Life is still beautiful

Sometimes it feels that the only choice you have is "no choice". Like when your doctor tells you that you are suffering from a health problem that can only be fixed with some surgical procedures. Scary but what choice do you have? I guess one can choose to still be happy about life, because when you look around you, there are countless beautiful things to remind you that not only bad things happen, but also good. To everyone. We all have our share of joy and sorrow in different ways. And from them we learn and grow. It is unpleasant to be in a "no choice" situation, of any type, but "this too shall pass". Smile, tough it out, and remember life is still beautiful no matter what.

Take time to smell the flowers

Life is busy indeed. It's hard to believe that it's already March. It feels like yesterday when I welcomed 2011. Looking at the list of tasks in front of me, I think I could easily go insane if I don't take time to relax and unwind.

So days like yesterday are good for me. Simply being with the family, taking a lazy stroll in the wildlife park, enjoying nature. Even if I can't really appreciate animals, I definitely can appreciate plants. I stopped to scrutinize every plant by the roadside, to take pictures of those that appeal to me. The little yellow flower that bravely survived amid the withering ones. The dying white flower with long stem (and I don't even know its name). The native leaves that I know my people use to wrap rice in. Everything is fascinating.


Two hours of leisurely stroll did me good. My faith in life is restored. As simple as that. And I remind myself again "take time to smell the flowers".

amazing lesson

I was having my regular foot massage with my favourite masseur, Effa, at her shop a few blocks away from my place. (This lady gives the best massage, gentle but firm, attacking areas of your foot that are problematic. Glad I discovered her a few months ago. I can now say "bye bye" to other masseurs who seem to be practising their skills on one's feet rather than know what they do).

Anyway, while having the massage, I had a headache that had lasted for the whole day. My own cultural diagnosis of it was it was a "cold-headache" or "wind-headache" to be more literal. The night before, after coming back from a friend's bbq on the evening, I washed my hair and fell asleep with my hair wet while putting my little boy to bed. This kind of headache is dull and makes your head feel heavy.

While Effa was giving me the massage, her air-cond guy came over. She told me the guy could press points on the head and make the headache go away. She asked me whether I'd like his help to do that. Hesitating, I looked at the guy. "Seems genuine and sincere", was my impression. I asked him whether he would mind, and he asked me whether I could stand the pain. I said "yes" and he set to work. He put his fingers through my hair on the crown of my head, gave a quick press on certain points, gathered my hair on his fingers and tugged! Something cracked, there was an uncomfortable sensation for a few seconds, then...nothing. And then it happened...I shook my head, and the pain seemed to be less. Seconds later, I sweated profusely, and the headache was totally gone.

Amazed, I asked him how did he do it. He simply replied that he learned from his master 'sifu', a Buddhist guru. I asked him if there's any other thing he could teach me. So here's what he taught me.

When you have a fever, take 7 grains of rice, two slices of ginger (unspecified size), and a pinch of salt. Mix them with a glass of warm water, steep for a while, and drink the water. The fever will soon go away.

When I asked him "why 7?", he gave me a look that said "why do you have to ask so many questions?", so I kept silent. At home, I prepared his 'medicine', had it, and guess what? It worked!

beautiful song

In the quiet post-rain morning, the lyrics suddenly popped up in my mind. Took me quite a while to remember what song it is...aha...got it...a beautiful song. One that soothes the heart, perfect for unwinding...

I choose to be...

I really like this expression. You can add any adjective at the end of it and often in my mind, I add the word HAPPY. Well, it's not always true. Sometimes I am not as happy as I want to be but I try to trick my mind in believing that I am. Often, it works.

You make a choice between something positive and negative, and if you can make the positive choice win, you win too. It's not always easy because sometimes there are things that bother you so much it is almost impossible to stay positive. But trying makes a difference. Always.

Like this morning. I ran over a stray dog that came running right in front while I was doing 80km/hr. Braking wasn't an option because there were cars behind that would surely knock into me should I had stopped. The dog didn't die. But my dear car suffered quite a serious damage. I was shaken and the accident was about to affect my mood adversely. Thank goodness I remembered what I have always believed in. That little accidents happen so as to avoid big accidents. Why, in the past two days I have came across four bad accidents anyway-not something very surprising in Malaysia during the festival seasons. And so I convinced myself that it could have been worse, and that by suffering this minor accident, I have avoided the worst.

I don't feel so good about it, but at least I have managed to avoid brooding it. I'm choosing to be thankful for being alive and well. We might not have choices over things that happen, but we have choices over how to react on them.

the fundamental photography course

I must have been out of my mind. Sitting in a
crowded room among people who were really passionate about photography, clutching my D5000, handed down by hubby just that morning with a promise that it was going to be mine if I found myself being interested in photography after all. My friend at work, a photographer, offered to enroll me for the course, and since the package sounded too good to turn down (RM30 for a whole day course/shooting practice), I thought "why not?".


The session was begun with participant's introduction- with the crucial questions how long have I had this camera? and what's my camera model? I felt like I must have been the only one who had only touched my camera that very morning, with nil experience, and even worse, was still unable to remember my camera model. But after the 40 min ice-breaking session, my confidence grew a little bit. I wasn't the only one without experience! and I had two very nice neighbours who were eager to lend a hand, helping me to figure out how to turn on the camera and locate buttons. (Vanessa)

Four hours of theory and we were deemed ready to shoot some pictures. There were four models aka talents to shoot, but with a hundred participants all vying to get the best positions to shoot, it was quite a hard work. It didn't help that most of the participants were much younger and agile! But at the end of the day, I managed to get a few shots (Two of them are the above pics of Abby and Vanessa, two of the models). I was far from happy with the quality of my work but of course, to be a pro one needs years of practice!

All in all, I found myself intrigued...and keen to pursue this new hobby. Now I understand why hubby bought a D90 with all the fancy lenses. Before, I thought it would have been good if he saved the money for the kids' college...but ironically, I am now on his side. Maybe this will do me good after all.

January Misery

Much that I love welcoming every new year, I always dread one thing. Year after year, January has always been the time when everyone at home comes down with the flu. The cycle normally starts with one of the kids getting it first, which results in the kid having to rest at home for at least two days. Soon, the other kids get it, and there'll be more home-rest, which means the parents have to take turn taking a few days off work. And finally the parents get it, after about two weeks of enduring the kids' misery, sleeping in snatches for a few nights.

It's not the physical pain and fatigue that are unbearable. It's the pain at heart to see the young ones suffer. To see them struggling with the high temperature, and to hear them cough incessantly, straining their little chests every time they do. It's a torture.

I've come to believe that when January is over, everyone will be well again. It always does, year after year. A few more days till January is over now. I can't wait.