Communication skills is not just about talking. It is about listening.
CARELESS LISTENER REGRETS by Edith Scharff is dedicated to my friends to love to talk!
When God gave out brains,
I thought He said trains,
and I missed mine.
When God gave out noses,
I thought He said roses,
and I asked for a red one.
When God gave out legs,
I thought He said kegs,
and I ordered two fat ones.
When God gave our ears,
I thought He said beers,
And I ordered two long ones.
When God gave out chins,
I thought He said gins,
and I ordered a double.
When God gave out heads,
I thought He said beds,
and I asked for a soft one.
“God gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.” - Epictetus
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
You're still always in our hearts...
Hello, Jennifer!
Do not think I've forgotten all about you...
No, I haven't. It would be your birthday today and you would be 44!
We often think and talk about you every now & then. And I'm sure you know that memories of you will always remain in our hearts and our lives.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
This one's for you! Wherever you are...
We now live in an era that encourages us to forget how to remember. But I will never forget my encounter with this extraordinary lady whom I fondly named “Ah Neh”. I ran this marathon in her memory and enthusiasm.
Date/Time : 05-02-2012 / 6.45am
Temperature : 15-18C
Start : Nathan Road at Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Finish : Victoria Park, Causeway Bay.
Gloomy skies! And it drizzled somewhat that morning. But the spectacular ambience was more than enough to rev up the enthusiasm of the crowd of the 65,000 participants that gathered at Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui to run the 16th Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.
After lying off running a full marathon for more than 2 years, I was a little lost. I wasn’t sure how to put up a strategy to pace myself. However, I like the theme for this marathon ‘RUN WITH A REASON’. I am so sure of my own reason of running this marathon. It was to celebrate my 20th year of running and I am also dedicating this Run to someone close to my heart…
Forget about strategy. I will just run with my heart. Soon, I found myself drifted away with the multitude of runners, perhaps each having their own reasons for running too.
About the Person this Run is dedicated to:
She came from ‘Tong San’ a small village in China, I was told. She raised 6 children of her own and I was the first baby she attempted baby-sitting. Not long after that, the whole neighborhood heard about her expertise and started bringing their babies to her! In a way, I had created a career for her in baby-sitting. My 2 younger sisters and a host of other children were raised by her good hands and her golden heart.
My childhood days were filled with loads of adventure and colorful memories all because of her existence.
Life moved on…but she was always there at each milestone of my life. She watched me grow from infancy to adolescence and in my mid-life.
I am indeed very blessed that our paths crossed.
First 15km – How our paths crossed…
My mom often told me that when I was a baby, I was a real difficult one. Therefore, I was passed from one baby-sitter to another because I cried non-stop especially at night!! (Which baby doesn’t cry?)
After 3 baby-sitters or so, I was handed to you.
The minute I was placed in your hands, I bonded with you instantly and this special bond lasted until today. How strange! It was as if I knew you before.
You spoke with a very unique dialect and yet I understood you perfectly. Sometimes I wonder too.
The minute I learned how to speak, I called you, “Ah Neh”. I don’t even know what that means but that name had stayed with you in this lifetime!
Soon this very difficult baby that you raised realized that you cradled her not just with your hands but with your heart, and she held close to you with love in her heart until today.
I recall…
- The number of times you took me to the doctor and nursed me when I was ill.
- Those sleepless nights you had to suffer with me when I had my asthma attack.
- The old-fashioned steam cake and red eggs made for me on my birthdays.
- Whenever I had a loose tooth, I’ll come running to you and you would extract it for me within seconds and without any pain!
- Evenings of sitting together with the family around the old Redifussion set, listening to bedtime stories.
- The chicken drumstick that you reserved for me instead of your own children during special occasions.
My first 15km is dedicated to you for teaching me lessons in serving as Martin Luther King Jr puts it so aptly to describe you, “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t need to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
After 15km – Those were the days…
By now, I’ve completed a very slow and cautious 15km running on the Tsing Ma Bridge. I tried very hard to remain focus and
I remember…
- How I cried bloody murder in the middle of the night when I woke up and realized that you were not sleeping by my side!
- Lantern Festival : the whole squatter area where we lived were decorated with array of colorful lanterns and well-litted. And the entire household would be filled with so much merriment and laughter!
- The joy of sitting around the long hot charcoal stove and twirling ‘kueh kapit’ moulds from morning till evening before Chinese New Year.
- Your delicious home-made kaya, rice dumplings and peanut puffs.
- The feast you never failed to cook during every festive season.
- Taking me with you on train to distribute your home-made cookies to your relatives and friends.
- Rearing fowls in the backyard.
- Rising up so early every morning to prepare breakfast for the family and the amount of household chores you had to do every day without a single complaint.
The stretch from Tsing Ma Bridge to Ting Kau Bridge is slightly easier, and this 5km stretch is dedicated to you for teaching me lessons of love at a very young age. You taught me what it means to be kind, generous, to have compassion and showed me examples of ‘Action speaks louder than words’ through your own determination, discipline and sheer hard work.
“Without love in the heart, life is like a sapless tree in a barren desert. What good is a body perfect in outer ways, if inwardly it is impaired by lack of love? With love in the heart, one lives. Without it, the body is but bone encased in skin.” – Tirukkural 8:78-80
20km – How the years have flown…
The marathon race course in Hong Kong is absolutely challenging with many elevated highways, flyovers, bridges and tunnels to tackle. Perhaps, it tells me very much about your life too – one that was filled with challenges, obstacles, ups and downs and yet you were able to overcome all of them with fortitude.
I reminiscence…
- When you shifted your house to Cheras, I cried and cried. I vowed that when I am able to afford a house, it has to be close to you. And I did!
- You raised all children well and did a great job in cloning them to be kind, compassionate and wise, just like you!
- Your children who gave me tuition on subjects when I couldn’t cope in my studies. They even took me along for outings!
- The small allowance that you sometimes gave me to spend on my favorite biscuits or candies at the old sundry shop down the street.
- How I fell into the drain and the moment I got up, I did not go home, I went straight to find you.
- The time when I got robbed and was in a mess, I came running to you first.
- The amount of support that you and your family gave to us when my father was ill and until he passed on and after that.
- Life was rocky after father’s passing but I always felt comforted by your presence.
- Days you took the public bus from Taman Lensen to visit me in Pudu, when I should be the one who should be visiting you. I was so ashamed!
- The tension I went through that day you fractured your hip but you survived a major operation. Bravo!
Having conquered 33km is a feat to me. This is dedicated to you for enduring some difficult moments with me and thus, teaching me lessons on endurance. I take this quote from Stephen Hoeller that said precisely of you: “A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear that resulted from an injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life.
If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.” You are that pearl!
34km – Memories are made of these…
I heaved a sigh of relief having made it this far! But wait, ahead of me lay the 4km Western Harbour Tunnel and I was running under the sea. Due to my vertigo, I detested running through tunnels. My vision turned blur and every figure seemed to be dancing in the air. My only solution is to keep my eyes on the ground and dare not held my head up.
I kept focus and I treasure…
- When I invited you on stage during my Wedding dinner to toast with us. My ex-boss then asked me if you were my grandma. I answered her proudly that you are my nanny and you are family!!
- Rejoicing with you on the arrivals of all your grandchildren and great grandchildren.
- Celebrating your birthdays year after year.
- The meals that John and I had enjoyed at your humble abode. It was not just home-cooked meals; it is the love and the warmth that we could feel deep in our hearts.
- Your photographic memory and mental alertness that never failed to impress me. Despite your age, you always made efforts to remember…you were able to give genuine comments about our hair-styles, dressing and even our weight!
- Your endless supply of energy, common sense, sound advice balanced by love.
- Your cheerfulness, smile, charisma, patience, wisdom, kindness, generosity, character.
- In many ways, you have shown me to value people, relationships and simplicity than accumulating material gains.
This 4km run through the Western Harbour Tunnel is for the lessons of gratitude that I’ve picked up from you over the years. Like the Chinese proverb said, “when eating bamboo sprouts, remember the person who planted them.” In your own quiet ways, you have often displayed the importance of gratitude, to be contented, to be thankful, to give thanks and not accumulate greed.
“Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.” – The Hausa of Nigeria.
37km – The last lecture…
After coming out from the Western Harbour Tunnel, I had completed 37km. The last 5km was the most difficult confronting the Rumsey Flyover which is winding and curving. Then there is the last killer at 39km: The Harcourt Flyover which I was not aware of. And as if all these were not stressful enough, I had to maneuver my way through the sea of runners made up of half and full marathoners.
But it was this final dash that is most significant to me as I reflected on Ah Neh’s last days and the one more lesson that she left behind for me.
I reflect and I thank you…
- How foolish was I to have thought that at this age, there’s nothing else left for me to learn from you. I was absolutely wrong!
- When I saw the pain and agony that you had to endure and struggle in order to make it for the first two days of Chinese New Year to see all your friends and relatives, you taught me a final lesson in strength and persistence.
- You fought hard and never gave up on things that matter most to you in life. You held dear to people you loved and cared even in your final hours.
- I thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve and care for you even though it was just for that few hours that few days. I know it paled in comparison to what you’ve done for me throughout these 48 years of my life.
- I thank you for appearing in my space, for inspiring me with your love and deeds, and leaving such valuable lessons for me at each milestone of my life and forever…
Your final lesson for me is one of persistence, perseverance and great strength. How right is Mr. Richard Devos when he said, “If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being the most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of perseverance. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down ninety eight times and get off the floor saying, “here comes number 99!”.
When I was approaching Victoria Park, there were so many supporters lining along the street to welcome and cheer us. The atmosphere was very heart-warming, one that we do not get to see or feel in Malaysia.
Memories of Ah Neh has driven me to higher ground…undefined emotions welled into my every pore and as I was approaching the finishing line, I looked up to the heavens above – the sun was shining so brightly with chilled wind softly caressing from behind. This lovely weather reminded me of the day we sent her home on 26th of January 2012.
I received my medal and whispered in my heart, “This one’s for you, my dear Ah Neh! Wherever you are…”
With that, I completed the distance of 42.195km of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon with a respectable time of 4hours 12mins 02seconds. Not a personal best for me, but I ran with my heart and I did my very best to one who has given so much of herself to me and to many others.
“There are those whose lives affect all others around them. Quietly touching one heart, who in turn, touches another…reaching out to ends further than they would ever know” – William Bradfield
Thank you for touching me so richly and profoundly!
I know I will miss you much but…
“One day in some far off place,
I will recognize your face.
Till then memories of you will remain,
You and I will meet again.”
Date/Time : 05-02-2012 / 6.45am
Temperature : 15-18C
Start : Nathan Road at Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Finish : Victoria Park, Causeway Bay.
Gloomy skies! And it drizzled somewhat that morning. But the spectacular ambience was more than enough to rev up the enthusiasm of the crowd of the 65,000 participants that gathered at Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui to run the 16th Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.
After lying off running a full marathon for more than 2 years, I was a little lost. I wasn’t sure how to put up a strategy to pace myself. However, I like the theme for this marathon ‘RUN WITH A REASON’. I am so sure of my own reason of running this marathon. It was to celebrate my 20th year of running and I am also dedicating this Run to someone close to my heart…
Forget about strategy. I will just run with my heart. Soon, I found myself drifted away with the multitude of runners, perhaps each having their own reasons for running too.About the Person this Run is dedicated to:
She came from ‘Tong San’ a small village in China, I was told. She raised 6 children of her own and I was the first baby she attempted baby-sitting. Not long after that, the whole neighborhood heard about her expertise and started bringing their babies to her! In a way, I had created a career for her in baby-sitting. My 2 younger sisters and a host of other children were raised by her good hands and her golden heart.
My childhood days were filled with loads of adventure and colorful memories all because of her existence.
Life moved on…but she was always there at each milestone of my life. She watched me grow from infancy to adolescence and in my mid-life.
I am indeed very blessed that our paths crossed.
First 15km – How our paths crossed…
My mom often told me that when I was a baby, I was a real difficult one. Therefore, I was passed from one baby-sitter to another because I cried non-stop especially at night!! (Which baby doesn’t cry?)
After 3 baby-sitters or so, I was handed to you.
The minute I was placed in your hands, I bonded with you instantly and this special bond lasted until today. How strange! It was as if I knew you before.
You spoke with a very unique dialect and yet I understood you perfectly. Sometimes I wonder too.
The minute I learned how to speak, I called you, “Ah Neh”. I don’t even know what that means but that name had stayed with you in this lifetime!
Soon this very difficult baby that you raised realized that you cradled her not just with your hands but with your heart, and she held close to you with love in her heart until today.
I recall…
- The number of times you took me to the doctor and nursed me when I was ill.
- Those sleepless nights you had to suffer with me when I had my asthma attack.
- The old-fashioned steam cake and red eggs made for me on my birthdays.
- Whenever I had a loose tooth, I’ll come running to you and you would extract it for me within seconds and without any pain!
- Evenings of sitting together with the family around the old Redifussion set, listening to bedtime stories.
- The chicken drumstick that you reserved for me instead of your own children during special occasions.
My first 15km is dedicated to you for teaching me lessons in serving as Martin Luther King Jr puts it so aptly to describe you, “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t need to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
After 15km – Those were the days…
By now, I’ve completed a very slow and cautious 15km running on the Tsing Ma Bridge. I tried very hard to remain focus and
I remember…
- How I cried bloody murder in the middle of the night when I woke up and realized that you were not sleeping by my side!
- Lantern Festival : the whole squatter area where we lived were decorated with array of colorful lanterns and well-litted. And the entire household would be filled with so much merriment and laughter!
- The joy of sitting around the long hot charcoal stove and twirling ‘kueh kapit’ moulds from morning till evening before Chinese New Year.
- Your delicious home-made kaya, rice dumplings and peanut puffs.
- The feast you never failed to cook during every festive season.
- Taking me with you on train to distribute your home-made cookies to your relatives and friends.
- Rearing fowls in the backyard.
- Rising up so early every morning to prepare breakfast for the family and the amount of household chores you had to do every day without a single complaint.
The stretch from Tsing Ma Bridge to Ting Kau Bridge is slightly easier, and this 5km stretch is dedicated to you for teaching me lessons of love at a very young age. You taught me what it means to be kind, generous, to have compassion and showed me examples of ‘Action speaks louder than words’ through your own determination, discipline and sheer hard work.
“Without love in the heart, life is like a sapless tree in a barren desert. What good is a body perfect in outer ways, if inwardly it is impaired by lack of love? With love in the heart, one lives. Without it, the body is but bone encased in skin.” – Tirukkural 8:78-80
20km – How the years have flown…
The marathon race course in Hong Kong is absolutely challenging with many elevated highways, flyovers, bridges and tunnels to tackle. Perhaps, it tells me very much about your life too – one that was filled with challenges, obstacles, ups and downs and yet you were able to overcome all of them with fortitude.
I reminiscence…
- When you shifted your house to Cheras, I cried and cried. I vowed that when I am able to afford a house, it has to be close to you. And I did!
- You raised all children well and did a great job in cloning them to be kind, compassionate and wise, just like you!
- Your children who gave me tuition on subjects when I couldn’t cope in my studies. They even took me along for outings!
- The small allowance that you sometimes gave me to spend on my favorite biscuits or candies at the old sundry shop down the street.
- How I fell into the drain and the moment I got up, I did not go home, I went straight to find you.
- The time when I got robbed and was in a mess, I came running to you first.
- The amount of support that you and your family gave to us when my father was ill and until he passed on and after that.
- Life was rocky after father’s passing but I always felt comforted by your presence.
- Days you took the public bus from Taman Lensen to visit me in Pudu, when I should be the one who should be visiting you. I was so ashamed!
- The tension I went through that day you fractured your hip but you survived a major operation. Bravo!
Having conquered 33km is a feat to me. This is dedicated to you for enduring some difficult moments with me and thus, teaching me lessons on endurance. I take this quote from Stephen Hoeller that said precisely of you: “A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear that resulted from an injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life.
If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.” You are that pearl!
34km – Memories are made of these…
I heaved a sigh of relief having made it this far! But wait, ahead of me lay the 4km Western Harbour Tunnel and I was running under the sea. Due to my vertigo, I detested running through tunnels. My vision turned blur and every figure seemed to be dancing in the air. My only solution is to keep my eyes on the ground and dare not held my head up.
I kept focus and I treasure…
- When I invited you on stage during my Wedding dinner to toast with us. My ex-boss then asked me if you were my grandma. I answered her proudly that you are my nanny and you are family!!
- Rejoicing with you on the arrivals of all your grandchildren and great grandchildren.
- Celebrating your birthdays year after year.
- The meals that John and I had enjoyed at your humble abode. It was not just home-cooked meals; it is the love and the warmth that we could feel deep in our hearts.
- Your photographic memory and mental alertness that never failed to impress me. Despite your age, you always made efforts to remember…you were able to give genuine comments about our hair-styles, dressing and even our weight!
- Your endless supply of energy, common sense, sound advice balanced by love.
- Your cheerfulness, smile, charisma, patience, wisdom, kindness, generosity, character.
- In many ways, you have shown me to value people, relationships and simplicity than accumulating material gains.
This 4km run through the Western Harbour Tunnel is for the lessons of gratitude that I’ve picked up from you over the years. Like the Chinese proverb said, “when eating bamboo sprouts, remember the person who planted them.” In your own quiet ways, you have often displayed the importance of gratitude, to be contented, to be thankful, to give thanks and not accumulate greed.
“Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.” – The Hausa of Nigeria.
37km – The last lecture…
After coming out from the Western Harbour Tunnel, I had completed 37km. The last 5km was the most difficult confronting the Rumsey Flyover which is winding and curving. Then there is the last killer at 39km: The Harcourt Flyover which I was not aware of. And as if all these were not stressful enough, I had to maneuver my way through the sea of runners made up of half and full marathoners.
But it was this final dash that is most significant to me as I reflected on Ah Neh’s last days and the one more lesson that she left behind for me.
I reflect and I thank you…
- How foolish was I to have thought that at this age, there’s nothing else left for me to learn from you. I was absolutely wrong!
- When I saw the pain and agony that you had to endure and struggle in order to make it for the first two days of Chinese New Year to see all your friends and relatives, you taught me a final lesson in strength and persistence.
- You fought hard and never gave up on things that matter most to you in life. You held dear to people you loved and cared even in your final hours.
- I thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve and care for you even though it was just for that few hours that few days. I know it paled in comparison to what you’ve done for me throughout these 48 years of my life.
- I thank you for appearing in my space, for inspiring me with your love and deeds, and leaving such valuable lessons for me at each milestone of my life and forever…
Your final lesson for me is one of persistence, perseverance and great strength. How right is Mr. Richard Devos when he said, “If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being the most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of perseverance. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down ninety eight times and get off the floor saying, “here comes number 99!”.
When I was approaching Victoria Park, there were so many supporters lining along the street to welcome and cheer us. The atmosphere was very heart-warming, one that we do not get to see or feel in Malaysia.
Memories of Ah Neh has driven me to higher ground…undefined emotions welled into my every pore and as I was approaching the finishing line, I looked up to the heavens above – the sun was shining so brightly with chilled wind softly caressing from behind. This lovely weather reminded me of the day we sent her home on 26th of January 2012. I received my medal and whispered in my heart, “This one’s for you, my dear Ah Neh! Wherever you are…”
With that, I completed the distance of 42.195km of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon with a respectable time of 4hours 12mins 02seconds. Not a personal best for me, but I ran with my heart and I did my very best to one who has given so much of herself to me and to many others.“There are those whose lives affect all others around them. Quietly touching one heart, who in turn, touches another…reaching out to ends further than they would ever know” – William Bradfield
Thank you for touching me so richly and profoundly!
I know I will miss you much but…
“One day in some far off place,
I will recognize your face.
Till then memories of you will remain,
You and I will meet again.”
Friday, January 27, 2012
A tribute to my Ah Neh
God saw you getting tired,
and a cure was not to be.
So He puts His Arms around you,
and whispered, "Come to Me!"
Your golden heart has stopped beating
Your hard working hands are finally at rest
My years of growing up with you have been such a blessing
You are my one and only dearest nanny, and the best of the best!
You had lived well, laughed often and loved much...
From you, I've gained and learned so much.
I'm sure you'll be blessed for the many lives you've touched.
One day in some far off place,
I'm sure I will recognize your face.
So I won't be saying goodbye to you,
For I know you and I will meet again.
Until then...Rest In Peace, Be Free, Be Well & Be Happy!
As for me, I will live well and move on with your love and enthusiasm. I will always reserve a special place for you in my heart. And I will miss you dearly.
(Nanny whom I fondly named 'Ah Neh' the minute I learned how to speak, went Home to her Maker on 25th January 2012, having lived to a ripe old age of 99. She had lived life to the fullest...inspiring & touching many lives. She was my earliest and greatest teacher of all time. She had never receive any education...but from her, I've learned that one does not need any degree, diploma or PHD to teach and inspire lives. She had taught me so many values of life which I will treasure and engrave in my heart.
A woman who was so full of love and compassion, she lived by Lao Tzu's principle : Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires. And it had served her well for 99 long years!)
and a cure was not to be.
So He puts His Arms around you,
and whispered, "Come to Me!"
Your golden heart has stopped beating
Your hard working hands are finally at rest
My years of growing up with you have been such a blessing
You are my one and only dearest nanny, and the best of the best!
You had lived well, laughed often and loved much...
From you, I've gained and learned so much.
I'm sure you'll be blessed for the many lives you've touched.
One day in some far off place,
I'm sure I will recognize your face.
So I won't be saying goodbye to you,
For I know you and I will meet again.
Until then...Rest In Peace, Be Free, Be Well & Be Happy!
As for me, I will live well and move on with your love and enthusiasm. I will always reserve a special place for you in my heart. And I will miss you dearly.
(Nanny whom I fondly named 'Ah Neh' the minute I learned how to speak, went Home to her Maker on 25th January 2012, having lived to a ripe old age of 99. She had lived life to the fullest...inspiring & touching many lives. She was my earliest and greatest teacher of all time. She had never receive any education...but from her, I've learned that one does not need any degree, diploma or PHD to teach and inspire lives. She had taught me so many values of life which I will treasure and engrave in my heart.
A woman who was so full of love and compassion, she lived by Lao Tzu's principle : Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires. And it had served her well for 99 long years!)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The year that was...
I've not written for so long...
But before I greet another new year, I would like to look back, take stock, reflect and just be thankful for all the blessings that was bestowed to me. It has been a year of making mistakes and learning valuable lessons. Sometimes I made the same mistakes but I learnt different lessons. For that, I'm still thankful.
Serving & finding meaning...
It is true "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear". Sometimes they appear even when we are not ready, and leave behind lessons for another day. Working in Hospis had brought many teachers to me, each sharing a truth that guided me on this journey. From them, I learned about serving from the heart...
I no longer question whether or not, patients benefit from my efforts, appreciate them, or even understand them; it is irrelevant. It is the elements that make life meaningful that is so important.
I serve because that's what I do...it's how I find meaning.
I've learned that I do not have to be a doctor in order to serve. The opportunity to be of service to others is endless. A phone call answered in a pleasant tone, taking time to listen, helping an elderly cross the road : an entire life can be spent in service.
I serve because that's what I do and I'm happy doing it.
Being grateful
Gratitude is something that has been emphasized to me time and again. It's easy to feel grateful when something good comes our way, but what about being grateful for hardship, for poverty, for cancer?
"The beauty of the sunrise comes only after the darkest part of the night". Sometimes the illness or misfortune is an opportunity to learn or to teach and an opportunity to be grateful for the sunrise that was certain to follow.
Without the 'shortness of breath', one would not have the opportunity to experience a depth of life that health had not.
Running in the present moment...
Some find their present moment amid nature, others in the peace of silence or through meditation. Many find it from clearing of the mind and sinking into the quiet of the soul.
I found my present moment through the joy of running and fellowship with friends.
Yes, I am still running though not competing too much. But that doesn't make me a lesser runner.
In May this year, John & I raced our 1st race of the year in Kuala Kangsar.
I then proceeded to attempt my 1st Half Marathon (after a year's break) in June SCKLIM, wearing a friend's bib no. I clocked a poor 2hr 02mins, losing it to Sofian Triathlete!! The only consolation was I did a personal best for my friend, Eleanor.
In July, John took 28 friends and together we ran the Extreme Grassland Marathon in Inner Monggolia. Agnes Tee & I created history and made many of our running mates happy when both of us took the wrong route and came in last and second last respectively in this race!
In August, we took a mini holiday in Hatyai and ran the Hatyai Nature Run where I clocked 56 mins for the Quarter Marathon.
In September, we ran the Heritage Taiping Half Marathon in the rain. This time, I managed to improve my timing in 1hr 54mins.
In October, I registered for Adidas King Of The Road simply because I wanted to run the NPE 16.8km. It was quite a challenge with the rolling highway as race route. I returned in an hour 38mins.
We ended with the Nibong Tebal Inter-State which covers Nibong Tebal, Parit Buntar and Kedah. I clocked 1hr 59mins in this 21.9km race.
We had chosen to participate in the races above mainly because of friends and the bonding. The journey with them had made running more meaningful and exciting!
A Blessed New Year!
As I approach another new year, I hope to be able to stay fit and healthy, to be able to continue running, learning, growing and to love and live in the present moment.
And as we face the challenges and joys of 2012, I'll like to close with this old Irish prayer for everyone:
"May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always on your back.
May the sunshine warm your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His Hand."
But before I greet another new year, I would like to look back, take stock, reflect and just be thankful for all the blessings that was bestowed to me. It has been a year of making mistakes and learning valuable lessons. Sometimes I made the same mistakes but I learnt different lessons. For that, I'm still thankful.
Serving & finding meaning...
It is true "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear". Sometimes they appear even when we are not ready, and leave behind lessons for another day. Working in Hospis had brought many teachers to me, each sharing a truth that guided me on this journey. From them, I learned about serving from the heart...
I no longer question whether or not, patients benefit from my efforts, appreciate them, or even understand them; it is irrelevant. It is the elements that make life meaningful that is so important.
I serve because that's what I do...it's how I find meaning.
I've learned that I do not have to be a doctor in order to serve. The opportunity to be of service to others is endless. A phone call answered in a pleasant tone, taking time to listen, helping an elderly cross the road : an entire life can be spent in service.
I serve because that's what I do and I'm happy doing it.
Being grateful
Gratitude is something that has been emphasized to me time and again. It's easy to feel grateful when something good comes our way, but what about being grateful for hardship, for poverty, for cancer?
"The beauty of the sunrise comes only after the darkest part of the night". Sometimes the illness or misfortune is an opportunity to learn or to teach and an opportunity to be grateful for the sunrise that was certain to follow.
Without the 'shortness of breath', one would not have the opportunity to experience a depth of life that health had not.
Running in the present moment...
Some find their present moment amid nature, others in the peace of silence or through meditation. Many find it from clearing of the mind and sinking into the quiet of the soul.
I found my present moment through the joy of running and fellowship with friends.
Yes, I am still running though not competing too much. But that doesn't make me a lesser runner.
In May this year, John & I raced our 1st race of the year in Kuala Kangsar.
I then proceeded to attempt my 1st Half Marathon (after a year's break) in June SCKLIM, wearing a friend's bib no. I clocked a poor 2hr 02mins, losing it to Sofian Triathlete!! The only consolation was I did a personal best for my friend, Eleanor.
In July, John took 28 friends and together we ran the Extreme Grassland Marathon in Inner Monggolia. Agnes Tee & I created history and made many of our running mates happy when both of us took the wrong route and came in last and second last respectively in this race!
In August, we took a mini holiday in Hatyai and ran the Hatyai Nature Run where I clocked 56 mins for the Quarter Marathon.
In September, we ran the Heritage Taiping Half Marathon in the rain. This time, I managed to improve my timing in 1hr 54mins.
In October, I registered for Adidas King Of The Road simply because I wanted to run the NPE 16.8km. It was quite a challenge with the rolling highway as race route. I returned in an hour 38mins.
We ended with the Nibong Tebal Inter-State which covers Nibong Tebal, Parit Buntar and Kedah. I clocked 1hr 59mins in this 21.9km race.
We had chosen to participate in the races above mainly because of friends and the bonding. The journey with them had made running more meaningful and exciting!
A Blessed New Year!
As I approach another new year, I hope to be able to stay fit and healthy, to be able to continue running, learning, growing and to love and live in the present moment.
And as we face the challenges and joys of 2012, I'll like to close with this old Irish prayer for everyone:
"May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always on your back.
May the sunshine warm your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His Hand."
Friday, October 14, 2011
About connecting the dots, love, loss and death...
Sharing from Steve Jobs' speech...
New York: I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/stay-hungry-stay-foolish-steve-jobs-famous-speech-139029&cp
New York: I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/stay-hungry-stay-foolish-steve-jobs-famous-speech-139029&cp
Saturday, May 21, 2011
感谢
I have every reason to be grateful this week.
On Thursday, we took 18 guests from the Day Care out to visit the Prime Minister official residence in Seri Perdana, Putrajaya.
The morning didn't start off very well as one of my colleagues got really upset with me for not informing her about the outing. She showed her 'black face' not only to me but also our guests. (It's our guests because my guests are also her guests).
The 'old' me will probably see me trying to defend myself and we'll end up arguing over trivialities! That morning, I am so glad I was able to hold my peace and walk away from her. I told myself that my focus should always be on our guests, and I will not allow anything or anyone affect my mood and my day, especially when dealing with people who are unwell.
Perhaps, because of that, good things happened...
I am grateful to Soo Chien from Origins who sponsored our nurses with products from Origins on Nurses' Day. I don't know her but when I called, she just said YES to my request and even packed everything nicely for me!
I am grateful to Valentine from Redbox for providing a karaoke room and buffet dinner for the nurses to let their hair down during the nurses' day celebration.
I am grateful to have met a kind soul, Evonne from Mayflower who kindly got her company to fully sponsor us a 44-seater coach complete with a guide and water for our guests.
I am grateful to the management from the Prime Minister's office for being considerate and bypassing some of the house rules in order to facilitate our guests.
I am grateful to the manager of Seri Perdana for sponsoring our guests lunch at the banquet hall. It was a good lunch...with meals that are not oily or too spicy. Guests enjoyed it. Thank you for being so thoughtful.
I am grateful for all the volunteers who turned out to help. Volunteer drivers who had to pick extra guests on that day. One volunteer took leave to come and support us. Another volunteer spent time to prepare some finger food for us to take on the trip.
I am grateful for a supportive husband who voluntarily took the day off to help pick guests and help with the photography on that day.
I am grateful for all the support and help rendered to me by Dr. Felicia, physiotherapist Raymond, nurse Mastura and pharmacist Aidah.
I am grateful to our guests for teaching me patience, modesty and the value of life. For allowing me to learn something new from them every time we met. For showing me their grace and gratitude.
Are these reasons not good enough for me to be grateful this week? But then, there are more...
I am grateful for all that has happened to me in my life. I am grateful for every opportunity I have had to discover more about myself - each event has shaped me in to the person I am.
It has taken me a long while to realise that all the choices I have made in my life have been designed to train me for my future. Each time I have had the privilege on making a decision - right or wrong, on an option presented to me - at that point in time - that was the lesson that I had to learn.
I am extremely grateful for all the people who have appeared in my space - for their designated purpose - and the lessons they have taught me. The ability to think, remember, analyse, learn and grow from every experience is what I most appreciate. I am thankful that I have been presented with experiences and knowledge of others that have helped me to realise my true potential - and to encourage me to grow and improve.
In hindsight - every obstacle and suffering has shaped me - in ways that I had not imagine until I started looking at things differently. I have developed a greater understanding and awareness of my actions and reactions, of my limiting beliefs and I am so thankful for the opportunity to develop this in to a more positive life - each experience has occurred to led me on a path of greater understanding not only of myself - but of others. It is a good feeling.
I am grateful for the ability to choose my reality, and what is true for me. My gratitude extends to all the people I have encountered who have created an experience in my life to learn from - even the negative painful experiences have allowed me to discover inner strength and awareness. I have been able to look inside myself to rediscover ways to live my life that present greater value to all around me.
And now all I can say is 感谢!
On Thursday, we took 18 guests from the Day Care out to visit the Prime Minister official residence in Seri Perdana, Putrajaya.
The morning didn't start off very well as one of my colleagues got really upset with me for not informing her about the outing. She showed her 'black face' not only to me but also our guests. (It's our guests because my guests are also her guests).
The 'old' me will probably see me trying to defend myself and we'll end up arguing over trivialities! That morning, I am so glad I was able to hold my peace and walk away from her. I told myself that my focus should always be on our guests, and I will not allow anything or anyone affect my mood and my day, especially when dealing with people who are unwell.
Perhaps, because of that, good things happened...
I am grateful to Soo Chien from Origins who sponsored our nurses with products from Origins on Nurses' Day. I don't know her but when I called, she just said YES to my request and even packed everything nicely for me!
I am grateful to Valentine from Redbox for providing a karaoke room and buffet dinner for the nurses to let their hair down during the nurses' day celebration.
I am grateful to have met a kind soul, Evonne from Mayflower who kindly got her company to fully sponsor us a 44-seater coach complete with a guide and water for our guests.
I am grateful to the management from the Prime Minister's office for being considerate and bypassing some of the house rules in order to facilitate our guests.
I am grateful to the manager of Seri Perdana for sponsoring our guests lunch at the banquet hall. It was a good lunch...with meals that are not oily or too spicy. Guests enjoyed it. Thank you for being so thoughtful.
I am grateful for all the volunteers who turned out to help. Volunteer drivers who had to pick extra guests on that day. One volunteer took leave to come and support us. Another volunteer spent time to prepare some finger food for us to take on the trip.
I am grateful for a supportive husband who voluntarily took the day off to help pick guests and help with the photography on that day.
I am grateful for all the support and help rendered to me by Dr. Felicia, physiotherapist Raymond, nurse Mastura and pharmacist Aidah.
I am grateful to our guests for teaching me patience, modesty and the value of life. For allowing me to learn something new from them every time we met. For showing me their grace and gratitude.
Are these reasons not good enough for me to be grateful this week? But then, there are more...
I am grateful for all that has happened to me in my life. I am grateful for every opportunity I have had to discover more about myself - each event has shaped me in to the person I am.
It has taken me a long while to realise that all the choices I have made in my life have been designed to train me for my future. Each time I have had the privilege on making a decision - right or wrong, on an option presented to me - at that point in time - that was the lesson that I had to learn.
I am extremely grateful for all the people who have appeared in my space - for their designated purpose - and the lessons they have taught me. The ability to think, remember, analyse, learn and grow from every experience is what I most appreciate. I am thankful that I have been presented with experiences and knowledge of others that have helped me to realise my true potential - and to encourage me to grow and improve.
In hindsight - every obstacle and suffering has shaped me - in ways that I had not imagine until I started looking at things differently. I have developed a greater understanding and awareness of my actions and reactions, of my limiting beliefs and I am so thankful for the opportunity to develop this in to a more positive life - each experience has occurred to led me on a path of greater understanding not only of myself - but of others. It is a good feeling.
I am grateful for the ability to choose my reality, and what is true for me. My gratitude extends to all the people I have encountered who have created an experience in my life to learn from - even the negative painful experiences have allowed me to discover inner strength and awareness. I have been able to look inside myself to rediscover ways to live my life that present greater value to all around me.
And now all I can say is 感谢!
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