Thoughts Worth Pondering

December 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Christmas 2008 is gone and soon we are approaching the end of 2008! Ever since my last post, it had been a nightmare trying to go online! Apparantly our Service Provider said it was a Submarine Cable Fault which will be completely restored by 31st December! 2008 of course! Till then just reluctant to go online for it takes ages to load a page!

Lucky for me that tonight the speed is a bit better and I take this opportunity to write my last post for the year! Christmas for us was a very very quiet affair and we hardly went out except for some groceries shopping. Although it was quiet but I was kept rather busy helping rock and my daughter fix a thousand and one things!

Being quiet, I did a bit of pondering over world events and other things. To me the outlook for 2009 is rather gloomy! While the world celebrated the recent Christmas with familiar songs like Joy to The World; Silent Night and so much about Peace, the world around us is very very far from Peaceful!

Israel and Palestine started fighting again.

India and Pakistan are getting troops aligned at the borders.

Tamil Tigers bombing in Ceylon.

Talk of Recession literally every where.

So what can one expect in 2009? Wars and Rumours of War? Earthquakes and Natural Disasters? Outlook is rather bleak! On a personal level I had been pondering on some encouraging Words I read somewhere and would like to share with you and perhaps help to keep our smiles in the year ahead!

Personal :-

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.

The heaviest thing you can carry is a grudge.

A sharp tongue can cut your own throat.

You lie the loudest when you lie to yourself.

One thing you can give and still keep...is your word.

Work :-

Your mind is like a parachute...it functions only when open.

If you lack the courage to start, you have already finished.

One thing you can't recycle is wasted time.

Ideas won't work unless ' You' do.

If you want your dreams to come true, you mustn't oversleep.

Friends :-

The best vitamin for making friends..... B1.

Friends are like balloons; once you let them go, you might not get them back. Sometimes we get so busy with our own lives and problems that we may not even notice that we've let them fly away. Sometimes we are so caught up in who's right and who's wrong that we forget what's right and wrong. Sometimes we just don't realize what real friendship means until it is too late.

I don't want to let that happen so I am going tie you to my heart so I never lose YOU. May You, my friends, have a Purposeful, Successful and Joyful Year ahead in 2009! Blessings to All!

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Posted by User Image bokjae | Filed Under Life Experiences

An Inspiring Story

October 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Imagine that you were born into a rather poor family where you have to move house 9 times in 11 years and always in the middle of the night because the family could not afford the rent! Have to change schools 9 times as well. I am impressed by the real life story of this guy and to me this is one of the most inspiring stories in recent years.

This boy left school at the tender age of 13, with very little friends because of the constant changing environment and his social skills were terrible, frequently getting into fights. Having no particular skills, he worked in all sorts of jobs, from potato picking to making ice lollies to collecting boxes to working in newspapers to chopping up wood to working in the confectionary business.

By the time he is 60, he has made $20 Million! He built himself a multmillion dollar company, had 12 different offices with some of the best employees in the world. It was one of the best times in his life. Everything felt "right". Woke up every day with a smile, and was absolutely overjoyed to be alive. In less than a year, each of his 12 offices was losing $20,000 a month. He tried desperately to sell off the offices... to find some kind of relief... but it just didn't happen. And in that one sentence, he lost it all. In the span of a few months, not only did he lose 12 offices... each one costing him circa $20,000 a month in losses ... but also lost a clean slate. It was the darkest and dismal period of his life and he was 65 years old with a debt of $4.5 Million to settle. The trials were never-ending. At age 65, when most people would be retiring, he had to take another job and it wasn't just any kind of job. It was a commission-only job. That's right - starting at age 65, he still had no security whatsoever, not even a paltry base salary. Starting all over again, and in 10 years when he reached 75, he not only paid off his $4.5 Million debt but also made himself another $20 Million! Thats not all, he suffered 6 strokes in 5 months and doctors said he would not be able to speak again! He overcame all odds and he recovered his speech. Wow! what an amazing story of true grit, determination and perseverance. He is known as the $20 Million Dollars Man and his name is Douglas Goodey. What an inspiring story! Thats him shown below:-

Don't you think, after reading this story, "Giving-up on yourself is NOT an option in life."

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Posted by User Image bokjae | Filed Under Life Experiences, Useful Information

Wedding Feast in China

October 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

By now the world knows China a bit better after the recent Beijing Olympic Games. The Opening Ceremony was such an amazing, beautiful and exciting event. The sheer scale of it was astonishing. From this alone, I guess many would have realized how the Chinese people celebrate important occasions.

Bring it a bit closer to the ordinary folks living in smaller towns or even rural villages, the spirit of celebrating a wedding occasion is a big cultural event. Not to the scale of an Olympics event but still by any measure its BIG! Take a look at some photos of such an event shown below. You would have noticed that it is impossible to leave out anyone in the town! Moreover they turn up to share the joy, rain or shine! Wonder how many people have experienced this cultural extravaganza.

The Banquet Place

The Kitchen

The Menu

Literally you are feeding an army here. I guess there is no restaurant big enough to accommodate all the guests! One gets the feeling of the comradeship here in China and the tremendous support given for such joyous occasion like a wedding!

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Posted by User Image bokjae | Filed Under Culture, Life Experiences, Places

Balance Sheet of Life

October 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Received an interesting 'Short Take on Life' from an accountant friend of mine and I find it quite relevant to my recent experience which I posted under 'Life in Suspension' a few days ago. I think for most people who had gone through a serious illness to the point of nearly dying, they do reflect on life! It would be nice if we do reflect on our lives every now and then so as to keep us in balance. Naturally we got so caught up with the busyness of living and things, that we do not pause long enough to reflect, think of our friends and family members. I hope this short, creative work of some accountant (I guess) serves to remind us to pause and reflect more!

BALANCE SHEET OF LIFE ………….

Our Birth is our Opening Balance! Our Death is our Closing Balance! Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities Our Creative Ideas are our Assets

Heart is our Current Asset Soul is our Fixed Asset Brain is our Fixed Deposit Thinking is our Current Account

Achievements are our Capital Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade Friends are our General Reserves Values & Behaviour are our Goodwill

Patience is our Interest Earned Love is our Dividend Children are our Bonus Issues Education is Brands / Patents

Knowledge is our Investment Experience is our Premium Account The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately. The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award.

Some very Good and Very bad things .... The most destructive habit....... ......... .......Worry The greatest Joy......... ......... ......... .....Giving The greatest loss.......Loss of self-respect

The most satisfying work........ .......Helping others The ugliest personality trait....... ......Selfishness The most endangered species..... ....Dedicated leaders Our greatest natural resource.... ......... ...Our youth

The greatest 'shot in the arm'........ ..Encouragement The greatest problem to overcome.... ......... ....Fear The most effective sleeping pill....... Peace of mind The most crippling failure disease..... ........Excuses

The most powerful force in life........ .......... .Love The most dangerous act...... ..A gossip The world's most incredible computer.... ....The brain The worst thing to be without..... ......... ..... Hope

The deadliest weapon...... ......... ........The tongue The two most power-filled words....... ......... 'I Can' The greatest asset....... .......... ......... ......Faith The most worthless emotion.... ......... ....Self- pity

The most beautiful attire...... ......... .........SMILE The most prized possession.. ......... ......Integrity The most powerful channel of communication. ....Prayer The most contagious spirit...... ......... ......Enthusiasm

Life ends; when you stop Dreaming, Hope ends; when you stop Believing, Love ends; when you stop Caring, And Friendship ends; when you stop Sharing...!!!

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Posted by User Image bokjae | Filed Under Humour, Life Experiences

Face of an Angel

September 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Remember the little girl who was on the World's Center Stage during the recent Beijing Olympics? she is now highly sought after for advertisements. I do not know her name but ever since I saw her on the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics where she sat beside the pianist and even managed to play a few keys, I am unable to forget her face! she has such a sweet, innocent and lovely face. Received some great photos of her and post here so that others can appreciate this Angelic looking Chinese girl. I guess by now she is a very famous 'girl' in China.