The mountain, the climb and life best lessons…

July 12, 2009. It felt sooo surreal.. to have achieved one of my life’s nearly impossible dream. Looking back on how physically suck I was, I need to be reminded by those photos to learn that I did it!!!

It was the longest painstaking hours and I took each and every seconds of it for some soul searching and life reflections. I wanted to elaborate in paragraphs, but I guess I worked best in points… hehe… (I leave the story-telling bit to Lenny in her blog then, go figure!!)

1) I’ve always believed in Waler D. Wintle poem. I thought it was profoundly beautiful. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man; But soon or late the one who wins , is the man who thinks he can. The whole journey was portraying the battle between the mind and body, and take my word, mind ALWAYS wins!! No matter what!! Whether you think you can or you think you cannot, you’re always right :)

2) We have to burn all bridges to succeed. In ‘Think and Grow Rich’, Napolean Hills says “Those who would win in any undertaking must be willing to burn their ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing can one be sure of maintaining the state of mind known as a BURNING DESIRE TO WIN, essential to success” (page 27). I didn’t let a single person from my team know that they can go back and rest at Layang-layang Hut, should they fail to proceed to our first day goal – Laban Rata. I just didn’t want to give them and even myself the option to retreat. There’s no way back! Period.

3) Do not fear or limit myself from the road less travelled. Mersilau Trail is less travelled and it is 2.7km longer than Timpohon Trail. Goodness, the view is breathtakingly beautiful!! It’s like looking at God’s painting on big wide canvas. Everything is in perfect harmony. The same goes to life too, I should be brave enough to take more chances, and get out from my normal comfort zones.

4) There’s always sunshine after the rain. Our way up after KM5 was quite a disaster. With heavy rain and strong wind made it difficult to make another move. That was the moment that we pushed ourselves the most. And indeed God has promised us the following:

"Fa inna ma'al 'usri yusra.. Inna ma'al 'usri yusra.. So indeed with hardship is ease.Indeed with hardship is ease"

And He was right. We’ve been blessed with perfect blue sky the next morning!! Thank you Allah!!

5) Take one step at a time. Life can be undeniably overwhelming, and so does the hiking of seemingly endless route… But we know that we can only accomplish them by taking one step at a time… And walla! We’re finally on top of the mountain!! Simple, huh?

6) Treasure your family, friends and loved ones. It’s amazing what different did it make to receive such calls and SMS of words of encouragement from them. At times, life can be difficult too. But, when you know that you are loved by many, how hard can it really be?

7) I’ve met 2 types of people, pessimist & optimist. And I’ve finally realized which type of people who made it to the top, regardless how physically fit they are . And I’ve also realized which type of people that I want to be surrounded with… I am choosing them wisely… :)

8) Nothing is impossible. It’s all about attitude. So, am I ready to pursue & accomplish my next goal? I think I am… :) Fighting!!!

Thanks to my fellow climbers for the great time we had in Sabah. It was a total blast!!! Boom boom pow!!! Hidup GGM!!! :)

The Man Who Thinks He Can

by Waler D. Wintle

If you think you're beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost;
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself
Before you can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late, the one who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

I don't give a damn!!

“I like Dr. Daniel Amen’s 18/40/60 Rule: When you’re 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking of you; when you’re 40, you don’t give a darn what anybody thinks of you; when you’re 60, you realize nobody’s been thinking about you at all. Surprise, surprise! Most of the time, nobody’s thinking about you at all! They are too busy worrying about their own lives, and if they are thinking about you at all, they are wondering what you are thinking about them. People think about themselves, not you. Think about it — all the time you are wasting worrying about what other people think about your ideas, your goals, your clothes, your hair, and your home could all be better spent on thinking about and doing the things that will achieve your goals.” ~ Jack Canfield from The Success Principles.

Hehehehe. That. Is. Funny. And so true, eh?

Dale Carnegie says something similar in his great book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: “I realize now that people are not thinking about you and me or caring what is said about us. They are thinking about themselves—before breakfast, after breakfast, and right on until ten minutes past midnight. They would be a thousand times more concerned about a slight headache of their own than they would about the news of your death or mine.”

Let’s quit wasting our precious energy worrying about what others think of us and direct it into creating our ideal lives, shall we? :)

Credit to Philosopher Notes.

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve :)

I first learned this life changing hallmark expressions by Napoleon Hill in January 08, when attending Amus talk. What a fateful day :)

Let's SEE it and HEAR it again, shall we?



Key take aways:

STEP 1: Get ourself a note book, palmtop - whatever suits us..

STEP 2: Write down our major desire in life

STEP 3: Write down what we intend to give in return for our list of desire from life

STEP 4: Memorize both statements and repeat at least dozen times daily

STEP 5: Always end our statement with the expression of gratitude :)

"I ask not for divine providence or more riches, but more wisdom with which to accept and use wisely the riches I received at birth: the power to control and direct my mind to whatever ends I desire."- Napoleon Hill (and adopted as my own personal affirmation)

Fear & Stress

Yesterday was one of the day when fear and stress dominating me. It felt good to receive some words of encouragement which I like to share it to the world...

"Anyone who says he isn't afraid of anything is both stupid and lying." ~ David K. Reynolds from Constructive Living.

Hehe. I love that.

As Reynolds continues: "Fear is a healthy emotion. It produces caution, and caution helps keep us alive. Fear, like pain, is unpleasant for anyone, but the discomfort is an alarm that calls our attention to some problem facing us. It is good to be afraid at times."

As Aristotle teaches us in his lessons on the "Virtuous Mean," it's not about being fearless. It's about having the proper amount of fear and the COURAGE to face that fear. In Aristotle's words, this is the virtuous mean between the "vice of excess" of fear (cowardice) and the "vice of deficiency" of fear (rashness).

Are you feeling fear around something right now? Start by honoring that. It's serving you in an important way. Once you've done that, a Constructive question to ask is: "Now what needs to be done?" :)

Credit to Philosphers Notes

Angels & Demons is coming!!!

I can't wait till tomorrow to post this entry. I'm soooo excited!!

Yea!!! This is my most anticipated movie of all time. I've first read the book in 2006, and became hook to other Dan Brown's work ever since.

This book has sparked my lifetime interest in questioning science versus religion. Why do we have to choose either one of them... Science do not undermine the existence of God, but rather reinforce it...

For those who sick and tired of our local movies, think again before you spend your hard earned money to watch Bohsia (what on earth are they thinking, tak releven langsung!! ).

It's time to get our brain and soul challenged. Shall we?

Malaysia release date: May 14, 2009

Who can tell?

Looking ahead on how gloomy the future might be, I'm thankful to have read the following. To those frantic frens, let's just stop & stare...

Many years ago a wise peasant lived in China.

He had a son who was the gleam in his eyes and a white stallion which was his favorite belonging.

One day his horse escaped from his grounds and disappeared.

The villagers came to him one by one and said: “You are such an unlucky man. It is so bad about the horse.”

The peasant responded: “Who knows. Maybe it’s bad, maybe it’s good.”

The next day the stallion returned followed by 12 wild horses.

The neighbors visited him again and congratulated him for his luck.

He just said: “Who knows. Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s bad.”

As it happens, the next day his son was attempting to break in one of the wild horses when he fell down and broke his leg.

Once more everyone came with their condolences: “It’s terrible.”

Again he replied: “Who knows. Maybe it’s bad, maybe it’s good.”

A few days passed and his poor son was limping around the village with his broken leg, when the emperor’s army entered the village announcing that a war was starting and they conscripted all the young men of the village.

However, they left the peasant’s son since he had a broken leg.

Once more, everyone was so jealous of the peasant.

They talked about his sheer luck.

He just muttered: “Who knows. Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s bad..”