Inheritance From Dickson Idlier

Mr Thomas standing in front of his thrift shop (St. Isidore Centre). Image from Willing Hearts Orphanage website Desires are bad but are they all bad? Desire breed from greed brings endless stress, anxiety, and hurt to yourself and others. however, if the desire benefits others rather than yourself, then it is a desire worth pursuing, even as a lifetime mission. —— Dickson Idlier I chanced upon this charity on a TV program (Neighbourhood Fixer 邻里来爆料) in Singapore on 16 March 2021. Mr Thomas Wee runs a thrift shop in Singapore and supports the Willing Hearts Orphanage in Bulacan, Philippines. Similar charity like the “ Filiporean Project ” by Colin Lau.  I am not acquainted with Mr Thomas but just want to applaud his hard work. He collects items from donors and sorted them to be sold in his shop or give to maids. The profits from his shop, fund, care for and educate Filipino orphan children, who are vulnerable without any adults looking after or guiding them. He established an orpha...

To be happy, the concept of 'less is more' is the best approach to take. When you start decluttering your stuff, mind and life, leaving only the essentials can you be truly happy. It is sad that society wants you to think likewise.  —— Dickson Idlier 

Giving out the stuff to villagers. Image from:   Giving and Taking Free Stuff Facebook Group You don’t have to be rich to donate. All it takes is having a little compassion and willingness to give. —— Dickson Idlier The “Filiporean Project” is started by Freegans In Singapore co-founder, Colin Lau. The project collects small usable items (details in posts from “ Giving and Taking Free Stuff “ Facebook Group) from public donors or dumpster-dived stuff from Freegans In Singapore (FIS) and donates to Filipino maids in Singapore. The main reason is shipping cost is cheapest to the Philippines. This project has caught up in the news and media in Singapore, so more donations have been pouring in so the maids (numbered to 300) are kept very busy.    Colin saw many usable small items when dumpster-diving around his neighborhood but has no use for them. When he found that Filipino maids wanted these items to bless their family, friends, and neighbors back in their village, he...

In this rat race society, everyone seems to be in a rush. Only by adopting slow living or simplicity lifestyle, can anyone get out of the rat race, since ultimately in the rat race, it all ends with nothing but regrets and dissatisfaction. —— Dickson Idlier

Image from: http://clipart-library.com/clipart/157662.htm A treasure-hunting game called “dumpster diving”. You don’t know what you will find in the dumpster. —— Dickson Idlier Overview On Dumpster Diving Dumpster Diving or Urban foraging has been popularized by Freeganism. It is an act of salvaging or recovering usable or edible stuff from the dumpsters or trash bins. The main purpose of such activity is to prevent or reduce wastage of usable or edibles stuff from being incinerated or sent to landfills. In any times where people are unable to feed themselves or stuff for survival, saddens many people why such resources are not channelled to these needy people. It is unthinkable finding usable stuff in the trash but in reality, it is highly possible, at least in cities such as Singapore and America. What Made This Possible?  This activity is made possible and feasible mainly due to over-consumerism, upgrading mindset (buying new stuff and throw away the older ones), corrupted ...

Image from: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting What is Intermittent Fasting? Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. It does not matter about what foods to eat, but rather when you should eat them. Intermittent fasting is not that hard. Many people reported feeling better and having more energy during a fast. Hunger is usually not a big issue except in the beginning, while your body is getting used to not eating for extended periods. No food is allowed during the fasting period except water, coffee, tea, and other non-caloric beverages. It is an effective “life hack” that simplifies your life while improving your health too. Not having to eat 3-4 times per day with the preparation and cleaning involved saves a lot of time. Types of Intermittent Fasting Several different types/methods have emerged. Some of the most popular ones: The 16/8 Method : Fast for 16 hours each day, for example by only eating between noon...

  Reject mindless consumerism I chanced upon freeganism when reviewing my investments. I just left my stressful job (details in another post ). I dreamed to retire from work by age 45 but had no concrete plans then. I felt freeganism is a path to fulfil my early retirement dream. The idea behind freeganism is to get what you need for free and use your money only on necessities. I joined the "Freegan in Singapore" Facebook group, where Colin Lau's articles on freeganism impress me. I started dumpster diving and managed to rescue mostly merchandise and occasionally food. I spend money on bills, insurance premiums and food. Below are my reasons for becoming a partial-freegan: Sick of work.  Mainly due to office politics, backstabbing, lack of job satisfaction and Information Technology (IT) industry are always fire-fighting. Felt physically and mentally tired. Low pay jobs have their stress and problems. Want to quit working for money forever.  No idea why I earn money....

Image from: Photo by  Ketut Subiyanto  from  Pexels Depression and anxiety are evil partners in crime. They steal peace and creates havoc in the mind and body. Pretending to be ok will make it worse. There is no shame to seek medical treatment for mental illnesses.  ——Dickson Idler  This is my first-hand experience of having depression and anxiety, and overcoming them.  Last job background: Worked as a Security Manager (IT Security Infrastructure) Managing Security Operations, Security Hardening, Project Management and Risk Assessment Four other team members Difficult and demanding internal customers  Security Project from Hell Backstabbing colleague Symptoms of depression: Trouble sleeping Frequent migraine attacks  Symptoms of anxiety:  Persistent and severe worrying (that’s sometimes not proportional to what’s going on) Overthinking and envisioning worst-case scenarios Surprisingly, I looked and behave normally. Work is demanding and stres...

98% of the problems are all in your head but never happened. Overthinking leads to anxiety disorder. Wasting time and energy over meaningless thoughts. Calm your mind down and get rid of those thoughts and you will be fine.  —— Dickson Idlier

Thoughts can be dangerous. They are seeds of all goodness or evil and can  appears any moment in your mind. A thought is a thought and most of the time it never happens in reality. Eliminate weeds of negative thoughts of anxiety, negativity, desire, greed and lust before it gets a strangling hold on you. Have a beautiful garden full of flowering positive thoughts of compassion, joy, freedom, and peace.  —— Dickson Idlier

If life sucks, quit complaining. Making better choices is only possible if changing your mindset first. Else you still make the same choice you did previously. Calm your mind, review your goals, re-evaluate your needs and priorities and then decide.  —— Dickson Idlier

Image from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bng62yVhbMm/?utm_medium=copy_link Perfectly edible fruits and food are abandoned after offering to the hungry ghosts. Left to rodents and cockroaches to have a party and feast for the night. What a waste!  —— Dickson Idlier  In Chinese culture, the Hungry Ghost Month falls on the seventh month of the Chinese (Lunar) calendar. It is believed that during this month, the gates of hell are opened and wondering ghosts are free to roam the earth looking for food and entertainment. These are hungry and aggrieved ghosts with no families caring for or make offerings to them. Chinese households would try to appease these unhappy ghosts by offering food, money and other supplies. Their primary intention is to prevent these souls from causing problems to them, at the same time, show compassion to these lost souls. For Freegans In Singapore (FIS), it is the time for us to 'harvest' fruits in this period, mainly the first, fifteen and last day of the...

Beautiful things are not material objects, but people, places, feelings and memories that you experienced. Cherish the people and moments that created these beautiful things. Once you understand this truth, you can have more beautiful things in your life and not things taking up your precious space.   —— Dickson Idlier

You don’t want to waste time and effort convincing someone who JUST DON’T GET IT. No response is to keep your peace and let the foolish continue to be. Your peace is more important than anything else.  —— Dickson Idlier Keeping silence when someone is expecting a response is the best response. Eventually they will not bother you anymore and your peace is restored. Life is good and quiet.  —— Dickson Idlier

Photo by  Andrea Piacquadio  from  Pexels Rather than getting a headache and wasting time and effort managing your useless stuff, why not get them in the first place?  —— Dickson Idlier I am an organized hoarder, meaning stuff is well hidden out of sight, so just doesn’t look untidy on the surface. Where is the stuff? Concealed in a physical or electronic storage location, drawers, Toyogo plastic containers, cupboards, hard drives, memory cards, etc.  The guilt of throwing away useless stuff (mostly dumpster-dived) makes me feel sinful. To lessen this guilt, below are ways I got rid of my useless stuff: Sell online. Some items with higher values, I tried to sell them. Use mainly the Carousell app to sell items cheap in hoping to clear them in the shortest time. Singaporeans are fussy and cheapo and online stores having discounts very often makes it hard to sell stuff online. Give away good condition items to family members, neighbours, and friends. Simply ask th...

Life has too much uncertainties. Enjoy your life as you live. Don't let your desires distract you from living a more fulfilling life.  —— Dickson Idlier 

Without attachments and desires, there will be no disappointment and loss. Just go with the flow and let nature takes its course. What yours will eventually be yours and not yours will never be yours. The catch is how desperate you want it and how hard you work for it.   —— Dickson Idlier

Time is precious to everyone. Use it wisely with someone or something that matters to you. Those not worthy let them bother someone else.  —— Dickson Idlier 

You can never outrun your problems. You must face them head-on or seek help from others if the problem is beyond you. Never hold on to problems until it gets too big. Learn from the Chinese saying, turn big problems into small ones, and small problems into no problems at all(大事化小，小事化无).   —— Dickson Idlier

Changing ourselves is the most difficult thing to do and sometimes going against our principles but doing that may let you see things from a different perspective. Learn to observe and change ourselves accordingly to be in control again.  —— Dickson Idlier

Other people are not you. They should not manipulate how you live your life.  ONLY YOU  can decide for yourself. Ignore their opinion or take it with a pinch of salt. Freeing yourself from other people's opinion will set you free to be true to yourself.  —— Dickson Idlier

What goes around comes around. Don't do unto others what you don't want done unto you.(Confucius) Be more conscious about your actions and try to be in another person's shoes before you act. Karma is real and always watching you.  —— Dickson Idlier

Maintaining relationships is all about BALANCE.  A little too much or too little creates friction in relations. However, some relationships are not meant to last as people change. Remember, nothing last forever . Treasure it while you can.  —— Dickson Idlier