My Son's First Day in High School

          Yesterday marked another milestone for me and my son since he started his first day in High School on that day. Me and my wife were both excited and nervous as well since it was his first time to ride the public transport by himself. What made us a little bit relax though was by reminding our son to make sure that everything is prepared the night before. This included his school supplies, bag, and uniforms. 

          Knowing that it will be his first time to ride the bus by himself, we tried to orient him where then is the route of the bus and also its point of stop. Thus the day of reckoning came in yesterday as he had his first day in school. We were excited waiting for him in the afternoon. And when he came in, we eagerly asked him how then was the day for him. 

Image by Thomas G. from Pixabay

          As parents, we were also monitoring the school's update through their website and indeed, we were so elated to read those news coming from the school's staff especially from the principal letting us know the developments/ updates for all students' first day in school. At the end of the day, I was telling myself that I need to give patience for my son in his period of transition. 

Sharing of Love Amidst A Calamity

          Australia is tested at this point in time through a major incident which is the ongoing bushfire especially in states like Victoria and New South Wales. Since last year, bushfires happened everywhere in those states plus that happened in Western Australia and South Australia. 

       It is painful to see the damages done by the tragedy- all lost lives, burned properties like houses, centres, playgrounds and millions of animals dead- they also left a burning pain on the hearts of the directly and indirectly affected. 

       On the other hand, the influx of assistance handed to the victims and to the affected states as well clearly shows the caring hearts

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of others who have witnessed the said incident. How people sacrificed a part of their resources, time, presence and others to support all victims is a clear manifestation of the goodness in humanity.

       Moreover, prayers are continuously offered for them and for Australia herself since the threat of possible major bushfires is still present. Hence may the love shared and showed by Australians and non- Australians nowadays in the middle of this tragedy endow hope and strength to all.  

                                             

                                             

Build Your Dreams

        What drives us to wake up everyday to go to work and perform our daily activities? What motivates us to hang on to life in spite of all its challenges? How do we make our life more meaningful and worthy? The answer to these questions is our dreams- they are the ones that drive us to look up each day as a gift full of surprises. 

       Given that we have varied dreams from one person to the other- may this be a bright future for our family.... for our loved ones....or this is the dream of building and living in a house which you can call as your own someday......dream of achieving the best of our ability realising our potentials to its maximum capacity.

       Yet later on, we then realise that achieving our dreams is not an easy thing to do--------never an easy walk in the park.

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         Challenges come along the way and they emerge in so many forms. But we need to trust in ourselves that sooner or later, we will be able to achieve them. Others can only accompany us and inspire us to proceed with the journey yet the very first ones who will and can do it is ourselves.

      Everyday, wake up to proceed in achieving this dream- never allow discouragement, negativity etc.  to hinder us to reach it. Never be contented with mediocrity. Yes it's true that failure is painful but never allow it to hold us back in attaining our DREAMS. Thus let us continue to dream big and focus our energy to reach it. 

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Moving Forward to 2019

          Soon 2018 will be a part of our history and we welcome a new year 2019. For sure, 2018 has been a colourful year for all of us- yin and yang, white and black, light and dark etc- those are constantly the contrasting reality of all our events this year.

          However whatever may be our moments for this year, we should learn how to move on from those negative memories that we had and be grateful for the positive things that we experienced.

Photo by mckenzie toyne on Unsplash

          Moving forward could be challenging for some most notably if it involves a lot of pain but for us to grow physically, morally, psychologically and spiritually, we ought to embrace both positive and negative events.

          And as we start the new year tomorrow, may we spend this day with the special people in our life -wife,husband, kids- instead of spending this day with other people who are less relevant to us. In spite of the quick evolution of our life today brought along by today's technologies, there still present the basic and essential reality that our family comes first and our top priority among all other things. 

          Thus we welcome the new year 2019 with full enthusiasm and optimism that life will be better for us and for our loved ones. 

                                              

Commitment to Self- Development

          Being a gift from Somebody, each one of us has the responsibility to proceed to self-development and never to self-destruction. Life is such a complicated yet much more of that a wonderful gift. Every single day, you trek a tougher road ahead of you. And you never know what the future holds for you. Yet  when you look back and reflect on your past events, you can be very proud to say that indeed, you made some tough decisions in life and somehow, what counts most especially for you is that you made the right decisions.

          Life, for some people, is often associated with pain however, never stop there. Try to flip the coin and you will discover the other side of it- the other side of life. Always tell yourself, " I'm in charge of my whole life." and refrain from allowing anybody to dictate you what to do with it. It doesn't stop there for the next essential thing for you to do is to accept 

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the consequence of all your actions.

         At times, there is that temptation to put the blame on others when something is not right yet as a mature and a responsible individual, accept all the accolades as well as the pain (if failure comes in the way) of any decision. Similarly, speak to yourself and say that you are an exact reflection of all your hard work or the lack of it. Acknowledge all your giftedness and your weaknesses. Be committed to be a better person. 

          Always bear in mind, life is a constant change and whatever state you are in, be happy for it is in your true happiness that you can also experience the true meaning of success. Again, life is a precious gift and don't forget to share it with your loved ones and with others. 

                                                   

Intellectually Giant but Emotionally Dwarf

          While attending a service today, I was struck when the presider said that many among the young children of today grow as intellectually giants but emotionally pygmies. And while I was listening to him, I slowly nodded my head in affirmation. And to add to that, I think the only legacy that any parent can leave to his children is the examples of being a good and kindhearted individual. 

          Sometime last week, I remember reading it online that a son of a very well known intellectual family committed suicide since he did not find any consolation anymore in the family. What were normally brought during table conversations were topics on achievements, figures, big amount of money, etc. and he was feeling left out since at that very moment, he was already sensing like being choked in the neck. What he needed at that time was a breather and not all those accomplishments, greatness, incentives etc..

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         On the other hand, there was another sad story of a very intelligent man who became so famous in the world of entrepreneurship yet due to later pressures in his life, decided to abandon his family to prove to his detractors that he was right with his theories in the business. These are but just two examples of people who have enormous intelligence yet they ultimately failed for they were not able to cling to what is essential in life.    

         Thus for parents and for other adults, you perform a crucial role to the total formation of your children and the other young ones around you. The best examples then that you can give to them is by living all those good ideals and values in life. Constantly teach your children well and let them realise that being successful in life is not merely gauged by medals and awards but also on how you treat other people especially those who seem to be lower than you in social, financial, psychological and other status in life.    

                                                

The Art of Driving

          A while ago, I was talking to my wife and she mentioned that when she was driving back home from work yesterday at the Freeway, there was an accident involving 4 vehicles. Those cars were in front of her and luckily she was spared from that accident and all its hassles. Then I tried to remind her to constantly maintain a proper and safe distance between her and the car in front of her so that if it suddenly applies brake, it would not put her into danger. 

           As I tried to reflect on that situation, I realised that life is like driving- that our actions are similarly affecting us and those people around us.  Anyway, here then are few similarities between the two of them:

1. Direction- in driving we always need a direction where to go and where to perform stops, turns and  slowing down. In life, we also need to have that directions (goals) for from them, we also set our strategies and steps on how to achieve them. In driving, we need to be in full control of the steering wheel so that we will have a safe and pleasurable trip. While in life, we also need to have that full control of ourselves but we also need to rely and submit everything to Him Above for we know that He is our constant Guidance.

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2. Routine Maintenance- cars should always have a regular maintenance like checking the lights, indicators, windshield washer fluid, engine oil level, oils, hoses etc.. Our life also needs a constant checking and maintenance like we need to pause once in a while to check if we are still tracking the right path towards the achievement of our goals. We also need to check our primary and other forms of relationship to see if we are still in congruence with what is acceptable or not. 

3. Peace of Mind- when both of them (car and life) are in good hands and going smoothly then we are assured that we can experience a harmonious trip and life every single day. Though we still need to check all other cars on the road and we also need to observe what is going on with life but if we religiously perform the first two main responsibilities of being drivers to both cars and to life, we are assured that we can reach our destinations safely and with lots of fun memories to remember. 

                                      

The Agony of Waiting

          My wife underwent thyroidectomy last Monday at Austin Hospital. Before her scheduled surgery, I was already trying to anticipate what will be the various scenarios on her big day. What I perceive was just a simple surgery then maybe after an hour or two, everything will be alright. 

          However, on the day itself, it was a long wait for me and I was filled with mixed emotions as I stayed in the hospital waiting for her to complete her procedure. What was perceived as an easy ordeal became a long and tedious waiting. We arrived earlier at Austin Hospital (actually she was expected to arrive at 11 am but due to our excitement, we decided to go to the hospital earlier). We went to the information booth and were  instructed to proceed to the 3rd floor for her initial steps prior to the surgery.

          At the waiting room, she filled up paper works and got ready for her knife appointment. Past 1pm, 3 personnel talked with her and told her she needs to go into another scan for they detected something on her last scan result which they were not sure what exactly it is. So she had her scan and luckily at 2pm, she was given the go signal to proceed with the surgery. Hence from 2pm onwards, I was left on my own since I was not allowed to go with her on the theatre. I didn't exactly know what I really feel by that very moment that she started her ordeal. 

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          The fact that I had no idea what was going on at the theatre was the thing that gave me that sort of "agony". The waiting period was seemed eternal. First hour quickly passed and I was still feeling alright. However at six in the evening and I still had no idea what was going on with her, I started to have that feeling of anxiety and worry thus I went to the information centre and enquired of any progress but the nurse in charge was clueless also. Eventually, at quarter past six, her surgeon passed by the waiting area and I wasted no time to converse with him about my wife's progress. And I was relieved of my agony when he told me that everything went well. 

          I finally saw my wife again by half past seven and even with all those instruments attached to her, I was still feeling relieved and grateful that she passed her surgery. At times, when we are in a situation wherein we seem to be helpless and clueless, there is no one much greater to comfort us except Him Above.

PS: 

Special thanks to the following people for their assistance during that journey:
Harvey, Dundee, Marilyn, Dr. Allan and his team, nurses Meghan, Kelly, Carissa and all those who have wished me and my wife the best of everything. All your support and prayers allowed us to have peace of mind and harmony on that difficult time of our life especially Myra. Thanks in a great way to HIM Above.



                                          

Celebration of LIFE

          In life, we have numerous occasions that we termed as milestones. What makes them deep-coloured is when we have the chance to celebrate them with good friends and special people in our life. We have gatherings such as work anniversary, golden wedding anniversary, retirement, birth of a new baby, birthdays etc.. 

          As I celebrate one highlight of my life, my birthday, I am grateful to all people who have come and made it colourful. At the outset, I am thankful to God for the gift of life that He has entrusted to me. And although I know that it is but a borrowed one and that sooner or later, I am going to return it to its Creator, I am but extremely joyful that I embrace this life. Consequently, I recognise that I have a great responsibility to take care of it thus allowing it to grow into the kind of life that will make its owner happy. On the other hand, knowing that I have both yin and yang of this life (light and dark shadows), I also have the accountability to grow into a more mature person and to share this life with others.

          I am also thankful to God for showering my life with wonderful people, first and foremost, my two treasured gifts- my wife Yanyan and our beloved kid, Kurt Kristoff. Being light bringers, they both radiate a constant positive energy to me to get up and face squarely whatever is at stake on every single day. As a social being, I am also indebted to other people who have  shared both my pains and joys. People come and go in our life and I am forever thankful to those who have helped me achieve the person that I am  now and would still be willing to journey with me to the rest of my life. 

         No matter how simple or challenging this life journey could be but with the presence of all these significant others in my life, I know that I could acquire the positive energy each day to continue with this journey. 

 

                                          

Moving Interstate: How to Beat the Challenges

A Guest Post:



Change is a part of life. Every day we face different scenarios. Sometimes, we have no control over them. While, sometimes we do. Thus. the graph of life's activities is never constant. One such challenging activity is moving interstate. When we put in such a position,  most shudder at the thought of all the work involved. But, we have to go through the process if it has a positive impact on our career, family, or education.

Moving interstate is a task which could get very annoying and complex, even for those who are used to moving locally. But, getting all irritated and giving up is not the solution. One must learn how to deal with this hectic and time-consuming task efficiently. 

imagecredit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Moving_house.JPG

Presented below are some techniques that will help you get through this frantic challenge. 

1. Pre-Packing Plan

It is very important that one must start their preparation of moving correctly, from the day the news is out. Planning well will buy you time to make sure all your important stuff is packed. Other than that, it will also save you from breaking and losing your fragile stuff in the process. This is the first step to help you beat the upcoming challenges. Once you are done with this part properly, the rest of the difficulties that would have had to deal with when moving interstate become easier to execute. Keep in mind that this step also includes where you would start packing your stuff from. 

2. Time to Pack your Stuff

Once you are done with the first step, it's time for you to start packing your things. Make sure to check and clean every drawer and closet systematically to avoid missing and losing any precious items. Try to pack the same category stuff in one place. Books in separate boxes, clothes in others, electronics in another, and the list goes on. Make sure to list down the category name on the boxes. Try to leave the items that you will need at the end until the last day.

3. Contact Friends and Family Living in that State

Remember to contact your family, friends, colleagues, and relatives (if any) living in the state you're moving to before you move.  This will be of great help for you if you are a complete stranger to the state. They can help you get to know the area and people in your new state a little better. 

4. U-Haul or Movers

There are quite a few reasonably priced movers that can help you move from your home state to wherever  it is you're moving to. However, they are priced higher than what it would cost to move yourself. U-Haul and other trailers that you could hire to move your things are also available for affordable rates.  Consider both options carefully before you decide one. 

imagecredit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2064/2224917035_88115fd957_b.jpg

With a mover, you'll have to pay more but do less. Whereas, if you hire truck then you'll save more but will need to do a lot more. 

5. Unpacked Systematically

Once you've moved to your home, you're faced with the last challenge - unpacking. Try to come up  with a system rather than aiming to unpack everything simultaneously. Setting up furniture in the bedroom should be the first step, you would also most likely want to unpack some of your clothes second. The process can take hours to weeks depending on how organised you are. The above-mentioned tips can be of great help in facing interstate moving challenges. Remember, there really is no one-size fits all approach to moving. However, moving can be easy or the most difficult thing you ever do based on how well you've planned. Good luck! 

This article is shared by the expert removalist team @Walkmove

For more information about their company, check this link.

                                      

How Then Could We Find Relevance on Social Networking Sites Such as Facebook?

          Social networking sites nowadays have emerged like mushrooms and to name a few, sites such as Facebook, Linked, Pinterest, Brimble, Twitter, and many more have enjoyed much popularity as each day passes by. To cite a specific interest, we will take one particular site which is very popular nowadays and this is Facebook. 

           As of March this year, there are " 665 million users everyday and 751 million using Facebook from a mobile device each month."  (Reference: https://www.google.com.au/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=xdDXVYIBo-7zB-XZvfgL&gws_rd=ssl#q=statistical+data+of+facebook+users). From this figure, one can find out how much relevance Facebook is having then at the present time. 

          But one may ask, how then could we find relevance in our time using any of these  social network sites? Answers may differ from one person to the other yet the most common relevant matters we could get out of this activity are the following:

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1. checking out one's disposition- Facebook allows us to check out the whereabouts, situations, conditions, moods of our friends most notably that of our loved ones. Though it also solicits vigilance on our part since we need to monitor that others will not exploit nor manipulate our status and our personal state but nevertheless, Facebook enables us to have an update both on our own and others' conditions;

2. making friendships-  through Facebook, we will be able to establish new relationships and friendships with others thus enabling us to expand our connections. As social beings, we are happy when we make more connections since no one among us can deny that we  need each other. On the other hand, it also solicits from us a certain responsibility and that is to take care of each of these friendships. We can't just ignore our established relationships with others hence we should devote time to nurture our relationships. 

3. making one's Facebook experience profitable- online advertising nowadays is one of the most popular forms of earning money online thus with the use of these social media platforms most especially Facebook, we then could earn money if we are able to acquire the necessary skills to facilitate advertisements on them. 

          These are but just a few of the positive things that we can get out of our Facebook experience. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, we also need to be careful with our time and connection on this site. We should refrain from allowing  these sites to interfere with our very basic yet primary relationship with loved ones. Thus, we have to ensure that we devote quality time with them especially to our partners and children before we consume time on these social network sites. 

                                        

Letting Go and Moving On

            Recently, a friend confided with me that her boyfriend dumped her for no reason at all. Such a terrible thing to happened to her, she felt lost and abandoned. As those two years had passed with her boyfriend, she gave him everything so that he will feel happy and contented in their relationship yet a few days back, he decided to end up their relationship.

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          Until now, she could hardly bear the pain and the heartaches brought about this shocking episode to her life. Days had passed and she continued crying day in and day out. I hope that she will recover soon this bad chapter of her life journey.

          In our life, bad times is a part and parcel of it and no matter who we are at the moment and how we stand in the community, there still are those trying moments in our life. And as each bad day falls on us, all we need to do is let it go and learn how to move on. That's exactly what needs for us to do. However, this is easy to say than done. Definitely true. Seeing other people undergo such stage is easier for us than experiencing the painful moment personally. 

          There comes in the support coming from our family, friends and other people. Lucky are those who have them in their lives. But the biggest factor would be our own capacity to deal with the pain. As we proceed with our life, we learn to adopt to certain situations and we are able to sustain various defences that allow us to stay strong during difficult times. Let us learn to get up and start all over again every time we fall down. In addition, let us also allow ourselves to become wounded healers for others. 

                                                   

SOme Thoughts to Ponder

          Sharing with you today some thoughts to ponder for us as we continue with our various journeys in life. Along with the disparate chapters of our life, we come and encounter different situations and events that some will ask us to arrive at a crossroad then decide what to do next. While these thoughts below may have been carved by distinct individuals yet they all have one thing in common- that is to inspire us all in our daily endeavours.

1. "We rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt."
Success driven individuals will always aim for the best results in all their endeavours. However at times this will boil down not just by finishing the race but by the quality of the work's outcome. All the successes that we will have in our life will determine how we will manage those life's chapters.


2. " Ability without ambition is like a car without a motor."
Indeed this statement makes much relevance in our life. Hence it is very essential for us to discover our strengths thus when we move on in life,  we have equipped ourselves with the sufficient resources to be successful in life.

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3. " The remarkable thing about most of us is our ability to live beyond our means."
The will to survive- a tool which every one of us must possess so that when we encounter trials and crosses in life, we will also learn how to survive and move on. As they say, life must go on no matter what predicaments lie ahead of us.


4. " Ability is the most important tool in your life."
Learn to discover your various abilities in life and develop your humility also to acknowledge the abilities of others. We are made unique from one another so that we can express our abilities and ask others' abilities also when the situation calls for it.




                                       

Blogging Mogul

          In the blogosphere, there are many personalities and players who make contributions every now and then. A multitude of them just create a mere impact or none at all while some make it to the top. One among the leaders in the blogging world today is John Chow-  known to be a famous writer, blogger, author, speaker, father, and an entrepreneur.

          As one of his followers, it is also my intention to extend with others the inspirations and enlightenment which I received from John. Here therefore are some highlights on his life. 

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          John was born in a small farming place in Mainland China. When he was 7 years old, his family decided to settle down in Canada. When he grew up, he started to try his luck in the world of blogging. Slowly, he became successful on this field and presently, he authored numerous best selling and popular books such as Blogging Secrets and the no. 1 bestselling book on Amazon entitled Make Money Online: Road Map of a Dot Com Mogul. 

          His blog, JohnChow.Com, is one of the top blogs in the world today. Other tremendous achievements of John are the following:

- he has been featured on famous publications such as The Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, Ming Pao Magazine among others;

- in 2012, he won the prestigious Affiliate Marketing Awards, and consequently became a subject of a blogging documentary on CBC Television. 

         Thus, if you want to learn further techniques and approaches on the world of blogging and internet marketing, check John Chow's famous books and blog now. 

P.S.- With much gratitude to John Chow for allowing me to share your success story. If you are eager to hear from John, check this superb masterpiece of him, www.johnchow.com

                                            

Spending Precious Time with Your Loved Ones

          We all have our considered richness in life- health, family, wealth, achievements etc.. And I do believe that one among the stand out among them is the family. Yes we all value each of our families and in fact, that's the very main reason why majority, if not all of us, are working hard and exerting much of our time for the sake of our families. 

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         Indeed, we are unaware that at times, we gain strength and importance from all the significant persons inside our families. How about you, do you spend quality time with your family- with all your loved ones? Moreover we can learn bountiful things from our day to day interactions with our loved ones. All those which we have learned from school about love, understanding, openness, welcoming etc, we can concretised them all first and foremost through the members of our families. 

          How then can we teach LOVE to others if we are not loving all members of our families? How can we speak truthfully about welcoming others when in fact, we disregard one member of our home? To become a worthy example of good deeds to others, we should start first with all the members of our families- spouses and children. And we constantly bear in mind that no amount of material wealth could ever replace the CONCRETE LOVE that we convey to our family members. 

                                           

Generosity Shared

          When disasters strike a place, a community or a nation, I can't help myself but be filled with mixed emotions as I recall how the victims and their families suffer the consequences of such events. I could feel the relief and joy of my heart upon realising how generous hearts extend their resources to those helpless victims.

          In such tragedies such as typhoon, storms, fire, bushfire etc, such huge losses to life and properties are ever extended and befall to the victims. Consequently, I could feel the pain, hunger, meaningless, hopelessness in the faces of these people. 

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          On the other hand, what then becomes consoling is when people of all races, status, denominations and colours join hands together to uplift the plight of the victims. And as the days go by, I am hoping that more people with kind and generous hearts will continue to aid the victims so as to make lighter their plights. 

          After all, we all know that inside yourself and my heart lies the goodness as well as kindness so that we can always think and bear in mind the future and harmony of these innocent people. 

                                               

New Year's Surprises: Resolutions....Resolutions....

          As we start another year, it is one common practice that we prepare a list of new year's resolutions- list of what we want to achieve in our life during the year. Actually this has been an ongoing practice since the time of the Babylonians and even during the knighthood era of the Medieval times.  At certain junctures, such practice offers a positive output to a person for it becomes a guide for him to perform better during the year and surpass what then was achieved during the previous year.

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          We have personally set up our goals for this year. And somehow, this resolution comes out in so many styles and forms like setting a limit to one's exposure to the TV or even in front of one's laptop. Some will aim for a more moderated lifestyle such as avoiding too much alcohol or if one is willing, an alcohol free life during the year. On the other hand, there are those who want to refrain from going out late at nights or others may just want to be a more fulfilled person in relationship, career and others.

          However, no matter how colourful, relevant, challenging our resolutions for this year, if we will not act them out and do them then everything becomes nil and unwanted. Nobody else will commit those good resolutions except we in ourselves. Thus, to be more constructive in our life, let us constantly be consistent in doing our plans. Our firmness, flexibility and openness supplemented by our determination will assist us to make true our dreams, goals and resolutions.

                                     

Resting in God's Peace

          As we have just recently celebrated the All Souls Day and offered prayers for the faithful departed, it is but fitting for us  to reflect on the significance of this element of resting in our life. Oftentimes, when death comes to a person, we usually say or write, RIP which means "Resquiescat in Pace" or "Rest In Peace". A little of history about this practice happened in the eight century when it became ubiquitous on the tombs of Christians as well as for the High Church Anglicans and the Roman Catholics in particular." - Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 

          As such, we are therefore constantly reminded that everything on this earth is but temporal and that at a certain point in our life, we will come to terms with our own death. Thus there is that consistent invitation for us all to be always ready when death comes and in some cases, it does in an unexpected manner just like a thief in the night. 

When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home. - Chief Aupumut, Mohican -

                              Source: http://www.a-good-dying.com/rest-in-peace-quotes.html

          From a sharing with my friend Pong, I was fortunate enough to be reminded with the following insights as extended also by their pastor in their congregation. A few of those are the following:

a. The Essence of the Sabbath Day:

It is therefore good to note that the Sabbath Day is basically not just one of those days in our calendar year but somehow, this day is entirely a day that is intended for mankind to offer prayers and good deeds for the Creator. Moreover, as He rested on this day after creating the universe in six days,  He also invites His people to devote a day of rest and prayer. It further denotes our reality as being challenged to establish and sustain a loving relationship with our Creator therefore we also return to Him during our moment of death. 

b. Contentment in God: 

We oftentimes worry greatly on numerous things like our daily provisions, health, day to day activities, children, studies, etc. that consequently, we time after time neglect our very basic relationship with Him Above. Most of the times, we worry so much on what is temporal and forget what is eternal. At certain events in life, we stress ourselves on what is seemed as unnecessary and just wants in life disregarding on the process the more essential things such as our time with God and times with our other loved ones. 

c. Acknowledgement of God Being our Creator:

As human beings, we are created in His own image and likeness therefore initially goodness in our hearts is intrinsically in our nature. However, when we start to use our own free will and intellect, that signals the commence of our commission of things both desirable and not therefore with the undesirable deeds, we are allowing ourselves to become astray from our Creator. 

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          The moment then that we die, we would never carry along with us any of these temporal and earthly possessions. However the only treasures that we can carry with us when we die are those good deeds that we have implanted in our hearts. We will be judged on heaven by these possessions and never on any earthly richness.  However if we live a life worthy of praise and adorations then we can be rest assured that on our moment of death, our Creator will be waiting to welcome us into His fold. 

          Hence, let us learn to live life to its fullest as well as live it according to His plan. Though we falter in certain chapters on this journey yet we should also be humble enough to realise our limitations and offer to return back to His fold.  

P. s. much gratitude to Pong for the sharing


                                     

Alongside Power Comes Great Responsibility

          Are you a person whose holding power in your hands?  Are you one of those who administer control over others especially people in your own capacity? What is power then? Too many defintions can correlate with this one yet allow me to just pick up 2 definitions for my input here.These 2 are:

1. "the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way"

2. the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events" 1

          With these two, I would like to relate it with the famous catchphrase from the movie,  Spider-Man that when somebody has power on his hands, there goes alongside of it a great responsibility. At times, the situation becomes difficult, if not complicated, when the person holding the power over others doesn't know how to handle it. What makes the situation worse is when he abuse it thus becoming detrimental to the growth, welfare and dignity of others especially those directly under him.

          What should be keep in mind is that power begets respect, honor and dignity. As we grow older, we seem to bit unknown and unfamiliar even to our own negative actuations  but somehow, if we indulge in retrospection, we will feel remorse (if we will also allow ourselves to dwell on it) on how we become so unfair and unjust to others.

imagecredit:http://pixabay.com/en/winter-yellowstone-national-park-200894/

          Some years back, I was in charge of the Human Resources of a certain company made up of more or less 200 people. All throughout my service in that position, I religiously told myself never to think that I am superior nor more essential to the Company than them. What I reflected upon as weakness of others in higher positions is their insecurity and hunger for power. Consequently, they tend to use it to control people. Thus, subordinates tend to follow their commands/requests/programs etc. usually not because of respect but out of fear. This results to a very unhealthy workplace environment since workers are not treated fairly and they are hindered to facilitate their creativity and share their talents/resources. 

          What I usually did with fellow workers in that previous company was to consistently focus on their individual contributions to the total output of the company. And those opportunities that I engaged with them allowed them to just be themselves and be free. Though I was also very cautious that people will not exploit my type of leadership and at the end of the day, I always asked myself, " Did I perform as an effective leader this day? Did I instil positive things on the minds of my companions at work or not? How did I treat my subordinates this day? Did I become an assertive leader but not an abusive one today? etc."

          Thus, when we hold a certain amount of "power" in our hands, may it be over subordinates, friends  or children, let us incessantly think of and consider the interest of others more than our own.  

                                      





Note:
1- https://www.google.com.au/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=7VVEVLrMHMON8Qf_goC4Dw&gws_rd=ssl#safe=off&q=what+is+power%3F