Dear Future Me...

Just want to share with you this awesome website ( FutureMe.org ) that let you email your future self. LA Times write a story about it.

Ok, going to write a letter to myself.

"Man's Search For Meaning"

by Viktor E. Frankl.

The book is divided into two parts. First section chronicle the author's experience in the concentration camp and the second section describe how logotherapy can help man finds meaning for his life. Click here for more in depth reviews.

Quotes from Man's Search For Meaning that speak to me:

• A human being is not one in pursuit of happiness but rather in search of a reason to become happy...through actualizing the potential meaning inherent and dormant in a given situation.
• Humor, more than anything else in the human make-up, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation.
• We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
• Man's will to meaning can also be frustrated, in which case logotherapy speaks of "existential frustration." The term "existential" my be used...to refer to...the striving to find a concrete meaning in personal existence, that is to say, the will to meaning.
• Having shown the beneficial impact of meaning orientation, I turn to the detrimental influence of that feeling of which so many patients complain today, namely the feeling of the total and ultimate meaninglessness of their lives. They lack the awareness of a meaning worth living for. They are haunted by the experience of their inner emptiness, a void within themselves; they are caught in that situation which I have called the "existential vacuum."
• No instinct tells him what he has to do, and no tradition tells him what he ought to do; sometime he does not even know what he wishes to do. Instead, he either wishes to do what other people do (conformism) or he does what other people wish him to do (totalitarianism).
• Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!
• By declaring that man is responsible and must actualize the potential meaning of his life, I wish to stress that the true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man or his own psyche...the more one forget himself - by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love - the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.
• Thus far we have shown that the meaning of life always changes, but that it never ceases to be. According to logotherapy, we can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.
• A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes...he has made out of himself. In the concentration camps, for example, in this living laboratory and on this testing ground, we watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behave like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions.
• Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible. Thus, logotherapy sees in responsibleness the very essence of human existence.
• When we are no longer able to change a situation—just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer—we are challenged to change ourselves.
• Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp."
• What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task . . . the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.
• A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how."
• It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life - daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.
• What matters is not the meaning of life in general but the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment.

In Pursue of (_____)?

Just got out of my annual performance review. The company is very happy with my performance, so I got a 'good' raise (though in this industry, 'good' barely match the inflation).

I am content being where I am at this job (the responsibility, the pay, the environment, the hours, the frustration...). Knowing that my company is happy with me is good too. However, is being content good enough?

For some people, being content is a beautiful state and it is enough. Perhaps is human greediness or the desire to be of a use (purpose) to this society or some other subconscious reason that I am yet to be aware of, but right now, being content does not feel like is good enough for me.

Then where should I head to?

House Sitting

Do you know anyone that do house sitting? Or know someone that hire a strange to take care of their house while they're on vacation?

It'd be awesome if I can be a house sitter for a house in South Bay.

Heroes

One of the best TV shows! And best of all, I can watch any episodes at anytime on NBC.

If you have a choice between having power or not having any power, what would you choose?

If you choose power, which power would you pick?

I'd like Claire's regeneration ability.

Photo Entry

Pictures from this weekend, taken at various spots in LA.

Loft (Fullerton)




Downtown LA


Los Feliz




Friend

Me

All is Quiet at Three in the Morning

Everyone is deep asleep. The only sound in the house is of my fingers hitting the keyboard.

I love this hour of the day. There is no noises. My mind is calmer. I feel free. It's just me and my thoughts.

Too bad I have to be asleep at this hour for 300+ days of the year.

Lyrics and Songs

Lucky for those of us (i.e. me) with no musical talent, there are plenty of talented artists who create songs that verbalized exactly how we (I) feel at the moment. Thus, I love songs with meaningful lyrics, such as Natasha Bedingfield's songs. The lyrics are meaningful/inspirational and goes nicely with the upbeat music. I love that "Unwritten" is so inspirational while I can think of several occasions that "These Words (I Love You)" would been perfect.

This song is great for those of us that are single.


I also love "Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks. I love this song because the Dixie Chicks risk their career to stand up for their belief. I admire people with guts.

Something Not So Funny, Something So Very Funny

PMS

According to wiki, 80-90% of women experience PMS. And for some women with PMS, the symptoms are so severe that they are consider disabling. If that is the case, can women call in sick and not work for a week, every month? I think I would like that very much. In the mean time, I guess all I can get is having PMS to blame whenever I feel irritable/depress/anti-social/insomnia/....

MadTV sketch that pokes fun at both Steve Jobs and George W. Bush

Girlfriend and Wife

Girlfriend

 

I find it interesting that my male colleagues always seem hesitated to admit they have girlfriends.

 

Example 1: While chatting with my coworker about his weekend plan and he mentioned that he's going to a celebration party for a friend that just received her teaching credential. I remembered I met this said friend at his house party a few months ago and asked if it is her. He confirmed it is her so I asked "Isn't that your girlfriend?" Finally he relented with "yeah, I guess she's my girlfriend."

 

I met the girl, she's normal and not ugly; nothing that would cause a guy to be ashame of. Why did he hesitated to admit he has a gf? If he is a player or something, I would understand. I worked with him for a year and from what I know, he seem like a honest good guy. Then what gives?

 

Example 2: The customer for my program is visiting this week. While making small talks, he retold how he injured his finger while taking care of this plant that he's 'baby-sitting' for this girl that is temporarily leaving the country. An hour or two later, we were talking about his vacation plan for this year, and he said "we are going to ....(the country this girl is at)" I put 2 and 2 together and was pondering if it'd be too intrusive if I asked him for confirmation. Perhaps my curiosity showed on my facial expression, he finally explained that he and this girl has been dating for a few months. 

 

He seem like a really nice guy too. Why didn't he just said "I am taking care of my gf's plant" and "my gf and I will be vacationing..."?

 

I don't get it. Can someone from the male species enlighten me?

 

Wife

Most of my colleagues are male and married. After working with them for awhile, stories of their domestic live would come up here and there. I find it funny that they always portrait their families in such a way that the wives are the one wearing the pants (the decision makers).

 

Example 1: One of my coworker and his wife has been married for decades now. From his description of his weekends and such, it seem like he has a normal happy family and he loves his wife very much. I find it funny that whenever his cell phone rings, he would say "the boss is calling" or whenever the manager wants him to go on business trips, he usually replied with "I need to check with my boss (the other boss)."

 

Example 2:  In my old company, a group of us used to have lunches together. Among them is a happily married male colleague, whom has only one daughter. One time we rode in his new Lexus with GPS system that provide him directions in a female voice. He purposely drove on the opposite directions from what the GPS voice told him to. We were perplexed. He explained this is the only female voice he can disobey so he is disobeying it. I think he is just joking and thought it's really funny. However, from our interactions, I know he is very dedicated to his family and seem to comply with whatever the wife and daughter want.

 

I wonder, is it more common (maybe even necessary) for a happy family to have the woman (wife) be the one wearing the pants?

Gym

After spending last month being a sloth, I finally start to go to gym again.

After another busy day at work, I went to 24 S.E.T class. The class mix weight and cardio. This is my first time attending 24 S.E.T and I really like it because I hate doing weights but this class make weight training tolerable.

I am so sore now.

Favorite Souvenir

I got this pair of earrings from a Taiwanese artist that has a table at the corner of Shi Lin night market. She made all the jewelry herself and been doing so for the past 10 years. All the jewelry she made are beautiful and unique, which is what made me stopped at her table.

Since I don't have pierced ear lopes, it's been impossible for me find cute earrings for myself (and the ironic thing is I love shopping for earrings). When I told her that, she changed this pair of earrings to clip on for me.

This is my first pair of earrings. I love it. I wish I bought more from her.

Happiness and Success

"For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it."

-by Viktor E. Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning.