Here the sun shines from both sides

Some words of motivation...

2005-07-08T18:08:00.000-04:00

Was speaking to someone last night who gave me some pretty good advice. Thought it would be good to post it here for future reference, or for anyone who happens to read it.

Perhaps you think that your attitude on any particular day depends on the things you experience that day. But actually it is the other way around. The things you experience do not cause you to have a particular attitude. Instead , the quality and substance of your experiences are what reveal your attitude. Your attitude is yours to choose. And by choosing your attitude you can choose the kind of life you live.

Yes, there will be plenty of events coming along that are completely beyond the control of you or your attitude. Yet your attitude will most definitely determine how you experience each of those events. If your attitude is negative and destructive, you'll find pain, disappointment and dismay in even the most wonderful circumstances. Yet when your attitude is positive, creative, thankful and joyful, you'll find real hope and valuable possibilities in even the most unfortunate events. Rather than assuming that your attitude is dictated by events, choose to maintain a positive attitude no matter what may come along. By so doing, you'll be choosing a life of real value and meaning. And you know what - that is what it is all about at the end of the day and what matters.

A positive attitude is very important to our well being, mental and physical. Tell yourself today is the day things will start to go right. Now is the moment when life can begin to be the best that you can imagine. The time has now arrived for you to make real, substantial and lasting progress. For you are, without a doubt, ready, willing and able. The past is no longer in a position to hold you back. This is a new day, and every disappointment is already far behind you. Ahead, there are possibilities too numerous to even count. Look closely, with your heart, and the best of those possibilities will come shining through. There is no reason to hold yourself back any longer. This is your moment to shine, this is your day to live with fullness, with richness, with joy and with love.

This very moment, all of life surrounds you, supports you, encourages you and pulls you toward the best you can be. Dive in to the golden opportunity that is now, and know how it feels to be fully alive. You can do it come, I know your have strength and tremendous positive energies inside of you.

You know, no matter how many places you may have been, there is always somewhere new that you can go. No matter how many ideas you may have already explored, there is always something new to consider. Nothing can energize you in quite the same way as going to a place where you've never been before. Whether it is visiting a new physical place, considering a new concept, or making a new friend, each new experience adds much richness to life.

When you seem to be stuck, and not making any progress, a change of scenery is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Whether it is for fifteen minutes, a weekend, or a month, going somewhere new and different can get you moving forward again. It may seem like a waste of time to stop what you're doing and switch your attention to something else. Yet often, the best way to maintain your focus is to give that focus a rest for a while.By gaining a new perspective, you can re-connect in a powerful way with your purpose, your passion, with the energy that drives your life. By experiencing yourself being somewhere new, you can learn valuable new things about yourself and your world.

It would, of course, be foolish to try to run away from your problems and responsibilities. Yet when you take the time to get away to somewhere new, you'll gain new insight and energy for successfully addressing those problems and fulfilling those responsibilities. ( And yes I am writing this ) On a regular basis, go somewhere new. And keep fresh, positive energy flowing into your life. Now, who did you say phoned you when what, that should by now be a distant memory and you should be charged at double the rate of a durocel battery and glowing absolutely positively.

You know with you a challenge can make you stop, or it can make you unstoppable. It all depends on how you respond. Challenge can compel you to make valuable improvements that you never would have attempted otherwise. Challenge can open your eyes to a whole new level of possibilities. When the challenges come, gladly accept the energy that they have to give you. Greet each challenge with the expectation that it will make you stronger, more capable, more experienced, more effective. Then jump right in and get to work on that challenge. The more quickly and enthusiastically you get started, the more real value you'll be able to gain. Challenge will give you the opportunity to discover how very much you can accomplish. And knowing how much you can accomplish sets you up to accomplish even more. When there is a challenge in your life, it's only a matter of time and effort before that challenge can be transformed into a real and lasting treasure. Take the time, put forth the effort, and you'll surely make each challenge pay.

Pretty good, huh?

Planespotting fun

2005-07-04T22:41:00.000-04:00

Well it was indeed a beautiful day on Saturday afternoon. After some computer issues at work which still haven't been resolved, I met up with Doug and Sergio at Cote-Vertu metro. After a brief encounter we headed off to Trudeau to do our beloved and long-awaited spotting.

Spotting was wondrous as it always is. Aside from picking and choosing which planes represented certain penis lengths, I think we had good fun. Doug is absolutely right when he says that we planespotters are a unique bunch. Maybe not unique but also somewhat curious. We get a huge amount of pleasure out of such a simple sight that most people would pass off as being ordinary.

In any case, spotting consisted of the usuals. I got to see Lufthansa's A340 for the first time which was a thrill. It was also the first time I got to see Air Transat planes land at Trudeau since the move back in November.

Watching all these planes really made me feel like travelling again. I'm lucky that I'll be going soon though, I think there couldn't be a better time. I almost feel like I need to get it out of my system somehow then just move on with my everyday activities. Even though it will only be a three day trip, I still think it will be thrilling nonetheless.

After spotting we headed out to Ste. Anne de Bellevue where I had never been before. The area was a quaint college-like town with narrow streets and restaurants that were lined up along a marina. The effect of having the boats go by was pleasing and relaxing and I couldn't wait to get to a restaurant to watch the action. We ended up going to a Thai place by the marina. Food was good albeit a little too sweet for what I'm used to. Doug's lemongrass soup looked amazing but I doubt it was anything better than the one they serve at the Vietnamese restaurant in the village.

Sunday was an interesting day. I stayed in mostly and went out once for lunch with Sergio. We went to my favorite Vietnamese place in Chinatown. I got back to Ted's apartment at around 2:30 and started my MCAT stuff from there. I got a little disheartened by the end of my General Chemistry overview, but I guess making a lot of mistakes at the beginning prevents one from making them again. So lets hope that I remember not to make mistakes :)

Later in the evening Anthony came over and let me borrow an MCAT review book. A quick look through it and it seems as though there are a lot of details that I've never seen before. For example Kaplan covers the muscoskeletal system pretty lightly, we go into detail about basic structure but this book started giving names of all the bones in the body. I'm sure I'll need to know this stuff while in med school but I don't think its all that relevant right now. I'll just use it for review I guess.

Work was good today... have a deadline for the presentation on the TB study tomorrow. Word is that I might get this published so I might have a bit more work ahead of me... we'll see :)

2005-07-04T21:44:00.000-04:00

Meeting up at Cote-Vertu

2005-07-04T21:42:00.002-04:00

KLM MD-11 arriving from Amsterdam. I once flew this plane :)

2005-07-04T21:42:00.001-04:00

Swiss A332 coming in from Zurich!

2005-07-04T21:42:00.000-04:00

Air Canada 767 coming from god knows where

2005-07-04T21:41:00.000-04:00

Lufthansa A340 arriving from Munich

2005-07-04T21:40:00.001-04:00

Air Canada A320

2005-07-04T21:40:00.000-04:00

American MD-83 coming in from Dallas

2005-07-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

Interesting Effect, wouldn't you say?

Planespotting

2005-07-02T12:49:00.000-04:00

I'm at work right now trying to fix a really serious computer issue. I was performing some backup operations on a computer when it suddenly rebooted and wouldn't get past the BIOS screen. Anyway, I'm trying to perform some repair operations so hopefully that will fix it.

Going planespotting today... FINALLY! Doug said that he might not be able to make it for dinner tonight and that we might have to postpone, but fortunately enough he is able to make it. Excellent! I will try posting some pics up on here when I have them all in :)

2005-07-02T00:01:00.002-04:00

Fire in the heavens

2005-07-02T00:01:00.001-04:00

Sky's on fire

New Beginnings

2005-07-01T23:45:00.000-04:00

Well I guess this is my first attempt at opening myself up on another website. I haven't been blogging for a while now and so all those rusty gears will have to start turning soon. Things may seem a little uncoordinated and disorganized at times but I think it will all work out at some point...