RIGHT now I am experiencing something that is very common among people. Ordinary folks like you and I. All of us are worried about something at some stage in our lives.
A few of us practically excel in the art of worrying. We are all creatures of habit and emotions. We feel like we are going to die, or will have this unshakeable forboding sensation of impending doom.
Most of time, this nagging feeling doesn't seem to want to leave us. We think long and gloomily about it just before we go to sleep. We allow it to plague our mind the whole day and the very next morning we jump onto this bandwagon of detestable load called Worries.
I was like that once until I got so mad with myself that I almost shouted "to hell with it all! Bring it on!" That doesn't to be the permanent solution. What happened was I delved into a lot of those books that discuss life hereafter.
I suppose my quest was so persisting that soon enough the right answers begin to flow in like the Missippi River waters. The light at the end of the tunnel became to be like the flood lights in a football stadium.
When the glare of the light shone on the darkened corners of my mind, all the fears taht were hiding there begin to evaporate. Of course, I still harbour a bit of worry here and there but that creature named Worry which was Godzilla-size in the past has become a little pygmy. It no longer poses any threat to me.
Don't let worry worry you too much. In a way, worry serves a little purpose but if you pamper it too much, it climbs on your head, clutches your heart and squeezes your stomach. Consequently, you can't eat, you have a headache and you feel as if your heart is going to explode.
If you but understand that all of us are creatures of spirit, without exception, then you will have the everlasting assurance that in the end, all will be well. Nothing bad can happen to you in the long run. It is simply impossible.
Life on earth is meant to be one huge adventure. Why waste time worrying about things you cannot change. Be happy for all those little unexpected occurrences that can only make your life that much more exciting.
Worry?! Bah, let it pass you in the daytime as well as in the night time like a gust of wind that slips past your body and vanishes into thin air. You, my friend, are a spirit that has been bestowed with the finest of virtues to make this life of yours right now the happiest and most exciting at any time.
Believe that you are going to have a great time on earth and you will.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
What's up with the weather?
Cyclone heading towards Hong Kong and south China. Volcano erupting in Java, Indonesia. Floods in European cities. Tornadoes and Hurricanes in North America. Drought in North Korea. Dramatic ice reduction at the polar caps.
If I take these phenomena, which I do, I would conclude that the whole world is in for one hell of a time. Read the signs, as it is always said. Well, now we better look at the weather conditions.
A relative who just returned from vacation in Brisbane, and Sydney, Australia told me that it was sunny one day and next day wintry conditions in the cities. Bizarre was the word she used.
Not recently, the river Danude overflowed its banks and caused massive floodings in several European countries. It was the worst in more than half a century. In December 2004, tsunami affected about 12 nations in the Asian region. By the time, the bodies were found and later buried, the death toll surpassed 300,000.
Volcanoes are suddenly active. Smog covers a large part of the Southeast Asian region. One word again, global-warming. Global warming is so serious that even Hollywood is starting to make movies about it. For example, Day After Tomorrow.
According to some scientists, the scenario in that movie can become reality should Mother Nature loses her temper. There is startling evidence that the polar caps are melting at a dramatic rate. If this continues, we really do have to shift further inland all over the world.
Thunderstorms are beginning to be more violent. Hailstones are no longer the subject of geography books. In America, hailstones caused some serious damage recently. CNN showed footages of hailstones as big as golf balls. Car windscreens were smashed and vehicles damaged by those hailstones.
The explanation for all these drastic atmospheric changes is found in the way the earth is being treated. Earth is afterall a living organism and anything that is a life form when subjected to averse conditions will switch to its self-preservation mode, as it is probably doing now.
Meanwhile, the latest AFP reports more than 180,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of Guangdong province in the wake of Typhoon Chanchu which is heading its way.
On the same day (May 17, 2006), an earthquake measuring 6.4 shook the Indonesian island of Nias. Nias is also one of the islands that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. On the island of Java, volcano Mt Merapi continues to spew poisonous gas and lava, as Code Red has been announced a couple of days ago.
Meanwhile, three northeastern states of America have declared a state of emergency as rains have hammered Massachussetts, New Hampshire and Maine for days, triggering floods.
Thousands in these States have been evacuated and hundreds of schools closed. Now as dark clouds loom over the horizon from East to West, fires and floods ravage the lands that humans have called home.
It has long past becoming a laughing issue. The question is: how serious are we in tackling these phenomena? Or, are we just waiting for the authorities to perform some miracles.
Frankly, we are just plain running out of time.
If I take these phenomena, which I do, I would conclude that the whole world is in for one hell of a time. Read the signs, as it is always said. Well, now we better look at the weather conditions.
A relative who just returned from vacation in Brisbane, and Sydney, Australia told me that it was sunny one day and next day wintry conditions in the cities. Bizarre was the word she used.
Not recently, the river Danude overflowed its banks and caused massive floodings in several European countries. It was the worst in more than half a century. In December 2004, tsunami affected about 12 nations in the Asian region. By the time, the bodies were found and later buried, the death toll surpassed 300,000.
Volcanoes are suddenly active. Smog covers a large part of the Southeast Asian region. One word again, global-warming. Global warming is so serious that even Hollywood is starting to make movies about it. For example, Day After Tomorrow.
According to some scientists, the scenario in that movie can become reality should Mother Nature loses her temper. There is startling evidence that the polar caps are melting at a dramatic rate. If this continues, we really do have to shift further inland all over the world.
Thunderstorms are beginning to be more violent. Hailstones are no longer the subject of geography books. In America, hailstones caused some serious damage recently. CNN showed footages of hailstones as big as golf balls. Car windscreens were smashed and vehicles damaged by those hailstones.
The explanation for all these drastic atmospheric changes is found in the way the earth is being treated. Earth is afterall a living organism and anything that is a life form when subjected to averse conditions will switch to its self-preservation mode, as it is probably doing now.
Meanwhile, the latest AFP reports more than 180,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of Guangdong province in the wake of Typhoon Chanchu which is heading its way.
On the same day (May 17, 2006), an earthquake measuring 6.4 shook the Indonesian island of Nias. Nias is also one of the islands that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. On the island of Java, volcano Mt Merapi continues to spew poisonous gas and lava, as Code Red has been announced a couple of days ago.
Meanwhile, three northeastern states of America have declared a state of emergency as rains have hammered Massachussetts, New Hampshire and Maine for days, triggering floods.
Thousands in these States have been evacuated and hundreds of schools closed. Now as dark clouds loom over the horizon from East to West, fires and floods ravage the lands that humans have called home.
It has long past becoming a laughing issue. The question is: how serious are we in tackling these phenomena? Or, are we just waiting for the authorities to perform some miracles.
Frankly, we are just plain running out of time.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Here come the terrible twins - Success and Failure
There have been times and there will be times ahead when you will encounter either of these two "brothers" called Success and Failure.
I have met them constantly in my regular travels along the journey of life. Success is a much more congenial companion because he's always someone you like as a walking companion. Success makes you laugh, makes you happy and makes you feel like a million bucks.
Failure on the other hand is a morose chap who's constantly moaning and groaning about you, and why you never think of him at all. In a way, Failure is right. We should think more about him because his presence will make us wiser people.
Failure has got important lessons for us all but we almost never appreciate his presence. We dislike his body odour. We resent his uninvited presence and his unexpected intrusion into our peaceful lives.
But we were to scrutinise this repulsive character named Failure, we will find out that this guy is actually trying to teach us some very valuable lessons in life. For one thing, Failure helps us to cultive empathy and sympathy for others who also have come across Failure.
Failure in his sullen ways enlightens us about his twin brother Success. He makes us more appreciative of Success and not take for granted the often limited time, Success spends with us.
It is from Failure that we learn that there are other ways to climb a steep hill, or to develop a skill, or even to be a better person.
Success and Failure are a pair of twins who seldom meet because they are so busy travelling around the world and across all strata of society quietly expounding knowledge and secrets that a lot of people need to learn.
We welcome Success but shun Failure. Those among us who are wise make friends with these twins because they know that all are worth knowing. Success helps us to further strengthen our positions. In other words, make us work harder so that we may not his friendship.
Failure by making us fear him, or sometimes run away from him, indirectly teaches us that into every dark corner we hide ourselves, we will eventually have to come out and face reality, the twins' cousin.
Failure looks at us in the eye but we do not see the knowledge he wants to impart. We see but our own fear reflected in Failure's eyes. Failure sincerely wants us to hold his hand, thereby know that he too is like us. Unless we dare to befriend him, we will never be able to fully appreciate the beautiful land that he has roamed since time immemorial.
The great teachers among us know these twins very well. They have been in their company for eons and realise that all is an illusion. They are but lesson couched in human form to help us understand, learn and celebrate the joy of living.
So next time, you are visited upon by either of the twins who called themselves Success and Failure, be sure to welcome them in your company and say thank you for coming. Put your hands around their shoulders and call them brother.
If you can do that and be not fearful or too glad, you will be given the key to everlasting happiness. It is a privilege that is seldom bestowed on citizens of the world except the few who would later become teachers.
I have met them constantly in my regular travels along the journey of life. Success is a much more congenial companion because he's always someone you like as a walking companion. Success makes you laugh, makes you happy and makes you feel like a million bucks.
Failure on the other hand is a morose chap who's constantly moaning and groaning about you, and why you never think of him at all. In a way, Failure is right. We should think more about him because his presence will make us wiser people.
Failure has got important lessons for us all but we almost never appreciate his presence. We dislike his body odour. We resent his uninvited presence and his unexpected intrusion into our peaceful lives.
But we were to scrutinise this repulsive character named Failure, we will find out that this guy is actually trying to teach us some very valuable lessons in life. For one thing, Failure helps us to cultive empathy and sympathy for others who also have come across Failure.
Failure in his sullen ways enlightens us about his twin brother Success. He makes us more appreciative of Success and not take for granted the often limited time, Success spends with us.
It is from Failure that we learn that there are other ways to climb a steep hill, or to develop a skill, or even to be a better person.
Success and Failure are a pair of twins who seldom meet because they are so busy travelling around the world and across all strata of society quietly expounding knowledge and secrets that a lot of people need to learn.
We welcome Success but shun Failure. Those among us who are wise make friends with these twins because they know that all are worth knowing. Success helps us to further strengthen our positions. In other words, make us work harder so that we may not his friendship.
Failure by making us fear him, or sometimes run away from him, indirectly teaches us that into every dark corner we hide ourselves, we will eventually have to come out and face reality, the twins' cousin.
Failure looks at us in the eye but we do not see the knowledge he wants to impart. We see but our own fear reflected in Failure's eyes. Failure sincerely wants us to hold his hand, thereby know that he too is like us. Unless we dare to befriend him, we will never be able to fully appreciate the beautiful land that he has roamed since time immemorial.
The great teachers among us know these twins very well. They have been in their company for eons and realise that all is an illusion. They are but lesson couched in human form to help us understand, learn and celebrate the joy of living.
So next time, you are visited upon by either of the twins who called themselves Success and Failure, be sure to welcome them in your company and say thank you for coming. Put your hands around their shoulders and call them brother.
If you can do that and be not fearful or too glad, you will be given the key to everlasting happiness. It is a privilege that is seldom bestowed on citizens of the world except the few who would later become teachers.
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