What I am busy with these days....

In the midst of the political excitement ( Malaysian saga, US eleventh hour presidential race, MM Lee going to hospital) and the financial fiasco (Lehman being sent to vulture pickings, AIG on shaky grounds -- how ironic that an insurance giant itself is not insured against subprime woes!) , I have been taking refuge in other more interesting but equally gripping developments in different areas of my life.


MOUNTAIN TREKKING/ CLIMBING
I have recently discovered the joy of climbing mountains :-). I have always liked mountains, especially in winter times. Mountains are tall, pagan and full of majestic presence. The snow-capped ones would even take my breath away but then they are usually found in other parts of the world so it is actually with a mild surprise that I discovered I like climbing the small, wet, leech infested mountains in Johor and Negeri Sembilan recently. They are called gunungs (Gunung Lambak, Gunung Datuk), so technically still fall under the mountain category although they are like only 1000 metres above sea level.

I have always known that I could run better on inclined slopes but what I did not know is that I have good endurance and stamina for inclined climbs, and I found the heart-pumping breaths and intense perspiration to be quite enjoyable :-). Mentally, mountain climbing is a challenging and rewarding pursuit. Maybe it is a good substitute exercise for the fact that I am not a believer in climbing the corporate ladder ha.

I am pretty keen to see how far I can climb from here. So far the toughest climb for me was the Kolsay Lakes in Kazakhstan whereby I climbed a vertical elevation of 2km over 7km trek on a sick stomach for a good half of the journey. I thought it was quite a miracle that I made it and felt absolutely jubilant when I reached the top. It taught me that at times, your body could take much more than you could ever imagine once you decided that stopping was not an option.


READING PHILOSOPHY
Well, I am not exactly new to philosophy. At a superficial level, I know most Western philosopher names and 2year ago, I read a condensed version of Soren Kierkergaard, whom I do regard was a real breakout philosopher. I respected him in having those ideas in those times, and was gutsy enough to go against the large Christian crowd. But but, I must say that most philosophy is a lot of talk, and no action. Philosophers have this tendency make life so complicated and bleak, which is not something that I believe in.

In recent days though, I have picked up a book on running and philosophy of life. And so far, although I still have my skepticism, I found the write up on Aristotle and Nietzsche interesting enough for me to pursue more. Since I only just started, let me just slowly re paraphrase what I have read, digested and UNDERSTOOD..

1) Aristotle says "... all knowledge and every pursuit aims at some good"
EW : Agree 100%. Logic 1, if we have something useful ( i.e. knowledge), we might as well put it to some use, and since "good" is useful and symmetrically, it is useful to be good, this is a logically sound argument. Logic 2, if we do not currently possess, but have the intention to have i.e .. pursue, it makes sense that if pursuit involves effort, so if we wanna spend energy, we should acquire a good or useful thing. Else, why work hard to be "not good" or acquire something that is "not good" when one can have the "good" one?

2) Aristotle says "... happiness is activity of soul in accordance to virtue"
EW: It is possible to agree with this, but need some exhaustive work. For example, must define soul, virtue and happiness...which is a gargantuan task. So let's KIV the logic first and treat it on a gut level. I think it is true that that there is a deep inner human longing to be good virtuous, but the problem lies in that it is not possible to be good and virtuous all the time, and hence therein lies the conflict.

3) Nietzsche, in this writings, touched on "cosmic meaninglessness" and insisted that inner conflict was inescapable as human beings embody multiple drives, deep ambiguity and ambivalence, and internally mirror the ongoing flux of the cosmos. He mentioned that there is a despicable class of human called the Last Man. In their search for security, contentment and minimal exertion,the last man takes solace in egalitarianism that severs them from the highest human possibilities : intense love, grand creation, deep longing, passionate exertion and adventure in the pursuit of excellence.
EW: Nietzsche is a dark character. I don't like his writings on the higher and lower forms of men. It is too separatist. However, I kinda agree that there is a lot of internal turmoil within the human psyche and it is possible that many people prefer to sweep this beneath a religious cloak, preferring to choose a safe life instead of exploring the demons within. He made another statement that life must be lived dangerously for it to have meaning. Gut-wise, I can identify with his arguments but I am not convinced that taking a lot of risks leads to "Good". On the contrary though, I am afraid that if I am too virtuous, I become too "safe" and losses my ability to experience the more intense emotions in life. So, I am still mulling over this.

Let me go and read more on Aristotelian virtue and Nietzsche's recommendation on the best way to live a meaningless life. Perhaps it is possible to live a virtuous life in a meaningless world and still attain soul happiness? All I need is to tweak my thoughts around such concepts.


DANCING
I am new into dancing :-). Kinda stumbled into pole dancing and hip hop because one of my colleague suggested doing pole dancing. Pole dancing is not easy at all!! What is amazing is that after many classes and bruises, I can actually invert and flip myself onto a pole, and hang in there without arms, and slowly take my time to slide down. Hurray! Things that I never thought that I could ever do. It is amazing what perseverance could bring ! I think this is really the masochist in me not giving up, I just want to see where I can go on this.

The next thing that I really want to learn is to continuously step up on a pole without stopping, like a coconut climber climbing up a coconut tree. I can imagine this is an useful skill to have if I ever get chased by a tenacious dog, I can climb up a lamp post! The next next skill I wanna learn is to do a body wave ( with push up) while on the pole. Man, this would take an absolute amount of ab power, which I hope to have :-)

Many people have laughed at this but I am attaching some possibility to this scenario. I could imagine myself living in the Rockies and Vegas one day. In winter time, I shall work as a ski instructor. In summer time, I shall be a waitress at day and a pole/exotic dancer at night in Vegas :-)


Overall, I have been quite happy in recent days. Life post Kazakhstan trip has been great in the last one month. The many days of living close to raw nature with very simple necessities made me rather appreciative of the good things that I have in my life. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel empowered to do a lot of things, and that at this point in my life, it is possible to achieve happiness and live a fulfilling life.I believe I have the intelligence, resources and ability to do so.

Is it possible to live abundantly ?

Just read with slight horror that 1.4 billion people live under the extreme poverty line in 2005, i.e survive under USD 1 per day ( from the Economist )..... I almost feel ashamed that I am one of the top few percentile who actually have access to a lot of good things in life and not doing that much to make the best out of what I have.
Someone said to me at lunch that we need a lot of love in our life to live with positive energy, and that our mental states affect our health the most. I tend to think that it is true.

At times it is really ironic to see so many people going for cosmetic treatments when they are so ugly inside. Just like it is equally disheartening to see many people with impure hearts going to temple and churches. What strikes me about them is that when they go to such religious places, they are going to discover more of themselves rather than to find out more about god and spirituality.

I wonder how it feels like to be more spiritual, to be more in touch with spirituality, and to have a genuine desire to wish and to believe in better things for the world? I question myself if I really believe in equality and whether I would like to share everything in the world with everyone? Do I genuinely feel guilty being priviledged ? Or perhaps I am just being a hypocrite ? Are people genuine about trying to equalise the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources in this world? In a world of finite resources, it is possible to live abundantly without the constant need to hoard, fight, compare and compete for more? Does every life what is born deserve the right to develop to its full potential and live a flourishing life in real abundance?

ENTP -- knowing myself

By now I feel that I am fairly confident that I am most well described by the ENTP type:

http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/entp/

Was an ENTP in JC, and in recent times did many MBTI versions that confirmed me as an ENTP or perhaps, by now, it is self-fulfiling.

What I thought was a discovery is an write up on what success means for an ENTP.


What does Success mean to an ENTP?
http://www.personalitypage.com/ENTP_per.html

Ten Rules to Live By to Achieve ENTP Success
1. Feed Your Strengths! Realize your gift of seeing past the obvious brings you a great capacity to reward yourself and others through your cleverness. Make sure you engage in activities and which can expose this potential at its most valuable level.
2. Face Your Weaknesses! We all have weaknesses. Recognizing your weaknesses for what they are (without beating yourself up) will give you the power to change your life for the better.
3. Talk Through Your Perceptions. Discussing what you see with others will them understand where you are coming from, and offer you the chance to discover the ways in which their input can balance your ideas.
4. Relax and Enjoy the View. Take the time to consider what you have, the gifts life has already brought to you. Try and discover the value and importance of those constant day to day things which support and nourish you.
5. Be Aware of Others Understand that everyone has their own lives and their own perspectives. Everyone has something to offer. Try to identify people's personality type.
6. Recognize Norms and Structures Are Necessary. Remember that without the support and constancy of others, no-one can follow their dreams. The path you walk was laid by others, each of its stepping stones created to fulfill a different part of the human need for constancy and security. Without this support structure, you cannot go far.
7. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Understand that the only way to grow is to get outside of your comfort zone. If you're feeling uncomfortable in situation because it seems to be going nowhere, that's good! That's an opportunity for growth.
8. Identify and Express Your Feelings You may have a hard time understanding your feelings. It's important that you try to figure this out. Don't let people down. If you determine that you value a person, tell them so every time you think of it. This is the best way to make them feel secure in your affections, and so to promote a long-lasting relationship.
9. Be Accountable for Yourself Remember that no one has more control over your life than you have. Don't be a victim.
10. Assume the Best, But Be Wary. Your positive attitude nearly always creates positive situations. Just remember: to make them lasting and worthwhile you must build them on solid, carefully planned foundations.