The Walk of Life

Remembered years ago before we have the North South Highway, traveling to Penang was a 6 hours drive along the dual carriage way with an hour stop for lunch! In those days we got invited by my brother-in-law to spend the Chinese New Year holidays with him and family in Penang! This was more or less a yearly affair.

Driving 6 hours requires a few Pit-Stops and especially on rainy days this could be more! However, I was quite reluctant to make those stops because it would mean those trucks that I overtook would have caught up and it was no fun trying to overtake all these crawly trucks all over again, besides it slows down your journey.

Little did I know that avoiding the pit stops and holding back would cause urinary tract infection! Well it is due to the build up of bacteria which causes it. Yesterday I had a chat with a friend of mine, Mark Adwood and he wrote a very interesting article on Natural Home Remedies for Urinary Tract Infection. You can read it HERE!

Mark also has his own site dealing with Natural Home Remedies for a wide range of minor ailments which you can treat at home. All the recommended ways are from Natural Products which you can easily lay hands on. There is a load of information on this common ailment known as Urinary Tract Infections! Strongly recommended by me to find out more on UTI! By the way, this is NOT a Paid Post but just thought such useful information is useful for others to know!

I remembered one incident many years ago, when a working widow asked her younger sister, who lived with her to resigned from her job to take care of the grand mother who was disabled. Of course the widow promised to pay her the equivalent of what she’s earning. The younger sister refused to accept that responsibility saying that she has her own life and career to think about.

I too pondered on this when the role of a full-time care-giver’s job dropped onto my lap suddenly. Even though I am retired, there are many things I would love to do and a life I planned to live! So, am I to throw away that retirement plan because of somebody else’s disability? Even though that somebody is your own spouse. Is my own life not just as important as theirs are? Why am I expected to sacrifice myself for somebody else? Yes it is a huge sacrifice for I am not talking about giving up thirty minutes of your time once or thrice a week. Or putting off a vacation from this year to next. I am talking about a drastic change in your own life. This new stressful life isn’t even my choice, it’s somebody else’s life. Moreover it’s one that doesn’t suit me at all let alone being equipped for it.

Wow! Is having such thoughts showed that I am a selfish person? Perhaps, because basically we are all sinful by nature and being selfish is one of the fallen traits of human kind. I guess only in a business environment that looking after capital I is considered a virtue or smart thing to do. Well, if one has the financial means, one can pay for someone to do the dirty job so to say or maybe just turned their backs on the problem and walked away.

This reminded me of another story where a spouse walked away from being the caregiver to pursue her own life! Mind you the husband is a living vegetable and there is not the slightest chance of him ever recovering Except for a miracle from God and it also meant that she’s expected to care for him as long as he lives. Would you leave if you were in such a situation and what if you were in your early 30’s? Tough call this one.

Not for a minute did I realized that I am walking down a well-trodden path without consciously knowing it. It’s just the kind of life of an average caregiver! Caregivers don’t get much attention or publicity in what they do. Most of the time, very few asked them about the tremendous stress as well as the many challenges they faced on a daily basis. Most of the sympathies and enquiries were focused on the disabled person.

Have you noticed that when someone pushes a wheelchair through a crowd, it’s the wheelchair that attracts the glances and no one notices the person pushing the wheelchair? He or she is invisible! Very few in the crowd spare the caregiver a thought. Is that so terrible? Well, before I became a caregiver I too did not noticed the person pushing the wheelchair!

This brings to mind a rather interesting question. Why do you serve as a caregiver? Is it by choice? In many cases, I think not. Was it forced upon you? I find it hard to believe that anyone held a gun to your head as you agreed to take on the care of another individual. Yet so many of you would be quick to assert that there was no one else available to do the job you're doing. What about alternative choices like hiring someone else to do the job? Possible but you could have missed out something important!

After about a year serving as a caregiver, I did pondered or had a monologue with the above question. Why did I do it? As though a voice spoke into my heart and told me why I was given this task and responsibility of a caregiver. I just knew that the answer came from God! Only the Lord could have created the circumstances that made it feasible for me to assume the responsibility of holding the life of another in my hands. How very special can this make you feel, knowing that the Creator of this universe sets you apart from others in your family to expand the depth of your love, stretching your patience and at the same time empowering you to handle the irregularities of a caregiver's daily schedule.

In closing, I like to say that care-giving is like being in love as someone said. When it happens to you, it sort of changes your entire life inside out and the emotions experienced are so overpowering that you think you must be the only person in the whole wide world ever to feel this way.

Related Posts:-

• Don't Cry At My Funeral


• The ABC's Of Caregiving


• From Caregiving To Mentoring


• Why And When

Today is 1BlackMalaysia Day as local activists are calling it. Supporters of this Call will all dress in Black as a sign of protest over the 'illegal takeover' of the Perak State Government which was under the Opposition Coalition. For months after that, Perak was a State without a proper State Government and today is the State Assembly Sitting by the New State Government to change things around and sort of declaring its legitimacy. Many Agendas will be tabled, including the removal of the State Speaker V. Sivakumar, which if successful, will pave the way for a complete take-over.

Already, the situation is of keen interest to many Malaysians and the situation rather 'Fiery' so to say and the outcome is anybody's guess. Police are in action to prevent disruptions by the Opposition supporters and will arrest anyone who wears Black? Unbelievable but yet that was what was said by the Police Chief, another bone of contention with this issue and is really undemocratic if the Police take action on this.

A few days earlier, a total of 14 Social Activists and Political Activists were arrested but released after interrogation. The popular Social Activist Wong Chin Huat is still under detention. Wong is also a representative of the 'Bersih Campaign' is actively promoting this 1BlackMalaysia Movement! To many Malaysians the legal issues invovled regarding the take over of the Opposition State Government are very confusing! All the more so when big legal terms were used to describe it. However a retired and ex-Justice, Mr. N. H. Chan gave a very clear explanation of the whole legal issue in a way that laymen like us can understand. He gave his own opinion as to the legality of the takeover in the light of Constitutional Law, You can download the article HERE!

I have heard many fellow citizens voicing their unhappiness of all these politicking while the nation is facing tough challenges in view of the financial crisis falling upon the world. They feel that the political parties should put aside their differences and come together to solve the financial crisis instead of combating each other for control. Although it makes sense and appealing to me but at the same time, we must also not allow injustice, corrupt practices and bias judiciary have a free hand in handling such milestone cases with mere interpretation of the Law in their opinions. Yes, the livelihood and financial cirsis are important but not to the extent of ignoring fundamental national issues such as the moral and legal correctness of these important issues. If we do not have a Nation that upholds Justice and our Constituion, then all the financial wellness is not doing anyone any good! We have been teaching our children that money is not the most important in life, but by doing what is morally right, what is just and true is more important. So, when the tyre hits the road so to say, are we showing our children our hypocritical side? Are we going to go for the financial comfort and forget the moral and justice issues that is confronting our Nation?

In closing I want to share something that I learned from my parents. It is the word Nation in Chinese Writing! The structure of the word is Nation comes first then Families. It sort of indicating that without a Nation, Families can never be really Happy! This is what I see is happening in Perak and in Malaysia on the whole. The citizens are NOT happy with the decisions of the Government (Nation) in the way things are being done! The protest should serve as a wake-up call to the current ruling Government, who should wisely take proactive measures to resolve the issues rather than using their authority to suppress the voices of the people! If they do what they are saying in the local News then all the cliche of 1Malaysia is perceived to be just Hot Air and worst, Hypocritical!

Hi folks, haven't been blogging for a couple of days! Well, just one of those days when you were so overloaded with other matters! It's good to be back here again and to start it off, how about something light to get your day going. Have a great day.!

These are interesting sayings and are worth pondering about!!!!

I was born intelligent - education ruined me.

If it's true that we are here to help others, then, what exactly are the others here for?

Money is not everything. There's MasterCard & Visa.

"Your future depends on your dreams" So go to sleep.

One should love animals. They are so tasty.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where train stops. My desk, is a work station.... what more can I say..........

How come "abbreviated" is such a long word ?

Save water. Shower with your friend. Love thy neighbor. But don't get caught.

Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every unsuccessful man, there are two.

Every man should marry. After all, happiness is not the only thing in life.

The wise never marry; and when they marry they become otherwise.

Success is a relative term. It brings so many relatives.

Never put off till tomorrow, what you can put off today.

Love is photogenic It needs darkness to develop.

There should be a better way to start a day than waking up every morning.

"Hard work never killed anybody" But why take the risk !

"Work fascinates me" I can look at it for hours !

God made relatives; Thank God we can choose our friends.

When two's company, three's the result !

A dress is like a barbed fence It protects the premises without restricting the view.

The more you learn, the more you know, The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know So.. why learn.

If your father is a poor man, it is your fate but, if your father-in-law is a poor man, it's your stupidity.

People the world over are getting jittery over the recent Swine-Flu Pandemic! I always believe that precautionary measures are better than cure! Received some information from Singapore Health Authorities and below is a link for you to download the zipped PDF document.

The document contains useful information on the Swine-Flu and knowledge on this will help us take precautionary steps!

Swine Flu Advisory