Take things within our stride and learn from them. (:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=448236655254248&set=vb.490557787661044&type=2&theater

When I look at this, I see myself. A not so normal person trying to fight his way through reality against the odds. It sure is tough, but I will not back down without a fight. I will not give up without a fight. I will not.

Damn onion-cutting ninjas.

Be thankful.

Always appreciate what you have, and be thankful for them, cherish them, love them the way they should be loved. You will never know if there is a 'tomorrow' to speak about. 

Letting go.

You ought to let someone go when they are living a life just as beautiful without you.

"Let's forget about yesterday, create today and tomorrow. Living in the present moment." 


Stay strong, you might be alone but you certainly have yourself. Stand tall, do not cry over spilled milk. Why be so hard on yourself over someone who chooses to leave? Haven't you already established the fact that if someone really cared, he/she would stay regardless of how difficult the problem is? Yes, no matter the situation, the one who leaves is the one in the wrong, and that is also one of the requirements of friendship previously discussed. Maybe she really isn't as good as you think she is, maybe you really don't mean as much to her as she means to you. Quit crying, it's time to accept the hard truths, get up and move on. 

Didn't the Qur'an say "And surely what comes after is better for you than that which has gone before"?

These religious books, they surely are banks of wisdom. 

There is a specific feeling which exists only when you run into someone about whom you had long forgotten. It’s probably most palpable when it’s an ex, but it can happen with friends who were once particularly close. It is comparable to a scab that seems to have been on your skin forever — a scrape which was once quite painful but has been so long in the healing process that you no longer notice its presence when you wash over it in the shower. You peel it off almost out of boredom and suddenly there is a drop or two of blood, something that vaguely resembles the wound it once was, now too distant to really cause any discomfort. These people are wounds which have healed over, which have never quite turned into scars but which have become just another part of your lived-in body.

Letting someone go — when it is a necessary act of self-preservation, something that has to come if you expect to move forward in life — is regarded as a kind of victory. You have successfully overcome an emotional trauma that once surrounded you like a kind of fog which prevented you from ever seeing the sun. People will tell you, always with the best intentions, that one day you are going to wake up and realize that you are okay, and your life is not immediately over because they are no longer a part of it. And this is true, though it’s not the net positive that we are so quick to label it as. Because it’s not as though you simply wake up one day and proclaim yourself fine, suddenly hearing birds chirp and children laugh after months of only your own oppressive silence. You simply start to forget, feeling the acute pain of the loss less and less as each day goes on. There will come a day when you don’t care, but you won’t notice it, because you will have other things to think about.

But in order to let that pain go, in order to remove this person from the place of power they have occupied for so long, you must let everything go. Perhaps in a very distant future, you will be able to pick and choose the memories you want to keep, but for a very long time, one memory will always bleed into another. You cannot simply think about the time the two of you sat on the beach for an entire night, talking about your childhood, drinking the second-least-expensive wine you could find in the store. Because when you allow yourself to think about that, it will remind you of them as a whole, and will lead into all of the terrible things that happened after that night — not the least of which being their eventual departure. They exist within us as whole people, stories with beginnings and endings, and in order to let go of them we cannot choose the things we want to isolate for nostalgia.
We have to stop caring what they would think if they saw us, stop worrying about running into them in the store, stop obsessing over the things we could have done differently to make them stay. And that means letting go of everything they meant to us, proving to ourselves that life can be just as good, just as beautiful, without them in it. When you realize, long after the fact, that you no longer care about someone — that what they are doing in life has no bearing on you, and vice versa — it feels very much like a small death. Who they were with you no longer exists, and you cannot even preserve it in your memory, for the sake of your own mental health.

I recently ran into someone I used to know very well. I hadn’t seen him in close to two years, and I barely recognized him when I crossed him on the sidewalk. I had forgotten that it was his neighborhood, had forgotten that we used to eat there, forgotten it all. And he looked different, different enough to be slightly unsettling. We exchanged words, but as people who had barely ever known each other. It was a spoken confirmation that things had indeed changed — that we had let one another go, out of necessity — and that the parts of ourselves we needed to erase to move on were just going to have to be forgotten. Of course, you never really forget anyone, but you certainly release them. You stop allowing their history to have any meaning for you today. You let them change their haircut, let them move, let them fall in love again. And when you see this person you have let go, you realize that there is no reason to be sad. The person you knew exists somewhere, but you are separated by too much time to reach them again.

We told each other we should get coffee sometime, but didn’t exchange our new numbers. We knew we weren’t going to see each other again.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-we-let-people-go/

當世界只剩下這床頭燈
Dang shi jie zhi sheng xia zhe chuang tou deng
When all that's left in the world is this lamp on my nightstand 
你那邊是早晨已經出門
Ni na bian shi zao chen yi jing chu men
It's early morning where you are; you've already left the house
我側身感到你在轉身
Wo ce shen gan dao ni zai zhuan shen
I'm lying on my side; I can sense that you are turning around 
無數陌生人 正在等下一個綠燈
Wu shu mo sheng ren Zheng zai deng xia yi ge lu deng
Countless strangers Are waiting for the next green light
一再錯身彼此脆弱的時分
Yi zai cuo shen bi ci cui ruo de shi fen
Again and again, we've missed each other's most lonely and vulnerable times
不過渴望一個吻的餘溫
Bu guo ke wang yi ge wen de yu wen
However, I am still longing for the lingering warmth of your kiss
我關了燈 黑暗把我併吞 Wo
Wo guan le deng Hei an ba wo bing tun Wo
I turn off the lights, The darkness engulfs and swallows me, whoa

Chorus: 
你不在 當我最需要愛 你卻不在 Wo
Ni bu zai Dang wo zui xu yao ai Ni que bu zai Wo
You're not here Just when I need love the most You're not here, Whoa
無盡等待像獨白的難捱 Wo
Wu jin deng dai xiang du bai de nan ai Wo
This endless waiting is slow torture, like a monologue
你不在 高興還是悲哀 你都不在
Ni bu zai Gao xing hai shi bei ai Ni dou bu zai
You're not here Happiness or Sorrow, You're not here
我受了傷再偷偷好起來 但你不在 不在
Wo shou le shang zai tou tou hao qi lai Dan ni bu zai Bu zai
I've been hurt, and I secretly, stealthily recovered But you weren't here You weren't here 

時間再按下許多次快門
Shi jian zai an xia xu duo ci kuai men
Time has clicked the shutter numerous times 
沉默裡聽見轉動的秒針
Chen mo li ting jian zhuan dong de miao zhen
In the silence, you can hear the ticking second hand
一個人吃飯這個凌晨
Yi ge ren chi fan zhe ge ling chen
I eat alone this early morning, this dawn
孤單一人份 你低聲說你有別人
Gu dan yi ren fen Ni di sheng shuo ni you bie ren
But this loneliness belongs to just one person In a low voice, you tell me that you have found someone else
我的話筒只有自己的體溫
Wo de hua tong zhi you zi ji de ti wen
Against the mouthpiece of my telephone, there is only the warmth of my own body
怎樣認真也不一定成真
Zen yang ren zhen ye bu yi ding cheng zhen
Oh, "earnestness can't guarantee that your dreams will come true"
你說得對 我不得不承認 Wo
Ni shuo de dui Wo bu de bu cheng ren Wo
You were right I can't deny it, Whoa

Chorus: 
你不在 當我最需要愛 你卻不在 Wo
Ni bu zai Dang wo zui xu yao ai Ni que bu zai Wo
You're not here Just when I need love the most You're not here, Whoa
無盡等待像獨白的難捱 Wo
Wu jin deng dai xiang du bai de nan ai Wo
This endless waiting is slow torture, like a monologue
你不在 高興還是悲哀 你都不在
Ni bu zai Gao xing hai shi bei ai Ni dou bu zai
You're not here Happiness or Sorrow, You're not here
我受了傷再偷偷好起來 但你不在 Wo
Wo shou le shang zai tou tou hao qi lai Dan ni bu zai Wo
I've been hurt, and I secretly, stealthily recovered But you weren't here You weren't here

Bridge: 
那些搖擺 我都明白 都明白
Na xie yao bai Wo dou ming bai Dou ming bai
That kind of indecision, that swaying... I understand it all Understand it all
但你不在 愛已不在 不在
Dan ni bu zai Ai yi bu zai Bu zai
But you're not here Love has already gone It's not here

你不在 當我最需要愛 你卻不在 Wo
Ni bu zai Dang wo zui xu yao ai Ni que bu zai Wo
You're not here Just when I need love the most You're not here, Whoa
一個人分飾兩角的戀愛 Wo
Yi ge ren fen shi liang jiao de lian ai Wo
One person taking on all the responsibility of a two-person relationship, Whoa
你不在 高興還是悲哀 你都不在 Wo
Ni bu zai Gao xing hai shi bei ai Ni dou bu zai Wo
You're not here Happiness or Sorrow, You're not here, Whoa

像空氣般不存在的存在
Xiang kong qi ban bu cun zai de cun zai
Like the air-- knowing it exists, but not knowing where it is
再沒有痕跡的愛
Zai mei you hen ji de ai
A love that leaves no hints or traces
你不在 當我需要你的愛 你不在
Ni bu zai Dang wo xu yao ni de ai Ni bu zai
You weren't here When I needed your love You weren't here

Undercover Happiness: Undercover Happiness Episode 5

Undercover Happiness:   Undercover Happiness Episode 5

Video link:

http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/undercover-happiness-episode-5/2eeary2kt

Such spirit of selflessness fills me with plain admiration.

It is good to compare ourselves with people who have things we do not have, so that we can visualize the goals we want to achieve. But it would be wise to also compare with others who are less fortunate than us to allow us to cherish the things we already have.

Poor, they surely are, but I don't see them being any less happy than we who are better off.

Just my mind running wild.

What are dreams without action; What are plans without beliefs? 

There are no great things you can accomplish without setting the small things right.

Bad things happen when priorities differ.

Paradox of Life

If there were a right way to live life, that would be the wrong way.

Life.

‎"Study hard, get a degree, get a good job, lead a good life."

But we seem to be confused - Life is not just about studying hard nor the degree nor your job. It is about being happy, it is about fulfilment, satisfaction. It would be most regretful if you 'lead a good life', but not live life. 

Smile, and do something you always wanted to do, but 'never had the time' to. Life, in itself, is happiness.

To my fellow defenders of our country.

Another Singapore girl sneers at NSmen: Go and protest outside Istana if you do not want to serve NS!

I refer to the aforementioned article, and to the countless number of similar articles.


There will be people like those in the article who will take flight when(or before) war breaks out; There will be people who value their skin more than their identity. But our army is prepared for the real thing - To be operationally ready when war breaks out. For this simple reason, our army have 'fats'(put simply, more than one reservist man to one soldier ratio) in our active reservist units - To cater for the aforementioned people, and yet still be ready for the real action. 


Now, my message is simple. You get a choice, a simple choice - Are you going away, or are you staying? Whichever your choice, we would still operational, and more than ready for the real thing.


However, it is this choice that defines who we are, who we all are as Singaporeans. 


Now to those who will stay, I salute you, for the simple reason that we managed to look past sheer individualism, deeper into the foundations of communal living - Because I exist, they exist, and vice versa. 


Now, don't expect others to understand our choice(I would very much love to bold this), because we can never rationalize the intangibles. Watch them leave, but do not be disheartened, remember the reason why we stayed - For the people fighting alongside us, for the people whom we are protecting. It is also worthwhile to note that just because the fiasco is built around the flyers does not mean that they represent the majority. You would be amazed by the number of people who would stay and fight alongside you. Stay strong, I wish you all the best.


And to those who will take flight, I wish you all the best too.


My facebook post is found here.

Hi all, just wanted to share this motivational video that I really like. 

Enjoy!

"If you never failed, you've never lived."

The odds may be stacked against you, but what the odds don't know is that this isn't a math test. Passion, has a funny way of trumping logic.

It's about heart, it's about who goes out there and play the hardest, it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward.

In any fight, it's the guy who's willing to die, willing to take the hits, that is going to take the edge.

The moment we step into the court, statistics don't matter. Neither does past glories, or mistakes. It becomes an entirely new game, and it will become what you make out of it. So, work hard, so hard that even when you lose the game, you know in your heart, that you're a winner.

Remember, they can say what they want to say, but at the very end of the day, you are only answerable, to yourself.

Semester 1

It's the end of my first semester in NUS. Time flies, really. I could still visualize the me going through orientation camps, living the life of passion.

I shall not waste time blogging about the tiny bits and pieces of my semester 1 experience, because it'll be insanely boring. I can't find inspiration to write them either way.

In summary, the biggest life lesson I learnt in semester 1 is that it pays to be consistent, in schoolwork, at the very least, even though I believe this trend extrapolates to almost everything else that is a process.

So, how did I come across this lesson?

Well, the usual way - By making a mistake. While I would not say that I fared badly for semester 1, I feel that I would have done a lot better if I had been more consistent in the very basic things like doing tutorials(and turning up for them), attending lectures, etc. I feel that I have failed my responsibility as a student as I was not disciplined enough.

But all is not lost. The very fact that I am blogging about this suggest that I have learnt a more valuable lesson than what most of the other students would. What I gained is not only academic knowledge, but knowledge of myself which would accompany me, and enrich me for at least the next 7 semester, or even for the rest of my life.

In this semester, something I want to share with everyone who reads this is - While I lost, I gained. It's not solely about the CAP, but what you make out of this tertiary education. While academic knowledge is valuable, self-discovery is priceless.

Don't lose yourself in search of an 'success'. Don't look back at the end of this phase of your life, and ponder if the only thing different about you then, and four(or three) years ago is your undergraduate degree.

With this, I wish you all the best in finding life's greatest experience(s).

Because someday, some time down the road, there will be a little one looking up to you.

And it is up to you, solely, to determine how this little one sees you ten years down the road. There will come a time when justifying your actions to others no longer mean anything, because it is not for them that you live. Others may not see it, but so long as you do, rest assured that you have made the right choice. One day, they'll get it. Quit saying things like "I ain't gotta choice", because the very fact that you're living, is a choice. As I always say, justify yourself, to yourself. You live for yourself.

The best and most inspirational stories are not of great people with the most perfect lives, but that of ordinary people picking themselves out of a mess and start doing things right. The transformation, comes from a choice, to stop, and to start.

There is always a chance, and there is always a choice. Because life is too precious to waste.

Up.

Sometimes, I feel envious, jealous even. But I will convince myself that it is better to start low and keep going up, than to start high and keep going down.

And that's where I'm heading. Nobody can stop me.

Sometimes, I just wanna sit down and do nothing but wallow in self-pity.

It's really alright.

Because at the end of the day, I know I will stand up, and I will stand up stronger.

A new start, so uncertain, yet filled with a vastness so terrifying.

Immersing in the wisdom of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004) was a Swiss-born psychiatrist, a pioneer in Near-death studies and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying (1969), where she first discussed what is now known as the Kübler-Ross model. In this work she proposed the now famous Five Stages of Grief as a pattern of adjustment. These five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In general, individuals experience most of these stages, though in no defined sequence, after being faced with the reality of their impending death. The five stages have since been adopted by many as applying to the survivors of a loved one’s death, as well.

She is a 2007 inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.  She was the recipient of twenty honorary degrees and by July 1982 had taught, in her estimation, 125,000 students in death and dying courses in colleges, seminaries, medical schools, hospitals, and social-work institutions. In 1970, she delivered the The Ingersoll Lectures on Human Immortality at the University of Harvard, on the theme, On Death and Dying.

And here are some of her quotes that I related to, and also some of my thoughts along with it. 

“We run after values that, at death, become zero. At the end of your life, nobody asks you how many degrees you have, or how many mansions you built, or how many Rolls Royces you could afford. That’s what dying patients teach you.”


Live for the things that matter. Live for the things that you will not regret living for.


“Dying is nothing to fear. It can be the most wonderful experience of your life. It all depends on how you have lived.”


The above quote reminds me of a quote by Randy Pausch, where he said, "We don't beat the reaper by living longer, but by living well, and living fully — for the reaper will come for all of us. The question is: what do we do between the time we're born and the time he shows up."




“There is no joy without hardship. If not for death, would we appreciate life? If not for hate, would we know the ultimate goal is love? … At these moments you can either hold on to negativity and look for blame, or you can choose to heal and keep on loving.”


My sentiments too. Life is about choices, and take responsibility over your own choices, because you made them.




“We make progress in society only if we stop cursing and complaining about its shortcomings and have the courage to do something about them.”

Think at a bigger level, think from a perspective larger than your own. Show, don't tell.




“You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose.”


Life is, and has always been a journey. So long as you don't stop at any point, you will, and will always, come out a better person.




“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.”


Too often, we take for granted our lives when we are young, for the simple reason that we are unable to see the end. When we have it, we do not cherish. When we lose it, we regret not cherishing. Really, time is all that you have. 




“For those who seek to understand it, death is a highly creative force. The highest spiritual values of life can originate from the thought and study of death.”

This speaks for itself.


“I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.”


There is no one responsible for yourself other than yourself. With this, please take good care of yourself, because if you ever want to point a finger when something goes wrong, you should be pointing at yourself. 




“Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death.”

Death does not hurt, guilt does.

“We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.”

Freedom of choice allows us to have nearly limitless options to live our live. And it is because of this vastness that makes each one of us powerful beyond comprehension, for the simple reason that we can, without a doubt, be who we want to be.

When you think your life sucks, just know that it ain't a bad thing. 

Oh God I Pray.

Grant me the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed; wisdom to know the one from the other.

I saw this quote on facebook and I thought it was really meaningful.

To love without condition, to talk without intention, listen without judging, to give without reason and to care without expectation.




Really, sometimes there just ain't a reason. Yes, be skeptical, exercise discretion. But don't be overly skeptical and henceforth paranoid.

The most simple of life's lessons.

There are some simple things that when you do, you know you are living your life right, with no regrets.

1. Give thanks to others.

2. Apologize when you are in the wrong.

3. Speak the truth.


People always ask for one-stop solutions to how to live life right. If anything close exists, these would be it.