THE first thing I do early in the morning, around 7.30, when I wake up is to walk reluctantly down from upstairs to the living room below. First, have to wake up the body.
My mind is already up and running. It's just by body that is slow in responding to the dictates of the almighty brain. The sun is on the ascent. Its rays peep through the slightly opened curtains.
I can't really sleep too late because the brightness that comes with the awakening sky lights up my entire room. As it is with us homo sapiens, our biology cannot be denied. Once light filters through closed eyelids, the whole living form begins to move even though the body is still.
It is as if somebody has switched on all the lights in the house. How does one sleep after that?!
For the next 35 minutes, I go into a series of body movements. It is what the ancient ones called qigong.
It has been created and innovated through the centuries to harness the cosmic energy that is prevalent in the air, the world and the galaxy. If I have gone too far in my description, someone stop me, please.
Anyway, within two hours, I am in the office, trying to smoothen all the spurts and starts in the office machinery. It is not that difficult. After so many years, it has become one huge routine. I can almost do it on automation.
Lunch follows rather quickly. A quick chat session with some office colleagues and mental sparring on innocuous subjects that will certainly not change our lives in any significant way.
The problem with an Asian lunch is the sleepiness that follows about an hour later. Doctors explain this biological reaction in our body as blood rushing to the stomach to digest the food, thus drawing away vital supply of oxygen from our brain. A half-oxygenated brain equals drowsiness. Thus, walking is recommended because it forces your blood to circulate more evenly.
Ever saw a movie where the guy tells his friend to keep walking and not fall asleep in the snow? Well, it's about the same except if you do fall asleep at your workplace in the office, you won't die.
By 6pm, it's time to call it a working day in the office and rush home, or rather join the thousands of others TRYING to get home amid heavily clogged streets.
Now the best part of my day begins. I take a bath, relax and literally put up my feet and let the hidden accumulated stresses of the day slip away from my body and mind.
What do I do? Switch on the TV, of course. If there are any jokes which I think would interest my family, I share them. Nothing like a good laugh to pump some much needed endorphin into the system. Scientists have discovered that a sense of humour is much more valuable than a cabinet full of medicine.
From the time, my feet touched the floor of my house till my head hits the pillow on my bed, those are the best houses for me. The time allows me to re-align my bearings, reflect upon personal projects that need my attention and dream about things that will make me and others happy.
It is a time that is my own and I treasure that immensely.
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