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Q: Do you have any philosopy, mantra or self-advice statement to help you through life or those BCDs?

To continue on from Mr laowaigentleman's question, I am interested to know what your personal or favorite self-advice statement is.

 

For my life in China, I like: Change what you can, accept what you can't, have the wisdom to know the difference.

 

My Mum always tells me: To thine own self be true. My brother: Love all trust few, always paddle your own canoe.

8 years 45 weeks ago in  General  - China

 
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Shifu

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'Be grateful you aren't them.'

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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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Your mum seems to be a Yangist.

I work on the live and let live principle. I live my life to enjoy it. Some people live their life to try to extend it, but have no fun.

Life should be measured in smiles per hour, not bucks per hour Smile

BHGAL:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

8 years 45 weeks ago
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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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BCDs? Binary coded decimals?

ScotsAlan:

Is that where you use 2 bytes in a double adress to record a real number in a finite format , the accuracy of which depends on the number of bits per byte :)

8 years 45 weeks ago
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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I have a strong faith in God. I am not religious. but faithful. A friend told me this once and I have used it to live my life.

Don't tell God how big the storm is...tell the storm how big God is.

Basically, I turn all things in my life over to God. I let Him deal with my life issues. Since I have made this turn in my life, things have been far better than when I tried to lead my life on my own.

If you do not believe in God and are offended by the concept of God, I apologize. But, this system of belief has worked in my life successfully.

bill8899:

This is likely the most rational, inoffensive affirmation of faith I have ever witnessed. Touche.

8 years 44 weeks ago
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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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"Change what you can, accept what you can't, have the wisdom to know the difference." And have a good location to hide the bodies of those who pushed you beyond your limits of change or acceptance.

iWolf:

You are deep dude....I shall now follow your sage advice

8 years 44 weeks ago
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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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"This is China"

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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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'Be grateful you aren't them.'

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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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"Suffer this playground for the sake of my kids."

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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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a la Billy Connelly (Scottish comedian for those of you who don't know) from an old dvd .

His advice:

stand on a chair and shout "feck the lot of youse"

If i do this in my room, with the double glazing and the heavy traffic outside the window, no-one can hear me.

 

seriously:

"there is always a plan 'B' "

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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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For me it is "Treat others the way you would like them to treat you". I believe we can never know the extent of our behaviour on others so why not try and be the best you can be and hope it rubs off. I can't say it is always successful or that that I couldn't do better but I think the important thing is to try.

Stiggs:

Yeah, you have to at least try.

8 years 45 weeks ago
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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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"You wanted something different and you got it..."

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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get'

  ~Forrest's mom

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8 years 45 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Same thing I said on the other thread...just don't let them in.

 

It's nothing against anyone on an individual level but I think the level of BS and game playing that you need to survive growing up here is staggering. For most people here it's all they know...and that's not anyone's fault individually i'm sure i'd be the same way if I grew up in this system. But it means it can be very frustrating.

 

So I just don't let them in. It's easier for me because I have zero interest in Chinese women, but honestly just in general I go out of my way to just not have to interact with anybody here who isn't someone I work with (who generally are very intelligent people I enjoy) or someone whose company I actively desire.. 

 

You can't always do that, but you just have to not have any expectations from people here. If I let my happiness get based on locals behaving themselves I would go insane. So for me they're just all part of the background. I focus on my life, my goals and the people I'm actually interested in dealing with.

 

I had to learn to take ownership of zero stress. Keep all my stress productive. Make decisions that limit stress. For example for a few hundred extra RMB a month to live in an above average building for a neighborhood you can avoid swarms piling into the apartments around you and being loud and using resources. Gotta shop around for a landlord who appreciates you. Those people don't owe me good behavior, I owe it to myself to not be in the same place as them.

 

And that's how I cope. It's not a locals fault they are trying to scam me or give me a hard time or anything because that's who that person is. It's MY FAULT for talking to them in the first place. For being in a position where I have to rely on the unreliable. 

 

Sometimes this means that I don't get certain things. I end up paying more because I find it too frustrating to try and deal with those electronics market type places. But my time is valuable too. I have a full time demanding job and also an MBA program. Keeping my bullshit stress level down is paramount. And that means for me avoiding dealing with difficult people. The key is to put as much on myself as possible and as little as possible on locals/local institutions.

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8 years 44 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Sometimes you just want to go somewhere quiet where there are no people. Sadly that is impossible in China. The way I cope on those really bad days is to go into a room alone at home. Put in headphones and listen to whatever music makes you happy. That usually lets me forget about the annoyances of the day. Failing that, alcohol and stand up comedy works wonders.

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8 years 44 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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The driving part is difficult get over with...  My life is much better having a car but some days I wish I didn't....most days hahah. I'm yelling, flipping people off, getting out of my car to argue etc...My wife can't stand me anymore, she's the opposite, totally calm, gives way to anyone LOL. She thinks I'll get in trouble one day, who knows. I just wanna beat a bus/taxi or mianbaoche driver one day, that's my dream, I think it would help! 

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8 years 44 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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i just remind myself everyday that China is just a big kindergarden...it helps

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8 years 44 weeks ago
 
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