Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Interview with GOD








If you like to begin a relationsnip with God, it's easy because He already wants to know you, just the way you are right now. The're are no preconditions to knowing Him. You don't have to be a good person first, because by knowing Him, He helps us become better. You don't have to be an expert about Him either, because the best way to learn about someone is to meet them. All we need to do to know God is to say "yes" I want to Him.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Dance of Life


There were two hearts met in a dance. That moment was magical. There was a sweet song playing, there was harmony and soon, love in the air. They feel in love and they started building castles in their dreams and promised forever with all certainty. But, somewhere in the midst of the fun, they got lost in the dance, something went wrong but they can never do anything. They were just drifting away, their fortress falling apart. There were so many questions, but no one had an answer.

The music stopped and then was a silence...

When we truly love someone, we give our best and let that person see the pureness of our intention. But sometimes that person makes us cry and hurts us for the wrong reason. That someone must have loved us but he has not loved us enough to make him stand for what he truly felt.

Now we are faced with the seemingly impossible task of forgetting. We have burdened ourselves long enough but we still can't get out of this emotional trap. Let us remember that the more we try to forget someone we love, the more painful letting go will become.

Sometimes we never had to take that person out of our hearts at all, for he will always be there no matter how hard we try to drive him away. It isn't his presence that makes this difficult. It is our stubbornness to accept our destiny that aligns forgetting next to impossible. We keep a cold face but deep in our hearts, there is still that lingering hope for reconciliation. Somehow, we still believe that we can rekindle small embers and relight the fire that once burned in our hearts. These thoughts give us hope but it also breeds the seeds of loneliness and despair.

The only way to forget is to accept and the only way to move on is to look ahead and let the footprints of the past be blown by the wind of time. Only then can our hearts find a partner in the dance of life and hopefully never get lost again.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Faces of Depression


Down on life?
It might not be just a case of the blues.
Could be your battling depression.

We all feel depressed sometimes, and its totally normal. But when you're feeling completely out of whack for a couple of weeks, and life's become a real drag, things are serious. So how can you tell the difference between being depressed or just being in a down mood? The first step is to understand depression. It's like an ongoing state of being totally bummed out. Many things can trigger it, like the death of someone close, unhealthy relationships, financial difficulties, or being the victim of any kind of abuse. The next step is to pay attention to your moods over a set period of time (like a week) and rate your feelings on a scale from 1 to 10. Maybe you're just a tad moody - maybe it's more. Could be a lame weather. On this type of day you're probably a 1 or a 2 in terms of feeling sad. When you have bad pre-menstrual syndrome, you maybe a 3, tops. When you get around 6 or 7, depression is real. You may have trouble getting out of bed. When your depression lasts more than two weeks, and you have four or five of the symptoms listed below, your depression's serious and you should talk to someone, like a family doctor. Whenever you have depression of 9 or 10, which is when you just don't feel like living anymore, you must get help immediately. Fortunately, depression is treatable. In most cases, you can get rid of it with medicine or possibly going to talk-therapy with a professional therapist.

Faces of Depression
> You feel sad, anxious, or guilty.
> You're not interested in doing your favorite things.
> You sleep a lot more or a lot less than usual.
> You lose your appetite or constantly eat, and gain or lose weight.
> You feel everything around you is hopeless, you view everything in a negative way.
> You cry all the time, or you're cranky.
> You have difficulty making decisions, concentrating, and remembering.
> You have headaches or stomach pains that won't go away.
> Most seriously, you have thoughts of death or suicide.

When you or someone you know talks about suicides, things are way serious. Never underestimate people who talk about ending their lives. It's not a bid to get attention; it's cry for help. Gently encouraging them to seek help is a must. If they don't, you might have to seek help for them, even if it's against their wishes, in order to save their lives.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Echoes of Our Hearts...


Sometimes we close our eyes and just listen to the echoes of our hearts. We all fall in love and there are times when we love so much that we lose ourselves in our own emotions. More often than not, we wonder why there are love that grows, and that love grows cold. We would start to search for answers and try to find where love has gone wrong. But in the end, we find ourselves where we started for we cannot question love when it has its own reasons. Love will always be as it. always has been...silent, mysterious and deeply profound.

Many of us believe that love is forever, that love never dies, only to be disillusioned in the end when we find our hands empty and our hearts longing. We mistakenly have looked at love as a need to be fulfilled. But love is only a gift given to us. We should not hold it in our hands for we may never find the strength to let it go when it decides to leave. We should only embrace its warmth and glow while it last and then freely open our arms when its time to say goodbye.

When we fall in love with someone, we don't want that feeling to end for it is everything we are, everything we wanted to be. We pray that love will stay and grow in our hearts. But, if it doesn't then we should never let our lives be taken by it, for life should not end where heartaches begin.

There is always a reason why we have to move on. When we have to say goodbye to the feelings we wanted to stay forever, let us not wave our hands with a heavy heart. For love will have to set its wings free and find the place where it belongs. We may have lost it but then again, when we close our eyes and listen to the echoes of our hearts, we will hear that feeling resounding silently forever.

Then we'll know that it has never left us, for the good that we have become because of love will always stay. It will always be there reminding us that we should be thankful and happy, not because we have lost love, but because, for once in our lives, that feeling lived in our hearts and made us happy...

Monday, March 16, 2009

Enhancing Relationship

TRUST is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation.


Saturday, March 14, 2009

No Pointing Fingers

A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?"
The father-in-law answered in a smile, "Never criticize your wife for her shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than
you."


We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mista
ke, he would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at. This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at ourselves.

If we forgive the others, others will ignore our mistake too.


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Creating Perfect Relationship

A person visited the government matchmaker for marriage, SDU, and requested "I am looking for a spouse. Please help me to find a suitable one." The SDU officer said, "Your requirements, please." "Oh, good looking, polite, humorous , sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my
leisure hour, if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want
to rest." The officer listened carefully and replied, "I understand you need television."

There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a blind wife and a deaf husband ,because the blind wife cannot see the faults of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of the wife. Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of perpetual perfect relationship. Unfortunately, when the excitement of love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed of roses. The nightmare begins.


Monday, March 9, 2009

Right Speech

There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other,we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything without considering if it would hurt the other party.

A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted,"Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me.Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker." She answered ,"You should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he will be the millionaire and not you."


Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad relationship. It's like a broken egg - cannot be reversed.



Saturday, March 7, 2009

No Overpowering

Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another,or demands too much. People in love tend to think that love will conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after marriage. Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person's character."

It is not easy to change. Thus, having high e
xpectation on changing the spouse character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness.

It would be less painful to change ourselves and lower our expectations..

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Personal Perception

Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home,a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey?"Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?" Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.

Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman."
The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their s
houlders.

It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.


Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..

Monday, March 2, 2009

Be Patient

This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.

Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, " Daddy,I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked, "but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home & committed
suicide.

Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or u wish to take revenge. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love. Trucks can be repaired.. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't. Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge.

People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.