Quotes that I Live By

I thank my dad for cultivating my love for reading. I recalled the times he took me to the "Book Rental" shop near our home and each time I will borrow at least 4 books. I will have my book with me while eating, walking to tuition, and sneaking every moments just to complete the book. I love my "Famous Five", " Nancy Drew"....

As I get older, I develop an interest in reading Motivational Books which has impacted me much in my university days and even through my life turning moments.

Some of the quotes that I like are:

Two things stand like stone, kindness in another’s troubles, and courage in one’s own.

--Adam Lindsay Gordon

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, it is the only time you’ve got.

--Art Buchwald

Don’t ask for an easier life. Ask to be a stronger person.

Create your tomorrows with your thoughts and actions today.

--Catherine DeVrye

Find purpose- the means will follow.

We are disturbed not by the things that happen but by our opinion of the things that happen.

--Epictetus

Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.

--Aldous Huxley

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

--Voltaire

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

--Seneca

Don’t be afraid your life will end-be afraid it will never begin.

--Grace Hansen

Fear is the thief of dreams.

Life is not the way it’s supposed to be.It’s the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

--Albert Einstein

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

--Kahlil Gibran

Do not compare yourself with others. You may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself… Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass…

We cannot discover new oceans until we have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

--Gide

Life is what happens when we’re making other plans.

--John Lennon

The poor man is not he who is without a cent but he who is without a dream.

--Harry Kemp

Regret for things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.

--Sydney J Harris

Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes , of which all men have some.

--Charles Dickens

Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

--James Baldwin

Tough times don’t last- tough people do.

Laugh

Laugh

Nothing endures forever.

Everything perishes in time.

So laugh and love while you may,

Help who you can-work while you must

And when the end comes so be it.

All fame ends in oblivion and is soon forgotten

But it is fun to strive, joy to win.

It is a challenge to lose and try again.

And victory always comes if you try hard enough.

To lose is not to fail.

The only failure is to lose and not try again.

The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist, the opportunity in every difficulty.

--L.P.Jacks

All things happen for the good of those who believe in Him

Do you ever think of someone, a friend or a love one and to receive either a call or message from them the next moment? I had not once but on a few occasions when I miss a love one so much and to receive a call from them right away. Is this telepathic or God way of showing us that HE is listening to us.

This week was a week of reminder of life vulnerabilities and uncertainties. A 31 year old friend had a heart failure and passed away suddenly leaving behind his expectant wife and 2 years old boy. That happen on Tuesday and on Friday, the papers reported that a reputable financial advisor had a heart failure and died too. Occasionally, such news will strike my sensitive cord and I will think of my own misfortune 7 years ago. Before I will tear but lately, my heart goes out to those wives whose life are changed due to the loss of their spouse. I want to help these women by showing them that life has changed. Our love ones are in a better happier place. I know because I have seen images of my love with Jesus. Tears will never stop flowing and we will never forget. But all things happen for a reason. God has a plan for all of us and when we trust in Him and have faith. All will be well again.

Desire to BE

One of the main criteria for happiness is having something to look forward to, i.e. hope.

It is desire, not ability that determines one success. You can get anything, you can do anything if you really want to, and the only limitation is what you put on yourself. Desire is the fuel that drives one forward towards the destination which is represented by our goals.

I was bought up conditioned to believe that success was all about academic ability. But over the years, I have come to realize that formal education has one purpose only in life and that is to get us our first job -self education earns us our living. The school, college and university years are immensely important, but the actual knowledge gained during those years is not necessarily of use in providing students with their standard of living. It there for becomes even more important the knowledge and experiences gained after leaving formal education become more valuable from a monetary future viewpoint.

I am in no way deriding university education. As a parent, it is one of my dearest wishes for my girl to go to university. Nevertheless, education without questions, in all its various forms, whether formal or otherwise, is not a prerequisite for success and achievement. I want my child to be a confident young lady who has the social skills to interact with various individuals just like her father. I want my child to be a lady of character- compassionate, honest, kind hearted and most importantly a woman of grace and intergrity.

Problem

"Problem" is such a negative word. if you tell yourself you have a problem, you normally dwell on it and worry about it. if, instead, you delete the word " problem" from your vocabulary and use the words "situation" or " challenge", your brain will respond more effectively. it becomes creative and proactive and, furthermore, you are on your way to overcoming the situation. Remember the old cliche " When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Farewell my loyal friend

Thank you my faithful doggy pal of 16 years. Just writing this bring tears to my eyes. Mummy remember how you first came into our life in Australia. The memories of you as a naughty puppy are so vivid that mummy is relieved to know that you are now in Heaven running free and catching butterflies with daddy. You had suffer for a year. There was nothing we can do to help you regain your mobility. While mummy regrets not being with you on your last journey, mummy is glad that I did not get to see you breath your last. I just want to remember you as the cute and obedient precious son. Miss you boy. Be good and keep daddy company.

Little Achievements

Picked my little girl up from school today and the first thing she excitedly told me was that she scored full marks for her Chinese spelling and that she has been selected as the class monitor. Of course,I beamEd with pride when she told me the news as she did mention to me that she wants to be a class monitor last week. She returned home and grandma from Canada was told of her new position and only did I know that both her daddy and her uncle were monitors in their school years too.

God is listening....

I received an unexpected call and it once again show me that God is indeed listening to my prayers or perhaps my heart.

Hope Happens!

Hope happens!

Hope is what happens when you first see a light.

Just a distant, small star in the darkest of night.

Hope is what happens with the first buds of spring.

When dawn touches the sky or a bird spreads its wings.

Hope is what happens when a wound starts to heal.

Whether skin deep or soul deep, you begin to feel real.

Hope is what happens when you’re poor but not broken

There’s a goldmine of dreams-just not yet awoken.

Hope is what happens when someone is kind

A feeling not lost- just misplaced in your mind.

Hope is what happens when the pain eases a bit

And deep down inside, you find your true grit.

Hope is what happens as long as we breathe

For although it takes time, the sorrow will leave.

Hope is what happens long after the pain

Hope is what happens-again and again

Time Our Greatest Resource

We all have a common bank account. This account is perculiar. We cannot invest into this account, make a deposit or obtain a statement. All we can do is withdraw. It is the bank account of time. Every day, we take another day out of this bank account, yet this valuable resource cannot be replaced. It is tragic that so many people take their time for granted and undervalue each day. It only takes a visit to a hospice to spend time with people who are terminally ill to truly understand the value of time and of using it well.

As a single parent, my time is divided in three ways: a third at work, a third at play and a third asleep. As I understand it, the primary reason for going to work is to earn money. Why do we want the money? To pay for our play time! Of course, there are lots of reasons why we go to work, and the greatest motivator in the world for all of us is to do something we enjoy. If we can achieve this during work time, fantastic.

We all have the same 24 hours in every day, which breaks down to 86,400 seconds. The busiest people in the world- still have only 86,400 seconds in their day. They may have less play time than achievement time- in other words, they work longer hours- but they still have the same hours in the day as all of us.

I am writing this down so as to teach my little one how best to manage her time as she progress from Primary to High School.

First, at the end of a day, just before I finish my work for the day, I will draw up my own TO DO LIST of the most important jobs to do the next day. Secondly, I will number the list of tasks in their order of importance.  Finally, the following day when I decide to start work, I start at number one and keep on until it is complete and then progress to number two, and so on until I have strike off all the tasks on the list.

I have been doing this from my school days and this has work for me till this day when I am wearing multiple hats and has endless tasks to do each day. Well, instead of remembering my schedule and task list, I have to remember little one's activities and priorities too!

Happy New Year 2012

Goodbye 2011! You had been a great year for me and little one. For 7 months since March, 2011, the days went by so quickly that I only managed to catch a breather in December during my Hawaii vacation. I have much to thank for in 2011. Meeting love and knowing that I can indeed fall in love again and be hurt signifies that time does heal and when the time is right, God will send us either a guardian angel to bring happiness and joy into our life or a temptation that will teach us a lesson. Once the lesson has been learned, we can move on once more and be a stronger person. While I do not regret opening up to the someone special on March 20, 2011, I do regret going against my values and giving him my heart. Will do the right thing by walking away now. God has a plan for all of us and there must be a reason for us to meet and connect the way we did. We did have happy times together which I will never forget. But 2011 is gone. 2012 will be a better year than 2011. Life can only be better as we are all sheltered by God's love. May God watch over you my friend. Till we meet again.....