This a poem that I wrote while in Lake Tahoe in June 2007. Nature gets me thinking.
Candlelit
By Stanley Quan
When you’re in the dark,
Shrouded by your own shadow,
Looking into seemingly endless black,
You’ll always catch a glimpse of light,
Candles to guide you back to your path,
Illuminating the hidden truth,
Your enduring glimmers of hope.
Friends glow in your success,
And melt in your disappointment.
Keep your candles burning brightly,
And you have nothing to worry about.
You will never be in the dark.
It’s always hard for me to decide whether to sleep for an extra hour or to stay awake and do something for an extra hour.
I don’t want to sleep my life away, but I guess a certain amount is necessary to re-energize. I hate going to sleep at night and waking up in the afternoon because it feels like the day is already gone. A valuable day down the drain. It’s weird, but I feel as if I’m depriving myself of living life.
Naps are always great, but they tend to happen at times when I have to get work done…
I’d like for you to weigh in. What do you think is an optimal amount of sleep? Do you face the same dilemma of getting asleep versus being awake?
If you’ve had a bad start to the week on Monday, be sure to come to this blog. From now on, every Tuesday, I will bring you an inspirational story.
Tucker Haas was diagnosed with a rare and dangerous cancer (soft-tissue carcinoma) when he was just two years old. Now nine and cancer-free for almost three years, he performed the song Boom Boom Pow at Penn State’s recent THON charity event, which raises money to help fight childhood cancer.
It looks like he’s a little nervous at the beginning, but as the song goes along, you can really see him enjoying himself. That’s when you see him raise his hands to get the crowd loud and at one moment, let out the biggest smile. He seems to be having the time of his life and it really does show.
Have you ever had to make a tough decision and tensed up in the moment.
When faced with two similarly beneficial or harmful options, sometimes I just freeze.
I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to not always know exactly what you want. I think it’s good actually. It means that you’re not comfortable and don’t know everything that lies ahead. Without uncertainty, life wouldn’t be very exciting.
You’ll figure it out as you go along. I mean, that’s what life’s all about, right? New experiences, new learnings, and new choices.
Decisions, decisions...
If you’ve ever visited UC Berkeley and walked through Sproul Plaza on a weekday afternoon, you probably passed by lots of people trying to hand you a flyer.
There are usually so many students flyering on Sproul that it desensitizes everyone. The whole point of flyering is to publicize an event or meeting that your organization is hosting. I think flyering is a very ineffective way to get the word out, due to its extreme impersonality and passiveness.
I’ve flyered many times for my organizations and I have definitely gotten more than my fair share of “No, thanks” replies and disinterested looks. Many times, I’ve even been completely ignored by passersby. It’s pretty discouraging to be rejected again and again.
Flyering on Sproul Plaza
But through experience, I think there are little things that you can do to get people to notice you and your flyer.
First of all, use a catchy message that will instantly grab someone’s attention. If you can get your message into their head and get them to think a little bit, you’re already halfway there.
Secondly, make it personal. Instead of yelling out your message and trying to pass out flyers to a mass of students walking by, get one person’s sole attention and make them feel like they’ve been selectively chosen to receive your flyer. If you invest that time in that one person, they just might want to reciprocate.
Lastly, just smile. It makes you human. You are no longer just another automated flyering machine, but a genuine person. And smiles are contagious. If they see that you’re flyering for an organization that makes you happy, you’ll make them think, “Hmm, maybe I’ll become happy from going to this organization’s event as well”. After all, who can reject happiness?
:)