successful people

Success is not define as making the most money,
it's rather those who have achieved satisfaction, joy, pride and contentment from their endeavors.

Success is about believing in yourself and trusting that if you are true to your inner voice, as well as listening to your mind, you will choose most wisely for yourself.

The people who have been courageous in this way have invariably ended up the happiest. As if they were having an important meeting with themshelves, they paused first to listen.

excerpt from the book timeshifting by Stephan Rechtschaffen

Time is not a measure: but rather a quality.
When we look at the past we are not rewinding a tape but remembering a gift of our passage on Earth.
Time is not measured like a road is measured, since we take gigantic leaps backwards (memories) and forwards (projects).

Managing is not living: “time is money” is nonsense.
We have to be aware of each moment and know how to take advantage of each single moment in what we are doing (with love) or in just contemplating life.
A day has 24 hours and an infinity of moments.
If we slow down, everything will last much longer. Of course, washing the dishes can take longer too, but why not use that time to think about pleasant things, singing, relaxing, being happy at just being alive?

In tune with life: Arthur Rubinstein (one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century) was once approached by an ardent admirer, who asked him: “How can you use the notes with such mastery?”
The pianist answered: “I use the notes the same way that others do, but the pauses … ah! That’s where the art lies.”

My divorce process was extremely painful and I thought that by keeping busy I would manage to get over the difficult moments, but it did not work out as foreseen because I could not see the pain in my soul.

As of a certain moment I began to “use the pauses” – sit down, let the pain come and reach me and then pass. Little by little I re-structured my life and understood better the reasons for the separation. Today my ex-wife works with me in the Omega Institute – because I was able to face pain, not just hide it behind my work.

p/s: sounds interesting.. gonna go borrowed the book, will keep u all updated.

From Kumar

'You have to find peace within yourself before you can go out and find happiness.
Happiness is the only thing you cannot buy.'

Daily master

Ha... there are times when I go for my quick toilet break at work that I'm struck with tots while doing the er-hem 'toilet business'... today is one such day ;p

Something that I have read last time & was reminded of recently just appeared in my head.

All of us born in a developed & comfortable country has forgotten how to enjoy simple pleasures in life that's so important.

Especially in such a safe & properous Singapore, we are given so much things & lead such comfortable life that we started to take things for granted, that nothing satisfied us and we just want more & more & more!

Come to think of it, it's quite perverse & pathetic. We have so much and we are not happy with what we have, in fact alot of people become unhappy because they feel they do not have enough!
No wonder 3rd world country ppl hates us. I don't like it too therefore i shall be mindful of this.


Every new day is a gift for us to learn new things. I learnt not to complain unnecessarily and to treasure what I have.


I'm thankful that I'm surrounded by many like-minded friends who understand what i'm saying and i'm really glad to have them by my side. Seeing them give me hope that our society will not become too materialistic :)

To quote Ajahn Brahm, " In order to relish and know life in its fullness, we should often savour one moment at a time in silence. Then we might get our money's worth in the five-star resturant called life."

Pointers to remember =)

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, t heir conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN ... When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

Relationship and love - from 'my spiritual odyssey' blog

Love - the illusive and elusive that apparently dangles in front of us, reachable at times yet mostly just out of reach. For it is when we first utter the word "I love you" be it verbally to another, or internally to ourselves that we called upon to ourselves suffering.
Why? The moment "I love you" is uttered, we worry if we'll hear it returned. If it is returned, we worry if we can keep it. If it is kept, we keep worrying if it will be lost or sizzle down one day.

And so... this has been the cycle of love that many human beings have gone through and through. Okay - that sounds so bleak, like I've been through love and given up on it.

Far from it. I'm merely observing a fact, and wondering if there's another 'love'. A love that is free, unconditional, empowering and uplifting.I believe the answer lies in this question. What's the purpose of relationship? Let's explore some of the common answers given :

1) To share my life with someone special. So if it is to share my life with someone -what is it within me that I have to share? Is it love, joy, contentment, peace, happiness, wisdom, maturity, generosity or do I carry resentment, anger, bitterness, unreasonableness, insecurity, fear. Okay - these are extreme negative conditions.What about a sense of lack? Many people including myself have gone into relationship because fear of loneliness.That may not be the initial reason... I was hopelessly, heads over heels in love once - but if I had stopped to reflect inward, a deeper reason was to put away my loneliness, to have that someone special in life. Whenever we get into a relationship hoping that the other person can cure our loneliness or give us happiness, contentment - we are bound to be disappointed as nobody can give us happiness and peace. Loneliness is self-created and can only be cured from within. Happiness and inner peace comes from within - not given by external factors, and certainly not another human. It is unfair for us to put such burden onto our beloved for they can never achieve that.

2) Some people believe that it is to find joy, happiness and peace in a relationship. To find implies that we don't have joy and happiness right now and we're trying to find it from another person. That means our beloved has to give us joy and happiness throughout the relationship.

We may argue that we're also giving the same thing - but the truth is - if we enter a relationship with a subconscious reason to find joy and happiness, it means we don't have it right now in our live. We cannot give what we don't have.

So then what's the purpose of relationship? - to procreate and start a family. If that's the only reason - I shudder to think of the sex life :)

Let me suggest that the purpose of relationship is to create love, joy, peace, happiness, contentment, truth, freedom, etc.
To create means I have those stuff now, and even if I don't have them, I can create them again, and in a relationship I can create it together my beloved, doubling even tripling the power. To create suggest a mutual act, one that will bond 2 people even deeper, or as a phrase I've heard, literally melts 2 person into 1. (not just physically la).

To create means I don't fear losing because we can always create more.It also means that a relationship will not curtail the freedom of a person to be who he/she really is, but rather encourage and create a journey of life that bonds 2 person to live out their dreams.

Death

Just watched the Japanese movie 'Departures' and it led me to think of the topic of death.

As a nurse, dying & death issues has never been a taboo topic for me and I never shy away from talking or discussing about it. I know that I sometimes make certain people uncomfortable when I do talk about it and sometimes I think they feel that I'm callous.

To me, death is a natural progress that everyone of us has to go through one day, of course the most ideal scenario is when one only encounter it when one grow old and die of aging.
Then again, everyone knows that it can happen anytime, anywhere, anyway, without notice. It's something that nobody has control over. So why the taboo? Is it due to fear of dying?

In the movie, whenever a person passed away, there's a mixtures of different feelings displayed by different people, there's sadness, peace, anguish, regret & guilt. Many a times, guilt & regret is very prominent, be it not treasuring or treating the dead person well or good enough when the person is alive, only to realise it when the person passed away; enlightened that whatever grudges or blame means nothing when the person dies, instead regretting never having the chance to reconcile the relationship when the person is alive.

Always remember, It's the living who will feel the emotions, those who passed on is at peace already. The living must learn to deal & cope with the feelings that arise when a loved one passed away. If those living treasure their love ones, never take anyone for granted, live life to the fullest, when anyone passed on, it can be dealt with positively and life can carry on with lesser regrets.

In a way, those who passed on 1st have it easier.

One of the lead character whose wife passed away before him said,

"One day, one of us will have to go 1st, it's hard to be the one that's left behind"

How true.