We all have those stressful and rough moments. Well, it’s been a bit stressful for me lately. Yes, we should try to avoid getting stressed out and not be freaked out. Yes, we should try to stay focused and concentrate on whatever should be dealt with and completed.
Text 1: How are you? Busy? Take good care of yourself. Love from all of us at home.
Little Bro: NO
Me: Why not? I treat you so nice.
Little Bro: Coz’ you always buzz me, moron!!
3 people traveled to my fantasyland
Did you know back in the Jin Dynasty, there was a rich man called Yue Guang? This guy loved drinking. So one day, he invited a friend to his house for a drink. Suddenly, his friend saw a reflection of a snake swimming in his goblet. But he did not dare to say anything and just guzzled down the wine. He was frightened to death after taking the drink. He fell sick shortly after he reached home. He was treated by many different physicians with different remedies and medications, yet none was effective. On the other side, Yue Guang was getting worried for not hearing from his drinking buddy for a long while. So he decided to visit his friend to check out what he was up to. He was shocked to hear that his friend who was healthy all along was lying on the bed after returning from his invitation.
Let me tell you another real life story set in the 21stcentury. This is the sequel to the story I shared with you a fortnight ago (Refer: Hey I don’t mean it). Briefly my coworker who is generally a bit hypersensitive is still upset, or I should say, she is mad at another coworker, LC, just because of a joke. A joke that she initiated it in the beginning. A joke that was just those type of casual conversations during lunch, which no one would even remember later on. Yet, this coworker of mine is taking things to an extreme this time. She carried someone’s casual remark on her and magnified it zillion folds and perceived it as an offensive remark against her. Anyway, after her fussing to me about LC and others, I decided to leave her alone to cool down. It is really helpless to try stopping a burning fire with just a few drops of water.
While hoping my coworker would become better once she stopped thinking and thinking, in fact she became worse. She keeps thinking how bad others view about her; how LC and another coworker she recently having a cold war with were going around telling bad things behind her and thus others giving her a weird look at work whenever she sees them… But she still doesn’t stop there. This time, out of no where, she just suddenly turned to me angrily and said, “I know you have been going around telling bad things about me!!” I was utterly shocked by her accusation. I have never gone around telling things about her to others, let alone those bad “things” she was referring that I know are not true at all!
“Oh, are you in a bad mood? Ok, then I better leave you alone for the time being.” So I walked away hoping she would feel better later. However, it seems that she is still thinking and overanalyzing about everyone including me after so many days.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
When I first listened to this song, I fell in love with it immediately. But I didn’t pay attention to the singer(s). Then few years ago, I heard the Mandarin version of this song, I loved it instantly again. Since then I’ve been listening to the Mandarin version since I’m pretty much a loyal Chinese music fan.Today while combating and attempting very hard to concentrate in finishing up the draft of my manuscript, I heard this song played from the online radio again; this time, it’s the English version.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
I have been wearing my hair long for almost ten years now. I used to have really short hair, kind of a boyish hairstyle before I left home.I was trying to grow it long when I was a bit younger, when I was taking ballet lessons. I had to for the examinations. But each time after the exam, I had it short immediately. I felt so good. I did not like long hair. I felt a relief once I stopped taking ballet lessons. Part of the reason was I no longer was obliged to grow it long.
Then all of a sudden, I decided to grow my hair long after my first year abroad. It was really frustrating in the beginning for the growing process. My hair isn’t all that easy to handle and maintain, making the process even more tedious. Many a times, I just wanted to give up and have it short.
“Your hair is really long now!” EF noted to me one day while I was standing besides her taking the key of the locker in the room.
“Yeah, it was longer but I had it trimmed few months ago. I wanted it to be shorter but the hairdresser refused to do so for some reason.”
“It’s reached your waist now.”
“I think so. I don’t usually pay attention to its length. Well, if I keep it growing, who knows one day I’ll be able to compete with Rapunzel!”
Recently I have been feeling rushed; rushing to get my degree sooner than it was scheduled. No one was rushing me except myself. I feel impatient. I feel like wanting to just grab the degree now. I begin to feel that the 4-year process is a little too long now. It’s just like never ending; not that 4 years is long. Time does pass in a glimpse. But I’m at a stage where I’m seeing myself not progressing as expected whereas time is passing quickly. I’m getting more and more impatient. I started asking myself, “Can I really make it?!!” Yes, this feeling is just exactly the same as I felt when growing my hair long.
During the party I attended last week, I was talking to a postdoc. from the next lab who is working together with the host of the dissertation party, GZ. She said, “GZ felt like how you are feeling 2 years ago when she was half-way. She had no publication at all and she was really worried. But very soon, her 3 papers were accepted one after another.”
5 people traveled to my fantasyland
Something’s stuck. My brain’s stuck. I’ve been feeling this way for the past few days, at least. It is not any better today. I’ve been staring at the monitor for hundreds of minutes, until AS walked in.
AS: Why are you having that look, as if you wanna kill me?
Me: Coz I’m seeing a piece of sh*t... (if only he gets that double meaning)
JG: That’s right…I’m that piece of sh*t and she’s that piece of meat…(Don’t ask me to explain coz I don’t even know what was he talking!)
AS: In that case, I better run now since I’m only human and obviously I can't communicate with sh*t and meat.
Back to business…
AS: Do you think I should order a new reagent?
Me: What is it for?
AS: It’s for my protein work…
Me: Nah, the old one we have is good enough for that.
JG: …oh old reagents are good, the longer you preserve the better, just like wine…
Me: and WOMEN!
Both guys were laughing madly at my line. I had to stand up to defend my line and seeking support from the only female in the office.
“Did I say it wrong? I’m sure you agree with me EF, right?”
EF: Of course, you are RIGHT!
Me: Exactly, so guys, respect your grandmas!
Hundred seconds later, I found myself still not coughing out a single word for my manuscript. This time, I’ve been “flirting” with a guy, a 6-month old little guy. He’s sooo cute and he kept laughing and smiling at me. And because of this, I was teased by others, “You just don’t want to miss out any opportunity in flirting with guys huh?” Yeah, he’s just too cute and I can’t resist cute boys, I mean cute babies!
24 hours ago…
JG: The network is down. Can I use your computer for a second?
Me: Sure…
So I moved the chair backwards for him to use my computer while I'm still sitting on the rolling office chair changing my shoes and getting ready to go for lunch.
Then JG, who was half standing half lowering his body to type something on the keyboard heard me saying this, “Hey, I’m still sitting behind you, make sure you don’t fart!”
He instantly burst into laughter, “You’re just too funny!”
“Hey, I’m serious cause your back is just right in front of me!!”
Am I that funny? I’ve been getting “compliments” about me being funny. Geez, I’m just being honest and direct. And yes, I do mean what I said. Maybe I’m extremely funny when my brain’s stuck.
Right, if only I can apply some of these funny lines in my writing to impress the editor and grant myself “accepted for publication without peer review”. Ok, not to sound greedy, why my brain is always stuck when it comes to writing serious scientific stuff? How I wish it could be as easy as cranking out this random post!
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
GZ’s supervisor expressed his heartfelt gratitude to GZ in his speech during the party last Saturday (refer Another successful story).He said, “Although it might appear to be appropriate for a student thanking his/her supervisor. But this is not quite true. It is not only the student learning from the teacher. But at the same time, the teacher is learning as much if not more from the student.”
Yes, this is so true. This student-teacher relationship knowledge and skill acquisition is not a single way; it is a two-way direction.
The student is not only learning whatever is passed from the teacher. But the teacher is learning new perspectives from the student during the process of passing his/her skills. The teacher is also learning how to be a teacher in order to pass on the “lineage”.
Learning is never a one-way ticket. Parents learn from the kids. Older siblings learn from the younger ones. Senior coworkers learn from the new bees. Couples learn from their spouse/partner. Everyone is learning from everyone, every day every moment all the time. We just never realize that this is happening all the time. Thus we have to be thankful to others for letting us learn directly and indirectly.
“A wise man, though possessed of immense perfections, will learn from others. By such practice, he/she will at last become omniscient.”
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
“Whatever goals you set, it really doesn’t matter. What matters most is the path you’re going through to reach to whatever goal you set.”
Yes, this is exactly how it came out during GZ’s dissertation party, where her fiancé gave his amusing speech. It was funny from the beginning till the end, except this part of his speech. It was his heartfelt words that he wanted to share with his fiancée. Everyone there nodded their heads, including GZ’s professor sitting at the main table.
I have always been thinking whether am I on the right path to whatever I am doing. “Did I make the correct and wisest decision?” “Would it be better if I went for the other goal?”…all these questions just keep lingering in the back of my head once in a while, on and off. It is gone one moment but it comes back later. It visits frequently when things aren’t running smoothly.
But seriously, will it be better if we could turn back time and went for Option B instead of Option A? I doubt it. Probably Option B might sound a bit easier compared to Option A. But Option B has its tough sides too. Everything comes in a package. No pain no gain. You just have to choose something you are truly interested and what you really want and then go for it. Nothing will ever be perfect. And it really doesn’t matter what options we go for. It is the process and the path that all matter.
I was sharing a table for lunch some time last year with the head of the department of radiology. I didn’t know he was such a big shot until he left and the other clinician told me so. This clinician told me this radiologist holds a degree in aeronautic engineering and also an MBA degree. Whoa?!! Was he making this up? Yep, this was exactly what I was thinking, but felt too embarrassed to express it verbally. That radiologist must be darn smart eh? Most likely. But from that brief acquaintance, he doesn’t appear it that way. Anyway, this is not the point. The point is why did he bother to get so many degrees? “He has diverse interest,” I was told. I think I get it. This radiologist even though in the end decided to practice medicine, he did not think developing interest in other areas is a waste of time, effort and energy. He enjoys the path(s). The path of not only about learning or the knowledge path; but more of the path of how he can truly enjoys everything he wants to acquire by walking it through.
I have met many people who ended up doing totally unrelated professions compared with their education. Yet they are making excellent achievements or at least they are enjoying what they are doing. You can just see the charm on their face. If they knew they were going for the current career option; would they have gone for it straightaway without making a detour? When asked about this, surprisingly many did not feel regret of making the detour. The training of the detour did bring an additional experience in their current career path.
The path needs not necessarily referred as career or professions. It can be any choice or decision we make in life. Each path we make forms the journey of this life albeit this life itself is short. There are various paths we have to go through in this short journey to get to various destinations. Just follow the path we really want. Enjoy the walking process along the path. That’s all it really matters. Because if we don't even enjoy the path, even if we have arrived the most beautiful destination, we would not be able to appreciate it.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
I just came back from the last dissertation of the month. Well, it was actually the second invitation I received this year.
This party was completely different from the first one I attended last week (Refer: Wish you to be here). GZ, the host who defended her thesis few days ago, this time had a quite a grand celebration. More than 80 guests joined the celebration. The buffet-style party was held in one of the halls rented at the campus. As you might have guessed, part of the reason that I was so looking forward to this party is because of the food. Heh, not a new news right? Oh yeah, GZ’s mother and her mom’s friends prepared most of the delicious food. Technically it was my first time trying authentic Persian food. If you haven’t tried this cuisine before, you gotta go try. 90% of the guests were GZ’s family, extended family, relatives and friends. GZ’s family resides in this country and she even had friends and relatives flying in from other cities or countries. Now don’t you agree with me how different this one was compared to the one I attended last week eh?
Anyway, there were also more speeches in this party than the last one. And there were all funny. The toastmaster’s funny too. Nope, I’m not going to transcribe all the speeches here. But I’ll just put some amusing memorable quotes from the speech. Although the party came out as a joyful and crowded atmosphere, it did have a few touchy meaningful moments. I shall be writing about thoughts reflected in relation to those moments.
1)GZ’s fiancé’s speech (Mr. S):-
Mr. S: GZ, it has been tough for you and I. Each time, you fussed about your unsuccessful experiments, your failures of your CPR…
*interumpted by GZ on the spot*
GZ: What CPR? This proves that you didn’t even bother to listen to what I said all this while. It is PCR!!
Mr. S turned to all the guests and said, “See, this is what I meant as, ‘it has been TOUGH’!” Everyone burst into laughter.
2) GZ’s THANK YOU SO MUCH speech
"I want to thank everybody who is here tonight. Thank you so much for all the supports…To my supervisors, Prof. M and Dr. R for ...thank you so much…to AAA for … thank you so much…To BBB and CCC for … thank you so much…To DDD….thank you so much”
Update (Monday):
I heard that the dancing section lasted till 2.30am. I would love to stay a bit longer for the merrymaking after the food. But you know this girl is too old to stay up late. She had to rush to her date with Mr. Zzz. All in all, it was a fun night. With this, it marked the end of one dissertation, which it also marked the beginning of a new chapter to Dr. GZ’s life. Congrats Dr. GZ! This is certainly another positive demonstration of being determined.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
FA: I have to let you know that I’m really angry with LC.
Me: Why? What’s wrong?
FA: I am affronted by her comments. How could she respond such comment to my joke?!!
Me: Hey, it’s likely that she didn’t get it and thought you were serious about what you joked.
FA: I don’t believe she did not understand my joke. Look, you understood my joke.
Me: Well, I must admit that not everyone can understand your joke.
FA: Even if she did not, how could she say such thing to me?! That was so offensive.
Me: Maybe she was just concerned or curious …
FA: This is not the first time. She has done this to me many times. Even if I were serious about what I said, she has no rights to judge me and certainly can’t comment about my behaviour.
Me: True but I think you’re a bit bias here. I’m pretty sure if I or someone else say the same to you, you’d feel different and not be that enraged about the comments.
FA: That’s it. If you want, you can tell her I’m ANGRY with her and warn her that if she say such thing to me again, I can’t guarantee myself not returning offensive remarks to her.
Me: Oh nooooo, just cool down and take it easy. I’m very sure she didn’t mean it. Stop thinking about it and then later you’ll realize your anger was so unnecessary.
FA: This is NOT my problem. She has done wrong.
Me: ……
I know it is very easy for anyone to say, “Take it easy. Don’t take others’ comments too personally,” because we are not the one getting a poke from the needles. How could we feel the pain right? True, bad did you realize most of the time we might just have perceived what others said differently. Seriously in this case, after hearing FA’s description about what had happened between LC and her, I do not feel that LC was insulting FA, at least not deliberately. I even told FA about what I think. But since she’s still in the heat, she refuses to put on her senses.
This perception thing is really the magic. Everyone just perceives so differently. You might be making a joke, yet another person could hear a different meaning and worse still a negative meaning. Trust me; I have had numerous similar occasions. Sometimes I didn’t even realize my jokes were mistaken unless someone confronted me. Yeah, not that many people out there get my dry jokes and sarcasm. Probably that also explains why I did not have that many friends at that time. They became my enemies without me knowing, just because they perceived differently of what I said.
What about mean statements made intentionally? Even if LC did mean to be offensive, should FA not get angry? Of course I would be not happy too if someone said something mean to me. But hey, if we have not left our senses, do you think it is worth getting so upset over someone’s comment? The moment I think about being angry about a minor thing, Boy, not only being angry of that person did not undo what has been said, I felt so darn tired and exhausted. It is far more economical to just drop the anger and walk away. The angrier we are, the more we acknowledge our much we care for what was said. It is better of to just forget about it. Sure, we may feel uncomfortable about negative remarks, but try not to hit to the angry state.
Just when we are feeling offended by someone’s remark, we may have insulted others too by our unintentional comments or statements. Who’s to blame? Our perception! With this understanding, why not just try to take things easily?
2 people traveled to my fantasyland
I wonder how many of you have shared (are sharing) a room or a house with someone before. No, I am not referring to a de facto relationship (staying with your significant other). Well, perhaps some may find that there is no difference between SO and actual housemate/roommate .
Since I was born, I had been sharing a room with my siblings. It's only up till when I was about to leave home, only had I occupied a room of my own. I shared a room with a HS friend when I was staying at a hostel for a year for my final year of HS in Country B. During my junior college year, I was sharing a house with 2 other students whom I met while we were hunting for a place to stay at the student housing service department. The next year, I moved to an apartment and shared the unit with a former hostel mate and my younger sister. I was renting a room when I started working with my landlady staying in. Throughout my stay there, she rented out another room to 2 other girls. When I first arrived to this country, I was offered a 2-room apartment that I had to share with another girl. And now I have the entire studio of my own.
Which one do I prefer? Staying alone or sharing with someone? First of all, I would say I prefer some sort of privacy. As such, I prefer of having a room of my own. I like to have the lights off when I sleep. But if you are sharing a room, then without much choice, you would just have to be used to and accommodate with one another’s living habit. Most importantly you just have to respect other’s privacy. This takes a lot of adjustments in the beginning.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
Is big always better than small?Last Friday, only around 30 people were invited for Dr.BY’s dissertation party. It was the smallest I have ever attended since I arrived. Yet it turned out to be the best of all. Everyone had a real blast. The blast had torn the restaurant apart. There were even touching moments during BY’s supervisor’s speech. Although the speech was short, those few lines really described well the tough time BY been through to get her degree. And many of us even might not be able to understand her pain when her happy marriage was at risk due to her husband’s inconsideration. MB sitting next to me shed some tear whilst I found my eyes filling with tears.
Another awe-inspiring thing is that from the party we could easily find out that BY is excellent in human relationship; not only friends from her own country but other ethnic groups as well. Yeah, it was certainly a merry celebration by the people from the West and the East integrating harmoniously.
I enjoy small intimate party like this. We really need not spend so much for a grand celebration. An intimate one with family, friends and loved ones to share our joy brings more merriment to everyone. Moreover joy and happiness are priceless that money can’t buy.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
There was an addition of doctoral holder in the world 2 hours ago. The 3-hour dissertation of the then Dr.-to-be, BY, went pretty well. And finally after all these years, she was announced by her chief thesis committee the title as a Dr.
This is not my first time listening to a dissertation. But it is definitely my first time seeing the PhD candidate defending his/her thesis without the presence of his/her family. Salute to Dr. BY because she was handling everything all by herself (the stressful three-month thesis writing torment, going through the hassles of dissertation application, arranging the nitty-gritty in preparation for the dissertation including organizing her own dissertation party). For some reason, her husband and her family could not fly all the way to be here with her. But with their support from far, she finally made it.
Doing a PhD is really no big deal. There are other things better achievements than this. Yet, it is still a very small personal achievement. It is just like one’s had preschool graduation, grammar/primary school graduation, HS graduation, college graduation or even certain award presentation of some sort of personal interest/career (i.e. Oscar award, Golden Globe award) or whatever. All these little personal achievements may not mean much to the society, the nation or to the world. But it does mean something to the individual. You were putting great effort in pursuing something and finally you came to that destination. You’ve made it now. You’ve demonstrated your determination and your enthusiasm. And in this happy moment, all you really wish is to share your happiness (albeit temporal) with your loved ones.
Looking at my very little personal achievements thus far, was my family especially my parents there all the time with me?
My memory about my kindergarten graduation is really vague. Were my parents there?
But I can still remember clearly my graduation day for my primary school education. None of my folks attended the ceremony even though I was representing the graduates to give a speech!
However they were there for my HS graduation because the graduates were forced to purchase a pair of tickets (the school was hoping the parents to come). Hence my parents did attend my HS graduation dinner; especially I was partly demanding them to come to support me as the MC of the night.
I celebrated my graduation dinner of my final year HS (pre-college) in Country B with my schoolmates since my family was thousands miles away.
My first college degree commencement - my mom and my two sisters flew in to attend the ceremony.
My second college degree commencement – both my parents and my little brother attended.
My first piano exam – mom was there.
My first ballet exam – my grandmother accompanied me to the school and she went home leaving me there alone waiting for my turn.
My first swimming competition – mom and sister were there.
My first inter-school speech competition – mom and aunt were there but dad was finally there in the following year when I was promoted to the semi-final round (state level competition). Yay!
Looking at my own history, I find that my parents did try to make their presence in certain occasions/events of their children. But they were not consistent to all children especially my dad. He is always giving an excuse of being busy and relies on my mom to make her presence. I know I was always wishing more participation from my dad. I was really glad that he did keep his promise to attend my second college degree commencement after being disappointed with his absence of my first commencement. I had to literally keep reminding him months prior conferring my degree. I was so happy when I heard that his air ticket was fixed, meaning he was definitely attending my graduation.
I’m not sure who will be attending my dissertation and/or my degree commencement. However I really wish my family and my loved ones will take their time and come to support me. Yes, I may not be doing a wonderful task or completing a respectful mission, it is still something that I will like to share with them. Don’t you want them to be there for all your chapters (big or small) of your life?
Of course if it happens that our family can’t be there with us to witness these chapters of our lives, that don’t mean they don’t care. Their support and well-wishes are always with us. And I’m sure they can still share our joy and happiness without being there.
Although BY’s husband and family will not be at the dissertation party tonight, her husband will most likely come for her commencement later. BY will have a blast tonight at her party despite the absence of her family. Well, at least I am looking forward to it – an evening of sharing her joy in completing her degree successfully. Congratulations! :P
2 people traveled to my fantasyland
Another story that I received recently. Enjoy. :)
@@@The warmth in human relatinoship@@@
A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy was the gem of their eyes.
When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for office so he asked his wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in the kitchen totally forgot the matter.
The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle fascinated by itscolor and drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine meant foradults in small dosages.
When the child collapsed, the mother hurried him tothe hospital. He died. The mother was stunned! She was terrified how she was going to face herhusband.
When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the deadchild, he looked at his wife and uttered just five words.
Hey, do you have any idea where were the five words?
What does this story tell us?
The husband just said "I am with you Darling".
The husband's totally unexpected reaction is a proactive behavior. The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother.
Besides, if only he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not have happened. No one is to be blamed. Shehad also lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her.
If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer problems in the world. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, andfears. And you will find things are actually not as difficult as you think.
You know sometimes we spend time in asking who is responsible or whom to blame, whether in a relationship, in a job orwith the people we know. By this way we miss out some warmth in human relationship.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
I'm afraid this entry has yet to be another story I am borrowing from other source. I was contemplating on a particular topic earlier on. Guess what? My neurons in my brain are hyperactive and hypersensitive at the moment; I can't think! I guess those real life stories (and some personal first hand stories) I was planning to share will have to be on tomorrow's entry. Ugh, all I need now is some paracetamol/acetaminophen. Or maybe I'll go have a good date with Mr. Zzz.@@@The lost son@@@
A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away on business when bandits came who burned down the whole village and took his son away.
When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. The took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and cried uncontrollably. He organised a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with him.
Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door.
The father, still grieving asked, "Who is it?"
The child answered, "It is me papa, open the door!"
But in his agitated state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that some young boy was making fun of him.
He shouted, "Go away!!" and continued to cry.
After some time, the child left.
Father and son never saw each other again.
What does this story tell us?
Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it.
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
I found another story from my collection (no, I didn't write it). It's about lemon tea. Yum!!
Hey I have a challenge for you; the story was written in Chinese. So yeah, it's time to pick up a new language for you now. Hehe...Nawww, I'm not that bad. I actually took some time to translate the article. However I have to warn you; I'm not a professional translator and I haven't been doing the Chinese-English translation for a long while. But since this story is really sweet and meaningful, I like to share it here. Enjoy reading! Oh by the way, for those who are Chinese literate, you may prefer reading the original article. If so, you can find the article at the end of this entry.
5 people traveled to my fantasyland
I hope you are enjoying the stories posted today thus far. Well, this is the last one for today - The Turtles. The title reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons - Ninja Turtle! I love turtles despite their trademark (very slow rate of movement). Don't you find them cute?!@@@The Turtles@@@
A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. Turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place for their outing. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last! For about six months they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow-moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell.
He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.
Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, "SEE! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt."
Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We lose track of what's the most important thing in our lives. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves.
3 people traveled to my fantasyland
Here comes the second story from my email archive - The pretty lady.@@@The Pretty Lady@@@
Once upon a time, a big monk and a little monk were travelling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river.
There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river. The big monk offered to carry the pretty lady across the river on his back. The lady accepted.
The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk."How can big disciple brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?" thought the little monk. But he kept quiet.
The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they had crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her.
All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about the big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.
Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. "How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite."
The big monk looked surprised and said, "I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?"
This very old Chinese zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away. We keep on carrying the baggage of the "pretty lady" with us. We letthem keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the "pretty lady".
We should let go of the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river, immediately after the unpleasant event is over. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over. It is just that simple.
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My brain has been working hard as of late. I really want to put all my thoughts into words here; unfortunately the diligence doesn't apply to my fingers. So while battling which topic I wanted to share today, I found an old email containing 3 different stories sent years ago by a friend that was archived in my harddisk.When was my last story telling, eh? It's too long for me to recall. All right, I'll start of with the first story (The Frogs) here. I really like this story. I really need to revisit this story from time to time since I'm such a worrier. Hey for other worriers out there, this is specially dedicated to you too. All right, that's just an excuse. I admit I'm really lazy to come out with my own entry today. Hehe...
@@@The Frogs@@@
A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs.
The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs!
The farmer replied,"There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs ---millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!"
So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.
The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish,with two scrawny little frogs.
The restaurant owner said, "Well... where are all the frogs?"
The farmer said, "I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!"
Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs.
Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.
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When you feel that things are not going the way as you want/like,
When you are bothered by certain matters,
When you are annoyed by certain people,
or when you wake up one day and feel that you can't see the sunlight,
why not spend 3 seconds reading the following? Perhaps it'll change your mind. Oh by the way, I just did.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.
If you attend a religious meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than billions of people in the world.
If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back,a roof over
your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of people in this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare changein a dish someplace, you are among the top strata of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare, especially in the United States!
If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer Unconditional Love healing touch.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who are illiterate.
You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.
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