10 Interludes of LIFE

1. ANYONE can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not easy.

2. Shoot for the moon...even if you miss, you'll be among the stars.

3. A short course in Human Relations:
The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake."
The five most important words: "You did a good job."
The four most important words: "What is your opinion."
The three most important words: "If you please."
The two most important words: "Thank you."
The one most important word: "WE"
The least important word: " I "

4. Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.

5. Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become characters.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

6. If you have a penny and I have a penny and we exchange pennies, you still have one cent and I still have one cent. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange ideas, you now have two ideas and I now have two ideas.

7. If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you like to win but think you can't, it's almost certain that you don't. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger woman or man, but sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.

8. IN HIS Creed for Optimists, Christian D. Larsen tells you how you can be somebody. Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
Make all your friends feel there is something special in them.
Look at the sunny side of everything.
Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.
Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Give everyone a smile. :-)
Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.

9. The only place you find success before work is in the dictionary.

10. During the devastating earthquakes in Kobe, Japan, an American newscaster did a short piece on a Japanese woman who set up a makeshift store out of boxes selling flashlights and batteries. When the commentor asked why she wasn't selling these essential items for more than the regular price, the woman answered, "Why would I want to profit from someone else's suffering?"

Seven 7s

1. TRUST

TRUST is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation. A telephone operator told me that one day she received a phone call. She answered, "Public Utilities Board." There was silence. She repeated, "PUB."

There was still no answer. When she was going to cut off the line, she Heard a lady's voice, "Oh, so this is PUB. Sorry, I got the number from my Husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it is." Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the couple if the telephone operator answered with just "hello" instead of "PUB".

2. NO POINTING FINGERS

A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?" The father-in-law answered in a smile, "Never criticise your wife for her shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than you."

We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mistake, he would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at.

This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at ourselves.

If we forgive others, others will ignore our mistake too.


3. CREATING PERFECT RELATIONSHIPS?

A person visited the government matchmaker for marriage, SDU, and requested "I am looking for a spouse. Please help me to find a suitable one."

The SDU officer said, "Your requirements, please." "Oh, good looking, polite, humorous, sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour, if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest."

The officer listened carefully and replied, "I understand you needtelevision."

There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a blind wife and a deaf husband, because the blind wife cannot see the faults ! of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of > the wife.

Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of perpetual perfect relationship. Unfortunately, when the excitement of love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed of roses.

The nightmare begins.

4. NO OVERPOWERING

Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another, or demands too much. People in love tend to think that love will conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after marriage.

Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person's character."

It is not easy to change. Thus, having high expectation on changing the spouse character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness.

I! t would be less painful to change ourselves and lower our expectations..



5. RIGHT SPEECH

There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other, we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything without considering if it would hurt the other party.

A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted, "Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me. Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker." She answered, "You should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he will be the millionaire and not you."

Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad relationship.

6. PERSONAL PERCEPTION

Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home, a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey?"

Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey.He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family.How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?"Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.

Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He! is no gentleman."

The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey.

Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you."

Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders. It seems to be the only choice left.

Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river.

You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you.

Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.

Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..



7. BE PATIENT

This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck.

The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment.

When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital. Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands.

When the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, " Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked, "but when are my fingers going to grow back?"

The father went home & committed suicide. Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or u wish to take revenge. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love. Trucks can be repaired.. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't.

Too often we fail to recognise the difference between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge. People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.

Pause and ponder. Think before you act. Be patient. Forgive & forget.

Love one and all.

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Success ?

In one’s life, how do we define ‘success’? We often hear people quoting phrases like “You’re a successful person in life!” Is ‘success’ based or judged on one’s achievements in life? Think it has always been the case. You can easily witness in the media that high achievers are classified as successful people in life. But this kind of classification is fair and true to what extend?

‘Successful’ by word meaning in English language context refers to getting what you desire, or attaining your objective. What about the time horizon? Certain objectives are harder to met and require longer time horizon. Does it mean these people who attain these goals are more successful than those whose objectives are easier to attain and shorter in time frame?

Comparative mind sets in. Human beings classify success according to prestige and glamour of the underlying gains. A person who has 7C’s in life is considered successful? If so, success is merely on material gains in life. People view ‘success’ in different aspect and basis. This is true. But in a world like today, success is often judged upon material gains. For example, comparing two persons, a person who is a CEO and a runner. The latter is a top runner in his country. So who is more successful? The usual and common answer would be the CEO. Why is this so?

My viewpoint is that people can only witness each individual’s resulted success and achievements. However more importantly, is the underlying time and effort that has been taken to towards success. This timeless effort is seldom been understood. Successful people are such people with drive to succeed, putting in countless effort and time to work towards success. A CEO’s efforts and time to achieve such status might only be minimal. It could be a pass-down family business. A runner’s effort might be maximal. He could have trained harder than anyone. But nobody knows. In this context, he could be more successful than a CEO.
Now what about those who put in countless effort and time but couldn’t attain his goals? Are they considered unsuccessful?

“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results.”

The Mayonnaise Jar & 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle; when 24 hours ina day are not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into thejar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He asked once more if the jar was full.The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table andpoured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided,"I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things --your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--- and if everything else was lost and only they remained;your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter; like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued," there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.