open-hearted optimism 敞開胸懷＆樂天態度

The universe is conspiring on your behalf if you let it - Rick Rubin (from the Joe Rogan podcast) 讓宇宙來幫助你達成夢想

An open-hearted optimism can be confused with naivety from the lens of a nihilist. However, I believe being optimistic and open-hearted are the two crucial ingredients to allow the universe to conspire on your behalf. I cannot ignore the beautiful serendipity that comes with it. The two ways I’ve noticed how I’ve been open-hearted & optimistic are (1) applying for all and any thing that interests me and (2) meeting people with genuine curiosity instead of networking with a transactional intention in mind.

Applying for all and anything that interests me

In the past decade, a theme I happened to follow is: that I would apply to anything that sounds interesting. It would be applying for my first software internship in the Bay Area, a robotics summer camp, a 2-day hiking trip, studying abroad in Canada at 16, a 2-week medicine study trip to Oxford, organizing hackathons before even attending one, joining Christian fellowship’s service trips while not identifying as a Christian, going on a fully sponsored trip to Poland to study Polish, hosting a 500 person beach rave, being a community manager for a student-run coworking space during university… the list goes on. The stories behind each event that took place all intertwined and led to very serendipitous friendships and opportunities that I can only see in hindsight.

But what is the why behind it?

I did most of the things I did intuitively. Somehow my intuition tells me it’s a good idea to try out things even when I don’t tick all the boxes or have a clear idea of what “the thing” is. I was like a blank piece of paper or like a new sponge, eager to quickly filter through things I potentially would like, and instead of doing that in my head, I tried it out and decided afterward. Of course, I experienced hesitance, and frankly, I missed many opportunities because I put them in my backlog for later consideration. Yet the regret of missing a deadline and not applying due to indecisiveness is greater than the frustration of being rejected from an opportunity. The ball is in my court when I decide to apply or not. And somehow my intuition is optimistic too! I trust that as long as I do my part in applying, the universe will align with me if that opportunity is suited for me.

Meeting people with genuine curiosity

I used to attend tons and tons of events and parties. It could be a HealthTech founder meetup, a Bay Area Summer Intern mixer or simply grabbing coffee or dinner with someone I’ve never met before. Meeting people is inherently fun for me. It’s almost like a game: How can I quickly find commonality between me and a stranger I just met? And given how much I enjoy chance encounters, I love creating opportunities for people to experience them, hence I love organizing parties and community gatherings as well. The moment I experience laughter, awe, or surprise between myself or another person, it’s like a spark that indicates to the universe that we “connected”. Often a few years down the line, something serendipitous would happen: either a business opportunity, a new shared common interest that didn’t exist before, a friend connected you with another friend that turns out to be your soulmate or simply bumping into each other at a complete random occasion and having the chance to observe parallel growth between both of us. Meeting people is great 💖

But what is the why behind it?

On a more fundamental level: I enjoy connecting with another human being with an open heart. I enjoy learning, sharing, and growing with another person in any capacity. I believe that once we’ve met, our paths will cross again when they should. I am optimistic that a person that I meet is not here to cheat me or wrong me but to teach me a lesson in the most suitable way possible. I am grateful for the universe for bringing people into my life, again and again.

Photos that symbolises open-hearted optimism in my camera roll lately (Neon lights - pc to Yil, ephemeral yet gorgeous sunsets, the first ray of sun in the morning, and dancing like there's no tomorrow at a Sidd's birthday party in Osaka 😍 )

Perhaps the ability I have for open-hearted optimism stems from the rejection of the idea that time is scarce. I don’t think time spent on things I’m not 100% certain about when I don’t have a strong opinion yet is a waste of time. I don’t think my reasoning mind can be more certain about what is “right for me”. Instead, I think my intuitive mind can tell me more strongly what is “fun for me”.

So take that chance, apply to, or try out that thing you’re interested in. Have an open mind and go to that event even if you don’t know “what I will get out of it”. Try expecting that you’ll be surprised from every chance encounter let it be an opportunity or a person. And most importantly, expect it to be fun. And my optimistic mind tells me, perhaps it just might be as you manifested, and it could lead you to things you cannot imagine in the future!

似乎對一些人來說，敞開心胸的樂天態度是一個不負責任的天真行為，但我認為只有敞開心胸的對未來充滿樂觀的期待，你才能讓宇宙幫助你得到你需要的東西。回顧成長的過程中，我發現我有兩方面都是敞開心懷以及樂天的寫照：（１）什麼事情只要感興趣都報名（２）以真誠的好奇心與人交流（而非以純社交名目見人）

什麼事情只要感興趣都報名

前幾年我發現我經常做一件事情，就是只要我有感興趣的事情，不管有沒有信心可以完成，都事先報名再說。例如我在矽谷的第一個程式設計的實習，高中參加的機器人營隊，兩天一夜的登山活動，十六歲時申請去加拿大留學一年，去牛津大學兩個禮拜的醫學營隊，在參加駭客松之前成為辦駭客松的主辦團隊成員，在不是基督徒得時候參加團契的偏鄉服務隊，參加免費去波蘭一個月的遊學行程，舉辦一場五百人的海邊派對⋯⋯數不清了。每個活動過後總是有一些新的友誼、有趣的巧合，都是要等事後才發現的。

為什麼會這樣做呢？

其實報名參加不同活動、機會都是靠直覺去做的。我的直覺告訴我，對什麼東西有興趣就試試看呀，不需要符合所有的條件，甚至也不需要太過謹慎去深入了解這東西是不自己真的喜歡的。我彷彿一張白紙一般，想要透過實際嘗試所有事情來深入了解自己到底喜歡什麼，而非單單在腦袋裡思索。試過了，再決定適不適合。當然，我也不是所有事情都是直覺性的去做的，也是會猶疑的，也經常因為一時的猶疑而錯過了一些好機會。坦然而言，我覺得因自己的遲疑錯過一個機會比被他人拒絕一個機會還要令人懊悔，畢竟掌控權在自己的手裡，是自己錯失的！而我的直覺也是蠻樂觀的，我相信如果一個機會跟我有緣的話，宇宙會在我申請報名之後讓我知道的，而被拒絕的也就只是無緣而已。

以真誠的好奇心與人交流

我以前也經常參加很多活動以及派對，像是醫療保健科技界的創辦人見面會，或是矽谷的暑期實習的交友會，也許單純是和我沒見過的人一起喝杯咖啡、吃頓飯。與人交流對我來說是真的很有趣的。每見到一個人，陌生人或熟人都一樣，就像玩一場遊戲般：我要如何在最短的時間內，找到我們的共通點？而我也對每一個偶遇感到窩心，與其像是跟一個陌生人對話，更像是跟宇宙對話。因為我很喜歡偶遇的感覺，我也很喜歡創造讓人偶遇的機會，也就是為麼我也很喜歡辦派對以及各式活動。和一個人認真的有對到邊的感覺，通常就是因為一個不經意的笑聲、一個驚豔的感覺，而每當有這個感覺的時候，就像一個閃爍的光芒，告訴宇宙：我們倆雖素不相識，但我們對到邊了！經常過幾個月、或幾年，一些偶然的巧合會讓你們再次相見：可能是一個新的工作商機、可能是有個意想不到的興趣、或單純在偶遇的時候有個機會可以觀察兩人在貌似平行時空裡是如何成長的。💖

為什麼會這樣做呢？

我很喜歡敞開心胸的和一個人去做交流，我喜歡與人學習、分享，甚至一起成長。我也深信只要見過一次，未來時機對的時候一定會再見面的。我也很樂觀的認為，沒有人是會刻意想要傷害我的，頂多是在人生學習的道路上的一個教訓。我很感恩宇宙一再的帶不同的人到我的生命裡面～😍

換幾張我覺得象徵敞開心胸的樂天照片：摩洛哥首都的早晨陽光、去普吉島參加人生第一個充滿色彩的印度婚禮時盡情跳舞、香港美麗又短暫的夕陽、以及充滿曼夢幻色彩的霓虹燈

也許能敞開心胸去樂觀的對待事物是因為我並不覺得時間是絕對的有限的。我不覺得花時間去做我不是百分之百確定我有興趣的事是浪費時間的。我不認為我的理性的腦能知道什麼是「對的事」，而我認為我感性的腦可以更清楚的告訴我什麼是比較「有趣的事」。與其選擇對的，我寧願選擇有趣、好玩的。

放手一搏吧！去報名、嘗試你有興趣的事情，用一個開放的胸懷去參加那個你不知道到底對你有什麼幫助的活動。開始期望你每個偶遇的人或是機會都會帶給你驚豔的感覺！而最重要的是，期望它會是有趣、好玩的。都這麼樂觀了，與人的相處或事情的進展可能就是會帶給你這些正面的感覺，並在未來的某個不知道的時機帶給你意想不到的精彩！