Couplehood

Hmong Update: Relief Effort & Trip

The Thai Alps: A View From The Hmong Village

Fund Raising Bazaar: Great Success!
Eugene's been having some good success with the fund raising, with over S$500 raised to support the Hmong relief effort. He's got more to report at his blog.

Fund Raising Relief Trip
Also, he'll be organizing a fund-raising relief trip to the Hmong from the 17th to 22nd of October, not only to help with the relief items to the Hmong, but also to tour and personally visit to minister to them. There will also be some R&R in Chang Mai. Proceeds from the trip will be directed to support the effort with the Hmong and the orphanage there. See more here.

Technorati Tags: bazaar, hmong, relief, support

How to Deal With Perfectionism - Especially When Stress is Piling On

As I thought about how near we were to the wedding - and having the feeling of panic bobbing about in my skullbox - I found myself reading one of my old articles I wrote for a website a while back. It was one of my first attempts to write on personal improvement - so excuse the lame-o lifehacking jargon - but apparently it was well received.  

I'll just go ahead and share this, not much for writing tonight, and this post is late as it is.

 Beating Perfectionism

The Root
The root of perfectionism lies in passionate insecurity. "It does not matter how much time or how much resources it takes, if I can't get to get it just right, then I will keep adjusting, rectifying, improving, and reworking until it is."

Two Solutions (Just Two?)
The first is from a mantra that's been in the productivity movement for some time. Recently highlighted in David Allen's "Getting Things Done" philosophy, it's about "getting all your ducks in a row". In other words, it's taking time to have a good hard look at your whole life in terms of all you ever need to do in this lifetime. Underlying this very simple mantra may be a key to putting an end to self-destructive perfectionist habits.

Getting your whole life into view is deeper than it looks. It can be a very sobering experience. But if you know there's more to life than getting just one thing done perfectly - and you've got a zillion other important things to do - you're on to a good start.

Getting Perspective
When a person not just the perfectionist keeps perspective on her whole life, she realizes that there are roles and responsibilities more important than getting the mirrors polished to a sparkle, or churning out a perfect paper. If every role and responsibility is kept in context of a complete and content life, it becomes easy to decide which roles and responsibilities deserve more attention and more effort.

Setting Standards
The second of the two solutions is deciding on the standards you want to live your life by, keeping your entire life in view. This is the second step because it is far easier to do once the previous is dutifully done. You must be willing to rationally determine how good something can get, by your own abilities and limitations, and be willing to do this with a friend who cares for you. I found that person can sometimes be a very caring spouse.

Excellence is not Perfectionism
In conclusion, there's nothing wrong with being excellent, but there's a point where it crosses to the point of fanaticism, and that when you know you are a chronic  perfectionist. The solution is not complicated. If you can believe that no one's perfect, you must believe that everything else shouldn't be either.

Technorati Tags: perfectionism, Couplehacks, wedding

Reaching Out to the Hmong

A buddy of mine, Eugene Wee, has started a humanitarian mission to reach out to the Hmong in Petchaboon. He's an ex-SAF Regular who's taking indefinite leave of absence from the Rat Race to reach out the needy in the Thai "Alps".

So Compelling.

 I don't know if I can bear to show any more pictures of them. There are things I won't openly say here for the sake of the protection of some very dear people, but suffice to say, the Hmong are in my heart and prayers.

If you feel compelled to lend a helping hand, let me know, or go directly to Eugene's blog. There's lots of information there, including a way to donate to the effrot. Eugene's thinking of ways to expand the effort, and he's really dreaming big. He's starting with an aim to hit over S$23,000 to provide basic necessities to the Hmong.

You can also support in prayer for these people who have very little time left before they may never see another day again.

Every little bit counts.

Technorati Tags: life

The Tao of Apple

I am one of the teeming millions who are enamored by the iPhone. 

Having played around with a fully functional (i.e. unlocked) one for about 30 seconds last Sunday (thanks Mr. Roy!), I am convinced that the only thing that the iPhone's got over the competition is the unbelievable beauty of looking and using it. The entire experience (yes, all 30 seconds of it) left me very taken with the device.

True, I think the the keyboard takes getting used to, but, like Mr. Mossberg said, it's mostly a non-issue.

As Robert Scoble pointed out, Apple often rises above the red oceans of its competitors by proving that a product can be successful just because it's got a breath-taking, thrilling interface and software - forget about all that hardware and features that just make the device bloaty and clunky. I guess users just want something that looks and works beautifully.

Even Nokia's playing catch up. So much for human technology.

SingNet/SingTel: Why Why Why

 

Stinks.

I really hate to complain, but SingTel has gotten on my nerves, bad. I really wish they were more professional about going about "fixing" my lines. Now, I've got a spaghetti mess of wires all over my living room, 3 phones lines that don't work, an internet connection that drops me every 5 mins, and, to add insult to injury, I've had to tolerate very rude technicians bossing my 55 year-old mum to move 20 kg television sets around.

Someone help me calm down.

 

Bedded to Rest

I'm home again, flat on my back.
I'm just hoping June doesn't happen again.

Technorati Tags: home

Hillarious: Study Finds that Virus May Contribute to Obesity

It's funny when you read about all the studies that come out of from the weight loss movement. It's even funnier that I decided to click on the link, to see if there was any hope to stem the flood of fat to my waistline.

The skinny? Stem cells seems to turn spontaneously to fat cells when exposed to the cold virus. Worse, they appeared to work at storing fat too - double whammy. But in case you were wondering, silly, it still isn't okay to overeat, and blame the cold, or look to anti-viruses for fat loss.

Check out the article at CNN.com here.

A Christian Perspective on Dyslexics

A Dyslexic's Blog

I've been doing quite a bit of research on learning lately, and after bouncing a few ideas off a few people, I'm starting move some of my online writing (aka blogging) to focus on a particular topic close to my heart: Dyslexia.

I've Got It Too

It started back in May when I got myself tested for Dyslexia, and confirmed a long time suspicion that I do actually have Dyslexia, and as a result, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). My parents had a lot of difficulties with me as a child - and, while it was clear that I wasn't stupid, I seemed to have little interest in school work and organized activities.

In spite of that, they dealt with it as a character defect and a personality malfunction - in other words, it was immediately written off as laziness and a poor attitude.

This Ability Isn't A Disability

Sympathies aside, I'm realizing that there are a number of people who are out there who don't know that they have a learning gift - and I do mean it in the most positive sense - and these "gifted" folks are treating it like a disability. Having some insight to my dyslexia, I think seeing learning gifts as "disabilities" is tragic; it ought to be harnessed and developed instead of being hammered and "dealt with".

Your Input?

So, I'm seeking for some of your opinions out there, on what you think about the possibility of starting a new blog just to focus on Dyslexia, and developing it from a Christian perspective. If you have any comments, drop them here.

We'll work on the ideas as we go along.

Technorati Tags: blog, christian, dyslexia, opinion, weblog

Awesome Trick at WIRED

I can't totally be sure if it's brain damage or dyslexia, but my ability to tell east from west is getting worse. So, just in case I need something more complicated in my life to confuse me further, I found a really neat way to find your bearing in the world, no matter where you are. If only I had this when I was doing blind topography back in the Army!

~Adrian.

Gadgets: Will Ebook Readers Ever Catch On?

Or, More Importantly, How Can I Stop Myself From Buying Impulsively?

I love reading and I love gadgets. Nearly naturally, it would be easy to assume that I'm totally excited about the new eBook readers out there. It's quite a device (with a speedy processor and Linux under hood) but I'm still a little tepid about getting one, especially after a few recent purchases and wedding expenses. 

I was just reminded of my itty bitty clie n760, and the days before it was inherited by another gadget-loving person. It was a tidy device to read books off. It was fast, responsive, and a 1000-plus page book took up no larger than 1MB of space on the memory sticks (Oh, those days when every MB was $1).

Since my days with a tablet, I've made a resolution. I won't get another gadget (apart from the laptop given to me) that will result in me:

1. Carrying around a bag to carry the gadget in;
2. Bringing along a charger because it runs out of energy in 2 seconds of using it (ok, exaggerating. I'll accept 8 hours of use as a non-charger-toting device);
3. Covering it in 10 inches of protective covering to protect it from reasonable daily wear & tear;
4. Explaining or justifying it with a sense of guilt;
5. Feeling stupid and impulsive after buying it.

Well, that's that. I've also adopted the week-long "wait-and-see" approach (advocated by my Pastor).

Time to get minimalistic on spending.

~A.