Doing One Thing at a Time

The most hectic place in the world perhaps is the information counter of the New York Central Station. Everyday it is crowded with travellers asking their questions hoping to get instant answers. To the people manning the counter, we can imagine their work pressure.

However the person behind the counter looked cool and relaxed. He was a frail and  bespectacled man. In front of him was a short and plump woman with a scalf over her head. She was anxious and wet with sweat.

The man leaned forward to listen to the woman. "Yes, how can I help you? Where do you want to go?"

At this time, a well-dressed man with a hat on his head and holding a travelling bag behind the woman came forward trying to ask a question.

But the man at the counter did not bother with him. He continued talking to the woman,"Where do you want to go?"

"Springfield."
"Is it Springfield in Ohio?"
"No, Springfield in Massachusetts."

Without referring to the timetable he said,"The train will leave in 10 minutes' time at Platform 15. You don't have to rush, there is sufficient time."
"Did you say Platform 15?"
"Yes, Ma'am."

The woman turned away. The man immediately paid his attention to the next person, the well-dressed man with a hat on his head.

But a little while later the woman came back and asked,"Did you say Platform 15 just now?"

This time the man at the counter gave his full attention to the man. He did not bother with the woman.

Someone asked him,"Can you tell me how do you keep your calmness?"

He said,"I don't face a large crowd. I only deal with the passenger one at a time."

He is right. He only serves one person at a time, that is doing one thing at a time This will make us keep our concentration on one thing and it will be fully done. If we want to deal with too many things at the same time, we may not be able to complete them and finally everything will be half done.

The Most Suitable Person in the Most Suitable Position

An experiment had been carried out by the University of California : Put 6 monkeys into 3 empty rooms, 2 in each room. An equal amount of  food was placed inside each room, but at different positions and height.

In the first room, the food were put on the floor. In the second room, the food were placed at various levels, from easily accessible to difficult positions. In the third room, the food were hung on the ceiling.

After a few days, a monkey in the first room was found injured and the other dead. Both monkeys in the third room were dead, while the monkeys in the second room were still alive and healthy.

The reason is : when the monkeys in the first room entered and saw the food on the floor, they started fighting for it resulting in one injured and one dead.

In the third room, although the monkeys had tried hard to reach for the food, they failed due to the height and were starved to death.

For the monkeys in the second room, they obtained the food with their own effort in the beginning. With the complete consumption of food at the easily accessible positions, they had to cooperate with each other by stepping onto the back of their counterpart to jump high to reach for the food. In this way, they had food everyday.

In the eyes of the management of a company, it is difficult to determine the best team. If the hurdle or target is set at a low level, everybody can carry out the assigned duties. The capability of each individual is not easily shown. Instead it may lead to internal fighting and bad competition, just like the monkeys in the first room.

If the hurdle or target is too high, although the team members have tried with great effort, nothing is achieved. Even a person's talent is not discovered and therefore wasted, like the monkeys in the third room.

It is only when the team members are placed in a suitable position according to gradual difficulty, then only a person's capability and wisdom can be unleashed.       

The Key of Happiness

The famous columnist, Sidney Harris and his friend were buying newspapers from a newsvendor. His friend thanked him politely but instead received a cold face in return.

"This guy's attitude is really bad, isn't he?", Harries said while they moved on.
"Every time he is like this.", answered his friend.
"Then why are you so nice to him?", asked Harries.
"Why should I let him determine my behavior?"

A mature person holds his/her own key of happiness. He/she does not expect other people to make him happy, instead he/she can bring happiness to others.

Every person has a 'key of happiness' in his/her heart, but we always let other people to take control of  it.

A woman grumbles,"I'm not happy, because my husband always travels leaving me alone at home."
She puts the key of happiness into her husband's hand.

A mother says,"My children won't listen to me, this makes me mad!"
She puts the key of happiness into the hands of her children.

A man might say,"My boss does not appreciate me, therefore I'm not in a good mood."
He puts the key of happiness into his boss's hand.

A young man comes out of the stationery shop and says,"The service of the cashier is really poor, I'm really hot!"
These people make the same decision, that is, letting others to control their mood.

When we let other people to take control of our mood, we feel that we are the victims, that there is nothing that we can do, grumble and anger become our only alternative.

We start to blame people and feel that they are responsible for our misery. At this time we put the responsibility to the people around us, that they should make us happy.

It seems there is no way to control ourselves other than letting others to control us. No one would like to go near us, they even avoid us.

When a mature person holds his/her own key of happiness, he/she can bring happiness to others. If his/her mood is stable, it is then a pleasure and not a pressure to be with such people.

Where is your key of happiness? Is it inside the hand of others? Get it back fast!

Be an Ever Growing Apple Tree

An apple tree finally bears fruit.

The first year, it bore 10 apples. Nine were taken away and only one was left on the tree. The apple tree was very angry and it refused to grow anymore.

The second year, it bore 5 apples, 4 were taken away and only one was left on the tree.

"Ha! Ha! Last year I got 10% of the fruits, this year 20%. That means double!", the apple tree felt much better this time.

But the apple tree should think it this way : continue to grow. If it can bear 100 apples with 90 being taken away, it can get 10 apples for itself. Possibly 99 apples being taken away with 1 left for itself. But never mind, it can still continue to grow, with the third year bearing 1,000 apples.

Most important is that the tree is still growing. When it has grown into a huge tree, it can ignore those factors which at one time stopped its growth.

Really, do not bother with the fruits. What matters most is :Growth.

Are you an employee who stops learning when you encounter some hindrance? For example, when you first started working, you were talented and you had contributed tremendously to your department or the whole company. But nobody took notice of it or perhaps you had received compliments verbally but no actual rewards.

You just feel that you are like the apple tree. You only enjoy a tiny portion of the fruits. So, you are angry and resentful. Finally you decide not to work hard, to comply with the saying that "to give peanuts and you get monkeys".

After a few years, you find that you have lost the passion for work. You will think that age has caught up. But actually you have stopped growing. Remember if you are an employee working in a badly managed company or under an unreasonable superior, never give up growing because one day when you are strong, these factors cannot hinder you anymore.

Pressure Determines Your Value

On the desk of a millionaire laid a piece of diamond, glittering brilliantly. At the corner of the fireplace was a few pieces of coals.


The coals sighed,"Oh! why are we born so black? born without any value?"


When the diamond heard this, it quickly consoled them,"My siblings, please don't feel upset!"


The coals almost answered with one voice,"Siblings? Cannot be. You.... our siblings? We are not born with a good life, with good quality of material like you. Don't tease us!"


"That's what I said, we cannot be siblings!", the coals continued.

"It's true, I don't bluff you. We are distant relatives. Our components are "carbon", aren't we siblings?"


The coals sighed,"My God! It's really not fair. Why do our fate have so much difference?"


The diamond answered,"This is beacause I have endured a great deal of pressure while under the ground. Unlike you all who came out very early, I was undernearth the ground a few thousands years more. That's why we look different."


This story tells us that :

(1) You have to be able to endure pressure, otherwise it is not easy to succeed.

(2) You have to know when to "surface on earth". Do not be impatient to show-off yourself, to express your immatured opinion, your value will be just like a piece of "coal".

Stay a little longer "undernearth the earth", learn to be low-key, to be steady and cautious. When it is time to voice out then you voice out, time to speak up then speak up, time to show-off then show-off. Your future value may be like a piece of "diamond".

"Coal" or "diamond" depends on how you face pressure and the way to handle it patiently.

Do It Early

Two young men, Robert and Tom travelled to a developed country to look for their fortune. When they reached the city centre, they wanted to find some food to fill their stomach as it was lunchtime. They looked around them and found that a fast-food cart nearby was surrounded by people ordering their food.

Robert suggested to Tom,"Shall we start a fast-food business?"

Tom said,"Eh, it looks good. But look at the cafe over there, business is not bad either. Let's look around first."

Since both of them had different viewpoint, they bid each other farewell and went their own way.

Without wasting anymore time, Robert found a place and started a fast-food stall with all his savings.

He worked diligently for eight years and finally owned a fast-food chain. He had accumulated a large amount of money. To reward himself he bought a yacht which was his childhood dream.


One day when he was about to board his yacht he saw a haggard man walking towards him. That was Tom who came with him to this land eight years ago.

Robert was so excited to see him again. He asked,"What have you been doing all these years?"

Tom said,"All these while I have been thinking: what should I do?"

#Have you started digging your well or still thinking of where to dig it?#

Dig a Well for Yourself

Two monks were neighbours in the sense that they lived in two different temples which were situated on the hills adjacent to one another. A stream ran through the valley of the hills. Everyday at almost the same time these two monks would come to the stream to fetch water. Soon they became good friends.

As time flew three years had passed. Suddenly one day the monk from the hill on the left side did not come to fetch water. The monk from the hill on the right side thought that he might have overslept. The following day the monk from the hill on the left side still did not appear. So did the third day, the fourth day..........until a week had passed.

A month had gone and the monk from the hill on the right side could not take it anymore.

He thought,"My friend could have fallen sick. I must pay him a visit to see if there is anything that I can help him."

So he climbed the hill on the left side to see his friend.

When he reached the temple there he was shocked to see that his friend was pratising Tai-Chi in front of the temple. He did not look like one who had survived without water.

He asked curiously,"You have not fetched water for a month, how can you survive?"

"Come! Let me show you something.", his friend said.

The monk led his visitor to the backyard of the temple and pointed at a well, said,"These three years during my spare time I dug the well. Even if I was very busy I still spent some time to dig it. Finally I had completed digging and I don't have to fetch water from the stream down hill. Now I have more time to practise Tai-Chi which I love so much."

In the employment world, nobody knows how long one can hold on to the job. Therefore no matter how much we earn, how much stock and shares we possess, these are only like fetching water from the stream. Do not forget to dig a well for ourselves after work, to develop our other skill or sideline, to get ready for the days when we have no water to drink.

As changing employment is not an easy task, we have to plan early as finding a new way out during good times is easier than bad times. Although many people have the idea of developing a sideline or a second skill, it is only remained in a planning stage without any action being taken.

From Losers To Be Winners

A lady who was so plump that she could not buy any clothes for herself from any of the shops in town. She was very sad and had been considering taking her own life. However she did not do so. Instead she took up tailoring and sewed clothes for herself.

She knew that there were many people also facing the same problem as she did. After a few years, she gathered up some capital and set up a small factory producing clothes for oversized people and sold in speciality shops. Her business was a real success. Not only solving problems for the obese people, she was in a way providing a service to the community.

An unemployed man had never have a long lasting job. He felt that he was a useless person. Slowly he became restless and the idea to commit suicide was haunting him. Before he took this drastic action he went to a fortune teller who told him that his hard life would not end. But he told himself to have a second opinion not by other people but himself. He took out his limited savings to attend a fortune telling course. Gradually he learned the finer points of the trade and built up his confidence.

He knew that there were many people like him, unemployed and destitute. So he started from giving free fortune telling service to them to charging a small fee. In the end he had carved out a name for himself. Not only he had found his road of success, but also guided many people back on the correct path.

An ugly looking man due to the inability to find his love wanted to end his own life. One day while he was about to jump into a river, someone jumped before him. Out of instinct he dived into the water to save the man. When he learned that the man's reason for dying was the same as his, he realised that he was not alone. There were many ugly people around who could not find love. He thought," why not gather them and form a club where they could meet others and share their plight?"

He started the ball rolling and soon the club had many members. From private parties to charitable activities, they had established a wide network of contacts. He not only helped many ugly people found themselves, but also found the love of their lives.

Only with positive thinking then one can be different from others.

Determine The Source of Happiness

People may bring you unhappiness but you can find yourself happiness. Instead of letting yourself feeling unhappy everyday, why not spend your day in a joyous mood?



A couple was travelling on the train. The husband was quiet and well mannered but the wife was grumbling all the way. One minute she complained that the seat was dirty, another minute she complained about the noise made by other passengers, as though nothing was in her favour, nothing was up to her satisfaction.



The husband politely greeted the people around them. When people asked him what were their professions, he said,"I'm an engineer and my wife is a manufacturer."



People were curious to know what product was manufactured by his wife. He smiling answered,"She is a manufacturer of unhappiness."



#A happy and joyous life is composed of happy thoughts#

The Attitude to Succeed

After a thunderstorm, a spider climbed up the wet wall with great effort. As the wall was totally soaked with water, it fell down after a short distance. It kept on climbing despite falling down several times.


A person saw this , sighed and said, "My life is like this spider. I have not achieved anything despite the hard work I put in in all my undertakings." As such he gradually gave up hope in everything.


The second person saw this, he said,"This spider is really stupid. Why doesn't it climb from the side of the wall which is dry? I don't want to be stupid from now on. So he became a smart person.


When the third person saw this, he was touched by the "never give up" spirit of the spider. So he became a tough and persistent person.



#People with an attitude to succeed can find the power of success everywhere#

Good Deeds Do Pay

This is a true story happened in America:

On a night of thunderstorm, an elderly couple entered the lobby of a hotel wanting to hire a room for the night.

However the front officer at the counter apologetically said,"I'm sorry the rooms were fully booked this morning by a group of tourists. Normally under such circumstances I will send you to other hotels which have vacant rooms. But I can't imagine letting you travel in such weather.

Would you mind staying in my room? Although it's not a grand room, it's clean and decent. As I'm on duty, I can rest in the office.", suggested the young man sincerely.

The elderly couple accepted his offer and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

The next day the rain stopped. The old man went to pay his bill at the counter. The person in charge was still the young man. He said,"The room you stayed was not the hotel's guest room, you don't have to pay for it. I hope you and your wife had a good rest last night."

The old man nodded his head,"You're the dream employee of every hotelier, maybe one day I'll help you build a hotel."

After a few years, the young man received a registered mail which narrated in detail the incident of the night of the thunderstorm. With it were an invitation card for a sightseeing tour and return airticket to New York.

Several days after his arrival at Manhattan, the young man met the ederly man at the junction of 5th Avenue and 34th Street. A new and magnificent building was erected at that place. The old man said,"This is the hotel I built for you, I hope you can come to run it. Do you remember?"

The young man was shocked,"What are your terms and conditions? Why do you pick on me? Who are you?"

"I am William Waldorf Astor, I don't have any terms and conditions. As I said you are my dream employee."

This hotel was the famous Waldorf Hotel in New York. It was the first choice of most foreign dignitaries to stay there when they visited the Big Apple.

What was the attitude that change the young man's life and destiny? Without doubt he met his "mentor", but if on that night another person was on duty, would the result be the same?

There are many opportunities in this world. Every opportunity may bring us to the next summit. Do not neglect anyone and any opportunity to help others. Learn to treat every person with enthusiasm. Learn to do everything as perfect as possible. Learn to be grateful for every opportunity. Good deeds do pay!

Monkeys and The Wristwatch

In the forest lived a tribe of monkeys. Everyday when the sun rose they came out and searched for food and went back when the sun set. Day in and day out, they repeated the same routine and they led a happy life.


One day a tourist entered the forest and he dropped his wristwatch under a tree. It was picked up by a monkey by the name of Mango, who was a very intelligent monkey. Soon he found out the usage of the wristwatch. As a result he became the star of the tribe. Every monkey slowly learned to ask Mango the time of the day, especially on rainy days. The activity of the whole tribe would depend on Mango to determine. Mango built his popularity and no sooner he became the king.


Mango realised that the wristwatch brought him good luck. So he spent most of his time in the jungle to look for more watches. He was not disappointed as he found the second and third watches.


Out of his expectation, Mango discovered that he had trouble with three wristwatches as the time displayed on the watches was different from one and another. Mango could not determine which was the correct time.


The rest of the monkeys also realised that Mango could not tell them the correct time. His reputation was lost and the activity time of the whole tribe was in a mess.


This story tells us that :
- a person cannot have too many goals at the same time, otherwise nothing can be achieved.

- it cannot have two different methods of management in an enterprise, otherwise it is impossible for it to develop and grow.

The Little Monk ( lll )

The little monk wanted to go out of the monastery to meet the followers and to receive alms. He specially picked an old and torn clothes to wear.


"Why do you pick this clothes?", asked the old monk.


"Didn't you say that the outside appearance is not important? That's why I choose this piece. The followers will pity me and give me more alms.", the little monk said indignantly.



"Are you going out to beg? Are you hoping people sympathize with you and give you alms or hoping people realize that you are capable and listen to your preaching?", the old master asked with his eyes staring at his pupil.

The Little Monk (ll)

The little monk picked up the pieces of paper from the floor. Then he washed his hands and face as well as his clothes time after time.

"What are you up to? You've wasted half a day's time washing this and that!", the old master said.

"I have a phobia for dirt! I just cannot tolerate! Have you noticed that? Everytime any guest leaves, I'll wipe the seat he or she just sat."

"You call yourself an automysophobic person!? You hate this place and that place dirty, this person and that person dirty. Although you look clean outside, you're sick inside your heart. You can't say that you're clean."

(Note: automysophobia(noun) - a morbid fear of being dirty

automysophobic (adj)

Photo : courtesy of Oriental Daily News

The Little Monk ( l )

The little monk sat on the floor crying with papers scattered all over the place.


"What's the matter?", the old monk asked.


"My writing of calligraphy is awful!", said the little monk.


The old monk picked up a few sheets and said,"The writing is not too bad. Why do you want to throw away and why do you cry?"


"I just don't think they're good. I'm a perfectionist. I cannot make any mistake.", he said in between sobs.


"The problem is that there is nobody who doesn't make mistake in this world. You want to be perfect in everything you do. With a little flaw you'll get angry and cry. Do you call this perfect?", said the old monk.

Life's Touchstone

When the ancient library in the capital was destroyed by fire, all it left was a book which had not much academic value. The government decided to auction it.

As everyone knew that this book had no academic value, there was no bidder. Finally a very poor scholar bought it with 3 pence.

Not only it had no academic value, the book was also very boring. Since the scholar had no other book to read, he still frequently read it. In the end the book was worn due to his frequent turning of the pages. From the binding part of the book fell out a slip of paper on which a line was written :"The secret of touchstone. It is a type of pebble which will turn any metal into pure gold. It looks like any ordinary pebble, lying quietly on the beach. However the ordinary pebble is cold while the touchstone is warm to touch."

The scholar was thrilled when he learned this secret. Immediately he went to the beach to look for the touchstone. He confidently picked the pebbles but all were cold to touch. Gradually he became very disappointed. He threw the pebbles with all his might back to the sea.

Many years later, one day he picked up a warm pebble. But due to his habit of throwing away the pebbles over the years, the legendary touchstone was already thrown back into the deep blue sea. Resentfully he dived into the sea trying to look for it. After many days of searching he still could not find it.

The poor scholar gave up hope and he went back to the capital. At that time the town was celebrating 100 years of nation building. The King was very happy. He wanted to find the strongest man in the country. The winner would be bestowed the title of baron, with many gold bullions and fields as rewards. The scholar thought that with his years of throwing pebbles knew that his opportunity had arrived.

He looked at those contestants who tried their luck, but none was as strong as him. He went up the stage and outfought them one by one. He became the champion and was rewarded by the King. He was now a rich man and a baron.

The scholar was thankful to the book which brought him good luck. He decided to rebind the book. While he was doing it, he discovered that there was another slip of paper inside the backbone of the book. It said:"There is no touchstone in this world. Your attitude towards life is your touchstone. When you grumble that you have no chance, when it comes to you, you will not be able to hold it in your hand."

Changing Track

Mr. Lin and his wife had been selling shoes at the night markets ( pasar malam) for more than ten years. They sold their wares at different locations on different days of the week. They started business from the evening until late into the night. By the time they reached home, it was usually past midnight.



These few years with the birth of their two children, they felt that they needed to spend more time with them. They had thought of changing jobs but other than working as shoes sellers they had no other skill.



Unexpectedly a friend who ran a small restaurant wanted to retire invited the Lins to take over his food business. At the same time he would train them all his cooking skill including his special dishes. He felt that instead of letting his skill to waste since nobody in his family was interested in carrying on his business, it was a good idea to train someone to takeover.



In our life's journey, there are many "crossroads" where we have to make decision. But very often our mentors appear without us realising it. How do we know where our mentors are and subsequently utilise these resources? Because many people are afraid of changes and therefore miss the opportunity of meeting their mentors.



As we do not know when our mentors will come, we have to be brave to open a window for ourselves. Our mentors will then be able to come into our lives to give us a push.



Once we have succeeded in changing our track, we will then meet many people from different fields and experience a different process of life. At this moment if we want our mentors to come near, we should first learn how to cooperate, appreciate and learn from them their good points.

Doing Favour For Yourself

One rainy day, a man was taking shelter under the porch of a hut. He saw Guan Yin (the Goddess of Mercy) passing by carrying an umbrella. He said,"Guan Yin Buddha, can you do me a favour? Please shelter me a short distance."

Guan Yin said,"I'm in the rain and you're being sheltered. There's no raindrops under the porch. You don't need my shelter."


This man quickly jumped into the rain and said,"I'm now in the rain. Shouldn't you shelter me?"

Guan Yin said,"We both are in the rain now. I'm not wet because I've the umbrella. You're wet because you don't have the umbrella. So it's not I who shelter myself but the umbrella's sheltering me. If you want shelter, go and get an umbrella! You don't have to ask me."


The following day, this man encountered some problems and he went to a temple and prayed. Inside he saw a person looked exactly like Guan Yin praying in front of the statue of Guan Yin.

He asked,"Are you Guan Yin, the Buddha?"

The person answered,"Yes, I am."

"Why do you pray to yourself?"

Guan Yin smiled and said,"I too encounter some problems. But I know, instead of asking favour from others, why not ask from myself?"


#When encountering problems many people usually ask others for help without trying to solve them on their own in the first instance. They forget that every person has vast potential in solving his/her own difficulties. Regretably many people do not know of this potential, that they can be their own savior.#



( Photo: Courtesy of Oriental Daily News )

Reverse Thinking ( ll )

Mike joined a financial institution as a fund manager. For reason unknown his superior always ignored him. For example when he invited all his subordinates to have steamboat dinner at his house after work, he purposely left him out.

Mike tried to console himself by going to a high class Chinese restaurant to have his steamboat dinner with his buddies. They had a good time there. He felt that he enjoyed the company of his buddies more than that of his superior and gang.

His superior wanted to frustrate him but he enjoyed himself even more. His superior assigned him the less popular counters which were not easy to have good results, but he was not angry at all.

The treatment he got from his superior forced him to seek new path. Now he is working happily in a big company as a financial planner. He said,"Thanks for his good work. Otherwise I am still a fund manager there."

How big is your achievement depends on how broad is your outlook. Tolerate a little and step back, you will find that everywhere is your way. Do not waste your energy on those people who do not deserve your attention.

Reverse Thinking ( l )

The secretary cautiously gave the visiting card to the manager of the company. As expected he threw back the card to her. Without any alternative she picked it up and returned it to the salesman who embarrassingly watched everything at the doorway. The salesman immediately handed over to her the visiting card for the second time.

"Never mind. I'll call on the manager some other time. Please keep the card.", he said.

The secretary seeing that he was so persistent, went into the manager's office again. The manager was so angry he tore the card into two and threw back to her.

The secretary was shocked. She did not know what to do next. The manager took out RM10.00 from his pocket and said disgustingly,"Rm10.00 to buy his visiting card, is it enough?"

When the secretary returned the visiting card with the bank note to the salesman, he said cheerfully,"Please tell the manager RM10.00 can buy 2 of my visiting cards. I still owe him one."

And so he gave another card to the secretary.

Suddenly there was a loud laughter from the office of the manager who came out and said,"If I don't talk business with you, whom should I talk to?"

# One can jump out from other people's trap by reverse thinking. If you can disregard people's logical thinking, you can then overcome their tactics.#

The Fishing Rod

An old man was fishing by the river. A small boy passed by and stopped to look at him fishing. The old man was very skilful and in just a short while, he already had hooked up a basketful of fish.

The old man looked at the boy and wanted to give him the basket of fish. But the boy shook his head and declined to accept. The old man was very surprised. He asked,"Why don't you accept it?"

The boy answered,"I want your fishing rod."

"Why do you want the fishing rod?"

The boy said,"I'll finish eating the fish very soon. If I have a fishing rod, I can have a supply of fish for a lifetime."

What a clever child, you might say.

Wrong. If he just wants the fishing rod, he will not be able to have any fish to eat. This is because he does not know the fishing technique. The main point is not the fishing rod, but the fishing skill.

We must spend time to learn a new skill and to accumulate experience which will serve us a lifetime. Nobody can take away from us the knowledge we acquired.

Fix a "cheer up" button for yourself

Sometimes we are sensitive towards small matters. When somebody looks at us a little longer, we feel that this person is our enemy. When someone does not even look at us, we feel that this person purposely gives us the cold shoulder.

Sensitive people are not happy because their moods are usually controlled by other people's temperament.

So just be yourself. Forget what other people think about you, then your thoughts will not be confused.

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Believe it or not, you are a piece of magnet!

When you are happy: you like your own self, admire beautiful things, feel the friendliness of this world, then naturally people will be attracted to you.

Likewise, if you are pessimistic, depressed, feel that everything goes wrong, then all things negative will come to you. This is because as a magnet, you attract things that you believe in. So a happy you will draw happy things towards you whereas a troubled you will attract unhappy things towards you.

Good luck or bad luck depends on how you use your inner magnetic force.

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How is your mood today? Your eyes will reveal everything. So, do not hide inside your "shell", get out from it! If you do not think of trouble, it would not come to you.

Change your mood with the following: have a cup of coffee or any of your favourite drink, buy a new shirt/blouse, cut a new hairstyle, eat an ice-cream, go to a movie etc., or look up an old friend and chat about bygone days.

There are many ways to cheer up, and to be nice to yourself is not immoral unless you insist that hiding inside your "shell" is happier.

A Mother's Love

(Photo: Courtesy of Oriental Daily News)

The first time attending Parents' Day, the teacher at the kindergarten told her,"I suspect your son is suffering from dyslexia. He can't sit still for 3 minutes. It's better you take him to the doctor."

On the way home, her son asked her what the teacher said to her. Her nose watered and tears nearly rolled down her cheek. In the class of thirty pupils, her son's performance was the worst.

However, she said,"Boy, teacher praised you for being able to sit still for 3 minutes compared to 1 minute last term. Other pupils' mothers are envious of me because only you have improved in the whole class."

That night, her son ate 2 bowls of rice without her spoon-feeding him.

Soon her son went to primary school.

At the Parents' Day, the teacher said,"In the class of 45 pupils, your son comes out last in the Mathematics test. I suspect he has some handicaps in learning. It's better you take him to the doctor."

On the way home, she dropped her tears. When she reached home, she told her son who was sitting in front of his desk,"Boy, teacher has full confidence in you. He said that you're not a stupid child. As long as you're careful in your test, you can score higher marks than your friend who sits beside you."

On saying these, she discovered that her son's face beamed with joy. She even realised that her son had become more placid, as though he had grown up a lot. The next day he went to school earlier than usual.

Another Parents' Day came during her son's lower secondary school days.

She waited for the teacher to tell her about her son's performance. But until the end of the gathering, the teacher did not come and talk to her.

In the end she went up to the teacher who said,"According to your son's results, it's a bit difficult to be admitted to the upper secondary class of a premier school." With a delightful heart she walked out of the school gate and her son was waiting her there.

On the way home, she told her son,"Your form teacher is very sastifactory with your results. He said that if you are diligent, you'll be able to be admitted to the upper secondary class of a premier school."

Finally her son completed his upper secondary education.

One day her son gave her a letter informing that he had been accepted by the top university in the country. Suddenly he turned away and cried,"Mum, I know I'm not an intelligent child, but you never give up on me, you're the only one who appreciates me in this world!"

At this moment, she could not control her tears which kept on dropping down onto the letter which she was holding.

#Encouraging words can change a person's thinking and behavior, even his/her destiny. Negative words can hurt a person's heart and feelings, even ruin his/her future!#

Buying Curry Puffs

Alan,Ben and Chris were staff of the Sales Department. Alan was the sales manager, Ben was the sales executive while Chris was the salesman. Chris always felt that the three of them were having the same capabilities. He could not understand why Alan and Ben could become a manager and an executive respectively and he could only be the salesman.

One day, he could not stand it anymore. He went to the boss and asked,"The three of us joined the company on the same day. I don't work less than them but you let them become the manager and executive and I'm still a salesman. I just don't understand!"

The boss did not say anything. He smilingly looked at Chris and waited till he had finished talking then he said,"Young man, be patient. Just go downstairs and see whether there is anyone selling curry puffs."

Chris on hearing this quickly ran downstairs. A short while later he came in and said,"Yes, there's one selling curry puffs."

"How much is it ?" the boss asked.

"I did't ask. Let me go down and find out."

The second time Chris came back, he was slightly out of breath. He said,"RM1.00 per piece."

"Will it be cheaper if I buy more?", the boss asked.

"I didn't ask. Let me go down and find out."

When Chris came back for the third time, he was already breathless. "The hawker asked me how many I want to buy."

"What did you say to him?"

"I?........."

The boss told him to sit down first and he phoned Ben to come to his room.

"I want to treat you all to curry puffs. You go down and see if there is anyone selling." he told Ben.

After a while Ben came back and said,"There's one selling curry puffs. RM1.00 per piece. If we buy 5 pieces, it is only RM4.50. If more than 10 pieces, it's only RM0.80 each."

"How's the taste?"the boss asked.

"I didn't ask.", Ben answered honestly.

The boss asked Ben to sit down and he called Alan to come.

"I want to treat you all to curry puffs, just see if anyone selling downstairs." he told Alan with the same words.

After a little while, Alan came back and said,"There's one selling downstairs now. RM1.00 per piece. Five pieces for RM4.50. Ten pieces for RM8.00. But I heard from those who had bought, this peddler's curry puffs tasted not too good although the price is cheap. There's another one further down the road, the curry puffs taste delicious but a bit expensive. Five pieces for RM4.80 and if more than ten pieces, it costs RM0.90 each. There are four of us, 12 pieces will be enough. It's only that we have to walk about 150 meters further."

The boss looked at Chris and smilingly he said,"Now you should know why you are still a salesman!"

The Gift

An old carpenter wanted to go into retirement. He told his employer that he wanted to go back to his hometown and lived with his wife and children.

His employer asked if he could help him to build a house for the last time. The old carpenter agreed. But everyone noticed that his heart was not with him when he built the house. He used inferior materials and the workmanship was shoddy. When the house was completed, his employer gave him the key to the house. He said,"This house is my gift to you for your retirement."

The old carpenter was shocked and full of shame. If he knew that this house was for him, he would not have built it in such manner. Now he had to live in such a house.

This is exactly the same with our attitude towards life. We do not "build" our lives whole heartedly. We do not do our best at all times. When we discover the situation we are in, we are already trapped in the "house" we built for ourselves.

Think of yourself as though you are the carpenter. Use your wisdom whenever you erect a wall or hammer a nail. Your life is your own creation. Only you can create a beautiful life for yourself.

Spend time to do 10 things

Time is like life. It cannot be reversed. Wasting time is wasting life. Life is short and wasting time makes life even shorter. Therefore we must learn to distinguish what to do and not wasting time on trivial things. The 18th century German philosopher Gothe once said: If we use our time on the right thing, then we will have time forever.

Below are 10 things which everyone should spend time to do :

1. Spend time thinking - this is the root of wisdom
2. Spend time working - this is the price of success
3. Spend time helping others - this is the source of happiness
4. Spend time reading - this is the foundation of knowledge
5. Spend time laughing - this is the best medicine for worries
6. Spend time keeping fit - this is the safeguard of health
7. Spend time meditating - this is the way to purify our body and soul
8. Spend time entertaining - this is the secret of keeping youthful and enjoying life
9. Spend time loving - this is life's most touching melody
10. Spend time planning - this is the formula for finding time to do the above 9 things

The delivery boy

A fifteen-year-old boy stopped schooling and came to town to look for work. He found a job as a delivery boy for a fast food outlet. He had to work very hard but the salary was low. During peak period he had to make more than 30 trips a day to delivery food to his customers.

He was thin and shy. Some customers would ask him whether he was not interested in schooling and worked without his family's knowledge. He replied that he worked not for the money. This answer surprised everyone. He said that his mother was ill most of the time and his father was a handicapped person operating a fruit stall in his village.

So he continued working there with many colleagues come and gone. Usually they did not stay for long. The longest was 3 months and the shortest was a month. They left because they could not stand the hard work and the low income.

He had been working there for six years. He is now a twentyone-year-old young man. People especially the merchants from near and far know him. The children there thought that he is the boss of the fast food outlet.

After a few months he resigned from his job and opened a transport company. Although this business is very competitive in town, his business is flourishing. The reason is very simple. In his 6 years of delivering fast food, he gets to know more than a thousand businessmen with the majority require the services of transport company. And they have a very good impression of him.

When he opens his third transport company, people are incredible as how a delivery boy can single-handedly establish a niche in the competitive business world.

He says,"Nobody would want to be a delivery boy in this town for 6 years, wouldn't he?" It is unbelievably simple.

Loss and gain

A very successful entrepreneur had lunch with his father in a posh restaurant. A talented violinist was playing music for the customers there.

While they were enjoying the beautiful music, the entrepreneur remembered that he too at one time learned music and was crazy about it.

He said to his father, "If I was persistent enough in music, I would be playing here today."

"Yes, my son." answered his father,"But if it is so, then you won't be having your lunch here now."

The stairs

Two brothers lived on the 80th floor of a huge building. One day on coming back from their travel they found that there was a power failure. Although they carried with them many luggages, they had no alternative but to take the stairs to go back to their home.

When they reached the 20th floor, they were already exhausted. The elder brother said,"The bags are too heavy. I think we leave them here for the moment. When the current resumes, we come down by the lift and take them home." As such they left the luggages at the 20th floor and continued to climb the stairs light-heartedly.

When they reached the 40th floor, they were really tired. Considering that they had another 40 floors to climb, they started blaming each other for not taking heed of the announcement regarding the power cut.

They argued while continued to climb the stairs until they reached the 60th floor. Now they were so tired they had no more energy to quarrel.

The younger brother said,"Let's stop arguing and climb the stairs." So they continued climbing in silence. Finally they reached the 80th floor. Their happiness was shortlived as they found that they had left the keys inside the baggage at the 20th floor.

This story actually reflects our lives : when we are below 20 years of age, we have to live up to the expectation of our parents and teachers. We are under pressure and carry with us a heavy burden.

When we are above 20 years old, we leave behind our burden to pursue our dreams and goals in life. We spend the 20 years happily. But when we reach 40 years of age, we find that our youth has passed. We begin to feel regretful and thus we spend the next 20 years in remorse.

When coming to 60 years of age, we discover that there is not much left of our lives. So we tell ourselves that we stop grumbling and treasure the rest of the days. We spend the remaining years in silence.

When coming to the end of our lives, we realise that we have not achieved anything in life. We had our dreams left behind in the youthful years when we were 20 years old.

Be gentle to your beloved ones

To members of our family, either we used to shout at them or do not bother to respond to their requests. As we are too familiar with each other, we do not appreciate or cherish them.



Inside a convenience store, a woman shouted at her husband,"Can't you hurry up? You are worse than a woman!"


To her son who was selecting his drink, she yelled,"You better don't take so much cold drink!"

Then she turned around and spoke to the cashier softly,"Can you please put my purchase into two separate bags?"

Such scenario is vey common.


For example, the husband in the office is an active and talkative person. He is considered as a very humourous person and a livewire of any party by his colleagues.

Back home he is very quiet as though he is suffering from autism. He either with his eyes glued to the television or the newspapers, or worst still entirely closed his ears to his wife's talking.

To people with whom we are familiar, we forget that we need to have good manners. This attitude is wrong.


Be friendly to our colleagues will enhance the friendly atmosphere of the workplace. Be considerate to our friends will enlarge our interpersonal circle. Be respectful to our superiors will benefit our career. Be gentle to our beloved ones will promote harmony. Be considerate to our family will make life more pleasant. Many people ignore their relationship with their family which is the most precious relationship in the world.

Do you always shout at your mother,"I'm hungry! I want to eat now!"?

Do you always shout at your father,"I'm out of pocket money!"?

Do you always shout at your children,"You better be good! Don't let me lose face!"?

Wrong! Change your tone and your way of expressing yourself. You will receive a different response and you will enjoy a better life.

The suspicious squirrel

In the forest lived a pair of young squirrels, Jack and Jill. They built their home inside a hole of one of the tree trunks. To store up food for winter, both of them had worked very hard in collecting fruits which were gradually stacking up in their love nest.

Due to the hot weather, the fruits shrank in size. One day Jack on his trip of carrying fruits back to the nest, found that the quantity of the fruits had decreased.
He asked Jill,"We have been working hard in plucking the fruits for the coming winter, but why are you eating so much nowadays?"
Jill answered, "No, I never eat the fruits."
"The fruits obviously have reduced. Why don't you admit it?", unhappily Jack said.
Jill with her trembling voice said,"I .....never.....eat any."
Jack was so angry, he picked up the fruits and threw at his partner. He shouted,"Eat! Eat to your heart's content!"
Seeing this, Jill was very frightened, sad and helpless. She finally left the tree trunk home.

After a few days, there was a heavy downpour. The dried fruits on absorbing the rainwater became succulent. Now the tree trunk was full of fruits again. Jack realised that he had wrongly blamed his lover. But it was too late as Jill had left him.


#There must be trust to be together. Suspicion will only damage a relationship#

It is never too late to start

Many times we want to do something but we hesitated due to our age. In fact we should not think it this way.

I know of a lady who learned swimming at the age of 60. Finally she succeeded and this is beneficial to her health. Actually there is nothing that is too late to start.

We always tell ourselves that we want to learn or do something one day, but never get things started. We always give the lame excuse that we are too old to start. We should think that as long as we start doing we will be able to reap the fruits, especially when our life span has been lengthened with modern science. Never restrict our boundary of aquiring new skills and knowledge.

As long as we have tried, we should not regret whether the result is a success or failure. We can tell ourselves that we have at least done our best.

Blessing

After her university education in America, Julie found a good job there. The company treated her very well, offering her an attractive income. As a bachelor girl, she enjoyed a carefree life there.


Last year her mother in Malaysia suffered from cancer of the stomach. After operation, she was recuperating slowly. Immediately Julie asked for a transfer back to Malaysia. She rented an apartment and invited her mother to stay with her.


Julie is not the only child in the family. She has an elder sister and a younger brother. But she is the only one who gave up the life she was leading to undertake the responsibility of taking care of her mother.


Her elder sister and younger brother gave her some money as expenses for taking care of their mother. Other than this, both of them seldom come and visit the mother. As if by contributing some money, they have done their part as children.


Julie's friends felt that she should talk to her sister and brother regarding their duties. But Julie was very cool on this matter. She just said quietly,"Taking care of my mother is a blessing."

Hearing this, her friends were speechless. No wonder she has never complained. Patiently she searches for those recipes that are suitable for her mother's health and prepares the food for her. She cherishes her time spent with her mother so much so that she has no time to complain that she is tired or troubled.


Under Julie's care, her mother's once pessimistic condition is getting better day by day. Her will to live is getting stronger and stronger. She even gets out of bed to take a walk in the garden within the premise of the apartment.


The once heavy burden has now become a pleasant gift. Now whenever her friends encounter any difficulties or trouble, they will think of her words:"Doing a little more is a blessing". Sometimes jokingly they say these words among their circle of friends, but unconsciously the way they see things around them has changed. Good blessing is contagious!

I am really not bad

1. Tell ourself once everyday : I'm really not bad

2. Getting angry is to punish ourself with other people's mistakes

3. No friends in life is like no sunlight in life

4. Hopes for tomorrow will enable us to forget the miseries of today

5. If ideals, imaginations and fantasies are stripped off, then life is just an empty rack

6. You can also shine with brightness, it is not a monopoly of the sun

7. Wisemen use the heart to guard the body, fools use the body to guard the heart

8. To obtain happiness : cherish what you have, forget what you don't have

9. Greed is real poverty, contentment is real wealth

10. You can win the whole world with love, you can also lose the whole world with hatred

Alive

A man was fearful of death. He thought,"Is death in front of me or behind me?"
He thought to himself, "Usually people die because of accidents while animals die because they are being chased and killed from behind. That means death is from behind."
He concluded that to prevent death from catching up, he had to do things as fast as possible. Everyday whether he walked, worked or had his meals, the speed was three times faster than before.
One day while he was walking hurriedly, suddenly an elderly man with a long and silvery beard stopped him and asked, "You're in such a hurry, what are you after?"
The man said,"I'm not after anything, I'm escaping!"
"Escaping from what?"the elderly man asked.
"Escaping from death."
"How do you know that death is from behind?"
He said,"Because all animals die while running for their lives."
The elderly man said,"No, you're wrong! Death won't be chasing from the starting point but will be waiting at the ending point. Whether you walk slowly or quickly, you'll finally reach the terminal."
"How do you know?"
"Because my name is DEAD!"the elderly man said.
The man's face turned pale. He asked feebly,"Now that you've come, is it my doomsday today?"
DEAD said,"Oh! Please don't be afraid, you doomsday is not here yet. It's only because you run so fast, my brother ALIVE complains that he can't catch up with you. If you don't wait for him, what's the difference with dying? He wants me to inform you to go slow!"
"How can I meet ALIVE?"
DEAD said"First of all, you have to stand still and take a deep breath. Let your mood settled and then look around. Use your heart and love to feel with all your might, ALIVE'll meet you up."
When he calmed down, the elderly man said,"Look behind you, my brother's here!"
The man turned his head around and the elderly man disappeared. Instead he found that the street had never looked so beautiful before.

#It is only when you live one day at a time that you are able to enjoy the scenery along your life's journey#

Actually you are very wealthy

A young man always complained that he was unfortunate, short of money to spend etc. Everyday he looked sad, without any smile on his face.



One day he met an old man on the street.
The old man asked him, " Young man, why are you looking so sad?"

"I don't understand why I'm so poor, always short of money."
"Poor? You're rich." the old man said sincerely.
"What do you mean?"
The old man asked,"If I give you RM1,000 and you let me cut off a finger, will you agree ?"
"No!" replied the young man.
"If I cut off one of your hands and give you RM10,000, will you agree ?"
"No!"
"If I make both your eyes blind and give you RM100,000, will you agree?"
"No!"
"If I let you become a man of 80 years old now and give you RM1,000,000, will you agree?"
"No!"
"If I let you die now and give you RM10,000,000, will you agree?"
"No way!" cried the young man.
"You see, you already own a fortune of RM10,000,000, why do you still complain that you're poor?", the old man smiled and asked.

The young man was speechless. Suddenly he realised what the old man was trying to tell him.

A New Beginning

Hi Friends, more than a quarter of 2009 has passed. It is a bit out of date to talk about new year resolutions. But I have some words to share with you, so whether it is the beginning or the middle of the year, it is not important. Most important is : it is better to be late than never.

New hope for 2009 :
1 center point - take care of health
2 basic pillars - take things easy, be happy
3 forgets - forget your age, forget the past, forget grievances
4 possessions - possess a warm home, close friends, good job and a will to learn new things
5 dos - smile, sing, dance, exercise and look trendy
6 don'ts - do not eat only when feeling hungry
- do not drink only when feeling thirsty
- do not sleep only when feeling tired
- do not check up only when fall sick
- do not feel discontented

From this moment, I hope you are inspired, motivated and enlightened in your life.