Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Vacation for 3.5 €

Since I am in Germany I decided to go swimming every Saturday. It takes me 15 minutes to drive to the public swimming pool. I usually swim in the in-door pool for 30 minutes, non-stop. Then I go to the out-door area for one hour, enjoying the sun shine und the whirlpool. It gives me a feeling of vacation and the cost is only 3.5 €.

Changing life is as easy as like that, if you are open minded. A single shift of mind, a small decision, a phone call, a google search, a conversation with a smart person, who has different life focus than you, can fundamentally renew your habits, revolutionize your life style and change the people you interact regularly.

Other small things I am doing is practice guitar daily (still looking for a guitar teacher nearby) and I also registered for Salsa course (still missing partner) and probably Hip Hop some time later (right now there are only couses for teens, I was not sure if I should join them :-) . Enjoying life is some thing I learnt from a good friend in Shanghai. I really appreciate to meet that friend.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Never Give Up Your Dreams

Dreamers sometimes feel dissatisfaction with their reality. Lets suppose you have high ambitions to become financially independent, to find a perfectly fitting partner or to earn you life with work you absolutely love. And all of sudden you lost your job. The gap of your dreams and your realities are becoming bigger that sometimes you may consider giving up the dreams. Don’t do it and here is the reason.

When you give up your dreams, you give up your hope. When you give up your hope, you do not take any action. When you do not take any action, your chance to change your life is almost zero. In contract, when you do hold your dreams, you see the hope. When you see the hope, you take the actions. When you take the actions, your have the chance of improve your life. And you attract all the resources, energy and information you need to realize your dreams.

The potential of a person can not be measured by his smartness, knowledge and money, but by how big his dream is and how long he can hold his dream. People who have dreams can not fail. They only can die. Because any setbacks and any unfavourable circumstances will make them stronger and more confident that they will eventually realize their dreams.

Dreams are born in your heart and they will only die there.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Back to Germany

On 31 July I was informed that my expatriate contract in Shanghai would not be extended. I moved immediately to a service apartment for a month and then moved back to Germany finally, while my second daughter still needed to stay and to finish the high school in Shanghai. There are lot of moving, packing, un-packing, finding apartments, finding a job back to Germany. But we made it. The transition phase is now ended, fortunately. Good news is that our cat survived all the stress and settled down again in the new apartment in Shanghai with my second daughter and my wife.

While I am now in Germany, I really appreciate the life here. Compare to Shanghai Germany is clean, quiet and peaceful. People are more reliable, predictable and polite. No one would take your right in the public traffic away. I also registered my car within only 20 minutes almost without waiting time. There is no need to rush, at all. No internet censure. You can sit nicely in your garden under the sun, drinking your bear, talk about any topic you like, without thinking about your work, your internal and external competition, your boss, your colleagues, your expatriate contract extension.

During the transition period, I focused on two things daily: practising guitar and jogging. Those two activities kept my soul and body fit and centred. I also visualised my long term goals regularly, that way every thing I experienced became a special meaning. Or I assigned unconsciously a special meaning to every thing I experienced. And I learned that my family really care me. They are my core team.

Life is full of surprises. Life is full of challenges. I believe that challenges are sent to people who can handle them in order to grow spiritually. This is the positive intention of any difficult event.