One was clearly younger than the other. I could tell from their skin.
The younger one appeared in her twenties. Smooth, clear skin with just a light touch of make-up. She would easily be considered pretty, if not beautiful.
The other woman was much, much older. Hair dyed brown but not quite covering all that silver-grey. Her skin tanned and wrinkled. Was she considered pretty or beautiful when younger?
And it occurred to me:
Some people might be born beautiful or handsome. Those who are not can always achieve some measure of beauty through cosmetics and science. But no matter what, the passing of time ultimately robs skin and muscle of the potential to appear beautiful.
Our minds are a different matter though.
The possibility always exists that minds will become more beautiful with age.
“Do not consider any act of kindness too small. Just as drops of water can eventually fill a jar, even the smallest kind act can eventually fill you with goodness.” ~ Buddhist teaching
Don’t avoid doing something good or “right”, just because you think it won’t make a difference.
The sky was pitch black by the time I left the office.
On my way home, I went past a school. Its canteen was lit. Students sitting on benches, peering down on textbooks.
Must be exam mugging session, I thought.
Instantly I was brought back to my O-level year. My school also opened up our canteen for students who chose to revise their work in school.
I remembered those nights, some 20 years ago.
My school opened up its school canteen to a group of us, mostly boys, so that we could revise for the exams. Our homes were too noisy and cramped.
Age and time changes one’s perspective.
Until tonight, it never entered my consciousness that teachers too had to work overtime for us back then. They could have been home watching TV. Being with their family.
As a student, I didn’t hear or consider any of that. We’d taken for granted that teachers had to be there.
It finally dawned on me about 20 years later.
So.
To my teachers who did their share of overtime for us then. And for teachers who continue to do so for students today.
Thank you.
It might take a long time.
A decade or two.
But eventually some of us kids will learn what is gratitude.
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university Professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the Prof went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said :
“If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, NOT the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other’s cups.”
“Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.“
So friends , don’t let the cups drive you…enjoy the coffee instead.
A poignant piece by Shel, who remembers his friend Charlie:
He gave me the two things I need most—encouragement and shit. He gave a lot of people encouragement. He saved the shit for a select few of us. His encouragement pointed me toward the top and his shit stopped me from going over it.
Charlie taught me about life and living; about death and acceptance. He taught me ethics without preaching, about tolerance without suffering assholes and about patience even if I wouldn’t get to the bloody point.
Who’s Ira Glass? Nevermind. Watch this video first (hat-tip to David Silver). David wrote that it’s “five minutes and nineteen seconds of smart advice“.
I’ve transcribed the parts which I felt was the essence of the video (read this post). My personal take-away: We’ll suck at what we do, probably for a long time. But that’s no excuse to not try, and try again. There’s no short-cut getting from here to good.
Human beings forget. I was told it’s this forgetfulness that allows humans to cope with the pains of life. So it’s a good thing that every once in a while, Death comes along to remind us what Life is about. Herry shares his thoughts here:
Life is indeed short. Sometimes, when we are working so hard, leaving us with no time for our family and ourselves, hearing news like this, makes us wonder why we are doing all these for; if all things are going to lead to the same path, death, and death can be so soon.
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Posted by Ivan Chew 
Posted by Ivan Chew 
Posted by Ivan Chew 
