Joshua's Page

Image Source I used to work in a medium-sized universal bank during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. I have witnessed so many times the arrogance of some of the executives in that company. Their orders must be followed at all times. They never listened to the suggestions of their peers and subordinates. For them, they were powerful and all-knowing. Their positions made them self-righteous; they acted and made decisions as if they were gods. A few years later, our bank was sold and merged with a much bigger bank. As a result of the merger, the bank became bigger and the employee population tripled in numbers. New divisions were created and new groups of well-experienced executives joined the company. Those executives who used to be big fishes in a small pond, shrinked quickly in a large ocean. A few months later, they left the company. Pride can sneak into our lives so easily. We need to be reminded not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. It is ...

Image Source Pretentious individuals are most of the time lovable and sociable. In the corporate world, they are e mployees who moved up the corporate ladder not because of their professional abilities but simply because of their pleasant influence to the corporate decision makers.   Honestly, working in a corporate wor ld can be frustrating especially i f the organization you are working w ith is infested with pretentious employees. A s defined in M e rriam-Webster dictionary, pretentious means  making usually unjustified or excessive claims or someone who expresses ex cessive importance, worth or stat ure. In my personal observation , pretentious individuals are those  whose actions are not synchronized with their inner being. They are show-offs or hypocrites. They tend to display brilliance of ability that they really do not possess. They also make imposing parades which are ostentatious. They are people who pretend to be something that they are not....

Original Photo. My dog named George George, my pet dog just turned 10 years old this month. I am grateful to have such lovable and loyal pet. Happy birthday and more years to come! The unrestricted love and companionship of dogs toward their owners have earned them the title “Man’s Best Friend”. Like a best friend, you can count on them every time you are feeling down. Dogs will accept you despite your imperfections and will stay besides you even during your toughest situations. This is because dogs are very companionable animals and they are loyal to their masters.  Aside from companionship, they are also good workers. They can guard your properties and can be a loyal aid for disable individuals. In addition, dogs have a positive influence on our health. According to studies, dog owners show strong resistance to stress, have lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels, and have lower risk of heart diseases.  Below are other interesting facts about dogs: ...

Image Source Forgiving the person that hurt you isn't easy especially if that person is close to you. In my previous post entitled How to Get Over a Betrayal I mentioned that we tend to seek revenge every time somebody we trusted hurt us or betrayed us. Based on my personal experience, the first emotion that we will feel after being hurt is anger and eventually that anger will turn into bitterness and bitterness will turn into hatred and this hatred will eat us alive from the inside out.  Forgiving the people that have caused severe anguish in your life is not easy but forgiving these people is essential in releasing the pain that's been holding you prison and preventing you from enjoying your life's blessings. When we hold on to our anger towards the person who have wronged us, it us who will suffer the most and not the party that we hate. That pain, that bitterness, and that anger will continue to linger inside us unless we release that negative emotions from ou...

Source: Wikipedia I just finished watching the movie "Eye in the Sky" starring Alan Rickman and Helen Mirren. The movie was directed by Gavin Hood and was released last April 1, 2016 (New York and Los Angeles). The movie is about Lieutenant General Frank Benson(Alan Rickman) and Colonel Katherine Powel (Helen Mirren) who are facing political opposition about their mission to take out a group of suicide bombers in Nairobi, Kenya using a drone missile strike. The approval to launch the missile was put into hold due to the presence of a pre-teen girl named Alia who was selling home-made bread within the target zone. The two military officers were forced to launch the strike to contain and kill the suicide bombers. Unfortunately, poor Alia was killed during the process. Before the attack, the movie was able to show the story of Alia. She was an only child of a Nairobian Muslim parent living in poverty. Her father was a bicycle repairman while her mother was in-charge of...

Image Source : Wikipedia Sometimes we also get tired of helping and caring for others especially if we do not get something out of it. I am not saying that we should expect some reward every time we help other people.  Speaking for myself, the art of giving means focusing on the needs of others before considering our own needs. But I don't believe in giving everything and not leaving something for ourselves. In fact, even before we consider giving part of ourselves to others, we must first fulfill our own needs. I find it difficult for someone to feed the hungry if that person is also starving to death. Feed yourself first. How can you help others if you can not even help yourself. My mother used to tell me that giving is a form of sacrifice. According to her, when you give something to others, make sure that what you are giving them (be it a tangible or an intangible matter) is not your extras or something that you can do without. Instead, give something that is valuabl...

Traitor Judas Escariot. Image by Wikipedia Have you ever experienced being betrayed by someone you trust? I hurts right? For some, being betrayed makes them very angry and revenge is their way to get rid of their anger. For some, they just walk away to forget the pain. Each one of us may have took different approaches on how we got over said experiences in some point of our lives. To those of you who got over it successfully without physically hurting others or yourself, congratulations! But for those who are still struggling to forget that person who betrayed them and are still carrying the hatred towards that person in the deep corners of their hearts, I feel for you. I myself still carry some anger towards that person who betrayed me. The wound left by their betrayal was so significant that no amount of forgiveness can erase the pain in my heart and in my mind. Honestly, I do believe in the path of forgiveness, but my inner self is pointing me to the opposite direction which...