Movie/DVD: An Inconvenient Truth

http://www.climatecrisis.net

Spent my saturday evening watching this documentary.

I was really moved by Al Gore's passion and determination. I respect for his effort and leadership in making this world a better place. AND...FUCK Bush...who created so many problems in this world! The world could potentially change for the better if Al Gore won the US Presidential election back in 2000.

I HIGHLY recommend everybody to watch this movie if you haven't. (drop me an email, i could lend you the DVD)

Being aware of the calamity of situation, I would try to be wiser in making my choice.

The blue planet does not belong to us, it belongs to all the future generations and all the beings.

We should not be so selfish, and We can make a difference (even a small one like switching off light if not needed).

=)

Living Pono - Jason Scott Lee

http://www.bacipix.com/livingpono/index.html

"Toward Living Pono" is an hour-long documentary for public television that follows internationally acclaimed film and stage actor Jason Scott Lee on his intentional journey from mega-movie stardom to living sustainably on his off-the-grid taro farm, 4,000 feet up the slopes of Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawai'i. The camera tags along with Jason as he goes about his work, whether he's driving through busy downtown Singapore on the way to the next film shoot, or tending his remote taro patches using only the methods of natural farming. An intimate portrait of one of Hawai'i's most beloved celebrities, the story encompasses the universal issues Jason is confronting: Materialism and alienation in western society, environmental stewardship, preservation of indigenous culture, youth advocacy, and living pono--with the traditional values of righteousness and respect for ancestors, neighbors, and the sacred land.

Youtube Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjZv27dU7kA

Quote from the video:

"It is a choice that each individual can make to make the world a better place"

"Career is nothing without happiness and joy inside"

+++

As I grew older, I appreciate the philosophy of "Less is More".

The excitement of acquiring new thing is still there, but that kinda happiness is short-lived. I will get bored of the new toy or stuff easily. This kinda happiness is very unsustainable.

I try to buy less things... I try to live a simpler life...

When there is less emphasis on physical possession, I see more of the other aspects of life,

And I am happier. =)

Rich Son Poor Son

I like it. =)

Who has the Rich Son?

One Good View, One Bad Fall & One Kind Deed

Went cycling this morning at 6+, and the sunrise view across a misty field in Lim Chu Kang was awesome. The air was fresh and cooling. =)

Unfortunately, while i was along Lim Chu Kang Road, I lost concentration and swayed to the left and fell down. Tyre was punctured, wrist was sprained, and wounded my right calf and thigh. I felt frustrated immediately - knowing that I gotta stop my swimming for 2 weeks be'cos of the open wounds.

I never had so much body injuries in my life - well, I was never a sporty person. Knee injury due to long distance running, abrasion around my eyes due to wearing goggles during swimming (yah.. WTF?!?!), other wounds and injuries due to falling down during cycling etc... Triathlon is also an expensive sport, a time-consuming one and have alot of restrictions (e.g no late-night drinking as it will dehydrate the body & need to wake up early to train)
I guess it is part and parcel of trying to be a triathlete - I am aiming to complete my first half-ironman next march.

I have seen video-clips of people completing their races and the exhilaration on their faces, but seldom do we see the sacrifices they made. There are many reasons not to train (bad weather, no time, fatigue, injury, pain etc..), but there is only one reason to do it - to honor yourself.

Is it worth it?

Yes and No.

=)

Anyway, back to the story, I was stranded in Lim Chu Kang Road - No CAB (despite trying to make a booking), and I even did the hitch-a-ride hand gesture, but the drivers returned me with a weird look. Hitching a ride does not work in Singapore. Fortunately, there was a bus - 975 - the only bus. The bus driver (PRC Chinese) stopped and I explained to him my situation. He had some reservations, as i know bike is not allowed in the bus.

In the end, he still allowed me to board and asked me where i would be alighting (obviously, he was worried that his superior would see it). I alighted 2 stops before the bus terminal, as I didn't want to create any problem for this nice driver. I thanked him before I alighted.

It was one kind deed and I appreciated it.

=)

Random: A Singapore Taxi Driver's Story

Taken from: http://taxidiary.blogspot.com/

"Probably the only taxi driver in this world with a PhD from Stanford and a proven track record of scientific accomplishments, I have been forced out of my research job at the height of my scientific career, and unable to find another one, for reasons I can only describe as something "uniquely Singapore". As a result, I am driving taxi to make a living and writing these real life stories just to make the dull job a little more interesting. I hope that these stories are interesting to you too."

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I enjoyed reading his entries - a documentary of people from different social strata of Singapore.

I am sure he would find another job soon.

It is a passing phase.

After the darkest storm, the sunshine and rainbow will emerge.

What are the things in life that is worth dying for?

Just had a good sunday morning ride and breakfast with a good friend.

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I was commenting that it is sad that alot of people get their sense of identity and self-worth from their jobs. Many people treated their jobs as their lives and invested everything into it. And when they were retrenched, many of them (especially the guys) sank into depression and lost their self-esteem.

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It is very sad that people derived their self-worth/self-esteem from their work.

Even if you are retrenched, you are still the same person, just having more free time only!!

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Last year, DBS Bank retrenched for the first time. Another good friend (who worked in the DBS) shared with me that one of his colleagues was retrenched - even though she had been in the bank for 20+ years, and gave her youth and energy to the company, but one week after she had left, all her records were erased from the company's intranet.

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Nobody will remember how well you have done in your work.

When you die, nobody is going to say how great you have done at work, or how much sales have you closed, etc... Colleagues and company will eventually forget you.

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Family and Friends won't.

Those who you have touched their lives won't.

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So What are the things in life that is worth dying for?

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Hope i set you thinking.

I am asking myself the same question too.

=)

1 year of Flexitarianism

It has been 1 year since I decided to become a flexitarian.

I thought the initial enthusiasm would fade in 3 months time.

I am glad that my enthusiasm has evolved into something that I believe in.

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It is tough to become a full-vegetarian.

And I have utmost respect for Vegans.

How can they give up Chocolate?!?!

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Currently, I do not eat any land animals at all, and would eat Seafood occasionally.

I am limiting my milk intake as well, by switching to soya bean drink. Cereals with Soya Bean drink is not bad!

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A few years ago, I would not believe that I could be semi-vegetarian.

I LOVE FRIED FOODS.

My favourite WAS Fried Chicken Wing.

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Do I miss the TASTE of fried chicken wing?

Absolutely, Yes.

Do I miss the EXPERIENCE of eating fried chicken wing?

Absolutely, NO.

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Taken from: http://www.vegetarian-society.org/

'nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.'

- Albert Einstein

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Most importantly,

Being vegetarian is a way to save our beautiful and precious world that we are living in.

http://www.vegetarian-society.org/WorldHunger

While the cause of world hunger is multi-faceted , meat consumption is a contributing factor. This is because much Third World grain and other food is fed to animals (to produce cheaper meat to be eaten in developed countries), not to hungry Third World people.

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Hence,

By eating less or no meat at each meal, we all can make a difference in the world.

The first step is always Awareness.

=)

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Decided to go green by bringing my own shopping bag.

Pleasantly surprised that I got $0.10 off my bill.

I Felt great! =D

KL Trip with Spice Gang (8th-10th Aug)

This is another highlight of this year.

Not because there is anything special about Kuala Lumpur,

but because I always have a great time with Spice Gang.

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Unfortunately, 2 members could not join us, nevertheless,

it was great fun!

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It was a "Nuah-ing" trip

Eating, massaging, napping, lazing, swimming, clubbing, drinking, shopping, eating, eating and more EATing. hahaha...

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Dinner time with Spice Gang

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During the dinner,

M's business partner (A Canadian guy in his 40s) after knowing that we have been friends for more than 12 years, suggested that we should bet to see who die first. The person who die first "will get" the money (may be for his/her funeral).

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I think most people would be offended by his remarks.

However, I commented that his suggestion is very wise.

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We have celebrated -

21st birthdays together,

university graduations together,

weddings together,

house-warmings together,

the birth of new member together.

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Shouldn't we celebrate the end of a GREAT journey?

Be aware that our friendship is impermanent.

Be more appreciative of each other.

Treasure the friendship while it last.

Remember the great time together.

Enjoy each other's companionship.

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Old friends are especially important to me.

We kinda grow up together and see each other evolving over the years.

We shared so many priceless moments together.

=)

Happy Birthday, Princess W!!!
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K, being a workaholic, took his saturday evening off work to buy the cake and join us for the celebration. We did not see him on Sunday, as he was back to work the whole day!
Yup, we failed to persuade him to join us on Sunday. =(
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Black and White Pics

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Why do i always enjoy my time with Spice Gang?

We always do alot of foolish things.

We had fun doing it.

=)

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THANK YOU for the wonderful time!

The Dhamma Brothers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dhamma_Brothers

Taken from: http://thisfilmfest.com/films.html

The Donaldson Correction Facility is a maximum security prison in Alabama, a state along the United States’ so-called ‘Bible Belt’. In this prison are some of the most dangerous criminals of the state, men convicted for murder, manslaughter, gang activities, shootings and stabbings. And yet, horrendous crimes they may have committed, some of them yearn for emotional and social change. In 2002, their opportunity came in the form of a meditation course and Vipassana meditation retreat that was introduced in hope of offering inner peace and genuine rehabilitation for these men. Such a program was unheard of in the West, and even the participants of the course were partially cynical about it. As one of them put it, “I’ve been through every course imaginable. A meditation course? C’mon!”

.
For 10 days, the men faced their inner personal traumas, and the program was a resounding success. Unfortunately, complaints by the locals that the prisoners "were being turned into Buddhists” caused the program to be shut down. With the change in prison administration at the end of 2005, the meditation course was reintroduced. The participants of the previous course were interviewed, and to the surprise of the interviewers…

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+++

The question should not be:

Are people turning into Buddhists?

The question should be:

Are people becoming better

- happier, more loving and peaceful?

Osim Singapore International Triathlon 2009

I have completed my first Olympic Distance (OD) Triathlon
– 1.5km Swim, 40km Bike, 10km Run.
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My official race timing & Category Ranking:
(I believe the transition time is included in the Bike Leg)

1.5km Swim: 38min 46sec (44 out of 109)
40km Bike: 1hr 31min 42 sec (33 out of 109)
10km Run: 53min 36 sec (18 out of 109)
Overall Timing: 3hr 4min 3sec (22 out of 109)
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Even though I failed to hit my 3hrs target , I was quite happy with my overall performance. I was disappointed with my swim as it was 5mins more than my usual timing, but then, the sea was choppy and I did not get into my usual swimming rhythm. As for the cycling leg, I did not push myself too hard as I did not want to exhaust myself before the running leg. And I did push myself hard during the last 10km run.
That’s all that matters – giving my best.
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Nobody is going to care if I hit 3hr target time,
and I just want to be responsible to myself.
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I remembered watching Triathlon race on TV, and I asked myself:
Can I do it?I was very sure that I doubted myself,
As back then, I even struggled to swim 100m in freestyle.
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Arbor Buddies

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This race was special as it was the first race that I took part with both Jon & RF.
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Less than a year ago (14th Sept 2008), RF sent us an email with a link & a question:
Will you do this?


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Till this day, I still don’t know if I have the courage to do it.
But I have taken my first step and strike off one item from my to-do-list.
This item had been in my do-to-list for a few years already, and RF’s email rekindled the interest in me to pursue it. Jon was inspired by the clip as well.
.
The timing of the Osim Triathlon race was perfect.
RF just came back recently after completing his fellowship programme at Stanford University, and Jon delayed his flight to US where he would be furthering his studies at Carnegie Mellon University. (Yah, I am the only one kena stuck in Singapore – not really complaining though). So it is a rare opportunity for us to take part together.
.
It was a great race with great friends.
The only sad part was someone died during the race.
http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20090803-158705.html

It was so unfortunate.
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Life is impermanent.
Cherish it. Love it. Live it.

I am nobody.

I am nobody.

It is great to be nobody.

I am free from Burden.

I am free from expectation.

I am a free man!

It is great to be nobody!!

=)

Quote - From Benjamin Graham

Benjamin Graham

1894-1976

Taken from The Intelligent Investor:

Several years ago Ben Graham, then almost eighty, expressed to a friend the thought that he hoped everyday do to "something foolish, something creative and something generous."

Warren Buffett News

Warren Buffett makes $4bn profit on Goldman Sachs stake
Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has done it again – booking a $4.1bn (£2.5bn) paper profit on the $5bn he invested in Goldman Sachs at the height of the financial crisis.

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+++

Alot of people mentioned that Warren Buffett was old school, and his investment philosophy will not work anymore. And I am glad that Warren Buffett (being on the greatest investor of all time), proved those skeptics wrong. More importantly, even the oracle of omaha faces alot of skeptics and nah-sayers.

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Some quotes from Buffett:

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"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than

a fair company at a wonderful price."

- Warren Buffett

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"You only have to do a very few things right in your life

so long as you don't do too many things wrong."

- Warren Buffett

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One of Life's simple, random & fun moments

Our version of Table-Tennis

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Just came back from a gathering with friends in Shenton Way.

It was a simple dinner affair, until we adjourned to a friend's office.

Imagine a group of people in office attires playing our version of table-tennis.

The ladies took off their heels and ran around the table.

The guys were un-buttoning their shirts and running around.

We were like small kids running around and counting points.

Lotsa laughters

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Playing Table-Tennis in an tall office building in Shenton Way on Wednesday Evening.

It was just so random.

Life is made up these priceless moments.

Simple Pure Fun.

=)

Jakarta Bombing

To me, this incident was not only a news on the TV.

I almost lost a good friend.

Fortunately, my good friend was not at her usual breakfast area (Ritz Carlton) during the bombing on Friday morning.

Somehow, there were signs directing her to come back to Singapore on Thursday night.

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It is weird.

Somehow, certain things are pre-destined.

It seemed that there are invisible forces working around us and guiding us.

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For some, it is called God's will.

For others, it is called Karma.

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More importantly, it reminded me of

the Impermanence of Life.

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A Reminder to treasure everybody and every moment.

Love ourselves . Love everybody . Love life.

Finally, I won some money!!

My team of 4 participated in Singapore HeritageFest 2009: Fun on the foot!
http://www.heritagefest.org.sg/content/542/Overview_Prizes.html
Guess What?
We are the Open Category Winner.
Woohoo!!!
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I was afraid that I would be the jinx in the team, as I have never won any money in any competitions in my entire life!!! (other than MJ & Gambling in Casino).
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I am getting S$500 for 5 hours of racing.
This was the first urban race that I participated since City Chase 2008, where my team was the runner-up.
http://ahboon80.blogspot.com/2008/08/city-chase-singapore-2008.html
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Were we lucky?

Well, abit of luck is required for winning.
However, my team was very serious about winning.
We met up before the race to strategize and assign responsibilities.
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It was a great team.
Mel (default team leader) was touted the Urban Race Queen of Singapore, so she had all the strategies in her mind + using her remote research guru to help us with the answers.
Caleb was the youngest winner of "Who wants to be a millionaire? - Singapore", so being very knowledgeable already, he was given the responsibility to read about Singapore Heritage.
Mich was quite knowledgeable (partly be'cos of NAC) and she was given the responsibility of texting the answers.
As for me, I don't really know much about Singapore Heritage, so I was supposedly the runner in the group. My navigation skill was pretty decent, so I just ran around.
I like to be given brainless job.

=)
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Winning money is good feeling,
but having fun with friends and beating other teams is even more fun,
especially winning those cheaters and teams who were definitely fitter than us.

Travel: Lombok July 2009

http://boon-lombok09.blogspot.com/

Update to my previous entry

In Feb'09, I mentioned about Friend (A)'s dad's battle with Cancer.
http://ahboon80.blogspot.com/2009/02/contentment-being-in-peace.html
His frustration & depression was taking a toll on himself and his family.
.
Sadly,
Friend A's dad passed away today.

End of this Journey

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I hope that he had found peace before the end of his journey.

This is also a reminder to myself.

While Life is beautiful, it is limited and impermanent.

I must reconcile any differences with my family or friends before it is too late.

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Death always bring clarity to the mind.

Changes - This is Life

I am supposed to climb Mt Rinjani this weekend, and I am leaving for Bali tomorrow.

The flight was booked back in Feb.

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Now, the national park is closed because of eruption.

http://www.tempo.co.id/hg/nusa/jawamadura/2009/06/15/brk,20090615-182080,uk.html

Rinjani Eruptions Seem Like Fireworks

Monday, 15 June, 2009 20:44 WIB
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Lava eruptions were reported at Mount Rinjani in East Nusa Tenggara Province from Sunday evening until Monday morning, as eruptions were seen from the observation post in Sembalun in eastern Lombok.

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I was disappointed, as I was looking forward to the 3D2N trek to the summit.

Since this is beyond my control,

I shall make best use of my time since flights have already been booked.

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This is Life.

Never Ending Changes.

Nothing is constant and permanent.

People born and die.

Volcano erupts and Landscape changes.

This is the Impermanence of Life.

This is Life.

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"Bo-liao!" remarked by my mum

I reached home just now and told my mum that I fell off my bike in Desaru.

I showed her my wounds on my left shoulder and my right albow, and cuts on my right palm, my left chin, and left leg.

Her immediate remarks was "Bo-liao!".

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For those who don't understand the word: "Bo-Liao"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boliao

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Then, the next moment, she searched for bandage for me.

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There are alot of things that I have done or am doing appear to be "Bo-liao" for my family.

For example: Camping in a deserted beach in Borneo and coming back home with 100+ sandfly & mosquito bites over my whole-body. Traveling to third world countries and staying in shabby guesthouses (kena bitten by bed-bugs). Backpacking alone. Trekking mountains. Run Marathon (and limping the next day). Exercising 6 days per week to train for Triathlon. Being a vegetarian (aka Flexitarian) etc...

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In my family view, most of the things that I have done are quite "Bo-liao" with the exception of working for money and studying university. However, they always support me whenever I do those stuffs that they perceived as "Bo-liao". Eg. My mum would wake up and prepare a hot drink for me at 6am before a race.

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Doing all these "Bo-liao" things made me happy,

as I know that i am alive.

And I feel alive.

To me, That's life!

The World is too beautiful to be sitting on the couch watching TV.

=)

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+++

Today is my first fall while riding.

I still don't exactly know what happened.

It happened too fast, and the next moment I was already on the ground.

I was thinking "Damn! I can't swim the next week because of the wounds."

I am sure this will not be the last fall.

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I always felt that:

While it is nice to hope for days and days of good day.

but i would rather have the wisdom to handle a bad day, then to hope for a good day.

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Applying this small philosophy of mine:

While applying the Chinese Oilment "Qing Shao You" on my wound, the pain magnified a few times (but the wound will heal really quickly). I took this opportunity to practice empathy and compassion. I think of those people experiencing more intense pain than me (ie. people in hospital, people with cancer etc..). My pain is totally insignificant.

Not surprisingly, I experienced less pain.

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It also reminded me that I experience pain because I am alive.

I should be grateful.

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I just hope that I could sustain this optimism.

=)