Peace need to be felt .......Maharaji

Peace is something that has to be felt - not once, not twice, not three times,
but every day, every moment it's possible to feel it.
I'm not just telling you about the possibility.
I'm also pointing out that it can become a reality in your life.

: Maharaji

Forget the past .....

A wise man once sat in the audience & cracked a joke.
All laughed like crazy. After a moment he cracked the same joke again and a little less people laughed this time.
He cracked the same joke again & again, When there was no laughter in the crowd, he smiled and said

"When u can't laugh on the same joke again & again, then why do u keep crying over the same thing over and over again.

How long is 30 years ?

A blink of an eye. It was like yesterday. It was so long ago and it has gone. I have a mixed feeling while dwelling back in time. I have attend 25 times out of 50 times of the Association's dinner.  Not bad. It has been a good attempt as a member.

Last night, I attended a Senior Staff Association dinner as a VIP guest. I was a member for 30 and the last few years, I have not been attending the dinner function because of other commitments.  But, basically, I want to avoid drinking beer or liquor. I feel guilty and bad after a night of heavy eating and drinking and I always over-eat and over-drink. These are my dead spots. During the dinner , I met many old colleagues which I have not seen for sometime because they have their work and I have my busy assignments.

During the dinner, One of the VIP guest asked me a question - why are there many old people? I told him that this is a 30 Anniversary dinner and many of the people who have attended the dinner have been working for the Company and many of them are retiring soon.

During my trip to the loo , I met a few old friends and we greet each other and end with an agreement that we are old already. Such occasions do remind us that times passes by very fast  as I have said before hours turns into days and into weeks ,months and then years." Age and Time waits for no one ". With a look at our faces, it tells that it has been seasoned and weathered. Some friends have become bald or become a silver hair devil with a pot belly and a weathered face.  These are evidences from our journey through life. But, surprisingly, there are some old female colleagues that are able to keep trim and fit and they do not look in their age. Marvellous achievements. They are the special breeds who could control their aging through healthy activities and a strong mind. Good body - mind combinations. A matured mind but a young body. It is just wonderful.

At the dinner , the food and drinks flow while we were entertain by a group of dancers.  They also look old , fat and worn out but they  are doing mostly culture dances and it does not look that bad.  Tolerable but it could be much better if there are some SYT (Sweet Young Things ) in the group. It is very real. Who would not prefer some fresh faces or fit young dancers if there is a choice.  I am not sexist but only a realist.

There was so much noise, music , drinks , shouting " Cheers" and the most important is the lucky draws. I think the lucky draws are the baits to draw the crowd. Otherwise, it will be a much smaller crowd , I believe. This is another real assessment.

Every body was having a fun time.  Why are they so happy ?  Yeah, they make themselves happy and like me, I make my self happy to enjoy my time with my old friends  and among the noisy music and guilt of over-eating. Nobody can make us happy if we choose not to and nobody can stop us to feel happy. Happiness is from within. With this wisdom and understanding , we can be happy under whatever circumstances. To initiate this happy feeling, we have to count our blessings.  Our presence at the dinner is already a blessing. Such occasion is very rare and getting rare.  The occasion to be with oldfriends.  Tomorrow could be our turn to go to the other side. Who can tell ?

The theme of yesterday's dinner was yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Yesterday is gone , today is here and tomorrow is not certain. What we have is today only. Treasure the day and the opportunity to breath and be alive. Do whatever you want to do and remember be happy. It is very easy and just tell your mind to switch the mood. It will happen immediately. Believe me, nothing is so serious that makes you sad.

Have an enjoyable day and Om, Shanti.

Wise words - Maharaji

Through technology, we want to improve our lives.
What I am saying is that the real improvement begins with you.
I am not saying to sacrifice technology or to sacrifice your responsibilities.
Accept your responsibilities, and while accepting those responsibilities,
find peace, find joy in your life

Friendship is just like wine.

Yes, friendship should be like wine, the longer you keep it, the better it will become. No, friendship should not be like apple juice, it will oxidize and turn bad very fast. Or should it be like  coffee, the more you drink it, the more high you become.So, what is your basis of friendship ?  I have written an article on the basis of friendship sometime ago on this blog and it was quite well received. Sometimes, it starts as apple juice and  fizzles out fast but it can nurture and become wine and it has a body and a taste.

This afternoon, I had lunch with my boss, colleagues and an old lawyer friend. He was retired and keep himself occupied by giving free advise and hiking with my boss during the weekends. Yes, he was a cheeky and outspoken man.  They don't make lawyers like him anymore. The old school type. Serious and no nonsense. It was a pain in the ass, when we seek his legal advise as he expects us to stand up to our opinion and can make simple legal decisions instead of applying "CYA" to stay alive. " Cover Your Ass". He is very direct and would not hesitate to criticise anybody who lacks legal backbones. Well, he is he and he has make a name for himself.

While eating our lunch, he was in a joking mood. He told us a joke about an old man who marry a young wife and he will make love to his wife based on the timing of the church bell.  He has pace his speed well until one day, an old fire engine pass by his house. He died of heart attack because of the fast speed of the fire engine's bell. How unfortunate but now they have change the sound to a siren.  Maybe it save a lot of old folks from dying.

During the lunch, a song by Teresa Teng was in the air. He was educated in English and he start humming the Chinese song  and he told us that he re-live his young days at the cabaret , drink bar and nightclubs. In young days, there were so many night clubs with big bands and beautiful singers singing love songs from "Rose, Rose, I love you" to "Seven lonely days" and many more. He reminded us that there was famous liquor sales man by the name of " Henessy Teh", Yeah, that fella would have retired by now. He was a very good sales man moving from table to table very night drinking and promoting his Henessy.  He was one person who believe and drink his product. This is what makes a good sales man.

When he talk about going for drinks after passing each stage of his bar exams with his friends. Often they were drunk and vomited very much after that. One all of them were high on liquor and one their friend was totally drunk and when they want to sent him home, nobody knew where he live and they have to sent him to a hotel to stay a night. That was his crazy life style when he was young.

It sounds familiar to me as I was in the same era as him. All these drinking days were full of fun and joy and often we refuse to sleep and stay out late in the night. Those were the days, when we were young and carefree.

After the lunch, he went off with my boss to his office and we have to bid farewell to him.  It was fun talking to him about the old days. Now, we are always engage on our Iphone , laptop or handphone and we just call each other often but not meeting face to face. The fun is lesser nowadays.

Friendship is wine or water, it is up to us to create and develop it. A beautiful flower  needs alot of sunshine , water and fertiliser. It also needs our attention and focus.  So, let treasure it and don't treat it like apple juice.

Om Shanti.

The rain ........(ext)

Live with laughter and love with all your heart.......  

 
It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly Gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was
well healed, so I talked to one of the Doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.
While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he Had another doctor's appointment This morning, as
he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her  health.  He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.
As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late.
He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.
I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?'
He smiled as he patted my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.'
I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps On my arm, and thought,
'That is the kind of love I want in my life.'
True love is neither physical, nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, Has been, will be, and will not be.
With all the jokes and fun that are in e-mails, Sometimes there is one that comes along that has an
important message.. This one I thought I could share with you.
The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; They just make the best of everything they have.
I hope you share this with someone you care about. I just did..
'Life isn't about how to survive the storm,
But how to dance in the rain.' We are all getting older.  Tomorrow may be our turn.

Memories ( ext)

Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favourite 'fast food' when you were growing up?'
'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' I informed him.
'All the food was slow.'
'C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?'
'It was a place called 'home,' I explained!
'Mum cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate, I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.'

By this time, the lad was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.

But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I'd figured his system could have handled it:

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore jeans, set foot on a golf course, travelled out of the country or had a credit card.

My parents never drove me to school. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow).

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 10.
It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at 10 pm, after playing the national anthem and epilogue; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people...

I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home... but milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys. I delivered newspapers, seven days a week and had to get up at 6AM every morning.

Film stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the films. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or almost anything offensive.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

MEMORIES from a friend:
My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Woodroofe’s Lemonade bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it... I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

How many do you remember?
Headlight dip-switches on the floor of the car.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Trouser leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heated on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn indicators.
>
Older Than Dirt Quiz:
Count all the ones that you remember, not the ones you were told about.
Ratings at the bottom.

1. Sweet cigarettes.
2. Coffee shops with juke boxes.
3. Home milk delivery in glass bottles.
4. Party lines on the telephone.
5. Newsreels before the movie.
6. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (There were only 2 channels [if you were fortunate.])
7. Peashooters.
8. 33 rpm records.
9. 45 RPM records.
10. Hi-fi's.
11. Metal ice trays with levers.
12. Blue flashbulb.
13. Cork popguns.
14. Wash tub wringers.

If you remembered 0-3 = You’re still young.
If you remembered 3-6 = You are getting older.
If you remembered 7-10 = Don't tell your age.
If you remembered 11-14 = You're positively ancient!

I must be 'positively ancient' but those memories are some of the best parts of my life.

Don't forget to pass this along!!
Especially to all your really OLD friends....I just did!!!!!!!!!