Departing For Awesome Experiences

The time is soon here. I'll be flying away from Barbados. After three flights (one lasting up to 16 hours), I'll arrive at wonderful Shanghai! I'm so incredibly excited!!! I've been waiting for the day to come for 2 months and, in two blinks, it's here. Before I know I'll be returning to Barbados after another three flights. But it's okay because I would've had an immense amount of fun and travel.

I know China to be an extremely hot place. I complain about the heat here but I can't wait to see just how much hotter it is there. Last I knew, temperatures go up to 40 degrees Celsius there. I wonder what the humidity is like there, though. Hopefully it's not very humid because I get more than enough of that here...

Anyways, just a quick post to say "Bye!" =) I won't have direct access to this blog, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube while I'm there (courtesy of The Great Firewall). I'll try making posts from my email if I have decent internet access and time. Hopefully, it can work out well that way so that I can sort of keep you all with me as I go day by day. =)

P.S. This post was done through my email account...kind of like a test to see how things go. If I manage to make posts as I'd like to from China and images seem to be aligned anywhere but center or have funny sizes, then...that's just how Gmail attaches images. =)

Letting Go of The Unnecessities

A lot of people are caught up in their lives doing the most trivial things. These are the things that keep them busy all day long but what purpose does it serve, apart from consuming our precious time? What does it really benefit?

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." - Carl Sandburg

There are so many small distractions that make perfect time wasters, wasting time by the hour. Facebook applications, reading up on the lives of celebrities, website after website, what purpose do these really serve? Will these benefit us or the people around us?

This year, I've become more involved in a lot of things. Now a certified biofeedback technician and treasurer of the Medical Students' Association has given me more responsibilities to aid, not only for my own life, but the lives of so many individuals. As a result, I've started giving up much of these trivial time-wasting things.

I've deleted a number of Facebook applications, leaving one which I know I'll be deleting soon enough. I no longer care about what happens in the lives of celebrities. They live their lives however they please and there's no need for me to waste my time reading up and watching videos about them on fan-based websites. What's the point? If someone tells me about it, then so be it but I will no longer give my time to these things.

There are still many things to let go of...I'm slowly letting go one by one. The fan-based celebrity websites were the first to go, followed by my recent deletion spree of applications on Facebook. Needless to say, I've had a few friends say something to me about the deleting.

This is Earth and it's moon seen from Mercury. Image from Discovery.

When you see things like this, you realise that Earth, in itself, is such a minuscule blob in an expansive galaxy which, among galaxies, is small. Why do we dwell on the unimportant? Why not dwell on the beneficial? Why do we search for ways to waste time when we can spend it wisely instead? How about you pick up that hobby you've been dying to do again? How about you learn a new language? Why not prune those abilities and give them a polish? If you don't feel you're particularly good at anything then maybe you'll want to look to discover that thing you're good at. We're all good at one thing, whether you know what it is or not.

It may be a small world we live in but I'd like to be able to make a difference in it. After all, I only have one life and a short one at that.

Did you know that Earth and it's moon appear as a double planet from Mercury?

Pop It

I like my popcorn one of three ways: hot and buttery, hot and salty or hot and cheesy. Either way, I like it hot but why does it have to cool down so quickly? As a result, I've rarely purchased hot popcorn from our theatre in Barbados and so, I rarely purchase popcorn at all.

Thanks to my little kernel incident last November, I've become pretty cautious of popcorn. I take my time chewing one by one little by little. Chew chew chew...there's no need to rush down popcorn. When it gets cold, it gets cold...I prefer it hot but I'll eat it anyways. Food is food...who's to complain? =)

I say all this now to make absolutely no valid point. Just a random post about popcorn. Yum.

10 Days before my disappearance

It's been an indecent 14 days since I last made a blog entry! I figured it was about time I remedied that.

I've been incredibly busy the past 2 weeks...doing a course, practicing what I've learnt and trying to learn more! Meanwhile, I still have a research project report to type up and hand in by next week. I'm no good at biostatistics and 1.5 weeks of cram teaching taught me next to nothing about it so it's relatively safe to say that I'm feeling very lost with this research business.

Whenever I get frustrated with school, I have a tendency to look for a distraction. This time my distraction is Roswell. I never really got to watch it when I was younger and I had the link to all 3 seasons sitting there in my bookmarks. I started watching and now I'm at episode 12. My oh my. If the only available links weren't megavideo, I would have a difficult time stopping myself from watching episode after episode like a marathon. The 54 minute break lets me work on my report but I get frustrated with it fairly often. Roswell is as good as I always hear it to be! =)

In exactly 10 days' time...I'll be disappearing from the face of the internet! Everyone must know by now where I'll be going...China! I'm so incredibly excited! The Shanghai World Expo is gonna be a blast. Not to mention, I get to see a friend again! The one I mentioned a few times before who's studying there. He's working at the Barbados booth at the expo and he's having such a great time...I'm so envious! Or at least I was. Now that I get to go to the expo myself, I'm pretty satisfied with life. =)

That Feeling You Get

Many persons were not aware of this: I'm currently in Trinidad. I'll be here until Wednesday and then I'll be returning home. My trip wasn't entirely planned from awhile ago like my trips usually are...it was done just the week before. So, what am I in Trinidad for?

I'm currently taking a certificate course in Biofeedback Basic Training. Basically, I'm trained to use a machine. But, there's more than that. Maybe someday I'll explain this in greater detail.

"Energy is all there is." - Albert Einstein

This is the concept with which this training revolves. One must be open in mind, spirit and body to accept the weight and possibilities and challenges involved with what we're currently learning about. Open the mind to the energies around you.

Doesn't it sound interesting? Someday I'll talk about it.

My class consists of 8 people: from The Wellness Center in Barbados and the Center for Disease Prevention in Trinidad...my parents' companies. These people are being trained to use this system. Our ages vary but most people are in their 30s and 40s. I'm the youngest person being trained. Some people are very open and acceptable and don't undermine me. But, you know what? There's one person who is not. No words need to be said. I just know that this individual doesn't seem to believe in my capability...or merely refuses to accept it. You know that feeling you get when someone doesn't listen to what you're saying (even though you're right) because they think you're inferior? Surely, you do.

It's a bit of a rant from here on. Feel free to read...or not read.

Because this blog is read by so many people close to me that I'm unaware of, I won't even be specific about the gender of this individual. When this person does something and I question the reliability of what is being done, the response I receive is one that has the undertone of "who do you think you are to be asking that?". When this person turns out to be wrong and I interject with what is actually correct, the defensive position is suddenly taken and I start to feel attacked. It's like "you're not the tutor, you really think you know so much more than me?" -_-

The question is not that I know more or less. We are in the same class. We are learning the same thing from the same person. But, you know what? You may not be absorbing as much information as I am. You may not remember every single word that was said. I'm not saying that I remember every word but I do remember most. Once I pay attention and I'm engaged in what's being taught, I tend to soak in and retain information like a Bounty paper towel. Once this individual starts getting defensive, I instinctively do the same and then I will quote precisely what this person said and when they said it. Of course, no one's gonna just let go. This person? Refuses to admit to being wrong. How prideful.

Remember what I said about being open to the idea of energy and this course? Energy is a flowing life force and we have to learn to understand it. That is what this is about. How can you be open to the ideas that are being placed on the plates before us if you can't even be open to the idea that someone twice younger than you can correct you when you're wrong? How ironic.

How pathetic.