Today is a gift.

“Time is more valuable than money.
You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” - Jim Rohn

Someone said, "Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." And yet, many don't really know how to appreciate it until it is gone.

If you don't have a plan for your life, you can't manage your time. Just ask yourself this question: "If all my days are like today, what will be my future?" and ponder over it. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.

Below are more questions for us to realize the value of time...

To realize the value of one year:
- Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of one month:
- Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one day:
- Ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed.
To realize the value of one hour:
- Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute:
- Ask the person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second:
- Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond:
- Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

"Time is equal to life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life." - Alan Lakein

Our time is indeed precious and limited. Plan your life well because lost time is never found again. Let us take all the necessary action now. May we have the wisdom to employ our time wisely.

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Danger of taking out of context

"A Text without a Context is a Pretext."

It is very important to consider text and speech in its context.

There was a story about a depressed man who had never been a student of the Bible decided that he would begin to read the bible.

He opened the Bible at random and began to read the verses his eyes fell upon. The place he happened to read was the twenty seventh chapter of Matthew where the writer tells about Judas who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. When he realized what he had done, he took the money back, and the Scriptures say in Matthew 27:5, “So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”

When the man in our story read that Scripture, he began to feel very bad. He closed the Bible, and the more he thought about this man’s hanging himself, the worse he felt. But he thought, “Maybe if I will read again in the Bible, I will feel better.” He opened the Bible again at random and this time his eyes fell upon Luke 10:37 where Jesus said, “... Go and do likewise.”

Quickly the man in our story closed the Bible and said to himself, “Surely this does not mean for me to do the same as the man who hanged himself.” Now he really felt bad, but he said, “It cannot mean for me to go and do the same.” So he opened the Bible at random again. This time his eyes fell upon 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “... for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

By this time our man was thoroughly confused and troubled by what he had read in the Bible, but he returned once more to the book. This time his eyes fell at random on John 13:27, “... "What you are about to do, do quickly,...”

The above story is a bit far out and is intended only as an illustration that will point out the need to rightly divide the word of God.


Here is another illustration:

The Bible contains the sentence:

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."... - Psalm 14:1

If the context is omitted, this becomes:
There is no God.

Let us make very sure that we listen carefully and read the context of any spoken or written text so as not to misrepresent any speakers or authors. This could spark off misunderstanding. Thus, be very careful with words.

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Do things in the order of importance

“Our choices in life are made according to our sense of our own worth” - Kaylan Pickford

With the Internet, we are all overloaded with pages of information to read, and explore. There is no more lacking in term of Information nowadays. However, we need to sift through and takes in quality information. Only then we can make use of the knowledge comprehended in our daily living.

Don't put the cart before the horse. Learn to do things in the order of importance.

Take a look at the following quotes and see what comes to your mind.

“We must be silent before we can listen.
We must listen before we can learn.
We must learn before we can prepare.
We must prepare before we can serve.
We must serve before we can lead.” - William Arthur Ward

"Change before you have to." - Jack Welch

“Your actions, and your action alone, determines your worth.”- Evelyn Waugh

Before doing anything, always remember to consider whether it is right or wrong. Do consider seriously what's worth living for? Think before you act and go and do something that is worth doing! Things should be done in the order of importance.

Photo by sean dreilinger taken from this source

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Let no one deceive you

It would be nice to think that the Internet was a safe place all the time, but that would be foolishness. Don't simply reply to emails when asked for personal information - especially financial or other sensitive information and got yourself into trouble.

You should always check the source and make sure it's trustworthy. Let's not be another online victim.

Besides, there are many reported cases that PEOPLE LIE ONLINE. There is a lot of gender-switching in Cyberspace. Why? Well, could it be because many can hide behind the safety of their computer screens thinking that they can draw more attention to themselves?

Below are good quotes that can make one wise.

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." - Buddha

"True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like leaves, found everywhere."

Do you feel a bit uneasy visiting blogs or sites that don't have the author name or photos?

Photo by XŤЯΣΛМ i taken from this source

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How To Work Better

“Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used” - Dr. Carl Sagan

Remember to put in extra effort and work smart. There is no point of telling your boss how hard you work. Tell your boss how much you get done.

Let's take a look at this story that illustrate this point:

Chuan and Jing joined a wholesale company together just after graduation. Both worked very hard.

After several years, the boss promoted Jing to sales executive but Chuan remained a sales rep. One day Chuan could not take it anymore, tender resignation to the boss and complained the boss did not value hard working staff, but only promoted those who flattered him.

The boss knew that Chuan worked very hard for the years, but in order to help Chuan realise the difference between him and Jing, the boss asked Chuan to do the following. Go and find out anyone selling water melon in the market? Chuan returned and said yes. The boss asked how much per kg?

Chuan went back to the market to ask and returned to inform boss $12/kg. Boss told Chuan, I will ask Jing the same question? Jing went, returned and said, "Boss, only one person selling water melon. $12/kg, $100 for 10kg, he has inventory of 340 melons. On the table 58melons, every melon weighs about 15 kg, bought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality.

Chuan was very impressed and realised the difference between himself and Jing. He decided not to resign but to learn from Jing.

The moral of the story:

A more successful person is more observant, think more and understand in depth. For the same matter, a more successful person sees several years ahead, while you see only tomorrow. The difference between a year and a day is 365 times, how could you win? Think! How far have you seen ahead in your life? How thoughtful in depth are you?

“Today, and every day, deliver more than you are getting paid to do. The victory of success will be half won when you learn the secret of putting out more than is expected in all that you do. Make yourself so valuable in your work that eventually you will become indispensable. Exercise your privilege to go the extra mile, and enjoy all the rewards you receive. You deserve them!” - Og Mandino


"Men who do things without being told draw the most wages" - Edwin H. Stuart


Be always willing to give that extra effort! You can choose to look forward to the day, or choose to complain. It's your choice!

(Source of this story: Internet; Author Unknown)

Photo 1 by kentbrew taken from this source
Photo 2 by juliebee taken from this source

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How to Acquire Wisdom?

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it” - Albert Einstein

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter.” - Confucius

“The key to wisdom is knowing all the right questions.” - John A. Simone, Sr.

"To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe." - Marilyn vos Savant

“A man only becomes wise when he begins to calculate the approximate depth of his ignorance.” - Gian Carlo Menotti

“The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are” - C.S. Lewis

"Understanding is the foundation of wisdom and wisdom is acquired from experiences and lessons understood. A primary way to acquire wisdom is to seek the company of those who have it!."

Each day is a new beginning and another opportunity for learning, growth and increased wisdom for you and me.

Photo by »°WingMan°« taken from this source

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Be a gentleman - Speak Softly, Don't Argue!

"After a heated argument on some trivial matter Nancy [Astor] shouted, If I were your wife I would put poison in your coffee! Whereupon Winston [Churchill] answered, And if I were your husband I would drink it." - John Fellows Akers

“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance” - Robert Quillen

“To argue with a man who has renounced his reason is like giving medicine to the dead” - Robert Green Ingersoll

"It isn't smart to argue with a fool; listeners can't tell which is which."

"When you argue with your inferiors, you convince them of only one thing: they are as clever as you." - Irving Layton

When an argument flares up, the wise man quenches it with silence. It takes two to quarrel, but only one to end it. When two men quarrel, he who is first silent, is the greater gentleman.

"Agreements get better results than arguments."

"War will cease when men refuse to fight." - F. Hansen

Photo by nouQraz taken from this source

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Quickly learn all you can from others

Who is the wise man?. To succeed early in life, choose the quickest way: Learn all you can from others. We can't learn enough soon enough from our own experience to succeed when young.

Do you know that you learn when you teach? Ensure you have perfected your own effective learning skills. Follow no one but learn from everyone.

The winner does in the beginning what the failure does not in the end - learns from others.

"Learn all you can from others. The school of experience takes so long that the graduates are too old to go to work." - Henry Ford

Photo by T. Lot taken from this source

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Don't repeat the same mistake - Be wise

All men make mistakes; only the fools repeat them.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” - George Santayana

When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

"Iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat instead of progress." - George Eliot

"Tomorrow, you promise yourself, will be different, yet, tomorrow is too often a REPETITION of today." - James T. Mccay

Photo by assbach taken from this source

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How smart are you?

To outperform someone else - even if that person is "smarter" than you - is to increase your own Mental Performance Ratio - the percentage of your total mental capacity that you are putting to use.

"A man can learn only two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people." - Will Rogers

"Smart men put up with small annoyances, to gain larger rewards later."

Worker smarter, not just harder!

"The harder and smarter we work, the luckier we get - and the more we live."

"It's never smart to act better or wiser than those around us."

"A mark of a smart employer: he hires men smarter than himself."

"I make progress by having people around me who are smarter than I am and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am." - Henry J. Kaiser

"Heed woman. They're smarter than men. They know less, but understand more." - Anonymous

What do you think?

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Speak Wisely

You are judged by the way you speak.

First think, and then speak. Once you open your mouth and start talking, your customer starts dissecting you!

Train your salesmen to talk to the customers in the customers' language. With annoyed customers, the policy of "I will try" has done wonders.

Photo by markhillary taken from this source

Quality Wins

Wise men know not many things, but useful things. You don't need to know many things to succeed, and get rich, if you know the few things that are important.

Keen observation is a quality of all men wise. The ultimate sin of the mind is the failure to pay attention. Wise men always observe aspects others miss.

"Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - Booker T. Washington

Photo by catina jane arts taken from this source

Angry? - Calm down to remain wise

Indeed, it is never easy to calm down at time. However, we mustn't forget "Anger is only one letter, and one second, away from Danger". There are people who knows your weakness would like to make you angry in front of a crowd. Thus, always bear in mind that "He who anger you, conquers you."

When the wise get angry, they lose their wisdom. We must never answer an angry word with an angry word. It's always the second remark that starts the trouble.

The best cure for anger is delay. There's plenty of time. While delaying, think of the consequences. They're always worse than the cause.

Photo by Michael Sarver taken from this source