Albert, welcome back to Adversity University! Your first guest appearance here last week, went rather well, don’t you think? In fact, it went so well that I’ve created a new series here at the university to interview special guests like yourself.
Okay, shall we finish up the interview? Here we go:
7. What do you consider your proudest achievement in life?
I don’t know…honestly. My story is still being written! 
8. At Adversity University, I often write about the value of changing our perceptions in order to deal with adversity. How have you dealt with adversity in your life? Give specific examples of adversity and what you did to overcome them.
Adversity - my adversity is pretty internal. I’m blessed with a very comfortable outward life. But internally, I had a whole bunch of problems - like being highly sensitive, shyness, low self-esteem, attachment and abandonment (huge list, huh?) - issues that led me down a slow spiral towards depression, and a bit of anger too. It messed up my whole life. I was drifting in and out of depression for years.
The defining moment was during one of my rages. I was screaming on the phone to a girlfriend who had triggered my abandonment issues. I’ve been described by others as the nicest and most gentle guys ever, until which recently simply meant I pushed all of my anger and everything else down into my shadow. But that day all my anger came bursting out.
But that time was different from my previous anger. That time I was shouting on the phone and then suddenly something changed inside me. It felt like I was watching myself in a movie, watching this body screaming and cursing - I was horrified. “How could I behave like that?” I thought to myself. That was the start of the transformation - disconnecting from my ego and my emotions.
With that, I found the courage to begin a long journey - to get out of my sorrows and find some measure of deep inner peace.
9. How do you come up with the topics you write about at Urban Monk?
I come up with the topics simply because they reflect what I’ve been doing with my own growth. For example, I’d try to find out why I’m upset over a relatively small matter, and discover that it is connected to a deeper issue. So I’d share how I came across that deeper issue in my blog. Or if I realise that my own growth has been stunted to due to pride, I’d go out and investigate how to overcome pride and find humility, and share it as best as I can. Perhaps for this reason, many readers have commented that it really strikes them how my posts are exactly what they need to hear.
10. What books/blogs and/or mentors have influenced you and why?
Again, too many to name. A few that spring to mind would be Eckhart Tolle, who helped me begin my entire journey inward. He was my introduction to directly facing my sorrows and overcoming suffering.
A current favorite would be Osho - his writings are so charismatic, almost like poetry. Very controversial - some call him a fraud, but I’ve gotten so much value out of his material.
Blog wise, I love Kenton Whitman and Takuin Minamoto. I know them personally and they’ve given me so much.
11. Name the top 5 articles from Urban Monk that you believe readers, subscribers and visitors to Adversity University would benefit from.
- What Your Ego Is
- The Elusive Key to Emotional Mastery
- The Flower of Love
- Loneliness - The Beginning of Romance (one of my most misunderstood articles)
- Little Secrets of Gratitude
12. What is next for Albert Foong?
Well, I want to develop Urban Monk into a blog that provides full-time income, so I can concentrate on doing what I love. It will probably take a year or more, though, as I have many other obligations. I’m also back as a mature-age student studying psychology, so in a few years I will be a full-fledged psychologist.
13. Finally but not least, where can find out more about you?
Bits and pieces of my life have been hidden in these articles. If you use your imagination, you can probably find out everything about my life, except the dirty little secrets. Heh! Heh! Thank you very much for the interview Stephen, I really appreciate it.
And thank YOU Albert for being a willing interviewee! You are the first guest to be interviewed here so I guess I should congratulate you for having that distinction.
(Turning to look at you, the readers, with a smile (Hint, hint, look at my photo on the right side for an idea of what I look like when I’m smiling.)
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Welcome! I'm the founder and professor of Adversity University specializing in personal development for spiritual beings having a human experience. To see a speaking demo tape and other information, please click
This is an outstanding interview with a unique person.
What I have found in my own life, after torturous exploration, is that there is an underlying current that is causing all the distress.
The way to deal with it is LABELING it. So, when it comes up, you can say, “Oh yeah. There it is again!”
My experience in digging deeper and deeper into all the uncomfortable feelings of the dark night of the soul, is one thing.
It is SHAME. Who knows where it comes from? It overrides guilt, low self esteem. It is the core from which all other feelings come.
Once you identify the demon, it loses power. But you must name it first. It is the first step to claiming your own identity. It will expose “the face before you were born,” as the Buddhists say.
That is our original face. Urban Monk will understand and explain it further. I am handing it over to him to continue this exploration.
Thanks to both of you guys for the very informative interview. I am enjoying getting to know both of you better.
@Corinne: Yes, labeling is one of the tools we human beings use to identify and put a name to something that may be reappearing from time to time. It’s a survival tool b/c if we couldn’t label something, we’d feel out of control, with nothing to grab onto.
@Patricia: I also enjoyed doing the interview, very much. Have you come up with an idea for a new name for this interview series yet? If not, go back to the gratitude theme post #6 and throw in some names as soon as you can so I can include you in the name contest.
Very nice interview– I enjoyed it a lot. I’ll be visiting Urban Monk’s blog more as a result!
Karen:
Well, I’m very happy to serve as the matchmaker in this situation!
Albert will sure be happy to know he has a new subscriber to his blog as a result of the two interviews here at Adversity University!
Thank you very much for your support everyone! Corinne, that is very deep insight. Shame is truly one of the deepest things I have uncovered as well. As you might expect, many of them started from childhood and just took over my life all the way till now.
The good news is, by facing the wounds, knowing what they are (as you said), your whole life can begin to change right now.
I was often told as a child I was weak and unable to take care of myself, I was too naive, would get eaten alive in the made world, etc etc.
When I first began personal development, I simply forced myself to go out and do things, live life. But the shame was still there, and recently I’ve been seeing those memories come to the front. By facing and healing them, I am taking charge of my life and situation so much more easily, without having to tell myself to.
I hope that is what you are pointing to. Thanks for the support, once again.
Cheers!
Albert said -
“But the shame was still there, and recently I’ve been seeing those memories come to the front. By facing and healing them, I am taking charge of my life and situation so much more easily, without having to tell myself to.”
Somehow, Albert, I knew who I was talking to when I wrote that comment.
Labeling the feelings immediately has been the key for me.
Albert, Corinne, Thanks for the hint on labeling. A tool I’ve used before is to label my grouchy self, and I certainly do that with my daughter, she has a pet name when she is particularly whiny… now I’ll see if I can name my ‘issues’. I can see how by naming them I’d be less attached to them, and more inclined to look at them objectively.
Nice interview Stephen, I’m looking forward to more interviews!
To: Albert, Corinne and Michelle
I love how this interview has generated so many wonderful thought provoking, value-added comments! It delights me to no end to see this happening at Adversity University.
A quick update to everyone else: I found a plug-in for creating a poll for you to vote on a new name for the interview series but it requires some tampering with the template - something I’d rather not do because I’m no techie. So bear with me while I figure out a way to get a poll up and running - I’m still learning here!
Michelle, be careful with labeling your daughter’s behavior that it doesn’t effect her negatively like Albert’s childhood labeling by his parents effected him. I know that I still have issues with some of my own childhood labels as well. I also know that Albert’s wonderful articles are helping me to address and heal some of my own issues. Adversity University and Stephen are helping also.