the end

Baby Steps

Sometimes you expect yourself to make giant leaps, when what you really need to do is take small baby steps. Giant leaps make the stakes too high. Baby steps make risk-taking manageable and doable.

The next time you feel stuck or overwhelmed, see if you’re raising the stakes too high and expecting giant leaps. For example, if you want to learn to ride a horse, don’t expect to be jumping fences the very first day. You have to start with a walk before you can gallop.

There’s more joy in living when you are gentle on yourself. Small steps can lead to greater things, letting the soul lead instead of the ego.

Be not afraid of growing slowly;

be afraid only of standing still.

- Chinese Proverb -

I would like to thank a very good friend who taught me how to take baby steps.

Doing what I please

The only explanation I ever need for doing what I want is: “I want to.”

The only explanation I ever need for not doing what I don’t want to do is: “I don’t want to.”

The people who love me will understand.

The people who do not will not.

I do not need to convince anyone of anything. Actually, I can’t convince people who want to control me of anything.

I state my preferences directly and openly.

Think of this for a moment. The people who oppose my decision are only stating their opinion, their preferences. Why is their opinion about my life more important than my opinion about my own?

I wouldn’t object if others did what they wanted to do. I might not like it or agree, but I recognize other people are free to live their lives any way they like. Just like me! It’s only fair.

I memorize these two explanations: “I want to” and “I don’t want to”.

I don’t need excuses to be myself.

Who’s coming to Dinner?

Selba tagged me again. I never did her first tag and yet she is persevere enough to tag me again on “My Favourite Food is in My State or Country”.

Roast Leg of Lamb

**Start Copy**

Proposition: What is your favorite food in your state or country?

Requirements: Find some info about the food and show delicious pictures of it.

Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.

Tag Mode: You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.

Mybabybay loves Asam Laksa from Penang, Malaysia
JustMyThoughts loves Penang Char Koay Teow                                                                My Lil Venture loves Laksa Sarawak
Monterssorimum loves Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun
Chinnee loves Melaka Wan Tan Mee
PeimunLeah loves Hakka Lei Cha
Hui Sia loves Crispy duck skin from China
Karen loves Pan Mee
Simple American loves Cheese Enchiladas
Nicole Tan loves Char Tau Kueh
velverse loves Otak-Otak
Giddy Tiger loves Dim Sum                                                                                                     May loves Roti Bakar
Selba loves Gado-gado                                                              

 Jemima loves Roast Leg of Lamb

**End Copy**

Click here to understand more about what “Roast Leg of Lamb” is.

I’m not tagging anyone so feel free to tag yourself.

Take a Nap

You don’t have to be a child to enjoy the benefits of a good nap. Adults, too, can benefit from naps. Allow the simple gift of sleep to heal your body and knit your soul back together. Latin Americans practice the wisdom of the siesta, and you can adapt this beneficial habit to your own life.

Taking a nap relaxes you. A few minutes of catnapping or an hour of sleeping in the afternoon is like an extra helping of healing and refreshment. Nurture body and soul with gentle nap therapy, and see if you don’t enjoy life a little more.

Last Saturday afternoon, I took a nap & it did wonders to yours truly who have not been sleeping well lately. If you are like me, you should give yourself the luxury of a long, leisurely nap this weekend. I am.

Live in the Moment

Deadlines loom, the pressure is on. What to do? If we only had more time…

The truth is, we have all the time there is. There’s no way to create more of it, so the question becomes:  How will we best utilize the time we have?

a little “f” & A BIG “F”

There are friends with a little “f” and friends with a big “F”. The first is a large group with sloppy admission standards while the later is an elite, time-tested crew.

A little “f” friend: identifies themselves when they call.
A big “F” Friend: doesn’t have to.

A little “f” friend: opens a conversation with a full news bulletin on their life.
A big “F” friend: asks “What’s new with you?”

A little “f” friend: thinks the problems you whine about are recent.
A big “F” friend: says, “You’ve been whining about the same thing for 3 years. Get off your duff and do something about it.”

A little “f” friend: has never seen you cry.
A big “F” friend: has shoulders soggy from your tears.

A little “f” friend: doesn’t know your parent’s first names.
A big “F” friend: has your parent’s phone numbers in their address book.

A little “f” friend: knows almost nothing about your family.
A big “F” friend: knows the medical history, dietary habits and marital troubles of everyone on your tree.

A little “f” friend: brings a bottle of wine to your party.
A big “F” friend: comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.

A little “f” friend: wonders about your romantic history.
A big “F” friend: could blackmail you with it.

A little “f” friend: when visiting, they act like a guest.
A big “F” friend: when visiting, they open your refrigerator, put their feet on the sofa, talks back to your spouse and reprimands your children.

A little “f” friend: thinks the friendship is over when you argue.
A big “F” friend: knows that a friendship is not a friendship until you’ve had a fight.

A big “F” friend forwarded this to me.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

Chapter 1

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit … but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5

I walk down another street.

This poem is taken from Portia Nelson’s “There’s A Hole In My Sidewalk“ – a wonderful collection of insights into love and life. The hole in the sidewalk provides a metaphor of life. Life is like a stroll down a somewhat hazardous sidewalk. The story identifies the key feature required to safely navigate life’s sidewalk.

“I don’t know what I want sometimes, but I know that I want to know what I want.”                                                                                                               – Portia Nelson -

It’s Friday!!

Winn, you’ve been waiting for Friday all week. It’s finally here.

But, seriously Winn, you should take time… even though it’s your birthday.

In fact, WE should all TAKE TIME to do the following…

Take time to laugh.
It is the music of the soul.

Take time to think.
It is the source of power.

Take time to play.
It is the source of perpetual youth.

Take time to read.
It is the fountain of wisdom.

Take time to pray.
It is the greatest power on earth.

Take time to love and be loved.
It is a God-given privilege.

Take time to be friendly.
It is the road to happiness.

Take time to give.
It is too short a day to be selfish.

Take time to work.
It is the price of success.

“Have a Good Weekend, my Friends.”

Say NO

If you don’t want to do something, say no.

Is that difficult for you?

The ease you have in saying no is a good measure to your freedom and potential happiness.

Think about it. Why should you have a problem indicating you don’t want to do what you don’t want to do? Are you afraid of hurting someone, causing a scene, testing another person’s affections?

When you say yes instead of no, you only set the other person up to expect you continue saying yes. Then when you finally do risk saying no, you’ll really disappoint the other person and you’ll sound like you don’t know your own mind, hence, you’ll create an opening for dispute.

You can say no. Practise in front of a mirror, but try not to make too much of this. It’s not that hard to do and easy to overdo out of negativity and powerlessness.

You don’t owe it to anyone to say that you want to do what you don’t want to do. Keep this simple, everyday business, not an act of defiance.

Are you getting uncomfortable as you think of applying this?

Does saying no seem anything but simple?

If saying no seems so difficult, it is probably because you have said yes for so long and so insincerely that now you feel to say no will require explaining your previous deceptions and correcting them.

Even if this true, it is a problem that will never go away until you begin to say what you really mean.

Say no and let it be the other person’s problem.

How I feel is enough to know what I want.