Who moved my cheese?

5 years ago, when I first step foot into this company I am working in, I was an innocent, young and vibrant employee, very eager to learn and experience my very first job.

I still remembered, on the very first day I got into my department, there's not enough cubicles left at the area where a majority of my peers were seated. The next thing I knew, I probably fitted the bill as a weirdo thus I was immediately ushered to a reserved cubicle at a different section .I felt as If I was "marooned" there,as my seating area was pretty much isolated from everyone else. The place that I was seated consisted of a bunch of colorful personalities. There was this manager who unfortunately was infected with a stroke a few years back, an expatriate , a Chinese from the States who were based in Penang for a long term assignment, a cheerful Quality Engineer, who in the end migrated to the States after she hooked up with ironically a US ex-colleague of mine. Another guy who was a technician but treated like an engineer, a brilliant but kiasu talent sat just right beside me. There's a couple more quiet and timid but dilligent mechanical engineers too. On the first three days of my life, my life was miserable. I don't have an assigned tasks and worst still I don't even have a PC. Mine you, at that time, we were only allocated with a PC, not new one,ok.. My dinosaur PC was faulty, so it was sent for repair. As I was seated far away from everybody else, I was deprived of even to have some short conversation with my colleagues.

Imagine having to put up with doing nothing for 8 hours a day without a PC during work!
I was practically BORED to death. So I walked down to the Learning Center, which luckily was just a few steps away from where I was seating.

When I saw a rack filled with books, my eyes lit up. At least, I could grab something to read, I thought.As I scoured around, this very book caught my eyes. Interesting, yet appropriate for readings at work as it was applicable to work. So I grabbed it immediately and loaned it for the next few days.

The selection: Who moved my cheese?
The book is really interesting as it creates an analogy/parody to explain situation that may happen to us at work or anywhere or anytime in our life. Just a super short and crude summary. The main storyline focuses on two mice, Sniff and Scurry and two lil' human, Hem and Haw both living in a maze. Their existence is defined by how much cheese they have. They simply love cheese. Their drive is to constantly look for cheese station, the very station with an abundance of cheese supply. The difference in the characters of the storyline relates to their behaviour/attitude towards cheese.

Sniff and Scurry is always on the lookout for other cheese station despite having an abundance in their current station. They knew that supply will one day dwindle. Hem and Haw on the other hand took things for granted, not being aware of the dwindling cheese supply in their station. Once they found the "perfect" Cheese Station , at least it was perfect in their eyes, the will settle there and decided to live at the station for good. They believe that things will be as such forever. They believe that things are as good as it is and the station with such a cheese abundance is a rare find. All they wanted is this, and the felt blessed and lucky to be in such a great station.

Years gone by, and Hem and Haw was enjoying themselves so much that they are not aware of the dwindling suppy of cheese in their station. As such when the cheese supply was running out, they cursed, ranted and blamed each other on the lack of supply and even blamed each other for stealing the cheese. Obviously,their relationship turned sour. None of them could accept the situation that they are in. In fact they're doing nothing about it. All they did is to complain and blame.

In the end, out of sheer desperation, Haw with all his almighty guts, took his first step out of the maze. Hem on the other hand decided to stay put fearing on what he might encounter outside the maze. He prefers to stay on the current cheese station despite the dwindling cheese supply. As Haw ventured out, he was surprised to see that there are indeed some cheese supply here and there in bits and pieces. Not many but more than enough to survive.

Along the way, he also scribbled on the maze wall on the direction and pointers , hoping that Hem would follow his way one day. With some cheese collected, Haw returned to Hem and brought him some new cheese he found in the maze. He wanted to invite Hem to venture into the unknown with him when he gets back. To his surprise, Hem declined the offer and worst still, he refused to try the new cheese! Haw, feeling dejected, yet again ventured out of the maze, this time with more confidence from the experiences he gained previously.

This time, he is venturing further deeper downthe maze. Again, he left his scrawlings all over the maze wall as a guide to Hem. Feeling lethargic due to the long journey and sometimes lack of cheese along the way, Haw was on the brink of giving up when he stumbled upon a new cheese station. This time, the station has an even more abundance of cheese than their previous station! He was simply delighted. Haw stayed at the new station for awhile but learning from his previous experiences, this time around, he is not going to rest on his laurels. He is always alert and constantly on the lookout for new station.

In Haw's heart, he is still pinning for his good buddy,Hem. He hopes Hem will follow his path thus he never stop putting his pointers on the maze wall. On the largest wall in his Cheese station, he wrote this to Hem:

Change Happens
They Keep Moving The Cheese
Anticipate Change
Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
Monitor Change
Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
Adapt To Change Quickly
The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
Change
Move With The Cheese
Enjoy Change!
Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again & Again
They Keep Moving The Cheese.

One day, he heard some movements in the maze apparently approaching his station. In his mind, Haw was hoping that it is Hem who has found his way here!

So what is the Moral of the story?

1. That change is inevitable in every scenario.
2. Do not take for granted on all the things we have now.
3. Always on the lookout for alternatives or new opportunity.

Why am I writing this?
Well, it seems that my cheese has been moved lately.
And the fact that this story has ingrained in my mind for a long time to come, and I'm amazed at how true and applicable it is to our daily life ...Please do take some time to ponder on this.

And quoting one of my friend's principle in life which is so appropriate as a curtain closer for my entry today:

"The Only Constant is Change"
..
Always bear this in mind.. :)

Have a good day!

A lazy afternoon at work

It's working time now, and I have not been "working" since this morning.
Gosh...the saying "It's easier said than done' has never been so true. I have constantly
reminded myself that things will get better if I have faith in it. Yes, I know I should persevere and every ups will be met with downs before going up again. This vicious cycle will never end but the down cycle seems harder than I thought. Bad news is a norm at times like these and the seed you sow will have slow or retarded growth regardless of how much water or sunshine you gave.
When is this going to end? Should I see this as a blessing in disguise? Where's the "blessing"? I need to find it!!

Enough of complains, I am striving to overturn the curse of me being branded a NATO (No, Action Talk Only).
I have my plans set and I have my will, I will weather the storm. More patience and Zen, that's what I really need now.
Right, back to work now...Focus..focuss....Hocus...Pocus...Puffffff...

When enough is really enough ...

At the time I'm writing this, I've already being home for at least a week.
This one week is nothing but pure bliss to me. I didn't think taking holidays is all that important until this time. Well, yeah of course you'll be "home" everyday, you may argue.
But what I'm trying to say is this.

Just imagine that ...

1. I don't have to wake up at 8 am in the morning, get dressed, and drives groggily to work.
2. I don't have to worry about tasks that needs to be completed.
3. I don't fret about unfinished tasks or projects.
4. I don't have to face the music for tasks not done properly (or think of excuses to save my a**).
5. I don't have to have close encounters with the great"taichi master" that I may loathe or meet people that are a fickle and hypocrites.
6. I don't have to feel frustrated for a good job done with lack of recognition.
7. I don't have to feel depressed when bad news or announcement looms or became a reality.
8. I don't have to read emails and respond to them.
9. I don't have to worry about lunch time and what to eat.
10. And finally, I don't have to spend my 12 hours on it.

All the points aforementioned pretty sums up to the dreaded four-letter-word of W-O-R-K.
And by the tone of the writing, you'll notice that it is very discouraging and filled with negativity.

Let's take a step back and trace how all this happened...

You seee...For the past 6 months, I have not have any proper rest as I have been slogging and slogging like no tomorrow at work trying to get my tasks done. And I may have thought that I'm a superwoman of some kind, and I'm doing this without any break. Zero. No break at all until ....well the Chinese New Year, but guess what? I' was STILL WORKING and supporting my counterpart on Chinese New Year as well. So that doesn't count as a proper holiday as well.

And being so overwhelmed with work plus all the stress, frustration and sometimes tense situation has got the better of me and so I've turned into a grouchy tiger waiting to pounce and chomp someone's head off at any moment. I was a live ticking time bomb about to explode.This definitely triggers the chain of event that follows:

Needless to say, I need to mention that I'm easily irritated by things or scenario that changes all the time. No firm answer, that's it. I hate it!
I wonder why is it so hard for someone to make a decision and be firm about it.
A "confirmation" is liken to a "maybe". And someone's "yes" is actually a "no" and vice versa.

Just imagine this (I know its not the greatest example..but...who cares).

Scenario:
You felt the urge to pee. And you walk to the toilet and there in front of you lies the urinal.

1. Do you actually think before you pee? Should you pee or not?
2. Do you change your mind then decided not to pee?

Come on, for most people , the answer would be NO and you'll just pee.,right?..but for some strange reasons, there are people that turned back and walk away. But why???
Why can't you just stick with the damn decision??

Also, why do some people will not admit any mistakes despite being starkly WRONG?
Does uttering the word "SORRY" takes so much effort?

And and, can you just do whatever you like, selfishly without thinking of how other's might feel?
Like changing a certain stuff/processes to suit you needs and then causing grief to the so rightful owner of the stuff/processes you've changed? Gosh..please have some common sense. The least you can do is just ASK.

All these peculiar events could not have happened at a better time. And that's how they drove me up the wall. So on a very fine day, all hell broke lose and that's when I showed my stripes (a.ka harimau menunjukkan belang). Crouching tiger have at long last appear from her hidings in the bush, ready to unleash her mighty power. I wasn't happy to be frank and that's when I snapped and cursed and throw hurtful remarks. Nothing could stop me.

When that happened, this is it...I know it's time that I needed a break. A long break. A long hiatus.AWAY from WORK....that's it.


So here I am now, writing this blog on my favourite spot on my comfy couch sipping my favourite milk tea.

As the saying goes "Every cloud has a silver lining" and this has never been so true to me.
I felt that I have lost control of my life and now it's time for redemption. Not that I've done anything wrong, but with the time that I have now, I'll redefine my goals and this time ensure that my work life should revolve around me, and not the other way round! I need to set my priorities right, and work will never be the first priority again.

Quoting what Suze Orman always preach, "People first, then money, then things".
I'll live by this rule now.

Don't worry, once I'm fully recharged, I'm back not with a vengeance, but the same ol' tamed ellwye (imagine puss-in boots in Shrek.. lol ;)) taking charge of her life and beyond!

Have a good day. :)