We don’t live alone in this world. We are always surrounded by family members, relatives, friends, colleagues and of course, people we meet but do not know. We see them all the time. The security guards, the cleaners, the cashiers, the salesgirls, etc. Each and everyone of them has come into our life in the past and will do so in the future.

But do we ever notice them? Do we ever acknowledge that they are there?

People tend to notice only their friends or people they know. If you know someone you don’t know looking at you, you will most probably ignore and just walk away.

Maybe from now onwards, you can make a change. Greet people you don’t know in the lift. Smile. Or, if you notice that someone you don’t know is looking at you, just smile politely. Or if a salesgirl approaches you and you’re not interested, just say sorry, smile and walk off slowly.

Never pretend they’re not there. It’s rude. And also, by acknowledging others, you might be able to make their day a better one. So, why not?

There are a lot of people who wish they can make the world a better place. But let’s be honest, it’s not easy (to some, it’s impossible) for one person to do that. That’s why most people would give up without doing anything. When a goal is too difficult to achieve, one will stuck at one place and do nothing. It’s just too impossible to achieve it, so why bother?

Perhaps that’s the reason why most people are not willing to recycle their old items, stop eating shark fins, stop open burning, stop using plastic bags, etc. After all, people will always think “what can a person like me do? Even if I do change, it’s not going to help much”. Or the famous line …. “well, everyone is doing that, so why bother to be different?”

Because of such mentality, our world is becoming a worse place to stay than it was 10 years ago. And it will start getting worse for our future generations if we were to stick to that mentality. And in case you’re thinking “it’s too late”, I can tell you “better late than never”.

If you’re thinking that you won’t be able to make a difference, then I can tell you “you’re wrong”. Every action, no matter big or small, does matter. Here’s a story I’ve read from Zenhabits. It’s pretty inspiring.

One day a man was walking his dog along the beach after a storm. The tide had washed thousands of starfish onto the beach. They were still alive, but only just. A woman was making her way along the shore, throwing starfish into the sea, one by one.

“Hey, ” the man called out. “there are thousands of starfish on the beach. You’re not going to make a blind bit of difference!”

The woman stooped, picked up a starfish and threw it back into the sea. Then she smiled at the man and said, “Made a difference to that one!”

Yes, no matter whether your action involves just one person, one charity or one simple act…. it does matter. Heck, even picking up a rubbish on the floor inside your office matters! It’s that simple.

So stop thinking that whatever small things you do, don’t matter because they do!

And when more people think this way (that every action of theirs does matter), collectively, we can do wonders that will help make this world a better place.

I’m writing this post in the hope that I can change your thinking. Perhaps out of 100 people who read this post, only 1 of you will change…. but to me, it’s good enough. It’s a small percentage, but it does matter.

p/s…. i should be in Sydney by now. I’ll only be back this coming Saturday. So..i might not be able to reply some of the comments posted. Really sorry for that.

Sharing your ideas (artworks, writings, etc) with a large number of people has never been easier with the help of Internet. With the proper search keywords, one can easily access limitless amount of ideas from all over the world. While this is definitely good news for people who want to share/sell their ideas, people should also remember that the ease of access has allowed the wrong parties to gain access to such ideas.

Pirates who will steal your ideas and distribute or even modify them for their own profit. And trolls, people who will do nothing but to bring you down.

From Wikipedia

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

So far, I’ve not met any pirates who would take my ideas elsewhere without my consent. Erm, I think it’s because there’s no value in pirating my stuff. LOL. But trolls, yes, I’ve met quite a number of them throughout my experience as a blogger and a comic artist.

These individuals will appear to be nice and want to help you out. So they get close to you and observe what you are doing with your ideas. Then they will speak their mind and give you their opinions. Unfortunately, these ‘nice gestures’ are actually not useful for you at all.

For one, these trolls are not there to help you but they are there to bring you down. Perhaps it’s due to jealousy that they can’t do what you are doing. Or perhaps they just enjoy bringing people down. However, there ARE trolls who have no intention of bringing you down. They just want to help but the approach used is completely wrong. They tend to choose the wrong words which will discourage you more than anything else, and even damage your self-esteem which is possibly one of your greatest assets. People called this the “destructive comment” and such comments are never good for anyone who are looking for support and encouragement.

But irregardless of how harsh these trolls can be, there’s no way we can stop them from becoming a troll. It’s a free world after all. What we, as content creators and ideas contributors, can do is to push on. The trolls only belong to a small group of people. There are more out there who really appreciate your works and contributions. So it really depends on what is your main objectives. Are you doing it to help the community or is there something which you really believe in? Or are you doing it just so that you will listen to nice words and praises? Sort out your objectives and know what you really want. Ignore the trolls.

And if there’s really a need, remove them from your life even if they are your close friends. What you need is support and encouragement from your friends and family, not some trolls who just want to bring you down – intentionally, or unintentionally.

The so-called “good” people love to ask others “have you done your part for the society today?” or “have you donated to the orphanage?” or “have you been recycling a lot lately?” etc.

You know what? For me, those things can be quite hard to achieve especially for busy people who have limited time on their hand (those caught in the rat race). So, let’s stop finding a big mountain for such people to climb. Forget about going to the recycling centers, the old folks home, the orphanages, etc.

If you can do that, good. Bravo. Respect and keep up the good work.

If you can’t, don’t fret. There are still few very simple things that you can do.

Spend more time with your family especially your aging parents.

Yes, I’ve said that many times and I will say this again. A lot of people never realize this and all they think about is old folks home, orphanages, bla bla bla…… but they should actually pay more attention to their own parents or grandparents for that matter. These are the people who have raised you up. All they want is more time from you. Sad to say, nobody lives forever in this world and as we speak, our parents are getting older each day. So do cherish the time you have with them.

Honestly speaking, a female friend asked me this question before “if given a choice, will you choose your wife or your mother?” I said, neutral but if I really need to make only ONE choice…I’ll choose my mother. Why? Because my parents have been through a lot for the family. And how many years do I have left with them? I know my answer will not be popular to some people, but nobody is going to change this opinion of mine.

Teach and share knowledge with others

Always be willing to teach and share your knowledge with others. You can do so in your blogs, your workplace, etc. There will be occasions when people just don’t want to listen to you. That’s fine. You can’t please everyone. Just remember that you must always be ready to teach if there is such a need. Never be afraid that your precious knowledge will be used against you or allowing other people to become better than you.

Make other people happier or laugh more

Tell jokes or make other people laugh. That is something I love to do but I do know that I tend to fail miserably at times. That is also the reason why I started my webcomic.

I know some people hate cold jokes but for me, there’s no harm trying. Sometimes people laugh at my act of telling cold jokes….and not the jokes themselves. Although it’s not something to be proud of, it is still 1 way to make people around me laugh.

Those are 3 simple things that I always do in order to make the people around me feel better and indirectly making part of the world a better place. There are many other simple things that one can do to achieve the same goal. So, don’t be too sad if you can’t go for that charity run, or can’t visit that orphanage, etc.

Just do what you can and never look down on the positive effect these little act of kindness can bring.

I’ll write a very short post today since I’m dead tired today and I still have to rush for my company’s project. Yes yes, I know it’s 10 PM and my eyes are like Garfield…but I rather finish it earlier than making it a last minute work, especially since I really have a bad feeling about this project. =_=”"

Anyway, I came across this very useful and interesting article – You are not your money. I feel that what the author said is very true. Most people nowadays are only chasing after money because..well, we need money to survive irregardless of how much we hate to admit. Without money, we cannot eat, we cannot buy things, we cannot send our kids to school, and all the fine things in the world will just disappear from us. That is why most of us are so caught up in the modern “rat race” that we (some of us) eventually, forget who we are  and what we actually stand for. And we often begin to relate our money with ourselves. We become happy when we can earn more money…and we become unhappy when we lose money.

Source: http://morningpaper.typepad.com

But is this really the right way to lead our life? To chase after money every time? To let our happiness be controlled by our own money? To treat our money as if they are ourselves?

Think about this – having more money in 2009 than 2008 is a good achievement, but does that change us as a person? I don’t think so. Similarly, having lesser money in 2009 than years before does not mean you are becoming a worse person. You are just a poorer person in terms of money. On the other hand, does earning more money through illegal deals make you a better person? NOPE. Remember that the real you does not change with your financial condition.

What will change you then, is your behavior and your impact to the world especially to the people around you, and to the community. It is the things you do for others which reflects the real you.

Also, remember that at the end of the day, you can’t bring your money along when you leave this world. The only thing that is worth bringing along, is the knowledge that you have touched the life of others deeply during your stay here. And that you have contributed to the society in a positive way.

So if your financial condition is being hit pretty badly in the year 2008 or 2009, remember that you are still you. And with enough efforts and plannings, you will regain what you have lost. At least, that is what I believe in.

Hope it helps.

p/s… sorry if this post sounds a bit confusing. I’m really quite tired by now. Haha.