The Grocery Store
I went to the Asian grocery store today. I didn’t go last weekend and today I had to go. And guess what, the price has gone up again. Just when I thought the price could not possibly be higher–who would buy it if it’s higher–it became higher and it was sold out. The Korean red beans have increased to $4 a pound. And the brand I like is sold out. Also pickled tofu is sold out too. It used to be $2 a package, but now the price is almost $5. The worst is that only the hideous price tag is there, underneath the empty shelf.
The Social Media
I was doing a little bit of spell checking for a story I was writing. And I got on this social media site to check out the pages of two old acquaintances. Just as I was copying and pasting a township name and a job title, I mis-clicked a button and immediately a request for “friend” was sent to this person. I had no intention of doing that and I was very panicky. The worst thing was that I couldn’t even retract the request.
Finally, out of total frustration, I deleted my account in that social media site and wished that the person would not notice my message, which I had no intention of sending in the first place. Hope the whole thing would go away without any repercussions.
Be Positive
I was helping W to fill up two forms. And W is not afraid to say he doesn’t know even to the simplest questions, like his daughter’s email and phone number. He is not afraid to make mistakes, or to admit his ignorance, or to arrive half an hour late for an appointment. That’s really his strength. He never tries to be perfect–he deals with life in his own imperfect ways. And he never considers other people’s aspiration to gain knowledge, to be punctual, to seek approval is a worthy cause. He is very much himself.
And when he’s driving away, I said to him that he should roll up his window since it is not very safe to drive with all the windows open. After he drove away, I thought to myself why I was always so negative him. I mean I noticed things and why couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut? I need to be more positive and more agreeable.
Being Realistic
I haven’t been very active on WP recently because I have realized that I am not very realistic about my writing, given the fact that I am very bad at time management, scheduling, or squeezing time. Basically I think I am hopeless at time management. Knowing such a reality, my goal should be managing my inadequacy rather than dreaming of my self improvement.
There’s an ancient story that a man loves dragons so much that he paints dragons on his walls and on his clothes. The dragon king hears about his story and pays a visit to this super fan of his. And when the man sees the dragon king walking towards him, he runs away as fast as he can.
So an unrealistic goal can be very damaging to one’s life. To a certain extent, I am this dragon-loving man, dreaming of something quite unrealistic.
Haoyan Do 
Very well said. You are not alone..
Keep promising…Keep writing..
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It’s nice to share our thoughts. Thank you for visiting.
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I think we all have to make tough choices and the outcomes aren’t in our hands. However, they may influence our next set of choices. I guess one must act, react, and rectify accordingly. I hope you’re well. 🙂
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So true. It is tough that sometimes one knows one doesn’t like the choice but one has to choose it. That’s really tough.
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I just bought 6 lbs of tomatoes and paid around $30 for it. This inflation is going crazy. I’m hoping no one is going to wallpaper their houses with money like the Germans did before World War 2.
I read this book called “Do Less, Achieve More” by Chin Ning-Chu in which she writes that to manage time one must manage oneself. I find that it does work to some level. The more I master myself, the more I master my time. To manage your inadequacy shows you are on your way there.
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Yes, tomatoes are going up so much that I can only buy it in Aldi, the seriously discounted store. But even their, it almost double the cost of one year ago. It’s just go crazy.
I heard about stories of hyperinflation around 1940s. Everybody started barter–goods exchanging hands and no money involved since paper money was worthless. Factories paid workers in certain amount of rice, vegetables, and soy beans.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. I hope it won’t turn to that.
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Hopefully the world will not go crazy. Hopefully…
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The Social Media is wonderful, partly because it didn’t happen to me 😎
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Haha, it is terrifying when it happens. Social Media has its way of playing pranks on us.
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Don’t be too hard on yourself about time management skills. I always say that time management isn’t for creative people. We do what we like and when we like. I’m at a point in my life where I have to stick to a schedule and I loathe it.
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It’s true. Don’t be too hard. I need to be realistic and see life as it is. Hahaha, so true. It is hard to do the scheduling when one’s inspiration just doesn’t come at the scheduled time.
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You are a greatwriter but not me. Very interesting.
Anita
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Thanks, Anita. You are such a photographer and traveler.
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I know somebody who will write things on the internet (eg Twitter) without checking on Google etc that they are correct. I could never do that. I think the main difference is that I would be mortified if it turned out that what I said was wrong – whereas for this person it wouldn’t be a big deal. It would be water off a duck’s back.
I am curious about the dragon. For me, the dragon is people I know personally actually reading my blog and responding to what I have written. In a way I am courting that, by giving quite a lot away that could identify me. I am wearing the dragon clothes so to speak, but would I be able to cope with the real dragon if it appeared? I think I would find that awkward because I wouldn’t necessarily always be in the mood to discuss some of the things I write about. My mood and confidence vary a lot. Sometimes I think I’m being silly and sometimes I think “Yes – this is the truth – you are right to write about it.”
I’m not sure whether I’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Perhaps this isn’t what you meant. Time management is an issue as well of course. Getting a post just right is hugely time-consuming.
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Haha, I agree. The dragon can mean many different things. Writing is quite an exposure of oneself. One almost feels that one’s audience wants one to reveal the innermost of oneself as much as possible. However, will the audience be able to cheer for the real dragon? I have to say reading about somebody’s writing is very different than meeting somebody.
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There is absolutely no gain in losing aspiration. Keep writing – fit it in when you can – just for the joy of it
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So true. No gain at all to stress oneself out. Just within the limit of one can do, for the joy of it, write and keep writing.
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