Bad habits

It is hard to change a few bad habits especially when you are so used to it that you feel reluctant to change them. However, the bad habits have to kicked before they become part of my life. I’m still at my beginning stage and have made considerable effort and strides in being aware of these habits and making it a point to change them.

Experience has taught me not to tell people who are not close of what you are trying to achieve or overcome as this might lead to people either passing negative feedback or making you feel uncomfortable. I will rather keep my mouth shut than let the whole world know about what I’m doing.

Travelling

I just started on 2 tuition assignments and these assignments restored me back to my usual monthly fee I used to draw 2 years ago and I felt the pinch when I did not have tuition for the entire of this year. By God’s grace, I managed to get 2 assignments for this December and for next year and I’m settled for next semester. Though tuition makes me a richer and happier man, the traveling to the obscure locations can take a toll on me. Although the I-pod makes a good traveling companion and the books help me to get away from staring at aunties engaged in meaningless conversations, the traveling stretches the lesson to 6 hours if the travellng time is factored in.

I should not complain about the traveling as the time traveling is well compensated but time is time and it can never be a good substitute for money no matter how attractive it is. I usually will be tired from my tuition lesson. The best I can do is to make full use of the traveling time and work it to my advantage.

Obama

I borrowed my sister’s Obama book written by a Chicago political journalist who had the chance to monitor and write on the Senate race in which Obama contested. The book was an eye opener as it mentioned a few things about him which I will have glossed over in the mass media or will not have been mentioned in the mass media. Besides learning about how he was once a heavy smoker, stayed in Jakarta and Hawaii for a few years and did voluntary community service in a black neighbourhood, it also helped to deepen my understanding of the American political system.(Though it is still confusing). The book also showcased how naïve politics can be and how far people can go to attain power.

The book provided a few examples of the candidates in Obama’s Senate Race on how they will go to any extent to humiliate and use any words to get themselves noticed and trump their opponents. For example, there was this candidate who made the bad move of continuing to use offensive and strong words against Obama when Obama supported a Bill in favour of abortion and this was at a time when Obama was a crowd favourite and the opponent was soundly beaten in the Senate race.

Another thing I learnt about this book is that being in the public eye is not easy especially if you are popular and you have to make plenty of sacrifices. I wonder if I will have handled the media circus and the people fascination as well as Obama although the man was close to breaking point at times when it overwhelmed him. I will love to talk more about the book but I choose to end my post here as I will rather readers of this blog will read the book themselves firsthand unless you are not an autobiography person.