How I Changed
Over the 8 or so months I have changed a lot. From always being broke to always having spare change, from slacker to semi-slacker, from having no goals to having clear ones. I now work harder, faster and more effectively. How have I changed you want to know? I have changed mainly through the acquiring of a burning desire. I can identify two instances that have had the most profound effects on this change, and that I would like to share with my dear readers. 
- Trip to China last summer. Coming along on a meeting my mom scheduled in a 5-star hotel lobby (Shangri-La Beijing?) with one of her former students, I learned a lot. I learned of desires and the possibility to manifest those. China in my eyes had always been a poor developing country with many knock-off items. Boy I was wrong. Talking a little walk in the lobby, I was amazed. There were many Chinese business people (both male and female) hurrying along carrying luxury bags and cases such as those from Louis Vuitton or Gucci. The interior design was very modern, minimalistic yet sophisticated. There were small luxury tax-free boutiques inside the lobby. There were mini-bars filled with people of all ethnicities, it was a truly international experience. And the best part - the doorkeepers of luxury restaurants were of South Asian descent - so classical! I immediately got it right there, somehow it just snapped. It was if I had been asleep all that time and suddenly woke up. I wanted it, and I wanted it all. I wanted it so badly I felt the desire bubbling inside and tears beginning to fill up. They were not tears of sadness or joy, they were simply tears of desire, of inspiration if you will.
- Recent election in Sweden. The rightists won this time, for the first time in a very long time. Although I am not a follower of rightist ideology, I learned something of great importance. I learned of what the people wanted. The people were tired of the select few milking the system. The people wanted more freedom, less tax burdens and more money. The people were prepared to work harder for it, and wanted hard work to benefit them more. They wanted to see greater results from their investments in time spent in education and work. I saw this trend as something increasingly profound throughout the world. People are becoming more and more money minded. Take the impressive GDP growth rates throughout Asia as another example. After seeing that - it was simple, either follow or be left behind.
In this era, Big Brother is dead. Look after yourself and the ones close to you. Do not hope for the best, make the best happen.
