Darrel Lendon

  I’ve almost familiarized myself with every motivational quote available on the internet, thanks to social media. There are all sorts of advice floating around and sometimes, it’s very tricky when choosing which one to abide by. Anyhow, we are all entitled under Section 46 to express ourselves freely.   To be honest, I would say that 98% of these quotes and advice floating around are like ‘band-aid’ guidelines: they will literally wear off in the next 2 hours, especially in a digitally driven world where there is a lack of conviction online. Nevertheless, all the advice out here are for a worthy cause, which is to motivate us, and it could also be worthwhile to join the crusade. But in my view, I would rather suggest that reading a lot of self-help books can service you to get to the root of the ‘advice.’ One of my recommendations is Stephen R. Covey’s ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.’ If you are traveling up that way, this book can help improve your mileage on the r...

Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thíc Quang Duc sits perfectly still amidst being engulfed in flames over the protest of the Viet government's religious oppression in Saigon, 1963. This act is called self-immolation; the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself on fire and burning to death. It is typically used for political or religious reasons, often a form of non-violent protest or in acts of martyrdom. It has a centuries-long recognition as the most extreme form of protest possible by humankind. (Wikipedia). "As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him," says Photographer Malcolm Browne, who captured the scene in Saigon.  At first, I thought 'wow.' Then it dawned on me; this monk is an actual human being with 2 eyes, 4 limbs, and 206 bones just like me. This begged the question: how did he not move a single muscle to communicate the pain? Like how? It's unimagin...

There was a remote cabin, tucked away like a secret near the foot of a mountain. You know, like the ones near a river; where you have smoke poppin’ from the chimney, and it’s raining outside while the cat slowly paces up and down the fireplace casting shadows around the room - you get the picture.        There’s our friend, comfortably nestled in the sofa nearly facing the fireplace. He has his head buried deep in some Clive Cussler novel about a lost Buddha or something. I don’t know, he’s just read past page 25. He is lost in his fictional world; one leg over the other, and one hand supporting his chin in a classical reading pose.        And in front of him is some old furniture matching a coffee table, and on it - his favorite white mug. It had been 10 pages ago since he last picked up the mug; the coffee must be cold by now I guess. But he took a sip anyway.        Taste buds now dissatisfied, he put the mug away and buried...

 “Reading Is To The Mind, What Exercise Is To The Body” – a famous quote by English essayist, poet, and playwright, Joseph Addison, on the value of the mind. Reading is not just about scanning the words until you come to a full stop. You will come to understand that authors do not just one day decide to sit down and write up something just because they want to, or feel like it. Every chapter requires vigorous effort and much more mental stamina than one can imagine. A book contains very strong emotions; the author conceals different representations of his/her soul behind those words.  Books also give the reader a 4-Dimensional perspective to life. Books build a mental checkpoint in the reader's mind, which only filters and feeds vital information to the brain. A reader's perspective on life is very different from a non-reader's. A reader can think outside the box and find a solution to a problem. And he goes away from that box to find one. The solution won't make sense ...

Hammer is to a Carpenter, as Social Media is to the Rest of the World.  This is a derived post from a previous one regarding the metaverse (see below for link). I mentioned that social media was here to stay and we just have to deal with it. Since this is a “social media post” and not a thesis paper, I’ll try not to bore my readers with facts and referencing. This is just a little cherry on the cake. Alright, diving in. Social media is neither good nor bad; it is a tool that helps us with our everyday life. Politicians use it for campaigns. Businesses use it to reach out to customers; artists to their fans and friends use it to communicate. It is the ideal approach when we want to minimize the world. Social media is a tool in life – let’s fix this fact. Just like what a hammer is in carpentry; social media is in life. The hammer does not hit itself on a person’s thumb, the person accidentally hits himself. When something bad happens online, we cannot be pointing fingers at the indu...

 Let's say you want to start up a small business. You have the idea, the capital and the will to do so, but one of your friend comes up and say, "Bro, it's too risky. You might lose everything. I don't think it will work." Not exactly these words but something along that line. He is trying to dissuade you, although he himself might reckon he's doing it for your best interest. This, or maybe a similar scenario where you want to try out something new. Regardless, you don't listen to any person - whether family or friend, don't listen to their advice if they haven't even tried it out for themselves yet. Don't let their fear of failing influence your decision. It's their fear, not yours. It's your decision, not theirs.  Don't let someone who doesn't know how to swim tell you that you're going to drown when you jump in the lake. That's why you have to learn how to swim first before you can venture out to the deep. Magic word ...

 If I ask you "What's the fastest animal on the planet?" and you tell me it's a Cheetah, then come with me. There is a very nice garden I know where we can sit down and have a talk. You see, a Cheetah can travel up to speeds of 109.4 - 120.7 km/h. That is fast enough to outrun any animal on land. So, we can classify that a cheetah is fast. But, is it fast enough to run on water? Or under water?  Behold! That title belongs to the sailfish, who can reach 109 km/h, while the cheetah might as well seem irrelevant in water. But both species are no match for an animal that takes home all the bragging rights on Animal Planet and NatGeo Wild with a clear margin.  Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Peregrine Falcon, who can reach a top speed of 389 km/h at full flight. It surpasses both animals top speed by a margin of 3.2 times, meaning if all three animals were to compete in a circuit sprint, the Peregrine Falcon would've already done three laps while the Cheetah was crossin...