When I finally decided that it’s time to transfer my office, I knew I had to call Maya first. Not only is Maya a real estate agent (which means I can avail of discounts for the office), but she is also a pure blooded Chinese woman who is an expert in feng shui and feng shui office arrangements.

Yes, I believe in feng shui—so shoot me! But there’s nothing wrong if I follow a few dos and dont’s in my office—it won’t cost me anything if the feng shui office does work or not, right? Not only did Maya tell me about feng shui in choosing the office, she also told me about how to keep the mood in the office conducive for working.

So here are a few Feng Shui Office dos and Taboos straight from Maya:

• Pick an office or work space located in a prosperous neighborhood.

• The entrance to the premise should be inviting rather than ordinary.

• The corner, with the entrance on a diagonal to the corner itself is the best site for a building.

• Use the feng shui bagua to order the interior layout of the premise.

• To have a command position, sit in the corner farthest from the entrance.

• Never sit in line with the door, this is a path of negative energy.

• Keep your back toward the wall for support. Cover a post that protrudes from the corner with a hanging plant’s foliage.

• If you are conducting business from home, don’t face away from the door. You don’t want to turn your back on business that comes to you through the door.

• Avoid organizing your workspace such that you look straight out into a corridor or see the stairs, storage rooms, closets, elevators, or toilets.

• The computer must be in the North or west area of the office. This is to heighten creativity. If you want to use it to generate income, place it in the southeast.

• Place the safe in either west or northwest which both symbolize the metal element. Prosperity and financial stability is symbolized by the safe.

• Balance the yin and yang—that is balance light and dark colors, soft and hard surfaces,etc.

• Don’t have mirrors in the office. They reflect negative energy from clients or colleagues.

• Keep the cords of office equipment well hidden. By doing so, you do away with clutter and allow the free flow of chi.

The office is where we spend more than fifty percent of our day. It’s not a bad idea, to make it more soothing and relaxing right? To the feng shui believer, the do’s and dont’s of feng shui office arrangement is an indispensable element to be considered in the office. To those who claim it as a hoax, all I can say is this—-what would you lose if you try them?

If being a bookworm was a crime, John would be convicted for life. But what I love the most about John’s large collection of books is that I can borrow books anytime, anywhere and without due dates! One unforgettable book John lent me was a book with stories embedded with inspirational messages. Though I was initially attracted to the awesome scenery on the cover page, I found out that the inspirational message brought about by each story is much, much more magnificent! Here are three of the stories and the inspirational messages that go along with them:

• Mrs. Isadore Strauss was one of the few first-class women passengers who went down with the Titanic in 1912. She drowned because she could not bear to leave her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Strauss helped scared women and children to find a spot aboard lifeboats. Then, Mr. Strauss forced his wife to enter a lifeboat. Mrs. Strauss was seated only for a moment, when she climbed back on the deck before Mr. Strauss could stop her. “Where you go, I will go,” Mrs. Strauss said.

Love in its true form is a decision, not a feeling. It is a decision to sacrifice when necessary and re-deciding to do it over again, tomorrow, the next day and the next day after.

• A man walking down the street saw his friend crawling on his hands and feet looking for something. “I lost my key,” his friend told him. The man felt sorry for his friend so he decided to help him look for it. After some time, the key was still missing so the man asked his friend when he lost his key. The friend says, “Oh, I lost it in my house.” Outraged, the man angrily asks why he was looking on the street. His friend replies, “because there is more light here.”

Everyone is in search of the purpose of their life. But the funny thing is that they search everywhere—except inside of themselves.

• Josh, a successful executive, was driving so fast in his 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE when a brick sailed out of nowhere. The hullabaloo damaged the side door of his new car. Infuriated he shouted and grabbed the kid responsible for it. “Please mister, I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! It’s my brother, he rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair?”

Don’t drive through life so fast that someone needs to throw a brick at you first to get your attention.

I would have wanted to give you more examples of inspirational messages and positive words etched in the lives of ordinary men and women. But, then again, I know that you will one day, in the most unexpected moment, discover the hidden inspirational messages so beautifully engraved in ordinary and not so ordinary moments in the life of strangers in the very seconds of your life.