They are sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter and everything else in between those two, memories. Memories are meant to last a lifetime, which is why we experience life by doing many things in hope that in our old age, we’d just reminiscence our past. If you spoke to an elderly person, she\he would share so many stories that are so colorful, yet many lessons to be learnt. There’s an undeniable truth that they have lived life ranging from bringing joy to those around them; to mistakes on impulse; to gambling on the hardest decisions in life. These golden age citizens are the most often neglected and unsung heroes of our time. But they rarely hesitate to share their most precious gift; stories from their memories.
Super Grandparents, The Unsung Heroes
We can learn a lot from them, and one of it is creating memorable happenings in our younger time. Most elders would just seat by themselves, and not do anything. And suddenly they would just smile, or cry, or talk to themselves. Some would think they’re going senile, but in actuality, something beautiful and magical is taking place. You may be surprised that they would forget to turn off the iron, but they remember clearly the day you were born and how stubborn you were when you wanted candy despite daddy not buying you one. Yes, memories do fail them at times, but they remember the most precious and cherished moments in their lives.
Growing old is a privilege
Older people will tell u that you need memories to appreciate life when you’re older. Do the things you want without much hesitation as life is too short. There are some who would pass on items precious to their heart like an old watch or ring in an act of passing down a legacy. They’d teach you about family cooking recipes to future generations would appreciate flavors of old. They’d teach you a skill like carpentry so that you’d carve and create a beautiful rocking chair. And some would even teach about courtship and how to be the perfect gentleman. Elders really are amazing teachers and when they pass on their wisdom, it’s always priceless.
Need I Say more??
For most of us, we’re not even halfway there. Memories collected thus far aren’t merely as chaptered and colored as our grandparents. So what exactly are our elders trying to tell us? Is it the same old advice of “Do what you want when you want”, “Travel, Eat, Date, And Party!”, “Pray always, and help those in need to reserve a place in Heaven”, “Always be yourself and know how special you are”? Or is it more than that? Is it their way of telling, there’s not enough time anyway to do everything you always wanted?
Talk slowly or repeat patiently to them as they're in nostalgia mode
Memories can guide us through obstacles towards the end of our lives. As we get old, there will be times we would feel companion-less and all we would have is just memories to accompany us. I mean, how can you forget the feeling when you first held your lover’s hand, hearing your son’s first words, how you cried on your daughter’s wedding day…etc.
Memories are beautiful in its purest form, so live life collecting them :-)
Do you remember the first time you had a crush on someone? And have you experienced anyone mustering up the courage to come up to you and tell you how much they like you? How about hearing a story from a friend or relative about someone trying to sweep them off their feet?
Crush-ed
At some point of our lives, we have fallen for someone we met either through a friend or event or by chance. It rarely takes a lot to attract your attention and interest as it’s usually, well, magical. And you can’t help but think about them night and day; wishing that they’d magically show up everywhere you go and have your heart beat so fast that you felt like just passing out. His\her smile would light up your day and their voice lingers in your ears hours\days after they left their lips. Food becomes tasteless, sleep is often restless and you find yourself somehow occupying hours just thinking of them and ways to make yourself liked by them. You try finding out what they like, showing concern, pleasantly surprising them with the little things that matter like sms-ing them. Yes, the feeling of liking someone and wanting to be with them is hard work! You then find yourself behaving differently (noticed by others close to you), sacrificing more of your time, effort and money to just impress them or just seat in frustration on not knowing what to do. And yes, we all have been through rejections, so we know that if it’s not mutual, it’s not gonna happen. And you wouldn’t have it any other way as well as you can’t do the Tango alone.
Guys, women love courtship...and continuous practice of it!
Not so long ago, a friend told me that she’s really into this English guy so much, that she’s willing to travel to UK just to tell him how much she felt and cared about him. And it was just before Christmas and she was almost broke. But I guess when you’re love struck; even the sky isn’t the limit. They met not long ago while on a scuba diving holiday in Thailand. And not long after, he came back to see her in Malaysia and they kicked it off. But due to some misunderstanding, they separated abruptly, thus urging the need for her to head to UK during the busiest and most expensive period to travel just to show how sincere and important he is to her. How romantically insane is that? How often do you come across women going out of there way and sacrificing so much just to win back their man?
Who says only men should court the women? If you’re a girl and you like a guy, there’s nothing wrong in being honest and just to say it. Of course, there are ways you can construct your words and sentences to not scare them away. Always remember, to the very least, you’d like to be friends with them, even though it never worked out. Sometimes, to care and love someone is to let them be themselves and let them be with whoever they want to be with. Friendships are better than no relationship at all.
Nothing wrong with wooing a guy... with apples!
Some women would say that chivalry is dead amongst men, and it’s hard to accept a guy if he’s not courteous, thoughtful, sweet and full of pleasant surprises. And some men would say women killed chivalry! They play hard to get, have high expectations and in their minds, it’s all suppose to be exactly like how they read in romantic novels. Probably the longest debate in mankind’s existence, “Why do men and women think so differently? And why they can’t live with them, yet can’t live without them?” Guess it’s true what God always reminds us, Love is miraculous, unpredictable, yet powerful.
Man Courting a woman, only works near a river I guess.
How do you create conversation with someone you like (provided you both already know each other)? To objective here is to have an interesting enough conversation and the intended end result is that you would hope he/she would like to have more of such conversations and want to spend more time with you. The next hope is that he\she will want to see you more often and for you to see their smile and hear their voices more. And so on so forth lar….
Common conversational questions:
How are things at (insert his\her company name)? To take keen interest in their career. You gotta mean it though! After all, if you both are gonna be together, wouldn’t you wanna know their career path, and working conditions?
How’s your (insert his\her hobby or special interest) coming along? Something you can either do together or you can be supportive with.
How’s parents\family\friends (who are suffering from a health problem)? Showing concern and thoughtfulness goes a long way.
What’s your greatest fear? This is where you become more sensitive to their needs and when the need arises, be their hero.
Followed by more intriguing questions:
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done? Very important, crazy level needs to be monitored for your own sanity sake! :-P
Ever done any criminal act? In case you need to bail them out of jail next time they repeat it.
How many boyfriends\girlfriends before this? Well, needless to say, experiences count. If they never had any, you’re in trouble! Someone who’s gone through happy times and heartaches of relationships appreciate relationships more and make better partners.
Do you like spending time with me? This is when you’re tired of trying, and don’t want to try any harder to seem like a desperate and just plain silly. More like frustration, but I guess you’d be doing yourself and them a favor by setting the record straight. No one wants to waste time on a hopeless cause, they just want to get over it over time, and move on.
Recently, I watched the movie Valentine’s Day and I found it rather a worthwhile watch. The movie with its many star studded casts discusses commitment, sacrifices, falling in love, responsibility, fidelity, doing the right thing in a relationship, putting a stop when necessary, second chances and giving chances.
A funny line in the movie when Kara Monahan is frustrated with love and men:
My closest relationship is with my Blackberry, Thank God it vibrates!
Not so long ago, I had a lengthy chat with a friend about how people form opinions about others and spread the news as supposedly rumor but make it sound likes its true to the core. And rumors don’t just get passed around without dramatic facial expressions or Quentin Tarantino movie like added exaggerations and theatrics. Rumors often get distorted along the way that when it reaches the 10th person, the “Rumored” (the person the gossip is about) would be categorically accused numerously on what he or she may or may not have done. It’s like that game we all played before during team building, pass the message. By the time it arrives to the person who’s suppose to tell out what he/she last heard, it sounds totally distorted, and even the main character may have changed to someone else!
A classic example is that you sense some people are distancing themselves from you but you’re unsure what you did or said to deserve it. When you try asking around, you sometimes get just pieces of the rumor. With luck, you would manage to find the person who started it all. And to compare with the person you got initial rumor from, would sometimes sound so different. You’d feel hurt and disappointed with the way people form options about you. And this happens to us all the time. Some would like to deny it and think they’re all perfect and everyone’s flawlessly good friend, but it’s not always the case.
As much as I believe that everyone deserves the right to have an opinion but if it’s influenced by paranoia and spitefulness, nothing good really comes out of it. To be opinionated, along with it comes responsibility and common sense. The consequence of such actions irresponsibly usually causes distrust and strain among family, friends and colleagues. So in other words, before we start a gossip or rumor, its best to state proven facts first, and then continue with “In my opinion, what I think is....” so that people know it’s just your opinion. So at this point, you would be careful with your words as you’re taking responsibility of your action to begin a potentially damaging rumor. And people would then quote you and proceed to form their own opinion the same way you did when sharing with others.
"Yes, Men Gossip too! And they are worse than us"
Now, let’s look at the people we call the Rumored. There may be some basis to start spreading a news flash because you witnessed or read something pertaining to the Rumored. Perhaps the past is coming back to haunt the Rumored because of the reoccurrence of similar events. And people form opinion because they can’t relate or understand them. Trivial stuff to some may be a big thing for others. So what if you have a tattoo? So what if you smoke? So what if you enjoy alcoholic beverages? So what if you like clubbing? So what if you missed Sunday mass? So what if you cheated in your exams? So what if you lie? So what hurt someone’s feelings before? We are different people with different preferences, feelings and thoughts. If we are all are the same, then the world would just be so dull. There would be no creativity, no news, no special talents, no identity thefts…etc. Everyone is special and perfect in their own way.
Many times we make mistakes. It becomes too costly at times that we learn from them and not repeat them. Sometimes we repeat them and half-heartedly promise not to do it again, but somehow being human, we give in to our need to satisfy our appetite for it. But when rumors about you, some of which are not true at all, and some get too distorted that it paints a completely different picture of you, gets thrown at you from every direction, you tend to be extremely hurt and move yourself into isolation from those you’re used to.
Poor Homer, always the Rumored.
So let’s begin to be morally responsible starting a rumor or passing on a rumor that was passed to us. Let’s avoid unnecessary disharmony amongst us. As the saying goes, do unto others as you’d like to be done unto you. This would be the first step in cultivating a future generation that cares, understands, and respect for one another. Our kids are watching us as we do, so be responsible!
I discovered Xango about 2 years ago through my mum. I never gave much thought about it and considered it to be just another home based or networking business. Thinking that it'll just phase out like other businesses that come and go over the years, I brushed it aside. But my mum (being a staff nurse) and the Doctor (Dr. Ng Ah Kow) that she works for in a Clinic in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, were curious and went on to find out more about Xango. They were suprised with the testimonials, and medical studies done on the Mangoesteen and were instantly eager and excited to put it to the test. Dr. Ng started endorsing and promoting the juice in his practise amongst his patients and the results were both encouraging and positive. The demand for it grew and we knew we had something special in our hands to share to others. Do watch the video below:
I've introduced it to a small number of people so far, and I'm glad there has been a steady demand for it over the months. I've observed that it does help people with various health complications over a period of time, and they can't do without it now. They would have reduced or eliminated the intake of drugs used to control their condition and this has become a norm rather than surprise over time. The demand for it grew and there were times that the stock ran out due to the increased demand for it over the past 2 years in Malaysia. And yet, many still do not know about its existence.
I guess every now and then, we discover natural substances that would help people with medical conditions far better than modern medicine. I wonder, if people knew that a lot of drugs or modern medicine would cause side affects in the long run which is only intended to solve just 1 problem but creates numerous other health problems, would they ever consider a natural juice from mother earth that helps in numerous medical conditions, which tastes so good?!!
You should try it, it tastes like non other and you'd be pleasantly surprised at what it can do.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" John 3:16
Born in KL, Raised in N. Sembilan, Now living in Selangor. Faithful Man utd Fan!
Love to travel and search for great food! Love to meet new people and make friends from all over.
Dad from Malacca, Mum from Ipoh. Anything else ar? hmmm.... I oso dunno wat to write d...
