The strongest oak

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.

Quoting Napoleon Hill, I somehow can relate to what he said.

All things happen for a reason ... our existence, our failures, our pains and sufferings, our success. Sometimes you wonder, "why am I here?" We may never know the true reason. You wonder, "why am I planted into this family?" There is a purpose for you to be where you are, to be who you are and to be what you are.

By suffering, we learn to be compassionate. By our failures, we learn to be humble. By being successful, we are to share with others what we have ... we have to learn to be unselfish and generous in giving of our ourselves, of our time and share generously with those less privileged.

an eye-opening week

Last week took me through another journey of learning. We had a 4-day professional tournament at Laguna National Golf & Country Club. The week started with registration of the golf pros from ASEAN member countries on Mon, Nov 5 and culminated with the finals on Sat, Nov 10. It's my first time getting involved in a professional event. Some of these pros behaved pompously due to their pro status, others were humble. Human beings are an interesting lot of creatures. Nevertheless, it was kinda fun rubbing shoulders with these guys ... even though they don't bear big names like Tiger Woods.

Made a few acquaintances, observed a couple of unpleasant occurences, learnt a little bit more about golf - the game, the rules, the scorings and how things were done behind the scene. I have been encouraged to take up golf many times ... and after spending a week at the club and buggying through the course to watch the pros, I suddenly had a fleeting urge to pick up the game. Haha .. just a fleeting thought ...

Sweet lilies for granny :)

Flowers never fail to put a smile on my face. It somehow has a therapeutic effect on me. Whenever I pass by a florist, I would involuntarily stop to gaze at the beautiful array of colours, shapes and forms of these creations. Simply awesome!

The above arrangement was created by me at the request of my daughter, who wanted to present that to a friend's grandma on her birthday. Hope you liked it, Grandma!

Learning to relax ...

Just realised I've been rushing around too much lately without stopping to appreciate the beautiful wonders that God has created for the human race. It's been a rather full week for me ... or rather, a week full of worries. Now looking back at the week that passed, it didn't seem so frightening after all. I made it through!

We tend to worry unnecessary ... worrying about events that we are expecting to occur but somehow did not. Even if they did, I would still have to come face to face with them and with the dawning of a new day, yesterday would not matter that much any more. Whatever has to happen, had happened. Life must continue its journey through me. We are all different but yet the same. We are on this earth just temporarily, living out the roles given to us. How we want to live it is up to us really. To live meaningfully and leaving a legacy for your descendants to remember fondly of you ... or otherwise.

Tomorrow will be another new day ... with new challenges ahead. Honestly, nobody knows what's going to happen to each one of us tomorrow or even the next minute, hour. Every moment is being held on His palm.

Instructions for Life by The Dalai Lama

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
Follow the three R’s:
- Respect for self,
- Respect for others and
- Responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Spend some time alone every day.
Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

It's in giving that you receive

You can have everything you want in life if you will help enough people to get what they want. As life is to live, love is to give ...

The forward train ...

To move forward today, you must learn to say goodbye to yesterday's hurts, tragedies and baggage.

Take time right now to list the negative events from your past that may still be holding you hostage. For each item you list, go through the following exercise:

Acknowledge the pain
Grieve the loss
Forgive the person
Forgive yourself
Determine to release the event and
Move on

In life, there are no mistakes, only lessons to be learnt.

Is SUCCESS everything?

Someone once said to me that success isn't everything and I know what they really meant was Money wasn't everything. Well, money indeed isn't everything but Success, I believe, IS everything!

Why?

Well ... first you need to succeed to survive. We must take the seasons and learn how to use them. With the seed, the soil and the rain of opportunity to learn how to sustain ourselves and family.

And, secondly, is to then succeed to flourish in every part of your life.

Ask a mature person "if you could do better, should you?" I believe everybody would then answer in the positive. If you could earn more and share more, shouldn't you do that? If you can learn more, shouldn't you do that? If you can improve your relationships and spirituality, shouldn't you do that?

And that is what success is really all about. It is not just a destination that is set for everybody to try and go for. It is more like improving in every area of your life to see if you can't with satisfaction at the end of the day, week, month or year, say "hmmm,I've made excellent progress this year, for myself and for my family, my business, career and health.

That kind of success, I believe, everybody recognises as legitimate and something we should all strive for.

There is an interesting phrase in the bible that says "strive for perfection". Not that we can ever reach it, but it is in the striving to be a little better today than yesterday, in our speech, language, our health and everything you can possibly think of, that we achieve something good.

Hence, in my opinion ... success is everything and I want to do everything I can to improve my life - my spirituality, my relationships, my health, my career and live a more purposeful life.