Motivational Stories

Motivational Stories
Based on Real Life Experiences

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Activities that you could do over the long weekend that won’t break your wallet

Activities that you could do over the long weekend that won’t break your wallet

Some people say money is everything because everything needs money. However, not having enough money shall not be made an excuse to waste our precious weekends. There are so many activities that we can do on weekends which do not require us to rob a bank.

The first activity is reading. For those of you who do not like to read, let me share with you a few health benefits of reading. Before that, let me remind you about one important fact of life. All of us will become old and weak whether we like it or not. In order to keep the mind young and sharp, reading is the only remedy. When you read a book especially a novel, that imagination of yours while reading every word will keep your mind young and active. When you read the newspaper, some controversial topics will keep your mind busy arguing with yourself in your own mind regarding the issues. On the other hand, those who love to read have a lot to share with others. Their general knowledge is awesome.

Pot-luck is one of the most economical but fun activities that you could do on weekends while watching your favourite movies. You may decide which family or which friend will come up with a particular menu so that you will have a variety of dishes at home. In your WhatsApp group, you can also propose the type of movie that you want to watch together that night. This two-in-one activity will definitely leave meaningful and wonderful memories for each of you especially your children.

To be religious is not something that is easy to achieve but doing good deeds at religious centres is something that everyone can do. Whether you are a Moslem, Christian, Buddhist or Hindus, there must be something that you can do at your own places of worship. Taking care of the traffic, mopping the floor, cleaning the toilets and cleaning the cemeteries are some of the charity work that you can do at the mosques, churches and temples on weekends. On the other hand, for those of you who are good at technical work, you may help to replace the malfunctioning lights or fans or perhaps fix the air-conditioners.

If you have friends who love adventure, climbing mountains or exploring nature is one of the most meaningful activity that you can do on weekends. Not only it is good for your overall health but nature has its own unique way to heal our feelings especially when we feel down. At the same time, taking pictures of nature can give you an extra income if you submit them to certain websites that appreciate good pictures. On the other hand, as you get older, the only thing that you will have will be those pictures of you and your good friends and loved ones hiking mountains together. Those pictures will give you a long smile as you travel back to the past as the old saying goes “ a picture is worth thousands of words”.  

Blogging is also another activity that you should keep in mind. You can either use Blogger or WordPress as your first platform as they are free to use. You may write anything you wish. If you love gardening, you can write about tips about gardening and fruits at your garden. If you love cooking, you can share your secret recipes and pictures of your own personal delicacies. If you love to motivate others, you can help others online. You may meet some new people who could be your online friends or fans. You can exchange points of view about certain topics which may make you more knowledgeable or wiser.

In conclusion, weekends are short. Therefore, make it as interesting and as wonderful as possible so that Monday would stop bothering you. ( 642 words)

Originally written by Mr. Mani Jack 

How I learned to deal with my own self-doubt and make the best out of it

How I learned to deal with my own self-doubt and make the best out of it

Self-doubt is a social disease that is experienced by everyone because the biggest battle on earth is the battle between the mind and the heart. Sometimes the heart is full of doubt while the brain is strong in faith and vice versa. 

The best way to deal with self-doubt is to face it. Take life by the horns. A collection of experiences will definitely help to reduce self-doubt because the knowledge that we get from the experiences will help with the self-preparation. For example, if you are not sure whether you can be a good writer even though you have the talent, just join any writing websites or competitions. Listen to the ones who criticize your essays as their factual responses will help you to understand where you stand as a writer especially your ranking in the cyber world. If you doubt yourself when you want you pursue your career as a chef, just try any recipes that you can download from the internet especially YouTube.  When you have tried the recipes, choose your audience carefully especially the ones who are good at cooking. They will tell you honestly about how far you can go if you were to be a chef. Getting used to their criticism will help you to face the real world especially your potential customers who could be the meanest person on earth due their level of perfectionism as you shall not undermine the complexity of a person’s taste buds.  

Another way to deal with self-doubt is get rid of naysayers. There are two types of negative people. The first one is meant to help you no matter how bitter the truth is in what they say while the second one is meant to drag you down. You shall keep a distance away from the second one as they are the ones who are governed by self-doubt and your success is their worst nightmare. You shall not be too hard on yourself when you have decided to get rid of the negative naysayers as they could take you miles away from your dreams as words can either build or destroy us.

Having a long meaningful conversation with your good friends or the ones that you can trust is also an effective way to reduce self-doubt. Talk about what you want to achieve in life and share the hurdles that you are experiencing. Perhaps they have something valuable to say that you might not have thought of before. The best thing about this kind of conversation is you are free to express yourself in your own unique ways. You will not be scared to be yourself throughout the conversation. In addition to that, that conversation feels like you are at home. The presence of threat is absence.

Reading books which are related to your self-doubt is compulsory if you are committed to reduce your self-doubt. Books such as Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins and 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey shall be made your permanent companion. These books will help you to see the real power you have been keeping inside and how you can develop that power to turn you into a new you. Another book that you should read is Chicken Soup for The Souls. This book is great because it helps you to do a long self-reflection about your own self-doubt because this book offers a collection of real life experiences which could make you think and reflect on many things.

The last one is prayer. Whether you believe in God or otherwise, there are so many things in this world which remain a mystery in which there must be a superpower that has been governing this universe. Even death is not a full stop. Even our knowledge about afterlife is limited. Prayer may change the whole thing overnight but the soul needs divine intervention because only the unseen can really understand the depth of your self-doubt. (662 words)

Originally written by Mr. Mani Jack 

Why being an early riser made me a changed person

Why being an early riser made me a changed person
           
            Richard Whately once said, “Lose an hour in the morning, and you will be all day hunting for it.”  It is a beautiful quote but the regret is ugly as we can never take it back, even a second of the lost time. If you are always looking for ways to improve yourself, your first battle is your ability to wake up early in the morning.

            Waking up early has many benefits but it takes a solid self-discipline to turn words into reality. The first benefit is you will have a lot of time on how you should start your day. In other words, if you wake up early, you control the time. You become the boss. Time is technically your slave as you are ahead of your old self. As you head towards the bathroom, you will have a lot of time to do a long self-reflection on how today should be better than yesterdays.

            Doing physical exercises can also be done if you wake up early. If jogging is too much for some, taking a walk or cycling at the nearby park is good enough to boost your mood throughout the day. If that is not your cup of tea, sitting at the park while listening to the voices of nature Furthermore, improving your relationship with nature is very good for your overall health.

            Of all the daily meals, having breakfast of high quality early in the morning is paramount. As the old saying goes, breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a princess. If you miss breakfast, mentally you will not be able to stay focus throughout the day and emotionally you will be too sensitive in which everyone or anything could annoy you by accident.

            Nature is beautiful but if you wake up late, you will miss the first chapter of the lovely morning. As an early riser is you will be able to contemplate the beauty of sunrise. That is actually a very beautiful experience as having the chance to witness the sunrise serves a very good starter for a positive day. You will also be able to be more grateful for your surrounding that you might miss if you wake up late. Your senses could be utilized to the maximum when you wake up early as you will be able to smell the morning breeze and the sounds of the early birds which serve as music to your ear. Nature will be very clear to you when you wake up early as you become more observant of what is happening around you. 

            Nobody loves accident especially car lovers. Being among the first to hit the road in the morning, you will be able to drive in peace. In other words, you don’t have to be an angry bird early in the morning. Moreover, you don’t have to shout or curse at other drivers or condemn the traffic jam. Obviously, you could consider yourself a little saint that day as you manage to bite your tongue. On the other hand, you can also avoid unnecessary accidents as traffic jam can cause anyone to lose control over their anger or some may drive over the legally suggested speed limit. Being trapped in the traffic jam is the last thing that you want to happen to you as traffic jam can take away most of your precious time.

            One of the best things of being an early riser is, when you are the first to reach the office, you will have the chance to plan your day well as you flip through your files on your busy desk. You will be able to reflect on yesterday’s progress or weaknesses to make today better than yesterdays.  When you have extra time to analyse the expectations that you have to deal with on that day, you will have a clear picture on your personal priorities. If this becomes a habit, being well-organized will also become a part of your life.

            I know it is not easy to redesign our daily routine but a journey will always begin with a single step.  ( 694 words)

Originally written by Mr. Mani Jack 

How to balance and compromise your own principles in a relationship

How to balance and compromise your own principles in a relationship

Ego is the main culprit in any failures of relationship. Sadly, ego is human nature. It is a part of us. We cannot delete it as it is biologically there. However, we can reduce it if the love for that relationship outweigh our personal ego.

Relationship is about two different souls who are attracted to each other. Some may look physically compatible, but there is no chemistry between them. Sometimes, even if the chemistry is there, if the amount of ego is excessive, that relationship will also fail.

When a man decides to have a serious relationship with a woman or when a woman decides to be committed into a serious relationship, they can’t avoid the collision of principles. Each of them comes from a different family background. Each family has cultivated or embedded a different set of principles which create tension between a man and a woman when they take their relationship to a another level. Therefore, if both of them refuse to compromise on their principles, that relationship will be short-lived because it takes years to build those principles in a person.

Let me share a few principles which could threaten a relationship. Let say this man has a few of good friends that he loves to hang out every weekend. These friends are very important to him perhaps they have helped him a lot in the past. When this man gets into a serious relationship with a woman, he insists that he will preserve his friendship and will continue to spend time with his friends every weekend. This belief may make the woman thinks that she is not important. If she feels unwanted, she may want to say goodbye early to this man. Therefore, a compromise should be held between this man and his woman. They should have a thorough discussion about this collision of priorities. In this case, the man must explain why he treasures his friends so much and how they have shaped him into a successful man today. His woman must also acknowledge the man’s need to appreciate his friend’s good deeds. Regarding the weekly gatherings, they can kill two birds with one stone. They can also hang out as usual as they have 24 hours a day. A win-win deal must be achieved at the end of the emotional deliberation. Most importantly, that man must not make his woman feel that she is not important in his life.

Another principle that could jeopardise a relationship is no one shall bring problems at workplace home. Perhaps the woman does not like it when his man brings any issues at workplace home. This principle may challenge the man’s ego as he may believe that his loved one must know what happens at the office. Conflicts arise when the man assumes that his woman is not interested to know about the challenges that he faces at the office. In this case, perhaps, the man must learn to cool down himself before he reaches home. Maybe the woman may feel uncomfortable when his man comes home with anger and frustration. Anger and frustration may cause the man to say certain things that he should have never said and perhaps these two negative elements may cause the woman to feel emotionally unsafe at home. Therefore, that man needs to find a place to reorganize his fiery thoughts due to too much pressure at the office before he comes home so that he can share anything that bothers his mind in a manner that does not hurt the feelings of his woman.

No one can avoid conflicts in a relationship because it is a normal process between two different souls who are trying hard to get along well with each other. Conflicts are meant to make us more mature. However, the ending of a conflict depends heavily on each party’s willingness to reduce their ego because the love for our partner shall always be more important than our selfish and destructive ego. (673 words)

Originally written by Mr. Mani Jack 

How to handle grief without disrupting your responsibilities

How to handle grief without disrupting your responsibilities

There are certain things in life that we can never avoid such as death, failure and sickness. If we are so healthy today, one day, sickness will knock at the door. If we are so happy to be alive, angel of death, sooner or later will come for a compulsory visitation. If we are so excited with continuous success, failure may come unexpectedly as that is a rhythm of life. Of all these predicaments, grief is the most painful as today continuously becomes yesterday as not everyone is emotionally strong enough to handle grief especially when we lose the ones we adore and treasure so much.

Some people may look okay after they have lost their loved ones but deep inside them is a buried sadness which is beyond description. Some may choose to live in illusion believing that the deceased is still alive. If we refuse to accept the fact that that person is gone, waking up in the morning is the last thing that we want to do and having a sleep at night becomes more difficult as the mind is flooded by thousands of tears and the heart is burdened by the sweet memories with the deceased. I know it is not easy, but we have to gradually remind ourselves that life on earth will always be temporary. The next journey after life on earth is a subject that is too abstract for our mind to comprehend. In other words, letting go is an agonizing process but if we don’t learn to let it go, that grief will take our body and slowly we will be lost in our own seas of past in which today is no longer a present that we should have cherished the most.

If we look at volcanic eruptions, that process has everything to do with the buried sadness that we have been keeping within. Some people may shut down themselves after attending a funeral. Their wrinkles are growing due to repeated frowns. They lost appetite to enjoy their favourite meals, movies and hobbies. In other words, they are dying as emotional struggle can badly affect one’s physical appearance. It is impossible to enjoy life in one week after losing someone. However, we need to make efforts to redevelop our love for the things we love as I don’t believe that the deceased wants us to destroy our lives. If we expect the deceased to rest in peace, we should also learn to live in peace. 

The rate of our success in handling grief depends on the many things that we have to do quickly as a day wasted is equal to wasting the whole life because tomorrow is just an illusion. Every day should be treated with love and self-appreciation. Good friends and close family members should be the first shelter that we look for if we were to handle grief effectively. They may not be able to offer you a permanent relief but a constant communication with them including lots of hugs will definitely heal the invisible wounds that have been stealing your smiles for so long. If you want to cry in front of them, just do it. The one who does not cry suffer more than the one who decides to release that pain through every drop of the tears. Your eyes might be red but at least your heart is able to breathe the air of happiness again.

Some people may question God in anger when they go through a grief. It is common to vomit that dissatisfaction on the altar as we are emotionally and spiritually too weak to understand things which do not offer quick answer and explanation. Prayer may not be able to put ice on that anger because letting go takes time as time heals everything. Some people may take more time than the others as our emotional wounds are different. We may lose faith sometimes but a second thought about coming back to Him is obligatory because the shouting heart can only be understood by the divine element as human beings can only hear but God has the power to listen but it takes faith to believe that everything happens for a reason. (707 words)

Originally written by Mr. Mani Jack

How do you save for that dream vacation of yours?

Title: How do you save for that dream vacation of yours?

Daydreaming is everyone’s hobby especially when we think of the beautiful places that we always want to visit once in a lifetime. The ones who could turn dream into reality are the ones who have clear plans and a solid determination which is supported by concrete actions while the ones who can’t make it stay as daydreamers as they refuse to embrace the number of commitments of a complicated plan.

Thinking of your dream vacation is not enough. You need a special diary for you to list down everything you need to know about that vacation. You may print the pictures of that place and keep them in your diary. If physical diary is too heavy for you, digital diary could be the best option as your pen-drive can store almost everything you need to know about your dream vacation including videos of those who went to that place. Their testimonies will be your best guidelines. 

If we take more than we can chew, the plan may fail miserably as we need to dive deep into the mirror of self-reflection especially the amount of money that we earn monthly. Even if you do a business, without self-discipline, the flow of cash is vulnerable to your big appetite. In other words, the place that you want to visit must be compatible with your wallet. If you earn RM 1200 a month, I don’t think that you can afford a trip to Bali. Even if you are single, you need to wait for at least 24 months if you insist on going to Bali provided if you are willing to save RM 50 a month as you need at least RM 1200 if you were to stay in Bali for three days including the flight tickets. It is better to have extra in your pocket. Otherwise you might end up as beggars in a place where friends and relatives are nowhere to be seen. It is okay to dream big but we have to acknowledge the bitterness of the reality of our wages as greater thing comes with a greater price.

As the old saying goes, the world favours the ones who are prepared. If you really want to turn that dream vacation into reality, you must act like an FBI agent. You need to gather the intelligence regarding everything you need to know about that particular place including the expected and expected cost. You also need to think of an extra budget should something go wrong throughout the trip as it is better to be safe than sorry.

Everyone can make money but not everyone can save money as not everyone is taught about financial intelligence or not everyone is taught about money management at a very young age. Now let us talk about the amount of money that you are willing to save every month. Let say your vacation dream may cost you RM 2500 and you want to be there in next December. Basically you have about 5 more months to go if this August is your starting point. Technically, you need to put aside at least RM 500 a month. If this proposal sounds impossible, how do you make it possible? First, you have to study your daily habits. Do you dine outside three times a day? Do you go clubbing on weekends? Do you hang out with your friends every weekend? Do you buy unnecessary items twice a month? Can something be done to reduce the money you spend on gas? Are you obsessed with online shopping? All of these questions have to be scrutinized first so that you will know specifically which “luxury” that you want to sacrifice in order to help you achieve your dreams. No pain, no gain.

Life is all about creating sweet memories. However, those sweet memories need careful plan, self-discipline and some money. If we hate being prepared, don’t whine about ordinary memories. Good luck. If the other travellers can do it, I believe you can do it. (689 words)

Originally written by Mr. Mani Jack