Author Archives: Reinaldo (old posts)

Pride

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I’m a proud person. Because I am content with who I am, I feel blessed for the things I have experienced until today and am pleased with the direction I’m going in.

Does feeling proud mean that you are selfish and arrogant? I don’t think it does.

I think it implies that you respect yourself. You are confident in the values-system that guides you and most importantly, you understand your own self worth.

Being proud requires you to set boundaries for yourself on how much you tolerate certain actions or attitudes. It basically means: “how much shit am I willing to take before I refuse, avoid, or walk away from a situation?”

Being proud does not mean that you have to adopt an obnoxious personality. It means that you should become aware and protective of your dignity. Your reputation might not mean much to you but it risks being damaged if you don’t defend your pride.

I’m definitely not advocating for people to go out and impose their pride – or willingness to defend it – onto other people. I’m just saying, you should think about your pride and self worth if you are in a space where you are being unfairly abused, humiliated, or discouraged.

If you’re a good person then why should you allow for unpleasant conditions to affect you? You should know when to speak up and refuse to have your pride hurt.

There are things worth defending. Be proud. You deserve to be, no matter who you are.

A healthy attitude

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Much greater than words or beliefs, this has to descend from feelings.

The best way to have a good attitude is to trigger the feeling of gratitude. Now, there’s no need to start thinking of how grateful you are for your house, career, etc.

The best way to feel gratitude (at least in my experience) is to find music that absolutely impacts on you in a positive way. The kind of songs that make you say loudly in your head “MAN, THIS IS BEAUTIFUL”!

Well, there are many different triggers for feeling gratitude.

It’s drawing these few moments (sometimes minutes) when we feel inspired and our minds are at ease. Guilt, anger, envy, sadness, all disappear and we unconsciously give thanks for being here to appreciate this beauty.

When you feel peace in your mind and you are grateful for things such as music, then it’s pretty easy to have healthy attitude.

What’s going on with pop music?

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I’ll admit it. I like oldies from the 60s and 70s (and I’m not talking about led zepplin or Jimi Hendrix either, I’m talking outright pop). Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong generation.

Nowadays pop music gives us about 3-5 good songs in the year. Good track, decent vocals, catchy tune. But where’s the content? Continue reading →

My Favourite Pastimes

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Believe it or not, it’s not listening to music or going to the movies (it probably used to be).

My favourite pass-time is enjoying good company but most importantly, good conversation. You can hold good conversations anywhere. On a plane, while walking through a National Park, at a cafe or while driving.

A good espresso coffee (one of my favourite consumables) isn’t much without a conversation and of course, company.

Other pastimes:

  • Shaving (traditional wet-shaving with a double edge razor blade, none of this gillette 5 blade crap)
  • Taking photos (SLR, point and shoot, doesn’t matter. You can improve the photo later on picasa. Yes, because photoshop is too hard)
  • Making BBQ (only on the weber, preferably wood charcoal but briquettes are ok too, no gas burner though)
  • Preparing coffee (about as relaxing/therapeutic as shaving)
  • drawing (charcoal, graphite pencil. I don’t use other materials)
  • writing
  • and on occasion, smoking a cigar.

Photo by the sea, edited on picasa

I’m a perfectionist. Oh no!

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Ok it’s out there. One of my defects is about to be explored.

  • Coffee Baristas, do you ever find yourself tipping out half a litre of milk because it didn’t froth the way you expected?
  • Pizza makers, do you ever re-arrange the pepperonis or the olives on a pizza because they weren’t evenly distributed?
  • Office gentlemen, Do you ever knot a neck tie 2 or 3 times until you get the right length?

These are some of the things I often do when things don’t turn out the way I would like them to. I know it sounds excessive but I’m just fussy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I take great pleasure in seeing things come out great. There’s nothing like eating an almost perfect pizza, drinking great coffee and knowing your tie is precise on length. Stupid things like this make me happy on a daily basis. I don’t get upset when something comes out average but I pursue and immensely enjoy excellence. You have to be willing to pay for it most the time too.