Are You Successful?

Helped a friend of mine today.... no, it is neither rare nor remarkable that I help a friend, and that is not the reason for this blog. What is remarkable is that I helped him prepare a write-up for a job application.

He was supposed to say if he thought he is successful, and why... a daunting task to me, because for all I have achieved, my inferiority complexes and neuroses simply dont allow me to easily think of myself in the terms "successful" or "achiever".

But here is my friend, more than a decade my junior, and yet with a clear idea of what he has achieved, how much he has learned, and what abilities he can bring to bear when required. And all this articulated with a simple modesty both refreshing and endearing.

Unfortunately, his first attempt to put it in the written word dissolved into a soup of bombast and vague references..... but then, that was what I was there for.

"Tell me..." I said, "Do you think, for a person your age and with your experience, that you are successful?"

And he talked to me for a full minute in plain, simple truth, before realising that was exactly what he had to write.

Good luck my friend. I see a future leader in you.... would that the world not loose its chance.

The Daily Motivator

A friend sent me this link to "The daily motivator" page....

Although I find the motivational messages a trifle ... how shall I put it .... strained? forced? trite?, the gist of the messages are worth thinking about.....

Hope this link helps you today....

The Kelvinator

I was getting my afternoon cup of coffee when he came into the pantry and beamed at me.... a sure sign of trouble.

"I have decided," he said as he spooned coffee and sugar into his cup, "that I will call you The Kelvinator."

"My name is KELVIN," I said in as frosty a voice as I could manage, "and I do NOT manufacture refrigerators."

"No no no - don't jump to conclusions" he said, "hear me out. This will make people sit up and take notice of you."

"Its something like being called The Terminator, except....." and here I saw the deadly twinkle in his eye "cooler."

Durian Party

(contextual information for non-Malaysians) The Durian (pictured right) is known in Malaysia as the King of fruits. It can be as large as a football, and smells like the sulphur pools of Rotorua on a bad day. Be that as it may, we love it for its buttery flesh and unique sweet taste. Occasionally, an employer will have a 'Durian Party', where baskets of the fruit are brought in to a convenient place and the office folk can stuff themselves silly...... this story happened at one such party.

I believe the supplier was trying to dispose of the smallest fruit first, so after I had patiently waited for my turn I was rewarded with two rather dissapointing specimens. I carried them back to the table where my collegues were waiting to tuck in, and immediately got flack from one of the ladies there:
"Why are your fruits so small?" She said, and looked me square in the eye.

What else can a man do in the face of such provocation?

"Madam," I intoned, "My fruits may be small, but they are exceedingly sweet."

Durian Parties are such fun.