Coffee for One @Artisan Coffee Bar

Good Evening guys,

It’s a nice cool rainy evening here in Bangsar, actually I’m not sure whether it is still raining, cause the weather has been rather bipolar, cause I’m actually indoors right now. Having a nice Flat White, courtesy of Artisan Coffee Bar, enjoying the music from my headphones and thinking. It’s nice, I don’t feel alone yet I’m alone with my thoughts, if that makes any sense. That’s the thing about coffee places, a place you can be alone but not really feel alone. It’s a sort of mid point, away from people that you are always with which explains how one feels alone but surrounded by strangers that cause a little background buzz, a sort of background connection to humanity that brings about the feeling that you’re not alone. Essentially the difference being that you’re alone on a conscious level, a level where you’re alone with your thought and the other being you’re not alone on a subconscious level, where you are aware that there are people around you but you don’t think about it, it’s all just background processes that don’t matter at the moment, just background music if you will. Just comforting background music because, I think, even when we want to be alone, we don’t really want to be completely alone in silence. Why? Because we feel disconnected from humanity, and most would rather not have that. Especially now, in an age of extreme connectivity. I feel that one of the major factors for the success of social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc is because people want to always feel connected, to never lose the connection to humanity. To never feel “alone”.

Or then again, maybe it’s just me 🙂

Now that’s not to say that people never want to be truly alone. Most of the time just turning off the phone and heading to a cafe alone will be enough, but there will be times when the connectivity gets really overwhelming we are going to want to completely “detox” and really be alone, in silence. Too much of anything is never good.

I totally intended today’s post to be ‘A Work in Progress’, but I guess this will be it for today.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts

Straight From The Heart

Personal Productivity

Good evening people,

I’m trying out this place called Artisan Coffee Bar, and their coffee is pretty damn good. Having myself a Flat White.

I know it’s been a while, it’s been more difficult then I thought it would be to get back into the swing of things. But ill get there. In my previous post ‘Better Than Yesterday, Always.’ I mentioned that it is essential to Keep Moving Forward and making today better based upon your own personal productivity. Now what is Personal Productivity?

Productivity isn’t the same for everyone, certain things that may be productive to one person may not be universal. Yes there are some general productivity tips that are more universal than others such as always educating oneself, exercise, being healthy and the lessons from people like Sharma, Branson etc (not all of course, but you’ll fine most of them are very applicable and useful).

Personal productivity getting things done that are important to you, that will help get you closer to where you want to be. It’s about not wasting your time, potential and life. Not all things that are considered productive may be productive to you, hence the importance of personal productivity. Look at reading, most people consider it a productive way to spend time, but I really don’t think that is true. Reading for entertainment is not generally productive, it’s entertainment and too much of it is a waste of time. Of course reading is the most productive of the entertainment mediums but if you want to be productive, there Erne other more effective ways. If you want to go into business, then read the biographies of great businessmen, “have a cup of tea with them”. Do not let the common perception of reading make it seem that all books are productive, plenty of them aren’t, especially now days.

Focus on what matters to you, whether you want to be a footballer, business tycoon, a parent, or whether it is to live a healthy life, fun life,etc . Know what you want and make sure most of your actions are in line. Why do I say most? Well because we’ve got to have time to kick back and do others things so that life don’t become stale and monotonous. Anyway, in order to really know what you should be doing, you have to be aware of what you want, you need to achieve clarity of your desires. And that requires of lot of thinking and personal time. Only you can know what you truly want, what your goals, dreams and ambitions are. Of course there’s no harm “consulting” others for advice,either be conversing or reading about the people you respect, what I like to refer to as mentors. They will help provide additional knowledge, guidance and wisdom to help you achieve Clarity and Awareness. But REMEMBER, that doesn’t mean you need to follow them exactly and become a copy of them. Learn from them, don’t copy them.
There are plenty of productivity sites with plenty of tips, you have to be able to see what you need and what will work and not try everything and anything you can read. Find a set that works for you’d and follow through on them and once you’re comfortable and consistent, then maybe you want to add-on and modify your current Personal Productivity M.O.

The foundation of all this is knowing YOUR goals, dreams and ambitions. Only then will you when you are wasting time and when you are making the best use of it.

Straight From The Heart

Distraction @coffeacoffeemy (arkaysthoughts.com)

Memory Stimulation @Starbucks

Good Afternoon guys,

I’m here at Starbucks but instead of a Latte, I’ve reverted back to a Cafe Mocha, and damn does it taste good. Every time I take a sip it takes me back to when I first started drinking Mocha’s while blogging, and the feelings and emotions that were common then. I love this effect, where a certain stimuli triggers off certain memories, sometimes you have a hard time placing the familiar experience and you then spend a few minute cracking your head over it, and finally, once you’ve figured it out, spend a few minutes looking back and reminiscing. As I’m drinking my Café Mocha here, it just reminds me of all the others times I’ve sat at a Starbucks with this same drink, of how I would take a sip and stare into blank space while trying to future out my next post or to find the right word, or of how I would take a sip to fuel my mind as a thought was being expanded and stretched, and how exciting that process was, of how my fingers would have to race across my iPad to keep up with the words, thoughts and lines being churned out from my mind, and then the stillness when it was all over and all I wanted to say was typed out and ready to be posted (the problem always being they I always forgot to spellcheck, working on this problem).

I love memory stimulation, it brings about a more real experience when recalling something. Replaying it in your head is one thing, but when you has external stimuli to trigger it and/or guide you, you live through it again, you re-experience it; whether the stimuli is sound, taste, smell or touch. The mor stimuli involved the more vivid the reliving of a memory can be, and sometimes it feels like you’re living in two worlds at the same time, and you know that can’t be true, but part of you actually believes it, or there is the other situation where you just want to continue reliving the memory because you have been taken to a time where live was better, in a situation where you just want to escape. And as pleasant as reliving a last memory can be (or how bad sometimes) you have to come to terms that it isn’t going to last because for the most part this re-experience depends heavily on the external stimuli, and once that ends, it’s only a matter of minutes before the memory becomes less vivid and in some situation, just a mere recollection of a sequence of events, lacking an feeling or emotion.

Of course, all that I have written above it based upon my own experiences and you by all means may have a different experience entirely, but I’m feeling they this is a very innate human thing, so we will all experience something similar, the event of linking a memory with one or many external stimuli, strongly supported by our emotions. For when we relive a memory, it’s the emotion linked to the memory that finds us first, which then brings all the other pieces together to build this vivid experience. The emotion is the reason for it’s vividness.

Then again, maybe someone has been spiking my drinks so that I ended up tripping? I’ll leave it to you to decide, believe and live what you want.

Straight From The Heart

Christmas Colonisation

Hey Guys, hope everyone is having a good Sunday,

I’m having my Latte as I’m surrounded by movement, lots of movement. Around me sit others who are taking a break from the crowd in the mall, taking a break from the rush of movement. Today’s immense mess is probably due to the fact that it’s a long weekend and that school holidays have just started, and in line with Malaysian style, people have rushed to the malls. I’ve never been a big fan of malls, sure I like to spend a day there once in a while (monthly etc) but I can’t see myself making it a weekly occurrence, or maybe not weekly whole day affairs.

Anyway, looks like Christmas has colonized Diwali here in Malaysia. I’m having my latte at Starbucks and the Christmas theme is very much in my face. I am reminded of this FB post I read a day or two back; how Starbucks has set up for Christmas without even waiting for Diwali to end. The best part, it’s not just Starbucks, it’s CBTL as well and I’m sure a few more of these international coffee franchises. I understand the need to set up for christmas, it is the most profitable and commercial of all the festivals celebrated here, I think, but couldn’t you guys wait a little while longer before cashing in? Couldn’t Starbucks, more domestically than internationally, have just waited a little while longer? I’m not asking for a Diwali themed drink, just asking you guys, my favorite coffee franchise/place/spot to just respect Diwali enough to not completely ignore it’s existence and plaster christmas all over it. I expected better sense, didn’t think that they were this ignorant, especially with Starbucks pushing into India I would have expected them to be more aware of indian culture in general.I don’t need you to celebrate it with us, but I would like Diwali not to be cast aside like it doesn’t matter, this doesn’t happen with Ramadan or CNY. I know Christmas is an important commercial season, but I’m sure all of you guys based here, not just Starbucks, could have waited a little while longer before bringing out the candy canes and christmas trees.

I love Starbucks, but I’m now dissatisfied and disappointed. I don’t know whether this is a recurring thing because I only became a regular Starbucks customer this year, but I really hope you guys, and others, don’t repeat it. Don’t disregard our celebration by choosing to layer christmas over it, find away to make this a win-win, (maybe a hybrid Christmas-Diwali theme until Diwali is over?) because honestly, as a Malaysian of Indian ethnicity, I felt unwanted when I entered Starbucks today, didn’t feel at home like I used to before, didn’t feel as comfortable, and all that is a big part of why I come to Starbucks. I’m sure ill get over this sooner or later, and I’m sure others will too, but don’t take this dissatisfaction and disappointment lightly because one day it could bite you in the ass, not just Starbucks, but too all you others who have chosen to overlap Diwali with Christmas.

On another note, I wish everyone who celebrates this festival of lights a Happy Deepavali/Diwali!

Straight From the Heart

Getting Back to Business

Good Afternoon guys, I’m here at Starbucks, been while and I’ve realised just how long it’s been. Guess I hit another speed bump.
I’ve been away for a while, a long while, put all this all on hold during my exam period, but I shouldn’t have stepped away for this long and I wouldn’t have needed to if I kept one eye on my academics and study died regularly instead of taking it all to the 11th hour. I was in such a mess, sleeping late, waking late, not exercising as much and so on and after the exams were over, I had rebuilt the old habit of sleeping late and I’ve been feeling messy, really cluttered. Writing kept me in check, kept me in awareness of myself and what I was doing, where I was going, without it I drifted away from the personal progress that I was making. The last month may have been necessary but it wasn’t good for my personal progress which leads me to a flaw in my personal progress, I didn’t put enough focus on academics. So, lesson learnt, must put more focus into my academics so that I won’t be left with a last minute hurdle at the end and have to dump everything else to get passed my exams, again.

So, my main focus for the next week is simple, get back into “shape”. Eating well, exercising regularly, writing regularly, reading, sleeping well, waking up early. Yes, it is Diwali, but I’ll have to work around that, I’ve spent enough time in the mess of mine, I’ve wasted enough time doing nothing, I’ve had enough of not having productivity in my days.

Easier said than done, but so very achievable.

This was just a warm up, taking that step of just doing it, just getting some writing done. my next post will be more back to business as usual.

Wish me luck,

Straight From The Heart

Better Than Yesterday, Always.

Sitting in my favourite spot, at my favourite Starbucks with my Caffe Latte, just took a whiff of the scent, what a smell. Have I ever mentioned how much I love the smell of coffee in the morning, not just any cup of coffee, a good coffee. I love it very much, it makes my day feel better, and today it’s made a good morning even better. The simplicity of it, the mere fact that a smell can make one feel better and happy. Just amazing.

I’ve got a simple idea for you today, Make Today’s Work Better Than Yesterday’s . Got this idea from one of my mentors, Mr. Robin Sharma.

Have you ever wanted to get things done and feel productive, but didn’t know how to start or just “couldn’t start”? Well this strategy is brilliant for building momentum to get you going, and it’s jut so simple. Whatever you did yesterday that you deem productive, make it better today or for those things that you deem unproductive, make today better by reducing them. I use this strategy whenever I crash or fall sick and need to get back to productivity and my ideal days.

What I do normally is I watch less tv than the day before, get up earlier than the day before (until I reach my ideal/goal wake up time), sleep earlier than the day before (again until I achieve my ideal point and then stay there), read more, study more and exercise more. I do each progressively until I achieve my Ideal Parameters. To give you a better picture, here are some of my Ideal Parameters: wake up at 6am, sleep at 10:30pm, exercise twice a day totalling a minimum of 1hr, read 50 pages daily at minimum, study for 90 minutes at a go and tv & Xbox at max 1hr. Over the past few days I’ve made great progress with regards to my waking up, sleeping, reading, tv & Xbox and exercise. Unfortunately I haven’t made much headway with the studying but ill get there, one day at a time, as long as I keep improving daily. I find this the best way to get back on track and rebuild any momentum lost, or even rebuild momentum from the ground.

Now, lets say that you’ve achieved and running consistently at your Ideal Parameters, use the above statement to work on other parts, don’t stop but don’t let it cost your Ideal Parameters because, well at least for me, the Ideal Parameters help keep me going, they make sure I’m taking care of myself, that I’m doing the basics so that i can go on to do other things. Never sacrifice, at least for prolonged periods, your Ideal Parameters, because it is that that is helping you Keep Moving Forward.

So go ahead, make today better than yesterday, NOW. don’t wait for tomorrow to start, get started now, and make sure you’re doing it inline with Your Personal Productivity (ill talk about this in a future post).

Straight From The Heart

Of Living Now & Anticipation

Im sitting here in this Starbucks, my Caffe Latte on my right and my iPad right in front of me, thinking about how long I haven’t blogged and how blogging right now would just make my morning even better.

Good Morning dear readers, it’s been a while since I last took to the iPad and opened up my WordPress app to share my thoughts with you. I’ve been in a bit of a rut, waking up late, wasting too much of my time on unnecessary unproductive things, but today I have snapped out of it, thanks to my Holy Hour yesterday afternoon that got me feeling good, aware and driven. My Holy Hour is such a important tool in my life, I have to make sure I keep it up, because when I don’t, everything just goes out of sync, priorities get disorientated and my mind gets cluttered. But enough about that, that is the past and I will learn from them and Keep Moving Forward.

Right now I’m enjoying this very moment, not thinking about the last or looking forward to the future in Anticipation, but just sitting here in this black arm chair, in this tastefully designed Starbucks sipping on my caffe latte, breathing in the moment, savouring my coffee.

Enjoying the moment, I think I wrote about this before, but anyway let me write about it again.

If you visited my Facebook FanPage recently, you would have seen a quote from the current book I’m reading:

“the only moment we ever live is the present moment. It is the only one we ever have to be happy.” John A. Schindler

How right is that. Read it again and let it sink in. The only moment we can do something about is this very moment. Not the moment before this, or the moment after, this moment. So don’t waste time, try your level best to enjoy it.

The biggest threat and detriment to enjoying the present moment is Anticipation. The anticipation of something coming up that you are looking forward to or the classic,”I can’t wait to go to high school,” when you’re in middle school or “I can’t wait to go to university!”, when you’re in high school and so on. Stop wanting to fast forward through life all the time and enjoy what you can from the present phase of life you are in. Every phase has its benefits, so stop looking at the negatives. Stop being so glass half-empty. There’s always a Silver Lining.

Yes please plan ahead, plan that event you want to do, or plan for they concert you want to go for, but in the mean time, before that very exciting event happens, don’t let the anticipation to get to that future moment kill all the time in-between. The most valuable commodity in life is time, so don’t waste it living in fast forward or sleep-walking. Be aware of what you are doing at all times, at all moment and try your very best to enjoy each moment or at the very least live each moment, really live.

Put more living in your days.

A suggestion, the next time you are walking, take a look around. Observe the people, the scenery, the sky, the plants etc, really observe and maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to see beauty and colour of all of it, to really see it and enjoy every bit of it.

To round up, enjoy the moment, don’t fret about the past because there really is nothing you can do about it but learn from it and plan ahead but don’t live life in fast-forward because of the Anticipation of getting to that next moment, or that next event or that next phase in your life.

“love what you have, and then go for heat you want. Enjoy the climb up the mountain, but never take your eyes of the summit”Robin Sharma

Journaling @Starbucks – Of Loss & Redemption

Good Afternoon readers,

It’s been a while since I blogged, my last one was in memory of great man who made an impact on my life, who sadly, is no longer with us. Today i sit down at this very tastefully designed Starbucks in TTDI, sipping on Soy Café Mocha as I mull over the week and reflect.

Over the last two weeks I have had to deal with the loss of a friend, teacher and mentor. Someone I looked up to and someone I admired. It was not easy but I am dealing with it. Loss is something that will eat you up and chuck you in a corner if you don’t deal with it, you may end up living life in Coma Mode and wasting years because the loss wasn’t dealt with and it created a numbness about life. If you need help, go get it, but don’t let the loss sit and stagnate, don’t procrastinate with regards to dealing with it. Dealing with it doesn’t mean ignoring or forgetting it, it just means accepting the fact that someone you loved or admired or cared for, is no longer around. Take your time dealing with it, but just make it certain that you are in fact trying to deal with it. Take it one step at a time, don’t let it consume you because I’m sure for most of the loved ones who have passed, they would want us to live our life’s and not trap ourselves in the past, or maybe that’s just what I tell myself. I tell myself Mr.D would tell me to keep pushing forward and enjoying life, to appreciate the people you do have and to live life. And I will keep telling myself that.

On a more recent note, during the middle of this week i discovered that I was letting down certain loved ones around me, that I wasn’t acting to the best I could in respect to my relationship with them, that I could be better and that they in fact deserved better. It was quite a slap in the face, a moment of clarity where I saw all the missteps, mistakes and ill actions I was making towards them. They were victims of my lack of patience, my ill-temperament and by extension, of my Fibromyalgia. I spent some time away, alone and in solitude just thinking and became aware of how I had dropped the ball, of how I had neglected certain people and of how I can do better, I can be better & I will be better. They may have forgiven me, but to be honest, I haven’t forgiven myself, every time I think of it it makes me sick, how could I have neglected them and treated the most important people in my life so badly? I’ll tell you why, because I didn’t think about it, I didn’t think about my actions and I didn’t think about them. I took the whole selfishness thing to far, yes it’s good to be selfish but it has to be in moderation, and I forgot about that very important word, moderation.

So hopefully I have dealt with the loss of Mr. D and that, in time, I will redeem myself in my eyes. The people around me deserve better from me and I owe it to myself to be better, simply because it would be such a waste of my abilities if I I didn’t, and I so hate waste.

Here’s to more posts this week, and this is the end of this weeks Journal entry.

Straight From The Heart

And In the Morning, I’m Making Waffles. Rest In Peace Mr. D

I haven’t written in a whole, and to those that were disappointed with the lack in posting, please accept my apology, I am sorry.

I’ve been putting off writing this because I was trying to find the “right” way to write this, but really, no words can truly describe the shock, confusion and sadness. Here it goes.

Last week was a difficult week for me, and many others I know, we lost a good man, a son, a father, a colleague, a friend, a teacher, a mentor.

He is a hero to me, a man who helped me out during tough times, who was understanding and caring. He motivated and inspired. He gave the best damn hugs in the world and had a smile that was infectious.

He helped me see the light when I needed it the most.

He understood, he cared and he helped.

I am very sure that my feelings of him are shared by many others, I only wish that our friendship could’ve been much more.

When I heard the news, I didn’t believe it, I told my friend not to kid about this and check his sources and told me not to get back to me until after my test… But I couldnt wait and called him an hour later, and it was confirmed, the world lost one of the Good Guys. My dear teacher was no longer with us.

I felt numb, confused and shocked. It wasn’t easy, the day was hard and I can’t imagine what the others closer to him must have been going through.

Mr. D, I will remember you for all that you taught me. The laughter, the motivation and hugs. I will always remember you for the person you encouraged me to be, that I was not relegated to letting my condition to dictate my life. I will remember you for all the good you did and all the smiles you gave us. The dancing, the Music and the pizza.

Thank you for helping me see that I can be what I always want to be. Thank you Mr. D, thank you so damn much.

Thank you to the organisers of his memorial on Monday, it was beautiful. Heartfelt, spot on and very Mr. D.

My condolences to his family back in Canada. My condolences to his loved ones, friends and colleagues. My condolences to my fellow classmates, seniors and juniors. And my condolences to anyone who knew him. This is a tough time but we will get through, there is a light at the end of this tunnel, you might not see it now, but it is there.

Thank you for reading this blog Mr. D and encouraging me forward. I will make it a point to pay it forward.

Well, I think that’s it, it’s time for me to test some shut eye and… In the morning, I’m making waffles.

Straight From the Heart

Thank You Mr.D — The letter i wrote to him a few months back.

Journaling @Journal: Keeping the Momentum

Good Afternoon guys,

I’m making a little change to my Sunday Blog, instead of Sunday Reflections i’m changing it now to Journaling @Journal. When journaling one does reflect so I thought it would be a nice change, plus I found this new place that I like and it’s called Journal. I cake here in the middle of the last week, and that’s when I thought about the title of Journaling @Journal and decided to switch Sunday Reflections with it. We’ll see how this goes.

;

Anyway, as the title suggests i’m at Journal Publika, with my iPad on my lap and my mocha just in front of me, thinking about the past week and reflecting. On a completely of topic point, I miss my Starbucks mocha, though the mochas at cafes like this are definitely more flavourful, they are so small! I miss my grande that costs me only 1.65 more than the mocha in front of me, but anyway back to my journaling @journal.

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can keep the momentum going, the week before was brilliant, full of exercise and early mornings and I felt great. Over the last week I’ve been feeling a little slower, and I know it’s due to the fact that I’ve had some late mornings, I’ve got to keep my discipline and keeping waking up early while getting enough sleep (I aim for 7/8 hours). I’ve started including a daily hours of academic study, which was really hard to initiate but I got it done by Just starting it, sitting down and reading my text book, yes it was only 30 minutes, but the next day it was easier and I got 45 minutes down and the day after that I did an hour without much fuss, so it’s just about beating gravity and gaining momentum to Keep Moving Forward. Keeping the momentum can be difficult in busty lives but we’ve got to be disciplined and have the will power, after 3 weeks of regular daily exercise, holy hours and studying it’ll be engrained into your daily system and you won’t have to think twice about why you’re doing it, when to do it or what to do…. It’ll be second nature. I just have to keep the momentum going, and the only way to keep it so it through discipline, will power and self control. Easier said than done, but it can be done.

I made a few mistakes the last week, as is the case with every week, but the key is to ensure that it ain’t the same mistakes happening over and over again.

Gotta keep the momentum going, gotta keep the exercise gearing, gotta keep the mornings early and gotta keep the knowledge flowing.

Straight From The Heart

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