Thursday, March 3, 2016

Life between the Dash

So much musings over our arrival on earth
Clinic visits and hospital stays
The day finally came we breathed our first
We came into the world screaming out loud
We were crying but everyone was smiling
Mum and dad, Aunts and uncles
All cant wait to see us
We were their bundle of joy
From then on life is like living
In between the dash
We are trained to run
Life between the dash

Our life is often lived like
Life between the dash
We dash from bed to get ready
for the challenges of the new day
Daily chores a load of care
We even dash through lunch time
and forget to eat
Evening comes, the dust settles down
We dash to come home
With a heavy weary soul
Our body tired to its core
Now I lay me down to sleep

As we dash from here to there
Sometimes we forget
to watch the beauty of the earth
We dash to get things done
Tuitons, Games, Movie nights
We dash through the events
We could hardly enjoy
all the moments with people
We dash through the traffic
Try to make it on time
Just to find we are worn out
From the dash of the day

As the years gone by
At last we find time to rest
Slow down and we could finally enjoy
But alas we have no more energy to dash
Just as well we could take it all in slowly
Living one day at a time
The true meaning of life
The true purpose of living
Slowly become clearer to us
Although life is about living in between the dash
We do not need to dash through
Then we have truly lived



The Dash Between

by Ron Tranmer©

I knelt there at the headstone
of one I love and cried.
Name, with dates of birth and death
were perfectly inscribed.

I pondered these two dates
and how little they both mean
when compared to the tiny dash
that lies there in between.

The dash serves as an emblem
of our time here on the earth,
and although small, it stands for all
our years of life, and worth.
                 
And our worth will be determined
by how we live each day.
We can fill our dash with goodness,
or waste our life away.

To ourselves, as well as others,
let’s be honest, kind and true,
   and every day, live the way
we know God wants us to.

May we look for opportunities
to do a worthy deed,
and reach out with compassion
to those who are in need.

For If our hearts are full of love
throughout our journey here,
we’ll be loved by all who knew us
and our memory they’ll hold dear.

And when we die, these memories
will bring grateful, loving tears,
to all whose lives were touched
by the dash between our years.

http://www.rontranmer.com/the-dash-between


​The Dash
by Linda Ellis copyright 1996

​I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real
and always try to understand
​the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before. 

If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

​So, when your eulogy is being read,
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?

http://www.linda-ellis.com/the-dash-the-dash-poem-by-linda-ellis-.html


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Being Impregnated with Ideas


My brain works in a funny way. I could have spells of dryness like desert, there is nothing in my life that has life. All seem dead or dying. Those are the lifeless moments which thankfully are not that many. It most likely happened when I am ill or hospitalised or incapacitated to think due to the event at that time like I was hospitalised.

But on most days, I woke up with a To-Do List in my mind, whether I get to write them down or memorise them, they be on my mind the whole day. I might forget the key ones which I often do, but I recall them in the evening full with regrets. Sometimes, the one thing as Urgent and Important that I set up to remind myself to do, reminded myself as I entered my office, that be the one thing I forgot as much as my computer is fired up. Social media interesting readings, whatsapp messages demanding replies, some daily routine tasks will quickly fill up my mind and my time and I get to concentrate on them.

Still, there are days, I am fully concious of my To-Do List, I keep calling them to mind but the mind just decide to do the next most urgent thing on the list. Sometimes, everything looks equally important until I realise time is running out on the most urgent item, which often, its too late.

Typically though, I will feel impregnated with those ideas, those key concepts of things to do, those that are urgent and important or very important though not urgent, I could feel those ideas impregnated within my mind, body and soul. They keep me concious of their existence, importance and urgency. I will call to mind again and again as I drive out in the morning to work and remind myself again as I drive back home in the evening. They bug me like no other.

For example, towards the end of February 2016, I have the following ideas in my mind, they keep floating and reminding me the whole time :-


  1. Exercise regimes for me to loose weight
  2. Diet programmes and menu for my body to loose weight
  3. Blogging regularly
  4. Kitchen Storage Cabinets make over - Ingredient audit
  5. Menu Re-do and make over
  6. PhD research methodology finalised
  7. Exam papers for Malcolm
  8. Dealing GCU for Wallace (another nightmare)
I got lots of ideas inside my head, just insufficient time to google them and sort them out especially items that cannot be done digitally and must be manually. Such is the digital life taking over. 

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Habits To Get Rid off in 2016

As January 2016 is zooming fast into the third week of the new year, this is the last week to say "Happy New Year!" as the has finally set in fully into our midst. There are habits that we all wish we could get rid of as part of our New Year Resolutions. Here are my list for 2016. 

1. Dwelling on Past Issues

The past is gone and is no more here although the impacts of those faults and mistakes are still being felt today. They are like fresh wounds if we recall them in our memory, we are just digging those wounds afresh. The way to deal with the past issues is to move on no matter what. Put them aside as very likely, there is nothing we can do about the past. We still cannot turn back time. 

2. Giving Excuses

The excuses are all legitimate and legit ones, too tired, too stress, too painful, too busy, anything just to avoid doing the one thing that we need to do, exercises and taking care of our own health. When it comes to health issues and weight management, a lot of the battles are in the mind and the body is just a follower of the mind's decision. So, it goes a long way to have a mindful heart, set our heart to achieve our health milestones and go for it. 

3. Being Overloaded with Chores and Cares

When we are not careful, things, events, and issues are being thrown to us for us to take up. We can never say No to some of the good ideas given to us. It is so tempting to have them all. After all, we would like to have an abundant life. As Steve Job said, "People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” So, learn to say no to those good ideas that are not meant to be yours.

4. Keeping Lousy Sleep Habits

Sleeping to some is such a waste of time especially when you are running out of time for deadlines. Sleep is often the easiest item to compromise, there is a thought that it can be recovered tonight or later. The truth is it takes a lot more time and day to recover from lost hours in sleep. Organise evening sleeps time well and ensure that most things get done and aim to have a restful sleep, not one with a lot of cares and burdens.

5. Keeping Old And Unusable Things

Living a clutter-free and minimised lifestyle is the latest trend. It is just a lot of wastage if we are not mindful of making use or eating up the things and stuff we have bought during promotion or special deals. There is no short cut but to go through each and every cabinet and cupboard systematically and savage whatever that we can still use and eat, and the rest have just got to be thrown away. 
~ 546 Words
Thinking about How to start the New Year 

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Busynotimenitis

When my mind is clutter
I cannot write my thought
Just too many things but no thought

When my schedule is full
I cannot write any idea
Just too many activities but no idea

When my life is packed
I cannot write any word
Just too many happening but no word

When I feel my mind is so clutter
Declutter a bit but yet it is still chaos
Just cant be still to begin to feel

When I feel I do not have the time
Steal a time but yet the mind is blank
Just too clutter to begin to think

When I feel my life is busy
I cannot have a moment to quiet down
That is the time I must write

To write it to declutter my soul
To write is to oragnise my mind
To write is to calm my busy life

#Busy #NoTime #BusyNoTimeNitis


Friday, January 1, 2016

Egg Watching Eggspectantly for 2016 New Egg


On the eve of New Year 2016, Google gave us a picture of a group of five birds joining up and down, cheering for one egg labelled as 2016. I was watching it and thinking what is the fuzz about this egg. Then someone posted in Facebook that she was going to watch at midnight how this egg would hatch out to be. She hoped that it would be a dinosaur.

Her Facebook post :-
I'm kind of really hoping that google egg pops at midnight tonight. Also, that it'll be a dinosaur.

I posted in my facebook on the eve of new year :-
As 2015 slips away into the history, I have much heaviness in my heart to part good-bye to few people who have passed on this year. But just like the Egg labelled 2016 on the Google Search Engine, there is within me, a new expectation, new hope and new desire to be better next year at things I have not done well this year.
No matter where we stand, how we feel in 2015, it is time to move forward and move on.

Immediately after midnight, after all the handshakes then good byes as some went home. I checked Google using Safari on my Ipad and it was five tortoises ! 


She told me hers was a crocodile !
Moments later, she said she got a duck ! 

At last, I realised that at random clicks, Google Search Engine will change the egg into the three different types of animals ! I then posted this at my Facebook :-
While most people celebrated the first few minutes of 2016 hugging and kissing, me and Rachel did something extra! It was Egg-Watching ! We were watching eggspectantly and not disappointed ! Google gave us some fun.
Lessons from this Egg-Watching :-
1) When life gives you an egg, watch it hatched and rejoice with it.
2) When life gives you eggs, you don't always have to make an omelette. 
3) Live eggspectantly and be eggstraspecial for who you are !
I did feel Eggstraspecial today !