Tag: #compassion

Embrace and celebrate our imperfect self to become our masterpiece

In our current world, we strive for perfection. And it is getting easier than ever to achieve the perfect image – through filters and AI. In our social media, we show our best photos. In our social settings, we display our best appearances. Behind all these virtual and physical masks, we hide our imperfections. Surely, I am guilty of it!

I like the Japanese art called Kintsugi – the art of repairing broken objects, often ceramic pottery or glass, with gold lacquer. For me, what is so amazing is that the repaired pottery is even more beautiful that the original, as the golden lacquer brings out the beauty of the broken pieces. It is not ruined, as the broken pieces have been weaved into a new masterpiece.

That is also true of us – when we take our broken pieces and weave lovingkindness for healing, to become a new person – using the lessons we have learnt from our failures – to make us stronger and more compassionate. Our failures teach and guide us, reveal insights about ourselves and sometimes, force us to face the painful truths within us. We become healed from our brokenness and become “real” – to experiencing LIFE with its joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, achievement and frustration, freedom and oppression. The depth of sorrow brings new height to our joy. The long agony of frustration makes us value our hard-earned achievements and successes. Our failures make us who we are today. We celebrate our imperfections as they made us into our own masterpiece.

We don’t need to hide our imperfections, especially not from ourselves. To recognise the beauty of our imperfection – is how we can see our self-worth – to be confident of who we are and appreciate how far we have come in our journey of life.

No masks. No filters. No AI.

Just as we are.

Absolutely Beautiful.

Perfectly Imperfect.

Just as how God made us.

Are you connecting to your core values?

Connect to Core Values
Connect to Core Values

In the book Bittersweet by Susan Cain, she talked about accepting the bitter and losses in our lives, and how it can lead us to connect to our values and subsequently acting on those values.

I reflected upon it and listed the core values I believe is important to me at this season of my life:

  1. Courage – courage to do what God has called me to do, to trust in God’s plan for my life, and to be led by the power of the Holy Spirit
  2. Compassion – to reach out to others and inspire them to dream boldly, and more importantly, to have compassion on myself – to be kind and gentle to the little girl in me
  3. Creativity – to use my talents in bold unique ways to give glory to God – dare to dream big, be bold, go wild, run free, dance like no one is watching, and have lots of fun!
  4. Gratitude – to give thanks for the countless blessings in my life, including the trials that strengthen my character and driven me to be who I am today

I realise that I need to align my values with what I am doing in my life. That whatever project or work I embark on, it needs to align with my core values. And these values must be outward seeking, that is, it is to serve others and to give glory to God.

As we start the new year of 2024, I invite you to connect to your values and seek to live in alignment with your core values.

May this year 2024 be a wonderful year for you!

Bittersweet Year of 2023

I was totally struck by the interview between Mindvalley’s Vishen Lakhiani and author Susan Cain. She has a new book called, “Bittersweet – How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole”. I was so intrigue that I quickly got this book and read it. Her previous book, “Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking” is the de-facto book for introverts.

Her book helped me to accept pain and sorrow in my life. It is healthy to recognise the emotions of pain and sorrow as part of life – that there is no escape. Her book gave me so much hope in that it encourages me to acknowledge and accept the bitterness of life, and transforming it into creativity, transcendence and love. It is after experiencing bitterness that we treasure the sweetness of joy even more. And it had given me inspiration to transform my biggest trials this year into exploration, discovery, adventure and renewed confidence. Basically, it was God’s way of pushing me out of my comfort zone into the next level of who I can become.

In her book, Susan Cain wrote the real reason for our emotions is to connect us. And Sadness, of all the emotions, was the ultimate bonding agent. We can see this in the movie, “Inside Out”. We can see it in funerals, death and grieving.

Sadness triggers compassion. It brings people together.

It is humbling to go through sadness and sorrow. But when we go through these emotions, they can bring us closer to other people through our compassion, if we allow them. It helps us sieve through our overwhelming noise and distraction, and connect us to what matters most. And this can lead us to take committed action to transform the bitter to the sweet. Let the bitter lessons of life bring renewed hope and joy, gratitude and compassion, to people around us.