I have failed many times in my life. Failed in my studies, failed in business, failed in friendships, failed to lived up to expectations that others have of me.....and most unnerving of all, failed in my expectation of my own self.
It never fails to shake my own perception of my own self worth when I fail in any of the undertakings I embark upon. When you do fail it takes something out of your sense of confidence in your own abilities and if you are not strong enough you die a little every time you fail at something in life.
But for me what failure takes from me is more than made up by what I learn from the mistakes I make. From these failures I learnt about the importance of family, second chances, about not giving up, about friends that are there with you and for you no matter what and most heartening of all...you learn about life. You go from strength to strength if you can get past your mistakes and learn from them.
But for me what failure takes from me is more than made up by what I learn from the mistakes I make. From these failures I learnt about the importance of family, second chances, about not giving up, about friends that are there with you and for you no matter what and most heartening of all...you learn about life. You go from strength to strength if you can get past your mistakes and learn from them.
What about success?
To me success in life is being happy. Yes money, power, respect of others for you helps but they are fleeting. Fleeting and never enough. I have lived with money and lived without money and I must confess that living with money is much more comfortable.... but try living with enough money for your 'needs' and maybe a few for your 'wants'.
You need shelter, food and clothing for you and your loved ones. You need money for some of life's necessities - education, taking care of your health, maybe a car and a plasma TV....but you want a Mercedes and you want a house in a gated community and you want a Rolex watch......get my drift?
In the beginning this was hard for me to do because I have had so much of life pleasures and luxuries while living in KL. I got used to driving Jaguars,Mercedes and BMW's from the time I started work and having a Father who could afford to give me that good life, did not help.
I remember the time I brought my family back to KL for the first time after staying a few years in Perth and my father came to pick us up with three 7 Series BMW....I had no idea that he had done so well for himself in business.
Then there was the time he got himself a de Fever Yacht from Singapore...took it back himself and hit some rocks off Port Dickson and it sank....and a few days later he went back to Singapore and got himself another one and named it Widuri....his pride and joy. We had many wonderful memories on board Widuri with him.
But circumstances change.
Today I find pleasures in the things around me.
A corner of our apartment with some of our favorite books and DVD's, a roast lamb for Sunday lunch..and now now and then, feeding the Sea Gulls and Pigeons when my wife and me go for our walks.
With thanks to Eddie Mohsin for this take on what I wrote.
To me success in life is being happy. Yes money, power, respect of others for you helps but they are fleeting. Fleeting and never enough. I have lived with money and lived without money and I must confess that living with money is much more comfortable.... but try living with enough money for your 'needs' and maybe a few for your 'wants'.
You need shelter, food and clothing for you and your loved ones. You need money for some of life's necessities - education, taking care of your health, maybe a car and a plasma TV....but you want a Mercedes and you want a house in a gated community and you want a Rolex watch......get my drift?
In the beginning this was hard for me to do because I have had so much of life pleasures and luxuries while living in KL. I got used to driving Jaguars,Mercedes and BMW's from the time I started work and having a Father who could afford to give me that good life, did not help.
I remember the time I brought my family back to KL for the first time after staying a few years in Perth and my father came to pick us up with three 7 Series BMW....I had no idea that he had done so well for himself in business.
Then there was the time he got himself a de Fever Yacht from Singapore...took it back himself and hit some rocks off Port Dickson and it sank....and a few days later he went back to Singapore and got himself another one and named it Widuri....his pride and joy. We had many wonderful memories on board Widuri with him.
 |
| WIDURI |
Today I find pleasures in the things around me.
A corner of our apartment with some of our favorite books and DVD's, a roast lamb for Sunday lunch..and now now and then, feeding the Sea Gulls and Pigeons when my wife and me go for our walks.
No more Yachts, no more Mercedes, Jaguars or BMW's....and certainly living with what we need rather than what we want. Our joys are few but precious...our children and our grand daughters Isabel and Sofie.
 |
| Wo Haa...have you seen any kid as happy as our Sofie on her first day at Kindy? |
 |
| And Isabel on her first day at Grade Two! |
Its just past 10.10 am here in Melbourne on a crisp Spring morning. My wife has her shoes on and we must be off to take our morning walk and feed the birds. Such is life....and life is good!
With thanks to Eddie Mohsin for this take on what I wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment