Dreams And Maturity

I went to catch Initial D on friday at Bugis. The movie was pretty funny though it's not really up to my expectation. The cartoon are still better...I think! Nevertherless, I would like to share some of my views about certain parts of the show. Towards the end, the guy was dissappointed with the girl hence he decided to join the racing team. He felt that it was supposed to be his dream and it's what he enjoyed doing all the time. It's different from the original story whereby the guy left the girl to pursue his dream. In my own view, I strongly feel that there is a huge difference in pursuing a dream regardless of what it take versus pursuing a dream after a girl had left. What do you all think?
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MATURITY
The sermon in church this sunday was about maturity. It simply mean that all of us have to grow somehow. It's not about growing old, but more about growing maturity. Why do we need to grow?
Somehow the biggest hinder to growth is superficiality. Are we troubled by lack of maturity? Are we more concerned with the comfort in life than growing in maturity? It is not automatic to grow in maturity. Either we grow warmer/closer or fallen away from the glory of GOD. It's a fact that I feel that it happen all the time around us. Most of us may rather continue to do the things we want or even the way we speak compared to changing our bad habits to make us a better person. One example is the way we speak or behave to people around us. Why can't we just speak words of encouragement or be nicer to them? All this is due to the problem of 'PRIDE'. We do not like to put ourselves down cos it's better to be on top at all times. We are all taught to fight for the things we want especially in a fast-paced country like singapore.
And either we grow closer or fallen away from the glory of GOD. People may feel that it's alright to stop coming to church or cell activities as long as they read the bible every day. Is it true? It's not healthy for man/woman to be alone as it will only make them prone to attack by negative thoughts or feelings. Imagine when you are sick in a hospital, would you rather be alone or would you rather have friends and family to comfort you? The answer is obvious rite!!
Let us continue to spur one another on in term of maturity and in everything we do. All the best in the coming week ahead.

Princess C And Her Knight

I managed to make it for Lindy lesson today. But it was a big dissappointment to see so many of my friends misiing out the fun. HC, R, CS, A are all MIA. Nevertherless, the dance proceed with us learning about the forces and other fundamentals involved. May the power of the universe be with us...Haha!!
C was wearing a very prominent and strucking green outfit today. I shall call her "Princess C" and I shall be her knight. What a fish? This princess later became a vase which she said herself. It caused me much efforts before she was willing to dance with her knight again. Cannot even leave her alone for a while cos she is just too mischevious and playful. Haha!!
One thought that struck me was that my image that is portrayed to others seemed that I do not have much worries and happinness and laughter is all I had. Is that true? I think it is just that people are too protective about their own images and tend to hide their feelings beneath their outer self. Will people feel low and frustrated at some point of time? I believe it is a process which all people will face in their daily lives. No one can escape this 'feeling low' cycle. We can only look to God for comfort at times where your families and friends seemed too distant away from you. It's time to sleep, back to the working cycle tomolo.

Wonderful Day

After work, I went to Tanjong Pagar to sign up for a new course. Then I proceed to Orchard to meet HC and Christine for dinner. It was a amazing sight to see how the youngsters nowadays react to the idols. They are screaming and jumping at the top of their voice. Frankly speaking, I think it is a waste of time and there are better place to spend their time. Anyway, Bo Chap lah!!
I went back with Ling and Vivi and chatted abit on how life had changed since Poly. They mentioned about physical changes and the rest is pretty much the same except for my relationship with Ling. The past is past and I shall not mentioned too much. One thing to rejoice about is perhaps the willingness and adaptility of the heart to let go of the past and to look ahead for the future.
I bought a new fan for my Dad which has helped to make his simple life happier. It's amazing to see how we can make other people happier just by showing a little more of our care and concern. Keep it up man!! I happened to bump into a friend on the bus back. She had moved to a new place pretty near my house. It seemed that I had a new "coffee n supper" companion. Thank God for everything. She told me that I seemed happier and "slimmer" abit when I told her that I changed job already. I told her it's due to the new goal that I hope to achieve in my life. After saying bye to her, I did some reflection and suddenly realized that it's God's work in me. After the church camp, some changes had undergone in my body without me knowing it. It's so amazing to just think how God changes our lives without us knowing it. Let continue to worship God with all our hearts and our souls. Amen!!

Making A Difference

A man was walking down the beach at sunset. As, he walked along, he saw another man in the distance. He noticed this man kept leaning down, picking up something and throwing it out into the water, again and again. As, he approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach. He was throwing them back into the water, one by one.
Puzzled, he approached the man and said, "Good Evening. I was wondering what you are doing."
"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide and all these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If, I don't throw them back into the ocean, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."
"But, there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possible get to all of them. And, don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"
The man bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and threw it back into the ocean. With a smile he replied, "Made a difference to that one !!!"

Just remember, no matter how small the deed it really does makes a difference. Make a difference today. Do something nice for someone else,even if it's just sending this card to a friend andletting them know somebody cares about them.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,
and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (LK 16:10)

Last PDL Lesson

Today is the last lesson of PDL for our cell group. I was very busy today as I had to prepare the food and collect payment from people as well. At the same time, it seemed that a lot of people are down with sickness like me which includes Bel, Eg, Meryl, Sharon, CK...etc. We better pray hard that we all recovered soooN.
We kicked off the PDL with food as usual. People just don't know how to appreciate the things given to them especially when it fell below their expectations. For example, they commented that we should have vegetables or other food as well. Maybe Qing had set too high a standard. Haha!! Nevertherless, not a single piece of food was left behind. What a fish! Complained so much but still finished up all the food. Just like typical Singaporean...haha.
One lesson I learnt from this incident was that the food we prepare somehow reflect on our personality as well. The food I prepared was more fulfilling and simple and economical; Qing's food was more of "Mother's Love" which requires more time and patience and skill while for Egwin, his food is more healthy or western such as chinese tea or bread with cheese etc. All this somehow reflect on the ways we handled things in our lives and the ways we live our lives. Soound very profound, rite?
The PDL lesson somehow ended with us discussing how we first got to know about this cell. It seemed ages when we first get to know one other and each of us had a different story to tell. Let me just briefly shared about my experience. I was first introduced into this cell around 7 years ago. My first mentality was that I can get to know more girls so why not? This caused me to left after half a year later when I got together with my ex-girlfriend. So paiseh!! Somehow I came back again last year and one thing have changed since my previous time in church. I believed in the change in my mindset and my mentality. Women suddenly seemed to lose it priority in my heart and other things are now more important such as work or family etc.
Maybe man will really mature with the passing of time and when we think back of the past, there are just so many things which we couldn't believe we did it. One thought to ponder about is that on the day we depart this earth, what do we hope to achieve and not to regret about? Let's just take the next couple of minutes for every one of us to think about. What is our purpose in life? what do we hope to achieve? Am I doing what I like? Or most importantly, is our lives meaningful at all or not?

Thurday Night

It's supposed to be my first lesson at Lindy 3. A pity work cropped up last minute hence I had to give it a miss. Nevertherless, I went for the Swing Fling just to catch up with friends. My health hasn't been very good recently. I was down with flu and fever. What a thing to happen after church camp.
Back to Lindy topics, Suzi is in Lindy 1 and she definitely had a lot more potential compared to me. I remembered my first dance with outsiders was only about 3-5 lindy turns and that's it. How can that ever happen? Is it me that did it? Perhaps it's the fault with the partner...Haha!! Whatever!!
I enjoyed myself tonight and it's been ages since I enjoyed my dance so much. Perhaps it's due to the facts that I learned to relax myself or partly due to the compliments I heard from my friends during the camp. Regardless of the reasons, I hope to continue my dancing with this type of attitude and mentality.
Lastly, let's hope that I will make it on time for Lindy 3 lesson next week.

How Much Are You Worth?

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill.
In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this."
He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still, the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?"? And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe, crumpled and dirty.
"Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in the eyes of those who love you.
You Are Special- Don't Ever Forget It!!

Church Camp

Just came back from the church camp today!! Let me just do a short summary of what had happened during the past few days........
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09/06/05 -Thurday

It's the last lesson of my Lindy 2 lesson and I'm preparing my mood for the coming church camp tomorrow. Everything seemed so perfect and wonderful. I was of course in a extremely good mood and expecting lots of exciting moments ahead.
Suddenly I received a call from my dad in the afternoon informing me that my aunt is in a critical condition and may leave us anytime. I was wondering whether should I take urgent leave or off to go to the hospital. In the end, I decided to continue with my work.
Few hours later, I received that my aunt had departed from this world. I felt bad that I didn't grab the opportunity to see her for the last time. Nevertherless, I comforted myself that everyone had to face death sooner or later. Therefore, I should not feel sad or bad at all as it's only part of the growing up process. People may say that I am unfeeling or emotionless but seriously , I felt that it's pointless to say or anything when the person is no longer around. If we really cherish the person, we should have do so when they are still by our side.
I went for my last Lindy 2 lesson and we had some fun together though it's sad and disappointing that many of us had to leave early.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10/06/05- Friday
It was 12.30am in the morning and I am on my way to my aunt's funeral. I had to make a decision between going for my church camp or staying to help out at my aunt's funeral. It seemed that bad things will always occur at the point of time my life is perfect.
Is this yet another test from the Devil or what? I really don't know. Finally I decided to go ahead with the camp as I feel that it's more important to know more about God and at the same time, have some fun with my friends together. I volunteered myself to stay up the whole night at my aunt's wake so that the rest of the people can at least have some rest.
I went to work almost half-dead due to insufficient sleep or should I say without sleep!! Luckily, I was on half-day off and after which I went back home to get some sleep. I fell into such a good sleep that I almost couldn't wake up in time for the bus till Michelle called me. Thank God!!
The bus leaves Bedok at 8.30pm and at 10.30pm- we're still at Woodland checkpoint. Haha!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11/06/05- Saturday
The van reached Seremban at around 2.30am in the morning. We're all dead-beat by the time we arrived. Sean, Egwin, CK and I shared a room where Sean decided to test the system and challenged himself. He slept without ear-plugs despite repeatedly warning from his friends. Of Course, he failed terribly and had to endure the "Thunder-Storm" or Heavenly music from one of his companions which I should not disclose. Can anyone guess who the culprit is? Haha!!
Poor Sean. He got such a bad fright that he went around looking for solution to get out of the room.
The sermon taught at the camp was very encouraging and motivating. It really widen our views on certain things and issues regarding our daily lives. One thing I remembered was about the Spirit, Soul and Body. Does it mean that I have to eat for 3 persons instead of one?
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12/06/05- Sunday
It's been another exciting day for all of us as besides the motivating sermons by Pastor Benny, we have a talent contest going on in the afternoon. Let me just introduce some of our interesting characters involved. We have:
Sean- The funny clown. All of us didn't know how funny sean can be until this camp. I think he can make a living out of it if he decided to switch occupation.
CK- The mischevious(not sure of the spelling- what does it matter anyway?) monkey. He did a very good job of acting as a monkey too. Don't you guys agree?
Wei Min- The jumping Flamingo- thanks for being so spontaneous and paticipating so whole-heartedly in the contest.
Not to forget, we had a couple dancing Lindy as Dancing Bears. They are none other than Qing and Eg. Their performance was fantastic which had many people setting their eyes on the two of them. What a romantic scene-- To have 600 pairs of eyes looking at them dancing, rite? Not many people had the chance and opportunity to dance in front of such a big crowd. At this point of time, I can almost imagine two person saying "WHATEVER" in my eyes now. What does it matter, RITE!!
We finished the day with a supper at A & W. One sad thing that happened is that Qing lost her handphone. Nothing much we can do to help except to be grateful that nothing else was lost.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13/06/05- Monday
We had a enjoyable holiday and all good things must come to an end. It's time to switch my mood back to work. Lastly, let me share something that really motivates me to continue with my Lindy lessons. My cell group members commented that I looked attractive when dancing as I seemed to have a different expressions. It make me want to fly up the sky already, Haha!! I think the expressions is because I'm too stress lah. Whatever it is, it's always good to hear good compliments from people. It's time to catch some sleep!! Bye!!

Weak or Strong

A Strong Woman (or Man)

A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape.
But a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.
A strong woman isn't afraid of anything.
But a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.
A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her.
But a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone.
A strong woman walks sure footedly.
But a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.
A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face.
But a woman of strength wears grace.
A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey.
But a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.

Trying to keep the spirits up

It's been another tired day at work. It seemed that my memory is getting from bad to worse. I can't seemed to absorb many new things into my mind. Nevertherless, I shall continue to maintain a positive attitude and mindset for the Lord is my refuge. Amen!!
Thursday is approaching and it seemed to be one of the few last lessons where the rest of us can gather together to have a lindy dance together. Let's wait and see what lies ahead the future for us. I shall not ponder over too much. Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow itself.

Broke And Tired

The past two days had been of much fun and joy. Let me just do a short recap:
Sat-04/06
I was the food and game IC for the PDL session. Sad to say, I was late again...sianz. Nevertherless, I enjoyed being the game IC as it indicates that I'll be able to "ROC" again, Haha.
The evening was spent at Orchard going for some food and shopping of clothes. When I was buying my food and clothing, I had two bad encounter with the various staffs. This seriously points out the bad services level of our service industry in S'pore. S'pore need to work harder to improve on the attitude of the people.
Went drinking at Harry at the later part of the night.Another stressful event especially the first dance. Was joined by R n Q at the later part which helped to make my mood better...heehee

Sun-05/06
Went to church in the morning. After services, I went to the IT exhibition and bought myself a MP3 player. Don't have the colour I want, but 'green vegetables' lah. After lunch, went to catch Starwars Episode 3. Almost fell asleep and waste my $9.50. Luckily saved by a packet of titbits found in my bag, Thank God!!

Some thoughts to think about: I SPENT TOO MUCH MONEY for the wkend liao. Must really save up and cut down expenses for the coming weeks ahead.

Pondering

Work was busy as usual. I was almost late for Lindy today, luckily I make it on time. My Lindy was quite screwed up as I seemed to forget about all the steps that I have learned before. Am I getting too old or is my memory playing tricks on me?
Nevertherless, I seemed to realize something that I forgotten all this while. That is I should simply enjoyed myself regardless of the dance steps or what the people around me are doing. This theory is so simple yet I seemed to forget this along the way as more and more lindy steps are being taught. Isn't this like our lives that we are living every day? We struggled through every day to make a living and we forget all about our dreams and goals along the way. Sometimes we are simply too concerned about the opinions of others or let the environment affects us in the decision we do.
Something to mention here is that I must be a very FUNNY person or my face is very weird. The reason is that one of my partner Q (let us called her Q to cover her identify) simply laughed herself to the dance floor while dancing with me halfway. This happened not once, but twice. Can anyone believe that this type of thing can happen to me? God save me!!
I would like to express my thanks to Cindy for taking the trouble to develop the photos for all of us and yes, Cindy looked very pretty today!!! Not bcoz of the photos u developed ah.....

Dream Dream Dream

As the day get busier each day, I seemed to have lesser time to do the things I used to do. Is it for the better or worse......I don't know!! It's still too early to tell at this point of time. Hence I should not waste my time pondering about the future as what will come will come.

Let me just share about a funny thing that happened to me this morning. The story started like this...................................................................."

I was walking happily with my new girlfriend on the street. The weather was nice and we're enjoying every moment of our times together. Suddenly my ex-girlfriend appeared out of nowhere and interrupted us. As I went for a drink with my ex-girlfriend, many thoughts went through my mind. Suddenly one sentence struck my mind. I don't think anyone can guess correctly what is the sentence.

" How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your words, .......I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:9,11

A sound seemed to speak directly to my mind and then I woke up from my dream. It was only all a dream. I must have think too much about the sentence too much, but nevertherless, it's a very profound sentence which I strongly believed will benefit a lot of people. Good Luck to all you people out there and may all of you have a sweet dream tonight.

Beginning of The Nightmare

Monday- 30 May 2005 will be a special day to remember for me. The reason being that it had been another record breaker for me. And that is I left my workplace at 0130AM. Never had I worked before in any company that requires staff to work till so late. Guess it is another circumstances to shape me up again. Luckily I am not the latest to left as there are people who stayed till 2 plus. One thing I'm glad is that the company decided to give our team a half-day off. Kind of make up for our hard work.

For the past two days, I had been struggling to complete the tasks as it is the month end period which mean all the work had to be completed. I have a feeling that it's going to be like this for the rest of my days. Better to be mentally prepared first...haha!!

One thing I realized is that when we get more and more busy with our daily lives, we seemed to have no time to really sit down and think about our purpose in lives and the dreams we want to achieve. The dream seemed to drift more and more apart from us. Guess I have to wait for a short while more before I get used to my new environment.