Part Time Scholar

This year, I left Hong Kong and landed back in Canada. That’s the headline, but it barely captures what actually happened.  Moving across continents forced me to slow down, notice patterns, and re-evaluate routines I didn’t even realize I was carrying with me. Relocation: Learning to See Life Anew At first, everything felt bigger: houses, streets, coffee shops, even the way people walk and talk. In Hong Kong, life moves like a high-speed train; in Canada, it feels like a tram--or should I say, street car-- that occasionally stops and makes you think. The change wasn’t just geographic.  It was mental.  I had to ask myself: what do I bring with me, and what can I leave behind?  The discipline, curiosity, and late-night ponders came along.  The constant rush, the pressure to always perform, and the noise quietly fell away. Perspective arrived almost automatically. In a new place, it’s hard not to notice the context you’ve been operating in your whole life....

I have long wanted to study Buddhism, because its teachings are quite cryptic in nature and to me, thought provoking.  In fact, I took a trip to China's Shaolin Temple in recent weeks to soak in some zen.  Shaolin is also known for its Chinese kung fu, so I also signed up for a private martial arts lesson with a warrior monk.  That was a great experience in itself, but the story will have to wait for another day.  Instead, I wanted to share a great read called Think Like a Monk  by Jay Shetty.  It portrays a few keystones of Buddhism and how a purposeful life can be led without subccumbing to the distractions we encounter on a daily basis.  Reading the book provided an egaging experience as it uses real life examples to illustrate its points.   Here is what I learnt:  We are what we think people think we are: we often project the "right image" to impress others.  This is the direct result of us overthinking our importance in t...

I recently finished a self-help book called  The Magic of Thinking Big ,  by David Schwartz.  The title caught my attention as I have had first-hand experience on the topic.  My expectation from the book was to see if there are consistent means to induce big thinking and in turn, derive its benefits.  It turned out there is no magic pill on how to think big. Instead Dr Schwartz provided a few lifehacks that resonated with me:  Believe you can and so you can. Self belief is key to success.  If you believe you are good enough, then you are on the right track to attaining results.  This message reminded me of Morpheus telling Neo in the Matrix , "Don't think you are. Know you are." This has been my mantra for some time so the chapter served as a good reinforcement on self belief. On the flip side, if you believe you cannot, that is equally self-fulfilling    There is no excuse for mediocrity.  Whether it is health, intelligen...