After two decades of schooling, this is one of the most meaningful.
"We can be seduced by publicity, made to think that in order to be happy we must buy and use a highly advertised product. Doesn't television thrive on publicity? Those with power can use clever, psychological tricks and play upon our weaknesses and brokenness in order to attract us to use their way of thinking. We can be manipulated into illusion.
Our danger is to think that happiness will come outside us, from the things we possess or the power of our group, and not from within us, from the inner sanctuary of our being. How quickly we human beings fall into illusion, the illusion that we are the center of the universe- or the extreme opposite, that we are nobody. And how easily we imagine if we are part of this or that group or gain more money, all will be well. We can all be seduced by false prophets who promise happiness. But when we submit to these illusions, very quickly we lose our true selves and end up falling into a paralysis of anger and despair. Depression can overcome us. We are ashamed that reality and illusion do not coincide, ashamed even of our existence.
Happiness is accepting and choosing life, not just submitting grudgingly to it. It comes when we choose ti be who we are, to be ourselves, at this present moment of our lives; we choose life as it is, with all its joys, pains and conflicts. Happiness is living and seeking the truth, together with others in community and assuming responsibility for our lives and the lives of others. It is accepting the fact that we are not infinite but can enter into a personal relationship with the Infinite, discovering the universal truth that transcends all cultures: Each person is unique and sacred. We are not just seeking to be what others want us to be or to conform to the expectations of family, friends or local ways of being. We have chosen to be who we are, with all that is beautiful and broken in us. We do not slip away from life and live in a world of illusions, dreams or nightmares. We become present to reality and to life so that we are free to live according to our personal conscience, our scared sanctuary, where love resides within us and we see others as they are in the depth of their being. We are not letting the light of life within us to be crushed, and we are crushing it in others. On the contrary, all we want is for the light of others to shine."
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Life and death, a matter of just one breath.
That night, I thought was gonna die.
I felt cold. I was trembling. I couldn't breathe.
What on earth was happening to me?
"I think I need to go to the hospital."
The next moment i know, i was in a cab and on my way to NUH.
On the cab, a million things went through my mind.
How helpless my granny must have felt on that afternoon she left,
and yet we weren't there for her.
How many things i have not done for my family,
my friends and my love if i were to die that night.
Eyes overflowed.
Doctor said it was UTI. I heaved a sigh of relief.
Felt better after taking the medicine and decided to go to school the next day.
It was a mistake.
Fifteen minutes into the lesson, i felt a spurt of blood gush into my brain.
I felt like i was about to faint, I couldn't breathe in ease again.
I left the lesson halfway. Called for the cab that never came.
After agonizing for half an hour, xj came running towards me and asked i was okay.
He started calling for the cab again and he got it within 5 minutes.
(Seems like nothing ever goes well with havoc yc -_-)
For the next 2 days, it was purely rest at home for me..
When i was sick, movement was a problem
because i didn't know when i'd feel giddy and faint.
When i was sick, breathing didn't happen as naturally
and i had to exert myself to breathe intentionally.
I thank God for letting me live again.
I thank God for letting me breathe with ease.
I thank God for letting me walk again energetically.
生与死，只在一呼一吸之间⋯⋯
经过这次的风雨，我学会了珍惜。
珍惜什么？我的身体，我的健康，
我的家人，我的朋友，我的爱人。
真的想象不到自己如果就这么走了，
会留下这么多这么多这么多的遗憾。
我相信，我能为他们做的可以更多（：
p.s. To all the friends who showed me concern, THANKS for all your love!
I felt cold. I was trembling. I couldn't breathe.
What on earth was happening to me?
"I think I need to go to the hospital."
The next moment i know, i was in a cab and on my way to NUH.
On the cab, a million things went through my mind.
How helpless my granny must have felt on that afternoon she left,
and yet we weren't there for her.
How many things i have not done for my family,
my friends and my love if i were to die that night.
Eyes overflowed.
Doctor said it was UTI. I heaved a sigh of relief.
Felt better after taking the medicine and decided to go to school the next day.
It was a mistake.
Fifteen minutes into the lesson, i felt a spurt of blood gush into my brain.
I felt like i was about to faint, I couldn't breathe in ease again.
I left the lesson halfway. Called for the cab that never came.
After agonizing for half an hour, xj came running towards me and asked i was okay.
He started calling for the cab again and he got it within 5 minutes.
(Seems like nothing ever goes well with havoc yc -_-)
For the next 2 days, it was purely rest at home for me..
When i was sick, movement was a problem
because i didn't know when i'd feel giddy and faint.
When i was sick, breathing didn't happen as naturally
and i had to exert myself to breathe intentionally.
So now that i am alive and kicking, healthy and happy again,
I can't help but appreciate every step and every breath i can take.I thank God for letting me live again.
I thank God for letting me breathe with ease.
I thank God for letting me walk again energetically.
生与死，只在一呼一吸之间⋯⋯
经过这次的风雨，我学会了珍惜。
珍惜什么？我的身体，我的健康，
我的家人，我的朋友，我的爱人。
真的想象不到自己如果就这么走了，
会留下这么多这么多这么多的遗憾。
我相信，我能为他们做的可以更多（：
p.s. To all the friends who showed me concern, THANKS for all your love!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Hope.fully
等一个人咖啡之思萤 主题曲
作词：徐世珍、吴辉福
作曲：许勇
天空中是否有颗星星守护我
只是我没有发觉
人群中是否有个肩膀愿为我
挡住最寒冷的冬天
谁会温柔而坚决
带着未来和我遇见
每个人心里都有一个 保留着的空位
等一个人出现
拥抱着我的世界
站在爱的面前 所有寂寞防备 一瞬间崩溃
等一个人深陷
在我胸口左边
一夜之间让心慌 让心痛 让心碎
都成为纪念
谁会温柔而坚决
带着未来和我遇见
每个人心里都有一个 保留着的空位
等一个人出现
拥抱着我的世界
站在爱的面前 所有寂寞防备 一瞬间崩溃
等一个人深陷
在我胸口左边
一夜之间让心慌 让心痛 让心碎
成为纪念
让风吹干我脸上的雨点
就算跌跌撞撞不懂爱的深浅
也要继续寻找那一份绝对
等一个人成为
我生命中的永远
幸福多么迂回 为何没有发现 爱就在身边
等一个人带回
大雨后的蓝天
从今之后每一天 每一月 每一年 都心甘情愿
Monday, July 14, 2014
What drives your life?
"Everyone's life is driven by something.
Most dictionaries define the verb drive as "to guide, to control, or to direct."
Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?
Right now, you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of circumstances, values and emotions that can drive your life. Here are five of the most common ones:
1. Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often punish themselves by sabotaging their own success.
"You will be a restless wanderer on the Earth." That describes most people today- wandering through life without a purpose.
We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.
2. Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some resent-driven "clam up" and internalize their anger, while others "blow up"and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.
Resentment always hurts you more than the it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating your pain.
Listen: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and then let it go.
"To every worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do."
3. Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they're afraid to venture out. Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what you were intended to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love.
"Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life- fear of death, fear of judgement- is one not fully formed in love.
4. Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more os based on the misconceptions that having more will make me more happy, more important and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better visions.
It's also a myth that if I get more, I will be more important. Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not determined by your valuables, and the most valuable things in life are not things!
The most common myth about money is that having more will make me more secure. It won't. Wealth can be lost instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors.
5. Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried about what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost it.
I don't know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss the higher purpose for your life.
There are other forces that can drive your life but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress and an unfulfilled life.
Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty and pointless."
The above made me ponder about this ultimate question for a long time:
What's the purpose of my life?
Most dictionaries define the verb drive as "to guide, to control, or to direct."
Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?
Right now, you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of circumstances, values and emotions that can drive your life. Here are five of the most common ones:
1. Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often punish themselves by sabotaging their own success.
"You will be a restless wanderer on the Earth." That describes most people today- wandering through life without a purpose.
We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.
2. Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some resent-driven "clam up" and internalize their anger, while others "blow up"and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.
Resentment always hurts you more than the it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating your pain.
Listen: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and then let it go.
"To every worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do."
3. Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they're afraid to venture out. Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what you were intended to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love.
"Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life- fear of death, fear of judgement- is one not fully formed in love.
4. Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more os based on the misconceptions that having more will make me more happy, more important and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better visions.
It's also a myth that if I get more, I will be more important. Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not determined by your valuables, and the most valuable things in life are not things!
The most common myth about money is that having more will make me more secure. It won't. Wealth can be lost instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors.
5. Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried about what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost it.
I don't know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss the higher purpose for your life.
There are other forces that can drive your life but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress and an unfulfilled life.
Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty and pointless."
The above made me ponder about this ultimate question for a long time:
What's the purpose of my life?
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
When sorry isn't enough
It's time to reflect on my 24 years of life.
I cannot imagine how indifferent I was in the past.
I cannot imagine how much hurt I've done.
I just can't.
At the thought of you my eyes would turn moist.
I've let many down, but now I'll make things right.
Give me a chance, I will try.
I cannot imagine how indifferent I was in the past.
I cannot imagine how much hurt I've done.
I just can't.
At the thought of you my eyes would turn moist.
I've let many down, but now I'll make things right.
Give me a chance, I will try.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Hope
I feel a connection with hopeful people. - Daniel Yun, My Paper
The part that touched my heart.
"While I am writing this article, relatives of passengers on the missing plane, MH370, were told of its fate after 17 days.
The media said, at last, there was "closure for those living on hope", although many questions remained. In the past weeks, seeing images of loved ones waiting in hotels, I pondered over this thing called hope.
We all know of a time when hope is the only thing we can hold on to. Some people refuse to hope because it means risking huge disappointment and, hence, immense pain.
Some people stay hopeful despite themselves, going with the flow of their emotions. And then there are some people who consciously choose to believe, to wish and to hope.
What do you think of these people? Have they lost touch with reality? Or are they the personification of what hope really is? A mindful determination, a resolve and courage to ask for something against the odds. Having faith.
A clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery wrote in Time magazine how his cancer patient, with barely any unaffected brain left, woke up to say goodbye to his wife and 3 kids for 5 minutes. What woke this patient was simply his mind, forcing its way through a broken brain, a father's final act to comfort his family.
The mind is a uniquely personal domain of thoughts, dreams and countless other things, like will, faith and hope. These fine things are as real as rocks and water but weightless and invisible.
Material science shies from these things. An article in The New York Times told of a patient with metastatic cancer who was in constant and extreme pain. Her daughter's wedding was arranged in the intensive care unit so that she could be a part of it.
For the entire day of the wedding, nurses and doctors were amazed that she did not need any pain medication. After the wedding, her life was prolonged.
I am not sure if hopeful people are born or made. But I love them. I seek them out. To be with them.
Because they are behind the magnificence of the world we live in. Because being hopeful is being brave. To have hope is to be strong. It is more than being positive, or being optimistic.
Most times, it is something bigger than oneself, extending beyond personal wants and needs, involving the interests and well-being of loved ones, or a bigger cause.
Every time I see someone hoping when others have given up hope, hoping in the face of hopelessness, I feel a connection.
I understand. Not fully. But I know how it must have feel. It can be lonely. With a tint of despair.
p.s. It has been confirmed. But I know you will get well soon. Real soon.
The part that touched my heart.
"While I am writing this article, relatives of passengers on the missing plane, MH370, were told of its fate after 17 days.
The media said, at last, there was "closure for those living on hope", although many questions remained. In the past weeks, seeing images of loved ones waiting in hotels, I pondered over this thing called hope.
We all know of a time when hope is the only thing we can hold on to. Some people refuse to hope because it means risking huge disappointment and, hence, immense pain.
Some people stay hopeful despite themselves, going with the flow of their emotions. And then there are some people who consciously choose to believe, to wish and to hope.
What do you think of these people? Have they lost touch with reality? Or are they the personification of what hope really is? A mindful determination, a resolve and courage to ask for something against the odds. Having faith.
A clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery wrote in Time magazine how his cancer patient, with barely any unaffected brain left, woke up to say goodbye to his wife and 3 kids for 5 minutes. What woke this patient was simply his mind, forcing its way through a broken brain, a father's final act to comfort his family.
The mind is a uniquely personal domain of thoughts, dreams and countless other things, like will, faith and hope. These fine things are as real as rocks and water but weightless and invisible.
Material science shies from these things. An article in The New York Times told of a patient with metastatic cancer who was in constant and extreme pain. Her daughter's wedding was arranged in the intensive care unit so that she could be a part of it.
For the entire day of the wedding, nurses and doctors were amazed that she did not need any pain medication. After the wedding, her life was prolonged.
I am not sure if hopeful people are born or made. But I love them. I seek them out. To be with them.
Because they are behind the magnificence of the world we live in. Because being hopeful is being brave. To have hope is to be strong. It is more than being positive, or being optimistic.
Most times, it is something bigger than oneself, extending beyond personal wants and needs, involving the interests and well-being of loved ones, or a bigger cause.
Every time I see someone hoping when others have given up hope, hoping in the face of hopelessness, I feel a connection.
I understand. Not fully. But I know how it must have feel. It can be lonely. With a tint of despair.
p.s. It has been confirmed. But I know you will get well soon. Real soon.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
雨還是不停地落下
從日落到日出時針走過一個圈
沿途找尋曾經遇見分針的地點
開心大笑那個早晨被藏在哪邊
獨自徘徊的那些深夜 輾轉難眠
跟著你的影子走在長長的路上
領著你的陽光總是走得好前面
我們一起經過花開花謝的季節
就算打雷也不曾退卻 一路向前
可是雨天常把一切 變得不那麼簡單
我的時間淋了雨水 也已經無從計算
雨還是不停地落下 沖散了擁擠的世界
可是沒有人離別 因為相信會有晴天的出現
陪你曬乾回憶一起面對
雨還是不停地落下 淹沒了瘋狂的諾言
可是我沒有走遠 你知道我一直等在雨裡面
陪你一起度過下雨的時間
從日落到日出時間轉動了世界
也許原地不動也許我們又往前
光陰中的天色變換終於都體會
快或慢的錯覺都珍貴 片刻永遠
我一直沒有走遠
天再黑我還是等在雨裡面
陪你一起度過下雨的時間
Thursday, February 6, 2014
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