Having the right attitude plays a big role in determine how far we go in life. It's so true that 90% of the battle is determined by what's within us. Here's an interesting poem Reverend Rex shared with me the other day.

ATTITUDE 

by: Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

CSI (Chinese Superstition Investigation)

Chinese new year is a time of new beginning, new start and togetherness, families tend to meet up together and have huge celebrations with one another. when conducting business or when a guest to a Chinese family and friends event, do keep the following things in mind to avoid conducting unintentional faux pas:

Do's and Don'ts of Chinese New Year

Do:

• Wear red as it is the colour of good luck
• Say good and auspicious words and phrases during the week of Chinese new year to encourage good luck throughout the year
• Say Gung Hei Fat Choy to everyone to wish everyone prosperity in the new year. 
• Be generous
• use the number 8 as the number 8 sounds like prosperity in Chinese
• Clean the house the week before
• wear new clothes as newness= good luck

Avoid talking about or doing the following in the presence if someone who is traditionally chinese

• give a clock. It is a bad omen and often interpreted as "Your time is up"
• buy a chicken without a head
• Cut your hair on new years day. Cutting hair = cutting wealth away as wealth and hair sound a like in Chinese language
• say anything about death, poverty, injuries, illnesses. Chinese people believe that saying bad things will cause them to happen. 
• use the number 4, as the number 4 sounds like death in Chinese. 

Did you know:

• At company dinners in china, the boss would rotate the dish of a whole chicken, whoever the chicken head points to will be fired at the end of the meal. 
• Married couples give red pocket money to younger siblings, nephews and nieces.
• Some people would feel lucky and go to the casino for a go. 

Keeping the above tips in mind can prevent you from committing faux pas. With Chinese new year coming up, I wish you all a happy Chinese new year and Gung Hei Fat Choy!