Be Grateful Always

Human Traffic Light System

Looking at these old photos makes me think how difficult life must have been during those days for people to travel from one place to another. Not many people could afford their own cars back. They relied heavily on public transport or simply walk to wherever they wished to go. I’m sure a walk to the local town centre was a pleasant and adventurous trip for many back then. It could be a weekend retreat for them to get out of the house and go somewhere in their town.

For those of us who were born in the 70s, there used to be two people working in a bus – one is the driver while the other person was responsible for selling tickets to passenger. I used to take one of these buses from my house to Komtar, the city centre of Penang Island, Malaysia. There was no touch and go payment system back then, we would hopped onto the bus, took our seat, then a man would approach us asking us where we wanted to go. He would then punched the ticket with the value of our trip. After he had finished selling all the tickets to all those who had just boarded the bus, he would knock the ceiling grab rail with his metal hole puncher and shouted: “Jalan!” (let’s go in Malay) signalling the bus driver in front to move on. There was no air-conditioned in the bus but the ride wasn’t uncomfortable. The side windows were wide opened to allow ventilation into the bus and the weather then wasn’t that hot compared to today. I’ve always enjoyed those trips on the bus. You see life back then was much simpler.

Things have changed tremendously in the 21^st century. Today, there is only one person working on every bus – the bus driver. His only job is mainly to drive the vehicle as the ticketing system is now automated with the touch ‘n’ go payment machines located at both entrance doors of the bus. Buses are now fully air-conditioned and very comfortable to ride on.

It always amazes me to see how much progress we have made in mere half a lifetime. Our society has evolved to be more sophisticated with all the latest technological gadgets. Theoretically, this should make our lives more comfortable and we all should be happier. But are we?

There are more and more negative news and information on the internet and mainstream media. It appears that we are now living a much more difficult lives than before. People complains about almost anything, from politics to even the food they eat in the restaurants. These thoughts don’t seem like coming from happy people.

Perhaps the next time we catch ourselves having these negative thoughts, pause that thought and reflect back of those good old days when we were happier even without all the conveniences that are available today. Latest smart phone and all the other modern conveniences won’t make us happy. We ourselves are responsible for our own happiness. The easiest way to start this happiness journey is stop complaining, and be grateful of what we have right now.

看了这些旧照片后，我在想以前的人要从一个地方去到另一个地方是多么的辛苦啊！那个年代没有多少人可以买得起一辆车。他们依赖公共交通工具，或者步行到他们想去的地方。

对于我们这些70后的人来说，还记得在公交车上共有两个服务员 - 一位是司机，而另一位人负责向乘客出售车票。那时没有自动付款系统，上巴士坐下来后，服务员将会走来问我们要去哪里。然后他会根据我们要去的地点打票。当他完成了向所有刚登上巴士的人出售票后，他将用他的打孔器敲打天花板扶手，然后大喊：“ Jalan！” （马来语前进的意思）向坐在前面的司机发出信号可以安全开车了。那时的巴士没有冷气，但在乘客并不感到不舒服。窗口会开着，以便通风。那时的天气不比现在那么热。我每次都很享受乘巴士的旅途。当时的生活真的要简单得多。

如今，每辆巴士上只有一个人工作 — 那就是司机本身。他的唯一工作就是驾驶巴士，售票已经自动化。巴士上还装有空调，乘坐起来非常舒适。

我们的社会已经发展到科技发达和更加复杂。理论上来说，我们的生活现在因该更加舒适，我们所有人都应该更加快乐。但事实是如此吗？

互联网和主流媒体天天都有许多负面的新闻和信息。看来我们现在的生活好像比以前困难得多。人们几乎每样事情都抱怨，大家都好像很不愉快。

下一次我们发现自己陷入这些消极想法时，停下来思考一下，回想过去我们快乐的美好时光，那时我们并没有现在的所有便利。最新的智能手机和所有其他现代便利设施不会让我们快乐。唯一的方法是停止抱怨，并感恩我们所拥有的一切。

Make Good Use Of The Time That Is Given To Us

Melbourne is forecasted to reach 38° maximum today. Bush fire warning has been alerted throughout the state of Victoria. People are advised to keep themselves hydrated and stay indoor if necessary. However, I won’t be surprised to find the evening news reported some mishaps happen at the beach where people would be suffered from heat stroke, this is no joke as it could be fatal.

A lot of us constantly putting ourselves in danger deliberately even though we are fully aware of the risk prior. People are complaining about how their freedom have been taken away from them when they didn’t even try to comply with the safety rules in place. In a not so serious situation, how often we found ourselves cursing inside our car while stuck in the traffic jam even though we know that would be the case if we chose to drive in that direction at that particular time?

Unfortunate things do happen which are not due to our fault and we have no control over them. But, we can reduce the unhappy incidents in our lives significantly by making the right choices. A lot of people suffered from poor health in our modern fast paced lifestyle. But is it really unavoidable? We can choose to have healthy diet and lifestyle but most of us just waste too much time on social media or binging on Netflix. Entertainment is good when we need to have some break but it cannot be let to take over our lives. Sadly, most have allowed their lives to be completely determined by which movies they should watch in the evening.

One of my favourite dialogue of all time from a movie is in Lord of The Ring when the wizard Gandalf advises the Hobbit Frodo: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” Such a powerful advice to give especially when someone has doubt about themselves! Don’t take things for granted, GOD gives us this moment for a reason. Start making good use of this gift and stop wasting our lives on unnecessary and sometimes dangerous activities.

Stay safe in this scorching heat.

气象预测墨尔本温度今天将达到38 °。全维多利亚州都已被视为火灾重区。建议人们多喝水，必要时呆在家里别出门。但是，如果今晚新闻报道有人在海滩上发生不幸事件或中暑，我不会感到惊讶。

即使我们事先已充分意识到风险，许多人还是会不断将自己置于危险状况之中。

确实世界上有很多不幸的事情是我们无法控制的。但是，很多时候在通过做出正确的选择，我们可以大大的减少我们生活中一些不开心的事。我们现代的快节奏生活中，许多人都因身体不好而遭受痛苦。但这真的无法避免吗？我们可以选择健康的饮食和生活方式，但我们大多数人却大多时间浪费在社交媒体上，或者在Netflix看一部接一部的戏。我们千万不能让娱乐占据了我们的生活。

我最喜欢的电影对话之一是在《魔戒》中，巫师甘道夫（Gandalf）和霍比特人Frodo的一番对话：“我们所要做的就是决定如何处理我们所拥有的时间。” 千万不要认为每件事情都是理所当然的，上帝给我们这一刻是有原因的。我们要开始善用这份礼物，停止浪费我们的生命在不必要或者危险的活动上。

Working From Home

About two years ago I went into a job interview. Towards the end of the interview I was asked if I have any questions about the work or the company. ‘Am I allowed to work from home?’; that’s the only question I was interested at that time to which the manager who interviewed me answered in lightning speed without having to give much thought; a resounding ‘NO.’ I’m still in the same company today but just amaze of the fact that how thing has changed since that reckoning day in that spacious meeting room.

When Covid-19 hit in 2020, ‘Working from Home’ became the normal practice at offices worldwide all of a sudden. The reason most businesses were able to switch to operating from home almost instantly was because of the advance in communication technology of the internet and mobile phones. So the capability was always there but most employers were reluctant to operate in that manner as they didn’t trust their employees will be discipline enough to continue producing work from home. They feared of lower efficiency and productivity might be greatly reduced. But when the government imposed hard lockdown to contain the spread of the virus, working from home became the only option to prevent the economy from total collapse. Ironically, it was this deadly virus that forced all of us to work in a smarter way even though we already have the technology to do so ages ago.

In the past, I never had the chance to drop my 10 year old daughter at school in the morning or walk her home in the afternoon. During the weekdays, I found myself always in a hurry throughout the day, rushing to the gym after work, work out as fast as I can then headed home for dinner. By the time I done all that, I was so exhausted that I have no more energy to spend with my family or reading bible.

Working from home has provided me opportunity to spend more time with my family. Now I can spread out my work and personal life throughout the day more flexibly. I no longer dread driving to office as I have the choice of working from home if I want to. For the first time after coming to Australia 8 years ago, I feel I have finally achieved work-life balance!

I want to thank GOD that I’m one of those lucky people who still enjoy a livelihood at this unprecedented tough period of time. Covid-19 is a wake-up call for all of us to reassess our priorities. It has also presented a rare opportunity for us to reset our lives for the better. I pray for our wisdom to walk on the righteous path and spread hope to every corners of the world.

两年前我去了一场工作面试。当面试快要结束时，那间公司的经理问我对这份工作或这间公司有任何疑问。当时我唯一想到的问题是，“我可以在家工作吗？” 该经理毫无犹豫的回答说：“不行”。今天我仍然还在这间公司上班。

当新冠肺炎在2020年大流行时，“在家工作”突然成为全球办事处的常规做法。大多数企业之所以能够几乎立即转型在家办公，大都因为我们有了先进发达的互联网和手提电话。之前雇主们不愿意以这种方式操作，原因是他们不相信自己员工会有足够的纪律来有效的在家里继续工作。他们担心效率会由此降低，生产率可能会大大减少。但是，当政府决定丰城以遏制病毒传播时，在家工作的模式在一夜之间成为了防止经济全面崩溃的唯一选择。

过去，我从来没有机会早上将10岁的女儿放到学校或下午接她回家。在工作日里，我发现自己整天总是忙个不停，下班后赶往健身房，尽我所能尽快锻炼身体，然后回家吃晚饭。当我完成所有这些事物时，我都已经筋疲力尽了，再也没有精力可以和家人享受天论之乐或阅读圣经。

在家工作为我提供了更多与家人在一起的时间。现在，我可以全天候灵活地分配工作和个人生活。来到澳大利亚八年后，我第一次感受到自己终于实现了工作与生活的平衡！

我要感谢上帝我还有一份工作。这疫情呼吁我们所有人要重新评估我们人生重要的地方。这也是一个难得的机会，让我们的生活更加美好。我祈求我们有智慧走在正义的道路上，并将希望传播到世界每个角落。

How To Avoid Depression When There Is No International Travel

Still can’t believe that we are almost three weeks into 2021. Come 1^st February, we will be marking the first anniversary of Australia’s international border closure. We may have survived 2020 but we are yet out of the woods. This is confirmed by Dr. Brendan Murphy, Australia’s Health Department Chief today. Dr. Murphy foresees that there will be no international travel for Australian in 2021. Although the Australian government has planned to bring forward its vaccination plan to end of February, it does not mean that everything will be back to normal as soon as we put that needle into our arms. Dr. Brendan Murphy based his prediction on scientific ground. He is confident about the effectiveness of the vaccines to prevent us from being infected. However, nobody is currently sure that those who have been vaccinated cannot still infect other people.

It is an understatement to say that I was disappointed when I first read the news. Before Covid-19 hit, I used to travel back to Penang, Malaysia from Melbourne every year. Last year needless to say I was stuck in Australia and now realized that I may have to spend my 2021 Christmas in Melbourne again. If there is one common thing that Covid-19 has done to all our lives is that we can’t make plans anymore.

I’m sure that I’m not alone in this situation. There are lots of other people all around the world being separated from their loved ones thanks to the pandemic. We basically have two choices, one is to feel helpless and depressed, or there is a better way. Instead of focusing on things that we can’t control, why don’t channel our energy onto something we have control of, the way we response to the situation. We can take this opportunity to slow down and ponder upon our lives. Take this extra time that is now made available since we can’t fly to re-prioritize our personal values and goals.

If I have to name one positive thing that comes out of this pandemic, I’ll call it reflection. We now have the luxury of reflecting on ourselves and explore inwards to investigate what our lives are all about. It definitely isn’t about running around like a headless chicken which we used to do daily in pursuit of materialistic goals. For me, I realized that Covid-19 taught me to cherish family even more from now on. It also gives me opportunity to reassess my relationship with others and with GOD.

The reason why depression is common illness in modern times is because people overestimate in themselves and constantly aiming for higher achievements simply because others around them are also doing it. It is this Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) that makes our lives so competitive and stressful. Too much attention has been focused on ourselves and we believe that everything is within our grasp and control. Covid-19 has proved to us that regardless of how positive minded or rich you are, we are all vulnerable when facing this invisible enemy. It turns out that we are not so great and powerful after all.

Christians believe that GOD is the only ONE who has control of everything. Accept that we are vulnerable, start praying and open our ears. You will be surprise what you can hear when you open yourselves up. Whatever your faith is, rest assured that there is a greater force than all of us. Make use of this down time to tap into that universal force and start healing our souls. Stay safe and pray for each other.

我仍然不能相信，我们已经差不多进入2021年的第三个星期了。2021年2月1日将是澳大利亚关闭国际航线的第一周年。我们虽然已辛苦的度过2020年，但我们仍然还没有走出困境。澳大利亚卫生部局长布伦丹·墨菲（Brendan Murphy）博士今天证实了这一点。墨菲博士预测澳大利亚将不会在2021年重新开放国际边界。尽管澳大利亚政府计划将其疫苗接种计划提前到2月底，但这并不意味着一旦我们接种一切就会恢复正常。布伦丹·墨菲（Brendan Murphy）博士的预测基于科学根据。他对疫苗预防我们被感染的有效性充满信心。但是，目前尚无人能确定已接种疫苗的人不会感染其他人。

这新闻令我很失望。在Covid-19之前，我每年圣诞假期都会从墨尔本回到马来西亚的槟城。去年很明显我不能回去，现在看来今年圣诞节又得在澳洲度过了。

我深信我在这种处境下并不孤单。全世界还有更多人被逼与亲人分离。我们基本上有两种选择，一就是感到无助和沮丧。或我们可以将精力集中在我们可以控制的事情上。我们可以借此机会放慢脚步，沉思我们的生活。

我们可以反思自己，并重新探索我们的内心世界。绝对不要再回去我们过去为了追求物质目标而每天迷糊奔波的日子。对我来说，我意识到Covid-19教会我更懂得去珍惜家人。这也使我有机会重新评估我与他人和神之间的关系。

在现代社会中，抑郁症是一种常见疾病，其原因在于人们高估自己的能力，不断追求更高的成就，因为周围的人也是这样做。正是这种对错过的恐惧使我们的生活充满竞争和压力。太多的注意力都集中在自己身上，我们相信一切都在我们的掌握和控制当中。但是Covid-19向我们证明了，无论您有多积极向上或有多富裕，当面对这个无形的敌人时，人人都非常脆弱。事实证明，我们毕竟不是我们想象中的那么伟大。

基督徒相信只有神是唯一能够掌控一切的。我们必须接受我们的脆弱，开始祈祷并睁大耳朵聆听神的话。

I Name My Fear 'Trump'

I got to know from an article I read recently that on average our mind can generate about 6,000 thoughts every day. That is a huge number! The first thing that came to my mind was, isn’t that a wonderful thing considering we can produce 6,000 business ideas a day! Unfortunately this is not the case. A substantial chunk of that amount are unnecessary thoughts which have no real use to us. Most of them consists of worries and fear that do not pose any real danger to us at that moment.

In the primitive world, human brains were great tools saving us from potential life threatening danger, most of this came from predators around them. They were on constant alert in order to avoid becoming prey to animals which were much stronger and larger than them. The warning triggered in their primitive brains put them in a ‘fight or flight’ situation. That mental stimulation is then directed into the primitive man's muscles to enable them to fight and flee from the situation. In that ancient context, it was very useful because they could convert this warning into physical combat or run for their lives. By doing one of those two things, they made good use of the warning coming from their brain.

Fast forward thousands of years later to 2021, although we have evolved into a much more complex human being, we still have our archaic brain with us, constantly in an alert mode to look out for potential danger. The problem this time is that we can’t really produce any reaction to that warning. Most of us who live in the city settings have no potential threat from a predator, so when our brain trigger a warning, we have no clear target telling us what to do. As a result, that warning will be redirected inwards and stays within us and is transformed into negative energy. This energy usually takes the form of 'worry' or 'fear'. We then find ourselves ruminating about problems that we can’t quite identify. When left unchecked, these negative energies are accumulated inside our body which do damage to our physical and mental health. If this unhealthy thinking pattern occurs on a regularly basis, we may end up in depression.

Most experts in the field of mental illness advise that we give this ‘worry’ or ‘fear’ a name. The moment we can identify it by naming it, it turns out to be not so scary anymore. We are fearful of things we don’t understand. That’s exactly what happen if we can’t identify it or we try to avoid thinking about it. This is exactly why Covid-19 is so scary because it is invisible, it can be anywhere and there is still a lot we don't about the virus and its prolonged effects on our bodies. Also, if we ignore our fear, we are actually helping it to grow stronger in our mind. So identify our worry is the first thing we need to do to beat it.

For me, I’m going to name my ‘worry’ TRUMP. I got this inspiration from recent political development in the United States. Like Donald Trump who kept shouting out loud about voter fraud without presenting any evidence, our worry will constantly spread lies inside our heads without any concrete justification whatsoever. Like President Trump, worry will incite fear in our mind of imminent danger if we don’t pay attention to it. Another reason why I chose TRUMP is because we all know now that he lost the election, so the end result is confirmed. Likewise, our worry will lose and we will stand tall victorious in the end.

So what are you going to name the ‘worry’ or ‘fear’ in your head?

最近我读了一篇文章说，我们平均每天大约有6千个思想出现在我们脑海中。这是一个多么巨大的数字啊！我想若我们每天可以想出6千个生意构思那该多好啊！不幸的是其中这大部分都是一些不必要的想法，对我们毫无实际用途。很多这些思想都是忧虑和恐惧。

在原始时代，当人类面临生命危险时，我们的大脑是一个很有用的工具。原始人无时无刻都会面临周围巨兽的杀生之祸。人类必须保持警惕，以避免成为比他们强得多的动物的猎物。原始人大脑中触发的警告使他们们处于“战斗或逃跑”的状态。在那个古老的背景下，它非常有用，因为我们可以将这种警告转化为应战或逃跑。

但到了数千年后的今天，尽管我们已经发展成为一个文明的人类，但我们仍然拥有那古老的大脑，每分每秒都处于警戒状态，以预防潜在的危险。问题是我们这次不能再对任何警告做出应对的反应。对于我们大多数居住在城市环境中的人并不会受到野兽的侵犯，因此当我们的大脑触发警告时，我们没有一个明确的目标告诉我们该怎么做。结果，这警告就逗留在我们的脑海中，并转变为担忧。如果持续放任不管，这些忧虑就会堆积起来。当这种不健康的思维不断的发生时，我们可能最终陷入抑郁。

精神病专家建议我们给这个“担忧”或“恐惧”起个名字。一旦我们可以通过命名来识别它，事实证明它不再那么可怕了。人总会对我们不了解的事情产生恐惧。如果我们无法识别它，或者我们试图避免去想它，情况会更严重。当我们忽略它时，我们实际上是在帮助它在我们的脑海中继续成长。

我把我的“担忧”命名为特朗普。我从美国最近的政治发展中得到了灵感。就像特朗普（Donald Trump）那样一直高喊选举被欺诈，我们的担忧在没有任何具体理由的情况下继续散布在我们的脑海中。像特朗普一样，担忧会不断激起我们对将来的恐惧。我选择特朗普的另一个原因是因为我们现在都知道他输了选举，换句话说我们看到了最终的结果。同样的，我们的担忧将会消失，最终胜利者肯定是我们。

您又会给您的“担忧”或“恐惧”取什么名字呢？

Malaysia Lockdown Again

 

Most parts of Malaysia officially enter into Movement Control Order (MCO) 2.0 today. There are people who are celebrating either because they get an excuse not to work or study. While those group of people who are engaging in online businesses are particularly happy about this since they expect more people to surf the internet while staying at home, consequently becoming their potential customers. At the same time, there are people who feel that the government’s decision is long overdue considering the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak is already more than 3 months old since the Sabah state election at the end of September 2020. They are worry that if no action is taken anytime soon, the current situation may get out of control. Most people are fearful for their lives.

It is particularly worrying when people can see that most of the country’s leaders have no sense of urgency or priority when it comes to tackling this pandemic. They are still politicking for power even up until now. Every politicians tried to beat each other by speaking their minds either on main stream or social media. There is no clear sign of unity. In fact, it looks like we are not in this together. It is as if Malaysia is now one country two worlds. In one world People are fighting for their lives while there is another parallel world where another group of people are plotting and manipulating the system to either stay in power or form a new government.

The situation looks even more worrying when being looked at in the context of the world outside Malaysia. Just heard the news today where World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that herd immunity won’t be achieved in 2021 despite numerous vaccines being rolled out this year. This is because it takes time to administer the vaccines out onto the masses, and we are talking about billions of doses across the globe. Herd immunity is not achievable because not every countries will be able to achieve mass vaccination at the same pace.

So what does this mean for the world? It means we will not see international travel in 2021. The world will be divided, countries will be isolated, people will be separated. There won’t be a global village, instead there will be isolated villages dotting all over the world. 2020 was not the worst, it was just an initial shock to the system. The real test is in the year 2021 and beyond. It is the ultimate test to see how we can persevere in this prolong social separation physically and mentally.

And what does this means for Malaysia? With the ignorance and selfish behaviour shown by most politicians, sadly a lot of lives will be sacrificed. Livelihood will be destroyed as tourists and foreign investments are not forthcoming. The country’s economy will be brought to its knees. What is more worrying is that nobody can confidently say that this will be the worst case scenario. We have never experience this before, no one knows how this is going to end. The endgame can’t be easily predicted.

So whether you welcome or criticize MCO 2.0, let us each do our part to weather this storm and pray that we still can see our loved ones in the end. See you on the other side!

马来西亚大部分地区今天正式进入了行动管制令 MCO 2.0。有些人可能会很开心因为他们不想工作或上课。那些从事网络业务的人对此更加兴奋，因为他们期待更多人待在家里上网，从而最后可能成为他们的客户。同时，有些人认为政府早就该做出这个决定了，因为自从2020年9月底的沙巴州大选以来，第二波Covid-19疫情已经爆发了长达三个多月。他们担心如果再不尽快采取任何行动的话，恐怕当前的情况会失控。到时肯定很多人会不幸的白白丢掉了性命。

到目前为止大多数政治人物还是对着疫情毫不注重，这令人民十分担忧。直到现在，他们仍然忙于在争取权力。每个政客都试图通过主流媒体或社交媒体上发表自私的言论。整个政局有如一盘散沙。

同时，国外的情况似乎更加令人担心。刚刚听到今天的新闻报导，世界卫生组织（WHO）警告说，尽管今年已经推出了许多疫苗，但2021年估计仍无法实现群体免疫的效果。这是因为将疫苗推向大众化还需要花费很多时间。由于每个国家都不能同时间大规模的将疫苗接种， 群体免疫是无法实现的。

这意味着什么？2021年还是不会有国际航线开始启动。这世界将会进一步的被分裂，国家将被孤立，人将面临孤单。2020年并不是最糟糕的一年，它只是一个很重大的警告。真正的考验会在2021年及以后。我们将会面临肢体与精神上的盛大考验。

那这对马来西亚又有什么特别的关系和影响呢？政客们的自私行为将带来许多人民的牺牲。由于失去国外游客和外国投资，马来西亚的经济将受到重大的冲击与考验。

因此，不管您是欢迎还是批评MCO 2.0，让我们每个人都尽自己的一份力量来度过这场风暴，并祈祷我们最终仍能看到我们的亲人。

Use Social Media To Do Good

While driving home from lunch earlier, I accidentally listened to this interesting talk on the radio. This lady was sharing with the host how she created a group on social media called 'Buy Nothing'. The name of the group instantly attracted my attention so I stayed kept on listening instead of changing the radio channel. This group is created to help people passing on unwanted items to people who does need them. For example, let's say I have a coffee table that I no longer need and do not wish to just throw it into the bin, I can post this item on that group and members have the chance to bid for it. The bidding criteria is not monetary but on the reasons the bidder gives. Upon receiving all the submitted 'reasons' to have the item, I the owner of the coffee table will then decide who meets the criteria of suitable candidate to have the table. So while not create more waste to the environment, I get to help others who really need it at the same time. 

That's just such a wonderful idea! People using social media to do good as a community. Too bad, we don't see too many of this type of positive motives on social media nowadays. Every time I turn on Facebook, 9 out of 10 news feed that pop up on my phone are negative. There are more negativities hidden in the comments section. Never mind if you are posting the most delicious lunch that you just had and wished to share with other people, there are bound to be those who would comment how the food taste terrible or there is better one down the road. It's almost like people's minds automatically switch to negative mode when they want to leave comments on social media.

The more extreme case will be like President Donald Trump who constantly stokes hatred among his followers which eventually led to the unfortunate violence at Capital Hill last Wednesday. Most social media giants like Twitter and Facebook have since suspended his accounts.

A knife can be used to both carve out beautiful sculpture and hurt people at the same time. Social media works the same way. We should help stopping negativity from spreading relentlessly by contributing more constructive and helpful content  on the internet.

刚刚午餐后开车回家时，我无意中听到电台播了一段有趣的对话。一位女士正在与主持人分享她如何在社交媒体里创建一个名为“不买任何东西”的小组。我顿时对这小组的名十分有兴趣，所以我就不更改广播频道继续听下去。该女士创建该这小组的目的是为了帮助人们将不需要的物品传递给比较需要它们的人。假设我有一个不再用的咖啡桌但我又不想把它扔掉，我可以将此物品发布到该组中，那时成员们就有机会竞标。投标标准不是金钱，而是投标人需要给出的有创意的理由。收到所有提交的“理由”之后，物主就会决定谁给出的理由是最符合的。这场没有金钱的“买卖”不但不会给环境造成更多伤害，同时还可以帮助其他更需要的人。

这真是个好主意啊！如今在社交媒体里我们看不到太多像这种积极的活动。每次我打开面子书时，手机都会弹出无数负面的新闻。其他人的评论再不必多说了。就算你只是纯粹想分享你刚吃过的美食，还是会有人评论这种食物的味道如何糟糕，或者其他店比它好吃等等。

更极端的情况就像特朗普总统那样，他不断的在社交媒体向他的追随者煽动仇恨，最终导致上周三在美国首都发生的不幸暴力事件。这事件过后大多数社交媒体巨头如推特和面子书都已暂停其帐户。

一把刀既可以雕刻出精美的雕像，也可以同时伤害他人。社交媒体也是一样。我们应该通过在互联网上提供更具建设性和帮助性的内容来阻止消极情绪无止境地传播下去。

Dwayne Johnson - Hardest Worker In The Room

 

On Daily Routines, we profile successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, executives and athletes to explore the routines, schedules, habits and typical day in their life.

Over the past 12 months, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has:

• starred in megahits Hobbs & Shaw and Jumanji: The Next Level
• launched his own tequila brand Teremana
• created new products as part of his partnership with fitness apparel brand Under Armour
• produced, created, hosted and/or starred in a variety of TV projects including HBO’s Ballers and NBC’s Titan Games

During this time he’s travelled the globe multiple times and also spends a generous amount of time engaging with his social media followers — 191 million on Instagram, 14.7 million on Twitter.

But for the busiest actor in Hollywood; all the crazy success, frantic schedules and multitude of projects is anchored by his daily workout routine.

With a typical wake up time of 3.30am, Johnson is one of those rare people who don’t need as much sleep, he usually gets three to five hours per night. “I love putting in that hard work as early as possible to get my day started off on the right foot, mentally and physically,” he told Bodybuilding.

While this sounds an insanely low amount of hours for sleep, Johnson revealed that being awake and having time to himself was more important than sleep.

“The only thing that’s regimented is I have to wake up before the sun gets up, and I have my two hours alone when no one else is up and the house is quiet,” he told Variety in a 2017 profile. “I often sacrifice two hours of sleep just so I can have the quiet two hours that I need before the whole house wakes up, including the animals.”

Having time to himself and his daily workout are the two anchors in his life. “I need the mental time in the beginning, and the next thing is my training time. Those are my two anchors, and once I’m able to anchor myself, I’m able to go to work, and then I get in my pickup truck and drive to set. I’m able to work 10, 12, 14 hours if I know that I’ve centered and anchored my day in the beginning.”

Johnson starts off his day with morning cardio, he’ll jog outside or get on the elliptical cross trainer for 30 to 50 minutes after having his coffee. After that he’ll have his breakfast.

"Diet-wise, I generally eat five meals a day. I’m very prepared and organized, and everything is planned out in advance. It’s all measured depending on what I’m training to achieve. Usually I start off my day with some dead cow and oatmeal for breakfast. The other staples in my diet include chicken, steak fillets, egg whites, oatmeal, broccoli, halibut, rice, asparagus, baked potato, leafy salads, peppers, mushrooms, and onions, and then also some casein protein."

For most of the week, Johnson will stick to his meal plan, eating healthy 5 to 7 times a day, but usually on Sundays, he’ll break off and have his legendary cheat meals which have been well documented on Instagram. Ranging from pancakes and ice cream, burgers and fries to huge plates of sushi and cheesecake with cookies, The Rock recently admitted to Food & Wine’s Executive Wine Editor, Ray Isle, that his cheat meals can hit 5,000 to 6,000 calories.

Following his breakfast, Johnson will get his workout in for the day. It doesn’t matter whether he’s in Shanghai promoting the latest instalment to the Jumanji franchise or at home in Florida, training is a non-negotiable in Johnson’s daily routine. Thanks to his portable “Iron Paradise” — 45,000 pounds of gym equipment that gets assembled at every location by his crew — Johnson is able to get his workout in, no matter where he is in the world.

On his training routine, he told Bodybuilding, “I work out six days a week, and usually in the morning. But depending on my schedule, I may also train in the evening. But I definitely prefer the morning. With the iron, I separate body parts: legs, back, shoulders, chest, biceps, and triceps. I mix up dumbbells, cables, barbells, and machines.”

“My workout is constantly changing and adapting, but for the most part, I do 4 sets of 12 reps with a 60-90-second rest. I don’t play around in the gym. I always aim to be the hardest worker, and I make sure I clang and I bang to the best of my ability.”

An example leg day routine for Johnson, as described by his strength and conditioning coach Dave Rienzi, includes: hip thrusts, leg presses, safety bar squat with chains, and walking lunges. All up, a typical leg day workout takes about 90 minutes, including warms up sets, foam rolling, and mobility work.

“Because he’s an actor and he’s an action star, and his roles are very physical, I can’t structure out programs that are too taxing on his nervous system,” Rienzi told Men’s Health. “If he’s squatting 500, 600 pounds, obviously that’d be very taxing on his nervous system and his adrenals and he wouldn’t be able to perform properly on-screen.”

When asked by Variety about how many days he took off per year, Johnson answered, “to be honest with you, I really don’t have time off,” he admitted. “I have pockets of time, like I had four days off after we wrapped Skyscraper in Vancouver to the time I had to get back for press, but there are no stretches of time.”

Johnson credits his legendary work ethic to being inspired by his dad, Rocky Johnson, who was a Canadian professional wrestler. “Every morning my dad was up at 5 a.m.,” Johnson told Muscle & Fitness. “He’d have his coffee and then hit the gym, regardless of whether he was at home or on the road.”

"Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success."

THE ROCK’S BEST ADVICE FOR SUCCESS | FORTUNE



SOURCE: BALANCE THE GRIND

在每日的行程中，我们介绍成功的领导人，企业家，艺术家，管理人员和运动员，以探讨他们在每一天的行程序，时间表，习惯和生活等等。

在过去的12个月中，Dwayne“ The Rock” Johnson拥有：

·        主演霍比特斯（Hobbs＆Shaw） 和尤曼吉 （  Jumanji）：下一个关卡

·        推出了自己的鸡尾酒品牌Teremana

·        也创造了新产品健身服装品牌Under Armour

·        在HBO的Ballers 和NBC的 Titan Games等电视节目中制作，创作，主持和/或出演