Life lessons

Looking back, 2006 was a year of taking chances on living my best life. There were several lessons along the way.

However, the one biggie- silence is golden. As trite as it it is, keeping quiet on issues close to my heart is the one big golden step to making dreams come true.

When I got back with Mr. J, I told no one, not even friends. When I broke up with him in October 2005, they wilingly told me what they honestly thought of him. I was sorely disappointed to hear their negative comments as half the comments were baseless. I knew him better than them. He was the one guy who brought out the best in me although I broke up with him for his partying ways. He's still partying every other Friday night but has compromised by having breakfast with me the next day.
Lesson learnt - Friends don't always give good advice.

When I made up my mind to go to London/France early last year, I told no one except for my mum. One month before leaving, I informed friends and clients of my trip which resulted in several scare-mongering responses. I found them all ridiculous as they, in the first place, have not even been to London or France. The answer was always "Oh, you know, someone I knew had that bad experience" when I asked if the experience was first-hand.
Lesson learnt - Follow your bliss. It's your dream after all, not theirs.

When I decided to try the cake business, I thought, I should go ahead and do it. Start small and build slowly. Learn from mistakes with each order. Take it one cake a day. However, the responses I got from people when they learnt about my cake business were bafflingly negative. "Why are you doing this? Do you know how many bakeries they are out there? The cost is so high. Your day job is paying well. Why do you want to waste time doing this?" I just merely shrugged and carried on making more cakes as responses from my customers were positively encouraging.
Lesson learnt - When the naysayers get louder, it's a sign you are doing things right.