This is one of the most meaningful email I received so far! =)
Stress Management
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked 'How heavy is this glass of water?'
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.'
He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.'
'So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.'
So put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.
Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
* The second mouse gets the cheese.
* When everything's coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world but you may also be the world to one person.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.
* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {9:38 PM}
Found a couple of cards on my table so I decided to pack them into the bag containing all the cards and letters I kept since I was in Primary School. While packing, I decided to read through some of the cards and letters again… And fond memories flooded back~
There was a nice one from my sec sch ‘beastest fren’ who wrote, “I was reading through your letters and realise that letters are actually very meaningful. So I decided to write you one too so that you can keep them and then read them 10 years later. Then show them to your kids & tell them what a good fren you’ve had!” Lols.. Those were the days when we thought we had been through the best and the worst (while these have probably yet to come in life).
I counted the cards and letters from my friends and they totalled to be seventy two! Nice number, I thought. But sadly, majority of these people have mostly lost contact with me. What a waste… But it’s nice to have something to keep about them so that I can always remember how we have been friends, what fun things we did together and so on. Thankew friends!
I remember I used to enjoy writing letters and sending cards out. However, with the advent and advance of internet, I’ve not mail out a card for a very long time. I do miss those days when a card would pop up in my family’s letter box to surprise & cheer me. Keeping these efforts will be my form of appreciation to these friends. =)
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {8:37 PM}
Finally got down to packing all my art work away today! I laminated 3 pieces to prevent smudges due to contact with water. Then I came to a piece drawn in 2005, which I had intended to give away when time is right. Well, keeping that for now! And then searching and packing, I came to a piece which I was 20% through, with only the outlines of the 2 figures (also started a few years ago). Gosh, why am I so lazy to finish my drawings previously...
So I started completing that drawing tonight. And now it's finally done!
With Flash (seems to enhance the lattern's light effect)
Hope to keep a soft copy of all my drawings online so I won't lost them no matter what happens! Unless Blogspot screws up~
I hope I didn't overwork myself with all these drawings.. Wondering why my throat seems to be hurting the whole day.. =| Time to sleep now!
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {1:34 AM}
I think I had a great day today, or yesterday, since it's past midnight now. Lunch was yummy, card games was great fun (need to improve my acting skills), rented skates were of surprisingly good quality (better than ECP), learnt how to do reverse skating through creating "Cs", roller skating by the beach was terrific (very windy and great scenery), dinner was simple but still nice because we were all very hungry. After that, I shut down already... All energy zapped out...
Tmr still gg out, hope I can wake up in time. Hope I din catch a cold from the sea breeze. I suggested dinner picnic by the sea initially but end up I was too tired myself to bother walking back to the beach after we return the skates.
Now I'm waiting for my hair to dry. My eyes are half-closed~ Yea, gd nite before I nod off without shutting my com~
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {1:26 AM}
My sister got me the perfect Christmas gift, The Rules of Love by Richard Templar. And for that, I am thankful.
When I first receive the gift, I thought “Why would anyone want to live their life following an instruction manual? What a waste of money… (The book is not cheap) Besides, love should come naturally. It’s odd to follow rules to perfect love. Right? No?”
Knowing my sister meant well and seeing her so excited, I said my thanks but still wondered how good the book can explicitly write about love, love that can be so complicated and varying to infinity degree.
My mum walked round, got curious and flipped through the book. “Looks good gal, you shld get down to read some of this.”
“Yes sis, you got to read it! I’m sure you’ll like it!”, chirped my sister.
“Okay sure I will definitely get down to reading it! Thanks, that was very thoughtful.” I smiled, with curiosity rushing through me as I wondered what the book has installed for me.
So the book lay on my shelves for a week, and then two… And I finally got down to reading it today. (I thought I should stop watching dramas as they are such a waste of my time sometimes.)
So I started on the first page:
“… Love between people almost always has its complications. Because people are complicated.” (True. How true is that. lols) I read on…
“Love can be tried and tested and stretched to its limits...” (How familiar) “… Sometimes we love the wrong person. We can love too much, or not enough.” (agreed) “We can feel it but not know how to show it. We can think love is enough, when actually it isn’t. We can struggle to find it – or be unsure if we’ve found it or not. And sometimes we think it’s still there, but we can feel it ebbing away and don’t know how to restore it to its full glory.” (absolutely)
I laughed. What an amazing paragraph. I’ve found almost everything ever written about love to be true. (as quoted from ‘The Holidays’) And this could probably be a good start to understand better what love is all about. After all, the author did say his rules serve not as bewildering revelations but as good gentle reminders.
So I read on excitedly and true enough, the book did not disappoint me! I’m already through 20% of the rules (skipping here and there though). Some I read and smiled with acknowledgement of guilt. =P Some I read and heaved a sigh of relief as I was being assured of being on the right track; knowing what I’m doing is right. Some I read and laughed, thinking omg how true is that…
So to readers out there, if there’s any book that you feel you should not miss reading, I say that it would be this book. Surrender to the truth that sometimes we need an instruction manual to know better what is right and what is wrong. To get assurance, to be reminded, and to have enlightenment. ;)
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {3:34 PM}
A student was given a jigsaw puzzle to fix. It's not the first time that the student had been given one to fix. Hence with experience, one can say that the student will be able to put the puzzle together faster.
But not so for this student. It seems that the student had not been able to fix one completely, fully yet. Coming to this new piece, student felt weary. But with a strong heart, student was full of hope, as usual, full of hope. Student knows student will stop once a puzzle is completely fix. But before that, student will continue trying to fix puzzles given to student.
Recalling what the instructions were, student prepared to put the pieces together.
Stages to fix a Jigsaw puzzle...
Stage 0: Can't even find the pieces to form the frame rim?
Stage 1: Form the puzzle rim~ Easy task!
Stage 2: Fixing up the internal parts, from the outside to within. Time taken wld depend on speed of development..
Stage 3: Almost there. With the last few critical pieces to be found. Most of the time, it may get hard to find the missing pieces to fix the puzzle. This will hence take a longer time to understand the picture that you're fixing. It may look this way to you initially, but when you look at it at different angle, it may turn out different.
Stage 4: Picture Perfect. :)
Student emptied the puzzle box and laid the pieces on the floor all over.. With one deep breathe, student started to form the rim, picking one edge after another. Finally, the rim was formed. Student smiled, satisfied, though this was the easiest stage to pass.
Next, student started on the internal parts. One by one, student pieced them together, smiling as the picture becomes clearer and clearer. Breaks, the student took, but student never gave up. Hope and faith rages through the student. There was an anticipated feeling, yet student was careful with every piece placed. As the picture was almost done, student knows that the time has come to fix the most critical part of the puzzle. With the remaining 2 pieces in hand, student placed them down together.
Excited, student held up the picture.
However, the picture suddenly looked odd. Had student fixed something wrong? Two last pieces jerked out oddly, as though forced down. Student looked to the side, there were a few remaining pieces that shld be extras.. Are they the right ones instead? Confusion suddenly overwhelmed student. Student took out the two last pieces and placed them aside. Student smiled at student's own silly excitement to finish the puzzle. Though confused, student will be patient. As usual, time will tell if the pieces should fit. With that, student turned in for the day.
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {1:31 AM}
While clearing the living room table, guess what I stumbled upon?
It's baby blue angel's broken wings! I thought I lost it outside and was very surprised to find it back. So I had it fixed back on Baby Blue Angel! =)
Went to PWC tea today and the food is fabulous! =D Then I met up with some Deloitte Ex-Colleagues for dinner before gg home.. On the way home, I dropped by J8 for some shopping. Good that I got 2 pants I needed at a discount.. I think I had done quite a lot of shopping over the past few months.. Have gotten most stuff that I need alr till I can't think of anything else that I need. So I'm gg to wipe my hands off shopping till the next holiday! And then I'll do my shopping in Taiwan! =)
Right now, I gotta plan on how to prepare handling my next semester. I'm alr feeling rather apprehensive of the heavy & challenging workload tt the 2 accounting modules, Advanced Corporate Accounting and Reporting & Accounting Theory will bring to me. These are the 2 most difficult accounting modules! Considering that I alr find other Accounting modules difficult, particularly Valuation and Corporate Law, these 2 shld be a killer to me. =( Have to plan my time carefully too since there will be no recess nor reading week for these 2 modules (i think) due to the modified semester. And it's my last sem! A fren told me tt when I go out to work, I will suddenly realise the blessing of studying so much tt I will even start to miss exams more than work.. So since it's my last sem, this is an encouragement to work hard for my final round of exams. =) Give it my best! SO i wun regret.. Dun even wan to think abt regretting.. =/
Watched King Kong on Channel 5 a while ago. What a nice movie... Beauty and the Beast.. The thrill and the sadness. The love grown between is beautiful yet impossible.
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {1:11 AM}
A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.
"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me.
"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."
"There's something you should know," the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."
"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."
"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."
"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.
The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.
The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.
Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.
Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!!! There's a miracle called Friendship That dwells in the heart You don't know how it happens Or when it gets started But you know the special lift It always brings. And you realize that Friendship Is God's most precious gift!
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care....
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {1:28 AM}
Yes, good bye 2009~ Please bring with u any bad or unhappy things or memories away! :)
Welcome 2010! Please bring all the happiness, life and wonders here! =D
I counted down at home with my mum and dad. Back at home it's our little party as usual, except last year when we decided to go esplanade to see the fireworks on a bridge... So now I'm listening to Chris Daughtry's song and half feeling like partying while half nodding off to sleep while thinking hard about my new year resolutions.
New Year wishes: 1 Mr Right someday! =P 2 Hs: Happy and Healthy! =D 3 Best things at work! (fitable culture, interesting work, good boss) 4 As for the coming semester! ;) 5 th month to do grad trips! Hopefully to see Autumn and Spring~
New Year Resolutions: 1) Sleep early, SO I CAN WAKE UP EARLIER! I.e. correct my body clock. I've been waking up pretty late everyday... And somehow it makes me feel sleepy everyday~ 2) Jogging at least once every week! Maybe on days when I've evening classes so I can get on the track in the evening. 3) Since it's my last sem, it's my last time officially taking exams so I will gather the motivation to: Focus better, Speed Reading, Study Harder. I.e. no more facebook & youtube! ha! 4) Learn a dance well enough by the end of the year. Hopefully, Rumba & Tango. A new challenge of the year! 5) Graduate from NUS with a Second Upper Honours! 6) Pick back guitar by June cuz I miss playing it as a form of relaxation. 7) Further explore and improve my painting skills with Derwent Colors. I think my sketching is quite okay already, just continue improving through practice!
Tt's all for now... ;)
------it all takes the courage to believe------ ; {1:50 AM}
Likes...
Art: sketching, painting
Music: country, soft rock
Sports: skate, cycle, dance
Movies, Books: adventurous, meaningful, inspiring
Nature: Sightseeing
Making a difference
Fantacise her life like Anything but Ordinary.
