If only.....

I only wish that there would be a day where everything is serene, docile, calm, peaceful and harmonious in the world. A day without killings, conflicts, racism, accidents, and a day where everyone can be joyful, happy, cheerful, successful and fulfilled within. A day where there is no rain, and where laughter and bright smiles can be common throughout the cities and towns that you travel. A day where no one dies, and everyone can get a second opportunity to do or get something they would like to do. A day without evil thoughts, and a day where no one can be better, and where everyone can be on the same playing field. When will that day come, where people can make amends with each other, and finally settle their religious and ethical differences? A day where it doesn't matter if your white, black, yellow, brown, tall, small, handicapped, jewish, christian, muslim, hindu, buddhist, and where it doesn't matter if you are the strongest, the most beautiful and the smartest. Just a day where people can gather together and just.... have some fun. Christmas was supposed to be that day, same with all the other major holidays, but it seems as if people care more about the christmas spirit and worshipping a man they believe is authentic when he is a generically made up thing for children to believe in. If everyday were to be like this, there would be no need for religion, military, fighting and power or greed. But I only wish for one day, one day. Just one day is good enough for me, and hopefully that day will finally arrive before my life is expired, and before my vision deteriorates to the point of blindness, and where my mind will still be sane and clear enough to realize what exactly is going on.

I truly don't see it happening. As quoted by a famous person ( i forgot his name, but remember reading it once) " I wish for humans to have a life full of despair and suffering, not a life full of glee, bliss and peace because only then, will then truly value the meaning of life."

Your finest moments....

If you knew that today would be the very last day you'd exist as a live human being on the face of this earth, what would you do to make yourself memorable and satisfy yourself? Would you go and meet up with the people you know, and cherish or relive the good times you had together, and would you forgive the people you hate? Would you make your last day the happiest day of your life? Or would you treat it as any other normal day, go to work or school, come home, spend time with your family, and go to sleep? Would you finally make the changes you had promised to make, and quit smoking? Would you do something absolutely extraordinary such as skydiving, or would you make passionate love to the one who means the most to you, your sweetheart, wife, fiance, boy/girlfriend, husband? Would you cry and plead to the Lord to not let you die, and would you finally regret all the years of neglect, pain and hate? For many of us, we may choose many of the above options. For the ones who don't know and may never, ever know the day they die, they may not be as aware, and may live their day like any normal day. For some, every day may seem like it's their last day. Take Iraq, for example. I challenge ourselves, to just spend one day as a military soldier or citizen afoot in that country, and you may feel a much more melancholious surrounding and atmosphere. Danger and death lurks everywhere, people cannot be trusted and fear is in you almost 24/7. You wake up, live and sleep feeling and thinking of dying and being blown up or shot, and you may want to just treasure and hug your possessions and pictures of your family like it's going to be the last time you'll ever get to see them.

So thank God and thank the government and your families that you live in a country where you don't have to live in fear, and always remember that there are people who are in need of help, and fear for their lives every single day. Peace.

Recognition

Who and what exactly determines if a person should be the smartest, the most popular, the strongest and the best ever? Why do people choose to give certain awards to individuals, and disclude or reject other potential candidates or competitors who have the same skillset and talents at the same optimum level? Why do we feel happier around the people we only like, and why do we talk or respond to our best friends or who we think of as the "best" first, or more than other people? We sometimes worship them, and become very envious of them, wishing what they possess or have would be ours, and we sometimes take their opinions and thoughts more seriously than the opinions and thoughts of other people who just happen to have the same talents, uniqueness, and if people paid more attention: popularity. Sometimes, it's their appearance and how they talk or act: They are so elegant, attractive and "cool" looking that we automatically make them the most popular people or label them as the smartest, strongest, ect based on what they look like and what they say/what they can do. They do very stupid things and very bizzare things we wouldn've even imagine them doing, and we suddenly love them more than ever before. And when a poor, hapless little soul tries to do something he or she likes to do, everyone automatically discourages that person, scolds them, and ignores them since they feel as if they are of no importance and are instead, "trying too hard to do something which doesn't befit them." In other words, we think those people just plain suck.

I personally hate it. I'm sick and tired of seeing people being mistreated and judged based on " popularity" and appearance. Honest to God, i don't give a shit if you are the best. If you are considered the best by the majority of the human population and yet disrespect or ignore those who you believe are inferior to you, and do not even bother to spend quality time with them in a respectful and enjoyable manner for the both of you, I'll automatically see you as a fraud, a Judas, and a disgrace to what you stand for ( a hypocrite). I deeply value friendships, and now that i'm older, I never judge anyone and treat anyone with disrespect and disgust unless they are oblivious to me. So the conclusion: don't bother trying to gain recognition for the wrong reasons. I encourage you to pursue whatever you want to do, and encourage you guys to strive for success in whatever it is you believe you are strongest at, and hope the best for you to also strengthen what you are weak at but always remember to include the opinions of those who are truly subordinate to you, and instead of ignoring them and treating them as inferiors, be open minded and just spend some time to talk with them. Don't just do it and say, " alright, i'm done, let's continue." I encourage you to establish a good relationship with them, and encourage you to do it because you WANT to do it, not cause some guy named yang is tellin you that you HAVE to do it. Be connective and caring.

The plan

Whenever a person, group or team goes into a competition or a situation, they must always spend a minimal amount of their operative time planning of what it is they should do. When they plan, they try to think of the best solution(s) to the ongoing crisis or scenario, and must think it through very thoroughly- analyzing the risks associated, and what they expect to achieve. They must also, of course think of a "back up plan" in case everything goes totally the opposite way. For example, a basketball team must either huddle and discuss who will do what, and what they should specifically focus on in the game and who to guard and so forth. A team of firemen must discuss who will go in the house, and who will stay outside to hose down the flames or call for backup if needed. A SWAT team must analyze on where to enter a hostaged-held building, and how they should enter and deal with any threats they encounter. It is obviously much more beneficial to at least come up with some sort of rough plan when doing almost anything, because it'll get you more organized and will make transitions much more easier. If you do not execute any sort of plan effectively and instead wait until the last moment, you may be set up for disaster, as you may not think as rationally, and may end up making bad decisions without analyzing any sort of risks associated. Take for example, the first battle of Vimy Ridge, back in WW1. The Allied forces ( the French, British and other European Allies) tried to capture Vimy Ridge, which was, I believe in France, from the German Forces. The Germans had this place very well-defended because they had placed themselves on top of this hill-like path, which made it easier for them to target anyone coming up with machine gun nests or snipers. So, the Allies went in extremely unprepared, with no plan whatsoever, and ended up with massive amounts of casualties and ultimately, lost the war. A few years later, the Canadian forces, along with other Allied forces decided that it was their time to capture Vimy Ridge. The only difference was, THEY PLANNED ON WHAT TO DO. And since they knew that they were going up a slope, they used this interesting method of guerillia warfare to succeed, where they would dig trenches, and slowly move up, bit by bit until they had captured the German territory.

Now, the Canadians did have quite some casualties, but they still won the war, and were recognized more independently than before. But, one must remember that any plan, good or bad, easy or hard, has its consequences and downfalls. Sure, you can study for an exam for 2 months on a daily basis, do all the review work and ask the teacher all the questions but come exam day, you might feel extremely nervous, and may realize that you have either overstudied, or have not studied your weaker areas. You can prepare yourself for a fight, and train like a monster for 4 months but you may still leave that fight with bruises and cuts, or may be hit over and over, and may be thrown off your gameplan for the majority of the time. These things do happen quite typically, but the most important thing of planning anything is to prepare for the worst scenarios, because then, nothing will seem unexpected.

East side, west side, same tide, different ride............

Every now and then, I see and hear my parents yelling, screaming, complaining, and being plain obsessive and impulsive about the western culture, our ways of living and our viewpoints in general. They criticize, demoralize and vandalize all our freedom, our thoughts and will to try and do new things so that we can discover what it means to be part of a society like Canada, what it means to live in North America, and the experience and joy of learning and being a part of other cultural and social events and celebrations. " You can't do this, that, this, blah blah blah, nah nah nah. No playing sports- too dangerous. Get 100% on test, or you will be spanked. Study only, as everything else is worthless and bad. " And how can we forget, " No seeing or talking to girls, and marry and date only when 20 or older of age! Oh, only marry girl who is rich, and study well! no cross cultural marriage!" Of all these stupid things, i'd say 99% of them are kind of ridiculous and down right stupid. They are suppressing us of happiness, individualism and pride of being part of a heritage with it's own history and uniqueness. I only concur with the fact that education is important, and the fact that it is important to make friends with people who we can trust, and who won't hurt our own images. The other things, i don't agree with at all. I constantly have to persuade my parents to be a bit more open minded, and to appreciate the pros and not the cons of everything i like to do. What good things can't they see in sports? Weight lifting strengthens you, and i don't do it in an extreme fashion. Exercise and music are 2 things which are of importance in my life, and they see it as beings of a demonic and very harmful nature.

They believe that the things we like are worthless. When we wanna talk with girls or people of another race, they look at us with suspicion. When we wanna go somewhere to try something new, they disallow us to. Take this, as an example. I'm really interested in training, and fighting. I wanna do some boxing, amongst other things and they won't let me. They make me do karate, and they seem to be brainwashed because they believe that I should only focus on it since they're " paying for it" and that " i'm only doing it for fitness. " Alright, here's the deal. Martial arts were created for the purpose of killing those who want to kill you, and to defend yourself effectively. They think that if i were to train in boxing that i'd die or something. If they could just open their damn chinky eyes and see the positives of boxing, and other arts like muay thai or judo or brazillian jiu jitsu/wrestling, they'd realize how deficient a single art can be alone, by itself. Why not play sports and why eat pork all the fuckin time? why not read texts of the 19th and early 20th century and why criticize other cultures for without fully understanding their viewpoints? They treat us literally like fuckin dogs and babies when they should just let us off the leash cause we're older now, and understand things better than em. Maybe it's because of what they experienced back in their homelands, and i fuckin hate the fact that they don't have the will to change or accept things, or at least understand things. We have to practice their positive things, why can't they practice the positive things of a new society, like a true ASIAN-CANADIAN???

When i see em, they're not Asian Canadian. They're more like fuckin asian refugees with too much pride for their homeland of CHINA, Fuck, we're not in china anymore. IF you wanna be like that, go back and stay there for good, otherwise, don't stay here.

More than just a sport.....

Ones personality, character and behaviour can truly be exposed and shown when one engages in a team sport. if you do not fully know a person that well, you can see just what kind of person they may be when you invite them to play a sport with you. Whether it be basketball, floor hockey, soccer, it doesn't matter. All of these sports have similar goals ( to score on the opponent), and all require dedication, communication and teamwork in order for one team to succeed. When a player acts quite selfishly on the court or field, he or she may actually be a selfish and flamboyant person in the real life world. If the person is very physical and very rough, he or she may act very tough around other people and may have a sense of "machismo" ( being the big man or woman on campus). The person who cares about the team and is graceful in defeat may be a genuinely respectful and outgoing person in real life while the person who fusses and pouts in defeat may be a very irritable person in real life. And who can forget the team captain? This person may have a strong sense of leadership and courage in real life as well.

Please note that all these characteristics may not be correlated with behaviour in sport. Some people may just be competitive in nature, and may act more selfish and aggressive than they would in real life. Some people are not as good in sports, but act very immaturely and impulsive in real life. All in all, when your mother, father, family or friends encourage you to play a sport, try to agree and avoid being reluctant because as mentioned, playing team sports are good ways of building confidence, communicative skills and friendships with others.

Practice

Yeah, this is the note where i'm going to talk about one of my favourite topics: practice. You guys have probably been told at some point in your life that " if you practice, you'll be good," or that " practice always makes perfect." And, they're automatically correct because if you do not have the will to improve, and don't make efforts to succeed in life, you will ultimately end up screwing up big time, and falling behind everyone else. Regrets will be common, and you'll be left with the thought that you should've practiced or studied a bit more on that jump shot, that formula, that note, that piece, ect. The question which is lingering inside of my head as of this moment is: does it make a difference? I mean, we will always find, at some point in our precious lives, people who are either gifted or considered to be "naturals" or "prodigies." Those guys are born with certain qualities which allow them to do or attempt things much more easily. They can adapt more easily, and do not need to go through any sort of repetitive activities to improve themselves as they are already that good, smart or strong. Some athletes like Kobe bryant, Mats sundin, Justin Morneau, Peyton Manning and Manny pacquiao really commit to refining and improving their overall game, and so they practice and practice batting, shooting a puck, passing and punching every day of their lives. Other athletes are born with natural talent, and rely on their attributes to help them in a game or competition ( allen iverson is very quick and agile, Alexander ovechkin is extremely creative, and mike tyson relied on his brute physique and strength).

Statistically, you can see how practice can pay off. I saw it myself. A few years back, i hated practicing piano pieces and scales, and usually just played them once or twice, in a very sloppy manner. I was somehow still able to win in competitions because once I had signed up to compete, I would proceed to focus on the piece I had to play, and so I practiced that piece almost 50 times a day. A few years later, I started to flop in competitions, and I realized that I needed to remain consistent with my practice, and so I played my pieces over and over every day. It was frustrating at first, but I got used to it and my performances became much more satisfying to me. So, in all, it isn't about how much a person practices, but rather HOW that person practices, and what they can learn from their strengths and weaknesses.