What If The Moon Fell On Earth

Someone just post an intriguing post on Facebook entitled "What if the moon fell on earth?" The post was equipped with vivid video of the possible scenario. Needless to say when something the size of the moon crashes on earth it will be like two aircraft carriers collide into each other. 

The result will no doubt be devastating. But what is interesting is not what will happen when the moon does crash on earth; but why we should even ponder such 1 in a trillionth scenario and start worry about it. Life is simply too short to worry about something that may not even happen.

Such is the modern lives that most people live with. Life somehow has lost its meaning and we are constantly searching for extraordinary events to excite our boring lives. That explains why movies such as The Avengers and Lord of the Rings are so popular throughout the world. Apparently our lives are too mundane and lack of colours.

It is also why depression is so common nowadays especially among the city dwellers. Life has become too complicated. We simply have too much stuff on our plate that we are likely to loose control at any time. Life is so challenging and demanding that we resorted to escape into the virtual world of movies; games and some people unfortunately choose drugs.

To overcome this modern day spiritual disease, we need to continuously feed our mind with useful information that can help rebuild our crumbled lives. We should stop reading news that don't help with our learning and growth but will add to our worries and suffering. We should read more motivational books or autobiographies of successful people. We should exercise more (at least 3 times a week and one hour each time). We should establish relationship with people with positive inner values and stop hang around with people who just want to kill time. We should go to the church or temple more often. We should read the Bible or other religious texts at least half an hour a day.

The mind is our sacred garden, if it stays idle for too long guess what will happen? Weed will start to grow in our sacred garden. Those who have done gardening before will know that if you leave the weed to grow for months, soon you will have hard time trying to get rid of it because it has grow roots deep and wide throughout your garden. The easiest way to get rid of the weed is to constantly pull them out and plant your garden with productive plants, flowers that you enjoy or fruit trees. And it is a continuous process that you must always keep an eye for some new weed that will crop up every now and then. 

The same theory applies to our mind. We must feed our mind daily with constructive and positive information that will help it grow. We must exercise our mind by thinking logically instead of worrying about stuff that may never happen. So will the moon crashes on earth one day? May be but so what. Are we going to start worry about it today knowing that we have absolutely no control whatsoever when it happens? Why not think about what if the moon does not crash on earth instead? Will our lives be better off? You bet!

Appreciate The Small Stuff

Have you ever been to a restaurant on weekend and waited at the counter to get a table? After 15 minutes (although it felt like forever) the waitress finally appear (you have been wondering where has she been all this while) and lead you to your table. It then take another 10 minutes (you feel like time has stop for some reason) for the same waitress to come and take your order. You then thought you can now relax and wait for your wonderful meal. You felt great that your order is recorded and food is on its way. You feel relax and started pleasant conversation with your company. Suddenly the conversation becomes less enthusiastic, you feel less comfortable as you start to wonder why your food is still not here after you have been chatting with your friends for 30 minutes. Your mind starts to fill you in with all sorts of negative hypothetical possibilities like whether your order has been passed on to the kitchen; whether your order has accidentally dropped on the floor or they have run out of food! You feel restless and you don't even want to have any conversation with your pals at all, all you are thinking is where is your food! Eventually the food comes but since you are in such an angry state you can't enjoy the meal at all. For all you know you will be cursing the dining experience for the rest of the evening!

Didn't all of us at some point in our life experience the above episode before? It may occur to some more than others. But if you think about it calmly, it is not the restaurant or the waitress or the chef that made you feel mad. It is YOU yourself that contribute to that bad experience. It is all too common that we tend to focus on the negative side of things that happen to us. That focus is so prevalent and all encompassing that we can't see any good in life. 

If we are to be happy for the rest of our lives we have to change that inherent bad habit. We have to start training our mind to search for good in everything including bad experiences. Yes, even there is good in bad things!!!

This morning after I washed my dishes I placed them on the draining basket. Underneath it is the standard stainless draining tray. I thought what a wonderful and simple idea to drain all the water from the plates and bowls. Just leave them there overnight and let gravity do the work! There was a sudden joy that I felt. It was just a good feeling that things are working the way they should.

There are many more things in life that we can feel grateful for. For example the beautiful stars that paint the sky every night or the sun who doesn't need an alarm clock to 'wake up' every morning. What about the great invention of the car where you can go anywhere by just sitting at the same spot!

It is important to keep training our mind to think in this way. If you want to have fit body you go to the gym. The same principles apply to our mind. If you wish to have a healthy mind you have to train it, exercise it by focusing on the things that can help you achieve your goal and not on negative interpretation that will destroy you. 

7 Steps To Handle Criticism Positively

Many people get defensive or sad when they’re criticized at work. In many cases, the workplace has no feedback culture in place and people are not trained to give or receive criticism in a constructive manner. Giving and receiving negative feedback constructively takes a LOT of practice!

The best way to receive negative feedback well is to follow these 7 steps:

1: Listen.
Actually hear what’s being said. If necessary, ask questions to make sure you understand the criticism fully.

Here’s an example:

I reiterate what she said so she knows that I was really listening and since my boss likes to teach and is very detail-oriented, I’ll ask her if she can give me a few tips on how to perform the task better and throw in a few suggestions as well to get her feedback.

I end the conversation by asking where I’m doing well so I can keep up the good work which is my way of helping her to remember where I excel.

This also shows her that out of everything that I do, she’s got few complaints and gives her the confidence to give me more responsibilities.

2: Assume good intentions
Unless proven otherwise, assume good intentions. Don’t automatically jump to the conclusion that the person criticizing you is “out to get you.” Of course, sometimes they are. If so, see below.

3: Do not get defensive and start making excuses.
Instead you might say what you’ve learned and what you will do differently from now on.

4: Don’t take it personally
Remember that they’re criticizing your work, not you as a person. Never take negative feedback about your work as a criticism of you as a person.

5: See criticism as help
Remember that all constructive feedback (including negative feedback) is a sign of interest and a sign that people want to help you do better. It would be far worse for people to notice you doing bad work and not say a word.

6: Don’t be too hard on yourself
Remember that everyone makes mistakes and has things to learn. Yes, that includes you. There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes, but making the same mistakes over and over because you refuse to listen to criticism and learn is not going to help you.

7: Say thank you
Thank the person for their feedback.

Never put up with attacks in the workplace

However, note that these steps only apply to constructive, well-meant criticism. Unfair and overly negative feedback is also used as a tool by bad managers and workplace bullies to demean and control others.

The wrong kind of criticism can be:

• Overly negative
• Personal attacks
• Unfair criticism for something that is not your fault or outside of your control
• Delivered in an unpleasant way

Do NOT put up with this kind of attack. If you do it will persist.

Feedback can be a gift

All constructive feedback is valuable because it gives you a chance to improve and learn. Positive feedback is easier and more fun (and sadly undervalued in most workplaces) but negative feedback and criticism can be a fantastic thing as long as we do it right.

In fact, many employees I’ve talked to simply wish for more feedback of any kind. They feel like they work in a vacuum where no one ever notices their efforts, good or bad, and this makes it almost impossible to know whether or not they’re doing good work.

Source: The Chief Happiness Officer Blog