We have to talk about it

Perception: I watched this movie ‘Shallow Hal’ in 2001, and it triggers my perception about physical appearance versus inner beauty. In this movie, Hal is a shallow man that falls in love with a 300 pound woman (Rosemary) because of her “inner beauty”. “A woman who appears to him to look slender and beautiful due to her kind, generous nature, but is, in actuality, morbidly obese.” He used to date women who are physically beautiful until one day he was being hypnotized to recognize only the inner beauty of women. In the end, he doesn’t need hypnosis to see people’s true inner beauty. One interesting thing, Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is Rosemary in the film, and she really gives you the perception of a fat person. I have once heard about a woman who was deceived lots of money by a beautiful lady because of her perception of pretty faces will not do ugly things.

Ownership: Have you ever heard that “To own a thing is a burden”? If you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to worry. Nowadays, more and more people choose to buy a house rather than to rent. This is not just about ownership, but also in consideration of the rising home value. People seldom expect that their own houses will become negative assets one day. Lots of people have suffered from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. I remember my husband has once said that (before the crisis), the house value has increased to a rate that similar of buying a rice cooker at $3,000 back in 1997 in Hong Kong, which a normal person will not do it. Many owners going bankrupt after July 1997; they bought their houses at the tip of the dropping zone.

Nature: How to define Human Nature? There is an old Chinese saying “Every child born has innate goodness”. All of those vicious people were once innocent kids. There are lots of factors that contributed to the changes. There is another Chinese saying “Grow a tree for ten years; grow men for a hundred.” The meaning is “nurturing and educating human talent is the key to prosperity”. I have once heard that there is a limited chance of a ‘happy’ child to turn to a vicious person. We, as adult, are responsible to provide an environment to nurture joyful kids.

I hate politics, and do not want to be involved. However, there is a term ‘office politics’ that we may not be able to stay away. Have you ever watched the popular reality television game show “Survivor”? If you want to be the sole survivor, you have to use some personal strategies, team up with some people, and to get rid of the weaker one first. Finally, you have to dump your partner too. In real life, you are sometimes forced to choose side during the office politics. You also need to say or do something that may not follow your heart because you have to protect yourself and to secure your job. I have the similar feeling of being a participant of the “Survivor” game show during the office politics. If you do not want to be the loser (the one to be discarded), you have to play it wisely. The bright side is you have to keep yourself competitive, always upgrade your skills and knowledge, and you can choose to quit if you are no longer interested in the ‘office politics’ game. I choose to be a good person, and do things that follow my heart.