Most people dream of many things but most do not dare to take actions. They prefer to wait for that one golden opportunity – the opportunity which will propel them to stardom, to become a millionaire, or to be what they believe they should be.

So they wait…and wait…and wait….ignoring other opportunities which appear around them.

And it won’t come as a surprise if I tell you that some people actually spend their entire life waiting for such golden opportunities. 1 year become 5 years…and 5 years become 10 years….and so on. By the time they realized, it’s all too late and they would’ve wasted much of their life waiting for nothing.

Do you want to end up this way as well?

To be fair, sometimes there’s no harm to wait for a better opportunity or a better option. But the key here is not to wait too long or become too obsessed with that one ‘golden’ opportunity. Waiting is okay, but you have to know when to stop waiting and call it quit. I know it’s not easy to give up on something you strongly believe in…but at times, that will be your best option.

Let me give you a simple example (used by the radio One FM). Lee brought Muthu to visit a client. Upon arriving at the lobby area in ground floor, they found out that the lift has broken down. Muthu, being the lazy person he was, decided to wait for the lift to be repaired since the client’s office was located at the 12th floor. Lee, on the other hand, had a feeling that the lift would be out for quite some time. So, he took the risk and used the stairs. In the end, the repairman was not able to fix the lift on the day itself and Muthu was penalized for not attending the meeting with the client.

As you can see, Muthu did not want to take the risk and grab the available opportunities. He strongly believed that the lift would return to normal soon. So he waited. Lee took the risk and went for the other seemingly better opportunity – to use the stairs. True, maybe the lift would return to normal once Lee went for the stairs but it was a risk worth taking.

Last but not least, I hope that everyone who reads this article will learn to be more open-minded and pay attention to the countless opportunities which present themselves to us in our daily life. The opportunities that we strongly believe would work might not work at all and the golden opportunity that we believe would come might not come in the end. So, there’s really no point for us to be stubborn and hold on to something which is not going to bring us anything good.

I know it’s easier said than done. But understanding such situations/cases will certainly help (at least for me).

I recently came across a simple story which is actually pretty meaningful.

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, ‘There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs – millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!’ So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, ‘Well… where are all the frogs?’ The farmer said, ‘I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!’

Most of the time, problems seem to be bigger than they really are. Why? Because our mind made them so. We “over think” or worry way too much….more than necessary. But for most cases, we have no control over such problems and worrying about them do not change things for the better. Instead, it will only make things worse and it is very draining on ourselves.

The funny thing is, we worry so much….and could not sleep well….but when we really managed to get some sleep and wake up the next time, the problems will somehow become not-so-big. What seemed to be big and overwhelming problems the night before, might end up being something small and unimportant.

I know it’s easier said than done because I myself worry too much at times over things I have no control over. And I know how draining it can be. It’s something most of us need to learn – to stop spending too much time worrying over things we cannot control and to realize that when we really take a closer look at those problems, they might not be as serious as we initially thought they are.

Nowadays, I notice that people tend to ‘see’ only those who are close to them – family, friends, relatives, colleagues. They will not notice, or even care much, about strangers. We see that everywhere we go – aunties fighting with other strangers during sales, people fighting over a car park in a crowded shopping complex, driver A not allowing driver B to cut in even though B has put signal light on, people walloping all the food in a buffet lunch and leaving nothing behind for others, etc. In most of the cases, people will think like “who cares what this fella thinks? I don’t even know him!”

Well, things might be different, if this “fella” is your friend. You will be more courteous…A LOT MORE courteous. Because you don’t want this “fella” to go around telling other friends how ruthless and rude you are. Am I wrong?

Selflessness. I think everything falls down to this particular word. Where has our sense of selflessness gone? Selflessness to not only our friends, family and people we know…but to strangers, our fellow human beings, people we meet on the road, people we meet in the train, and people we bump into inside the lift.

Perhaps the next time we meet with a stranger (except those who looks like conmen), we should try not to be so hostile? Try not to think of the person as a selfish idiot and treat him/her with respect. A very simple thing can be when you are in a lift, you can always be the last person to go out….and keep the lift door opened. Or, on the road, when a driver is desperately trying to cut into your lane to exit or whatever (with signal light on), there’s no harm to let him pass. Because to be honest, I don’t see how we can lose out on something by behaving so. Simple courtesy, no? And all these are part of being selfless too. Leave food for those who have yet to arrive….or take the amount of food that we can finish, etc. Simple stuff like these can matter a lot to others.

Try doing few of these things, and you’ll feel that …it’s actually not that difficult and your temper will actually be better. Because, at the end of the day, you will start asking yourself “what is there to lose if I let him pass?” ….and the answer is most likely be “nothing”.

Let’s try to make this world a better place, shall we? A world where everyone can practice selflessness.

In our society, we often judge other people by what he owns – what he wears, what car he drives, what gadget he uses, where he stays, etc. Yes, we live in a materialistic world. That is why branded goods such as Gucci, LV and Prada can become so big. They are the symbols of social status (ever notice how these big brands always put their logo/names at places where other people would notice?).

But seriously, do you think all these branded stuff will allow us to judge someone better? Does driving a BMW car make a person more successful in life than someone driving a SLK (Small Little Kancil)? Or does using a LV handbag make someone more elegant than someone with a brand-less handbag?

No, no and no. There’s absolutely no way we can and should, judge someone by the things he owns. Instead, we should judge someone by the contribution he makes to the society, the value someone brings to the people around him or how much this person has help mankind progresses.

For example, people often see Bill Gates as one of the richest people in the world (or used to be). Perhaps people should shift their focus and look at how he, together with Microsoft, has helped people with the invention of Microsoft Windows. What he created has actually helped millions and millions of people worldwide to work more efficiently. THAT is a contribution to the community itself.

Another example, your average school teachers. To be honest, they are not remarkable at all since most of them do not drive big cars, lives in big houses and certainly do not own a truck full of branded stuff. But does that mean we should judge them as someone not important or insignificant? No. In fact, teacher is one of the most important jobs in the world. They don’t earn much (well, most of them anyway), and yet we cannot ignore their contribution to our society. They share their knowledge with others and also teach our younger generation how to be a better person. That’s why I believe people should never ever look down on their teachers. If you want to look down on someone, go find those financial traders who are reaping investors off whether the investors are earning or losing money.

I know to some people, this could be quite a huge shift since we live in a materialistic world where power, money and statuses mean close to everything (if not everything). But I really really hope that more and more people will learn to appreciate and respect people who are actually contributing to the society and people who are trying to make this world a better place to live in. Really, there’s no point earning millions if you are not contributing or helping this world at all.

So people, judge wisely and hopefully 1 day, all of us will be able to see each others differently.

Warning: This is sort of like a rant post.

Thursday (the day I’m writing this) has not been very kind to me so far, thanks to my work (which is doing a year 2000 technology) and some inconsiderate drivers. So I was having this negative aura around me when I approached the Kelana Jaya Shell station to pump petrol.

Once I stopped the car, there was this bank employee who walked towards me with a big smile on his face. So I smiled back (pretty reluctantly). I proceeded with all those Bonuslink and credit card stuff while anticipating this guy to ask me if I would like to apply for a credit card from the bank he’s working for.

And I waited….and waited. Then I heard someone talking behind the pillar, right next to my car. And he was alone, the credit card salesman. Yes, he was using his mobile phone, right next to my car and I was pumping petrol.

I could feel the atomic bomb exploded within me. I called out to him:

“EXCUSE ME? hey you, can’t you read that simple sign that says NO MOBILE PHONE USAGE? Next time want to make a call, go further away la, there are so many empty spaces here”.

He smiled and walked off. His plan to get a new credit card customer, ruined, because of his own stupidity.

And we see this ALL THE TIME. People who want to get some deals or businesses from the potential customers, only to show the ugly side of them. For me, if you can’t even follow simple things like not using a mobile phone in a petrol station, how do you expect me to believe whatever you are going to say? I already have a negative impression of you without you even saying anything.

Sorry man, I’ll pass. No point buying from someone I dislike.

p/s….. and sometimes i really really wonder, why is it so hard for people to follow simple instructions like not using phone in the petrol station? i’ve seen so many people making phone calls while pumping petrol. If you want to risk your life, so be it. Why do you want to risk other people’s life…. and also their cars?