As we begin 2016 .... and 3 tips to overcome back to work blues

Hello ..

This is the first week of 2016...
and you are probably feeling a little depressed in going to work - whether on the farm, in the office, on the road, or at home... yes, the holidays are over and it is time to get back to work.

Back to Work ...

I don't know if it has ever hit you:
Work is sacred...
Work is God's provision...
Work is a way of making the world better...
         for yourself and others to prosper, and
         for you to understand that God wants to involve you.

So, do recognise that there is a higher purpose to work - it benefits not just us but others as well.

I hope you will have been refreshed during the holidays and with an enthusiasm to go back work. Like many of you, I went back to work this week.

Make a List of Key Projects for 2016

One of the main tasks I did this week was to list out all the key projects I need to do for the year. I'll then make appointments to talk to the relevant people on the implementation plans and follow up actions for this task.

Then it is important to put in timelines to track progress and completion. This may sound rather routine and mundane but this is essential and will help set the work programme for the year.

I am excited about the new projects I am working on this year. It may start slow but I will make sure I see it through. No doubt there will be obstacles, challenges and mistakes. But such is the reality of life and we learn along the way.

3 Tips on Overcoming the Back to Work Blues

1) Start with a clean uncluttered table.
Nothing is quite as depressing as coming back to work on Monday only to find yourself sitting behind a messy desk, with piles of untouched work stacked miles high. To help beat those back-to-work blues, be sure to get organized.

2) Start a project.
Get started on a project. Involve people who are enthusiastic and you will get the encouragement and motivation to continue and see it to the end.

3) Plan your next vacation
Many of us experience a high on vacation. Whether it’s from all the adventure or the relaxation, vacations often bring sensations that our daily jobs do not. The best way to overcome those feelings of loss when you're trying to beat the back to work blues is to get right back to planning another vacation. Even if you’re just considering a short weekend getaway, you need something to look forward to.

In fact, I've started planning for a vacation to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe in March 2016. See it in my travel blog.

Happy working ....

As Year 2011 Comes to an End ...be STILL and find the peace

As 2011 comes to an end, I just needed some time to be alone to reflect in quietness on the key things that happened over the last 12 months in my life. We are surrounded by information overload that sometimes it is just good to be still and let silence speaks.

In this connected world, we are all the time engaged in something and and in constant motion even though our bodies are not moving. Our minds are always in attention and we rush around, talking, emailing, tweeting, sending and reading messages, clicking from browser tab to the next, one link to the next.

We are always on, always connected, always thinking, always talking. There is no time for stillness — and sitting in front of a frenetic computer all day, and then in front of the hyperactive television, doesn’t count as stillness. Let's stop all the action, sit back and just be still ... Then you can ...


Feel your breadth.
Listen to the stillness.
Enjoy the air around you.
Be at peace with yourself.
Appreciate your good health.
Be thankful for your senses.
Rejoice in your loving relationships.
Think of your loved ones.
Linger in the presence of God.
Give thanks !


It is not wise to dash about.
Shortening the breath causes much stress.
Use too much energy, and
You will soon be exhausted.
That is not the Natural Way.
Whatever works against this Way
Will not last long.
         by Tao Te Ching


I just read this New York Times article "The Joy of Quiet" and I am very inspired by it. Here are a few quotes from the author Pico Iyer.

The urgency of slowing down — to find the time and space to think — is nothing new, of course, and wiser souls have always reminded us that the more attention we pay to the moment, the less time and energy we have to place it in some larger context. “Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries,” the French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in the 17th century, “and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.” He also famously remarked that all of man’s problems come from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

 MAYBE that’s why more and more people I know, even if they have no religious commitment, seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or tai chi; these aren’t New Age fads so much as ways to connect with what could be called the wisdom of old age. Two journalist friends of mine observe an “Internet sabbath” every week, turning off their online connections from Friday night to Monday morning, so as to try to revive those ancient customs known as family meals and conversation. Finding myself at breakfast with a group of lawyers in Oxford four months ago, I noticed that all their talk was of sailing — or riding or bridge: anything that would allow them to get out of radio contact for a few hours.

Here's wishing all a very joyful and meaningful New Year !!

God bless ... 

The Gift of Time

All other good gifts depend on time for their value. What are friends, books, or health, the interest of travel or the delights of home, if we have not time for their enjoyment? Time is often said to be money, but it is more-it is life; and yet many who would cling desperately to life, think nothing of wasting time.

Life must be measured rather by depth than by length, by thought and action rather than by time. Time is often said to fly; but it is not so much the time that flies; as we that waste it, and wasted time is worse than no time at all.

The life of man is seventy years, but how little of this is actually our own. We must deduct the time required for sleep, for meals, for dressing and undressing, for exercise, etc., and then how little remains really at our own disposal!

Time indeed, is a sacred gift, and each day is a little life.

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.

What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank. It's name is time.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the records of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the tomorrow.
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

And remember, time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.