Vogue-U Potion - Personal Values and Interests

In the name of the Most Gracious and Most Merciful

As most of you may have known Mak Pah by now, I have this passion in writing about motivational issues. And no doubt certain values and interests had affected our lives or rather played an important role in creating our personality or personal effectiveness. When I was younger I didn’t have the slightest idea what are my values and interests. I tend to do things out of gut feelings and sometimes certain actions tend to hurt other parties. However as I aged, I reacted differently and began to be more rational instead of just wanting all things done according to my own way.

Let me begin with Personal Values. Among the values we as human beings are more likely affected by are:

• Religion
• Achievement
• Security
• Recognition
• Close Relationship
• Physical Challenges
• Ecological Awareness
• Freedom

Religion – the faith and teachings/practices that we follow has made us realized how fortunate for us to have a religion whereby we abide and discipline our movements. Imagine if we do not have any faith in religion and tend to do whatever we like, then not only our personality is affected, our surroundings shall also influence us easily without the fear of getting retribution.

Achievement – everybody has goals to achieve. However there are barriers like if you intend to pursue a diploma or degree, you need to work out a budget, time/period and interest. Likewise, if we aim to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca too, we have to be physically, mentally and financially ready. No doubt there could be other challenges to encounter, but through determination, I think we would try our best to reach our goals.

Security – we should consider ourselves lucky to be staying in a safe environment/country, even if there are circumstances of crimes committed here and there. However, no matter how safe we think we are in, precautionary measures still need to be inculcated as we will never know there could be “a wolf in a sheep skin” around.


Recognition – It is human to feel recognized, no matter how humble we may be. Recognition may come in many ways like through praises and rewards. It would surely motivate us somehow or another if we are recognized for the effort we’ve done.


Close relationships – building good rapport among family members and friends is what most of us cherished. The trust and recognition among each other would help us to feel the closeness and respectable relationships. I didn’t realized after knowing the VU gals, there's chemistry and we got so closed and eventually VU is formed. No doubt in relationships there are bound to be hiccups and miscommunications, however as adults we need to be practical and brainstorm certain issues to reach consensus.

Physical challenge – there will be challenges to encounter in whatever we do or intend to do. For example Mak Pah’s goal last year was to loose weight, my biggest challenge would be when somebody said “it’s too late, you will never achieved it!!!”. Eventually I proved them wrong after joining the Weight Management Program in Alexandra Hospital and managed to loose 7 kg during the 6-months programme. After going through the programme, I realized that even if you are heavy, it’s the fat count in your body that matters most. Even if my weight did not barge so significantly but my body fats had turned to muscle and I looked leaner and healthier than before. From here Mak Pah realized certain things need you to move forward and not be hindered by remarks that would demoralize your effort to reach your goals. From then onwards Mak Pah would always advice, to those who seek my advice of course, to follow their heart and not give up easily. It’s a thumbs-up for those who can fulfill those challenges which they think they could not do initially.


Ecological awareness – now with the hole in the ozone layer as well as the depreciation of our planet, we have become aware of our surroundings. It’s such a waste that we did not value our ecological systems and throw things without caring for the environment. At home I inculcated the habit of recycling dispensers for hand soaps, dishwashing and body wash by using the balance bottle to refill or buy those refill bottles without bothering what brand comes with what bottle. I would also get my children to use balance used exercise books for them to use as their own notebooks, drawings or to do workings instead of using normal A4 paper, but of course children need to be pushed all the time as they tend to throw everything away. At work I have the habit of recycling paper to print drafts on the other side so as not to waste it. Those that have both sides printed, I usually use them as lunch mat before throwing in our recycling bin. When traveling up to KL, I would also make sure there is a plastic bag to be used as garbage bag. When we dropped at a petrol kiosk or rest area, we would tie up the bag and throw them accordingly in the rubbish bin. I believe ecological awareness is a responsibility and not an opportunity.


Freedom – I think we are lucky to have been born in countries where we have the right to choose our way of life even with stringent regulations to abide to. When watching or reading the media, I felt sad that people in certain countries/places had no choice to run their lives and are living in fear all the time. Any foolish or careless decision would create problem or even death to them. The sight was pathetic.


Alright next in line that Mak Pah thinks would have some affect to our personality will be our Personal Interests. You may realize some people are not the same in character but they seemed to have the same interest. There are many factors and some of them are as follows:

• Activities
• Events
• Items
• Issues
  

Activities – some people love cooking, which Mak Pah likes too but hate the washing up part though. Some people by just tasting, they have the capability to figure out the recipe and duplicate the same result then. Mak Pah is a working mum, so rushing back from work and then preparing dinner is giving me the stress. So what I normally do is try to simplify certain recipes in order to make it easier and faster to prepare. My main aim is as long as the outcome is the same as the original recipe and the family is satisfied and enjoyed the food, then I’ll considered it a success. Another activity which Mak Pah hated most was to exercise. However, my secondary school ex-classmate goes to the gym weekly in order to keep fit. She has motivated Mak Pah to join her too. Thanks to her, I shun away my shyness and started to enjoy warming up using the treadmill, followed by cycling or rowing. After that I would go for the weight stretching focusing on torso, leg and arm areas individually. Eventually I do go for swimming once a while but now my swimming skill has deteriorated coz I have not been doing it for a long time. And you know something, when Mak Pah laze in the pool, I feel like a whale….hehe.

Events – well it’s quite common for ladies to have the interest in shopping. However sometimes there is a need to plan what are necessary and needs before purchasing, especially when there are sales here and there. Luckily my husband is the type who would always be the buffer (lecture and nag…huhu), before I go overboard and starts buying those I don’t really need. I am sure majority of us are the enthusiastic type who loves to learn about new and latest things and happenings, and would look up for any opportunity if deem necessary, etc. There’s no denial as Mak Pah is also one of them. Talk about any event, Mak Pah would get excited and would wish to attend all if possible.


Items – Everyone has certain hobbies of collecting something or items. Certain collections are of sentimental value and can relate to an individual's personality. I used to love collecting picture frames but eventually gave them away as gifts as they were occupying my drawers and collecting dust.


Issues – Anything under the sun are issues we can have interest in. May it be health, fashion, make-up and any latest technology would be of anybody’s favourite interest. Let me tell you that one of the issues that Mak Pah is passionate about is on latest car models….. hehe surprise right. Yes Mak Pah has passion about cars….. however, it is more for the design actually. I used to source the details in media and would sometimes share the information with friends and families. Maybe I can dig those cars details and post them here in the future.


Well some of the values, qualities, interest, abilities and aptitudes are of a great strength to some people while they could also be weaknesses to some. It all depends on individual. Nobody is alike even if their values and interests are alike. I believe weaknesses in certain areas would make you feel demoralized and tend to shun yourself out of society. Among Mak Pah’s weaknesses are not being able to read musical notes, play musical instruments, , not able to fix or repair things and computers and now I realised that I am a slow reader. When it comes to computers, I am a good user of MS Office but when it comes to troubleshoot of software or even hardware, I surrender. As for reading, I used to be a speed reader during my younger days, however after having children the ability seemed to deteriorate. I think in order to overcome my weaknesses, I have to break the barriers like going for training, and probably read relevant information, get coaching or assistance from professionals or appropriate persons. And as the saying goes “if there is a will, there is a way”.

So vogue-u-ers, Mak Pah believe everybody has their strength and weaknesses. So we must not make life difficult for us. Do something you like and passionate about. Don’t be hindered by those who wants you to fail. There's always a 2nd chance, try and try until if really you fail, at least you are satisfied you did overcome it and know that the thing is not your cup of tea. Then you can discover the true you.

Lots of Luv from Mak Pah….. muacks.