Everything Happens by Accident

My boss keeps reminding me and my fellow managers that nothing happens by itself. Somebody must have flicked a switch, pushed a button, literally or metaphorically, for things to get in motion.

It's a nice notion that somewhere along the line, there was somebody responsible for something that happened. Of course, it may not be a nice thing, and that somebody who was deemed to have "flicked the switch" or "pushed the button" may not want to take any credit for doing so.

But, more often than not, we can't really pin point the start of something. There's always something else that leads to another and we find it's impossible to separate the end of one incident and the start of another.

What riles me the most is when somebody takes credit to say, "I saw that coming." That's a load of bull, because nobody ever saw it (whatever the it is) coming. From the a death in the family right to the credit crunch, culminating in the fall of giants like the Lehman Brothers, somebody will come forth and say, yes we predicted this and that's why we did something five years ago.... please..... Even, the greatest inventions of the world, from the wheel to the internet, can be traced to a single point of a chance discovery... a mistake, or an accident.

I believe that the human mind is limited to it's experience, i.e. what it's seen, heard, felt in the past. Note how the most creative minds in Hollywood create supposedly "out of this world" creatures that look like an insect, or a lizard... something very much of this world but distorted somewhat. So, to actually create something new, we need to be inspired, by something we saw, heard or felt.

Of course, in order to achieve whatever we desire in this world, we need to have a direction. And, that's all that we can really do... to face the right direction. Even, the best sportsmen and women in the world agree that the moment the ball (football or baseball or basketball, you name it) leave your hand or feet, it is out of your control and the best you can do is hope...and pray.... that you've done enough to make go the way you want it.

Nothing happens by itself? But if we do nothing, something will happen anyway.... right?

Master Uguay said in Kung Fu Panda... There are no accidents.....

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A letter from my mother

Today, on the first day of Ramadhan in the 52nd year of my life, while I was rummaging through some old stuff, I came across a letter written to me by my mother, folded and enveloped into a prescription drug package. My mother taught herself to write in Rumi, so some words are quite difficult to figure out. She was probably more comfortable writing in Jawi, but she knew her son is useless at reading it. The letter was not dated, but I would say it was written circa 1985, the year that I dropped out of UTM. The letter was an angry letter, as angry as my dearest mother would be. I cannot remember the occasion that warranted such letter, but I think I must have said something that hurt her. She wrote that I should have told her or father (unlikely) or my brothers and sisters that I am having difficulties in my studies. She wrote that I have ostracized myself from my family, and she understood that I did this because I do not want to be any more a burden to my parents and my sibli...

An Ironic Epiphany

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The road to hell is paved with good intents....

Once there was a man who all his life have nothing but good intentions. But, everybody in his village said that he was the devil. He robbed and maimed. He killed and destroyed. When he was caught and brought to justice, his defense was that he was only trying to feed his family. When he was growing up, he was not good at school. The teachers all say he was hopeless, his father thought he was an embarrassment, his siblings thought he was a burden, society keep reminding him that the world would be a better place if he wasn't in it. Only his mother saw him differently. Only his mother loved him because he was her son.... and for no other reason. And later, he met the woman of his dreams and married her and had beautiful children and he vowed that they will never ever go through life as he did. He swore on his life, that he will do anything to ensure his children go the best schools, eat the best foods, wear the best clothes, grow up to have the best jobs, to be whatever they as...

Life's Remains....

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