The Elephant Story

Here's a good one. Unknown source but got into my mailbox this morning.

'I was passing through an area where scores of big elephants were reared. I noticed that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not. I saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them. At that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.' Like the elephants, many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before. Like the elephants, we are tied down by many small ropes that keep us away from achieving what we can.

Put your failures behind you and take up the challenges awaiting you. Let not little failures in the past make you lose sight of big opportunities for success in the present. Break from the limiting chains of the past and................................Make it a great week ahead!!

Choice Of The Day

Yet another good one: Un-identified source but got it in my mailbox.

'Mr. Jones, a 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, moved to our nursing home one day. Even though legally blind, he is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, the nurse provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. "I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.The nurse said, "Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room, just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied."Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged - it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice: I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in. So, deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Remember these five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Abraham Lincoln is reported to have once said, "A man is just about as happy as he makes up his mind to be."' So, every morning when we wake up, let's make a choice to be happy ...................................Make it a great week ahead!!

Lovin' It

Starting to feel I am going to love this new lifestyle! I can imagine! Ooops provided its sustainable. Since I have eliminated my fear about no extra cash in hand, I think next, we just gota keep going!? Yeah, still need the music to boost some motivation - never buy any new CDs hehe just digging out old ones. Gota churn out all the necessary paperwork! I guess I still believe at the end of the rainbow, there's a pot of gold :P if we walk the rainbow :)

Poison Your In-Law

Here's another good one.. and as I always say, got it in my mail, not sure of the original source..

Long ago in China, a girl named Li-Li got married & went to live with her husband. In a short time, she found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law .Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly. Days and weeks passed but Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing great marital discord. Finally, Li-Li felt that could not bear it any longer, and resolved to do something about it! She went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all. Mr. Huang thought for a while, and finally said, "Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you." She agreed. Mr. Huang went into the backroom, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious. So, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, to ensure that nobody suspect you when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. Treat her like a queen." Li-Li thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law. Weeks and months went by. Every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said , so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had passed, the whole household had changed. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she almost never got upset. She hadn't had an argument with her mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with. The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling everybody that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. One day, Li-Li came to see Mr.. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, "Sir, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law! I do not want her to die because of the poison. She's changed into such a nice woman." Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head: "Li-Li, there's nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her. You have changed into a nice woman and hence she too has changed." How you treat others is exactly how they will treat you. The roots of most of our problems in relationships lie in ourselves. Change your attitude towards other and see how beautifully everything around you changes. Our attitudes are the spectacles our mind uses to view others, their words and their actions. The cleaner these spectacles are the better is our perception. If these spectacles are clouded with prejudices and complexes, the whole world is perceived wrongly. This is turn causes misunderstandings in relationships - at home and at work. It takes time and effort to clean these spectacles of the mind. But, its worth the time and effort! Identify 1 relationship that you wish to improve, apply Mr. Huang's advise to this relationship for 6 mon and see the difference and........

Where Do You Go From Here?

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else" .. just came across this - letter from the ICED Partner Magazine. How true and how much I should be reminded to do this exercise. I remember back then we use to have this exercise during our 'Pendidikan Moral' sessions - 3 years from now, and 5 years from now. Let's see the directions so we dont end up elsewhere! Unless of course, it is elsewhere you wanna go .. :)

March 2006 - Another New

Another new beginning! Hmmm, always starting a new 1-year period, what have I achieved!? Okay, I remember starting off back in March 0-savings... Already one year, back to 0-savings! Something must be wrong! :) But was telling MICH that day, I guess for me, at the end of the day, as long as Healthy and Happy, all else I will lesson to worry about it. It's cool to be able to try this. After all, we started off with no money, isn't it? :P Having said that, this doesnt mean I will stay contented, ha! Still gonna pay bills, have a house - at least right? Oopps but no insurance policy yet, hmmm.. Anyways, charging up all my energy this mid-March to go full-force on doing something home-based. I reckon it will require alot of dicipline - which explains why I have been slacking the entire early March, waking up late, doing chores late, send ANA to school late la la la la ...! Buck up time!!! Let's blast some music 104 FM!

Rejuvenate, What's Next?

So what's next? Sit home do nothing? :) Motivational booster, where are you? Wow, lots of determination to be more self-sustaining but I believe the rewards will come, yeah if I put in the effort now! Been taking life easy, gave myself Jan, Feb and abit of March to just rejuvenate, re-position.. I think overall life has been good, even lately. Though nothing is really so much so perfect, but I realized I never expected perfect anymore.. either that or my definition of a perfect life is indeed an imperfect one.. so at the end of the day, I am really not so misreable. Self- conditioning? Hmm I dunon but don't really care, as long as happy! :P Once we are free from pro-longed worrisome and suspicions - get rid of all the bad habits, I think we can reach the sky.. Most important, keep up the good work! Its not good enough to just say be happy for 1 day, or 1 week.. we gota be consistent and I think its great to be able to see this challenge positively (smelling roses) .. Here itself, out in the Pacifics, somehow I feel life is good too... traffic is super .. easy to get around, friends and people are nice.. community-style, not so individualistic (like city-pple!!) .. aside some environmental concerns and related natural disasters, could I ask for more!? Noh, I think its great being here .. perhaps elsewhere to! But for now, I am happy with the weather :)