Another Ever Spinning Wheel

 

Round and round on an ever spinning wheel?

A long weekend in Australia can mean different things to different people.  It can be an opportunity to do something away from routine. It can also be an option to enjoy a cooler or warmer clime.  Hobbyists prefer to utilise the freed up time to further indulge in their passions. Leaders of organisations can use the occasion to framework new ideas, strategies or paths.  Small businesses may take a break or get more busy.

Catching up, taking a sabbatical or getting in touch more with our inner selves.  The shorter daylight hours in the southern Hemisphere can mean spending more time by an outdoor fire. Eating out can be combined with dressing up.  We tend to somehow let go of being too aware of time or schedules - and heal our selves with not being tied too much to the clock.

Social restrictions are but a memory from the Covid tainted years of 2020 and 2021.  However, the value of any personality, who enjoys downtime, with crowds, someone else or just in her or his own company, 
cannot be underestimated.  Variety in this respect is truly the spice of life.

Taking a conscious break from gaslighting politics, overwhelming media and dished out distractions can be heaven sent.  To read or digest something meaningful, or to discover an unplanned delight, rewards each of us with unexpected positive vibes. 

What is it they say about not over planning, whether they are functions, trips or getting away from boredom?  The beauty is to enjoy the journey as well, not just the destination.

Having a relaxed embracing attitude of come what may adds to riding on more joy than being preoccupied with obstacles. Let the winds blow away.  When we let go of expectations, we allow other types of happiness to come in.
No lettuce, no tablets, no problem. 

We listen to our choice of music.  We choose to alllow more music, in all sense of the phrase, come into our personal lives, on that ever spinning wheel.

#yongkevthoughts

On an ever Spinning Wheel

 

Round and round on an ever spinning wheel?

On the eve of a long weekend, traffic sprawls and airport queues occur.  Double or triple demerits are imposed on vehicle drivers.  Bowser petrol prices spike. No one in authority can do anything about it.

Trees seasonaly lose their leaves when they are deciduous.
Flora slow down in growth as the Earth embraces longer hours of night.  Yet the winds blow and temperatures plummet off whack in timing - but they are all part and parcel of the power of Nature.

What is on offer as food continue to be more processed and artificialised.   Produce not so tainted with chemicals, hormones and additives are harder to source.   Fresh produce are increasingly made available in predetermined sizes and shapes.  Nutrients as body and health friendly are deemphasised in the rush for convenience and commercial profits.

Society is portrayed by media as divisive, aggressive and negatively competitive. Compliance and regulation can be out runned by powerful connections and funding.
Hidden brokers and forces overly influence our authorities.  There is more talk than action, more noise than results.

Each of us are subject to more addiction, delusion and distraction.  We are collectively more dependent on a growing global grid of what is incalculated to us as our needs.  We are rarely offered a pause and opportunity to reflect on whether we really require what we are constantly shaped to need and want.

Labels, titles and names continue to be misleading.   More access to information and data does not translate to better use of them.  Are more people more fallible to transitionary and temporal things?  Or are more people losing faith and trust in what we are asked to do and believe?

Evolution and transformation can oddly at times reinforce rhe same, or bring us in a round circle varying between the new and the old.  Conflict can make us personally grow better, but do politics, nations and social cultures really change?

Do we trust our professions as much when strong signs emerge that they can be pressured or bought?  Are some occupations just out to limit privilege and power?  Do we feel more optimistic or not about the advent of new technology, same old geopolitics and the stranglehold of belief?

Is it better that we have more contactless transactions, instantaneous gratification and widespread communication?  What are the implications of a throw away society that devalues repairs and heritage?

Specific nations can be stuck with their own peculiar obsessions.  These get reinforced in seemingly logical ways but not to outside observers.   Whether they are arms ownership and misuse, religious justification, historical tradition, economic prowess, political distractions or survival strategies, such obsessions serve a covert or overt purpose in its modus operandi.

So willingly, unknowingly or being forced, each of us are participants in various aspects of this spinning wheel.

#yongkevthoughts

Awareness

 

Does the wind blow?
Do we get hungry?
Do we use what Nature provides?
Do we need to rest and sleep?
We all do.

Does power corrupt? Only for those seduced by excess.
Do we get addicted? 
Only when we cannot let go.
Do we get distracted?
Only when we cannot see behind the manipulation.
Do we waste our time?
Only when we are not in touch with ourselves and those who love us.

Do step back.
The present is the only moment.
Our body and mind is our own responsibility and joy.
Do some things matter over the long run?

Do step up.
Enjoy our personal journey and thrive in our own challenges.
Surprise someone in a positive and unexpected way.
What you give will come back to you.
Rejoice in shared values and retract from divisiveness.
Go with the flow for change is the energy we can ride on.

Some things are just are, with no judgement required.
Some things will be, but you have to work on them.
Some things were, but you decide what makes you strong.
Some things are just in our mind and what we allow them to be.
Observe such things with a new awareness.

#yongkevthoughts

Thoughts on Singapore - On the Cusp of the Future

 

Every society has its
downs and ups. Do we recognise, sharpen and utilise our inherent advantages - and do we counter our disadvantages?

Size of territory, the lack of available natural resources and geopolitical risks can be set off by strategic planning and implementation, quality education for the public, technological value add and having an embedded practical vision for a nation.

Governance can be betrayed by divisive politics, short term manipulation, obsessive diversions, pervasive corruption and undue foreign influence.

Does your goverment cloud you with petty issues, falling standards, band aid solutions and lack of initiative?

Singapore is not just economically rich, but has societal attitudes borne out of its unavoidable deficiencies.
It has developed as a beacon of refuge from instability and as a captivator of talent ignored or under appreciated in other places. 

Singapore does walk on a tightrope between competing interests.  Its colonial heritage, future socio-political development and dependence on an open market are all two edged swords of opportunity and crisis.

Taxes can be low but costs of car ownership and properties prohibitively high.  Spatial freedom can be a challenge for visitors with loads of open space and lower populations from nations with too much land.   Singapore is a world critical transport hub by air and shipping, due partly to its location.
Will it be caught up in a war not of its making but due to its geographical and trading eminence?

#yongkevthoughts

Corruption and Manipulation

 

Ethical standards and practice have significantly fallen around
the world.

The levee against corruption, rorting and monies stolen from the public in many sectors have collapsed.

Is it the system?  Is it the manipulation of the system?
Is it that third parties do not call it out when breaches occur?

Is it because I observe, but do not say anything and do nothing more?

Does it go deeper into the mindsets, of those individuals in and with the power, getting more greedy?

Is it because the common person like me is easily fooled?

Is it because I am part of the corrupt system, willing to pick up peanuts strewn on the ground by individuals who rake in millions in cash?

The manipulation by the corrupt few will only grow, if nothing further is done more effectively, apart from reporting after the fact, discussing and talking.....as the said levee continues to go under.

#yongkevthoughts