Today.......16 Dec 08

Today...16 December 2008....9 more days to Christmas.Usually, around this time, one can see lots of activities in town. People will be busy rushing here and there to buy lots of stuff for Christmas, the New Year and also The Chinese New Year.This year, there is a vast difference in the economic activities in this country, Malaysia. Most of the people are buying essential stuff only. Nothing is spent on extras.
This year is so different from all those years. In the past, I never understood what is economic downturn. I always have food on my table, clothes on my back and all biscuits that I made had sold very well. I was never short of customers. The phone kept ringing for orders. However,this time around,the phone hardly rings. Orders are few and less...much less.
I am just wondering what the Chinese New Year atmosphere will be like? Quiet and not much of a celebration....because there is nothing to celebrate.

Countdown to 2009

Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 21 more days to 2009. Today the weather is fine and we see some sunshine....not like the previous few days where we experience rain and more rain. This year we have a lot of rainfall. Many parts of the country, especially the East Coast of West Malaysia, are already experiencing their annual floods.In some other parts however, many people were shocked to experience floods. Due to poor drainage,the heavy rainfall has caused many areas to be flooded...damages to properties and goods. In Kuala Lumpur, it has brought about landslides to houses on hill slopes. The prestigious housing area of Bukit Antarabangsa was a scene of chaos with land slides occurring at around 4.30 am while everyone was sleeping soundly in bed...this happened last week. Houses and cars were destroyed. Trees and roads all came crashing down. What a scene! I thought we see this only in films but it is happening right in front of our eyes in this country. Well, not a very happy ending for the year 2008
So i learn to live one day at a time. We don't know what the next minute will be.

My Thoughts on Today

Today...8 December 2008....another gloomy day in Teluk Intan. Rain showers from early morning till now... evening. The sky is still overcast. Come to think of it....i truly missed the sun today. i just hope that tomorrow the sunshine will be back.

Ah yes, Carmen who is my niece, taught me something today. I invited her to stay with me for the holidays and she said no. That's fine...considering that she would like to be with her family. However, after 5 minutes, she asked me why didn't I persuade her to stay? Then I asked her how do I persuade her to stay? Her reply was I could always offer to let her play games on my computer. I told her that that would be bribery and she said that that is what she called bargaining. Well. one up for her for diplomacy.

Well, I guess there are lots of stuff we can learn from children if we pay enough attention to what they are saying.

How To Stay Happy

It is not easy to stay happy. Living in this world, happenings and events seem to make us unhappy rather than happy. Once, i thought that if i have money, i would stay happy...but this is not the case. I found out the hard way that in order to stay happy, i have to learn not to allow other people to make me unhappy. I have to ignore a lot stuff that people throw at me and get on with my life. i need to learn to stay happy and get on with my life regardless of what others say or do. I also have to learn not to make others unhappy. Life is indeed too short for happy people and too tough and long for unhappy people. Life is indeed a learning process and i have to learn to accept the good and positive and discard the hindrances and negative. So everyone out there...learn to stay positive and be happy.

4 Christine Breese Power Of Now Mindfulness Moment Breeze

Power Of Now - By Christine Breese

Why Think Positive?

When things go wrong, remember:

It's not WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU that matters most.

It's how YOU THINK ABOUT what happens to you …

EXAMPLE:
Let's say that you are at the airport, waiting to catch a flight, and the airline tells you, "Sorry! Mechanical trouble. You won't be leaving for three hours!"

You get very angry. You tell yourself: "This is terrible! This is a disaster!"

While you remain stressed, things will get worse!People will trip over you, spill coffee in your lap and lose your baggage.

When you fight life, life always wins!

Then finally you cool down.You tell yourself: "There's nothing I can do about it. I am probably where I am meant to be. I'll make the most of it."

Suddenly, everything changes! From nowhere an old friend appears, or you make a new friend, or you stumble on a fresh opportunity - and life begins to support you.

Once we change our thoughts about "a bad situation", we can take advantage of it. You already know this!

Life's great opportunities mostly arrive disguised as misfortune and disaster.

EXAMPLE:
Imagine two women, Mary and Jane. Both get divorced. Mary says, "I've failed. My life is over." Jane says, "My life has just begun!" Who will blossom?

In a Nutshell

Every "disaster" in your life is not so much a disaster, as a situation waiting for you to change your mind about it.

Trying to Change People

Trying to change other people is usually a bad idea!

Why? Because you get frustrated - and they start to hate you!

Example 1:
Fred and Mary are lovers. Mary figures, "Fred is not perfect ... but I can CHANGE him! I'll teach him manners. I'll stop him drinking ..."

Mary is determined to "fix" Fred. But Fred doesn't want to be fixed.
So Fred gets angry and resentful - and Mary gets exhausted.
Both are unhappy!

Example 2:
Let's say that my life is a total mess. I'm out of control, and everyone can see it. Friends give me advice, and I ignore it.

Soon enough ... KABOOM! I go bankrupt or I get fired ... or I get arrested.

I am shattered! But BECAUSE I am shattered, I start to pay attention! I change my behaviour - and my life improves.

Positive change is a natural process. Frequently it unfolds like this...

Step 1: STUPIDITY, followed by
Step 2: DISASTER, followed by
Step 3: DESPERATION, and finally
Step 4: COMMON SENSE.

We need each step.

If you force change upon people, you disrupt the process.

You say, "But it's painful to watch other people being STUPID!"
Right! But when you force them to change, they don't learn.

In a Nutshell

People fall into two groups:

a) Those that make regular adjustments to their life strategy
b) Those that like to hit a brick wall, and then change.

Neither want you to tell them how to live!

Hello!

Hello,this is my first post.