Counting Blessings After A Late Lunch

Had a late lunch today at 4 plus. Was feeling very hungry but at the same time feeling very thankful for the blessings that I have:

1. To have a warm plate of food served when I was very hungry, to experience the state of hunger once in a long while, unlike the people who are dying of hunger everyday in other parts of the world.

2. To have money to pay for my food when some people are going hungry and struggling to fulfill their basic needs, there are people who go around eating leftovers and elderly earning just few dollars a day.

3. To be able to find food in the vicinity, unlike some countries where you need to drive hours just to find a place to buy groceries.

4. To have the health to eat normally, to be able to choose and enjoy what I want to eat, where there are people who have to be fed through tube or have strict diet to follow or simply have no appetite at all due to treatment/ illness.

We sometimes take all the blessings we have for granted, as though they are entitlements, and then go find other reasons to be unhappy and make ourselves feel sucky about living in Singapore. The negativity is all around and it is easy to get sucked into the cycle of complaining, resentment and unhappiness.

Just like when the haze comes, we then realise that having clean air is not an entitlement, but a blessing. Let's be thankful for what we have, only then will we truly be happy.

This too shall pass

Bad times, good times, they will all pass and what we are left with are memories.

If Monday is the most dreadful day of the week, it will pass 24 hours later and soon the weekend will be here. Then, the weekend will pass and Monday will be here again.

If you are experiencing a rough patch lately, remember that bad times don't last forever, this too shall pass and you will see the light at the end of tunnel. Hang in there !

If you are experiencing good times, treasure every moment and derive as much joy as you can out of it, because like Life, someday it will pass too. Live in the moment and make every moment count.

We are all here on a temporary journey, make it a good and meaningful one.

Wishing all a fantastic week ahead !

Be Happy Even When Life Seems Unfair

I ordered Saba Fish for lunch and sat near the counter, then this lady came along and ordered the same dish but her fish was like much bigger. Wah...angry liao...why so unfair one? Why her fish bigger than mine when we paid the same price?

How do we define fairness? In Life, we win some, we lose some, nobody can be a forever winner. If her fish is bigger than mine, maybe mine is tastier than hers? Maybe she had it better than me this time round, but my life is full of other blessings that she doesn't have?

Life can throw us many reason to be unhappy, often shifting your focus to smallest things and make you feel disadvantaged in some ways. We should take a step back and look out of that angle and appreciate what we are blessed with, in many other aspects. Also, wishing people well is a great way to diffuse the negativity that comes from feeling envy and jealousy. I choose to think this way, "this lady has a bigger fish, I am happy for her".

Keep the thoughts positive, love the people around you and Life will love you back ! Have a fabulous weekend ahead :)

Everyone Can Make A Difference

All of us want to see a better world, there's no doubt about that. The only problem is that some people see it as the responsibilities of others to achieve that or they have no confidence that they can make a difference.

The recent ad on how a 65 year old hawker gives free food meal vouchers to poor elderly to redeem free food at her stall is a fine example of how ordinary people can make a difference to others in their own unique ways. According to her, she does not have much skills nor high education but she feels that she can still give back to help others, through this initiative.

I have a friend who collects donated preloved clothings and accessories and sells them on Carousell and donate what she earns to purchase groceries for Children Homes, Old Folks Home and VWOs. Through her efforts, she helped donors clear their stuff and do good at the same time, while the beneficiaries also get a fresh supply of groceries. Maybe app developers out there can build this wonderful concept into an online marketplace where all proceeds go to charity? Her group can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1419285581656879

Ordinary folks can achieve extraordinary feats, the most important factor is to believe in yourself. We are all born with our unique strength and talent, make it count and add value to the people around us. Cheers :)

The Most Precious Gift for Our Loved Ones - Our Time

What is the most precious gift we can give to our loved ones? It is not money (not saying money is not precious but it is not the most precious). It is your time. With every passing minute we spend, we have one minute less in this world. Some people can still make a fortune (more money) as they age but no one has created more time.

If you are thinking of what you can give to your parents, spouse, children or friends, don't worry that you can't afford anything expensive, because all these material gifts are not as precious as your time. When you give your loved ones your time, you are giving a part of your life to them. Similarly, when our loved ones give us their time, they are giving us something very precious to them, so treasure it and make it worthy.

When we can all understand how precious time is, don't waste them and give them unnecessarily to anger, resentment, sadness, worries and unhappiness. Fill your time with positivity and happiness, it can be done when you make a conscious effort.

Wishing all a happy and meaningful weekend ahead !

See Our Fortune Through the Misfortune of Others

We often see the fortune of ourselves through the misfortune of others.

The man who complained he had no money for a nice pair of sport shoes realised how lucky he is when he saw someone with no feet.

The parent who complained how naughty or how badly her child performed in school realised how blessed she is to have a healthy child when she saw another parent with a special needs child.

The youth who was so unhappy because he could not afford a Japanese buffet dinner soon realised how blessed he is when he saw that another family's wish to have a MacDonald meal.

Open your heart kindness, you see how blessed you are when you are to give to the less fortunate.

Tomorrow is Monday, the day we dread going to work, is the day that some may not get to see, is the day that some may be going for surgeries and trearment, is the day where someone is struggling to keep their stomach full or even to stay alive. If you are not like one of them, you are blessed. Make full use of this opportunity to live and to enjoy life by being happy :)

Run Your Own Race and Be the Best You Can Be

Was ordering my lunch when the stall owner asked if I wanted parsley....that got me thinking...

Some people love to eat parsley while some people (like myself) totally reject it. Some people love spicy food while others couldn't handle it. Some people are born with the potential to compete in the Olympics while others are struggling to pass their fitness tests. Some people are born with perfect eyesight till old age whereas some people have poor vision since young. Some people have the passion to cook while others are more interested in analysing the stock market. Some graduate to start their own business while others prefer to work in an office environment.

The bottomline is we are all made different and no two person has the exact same characters, talents, interest and life experiences. If we are meant to be unique and different, why do we want to compare with others and make ourselves unhappy, just because we are not blessed in certain ways or have not achieved certain things in life? When we can accept our uniqueness and focus on what we are blessed with, then we will truly be happy. Run your own race, compete only with yourself and let your uniqueness shine !

"I WANT TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING TODAY"

Ever woke up on an off day/ weekend with so much time in the day to spare, only to laze off, indulge in some aimless activities and then realise that it's evening and soon to be night time? The day just pass by without you knowing it.

To prevent this from happening and to make your day more productive, we must make a conscious effort to make the mind work in our favor. To prevent the mind from going into auto-pilot mode and engaging in unconstructive activities, e.g. aimless surfing of web/ social media/ youtube, continuous gaming, long hours watching TV, we can repeat this phrase in our head, "I want to achieve something today".

You need not specify what is the something you wish to achieve because your logical mind can take control and tell you what are the possible achievements. Every time you feel like lazing off and going back to that auto-pilot mode, you can repeat this phrase to bring yourself back and reignite the momentum. You will find that your day will be spent in a more productive way with less regrets that you could have spent it better.

With social media, addictive games coming into our lives, we may soon get swept away and end up losing precious time to do something more important. Every minute of our lives is a gift, there will be time to relax but there must also be time to achieve and bring value to the people around us. Ultimately, Life is a balance.

Wishing all fellow Singapore friends a Happy National Day and may you enjoy a fun holiday ahead :)

Be Safe, Be Responsible while playing Pokemon Go

The Pokemon Craze is here !

I hope that with the popularity of the game, it can help to achieve the following:

1. Get people moving around to explore different parts of Singapore. There are many lovely places in Singapore, not just high rise buildings and shopping malls. It will be good if the players can visit the nature reserves, the parks, the farms and many nice areas that they have not explored previously, and at the same time get a good workout.

2. Forge friendships among strangers. We build walls with strangers and are less willing to give kindness because of that. If the game could forge friendships among players who have the same agenda, then maybe we will change our perception towards strangers and want to help one another more. Our community will be a better place if people are more willing to give kindness and help one another.

3. Brings Happiness. The magical effect of computer games is the ability to bring happiness to the players. If you are besieged by issues in life, I hope the game brings some comfort and happiness to you, be it a temporary relief. Happiness can inspire positivity that you need to tide through the difficult period.

At the same time, I hope that the Pokemon game does not make players endanger their lives in any ways, like being so glued to the phone screen and being oblivious to the surroundings, esp. crossing the road or walking down the stairs. I also hope that players do not become so addicted that they lose interest in studies or in work.

As fellow games/ Pokemon trainers, I think we can help keep a lookout and give gentle reminders if we realise that the people around us are under the negative influence of the game. Let's all enjoy the game while being safe and responsible, cheers :)

The Sweetest Durian Generation

How do we see our youth today? Arrogant? Full of themselves? Cannot take hardship? Over-protected? Whiny? I read about the labels people put on our youth, like the durian generation, whereby the parents are over-protective husks and the kids are the soft jelly durian inside. A few days earlier, as I queuing to make payment in NTUC, an Uncle in front of me was sharing with another middle aged Auntie on how ill-mannered the youths are today. He kept shaking his head through their entire conversation.

Everyone is entitled to his/ her own comments and I have no wish to debate who's right and who's wrong. We can throw all kinds of labels on our youth but we should never ever give up on them and stop believing in them, because giving up on them is like giving up on our future. If you don't believe in them, have no faith in their potential and capabilities, then the future to you will be bleak and gloomy. The youth of today will be the leaders of tomorrow, believe in them and they will reward you handsomely. If there are areas that you think they could further improve, please be patient to guide them and bring out the best in them. Criticising them and putting them down is not helping their confidence nor reaping any good out of these negative actions.

The youth of today may have it easier in terms of fulfillment of material needs but they face intense competition and stress, starting from at a young age. I forsee the age which children are being exposed to competition and stress will get lower and lower, maybe learning in future will start before the child is born. During my time, there are no pre-schools and I never attended nursery either. My childhood is all about playing with cousins, friends, in the playground or in schools. In this aspect, I don't think the children of today had it easier than me when I was a child. I am supportive of learning at a young age but it must be an enjoyable process such that the kids enjoy learning as much as they enjoy playing.

Being a durian is not a bad thing because it is one of Singaporean's favorite food. There are many grades of durians but I believe every grade has it's values, even the cheapest grade can be made into durian cakes and be enjoyed by many. Let's believe that the youth of today have the ability to take us much further than where we thought we would go. Let's await the pleasant surprises they have in store for us. Let's believe that the future will be brightened and sweetened by the durian generation :)