#kakinota : What I Know For Sure - Oprah Winfrey

"What exactly do you know for sure?"

"If this is the last day of your life, would you spend it the way you're spending today?"

That were the questions Oprah asked her readers at the beginning of the book.

How do we answer them?

Do we need to take time and think about it?

Or....

Do we answer them spontaneously?

The book is actually a compilations from her monthly column in O Magazine.

It told us about her life experiences - her joy and pain, her ups and downs and people she met in her life  -  world famous, richest, powerful or just ordinary people.

Oprah wrote about what are the most important factors in her life and how we can learn from them :

1. Joy -  Oprah believed that every day brings a chance for us to live the life as we want. We can either waltz boldly onto the stage of our life and be happy about it or we can sit quietly aside receding into the shadow of fear and self-doubt. The choice is ours. Choose WISELY.

2. Resilience - We have our own life journey. We are each responsible for it. When we feel the earth moving, bring ourselves back to the NOW. Remember.... we still breathing. We still alive. We survived. In this moment (NOW), we 're just need to find a way to step onto higher ground. We'll handle whatever shake up the next moment brings when we get to it. Be PRESENT.

3. Connection - It is a basic human need. We crave for it. Through connection we get love. But the most basic love we can give to ourselves is love and respect to our own self - sincerely. When we are able to do that, we will have our peace of mind and soul. And in return our soul will be able to give love to other as well. Appreciate OURSELVES.

4. Communication - It is a key factor in any relationships. A lot of bad and broken relationships are due to bad communications. And a lot of good things happen too when we are able to communicate clearly to one another. Take time to truly listen without judgement and give enough time to wait for an answer. HONESTY and SINCERITY will go a long way.

5. Gratitude - A feeling of gratitude can transform us from a negative person to an optimistic individual. Oprah writes 5 things she was grateful for on daily basis especially in the morning. It is a good habit that we need to instil into our hectic life. A dose of positive affirmations before starting our daily routine is like a simple healthy morning breakfast to our soul. What a simple healthy breakfast can do to our body is the same happen to our souls. We feel energize. We feel we can conquer whatever obstacles we're going to face that day. And our soul feel free and happy too. Feel the BLESSED.

6. Possibility -  The biggest thrill we can ever achieve is to live the life of our dreams. When we get the chance, go for it. Open ourselves to as many possibilities as we can. Who knowns maybe one of them can lead us to living the life we dream of. The true meaning of courage is to get back on track every time we stumble and fall.To be afraid and then with knees knocking and shaking, we step forward anyway- one small baby step a time. Oprah remind us to dream very big dreams, to work very very hard and after we've done everything that needs to be done then we pray. In GOD we trust.

7. Awe - Every day holds with it the possibility of seeing the world with awe and wonder. A miracle is seeing the world with light in our eyes. It is acknowledging there's always hope and possibility where none seems to exist. Many people are so closed to miracles that even when one boldly staring at them in the face, they label it coincidence. Miracles  often involve the simplest things in life. Open our eyes and heart and we'll begin to see them. Be ALERT.

8. Clarity - We need to evaluate all requests before we commit ourselves to something that we have no passion or interest of. Be selective. Focus on what matter to us most rather than worrying about pleasing others. We cannot give in just to make them like us. Even we dislike certain people in our life no matter how good they are. We need to STOP and TAKE A LOOK at our own needs. Let go the things that beyond us. Go mindless. Think of nothing. Let our mind be free and go wondering. Remind ourselves that THIS very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. Know THY SELF.

9. Power - We have the power to be what we want to be. We have the power over our mind and soul. We have the power to transform ourselves from pettiness to optimism. To be excellent is to always doing or giving our personal best. If we want the best world has to offer, we need to offer and give our best to the world first. I personally believed "What goes around comes around" while Oprah believe "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." . We can't get excellent inputs if we keep give the world our bad outputs. Karma doesn't work that way. World doesn't work that way too whether we like it or not. Be FAIR.

I think this is a wonderful way to close this year chapter of my life and welcoming the new year with a healthy dose of positive affirmations from Oprah -  no less . It makes me feel how blessed and lucky I am just to be ALIVE and HEALTHY.

So....

"What do I know for sure?"

I know for sure - whatever happen next year, I thank GOD for the past experiences I've gone through. I treasured them - the good and the bad. I pray GOD will give me good HEALTH, lots of LOVE to give to my loved ones and the STRENGTH to pick myself up and move forward.


HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015.


                           

                         

                                 10/10

#kakinota : Ingenius by Tina Seelig

A Crash Course on Creativity.

Ms Seelig taught a course on creativity and innovation (d.school) at Stanford University.

Ingenious derived from Latin term - INGENIUM which means natural capacity or innate talent.

Our brains are built for solving problems creatively.

As a kid, we loved experimenting and exploring our surroundings. We be in the PRESENT. It helps expand our creativity, competency and confidence.

As we approached adulthood, we were taught to plan and prepare for the future, to be productive, to work hard and be serious.

We shut down our natural curiosity and creativity as we strive to deliver what is expected of us.

We give up playing. We focus on producing.

We trade our rich imagination with implementation.

We change our attitude. Our creative aptitude withers.

We learn to judge. We dismiss new ideas.

Creativity allows us to thrive in an ever changing world and unlocks a universe of possibilities.

Creativity is at the heart of invention.

With enhance creativity, instead of problems, we see potential. Instead of obstacles, we see opportunity.

Ideas are free. Ideas are amazingly valuable if we know how to find them creatively.

We just need to change our perspective to find new ideas without even moving our own feet.

Only by shifting our view even a little, we change our images. We see the world at a different angle which in return adjust our perspective and the way we look at it.

We are creating frames for what we see, hear and experience all day long. Those frames both inform and limit the way we think.

In some cases, we totally forget the frames and ASSUME we're looking with the proper set of lenses.

Ability to question and shift our frames are important key to enhance our imaginations because it reveals completely different insight.

The simple process of asking 'WHY?' question provides an incredibly useful tool for expanding the platform of solution for problems.

Ms Seelig explained about Innovation Engine which inter related to each other :

3 part of inside
- Knowledge ( provide fuel for imagination)

- Imagination (catalyst for transformation of knowledge into new ideas).

- Attitude (spark that set innovation engine in motion).

3 part of outside
- Resources ( assets in our community)

- Habitat (local environment)

- Culture (beliefs, values and behaviours in the community).

                     

What interest me most is the One- Word exam conducted at Oxford University to their students.

The students were give one word (any word such as SIMPLE) and were given 3 hours to craft an essay. The beauty part of it is there is no right answers to this exam.

It was done to know more about participants' wealth of knowledge and ability to generate creative connection.

It reinforces that everything - EVERY SINGLE WORD - provide an opportunity to leverage what we know to stretch.our imagination.

Educators and parents should try to implement this wonderful creative exam into our education system at the early stages of schooling.

Because the younger minds are curious and explorative. They can't sit still. They love to try new things and not afraid to make mistakes.

Using their favourite weapon ..........

"WHY?"

They explore their limitless imaginations.

       
                                   10/10

                     

#kakinota : the color purple by alice walker

It is a story about 2 sisters - Celie and Nettie.

Celie was sexually abused at the age of 14 by her so called father.

She delivered 2 babies - a boy and a girl which was given away by her Pa.

When she turned 20 years old, her Pa married her to Mr ??? in exchange of Nettie.

Mr ??? abused her through out their marriage. Her stepchilden disrespect her.

She have to look after her husband mistress, Shug Avery, a well known singer. But she did with a happy heart.

It turned out to be blessing in disgust as after a while, Celie and Shug fast becoming best friend. Even though Shug having affair with Mr??? aka Albert, Shug told Celie that she will never marry Albert because he is weak. So weak that not only he couldn't stand up for Shug, he couldn't even stand up for himself. She taught Nellie how to be a strong woman.

When they found out the truth about Nettie, Celie was so angry with Mr ???. She think about murdering him. Shug stopped her and told Celie what she's going to do. Shug told Albert her plan which included Celie and despite his protest, he let her go.

Celie's life was getting better and better. She was able to fend for herself for the first time without Shug's help and finally they went their own separate ways.

Meanwhile, after Nettie moved out from their family home, she stay with Celie for a while before she was thrown out by Mr ??? for being stubborn. Her last word to her beloved sister, Celie - Be Strong.

She joined a missionary to Africa. Through out her journey, she wrote to Celie. She wrote explaining what Mr ??? did to her . She wrote about her journey. She wrote about finding the truth about their parents. She wrote about finally meeting Celie's children that were given away. She wrote about her family. She wrote if they will ever meet again. She wrote asking if Celie is still alive or whether Celie did received all her letters. She wrote nevertheless...  and hope.


                                     

                                     8/10