The boy who cried wolf

'Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!'................. remember the story? (click the words above for full story)

Two days ago, it was April fool (1st of April). A local representative was called out in the middle of the night, half asleep, to receive a fund for Japan.....Yes, he was fooled.

Three days ago, a couple was cheated more than 200k of their life saving because they mistrusted someone over deals involving copper and related metals.

Four days ago, someone disappointing a good friend by saying no plan for her birthday but threw a surprise party at Med Club for her.

Five days ago in a cartoon, a husband was suspecting the wife was cheated on him. She told the husband she was going out with Sally the day before. But, who knows, the husband was with Sally that night.

Six days ago, one student told the teacher he didn't do the homework because the dog bit his pencil. Subsequently, he was found to have forgotten to bring his exercise book.
The teacher asked:' Where is your brain?'
And the kid said:' I forgot to bring.................."

So many types of lies, some are harmless, some cause embarrassment, some are devastating.

The next question is: WHAT to trust? or WHO to trust?

Simple minded people always get hurt or the maximum surprise because they believe easily. Common sense is sometimes not common at all. What do you think? What are the things that people do or say that will make you feel suspicious? Look forward to hear your opinions and experience here.

The Goose with the Golden egg

 (Click the words above to read the story)

 Lately, there have been a lot of fraudulent cases where

people's lifetime savings were cheated.............................

Imagine you are one of the victims, how would you feel?

How would you react? 

Is it only because of greed that we fail?

Voodoo involved? Mistrust somebody?

 It is probably alright to say that

gambling is a way of life for most of us

(except the top 1% who are controlling the results). 

We buy lottery, shares, properties etc.......

From small gamble to large.

Hoping for a win or wins that can change life.  

 We make decisions now and then and each decision
 making process could be a gamble to some.

Greed is good, someone said.

It makes us want more, demand more; it makes us jump higher. 

But becareful where you are heading...........

Get rich fast skims have been popular in the market.

It's easy, fast and lucrative. 

A lot of people are attracted. 

However, the results would normally be

only the top few is making profit; 

95% of the rest don't make much or lose money. 

Unless you are super rich and you don't mind losing money,

you can take risks to bet anything with any amount desired.

For most of us, a more sustainable win would probably 

takes some times to build.

I am not an expert in making money.

Yes, I am poor myself. 

But i believe, if we are lucky enough to have 

the right methods and assisted by the right people,

our effort and risk would be reduced by

more than half.

Any time could be a good time with

the right methods and people. 

Good luck in your life ventures.

May someone help you when you are in need;

May someone zap you back to reality in appropriate time;

May someone watch over and protect you

all the time........ 

The Farmer and The Sons

Father and son's relationship is not that easy sometimes. Boys' things. 

Too harsh, the kid rebels; too soft, the kid might not be well prepared

for the real society. Worry for the kid but uses harsh words: 

want to say 'I'm sorry' but say 'serve you right' instead.

Wish him do well in life, try to help without being repelled?........................ 

Here's a smart way: 

  A FATHER, being on the point of death, wished to be sure that his
sons would give the same attention to his farm as he himself had
given it.  He called them to his bedside and said, "My sons,
there is a great treasure hid in one of my vineyards."  The sons,
after his death, took their spades and mattocks and carefully dug
over every portion of their land.  They found no treasure, but
the vines repaid their labor by an extraordinary and
superabundant crop. 

Just a little guidance, the farm was taken care of and the son's future

was secured. 

The guys might not like to be told what to do but to be lured by curiosity

to do what is told............. 

Human relationship is never one formula for all, perhaps. 

May you discover your 'secret weapon' to deal with the youngsters.

From another perspective, a shift of focus, from hard labor work

in the farm to the excitement of discovering the treasure, 

enable the sons to shift their attitude from unwilling to volunteering; 

complaining to obeying; disappointing to receive abundantly.

There might be moments in life, when we are going through 

brain drain, energy drain, spiritual drain etc etc....................

Road has been tough. If we can shift focus from the 

exhausting processes to something less stressful like 

doing nothing, watching movies, rest properly and then 

recharge our mind with positive inputs or 

change our angle of looking at things,

we might gain treasure that never thought possible before. 

Miracle happens when you believe...................

Beauty and Wisdom

Long ago, a tiger was very proud if his black and yellow stripes. But he had only a few friends to talk and have fun with. Unlike the wolf, who had many friends even though his color was dull and grey. the tiger wasn't happy. A deer saw him and asked:" Are you alright, my friend?"

So, the tiger told the deer what was bothering him. The wolf overheard tiger's problem. He went to the tiger and said:" You see, all the animals are friendly with me because I am clever and know how to make them laugh. They do not like you because you are too proud of your beauty."

Moral: beauty alone would not bring happiness.



Image is everything. Looking good is important in the society. People do judge from the cover. Does this mean the professional looking will generally be a loner because they look high up, closed up, bashed up? Does this mean the dull looking will gain popularity easily as they are more casual, easier going, friendlier? Looking around me, i guess, generally yes. So  the professionals are the unhappy lots?? Beautiful people are not happy lots?? If so, shall we dress down and be not so beautiful to be happier?

I guess it depends on occasion. Dress appropriately as a gesture of respect or out of politeness. And, pliz... pliz.... do not dress too shabby, not tidy, not clean or in short, too badly. If not, you might get bashed up and don't know why; would face unnecessary obstacles or difficulties in getting help.

Behind every stern face, there is a need to befriended. Behind every happy face, there is a secrete sadness that they want to leave behind.

Apart from the dress and the need, may be their character counts too. We don't like tiger-like personality: strict, straight, bold, aggressive, quiet,  boring, loner. We prefer wolf-like personality: care free, humorous, chatty, interesting, sociable even though sometimes cunning?........ hmmm................ animals characteristics in human nature.............

To be happy might not mean we need to accommodate others and pretend who we are not. To be happy might means to find the group that we are comfortable to be ourselves  in. Generally:

1. Simplify your mind. Don't think too much, don't be too sensitive or critical or choosy, don't think too far.

2. Open  your heart but close the ears. Be receptive to new things but filter your info. You might be vulnerable to be treated as gullible but you will always give others a non judgmental status especially over gossips.

3. Live for the moment. Everything you do at the moment, do it for the best as you only live this moment once. Boring? Do something useful. Tired? Rest properly and find some relaxing activities. Frustrated? Smash the issue into pieces, solve if you can solve and let go......

4. Do not expect to be liked by everyone. People are different. Reserve the basic human rights for yourself and for others to live equally well even though someone might have a kind of  'asking to be beaten up look or dress'......

Be happy, regardless if you are tiger, wolf or other animals; beautiful, handsome or sorry looking.

The Camel and Jupiter

Celine Dion has a song 'If Wall Could Talk'.............. What would a camel wish for if it can talk?


The Camel and Jupiter


Long long time ago, a camel saw a bull adorned with horns, he envied him and wished that he himself could obtain the same honor. He went to Jupiter, and besought him to give him horns. Jupiter, vexed at his request because he was not satisfied with his size and strength of body, and desired yet more, not only refused to give him horns, but even deprived him of a portion of his ears.



Were the camels living in million years ago having two large ears like the elephants? They asked for horns and be given tasks, so, they became another type of animal named elephant?


Is there anything wrong trying to look more beautiful or manly?

Imagine if the camel's wish was granted, he had horns. What would he do with the horns? What kind of animal was so tall that the camel could poke on it for fun? What kind of position would the camel need to be in order to use the horns?  Will the horns be an asset or a burden later?


I believe the camel did and does appreciate who it is and counting its blessings. Other wise, camel could have been long extincted - committed suicide (??). The camel was actually asking for more blessings (the camel thought the horns were a blessing) or things. Is there anything wrong to ask for more things in life?


Nothing wrong to ask more. So, Jupiter was too strict, too quick to get angry and to quick to punish?

Will we be punished if we ask for more? What define 'more'? How much is 'more'?

My friend once suggested that in order to justify our need, we can always ask: what will i do with that? If we can satisfy with the reasons, probably no harm getting. The worse of the outcome is probably giving it away if it is an excessive waste or facing bankrupt if it is a depreciating asset or liability.

I want to have more in life without being punished or becoming something else. Wondering which God should i ask.............hmmmm.....

The Proud Peacock

There was a little bit of discussion about Valentine's day, if it is lawful to celebrate by some tribes in South East Asia. Not sure if  this would help but let's discuss:

Long long time ago, a beautiful Peacock lived in a forest. All the animals admired his beauty. This made the Peacock very proud. One day, the Peacock met with an ostrich. The Ostrich was searching for food on the ground. The Peacock was trying to impress the Ostrich. He spread his feather again and again to attract Ostrich's attention. He even made noise. Alas, the Ostrich ignored him. Finally, the Ostrich broke the silent and said:' Hey! You may have beautiful feather, but what good are they if they can't help you fly like other birds?'

Moral: Do not be proud of useless things.

 

I'm not sure if this is right: the Peacock may be didn't intend to show off his beauty to the Ostrich. The Peacock may be mis regconised the  Ostrich as a 'malformed Peacock'- look similar to a peacock except no beautiful tail, no hair on the head, always shy in the sand/ ground and slightly taller....(?????). In order to show himself as not being judgmental, he display his feather, as a sign of courtship or friendship. And, he got a cold shoulder......... :(



In the  modern society, we have all kinds of attractions, distractions or whatever you want to call them. It is a normal process for human to grow from seeking love from adults as a baby or kids; seeking love from friends as a teenager; and eventually our partner.

There are many differences between the East and the West. Due of globalization, everything, including culture and values, is mutual influencing, the goods and also the bads. How do we differentiate what are the good trends that we should model from and what are the not so encouraging trends that we should be cautious of?

We are bound by culture, a set of behaviors practiced by the majority of the people around us. It may be alright to say that culture might evolve with time, place and people. So, the question is: what is the most important value that we should hold on to? Do we want to be a globalized man or kampung mari? Can we be in between, being exposed and be acceptance to the rest of the world while preserving our old modest, sincere, friendly and down to earth values?

No human are the same. What are we modeling after? Who do we follow?

A lot of people having the basic moral and behavioral guides from pass down knowledge, religious teachings, personal development books etc.......... But why do we follow that when friends around us not?

It is sometimes about self education on the cause and effect principle may be. It might be not easy to judge right from wrong at times due to certain situation that someone is in. But how far are we willing to bear the consequences following our action would be the key to guide us through our moral struggle. Pros and cons analysis? Cost and benefit analysis? You name it. Troublesome but may be worthwhile to reduce the possible regrets in life.

We do not want to compromise ourselves that we get hurt all the time. We do not want to be too strict in what we believe in until we think that everyone else who believe slightly different from us are inferior, pervert, wrong or whatsoever............ Not easy to be a human right? So, how do we be in between where our right is protected while others are not hurt?

A questions for us to ponder today. Looking forward to hear your  thoughts soon.....

The Lion and The Mouse and the modern society

Just came back from a long break. No internet, no radio, no paper, no book, minimal TV. :)

This week....

A LION was sounded asleep. A Mouse tripped over the Lion

while playing hide and seek with his friends. 

The Lion was awakened. He caught the Mouse

and was about to kill him. 

The Mouse was terrified. He begged: 

"If you spare my life today, 

I would surely repay your kindness one day." 

The Lion laughed and let him go. 

Not long after this, the Lion was caught in a net,

a trap set by human. He roared out loud in desperation. 

The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came and bit the rope

with his teeth and set him free.

Moral: An act of kindness, no matter how small, 

       will never be wasted 

The Lion and The Mouse

There is a quote related to this:

Do not commit an bad act no matter how small;

Do not neglect a kind deed because it is small. 

Nowadays, with the improvement of living standard, 

education level, modernization of the society, 

we are evolving to adapt to the changes that are happening

around us. Some for the better; some for worse.

In the olden days, most of the ancient teachings are 

passed down knowledge from mother or father to sons or daughters.

In the modern society, most of the parents are working

(some exceptions in the villages). They have no time to guide

the children. So, the adults are expecting the teachers

in the schools will teach the kids basic manners. 

There is a phrase used in this part of the world

to indicate those who are very bad in manner:

" He/She never study in school".

If the kids never like the schools, they might learn from

friends or the medias like internet and TV.

Looking into our current society, some might want to ask:

What is important to us?

What are we doing and what is amiss?

Why are the social problems ever increasing?

What has happened to our education systems, family structure and society?

 What do you need as a teenager? What do you expect as an adult? 

How far would you act as a teacher? 

What is the best way to decide a best solution for the country? 

Look forward to hear your views here.

The Father, The Son and The Donkey

One day, a farmer intended to sell one of their donkeys in the market. He asked the son to come along. So, the father, the son and the donkey were then on their way to the market.

Upon passing Village A, a few villagers saw them and one of them said:' Hey, look at that! What kind of father will let the son walk and not ride on the donkey?'

The father heard it. He let the son rode on the donkey. They then passed by Village B. There, they heard somebody shouted:' Hey! What kind of son will let the father walk and he himself rides on the donkey?'

Upon hearing this, the father let the son came down and he rode on the donkey. Not far from there, someone shouted:' Hey! What kind of father will let the son walk and he himself rides on the donkey?'

So, the father helped the son up again. Both of them now rode on the donkey. Very soon, they heard somebody commented again:' Hey! How can you torture your donkey like that? Both of you are too heavy for the poor donkey!'

So, the father and the son decided to carry the donkey from there on to the market. The donkey wasn't comfortable. Very soon they came to a river. Upon crossing the bridge, the donkey struggled out of fear. At the end, the donkey fell into the river and be flushed away by the water. The father and the son were then went home empty handed.


The moral of the story was said to be: you can't please everybody.


Newer version, father was riding on horse and the son donkey. Newest, they use truck to transport the donkey to the market.


Some times, people don't know what to do in life. They learn from watching, listening or communicating with others.

All of the suggestions seem right to me. The father, may be, didn't try to please anyone but just obey with appropriate recommendations. But the last thing they farmer did was out of his own idea.................... A little too smart or act in hash at wit's end................

Every decision that we made has its consequences that we must bear. Sometimes, it is difficult to say right or wrong until much later. It doesn't matter how much effort we put into something that we are doing, it is the right decision that we make that counts the most. Someone said:' The greatest sadness in life is running into the wrong direction enthusiastically.'

As we are afraid of the unknown consequences, sometimes, we are afraid to make decision, afraid that it might be a wrong one out of so many and we have to bear the unfavorable consequences then....................

It takes many factors to determine a decision made. Sometimes, one out of many choices; sometimes, one out of no choice. The choices we have may increase with age, experience, surrounding and of course, how much we have.  Not too sure how to explain intuition and how to sharpen it.

What is the greatest challenge you ever faced in your life journey? What kind of decision making process have enable you to make the right choice? Do you believe in miracle? We would like to hear from you.........

Inspiring links:

1. Short stories by Paulo Coelho, Christ Cade etc

2. FREE intuition test

3. Inspiring Movies I like: ..... ( in the progress of listing..............)

The Sun and The Wind

 Do you remember the last argument you have with someone? What was it about? Was it about your strength? Was it about your weakness? Was it a gossip about somebody else that is not related to you? Or was it about getting into argument for arguing sake? 


Long long time ago, we have a story went like this:

The Sun

 The Sun and The Wind were arguing who was the stronger. They decided to test it on a passerby, whoever managed to make the passerby took his jacket off won. The Wind began to blow hard, harder and the hardest, while the sun watching behind a cloud. The passerby responded by holding on to his jacket closer as the win got stronger. The Wind gave up eventually. So, the Sun stepped in. The Sun shone the heat upon the passerby who soon took off his jacket as it was getting hot. The Sun won..... 

The Wind

The Sun and The Wind are both equally important to us. The Sun, functions as a free source of energy; The Wind, functions as a temperature regulator. Both of them work together to create climates, facilitate all kinds of human activities on earth and teach us about nature. The newer version of the story is they try to see who is stronger since the 90's and the earth wreaked havoc. We have global warming, heat strokes, droughts, huge storms etc..... Both of them are trying to out compete each other while living and nonliving things are facing mass destruction. We can't mediate their conflict directly but by changing the heat and water content generated by human activities, in other words, other elements, we can probably reduce the negative impacts.

Draught

Flood

Forest Fire

We are lucky nowadays that we have a lot of  things easily available. But the downside to this is: a lot of free time available for people to get connected. Sometimes, we talk, argue but still work together over important issues that are concerning us; sometimes we chat and bicker over small things that don't bother us at all.  Other times, we create arguments to tickle the brains, the mouth and may be the hand; stimulate the saliva production and may be anger in someone. 


The point is:


1. If we work together with each others' strength, amazing things can happen.


2. If we fight to see who is stronger, a lot of damages may be induced, wanted or unwanted.


3. Sometimes we need to solve a conflict by reducing the input of  other unnatural sources, which means, do not add heat or ice onto someone's plight, unless you want to make the matter worse. 


There was a funny story I heard some times ago:

Organs' fight over who is the most important.

One day, the organs in a human body was fighting to see who is the most important part of the body. 

The Brain said:' I'm the most important one. Without me, you can't even think, talk or walk.'

The Mouth said:' I'm the most important one. Without me, you can't even eat, speak or breath.'

The Heart said:' I'm the most important one. Without me, you will die instantly.'

The Liver said:' I'm the most important one. Without me, you will be malnutritious.'

......... Other organs were giving out their statements respectively and FINALLY....................,

The Ass Hole said:' I'm the most important one............................'

The whole body laughed without waiting for him to finish his sentence. Out of frustration, The Ass Hole went on strike. 

One day, two days had passed without any major change. Other organs continued to laugh. On the third day, the stomach started to feel discomfort. The following day, the brain started to feel dizzy. Then the whole body went limp, lethargy. Eventually, all of the organs in the body couldn't stand it anymore. They gave up and said:' Alright! Alright! You win! You are the most important one among us ASS HOLE!'........ 


The moral of the story is: EVERYONE is important. 

Do we really need to step on others to gain what we want sometimes? Any fair fight exist nowadays? 

A question for you to ponder today. I would very much like to hear from you.




Interesting links:


1. Will we still have seafood in the future?

2.  Funny Hub: which part of the body goest to heaven first

The Kites and The Swan

The neigh of a horse

The amazing kite

In the olden times, the Kites (Raptors) and the Swans could sing very well. But having heard the neigh of a horse (high-pitched sound uttered by a horse), they were so enchanted with the sound. They tried to imitate it. At the end, they remembered how to neigh but forgot how to sing.

The lovely swans

Human characteristics can be interesting and funny some times, if they do not irritate you they might make you laugh. So are animals may be. 

Enchanted by neigh of a horse??!! ....... The beauty is in the eye of the beholder; the enchantment is in the ear of the listener...... Sometimes, it is a little bit contradicting what we observe and what others see; how we hear and how others listen; how we perceive and how others understand over the same thing.


There are times, we don't know who we are, how we should look like, what we should say and what not, how we should think. From hairstyle to clothes to accessories to character, inside out or outside in, we are imitating someone, one way or another, particularly those we admire, like or worship. We are influencing each other, if not repelling.


Like a magnet, a person can have a repelling end with the opposite character or an attractive end with the like minded. We build these ends through medias (books, tv, movies, radio, internet), friends, neighbors, family members and teachers/mentors. We follow the trend, we sway here and there with the trend. We fall in and out of a trend. At the end, at one point, we lost ourselves in the midst of vastness of possible influences. A lot of problems might occur when we don't know who we are, what we are, where we are standing, where we are going.

LOST

GPS used in the modern age might lead us to no where sometimes, what more helping us to find ourselves. Getting to know ourselves a process about getting to understand ourselves. Finding a hairstyle that one is comfortable with, fashions that one likes, mentality that one builds on with age and experience. The ultimate stage is probably a neutral path that may take in opinions from both sides (positive and negative) but still preserve our own opinion, if we have. Loving kindness and acceptance towards ourselves and others.

With this understanding, we might have less trouble like 'why he/she doesn't like me? I'm depressed for a year', 'I'm upset for two months that you think my hair looks like infertile grass', 'I really feel like bashing him for saying that'................. We then, may be, can enjoy a lot more simple pleasure that comes into our lives daily. We might be a happier person being open but neutral; opinionated but reserved; contented, sincere and kind. 

My new image

I want to be happy, not compromising myself and yet not hurting others. How about you?

 Other useful links:

1. FREE sefl improvement tips

2. Personality test based on Jung and Briggs Myers typology

3. Find yourself via online quizzes

The Hare and the Tortoise

The Hare and The Tortoise

Long long time ago, in a big park, a Hare was wondering around iddlingly. He then met a passerby Tortoise. Out of boredom, he then challenged the Tortoise to race.

'Alright! Why not? Let's race' Said the Tortoise.

The Hare smirked. He was very confident to win.

'Ready, get start, GOOO!!!!!'.......... Off they started to race to the end point.

The Hare sprinting as fast as he could. Very soon, the Tortoise was out of sight. After a while, he felt too boring to race alone like this. He decided to take a rest under a big tree thinking he would still have time to dash  to the end point not far from the tree and win the Tortoise. There, he fell asleep soundly, unconsciously.

The Tortoise, even though walking very slowly, he was persistent. Enjoying himself in the park, he kept moving forward bit by bit.

'Ah??!!The Hare??!!' Acclaimed the Tortoise in silent when he saw the Hare was sleeping under a tree. He turned his head and smile at the sleeping Hare.

Not long after the Tortoise walked pass, the Hare woke up suddenly in dismay, realizing he had fallen into deep sleep. He looked ahead and found out that the Tortoise was already near the final line. The Hare picked up his speed like lightning trying to catch up.  Alas, too late. The Tortoise won the race.

The End

Some people shorten this story to 'Arrogance comes before fall'. Some people said 'Persistence wins, do not give up no matter what'.

Sometimes, it is not easy to draw a line between self confident and arrogant. To those who have low self esteem, they generally regard those who are confident as arrogant. The losers will also think the winners are arrogant. How do we differentiate then?

Self confidence, may be, is a quiet but firm belief and trust on oneself. It shows in time of need and challenge without hurting others. Arrogance, on the other hand, is over confident that tends to show off and hurt others along the process.

Depending on the upbringing and the experience of growing up, a person may grown up confident but humble or arrogant. The later might not have exposed enough to know a lot of extra ordinaries out side his comfort zone to behave so. They fall easily too, most of the time.

In the period of searching our identity, there are times, we might not know what to believe, how to behave. We, may be, can choose the crowd to avoid conflict or to build ourselves through reading, watch movies or TV programs and draw the crowd of  our chosen friends. What would you say?