Learning from Jenson Button in Challenging Times:

At the end of the Formula 1 opening race in Australia where former world champion Jenson Button came in last in the McLaren Honda, he said,
(http://www.planet-f1.com/…/55…/37105/Sun-McLaren-Lotus-Manor)

“There were more positives: we’re as quick as the Force Indias in the corners, and we look similar in speed through the corners to the Red Bulls and Saubers, too. It’s been a tough winter – our longest run in testing was just 12 laps, so today’s 58-lap run was a good step forward – but we know we’ve got a lot of work to do. But, with all of today’s learning, there are many areas we can improve for the next race.”

Honda returned to F1 as an enginer supplier to McLaren this year. They are, at present, the worse performing engine, suffering from reliability and power issue. It was obvious to all the real cause of McLaren lack of performance. Under such challenging partnership times, we can learn a few things from Button.

1. Look at the positives.
2. No need to point out the lack of performance of the other party.

A typical reaction for failure is to find out and point out who is at fault. If one party starts to do that, the partnership will be broken. To get the partnership to go well, it is important for mutual encouragement, understanding and trust. So, if we are tempted to find faults and blame others, we can take the opposite approach of looking for the positives and bringing hope and encouragement to continue. It does not mean we ignore the faults but that all have a positive and hopeful approach to find and fix the faults. The positive environment will lead to greater creative ideas and energy to fix the problems and make good progress.

Year of the Goat and Three Rams bringing Abundance

Today, 19 Feb 2015, is the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Goat. My Chinese New Year wish for all is "三羊开泰" "Three Rams bringing great blessings of abundance".  Understanding the origin of this good wish will bring brighten your mind and help you realise the abundance of your wish. Take the initiative, follow the Way of righteousness and remove any blockages to a year of abundance and joy.

"三羊开泰" "Three Rams bringing great blessings of abundance" comes from the Hexagram #11 泰 tai , of I-Ching, the Book of Change. The pictorial icon for 泰 meaning great flow of abundance, is

The first 3 lines of the Tai hexagram are yang lines. Goat or Ram in Mandarin is also pronounced as yang. It appears then that the 3 rams bring forth the hexagram of Tai. What is the meaning of the Tai hexagram? Tai stands for great flow of abundance in peace. The bottom, or the beginning of the hexagram represents the trigram of Heaven, which flows upward. The top 3 lines of yin, represents the trigram of Earth which flows downward. Hence, Tai represents an exchange of upward and downward flows resulting in production of abundance of things and blessings. Economics 101 tells us that exchanges bring forth great abundance. The description of the Tai hexagram is 小往大来，吉亨.
Giving little but getting great returns. Good fortune and Smooth Flow.

We can know the wisdom for getting abundance:

1. Getting comes from Giving First. 小往大来
Great returns comes from investing wisely first. Invest in hardwork to learn the trade and spending effort will bring forth abundance. Chinese zodiac signs teach complementary values. We must be as smart as the rat and as hardworking as the bull. Be brave as the tiger but be cautious as the rabbits. For more see Complementary Values from Chinese Zodiac Signs.

2. Get the flow going. Remove any blockages and bottlenecks. 亨
Smooth flowing brings forth great productivity. Removing any blockage or bottleneck in the flow helps improve the flow. Jams, stoppages, conflicts, defects all impede the flow and slow things down.

3. Follow the way of Righteousness bring forth blessing. 吉祥
羊 yang with sacrificial altar representing worship of God, becomes 祥, xiang which means auspicious, propitious, or simply great blessings. How can we acheive smooth flowing of point 2? It is by following the way of righteousness, following the commands of God, I-Ching teaches that profits come from harmonizing one's ways with righteousness. This is exactly the teaching of Matthew 6:33 about seeking God and His kingdom first and all these blessings of abundance will be added to you.

May your New Year begins with a worship of God by following the ways of righteousness, removing any blockages of bad habits and intentions to gain a smooth flow, and by being the examples and taking the initiative for other to follow. Then, there will be no regrets but great joy of celebration at the end of the year.

Lim Liat (c) 19 February 2015

See also Ancient Chinese Wisdom for understanding of I-Ching.