Reading is to gain knowleage. Resting is to be able to go further.

3 Rs - Reading, Resting, Recharging!

When I read, my brain is recharged because I gain new knowledge and insight into things. When I read, my mind starts to wonder and wonderful images are formed to encourage and to propel me onwards!

When I rest, it is to make sure that my body is recharged to take flight again and to be able to take on more adventure! After I rest, my spirit will be recharged and nothing will be a hedge that I cannot overcome!

When I recharge, I will be a better person than I used to be. After I recharge, you will see that I m a better person, a person that will stand strong,both physcially and mentally, when surrounded with obstacles. Nothing will bring me down cos I will not allow it to happen. Nothing is too difficult if we set our determination to do it!

Ganbatte!!

"All great literature, ancient and modern, is a bridge connecting one human being to another, one spirit to another. The quality of our life is determined by how many of those bridges we can cross."

- Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda

I want to love, be loved and be in love!

"Love wins, love always wins" - Excerpts from "Tuesday with Morrie"

What has it got to do with upbringing?

Teenagers are kicked out of their house after high school in the States and if they fail to launch, the parents will have to think of some way or employing someone to kick their children out of the house. For further info, please consult the movie "Failure to Launch". In Asia, we stay with our parents until we get married and may stay on even after marriage! Basically, there is no issue about staying at home as long as you contribute to the daily expenses and houseworks. I think parents are even glad that their children are still living with them after they get married.

On the issue of upbringing which basically means training that someone received while he/ she grows up! They are different types of upbringing and it will probably depends on the culture, religion, who your parents are and the type of family background you come from. I don think anyone will say I have better upbringing than you etc because who is to judge whether anyone has better upbringing! Will you say that a politician will have better upbringing than a polite waiter working in a restaurant? In the news and especially in some parliament of some countries, corruptions and even cat fighting are occurring among politicians during parliament sessions. A polite waiter who smiles at his customer will warrant a praise but is it his good upbringing that he smiles a lot or is it just his friendly nature? Point to ponder.

Tiring day today especially since I din sleep well last nite so going to end this post here n go to sleep.

Insult me but please don insult my parents! I think they are pretty proud of the fact that they did not fail in their parenting cos we din end up as criminals!

"I suffer whenever I see that common sight of a parent or senior imposing his opinion and way of thinking and being on a young soul to which they are totally unfit. Cannot we let people be themselves, and enjoy life in their own way? You are trying to make that man another you. One's enough." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

A round of applause for Emerson, he said it all!

Happy Boss Day!.. Cupcakes anyone?

Today is Boss Day! Should there be such a day? Should we as subordinate give our boss a treat? A debatable answer. If the boss is good to his/her staff, it will be a good time to show their appreciation for all the rubbish that he/she needs to put up every day in the office. If the boss has been bad, then the staff can still show appreciation to shame the boss for his/her bad attitute! As a boss, if your employee give you something on this occasion, will you be flattered or will you think that there is some ulterior motive? I will be flattered as the boss because it shows that I have subordinate that still care about me even though I may have been mean to them at times. Even if it is purely "polishing my shoe", they still bother to do it. Question? If the boss accepted your gift, consume it, thanks you for it and then told you later that this gift is to butter her, how will you feel? If the boss thinks that it is with motive, then would not he/ she reject the gift upright and chide the employee for such action? However, the acceptance of the gift will also signify that the Boss understands the implication? Then, would not a gift be just out of the good will of some one with the only motive of making someone happy. I believe we all love to receive gift as this is human nature. No one will turn something down unless the purpose behind such gift is really of question eg bribery or even criminal in nature or they are for something that you are unable to perform or they are really too expensive to receive as gift for no reason at all.

An innocent cupcake becomes an item of evil intention. How absurd can that be?

More beautiful cupcakes! They looks good yet be not deceived by its mere appearance.

Please also note that comments to cupcakes' pictures above are not directed at the cupcakes themselves or their ingredient or baking methods or their makers or even the shops that sell them or anything related to these cupcakes. Comments are used metaphorically.

Therefore the morale of the story is never give gift or even cupcakes to your boss. Is just not worth that effort! You will be backstabbed for whatever intention you may have.

Finally we should leave with this following quote:

"Failure is an instrumental part of every success. Whether our life has been a triumph or tragedy can only be judged at its very end."

- Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda

I think without failure, we probably will not know what is success. To succeed, we probably have to fail first. Most importantly, we have to pick ourselves up from the failure and carry on!

I cannot oversleep!

I had wanted to blog yesterday when I was highly inspired. Cannot remember what I had wanted to say but I think it has to do education! Why this topic? I don exactly remember but it probably got to do with the fact that I have more than a basic degree and a comment by a friend of what's wrong with having something more than a degree. Education is not a tool to tell people you are more superior than them because u know more. Education is a tool for people to get beyond the environment (meaning the environment beyond the skin that wraps our flesh and organs) that they are in. It is something we all need to become more human and to empathise with others. Then even if we are educated, it does not make us more superior human beings cos knowledge can make someone arrogant! I guess when I got myself educated, it is not to show my superior studying power but rather I want to know my world and I want to know why things are happening around me. I want to know why there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and why the gods are quarreling when there is lightning and thunder on a rainy night. I want to play a part in maintaining the ecosystem on this world in which we live. Though the earth may not be the only living planet in the entire universe, it is probably where we will be for many years to come.

Today I overslept and I slept in the afternoon and as a result, I got a terrible headache which is not so bad now. I think I really have to find something to do on weekend.

A black and white photo that was taken from a canon camera which I only realise has this function a couple of days ago.

Same canon camera but in its original colour.

The sky in black and white. The sky is the limit and probably that means no limit!

Hmm.. last friday, we had the first reading club at SYC organised by FD! The first book to start off this session was Lords of the Rings! Remember the famous quote of "One ring rules them all"? Power in the wrong hand will lead to suffering. It takes a strong individual both in spirit and inner strength to resist power and to use it wisely. It is rare to find such individual.

To quote:

"A person who cannot genuinely empathize with others can never excel as a leader. So much of what ails society today is the result of too many people in leadership positions who do not or cannot identify with the plight of their fellow men and women. It is in enduring pain and struggles that the earth of our humanity is cultivated. And it is from this earth that a capacity to be genuinely concerned for the welfare of others blossoms."

- Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda

Guess our life span is limited so if we are always limiting ourselves because the norm says so then we are really wasting our lives! I should not live to regret because I have no time for that! This is also wat my friend told me. This is the moment! To quote from the lyric of a song from RENT, there is "No day but today". Incidentally, RENT is also a very inspiring muscial about life of the common people who are constantly confronted with their own identity and basic survival.

There is "No day but today"!

Kenshu is the time to refresh our spirit to travel further

Finally I have paid the whole tour amount. If nothing copes up and there should not be, I will be setting out to the country which the UN does not recognise and where the wearing of red is not exactly recommended unless u decide u want to stay there permanently. Wear red for Burma too and I wore that colour on Saturday and Sunday n not on the Friday. Sorry, seems not that appropriate wearing red to work on Friday! Plus, I have no red blouse to flaunt anyway.

Hmm... last evening and this morning, we have our year end Kenshu for FD Ics. The topic discussed revolve on this Mentor and Disciple spirit or for short M & D spirit. It took me some time to register what M & D stands for cos the official theme for the Kenshu is "My Mentor & Me" so I was wondering what happens to the D or M.. Should it not be M & M? Sounds like chocolates which incidentally is one of my favourite brand of chocolates. Then, I don really eat that much too! What is M & D spirit? I gather it got to do with fulfilling our teacher's dreams. Ok, is a lot more than that but I don exactly want to reproduce wat I had learnt and heard! Besides FD chief, the other Youth division chiefs also turned up to elaborate more about this M & D spirit. I think is a personal experience that will be unique to each of us. How can we reach into our mentor's heart and how do we inculcate this into our FD members? The conclusions is then for me to think, live, breath and feel my mentor in my life and daily go abouts. In this way, we will be able to convince n bring forward this M & D spirit.

The second part of the Kenshu which was this morning is left for study lecture. It is the best every year. How do we then lead a life pulsating in rhythm with our mentor? 3 words - Choice, Compassion and Champion! We have the choice to change the life of ourselves and others and to bring happiness to ourselves and others! Simple words yet deep meaning within it! Guess I make it too simple here but then this is a blog and not a buddhist lecture and tutorial class. If I get too technical, i will probably fall asleep myself. Hahaha..

Lovely RHQ3 Ics. Chief says to retire gracefully from FD when it is time!

Last and not least. If anyone goes to see fortune teller and predicts your fortune! Never think it is fated and resigned to it. In buddhism and what the lecturer today puts it nicely, as practicers of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism, we have the power to change our life and karma. Thus this is a buddhism of turning poison into medicine. We chant to bring out the best in ourselves, displaying high life condition and wisdom!

Let Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo shines through!

Non-disclosure indemnity and happy news

Today, there is a mixture of news. It started out pretty ok in the morning with a plan to visit one the Drs who has just given birth to a pair of unidentical twins! Cute babies (though we only get to see one as the other baby is still under observation) and the mother do definitely needs a bottle of wine and some chocolate for the hard work she has undergone to have the babies. SO for a new birth, do we give presents to the mother or do we give it to the babies?.. Hmmm, personally I think we should give to the mother! Isn't it obvious? She really really puts in a lot of hard work and effort to bring lives into this world. On baby news, another of my friends is on her way to have a baby next January! yeah! Loves all these happy baby news. Makes me want one as well. That will have to wait until I find the right guy! YO, where are U?

On not so happy news, I m currently looking for a template on non disclosure. Things are getting pretty "political" at the place where I work. I used to like politic and this is during JC. Now I try very hard to shun away from it all. U get burnt for nothing at all and all I wanted is to get things done and get to do what i want to do.

Been too tired to read recently and I should really get back into my reading habits! 3 more months to go before the end of the year and I m very behind in my readings. 3 more months towards achieving my resolutions for this year! Ganbatte! Must get to reading them!

So to end this average day, let's quote this:

"Ultimately, our battle is with ourselves. Whether in our activities in society, or whether in historical, political or economic developments, everything essentially boils down to a struggle between positive and negative forces."

- Words of Wisdom from Daisaku Ikeda

I m still me no matter wat! As long as I don lose sight of myself, I m sure I will be able to change my environment!

We are the world! We are the children!..

Remember Micheal Jackson's famous song that goes "we are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a better place for you and me.." Seems to be the anthem for children of the world then... Are all heros fallible? Hmm probably since they are still human beings in one sense. How not to make mistakes or rather become pompous? I think the heros must remain humble and not be too big headed with his glory. This will probably apply to civilisations as well. All civilisations had its glory n its dark ages. However, the remains of their cities walls and archaeological artifacts proved they had really been here and conquered the place for that period in time! Examples of Civilistaion includes The Ancient Egypt 3200–343 BC and Sumer 3500–2334 BC. Some such as the chinese and Greece are still around today! In civilisations, the dominant power changes over the centuries and many legends are formed! Enough of history, though civilisations seems like a pretty fun and interesting subject! Will read more later!

My really messy table in the office! My mum gonna faint if she sees this. Spring Cleaning Time!

New colleague at work today! Need to pass on but I think should not burden her on the first day! Transit takes time!

"One thing is certain: That is that the power of belief, the power of thought, will move reality in the direction of what we believe and conceive of it. If you really believe you can do something, you can. That is a fact."

- Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda

Something is wrong with my CD burner! I don seems to be able to burn anything! So sad! Change burner!