Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Catch and Turn

Very often, I'm angry for no reason. Just feel like picking up a fight with someone. Nobody offended me or anything. Nothing bad happened either. Just irritated for no reason. Why do we do that? Imbalanced horomones?

Well, maybe there were some little things that didn't happen in the way I expected which made me upset. Just some silly things. Maybe I'm too self-centered.

Thanks to Buddhism, now I learned when that happens, first I need to catch myself doing it. Then turn that frustration or irritation into something calm and positive. The hard part is to constantly be aware of the condition of your mind. Sometimes I can only catch that after the storm is gone and the damage is done. However, by practicing this overtime, one should be able to catch it as soon as such irritation appears. The goal is to eventually be free of frustraion, irritaition, jealousy, hatred and all kinds of negative feelings we human beings possess.

I know it sounds difficult, but it's possible by practicing overtime. The key again is consistency. Never give up.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Life is about choices

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I'd be twins!" He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don' t get it. You can' t be positive all the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, each morning I wake up and say to myself 'Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right. It isn't that easy." I protested.

"Yes it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how you live life." I reflected on what Michael said.

Soon thereafter, I left the big enterprise that I had worked in for years to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often though about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off 60 feet from a communications tower.

After l8 hours of surgery, and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "... the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the operation room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, l read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me" said Michael. "She asked me if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I said. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled", 'Gravity'" Over their laughter, I told them, 'I'm choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day we have a choice to live fully. Attitude is everything.

(Note: Again I got this from an email that did not note the original source. If anyone finds out, please let me know. I just loved it! Hope you do too.)

Fleeting Life

The sudden death of the actress Natasha Richardson reminded me again how fleeting life and everything in the world can be. I wasn't familiar with her, but her husband Liam Neeson is one of my favorite actors. A successful actress, the mother of two children, a lovely woman left behind everyone who love her and everything she loved, only at age of 45.


Oprah Winfrey :
"I just want to say how deeply saddened I am, we all are, by the sudden passing of actress Natasha Richardson yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Liam Neeson , their two sons, the rest of their family and friends. Yet another reminder of how fleeting life can be and how precious. We need to value every moment."
(Source from: http://omg.yahoo.com/news/lindsay-lohan-meryl-streep-remember-nat)

We tend to think that we all live childhood, teenage, adulthood, then old age; that we all live today and will be living tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and so on. But life has always been suggesting otherwise. Your life or mine can be ended anytime today or tomorrow. When you leave home in the morning, there's no guarantee that you will return at night. That's how fragile and short life can be.

Just like Oprah said, knowing this truth of life makes us treasure today, right this moment. Makes us appreciate what we have and who we have in our lives, each day, each moment. Urges us to seize every moment we can to work hard towards our goals.

How lucky we are to live this wonderful day...


P.S. I'm inviting fellow bloggers to correct my English. I'm sure there're a lot of errors in my writing, or maybe just unnatural English phrases and sentences. I'll really appreciate it if any of you are interested in doing so. I can tell that I'm losing my English these days, especially for the speaking part. I get no one to talk to in here! Gotta find some native friends...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Interview with God

"Come in," God said to me, "so, you would like to interview Me?"

"If you have the time," I said.

He smiled through His beard and said: "My time is called eternity and is enough to do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?"

"None that are new to you. What's the one thing that surprises you most about mankind?"

He answered: "That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they never had never lived."

His hands took mine and we were silent. After a long period, I said, "May I ask you another question?"

He replied with a smile.

"As a Father, what would you ask your children to do for the new year?"

"To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved.

To learn that it takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to destroy it.

To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but who they have in their lives.

To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. There will be others better or worse than they are.

To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

To learn that they should control their attitudes, otherwise their attitudes will control them.

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.

To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

To learn that there are persons that love them dearly, but simply do not know how to show their feelings.

To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.

To learn that while at times they may be entitled to be upset, that does not give them the right to upset those around them.

To learn that great dreams do not require great wings, but a landing gear to achieve.

To learn that true friends are scarce, he/she who has found one has found a true treasure.

To learn that they are masters of what they keep to themselves and slaves of what they say.

To learn that they shall reap what they plant; if they plant gossip they will harvest intrigues, if they plant love they will harvest happiness.

To learn that true happiness is not to achieve their goals but to learn to be satisfied with what they already achieved.

To learn that happiness is a decision. They decide to be happy with what they are and have, or die from envy and jealousy of what they lack.

To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different.

To learn that those who are honest with themselves without considering the consequences go far in life.

To learn that even though they may think they have nothing to give, when a friend cries with them, they find the strength to appease the pain.

To learn that by trying to hold on to love ones, they very quickly push them away; and by letting go of those they love, they will be side by side forever.”

(Note: I got this piece from an email sent to me and I do not know the original source. I looked the internet but found tons of similar sources. This is great and so true anyways. Hope you enjoy it!)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Umm...

The other day I dreamed of myself being pregnant...Too bad I don't remember all the details.

Weird...

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Another Strange Dream

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Seems like we were all visiting some rural place and staying in a old dirty looking motel. I was sleeping in my room. Then I felt someone pressed his lips against mine but I couldn't tell it was a dream or real. I was too tired to wake up. I was thinking it must be a dream, but it just felt too real for a dream. I finally woke up and realized it was not a dream. He was laying next to me telling me that he was wondering if I wanted this too. Seems like he sneaked into my room while I was sleeping. I thought I should've locked the door. I said no. I was still too sleepy to completely be awake and be freaked out. He stayed on my bed for a while, maybe to see if I might change my mind. Then he got up. As he was putting his clothes on, I kind of didn't want him to go.

After he left, I couldn't fall back to sleep. All of sudden, I started seeing shadows inside of the room. I thought it must be a dream. But they kept showing up. Then I saw shadows showing up outside of the window as well. I was terribly scared. Finally, I decided to go visit his room. As I was getting dressed, he opened the door again asking me if I wanted to join them to get something to eat and maybe just leave this place from there. I was disappointed and cranky. I said no. He left again. I had to stay in that creepy room by myself.
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God knows why I'm dreaming of him again. A weired dream that had dreams inside of the dream. It felt so real that I could only realize it was really a dream after I woke up.

Well, hope I don't develop the special ability to see ghosts!

Monday, March 2, 2009

The One of a Lifetime

Some people say that everyone has the one of lifetime who's destined to be bonded with. Others say it's like winning a lottery to find that destined one, and it won't happen to most people. Instead they'll more likely to marry someone who's not the righ one. Some also say that the first time he met his wife, he knew immediately that she were the one.

For me, this is all confusing. Where should I look? What should I be hoping for? Should I not think about it at all since some people say that destined one will appear when you least expected.

I know, the right attitude towards this is to live and enjoy my life, not to think about it too much, and eventually he'll appear. Will I know it if it does happen? I have no idea. What if he will never do? Is that a possiblity too? I guess so. There's no guarantees in life. Will I end up empty handed in the ending days of my life? Guess that's totally possible too.

Well, just wondering... We all need to be in love. That's for sure.