Balance Our Life

   We live such a hectic life where people are busy and rushing. There are too much work to do that lead to burnout. I came across an article about balancing life while reading CLEO magazine - in a stressful lifestyle today, we should look at the bright side of the situation. Having more things to do than we think we could do means we're alive and growing. There are three steps that we can look up to which are perspective, proportion and priorities. Without these steps we would have no driving goals to move forward progressively.
  

   The first rule towards a balance  life is by looking at a few perspectives in our life. We should ask ourselves how important the things really are. Make a list of what would we do if we were given only few months to live. Would we travel around the world or be with our loved ones? Our choice represents the things in life we value the most. Next, we have to put our life into proportion. We could try to list out problems in our life. For examples, if we are overweight; we have family problems; we are not happy with who we are. All we can do is just try to accept the situation for what it is. If we cannot live with it, write down some steps we can take to recover from it. The last step is by dividing our work according to priorities. This could be done by looking at our interests, skills and needs. 

   Also, there's a quote saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, all play and no work makes Jack a mere toy”. So try the best that you can to to stay focus during class hours. Give the required time to our family and friends. Do not forget to have enough rest and relaxation. When we are feeling balanced, our brains will work more efficiently. 

#4 The Ego’s Praises and Pride’s Downfall

Ahh…this is the official entry #4. I felt like singing, 'the hills are aliveeeeee, to the sound of muuuusiiiiiiiiic’.

    Honestly when I read the new entry, my excitement was like waiting for my Java Mint Frappucino with whipped cream to be ready on the Starbucks counter all glowing like shopping mall on a festive day…and the irony of my stomach feels like there's a biochemical war going on as it won't stop churning and corroding my epithelium wall. Hah. For this entry, forget those scientific studies…those psychologists. It’s human nature.

    Now, now…when I said human nature, what I meant is that all of us were born with purposes. The studies claimed that for elder siblings they are more matured, responsible and all the things that humans realised when they married. For me, speaking as one of the elder ones, those naturally feeling were born with us. Everyone is born with responsibility...as in feeling responsible. It’s a matter of time when it show. Even if we are not blood related, as the oldest in a group, it’s natural to feel more ‘adult’.

    My point of nagging is that, the theory is concluded based on what showed most on these siblings. Actually, it all depended on how the way we grew up. Yes, the theory might be applicable on kids but as they grew up, it changes. The responsibility changed. Human evolves over time so does this ‘theory’. Although, I wanted as much as people labelled me responsible, matured, perfectionist, an excellent leader…(and the list goes on).

Now, the statement for middle child being neglected...OH, I BEG TO DIFFER. Truth is, if you're the only son, did you ever count how much worth your Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Lego sum up to compare with the dresses and shoes bought for your sisters? In my say, the middle child should be grateful for not being in the center if attention, least they can get away with no one EVER noticing. And the "not over-achiever" thingy? Well, the eldest had been through Hell to HAVE TO BE the PERFECT EXAMPLE so of course the second would be...second. Ahem.

    The irony is, as the elder among my siblings, I shamelessly would say that I'm not the most responsible being and perhaps the leader of a rebellion...if you wanted a babysitter for your kids, find my little brother (and by little he's 170cm and waiting for his SPM results)...and if you wanted someone to cook for you...find my little sister (and by little she's the only one who's still in school, sitting her PMR this year and 150cm...how on Earth I'm still 149cm?!?!!). There...find me if you wanted to cry out your heart, fixing up your printer, cleaning up your mess, be mean to naughty little kids who hurt you, yell out orders that your Mum wanted you to do until you get bored of my Steve Tyler's voice and saving your (insert informal word of your gluteus maximus) from your Dad's lawn mower. There goes my pride as an eldest. But hey, I'm being honest. Gimme credit for that.

From the keyboard,
The Rebellious Elder

P/S: by the time you realised that I'm pretty much spouting nonsensical logic...it might be too late.

Dumped By Your Best Friend

A close friend is a companion for life. It's worse than being dumped by your boyfriend. When your bestfriend suddenly drops you, your heart can feel so broken that you fear you will never ever get over it. When you quarreling with your friend, there is some signs. First for no reason she just stops returning your calls and texts and you don't speak for days, which turns into weeks. When you've been dumped by your bestfriend you may feel so hurt and betrayed it seems the sadness will never end. So it is important to nurture yourself and keep thinking of other times when you were heartbroken and got through it (like when guy you were in love cheated on you and went back to his ex). As a good friend, do something to tackle her heart. Don't let her go just like that because life is more colourful when spent with true friends. In order for her to get over it you need to make the first move and work at winning her trust back. At least, call and say you're sorry and would like the chance to talk it over. Explain how much you value her friendship. Besides that, write her an honest letter explaining how great you think she is. Lastly, give her a little space but keep calling every few days to just make sure that you still stay in touch so that they don't feel dumped by you!

#3 Should We Give Monetary Incentives to KP2 Students?

 I disagree with the idea of giving monetary incentives to KP2 in order to encourage them to get better grades. From my perspective, the reasons why i am against the idea is, firstly, money cannot buy knowledge. We could find another initiative to help students obtaining a good grades such as by giving counseling and by suspending their loan as for punishment.

Money can't buy everything. Yes, we can get a college degree with money but not knowledge. In order to learn, we have to read and study. We have to put some effort if we want to learn. Then we will know what we really learn rather than studying for some rewards and ended up knowing nothing just because we do things that we don't want to do. Believe me, money is not always the best choice to motivate people. It is not a good way to encourage youngsters. In fact, money sometimes can be dangerous especially for students.

Sometimes students find themselves not interested in their studies, and start to take it for granted. They play a lot, skip classes, ignoring homeworks, wasting time on miscellaneous unimportant things like going on line for 24 hours! College should create a plan or maybe a camp for these students. What i meant here is a camp that would improve oneselves. An example is Kem Jati Diri where students are exposed to the importance of education and to help students to find their own strength and improve the level of confidence.

The right way to push those KP2 students is by suspending their loan until they get better grades. This has been done by MARA for students who failed to get CGPA higher than 2.00 for two semesters. By doing this, students will be more responsible towards their own life. They will be more appreciative, and willing to change for their own benefits.

Thus, if we are about to give money for failing students without knowing the consequences, think twice. We would not want students to attend lectures, taking examination papers, and perform better for the sake of money.

Getting a Good Night's Sleep.

 

   We go through many stages of sleep when sleeping. There are non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye-movement(REM). These cycles usually take about 90 minutes. NREM is the stage where we are deep in sleep and REM is the stage when we have dreams. While our bodies goes into slumber, our brains are still working through the night. Our bodies are controlled by a biological clock that controls our sleep patterns. When it is night, our bodies recognize that and start to lower our temperature to signify that it is time to sleep.

   Women around the world should be aware about the relationship between sleeping habit and breast cancer. Research shows that women who get less sleep will be more likely to develop breast cancer. Besides, staying up late at night with the lights on will increase the risk of developing breast cancer. This is related to melatonin - a hormone released highest during our bedtime. When melatonin hormone production is inhibited, it may disturb the release of estrogen, thus will increase the risk of breast cancer.

   Some people suffer from insomnia. The reasons that cause the inability to sleep  could be stress, depression, anxiety, medication, diet, bad sleeping habit and sleeping environment. Lack of sleep can cause a poor function of the immune system and depression that may lead to cardiovascular diseases. In order to have the best sleep, and to wake up fresh the next morning, we should avoid eating meal before going to bed because it will increase our blood sugar level which will cause us to wake up in the middle of the night. Other than that, we could do something relaxing like listening to a soothing song and reading a book that will put us to sleep, while keeping the light dim so that we can fall asleep faster. So, don't forget to maintain the same sleeping patterns everyday!