Monday, June 6, 2016

Do what you think is right for you and you’ll be okay?


Some people like to say: Do what you think is right for you and you’ll be okay. The trouble with this piece of advice is not everyone knows what is right for them and if they do know what is right for them, they wouldn’t be asking for advice. Until they achieve mastery of themselves and their life paths, most people need to be told what they can or can’t do, should or shouldn’t do. They need to be told what would happen to them if they erred. Some have to be frightened into doing what’s good for themselves hence the Christian Ten Commandments for example. Some wise guy said: If people can be persuaded to do what’s good for them, the Ten Commandments would have been called the Ten Guidelines. :)

People say: Do not expect anything from others and we won’t be disappointed. I ask: How do we have (working) relationships then? “Working” is the operative word here. Aren’t relationships based on trust and expectations? We have to know what others expect of us and they have to know what we expect of them? Even my dogs have to trust me and know what to expect from me and vice versa. Every communication is based on trust. There can be no communication without honesty. Don't believe me? The next time you have conversations, do observe the quality of the conversations and be mindful of how much you trust the person you are having a chat with.

I, for one, do not test my relationships. They are put to the test by events. My relationships live and die according to the results of these tests. Life constructs these tests, not I. This works both ways. I am sometimes being tested for relationships and when I don’t pass the criteria set by others, they stop being in a relationship with me too.

We all know by now we shouldn’t depend on other people to make us happy and yet, when we do connect with folks our “kind of weird,” these relationships do contribute greatly to the quality of our lives. We know we should invest in ourselves – study, develop, improve, keep fit, stay sane, eat well, give ourselves a treat now and then, take time for rest and relaxation; do something each day to make ourselves feel good about ourselves. We know we should cut down on unnecessary stress, manage our time, manage ourselves and earn less if that’s the price we pay for good health. We know less can be more.

Here’s the latest update regarding menakoo.com:

It costs about USD70.00 (RM300.00) a year to keep menakoo.com on the present server. At USD5.00 a book, I would have to sell 14 books a year to pay for the running costs. I’m told there are one billion people on Facebook alone. I’m told nearly every literate person in the world is on the Internet today, in one way or another. That's a huge market of potential readers that anyone, anywhere *can* reach; they are out there and reachable. Yet, it doesn’t look like I’m going to sell 14 books a year using my website model.

Someone in the publishing industry informed me that this industry has become a “zoo.” He said: “There are so many millions of books that no one can find anything these days, and people can't even give away their crap.” He said he used that word for a reason — much of what is out there on the market today is just that: “crap.” He described these books as: “Poorly conceived, poorly written, poorly edited, with nothing to say and no hope of ever selling.”

Well, I’ve made things even more difficult for myself due to my genre; which I can’t help because we are writing about stuff we know or think we know. I can’t find an editor who is metaphysically inclined. I may just publish what I have on Amazon anyway and let my books join the “obscure” club. It’s just as well I don’t depend on this income to eat or else I’ll be lining up at the Soup Kitchen real soon. :)