bring life into this world, to be raised by other
people.
I needed freedom.
I did not want to live part-time.
I never need to feel like the smartest person in the room, nor will I
ever. I just needed to be sure, that I’d be making an impact while I am
here, in this physical biological body, no matter how minute, that will
make a lasting impact, that will last longer, than the span of my life, in
my wake. Even if it makes no greater a difference, than to just one other
life out there, other than my own.
I could settle on living as a number, a statistic, an option. Someone
or something indispensable, is not something I wanted to spend my life
being.
I could not let my life’s worth be determined by someone else.
I picked my path.

23
Secularism
Secularism is composed of a number of things, to appreciate which,
we must first know what it definitely is not. Secularism is not atheism or
agnosticism. Secularism, is not the rejection of the concept of God or an
object of worship. Secularism is not against any religion. Nor is it against
atheism, agnosticism or any form of rejection of worship or rejection of
belief in divinity.
Secularism, is the freedom for one to believe and to not believe,
freely, completely so. Secularism is the embodiment of "each to his/her
own".
Secularism is not inter-faith tolerance, or tolerance of faith or non-
faith. Secularism is humble acceptance and outright, overt and explicit
acceptance, that each is entitled to one's chosen path, where none has the
right to think one path as more or less than another. Secularism is where
one chooses what he or she finds comfort, solace and conviction in, and
then, to therein stick to it, without ill will or intention of detriment or
condescension of or towards another.
Secularism operates within the same belief systems, within and
between similar belief systems, and between systems that are
significantly different.
Secularism is not an ideology. Secularism is not politics. Secularism,
is a social mindset, where one freely chooses one's own spiritual,
religious or other convictions, sticks to them without harm to others, or
involvement of others, keeping that set of convictions intimate, divorced
from one's conduct and attitudes in common space. It is where your
beliefs are yours, you are free to practice them as you please, express
them as you please, without imposing onto or upon another, or hurting
another, in any manner, by limiting them to yourself. It is not about
appeasing or placating others. It is having neutrality for and towards all
others, in complete totality without question, condition or exception.
The laws of nature are determined by nature itself. And it is nature,
that at the root, creates everything. Nature is not a prerogative of any one
individual or species or group. When man becomes enemy of man, even

24
if subtly, along lines of thoughts of superiority, emerging from non-
secular thought, or attitude, or approach, even nature has its limits.
Nature does not punish or respond or react. It has systems in place,
for harmonious existence. When one system collapses, nature gives way,
to unanticipated chain reactions triggered by the collapse, without nature
itself reacting as a whole.
When people got into proximity with creatures within nature, and
consumed them in certain ways, they got infected with a virus, which
spread to become a pandemic. Covid-19. Yes, it has nothing to do with
secularism, but it is an example, of a system in nature, giving way upon
collapse.
If you respect not nature’s primary laws, its laws are no longer
applicable to you. A fundamental law of nature, is the universal right to
existence. Harbouring non-secular or anti-secular thought even if
unspoken in the depths of the conscience, is an invitation, for nature to
depart, from its responsibility for you, as such a thought, is
fundamentally, a challenge, to the universal right, of existence, of
another, even if in the mind, serving as a potential threat to lives in time.
Every time humanity has departed from secularism, the results have
been horrendous.
Secularism, is not the absence of practices or symbols of belief
systems from sight. In fact, where secularism thrives, you may more
likely see them all around you all the time. And that is because, the
existence of those practices and symbols don’t matter.
Yet at the same time, the presence of practices and symbols of belief
systems do not come into sight, in any common or public or societal
space, where secularism is a reality, as flags or emblems marking their
presence, to represent them, to demand a recognition, or to send
messages of any sort, whether to believers or non-believers alike. Where
secularism is a reality, religious sights and sounds ought to be
experienced, because of the presence of individuals practicing them for
their own respective personal individual selves, as a personal right, to
practice them naturally, without an external or worldly or social or
ideological agenda, rather than being seen, heard or experienced, for that

25
intention somewhere, direct or indirect, pronounced or veiled, to
deliberately encroach either upon public space, or upon the space of
another group or individual. They simply come into sight or earshot,
because there are people, simply going about their own believes, for their
own individual selves, without having to fear the view or scrutiny of
another, and without being a threat to another.
Being an Autodidact and a Universalist at the same time, I have had
the rare privilege to independently explore literature on all of the world’s
major religions, without bias or prejudice, and most importantly, without
a mind prone to subjectivity. And by doing so, while I never became a
master or an expert at religions or religious studies, I did manage to
objectively deduce and conclude, that no major religion of our world
today, is in and of itself, by nature or at its core, non-secular or anti-
secular in what it prescribes, promotes or espouses. It is always non-
secular or anti-secular people, whether individuals or groups of
individuals, that deliberately hijack and manipulate elements of religion,
to further their own vested agendas, by promoting anti-secular or non-
secular thoughts, behaviours and conducts.
If people limit their own individual associations with or subscriptions
to their respective religions, to the relationship between their individual
selves and God, rather, than about bringing others to the banners of their
religions, we’ll all be just fine.

26
Racism
As a child, I grew up with other kids around at school or at the
playground, of my age, who always had comments, opinions,
expressions or something to laugh about, when encountering glimpses of
other cultures or beliefs, that were always degrading, condescending and
inaccurately stereotyping.
We never learnt such things in school. I couldn't think of such things
because I never got anything as such from television or from my family.
In hindsight now, I realise those kids got their "knowledge" about others,
which strangely they found funny, exclusively, probably from their
parents, who probably did not know or understand other cultures or
belief systems, just as probably, as they did not their own. And they were
probably raising their children based on their wills, driven by
insecurities, that their children may embrace something beyond their
understanding. So, they were raising their children, with hatred or
prejudice, as a defence mechanism, to preserve the incomplete
knowledge by which they justified their own existence. People are not
born bigots; they are raised this way.
Every time I see statements like the one below, such things come to
mind, because the problem appears to be far more ancient than the days
of my childhood. And the problem still persists, apparent around me.
Lack of education does not produce an animal. Lack of proper
education does. That is how you get terrorists, tyrants, bigots, etc. Less
education is not the problem. Inaccurate or misguided education is.
Even today, the formal education system teaches children to read and
count. It does not teach them yet, to first be humans and identify as
humans.

27
Righteousness
Righteousness, by its very nature, should be selfless, as in, unselfish,
without being self-motivated or reward-oriented.
If we were all righteous, everything would be just fine.
No wars, no terrorism, no corruption, no environmental destruction,
no climate change, no crime, no racism, no divisions, no dishonesty, no
distrust.
Cowards are not driven by fear, but malice they need to hide. Malice
and righteousness cannot coexist in the same place, at the same time.
The corrupt are not driven by greed for status, image, power, wealth
or material as much as they are by selfishness which cannot coexist with
righteousness, at the same place, at the same time.
It is where righteousness prevails, that the ability to either be unjust
or remain blind to injustice being committed by others, becomes
impossible.
Today, many will raise their hands if you so ask, to fund and expend
effort, for the distribution of free meals for the poor. Tomorrow those
same folks will continue to engage in practices, conduct or decisions,
thanks to which such poverty, where food is not guaranteed for someone
at affordable price, exists and persists. When confronted with the reality
they will blame the concept of destiny and the cycle of karma. That is the
absence of true righteousness.
While morality is relative, to time, place, circumstances, culture,
societal norms, perceptions and so on, righteousness is linear, fixed,
universal and timeless.
Giving way to an elder person in the queue at the supermarket when
you don't have to, is an example of righteousness. Not taking or
accepting what is not rightfully yours is another example.
It is from righteousness that a human being becomes a pacifist; one
who refrains or desist not just from physical violence but any act through
which another human, any animal or plant is harmed in any way. It will
be in the complete pacifist state of human civilisation, wherein which
weapons, militaries, enforcement systems and laws will become

28
absolutely redundant, obsolete and irrelevant, and nobody will complain
of their absence. Not something we may achieve in our lifetimes, but
something worth aspiring for our descendants not too far from us.
The first task is to define and understand the meaning and the idea of
righteousness. Then the next task is not to spread that idea of
righteousness itself, but rather, to spread the layer of idea, that the idea of
righteousness needs to be spread. This, so that the act of spreading the
idea of righteousness can persist into perpetuity.
When the benefits are reaped, of the idea of righteousness having
continually been spread, and entire generations are converted to thinking,
speaking and acting upon righteousness over everything else, we shall
need to neither fear anything on this earth nor aspire for a paradise
beyond it.
Easy is nothing, for even eating requires the effort to at least chew
and swallow. Impossible it is not, to attain the highest ends for humanity,
if we are willing enough to begin cleansing ourselves with the truth. And
if all of us begin to try, surely, somebody, somewhere, somehow, will
succeed.
All that you accumulate will diminish, disintegrate or evaporate,
except your selfless deeds of righteousness.
We become not better at life, with the use of sweet words, gentle
tone in speech or display of etiquette in our movements and gestures. We
become better at life, by being non-corrupt, in thought, in sentiment, in
intentions. We become better at life, by means of unconditional love.
We become better at life, by speaking only the truth, with righteous
intentions. We become better at life, by taking only that which we
deserve. We become better, only through selfless righteousness, in all
that we think, say and do.

29
Wisdom
What is wisdom? It is the ability to make sensible decisions and
acting righteously. What does that mean? To me, it means the ability to
be righteous in thought, words and deeds.
For the quest and acquisition of wisdom therefore, an intrinsically
inherent righteousness permeating the heart and soul is necessary. That
in turn requires the heart, to be in the right place. In other words, you
need to be a good person to be worthy of wisdom, for the purpose of
wisdom, is good action.
Now, who is a good person? It begins in the heart rather than the
mind. While the mind is the seat of thought, the heart is the place from
which love originates. And, that is what needs to be in there. Love, that
leads to good thoughts.
Love makes a person good.
Your heart isn't a place of love. surely or with certainty, just because
you have a spouse and kids. That is procreation. Relationships even of
blood can be transactional. Therefore, they don't constitute proof of love.
Love is when you have pure good feelings towards others, devoid of
expectations, conditions and self-interest. When those feelings emerge
and are sustained naturally, without effort, within, you are there.
Those pure feelings translate into good wishes, intentions, care,
service, towards others, selflessly.
The question is, how does one get there? Is it possible to get another
there?
Wisdom is when you understand the power of blessings.

30
Being Real
I am not here to win hearts. That will require me to learn to pull my
cheeks back to stretch apart my lips, showing gritted teeth and forcing
my eyes to squint. It will also require me to sugar-coat my words and tell
lies so that others hear from me what they want to hear. Even then, my
chances will depend on their connections with their own hearts. Utter
nonsense, is what I think of it. I am not wasting my life being fake like
that.
Yesterday, early morning, at the supermarket, two ladies old enough
to be my grandmothers walked by me heading to join the queue behind
me for payment. The priority counter for seniors was closed. I stopped
them both and had them go ahead of me. They were hesitant initially, but
stepped ahead, thanking me. I didn't care what the couple of folks
standing behind me in the queue thought or felt. Should I? My heart told
me that I should respect the two old women, and letting them ahead of
me was that respect, I did it.
So, I am not here to win hearts. I listen to my heart. I do what it tells
me is right. I am not about associations, logos, badges, colours, societies,
titles, philosophies and such. I am about, what is right and true. I see an
old lady crossing a road pushing a shopping trolley, I take over. I don't
change my tone when I talk to someone. I am only patient with
something till it doesn't annoy me. I respect what is respectable.
My thoughts, attitude, beliefs, opinions and values are not for sale, at
any price. You cannot corrupt me. You cannot intimidate me into
changing my stance or position. If it is right, I am with it. If it is wrong, I
will never support it or be a part of it.
I have my beliefs. I am at peace.
I wake up with a new face every day. Every face I have ever woken
up with though, has been my own, it has been real, not a layer, not a
mask.
I have never learnt to smile, because I have never had to fake one.

31
Human too, I have been capable of emotions, including anger. And
really, anyone who may think they have a temper or that they can do
stuff out of anger, the demon I have known myself to be, and how that
demon can operate as a result of that anger, is something that best
remains a mystery.
Anyone's feelings towards me, are not my problem. Those feelings
aren't in me. This does not mean that I am not human. It doesn't mean
that I don't experience anger or even hate. I have learnt to manage and
also harness my emotions. Can't always. I do break. I am imperfectly
human still. I can control my actions, but not the actions of others
towards me, that could or would be of an offensive or threatening nature,
in response to which I cannot imagine, pretend or act as if I am
indestructible or invincible.
Yet in circumstances that would lead other humans to either run or
commit suicide, I have made resolutions to flip the coin. Resolutions
such as, those who have wished me dead, will celebrate my birth and
seek my longevity. And those resolutions drive me incredibly, in
indescribable ways.
I see the value of time, for it is always insufficient for love.
Humility was the day when I killed my ego. You become humble
just once, if you can ever truly understand the concept of humility. Then
you remain there, permanently.
I pray. I love. I wish all well. I meditate. I help whom I can. I heal
whom I can. I serve what good purpose I can. And if I can't, not my
burden, worry or concern, because I must acknowledge my limitations,
of being an imperfect human being like any other.
What I do, I do it with intention to do it right.
I am no psychic, and definitely do not wish to be. I am no magician.
I don't read minds. I do read intentions. And yet I smile at everyone.
Good intentions, great. If they are not good, they are not my intentions, I
have my own conscience to live with.
All my life, I have never tried or cared to fit in. Never desired to. I
have always been just me. That has always been everything for me.

32
Being me. Whether anyone accepts me, rejects me, loves me, hates the
thought of me, my concern has been being me.
I cannot be defined by opinions, thoughts, impressions, perceptions
or perspectives of anyone, but me. I can only live as my conscience tells
me.
I don't try to stand apart or stand out. I don't try to be different. I just
don't try to fit in, be like others or the rest, because that is not what will
allow me to be happy.
Standing out, standing apart, being unique, happens with me
naturally. That is just what I am. So is everyone else, but I just refuse to
supress, repress or go against my nature. One thing I have in common
with John Lennon, is that we both wanted grow up to be happy, and I
know I did.
Let never a smile onto your face, that would cause your eyes to
shrink or squint. Believe it or not, it will reveal to any fool, it's falsity.
However you brand yourself, the best way to capitalise on it, is to
maintain yourself as an honest, sincere and righteous human being.
Work so hard at being the good guy, that if you were to go up onto a
stage and tell the audience that you are the bad guy, you would draw
unstoppable and hysterical laughter, from everyone in attendance.

33
A Life Reflection upon turning 36
No longer a youth, oh farewell, and hello, maturity? Between points
in time when I was 18 and 21, I used to staunchly believe, that life
should be a picnic. No remorse, no regrets. No stresses. No burdens. No
rules. Just, laughter, fun and games.
Life has taught me some very very tough lessons. And I was born, I
suppose, with the habit of learning things, only in the hardest of ways. I
look back at my youth and childhood and I can honestly say touching my
heart, I have probably made more mistakes than any other individual, I
have met in person, in this life so far. And when I make a mistake, any
mistake, ever, it always has to be, oh boy, big time, massive. And at the
end of all that, I am 36. Well, survived this far. Life is the biggest of
traitors, for you never know when it will quietly slip away, all of a
sudden, without warning. There is no guarantee, it sticks with you to that
point when you can be accorded with the title of "Senior Citizen". So,
well, thank you, dear life, for letting me see 36, and the end of youth, as I
see it.
There is much that was in my control, that I regret. And there is
much that wasn't in my control, that I regret. I guess, that period when I
was 18 to 21, was indeed that of pure innocence, or should I say naivety?
The biggest regret I will always have, is never having pursued post-
graduate education. It haunts me still. Contributes big time to making the
36th birthday pretty painful.
So, what is ahead? Well, I don't know my lifespan. I don't know, if I
will see 56, 66, 76, 86. No telling, if I will see 36 years and 1 day, right?
Whatever I have done in my life, I have done to the extreme. That
can be good, in some contexts. Pretty bad, in others. I have been me.
When I began on a spiritual quest, oh boy, did I go all out. When I loved,
I did it beyond boundaries of insanity, as if there'd be any to insanity.
When I partied, I almost killed myself in the process on a good few too
many occasions. When I offered friendship, I overdid it so much, that a
lot of folks had a ball of a time exploiting me way out of this world. I
trusted people way too much, basically, just anybody and everybody.

34
And yet, I refuse to lose faith in humanity. I refuse to lose faith in good. I
refuse to lose faith in life. I refuse to lose faith in faith. I refuse to lose
faith in God.
36 years gone by. Precious, the true friendship and the true love
found, along the way, as if just by chance, but surely, well planned by
destiny. That, is what I have earned. The few, but the very best
relationships, for which living and dying are worthwhile. How worthy I
have been, I am not sure.

35
Living Life…. A Reflection at 39
I am always doing stuff. I am always up to new stuff. Eventually, it
becomes my past, which, my future self, if and when I get to the future,
can build upon.
I just turned 39 this year, the age at which Swami Vivekananda, one
of the most profound influences in my life journey so far, left this world.
Till now, I have participated on this Singapore’s most popular TV
game show ever, The Pyramid Game, in the 90s, twice, once at age 16,
and then again at 17, both times while I was still in secondary school.
I picked up theatre dancing at 16, for a national level youth
performance.
I have been an inter-varsity debater, with trophies to show.
I have acted on TV, with lines in English, Urdu and Malay. Done
films of niche concepts that most actors won't have the courage to
approach. And I am not a full-time actor.
I have had articles published in all sorts of publications, with my
work cited as far away as Hungary and the US, in articles that you can
find on Google Scholar. And I am not a scholar. As much as I wanted to,
I never got a chance to get to an Academic life. I never managed to
return university after graduating with a degree, to pursue postgraduate
education. Yet, I continued to do stuff with my life, even where my
biggest dream remained unfulfilled. I am thankful, that at least I
graduated from a university, and an enviably good one at that.
I have been interviewed for a Global Cable TV channel from Turkey,
a country I hope to visit someday, written plays and my poetry has found
its way to print, and I am not even a decent poet.
I have studied every major religion most people can think of,
philosophy, history, well beyond the gates of school and university on
my own. I have dabbled in the esoteric and in spirituality beyond
threshold marks that most people would only get to a percentage of. I
have gone about exploring a plethora of spiritual thought schools.
I have literally danced in the streets Bollywood style. I have partied
like a maniac, harder than anyone else ever born.

36
It has been a busy 39-year journey.
I ran long distances and got trophies. I also played football. I also
trained as a journalist. The contrast in the diversity.
What I’d tell my own kids, is that if you are alive, live, like there is
no tomorrow, no next moment. Do stuff. Do good stuff. Memorable
stuff. Fun stuff. Meaningful, useful, productive stuff. To hell with the
rewards. Never mind glory, credit, fame, money. Do it, because doing it
is fun and worth doing. Fill your time with such activity, as much as you
can, in a variety of ways that suit you.
How many hats have I worn through my life? Actor. Writer. Athlete.
Yogi. Dancer. Debater. Half a dozen, and not even started, right there.
I have a new face every day, because I wear a new hat every day.
You need to make your life count, is what I remind myself of every
day.
Get busy. Have fun. Don't pass this time away. We human beings
don't have time. Not much. We need to use this time, as best and as much
as we can.
I have never felt productive, because I have yet always wished, that I
can do, more, with each day.
Live so much, in hope, that there'll be no regrets.
These days, I wake up, thinking of trying 1 new thing a day, that I
have never tried before. 1 new thing, every day. How cool is that?

37
The Conscience
Your conscience is all that will go with you when you leave your
present mortal body in death. Your conscience is either your ultimate
prison from which you will never be released, nor will you ever escape
from, or, it is your ultimate paradise from which you will never need or
want to leave.
We change all the time, as do our situations and circumstances. We
change as our thoughts and wisdom evolve. The important thing is, that
through all the change, the purity of conscience should never be lost.
I can get home from work every day, every single day, play Mambo
music for 2-3 hours, till exactly 10.30pm at top volume. Perfectly legal,
no one can stop me. As long as it is turned off at 10.30 pm, I am a law-
abiding citizen. Legally, I haven't done anything wrong.
You know what though? I won't do it. Neighbours will be disturbed.
Even if many of them love the music, some will be disturbed. Some with
young kids with different sleep routines, some as early at 7.30 pm, will
see their children suffer. I am a good guy. I don't want to harm or bother
others. I don't want to cause suffering to another. So, I won't do it.
Being law abiding alone isn't enough to be a good person. A good
person does not break the laws, and then yet does more than the law
would require to be nice to others. Others may not be nice in return, but
the cool part about being the good guy, is that stuff like that, doesn't
matter.
Corruption is not merely just the act of exchanging money for
inappropriate personal gains. It takes all kinds of forms. A favour in
return for a favour may or may not be corruption, but it's an example that
scratches the surface of the subject, or how deep it actually is.
A community or society or nation, begins to become corrupt, when
we start accepting or accommodating or tolerating or encouraging or
supporting or trusting or listening to individuals who have the propensity
to be corrupt, in any way.
It does not matter where the corrupt are. Whether at the top, the
middle or the bottom. At the centre or the fringe. Cancer in the brain can

38
kill you. Cancer starting in the toe can kill you. Skin cancer can kill you.
Cancer in the blood can kill you. Cancer in the lung can kill you, cancer
in the mouth can kill you.
Corruption, is social cancer. Wherever it starts, it will spread. And if
ignored, untreated, treated inadequately, it will destroy.

39
Our Imperfections
Our imperfections come with our human form. Our imperfections
also lead us to errors.
Our errors shape the course of our lives. We cannot reverse time to
undo those errors, to change the course of our lives as shaped by those
errors.
Each dawn we awake to where we realise our errors presents an
opportunity to make amends for our past errors.
Each time we resolve to make amends for our past errors, we are
reborn.
We are flawed by design at the hands of nature, so that beauty can be
appreciated and cherished.
I am a product of my past till now including my worst and ugliest
mistakes. I have no reason to want to change anything in my past.
Our imperfections come with our human form. Our imperfections
also lead us to errors.
Our errors shape the course of our lives. We cannot reverse time to
undo those errors, to change the course of our lives as shaped by those
errors.
Each dawn we awake to where we realise our errors presents an
opportunity to make amends for our past errors.
Each time we resolve to make amends for our past errors, we are
reborn.
We are flawed by design at the hands of nature, so that beauty can be
appreciated and cherished.
Taverns across cultures, around the world, in history, thrived, where
men in pain, in every way, physical, emotional, spiritual, congregated, to
laugh in stupor, as a form of healing, together with each other, despite
being strangers, drowning themselves in spirits called liquor, forming a
bond, in pain. They shared, and healed each other.
These days we are wiser. We say hello. We ask the other if the other
is okay. We stand to listen. I cracked under my mountain yesterday. I
cried on a brother's shoulder in his embrace while all he could do was

40
listen. Tomorrow, I will be there again. Today I am holding up, and
hence I am being that brother to another, who is cracking under that
mountain today.
Our mountains are the price we pay, to cherish the beauty, an
imperfect life, in an imperfect form, in an imperfect world brings, all
with inequal and imperfect luck.
Some just have it all. Great for them. Some just carry more. Let us
carry all of it with pride, together. This is truly being human.
I had to write this one in, before availing this eBook: This whole
eBook, and my whole effort behind it, is imperfect, but that is perfectly
fine. The paradox and irony.

41
Time
I am a Futurist. The future is unpredictable. So is life. You don't
know how much you have left or when it will end. Which is why every
single day is precious.
It is good to ask yourself how much you have achieved each day. It
is good to measure how productive you have been.
It is important to earn money because it is a necessity. You need
money for life. You don't need life for money.
Each day, in all your pursuits, spare yourself not the question; "How
much fun have I had today?"
Ask yourself each day; "What did I enjoy today?"
Ask yourself each day; "What happiness did I experience this day?"
Life is finite. Do not chase accolades, material gains and positions at
the cost of life, as if it is infinite.
Work hard. Be creative. Get smart. Seek wisdom. All the while, live,
happy.
When your time is up, what are you going tell your Maker, to report
on what you made of the time you were given? That you were CEO of an
energy company? You are not Thomas Edison. That you worked in
pharmacology? You are not Marie Curie. That you taught physics? You
are not Albert Einstein. Edison taught the world to harness electricity to
light homes. Curie discovered something that saves countless lives every
day. Einstein explained how time and space work, wherein we live. They
did something. What about you?
It is not about greatness, fame, celebrity. It is not about making
history. We are not all going to be personalities studied in pages of
history. At least, we can build stories of ourselves, for ourselves.
I am 39 and so was Swami Vivekananda when he exited life. This
year I am conscious of that. Unlike him I am no Monk or spiritual
educator, and I will never have 0.1% of his fame. In a day after my death
I will be forgotten. What matters is the number. At 39 he was gone, and I
am at 39. The focus needs to be aligned and attuned to the reality, that

42
time is not in our hands, and it works in unpredictable ways, to deliver
unpredictable futures.
Like me, perhaps you too will be forgotten, if not within a day, then
a week. Perhaps at best a month. The difference may be that more may
turn up to that fashion show of white at your funeral than mine. Perhaps
mine will not at all be a fashion show, but rather a walk of 4 men lending
their shoulders, each with a tear for a second in an eye. That is not the
point. We will go, and we will be forgotten. Yet we will live on, if we
leave behind that energy, of love, in our wakes, by loving as much while
living.
Parents, siblings, spouses, children, everyone loves them. Love for
mother earth. The life it bestows. For the plants with green leaves. For
melodious birds. For the butterflies. For the dolphins. Love for life itself.
Love for humanity. Love for love itself.
Love, and live, while you have the time called "now".
Don't wait. Forget tomorrow. 5 minutes later has never been
guaranteed for anyone, past, present or future. Live in the now. Be in a
rush to live. Be in a rush to love.
This is not something to learn. It is something to wake up to. We are
here for a very short while. We are here for a very simple, narrow reason.
Just live it. Waste nothing.
Statistically and logically, flying is a safer way to travel, than by
road. The late Kobe Bryant could afford a flying machine worth over $10
million for commute and was going to a routine basketball game for his
child. It crashed, and he was no more.
I am no basketball fan and yes Kobe was famous for his
achievements so I was familiar with the name. Youngest player in the
NBA, won it 5 times, had one of the longest careers, staying with the
same team throughout. Twice Olympic gold medallist. Off the court,
everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. He had money.
A marriage of almost 2 decades, with ups and downs. 4 kids.
Money, fame, success, glory, couldn't save him. Gone at 41. Healthy,
doing well. Unexpected.
We don't have time. Time has us. Make the most of it.

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How many skilful or talented people you know around you who
never got to shine or cash in on their gifts? Kobe was lucky. Luck ran
out.
Live for yourself. Live right. Do what you can. All you can. Do
good. Don't chase dreams and ideals. They only lead to waste.
Make impact. Not image. When you are dead, at least someone will
have plenty of time to stare at your image. Your impact will only be felt,
if you make it, with the little time you may have left now. Make impact.
Good impact.
Kobe Bryant gone at 41 left lasting impact with the inspiration,
stories, philanthropy, whatnot. If you go today, what is going to survive
you? Some praise, some memories, a photograph? A fashion parade at
your funeral or memorial? What about after that?
We don't have time. Live.
I could have died yesterday, last week, last month, last year, last
decade or on the day of my birth. I could die today, tomorrow, next
week, next month, next year or next decade. Whenever my death comes,
I will not be forewarned. I could be run over by a drunken driver, beaten
to death in a sudden riot on the streets in a strange unknown country, or I
could be blown up with a hundred other people on a train or a bus I
board, by an insane terrorist. A hardly visible rare venomous insect could
bite me in my home while I sleep, to kill me of an infection. This life, is
without permanence, without guarantees. Before I die, I know this much,
nothing from this world will I take with me beyond life. While I am here,
I can do something. I will try to spread love, as much as I can, while I
am. I may not be able to at all and I may fail spectacularly, but in my last
moment of mortal life on earth, in my brain somewhere the memory will
be etched, of the effort I made in hope. That is enough for me to live
with.
We can have everything in life, except time. We are under an
illusion, if we ever think we have it. We don’t. That is why, live every
second, as if it is your last. You’ll never know if it is. And indeed if it is,
in that last second, you’d want to know, that you are doing good, by
giving life, light, or hope, to another, through your actions, your words,

44
or your thoughts, in that second. You’d want that very last second of
your life, to be the finale, of the whole long stream of seconds leading up
to it, summing up, to be the cause, of peace, prosperity and happiness, for
others that will be born in your wake, who will never know your name,
or of your existence in time. So, live every second as such. In case it is
your last.
Money can be recovered in time. No amount of money can get you
time. We need to respect this truth. It is overdue by too many generations
of us.

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Success
What is success?
Starting a successful business, scaling it and becoming a billionaire?
Pursuing your passion for an art form, entertaining others with it, to
bring smiles to millions and being recognised by a billion people?
Rising to the top of the political ladder and wielding power over the
lives of others?
Attaining enlightenment in spiritual practice?
Winning medals in sports?
Earning doctorate in a certain field, writing papers in a university
office, that get published in academic journals, and getting cited in
bibliographies of textbooks, theses and student papers, paving the way
for applicable wisdom others for generations over decades, even if no
one actually remembers your name?
Raising children to live good decent lives, as righteous human
beings, despite having to personally overcome unfair disadvantages
everyday throughout a lifetime?
Being content with little, sharing daily joys with a family?
Judge my success, at having lived life, or at what I have done with
my life, by how powerful they are, those persons, who consider me their
adversary, their foe, their enemy, even though I consider myself an
enemy of none.
I am in competition with no one, yet people need to malign me, take
swings at my image. They need to speak about me, gossip about me,
behind my back, slinging mud upon the picture of my character. That is
proof, that I have already arrived through the doors of success, which has
now become past, and can never be erased.
If anyone sees me as a threat, though I have no grudge against
anyone, and am in competition against anyone, then it is a valid question,
why am I a threat to that someone? The answer, must lie in a good that I
am successfully achieving, or in a good, that I have already successfully
achieved.

46
My success, is that others want to imitate me, and that they do
imitate me. What I do, they copy, they follow. They plagiarise my work.
They steal my ideas. They model themselves after me. While I seek to
compete with no one, others try to compete with me, by emulating me
and trying to present themselves or their work, as I do. That is my
success, and it is a fairly hard to beat. That is success, that I am proud of
myself for.

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Observing My Father’s Life
Dad, never got to go to university. Getting through school was tough.
Everyone has problems. Everyone. Each, has a different set of
problems, with different impacts.
Dad, sacrificed a lot. He didn't have an option.
Dad did not go to university. His educational certificates do not
reflect much. They never were and never will be a reflection, of his
actual intelligence, wisdom, aptitude.
Dad did with his life, what he could within his circumstances.
Without complaining. Without dreading his situation. He did not fight it.
He accepted what was around him, within his reach, and lived his life in
contentment.
My Dad never put up a show or appearances. What he was, he wore
on his sleeve, unashamed. What was not his, he did not go near. He
earned an honest living, putting in far more labour, than the money was
worth. That was his happiness. He has slowed down now, battered not by
age but his chronic diabetes. Still working.
What he built, on his own, with a long string of setbacks along the
way, and abysmal failure at his independent start upon his father's
passing, not too many could have or would have in his shoes. In fact,
nobody that my eyes have seen. Nobody.
This day and age, he is man enough to tell anyone and everyone, he
loves them, and people know it's true. He is man enough to love
everyone and anyone, this very day, after the sort of journey his life has
been. Even people who have wronged him or his family. All he has, is
love for everyone. That is some manhood.
Dad and I are very different people. It is easy for folks who know my
Mom to think of me as my mother's son. But me and Dad.....we are
extremely different, in no complementing way.
He is a very smart man though, as humble as he is, to a fault really,
that the world has massively lost out on. The world has wasted massive
opportunities never noticing him.

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Some of the biggest milestones, most important decisions of my life
and some of the biggest decisions that my wife and I had to take
together, when Dad opened his mouth, my wife and I immediately threw
everything out of our minds we would have held to that point, followed
his words, and no regrets, even though I cannot ever agree with his
views, idealistic values or unrealistic ideas of morality and thought
processes that smack of naivety.
Being his son, I know when not to listen to him. I hardly do. When I
do though, he is always right. And where the biggest things have been
concerned, I have listened, because it does not take long for the sense in
his words, to hit the centre of the brain, when something matters.
On so many occasions in our daughter's young life, and really,
parenting is something no one can teach you at school, we'd think of
something, Dad hears what is going on, calls us, tells us we should do
otherwise, we listen, and no regrets. He is right.
Not too many folks are grateful to my Dad. There are plenty who
should be. Their loss. My Dad is 3/4 retired today, 1/4 working because
he cannot bear redundancy. What has he to lose? He hasn't seen the
world, but he is happy. His world, he has built himself, grain by grain.
What a life?
A lot of lessons. A lot of lessons.
Life arbitrarily chose me, to be my father's son. Nothing at all in
common. We are different. I am not an ingrate.
Even in my generation, I see folks, who tell you one thing about
themselves when you first meet them, put up appearances when they
speak of themselves, and turns out, they are not very much. They are not
very educated. They don't do anything big, significant, important, or
anything that requires outstanding or in fact any qualification. That is not
what they are forthcoming with. They are ashamed of their occupation,
their station in life and of themselves. That is a shame, because my Dad
has not lived the best of worldly or life’s situations, but he was always
proudly upfront and forthcoming about what he was and who he was.
Dad was never ashamed of his occupation, his station in life, his place in
society and he never was ashamed of himself for anything. He has

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always lived an honest and good life, which has always been enough for
him. He was not ashamed of himself, of what he had and how he made a
living as a commodities broker, struggling, seemingly endlessly. One
difference perhaps, was that he did not lack paper qualification for a lack
of IQ or competence. He was denied by circumstances beyond his
control. Circumstances not defined or reflective of his abilities. And that
is why I am proud of my Dad.
Dad never needed much. He was smart enough, not to need much.
And he was smart enough, not to care about the arrogance, or
judgementalism of others. He was smart enough to love and respect
himself.

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Parenthood & Parenting
Don't raise your kids wrong, if you do not want everything else you
get right between your birth and your death to be worth flushing down
the toilet.
It troubles me that every 12-year-old I see these days thinks he or she
is actually an adult. It means the childhood is dead or missing. The most
crucial phase of life, wasted upon.
Our parents perhaps did not have the internet let alone YouTube. Do
your kids that simple favour of sitting down next to them to view the
full-length version of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, using what is
now available to you, the first thing in the morning on their 13th
birthdays.
Teach them to slow down. Teach them to simplify things. Teach
them to learn. They are passing exams these days and learning to get
through things. Fellows who couldn't pass a single subject at primary
school in bygone eras were smarter than straight A high school leavers of
today. That is trouble for human kind. Big trouble.
Kids of today think reading a Wikipedia page means they are
informed on a topic. Yes, they actually believe that, the lot of them, just
talk to your young ones. We didn't have Google in our days and we knew
what happened around the world when we were kids.
Kids today think coding is the new alphabet system. They are
completely blind to the fact that software can code today. Can they code
a software that can code? If they can, they are fine, otherwise they need
to wake up, humble down and acknowledge that they know nothing.
Absolutely nothing. When they don't acknowledge that, a generation is in
trouble. Our kids today don't know how to acknowledge what they need
to acknowledge.
Our kids will only learn, if before teaching them anything else, we
teach them how to learn. The past few years I have been meeting 21-year
olds, adults, who are more arrogant, than they are competent,
increasingly more often, and they try to hide incompetence behind high

51
school grades for mathematics and science. It isn't their fault. The
parenting has been messed up.
Complete failure at everything in sum is okay, as long as we raise the
kids right. We need to start telling ourselves that. And then we need to
start acting on it. Otherwise ask, at death, what will we have lived for?
The realities of the society and world around us are shaped by us.
We know what those realities comprise of. If they are good, then thanks
to us, and if not, then we are to blame. If we are not paying for them, we
are lucky. What if our children aren't as lucky?
We all want our children to inherit good world realities I am sure.
Then let us raise our children to create those good realities, by raising
good children, through good parenting.
Let us not teach our children to lie, conspire, deceive, hate, judge,
manipulate, cheat, discriminate, bully, exploit and hurt. Let us not let
them learn any of it either.
Let us inculcate in them love, respect, honour, integrity, care,
compassion, responsibility, ethics, contentment, humility and peace. That
does not mean they won't be able to find a path to wealth and success.
Even if they don't though, they will have a better chance at a happy, safe
and good life.
You give your kids a good home, good clothes, good food, good
education and good toys. You are doing what you are supposed to. You
are not doing anything great. You are not doing your kids any favours.
You are not being a good parent. You are not showing any love. Be
honest and deal with it.
It is a lie that parents teach their kids. Parents facilitate their learning
journey. Again, it is no favour. You procreate, you take responsibility for
it. Be accountable. Provide the necessary support. Only that much is
achieved.
The truth is, whether we learn or not, our children teach us. If we
learn, it will be good for our children and their children. If we don't learn,
our children will pay the price.
Our children are teaching us. We need to pay attention. Our children
are teaching us the need to be good human beings, so that they can figure

52
what it is to be a good human being by watching us. And they will have
hope of growing up in a world where around them there will be good
people.
Our children are teaching us the need to be upright and righteous so
that they may fly the nest someday into a world where the pains of
corruption, cronyism, nepotism and decadence will not be their bane.
Providing financially, materially, academically and medically does
not mean you love your children.
Providing hope of a good world, good society and good values, by
example of being a good human, is loving your children.
Sibling rivalry, is not funny. And it can never be healthy.
Whatever the gender. Whatever the age gap. Two, three, four,
regardless the number of siblings.
As parents, we have a very precarious, delicate, responsibility. We
need to be very careful, from the very start, that in a family, none is in
the shadow of another.
Every human being different. No twins are exactly like one another.
Interests, personality, tastes, preferences, intelligences, talents, they
are all going to differ, including in the very same family.
For any sibling pair, born apart, the older will get a chance to
develop, learn, excel and shine at certain things first. No parent should
want to hold a child back from that. The younger may bloom later, and
draw some attention away from the older, but no child should be held
back either.
The worst injustice to any child in a single household, would be the
concept of "equal" and fairness. A little hard since body weights may
differ, and perhaps brain cells.
The idea, is to exercise caution, that each is encouraged to pursue
development of his or her individual personality, at his or her own pace,
independent of any other child in the family. There should not be
comparisons.
The idea, if it finds home in the heart or mind of any child, that "I
need" to forge a path or identity "away" from my sibling or siblings, is
when everything your forefathers would have lived for, goes down the

53
gutter, completely wasted. The mindsets that follow such an idea, will be
virtually impossible to then deal with. Families break. I have seen it. And
families split, really one must wonder, revisit, what are we here for?
People are always waiting, to see families break apart, so that their
tongues may wag. Is that not bad enough, that we should allow
vulnerabilities to grow and brew within, to cause implosions in time?
We need to remember. Hugs and ball games in childhood will not
keep our subsequent generations bound. Nor will photos taken together.
Let our kids know, that they are different. That they are not in a race
against each other.
Your kids, whatever they appear on the outside, make sure you do
everything, to be in touch, with what is going on inside. Humour,
laughter, smiles, running, jumping, sports trophies, don't mean they are
okay. Know what is happening inside.
The worst way to go, is losing the desire to live, within yourself.
Nobody wants their kids to go that way. Make sure they don't.
Don't dismiss. Don't take for granted. Don't lose touch. Be the parent
you became, when they were born.
Death is not something we should believe a teenager can be ready to
comprehend at that stage of life, no matter how smart or the primary
school examination score. No teenager should be submitting or
succumbing to suicide.
Just because your child is laughing, joking and smiling all the time or
most of the time, when with you, it does not mean necessarily that all is
definitely well. Keep and maintain rapport, deep rapport, to keep tab of
what is on his or her mind.
Ask yourself, do you know who your kids' friends are. Asking them
or expecting them to report up to you is not the way. Engage them in
regular conversation about school, life outside of school, hangout
activities, interests, activities, to piece together a picture as much as you
can.
Your children are not your property or assets. You brought life into
this world, thank you very much. Being a parent means responsibility for
upbringing. Understand what that means. Beyond a point, especially

54
once the teenage phase begins, telling them what to do or ordering them
around is very dangerous stupidity, with potentially very ugly outcomes.
If you want a pet to sit as and when you instruct, get a dog. To your
kids, be a friend. They are not going to become mature like you before it
is time. You will have to mentally age backwards for their sake. And you
will have to understand them first and foremost, before you decide to
jump into anything.
Teens need their space and privacy. Don't forget your own growing
up years. If your kids are isolating themselves however, keeping to
themselves, staying glued to devices without offline human interactions,
something might need fixing.
If your kid is having a boyfriend or girlfriend issue or a crush, or
infatuation issue, no matter how young your child, or whatever the
personality, your child should see you as the best and first person to
come to, to share with and confide in. This takes trust, openness and a
confidence level. Never allow a situation to arise where your child needs
to hide something from you, is afraid of you or uncomfortable in sharing
something with you. Be open-minded, non-judgemental and non-
dismissive. Listen. Learn. Understand. Probe. Listen. Learn. Understand.
Probe further. Clarify. Listen. Learn. Understand. Think. Then respond.
Only do things in that order. If you can't remember, write it down.
Whatever it is, on such matters, take your child seriously, always, and
never be an enemy.
Expect nothing. Your job is to empower as much as you can the life
you have brought into the world. Empowering is not pushing or
pressuring. Never insist on achievements. The world as it is will do
enough of that. Let yourself be the sanctuary for your child, from all of
that.
Just because people complain about your child, does not always
mean, that there is something wrong with your child. Always dig deeper,
evaluate the stuff beneath the visible surface.
If your teenager is misbehaving, try to understand the reasons first,
before doing anything. Take this point with practicality.

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Education is everything. Anyone who tells you otherwise, tell them
to not educate their children. However, also tell your children, that
failing, setbacks, defeats, they are all parts of education. Don't look at
that F as an end or a stumbling block. See it as something to overcome,
work around. I flunked 7 out of 9 subjects in secondary two, got demoted
from Express stream to normal academic, graduated with distinctions
across 3 majors from The University of Western Australia. I don't see
around these days folks that laughed at me back then. Always seem to
miss them everywhere.
Teenagers have angst. They are tinkering. They are trying to create
their own identity. Universal across every generation. They're not crazy.
You weren't. So, don't start by behaving as if your teenager is just when
something unexpected occurs. Figure out what and why, before reacting.
Patience and faith. Helps a lot. This is meant for you by the way, not
your teenage child.
No one's child is immune to any problem. None of us are whatever
our station in life. Don't be paranoid. Don't take anything for granted
anyway.
Give your children love today and they will give you the same
tomorrow. If you give your children pain today, don't complain about the
pain they give you tomorrow. Do not argue that it is their duty as
children not to give you pain, because they only do tomorrow what they
learn today, from you, from what you show them.
Your children become what you are, because they watch you, they
listen to you, they observe you, and observing you, they learn. So be
careful what you choose to be. Your children may end up just that.
You want your kids to learn, make them want to learn. To have them
want to learn something, create the home environment that tempts them
to seek to learn.

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Becoming a Parent….My Letter to My Newborn Daughter
(18 December 2015 – Openly Published Online)
To: My Little Princess
On 16 December 2015, your mother and I welcomed you into this
world. I am writing this letter to you within two days after, at a time
when you have barely experienced the environment of this world, for the
first time outside the warmth and protection of your mother's womb. At
this time, while I am writing this, you are a fair while away from
comprehending language. I am writing this as an open letter, to be posted
on more than a single platform in public space online in hope that it
survives to the day you learn to read and comprehend the contents
herein, that when the time comes, you may read it and understand my
intentions as well as my message herein for you. And I pray that when
that time comes and if you do read this, it will serve some purpose for
you. I am also writing this as an open letter, and by the time you read it,
many others, many of whom you may never know, would have read it. It
is my hope, that my attempt to create this message now for you to read
later, may also serve a purpose, for someone else.
Firstly, welcome to human life and welcome to this world. The
experience herein is dynamic, interesting and unlimited. It is my hope as
a father, that you get the most and best out of it. The life and the world,
are to be comprehended and experienced by one's own self. The extent of
both, being without parameters, are not possible to define and explain.
The best I can do to simplify this, in my attempt to explain this journey
of life through this world, is that it needs a very personal meaning, for
each individual that goes through the journey. It is that meaning, once
found, that becomes the source of genuine joy, satisfaction and
contentment, that will make one's life a celebration or a cause for
celebration, for his or her own self. It may take you time to learn what it
takes to comprehend the meanings of these words herein, but I trust, that
someday you will get there.
What meaning you will derive of your life and how you will arrive at
its derivation, is something that to me at this point in time is a mystery

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and it may remain a mystery to me in perpetuity, for this would be
something very particular and unique to you individually, just as it is for
everyone else in this world. I will not be able to dictate or direct the
terms of your pursuit to that end. Nor should I try. However, having
arrived into this world and into this life before you, I can share some
experiences I have had before you and I can attempt as a father, to either
make some suggestions or offer some advice.
To derive meaning from anything, let alone something as great and
vast as life is, requires wisdom. Wisdom is acquired with intelligence.
Intelligence is something I am as of this day convinced that we are all
born with. Intelligence however, though we may all be born with it, is
something that does not work or come to serve us automatically, unlike
our five physical senses. Intelligence needs to be developed,
continuously and consistently, so that it can become useful, in the quest
for wisdom, to lead us to wisdom. That process of development of
intelligence, is learning. From how you breathe, from the very point in
time when you are born, to how you consume your milk, to how you use
your newly grown teeth to chew solid food, to how you speak, how you
write, how you dress and how you execute a complex function in an
occupational role, takes learning. In the first few seconds of your life in
this world, you learnt how to breathe to ensure your life. That is proof
that learning is possible, it is necessary and you need not or rather should
not fear it. It is in fact, your very best friend, that you should never part
from, even for a moment.
There are many ways to learn. The best system or facility that
humanity has developed for itself and constructed, is that of education,
which provides the most common and primary way of learning. My
suggestion and advice to you is, that never underestimate nor ever under-
appreciate the power that education is and the importance of it. Humanity
knows no blessing of itself upon itself like education and I beg of you,
for your sake, out of your mother's love and my love for you, never take
education for granted. Rather, make the most of this blessing, always.
In life, along with many other things, feelings and emotions, people
have regrets. It is natural. I have my own. I am glad however, that I have

58
fewer regrets, or at least fewer reasons for regrets, than most persons
generally would. Though few, my regrets are not small ones. The biggest
one of all however, is that after I attained my Bachelor's degree, I did not
or perhaps could not, for reasons that had nothing to do with my
capability or competence, pursue education further, to this point in my
life as I write this. I can only look back now and wish I had somehow
stayed on to pursue a coursework Master's degree, and then yet stayed on
to pursue more, within the system of university. Leaving university life
when I did, as I did, though I am satisfied that I did at least graduate,
continues to haunt me and I do not believe it is something that I will ever
be able to get over. After that, it was a sequence of events that tied me to
other priorities, which one would only understand if he or she were in my
shoes, that never allowed me to pursue education further. If an
opportunity does ever arise ahead for me, I promise you, I will not miss
it, to pick up from where I left off.
My hope and my suggestion for you, is not to have ever, in your life,
the regret that I have had. I also hope, your circumstances will be kinder
to you, than mine have been to me. I pray you will take my word when I
stress that absolutely very little else is more important to a human being,
than education. I pray, that unlike me, you will not stop. I pray that you
will continue your formal education, to get as far as it is possible for
anyone. Being a student for life, is a pursuit that should be envied. I hope
you will engage yourself in that pursuit.
I do not know what occupation or field you will wish to pursue in
life. Whether you want to be an entrepreneur, a social worker, an artist,
an athlete, an entertainer or a software writer, I will not impose upon you
and I will be supporting you as long as I can in whatever way I can, for
as long as I am around. Yet, regardless of the occupation or field you
pursue, stay in school, go to university, finish university and for as long
as you can, stay in university, to keep pursuing more and more.
One's education does not make one an expert at anything. A
professor at the university I went to, by the name of Anthony Pecotich
once told us, that just by getting a degree, one does not become an expert
in a field, or even become learned necessarily. Education teaches you to

59
learn. When you pursue a subject at university, such as marketing for
example, the subject and the coursework for the subject, will teach you
how to learn marketing. Education is about learning how to learn. I pray
you remember that and use that. It is a humbling message. I know. Trust
me, in that it is a good thing. It is a principle and approach that will
empower and enable you, to keep learning and to learn better. And the
other approach along with it, I would suggest you consider as a must
hold, is that when it comes to learning, work as hard as you humanly can.
It will only be worthwhile.
As much as education, formally, is the most common and central
way in the journey of human life, to pursue learning, it is not the only
way. It is a way, best not neglected, ignored or abandoned, but it should
not also by any means be the only one you embrace. What you know that
school and university, depending on what you pursue through formal
channels, will not teach you or help you learn, you should seek to learn
on your own. It is called independent learning or self-teaching. That is
what public libraries and book stores are for. That is what the wide and
virtually endless internet is for. Learning on your own, outside of school
or your university course curriculum, will ensure that you have a better
understanding of the world. Do ask yourself the question, what good or
what favour you'd have done upon yourself through your life in this
world, without having adequately understood it, so as to best appreciate
it for yourself?
Whatever source you learn from, school or the public library or the
internet, always question what you learn. Question the credibility,
validity, reliability and practicality of your learning. Wrong or
inadequate learning will be counter-productive to your quest to develop
your intelligence and hamper your pursuit of wisdom. And that is why I
suggest you question, and seek satisfactory answers to your questions,
rooted in logic. Never deviate from logic. A safeguard against such
deviation is objectivity and empiricism. In time, I will hope you will
learn the meanings of such words, at the soonest rather than later, and
embrace what they mean.

Life Reflections of a Life Coach

Life Reflections of a Life Coach

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