HaPPY nEw YeAR 2012!!!

 

<>_<>GOOD BYE 2011<>_<> Before I finally say goodbye to 2011, I would like to say  to each and everyone of you. For the impact you had in my life Specially for those who sent me email, You have enriched my year!! I wish you all a magical Festive Season filled with Loving Wishes and beautiful thoughts. May your coming year mark the beginning of Love, Happiness and Bright Future. To those who need someone special, may you find that true love. To those who need money, may your finances overflow. To those who need caring, May you find a good heart to care for you. To those who need friends, May you meet someone who will also enrich your life.To those who need life, May you find God.

---

HaPPY nEw YeAR 2012!!!

Goodbye Mom

A young man was walking through a supermarket to pick up a few things when he noticed an old lady following him around. Thinking nothing of it, he ignored her and continued on. Finally he went to the checkout line, but she got in front of him.





"Pardon me," she said, "I'm sorry if my staring at you has made you feel uncomfortable. It's just that you look just like my son, who just died recently."





"I'm very sorry," replied the young man, "is there anything I can do for you?"





"Yes," she said, "As I'm leaving, can you say 'Good bye, Mother!' ?





It would make me feel so much better."





"Sure," answered the young man.





As the old woman was leaving, he called out, "Goodbye, Mother!"





As he stepped up to the checkout counter, he saw that his total was $127.50.





"How can that be?" he asked, "I only purchased a few things!"





"Your mother said that you would pay for her," said the clerk

Goodbye Mom

Prophet JESUS (Peace Be Upon Him)

I thought of writing a note on theology/philosophy after a long pause. Since we're in the midst of all this politics , I felt it has hindered my motivation towards my spiritual side ! So this is a come back note, liberation from stagnation due to worldly matters... and i thought the dawn of Christmas should be the best time to post this !

Jesus A.S is a very important figure in theology, he is a milestone , not merely due to the supernatural phenomena associated to and with him, but also because today, he stands between Judaism and Christianity, and also Islam and Christianity , TRUE these three semitic religions have so many (but so little) differences, yet, what I'm talking about is, the substantial difference, that separates (ironically) and also unites these three Faiths (originated from the same root, God)

Man through out the history has managed to confuse the message of God, because at some point of time, some managed to alter or excaggarate the message of God and make people follow and believe what they wanted to believe !

The Bible, and The Qur'an both confirm this

"And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9)

"Such teachings often come from false teachers dressed in sheep's clothing who are really ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:13,14)

"Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from God," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby" (Qur'an 2:79)

This was always possible, when the message delivered by the respective prophets were not properly preserved !

Here I will be discussing what MUSLIMS believe about Jesus A.S (and probably might write about Christians and Jews perspective later, Insha Allah)

Maryam aka Mary A.S is introduced to us in ~Surah Ale Imran~

Behold! a woman of 'Imran said: "O my Lord! I do dedicate unto Thee what is in my womb for Thy special service: So accept this of me: For Thou hearest and knowest all things. When she was delivered, she said: "O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!"- and Allah knew best what she brought forth- "And no wise is the male Like the female. I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from the Evil One, the Rejected.
Right graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty: To the care of Zakariya was she assigned. Every time that he entered (Her) chamber to see her, He found her supplied with sustenance. He said: "O Mary! Whence (comes) this to you?" She said: "From Allah. for Allah Provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure."

***We consider Mary A.S to be one of the most respected women of Islam, A special Qur'anic chapter has been dedicated to her name***

The Birth of Jesus A.S is described beautifully in ~Surah Maryam~ chapter 19 of the Qur'an ,

Surah Maryam, starts with Kaf.Ha.Ya.'Ain.Sad four letters (Only Allah knows what they really mean) , and then we are introduced to the story of Zachariah A.S , who himself was a man of God, He was very old, and his wife was barren ,

The Qur'aan says

"Behold ! He (Zachariah) cried to his Lord in secret"
Praying: "O my Lord! infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head doth glisten with grey: but never am I unblest, O my Lord, in my prayer to Thee! Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Thyself,-
And God blessed Zachariah A.S with a child, named Yahya (JOHN THE BAPTIST)
"(His prayer was answered): "O Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His name shall be Yahya: on none by that name have We conferred distinction before."

So imagine, Prophet Muhammad S.A.W reciting these verses to his followers, where most of them were non-Christians, mostly from Jewish, and Pagan background ! The intial verses are about a MIRACLE , An old man, and a barren old woman begetting a healthy son ! Then the subsequent verses give a brief description about Yahya/John A.S and then we have the most beautiful, description of the introduction of Mary A.S , please read it, see how the 270-280 day experience has been described in a nutshell,

Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East

She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects

She said: "I seek refuge from thee to God Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear God."

He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.

She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?"

He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us':It is a matter (so) decreed."

So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place
And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!"
But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee;

And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.
So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (God) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'
At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!

(The same incident is described (not dramatically) but briefly in Surah Ale Imran verse 43-51)

CONCLUSION: We believe in the immaculate conception of Mary A.S and the miraculous Birth of Jesus A.S with 0% doubt ! We believe it without proof ! ----------(1)

Then the Qur'an explains the subsequent situation, the issues Mary A.S had to face, naturally, when a virgin, who is not married, comes back with a baby, people tend to Question her, insult her, attack her, the people said

"O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste! "

People were telling that, her family was not reputed for such immoral acts, the people were puzzled as to how this good lady suddenly committed fornication (which she did not), then the most amazing thing happens

But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

She points her finger at little Jesus A.S , like a small child pointing her finger at her parent, "let the child answer" now this may have sounded absurd, people would have laughed, admonished and also blooguarded her, when all these were happening, the little infant speaks

قَالَ إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ آتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيًّا

"He said: "I am indeed a servant of God. He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;
And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live;
(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;
So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (On the day of Judgement along with the other souls)!

Imagine ! An infant speaking to a people who were insulting his mother ! BANG ! He would have just foxed them ! remember, people saw this ! this is why people started believing in him, Jesus A.S was no ordinary humanbeing who just accumilated some followers by teaching a few good things !

CONCLUSION: We believed that he spoke as an infant ! And that he was a mighty messenger of Allah ----------(2)

But then God clearly says in the Qur'an in the following verse

"It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.

this statement is backed by The Bible ,

Job 25:4-6

"How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!"

Now we clearly know who is MAN and who is SON OF MAN (Jesus A.S is mentioned as Son Of Man 83 times in the New Testament, and mentioned as SON OF GOD 13 times)

CONCLUSION: We do not believe that, Jesus A.S was the begotten son of God, we believe that the word son of God is used as a phrase of respect, the same was used to David A.S aswell, see Psalms 2:7 , Exodus 4:22 etc -----------(3)

We then goto the maturity stage of his life,

The Quran says in Surah Ale Imran verse 53 onwards

When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: "Who will be My helpers to (the work of) God." Said the disciples: "We are God's helpers: We believe in God, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.
Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger. then write us down among those who bear witness"

Jesus A.S preached the word of God, and whenever he saw disbelief, like every prophet, he questioned it ! He admonished the wrongdoers ! He rectified the mistakes !

But since Jesus A.S was sent to a people who always questioned the clear signs of God, Jesus A.S was blessed with many miracles , they being

1. Giving life to a clay bird (this is not even mentioned in the New Testament, but it has been recorded in a non canonical gospel)

“I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with God’s permission.” (Quran 3:49)

2. Healing The Blind And The Leper

"I also heal the blind and the leper.” (Quran 3:49)

3. Giving Life To The Dead (Lazarus)

“…and I bring to life the dead, by the permission of God.” (Quran 3:49)

4. Ability to tell what people had eaten

“I inform you too of what things you eat, and what you store up in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.” (Quran 3:49)

5. Bringing down a table of Food

When the disciples said: O Jesus, son of Mary! Is your Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven? He said: Observe your duty to God, if ye are true believers. They said: We desire to eat of it and our hearts be at rest, and that We may know that you have spoken truth to us, and that We may be witnesses thereof. Jesus, son of Mary, said: 'O God, our Lord, send down for us a Table laden with food out of heaven, that shall be for us a recurring festival, the first and last of us, and a miracle from You. And provide us our sustenance, for You are the best of providers!” (Quran 5:112-114)

Now quoting from the Bible for a comparison

And Jesus said to him,

‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. (From the NIV Bible, Mark 10:18)"

"For of a truth against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hast anointed...." (Acts 4:27 RSV)

"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,.... hath glorified his servant Jesus." (Acts 3:13 RSV)

Ok that's enough to explain our stand, and back it with biblical proof, p.s If you feel this is quoted out of context, you can refer all the translations by visiting Biblegateway.com , So the next conclusion

CONCLUSION: We believe, Jesus A.S is a servant of God, just like Muhammad S.A.W or anyother prophet ! We believe he performed miracles , that he gave life to the dead, that he cured the blind etc etc, Just like Moses A.S separated the Sea, It was a blessing from God, And the Bible also says the same "I cast out devils with the finger of God" i.e with the leave of God -----------(4)

Then we come to the end of his journey on Earth, Jesus A.S preached the concept of God, but the ruler of then Jewish community, was a Roman, it should be pontius pilate/Herod if I'm not mistaken ! They did not like Jesus A.S, because, he rebelled against those who were into idol worship and worship of men and kings, especially the Roman empire ! So they plotted against Jesus A.S, let's see what the Qur'an has to say on this

Going back to Qur'an Surah Ale Imran aayah 54-55

"And (the unbelievers) plotted and planned (Against Jesus A.S), and God too planned, and the best of planners is God."

Behold! God said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute"

and then we all know what happens next, The crucifixion, The Qur'an gives a crystal clear, straight forward, no nonsense reply to this question ( What Happened To Jesus ? )

Qur'an Chapter Of Women, verse 157 says

"Waqawlihim inna qatalna almaseeha eesa ibna maryama rasoola Allahi wama qataloohu wama salaboohu walakin shubbiha lahum wainna allatheena ikhtalafoo feehi lafee shakkin minhu ma lahum bihi min AAilmin illa ittibaAAa alththanni wama qataloohu yaqeenan"

meaning

That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-

CONCLUSION: We believe he was attacked by the disbelievers, he was ill-treated, but We do not believe he was Crucified, According to Islam Jesus A.S was raised to God , at some point of tim, BEFORE he died ! How Did God Do That? GOD KNOWS BEST ! The Qur'aan clearly says and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not -----------(5)

And then, Qur'an tells us that Jesus A.S will return during the latter part of the end of days, plus the ahadeeths tell us that he will lead the muslims/believers against the Dajjal, better known as the anti christ ! he will then rule the world for few years, and it is said that those years will be peaceful and serene ! He will then die, and will be burried next to the prophet Muhammad S.A.W (correct me if im wrong http://www.jesuswillreturn.com/s2_e.html)

This is what we believe about Jesus A.S , Both Christians and Muslims are aware that December 25 is not the true birthday of Jesus A.S , it was due to some pagan intervention (probably influence of mperor Constantine) , but still , we can use today as a day to ponder over the life story of this great man, peace, SHALOM / SALAM !

God Bless You ! Muslims and Christians Unite Under The Flag , THIESM !

Prophet JESUS (Peace Be Upon Him)

I Don't Know

Dew on my glass window,

Drops down to say hello.

The blinking cursor winks,

I don't know. I give up.

Somebody walks in

Calls me a friend

And then they walk out

I don't know, I give up.

There is nothing to be done

but always something

I must do it all

I don't know, I give up.

I remember a smile,

A hug, a kiss for a while,

And then suddenly it's gone,

I don't know, I give up.

Excitement, fear,

Love that I hold dear,

I refuse to feel them

I don't know, I give up.

Maybe I'm whiner,

but mom calls for dinner

I must finish up

I don't know, I give up

I Don't Know

The Trouble with Guys

The Trouble with GUYS: If uTREAT him nicely, he says u are IN LOVE with him; If u Don't, he says u are PROUD. If u DRESS Nicely, he says u are trying to LUREhim; If u Don't, he says u don't have STYLE If u ARGUE with him, he says u are STUBBORN; If u keep QUIET, he says u are HIDING SOMETHING If u are SMARTER than him, you are a NERD; If he's Smarter than u, he has BRAINS If u don't Love him, he tries to POSSESS u; If u Lovehim, he will try to LEAVE u.(very true huh?) If u don't make lovewith him, he says u don't Love him; If u do!! he says u are CHEAP and a SLUT If u tell him your PROBLEM , he says u are NEEDY/WHINY and BEING DEMANDING; If u don't, he says that u don't TRUSThim. If u SCOLD him, u are like a MOTHER to him; If heSCOLDS u, it is because he CARESfor u. If u BREAK your PROMISE , u Cannot be TRUSTED;If he BREAKS his, he is FORCED to do so. If u SMOKE, u are BADgirl; If he SMOKES, he is GENTLEMAN.. If u HURT him, u are CRUEL; If he HURTS u, u DESERVE IT !!   ...guys are so hard to please !!!!! If u send this to guys, they will swear that it's not true....... but if u don't, they say u are selfish..... The moral of the story is... SEND THIS TO GUYS OUT THERE ANYWAY .... Send it to girls also, give them some laughter .

The Trouble with Guys

A Friend is More Important

A friend is more than someone who wipes

Your tears when you are sad.

They are more than the person you call when

Someone makes you incredibly mad.

A true friend does not have to be a person

You spend time with every weekend,

Or even someone who lives

Just around the bend.

A friend can be a person with whom

You shared a single moment,

But you felt like it was just for

You they were sent.

Friendship does not always have to

Build up over years

It, like love, sometimes

Just appears.

So always remember that

Each person you meet

Has the potential to be someone

Especially interesting and neat.

Try not to judge those who

Don't seen your "type,"

Because their personality,

May fit yours just right.

A Friend is More Important

Working with Life

There’s no sense in blaming the mountain for being too high. Instead, find a way to climb it. There is nothing to be gained by blaming your troubles on the turn of events. That only makes the troubles worse. Circumstances are not stacked against you, unless you imagine them to be. Instead of blaming life for how it goes, adapt and respond positively to whatever happens. The setbacks you encounter are what they are. Those setbacks have no choice, but you do. You can choose to let them pull you down. Or you can choose to let them provide you with a positive way forward. Instead of imagining that life is working against you,  imagine yourself to be working along with life. And you’ll find much more of it going your way.

Working with Life

How to Migrate from Facebook to Google Plus

Have you started liking Google Plus more than Facebook and you don’t know how to move all your information from it to the new social networking site? If yes, then no need to worry any more. Here we have some easy tips for you to migrate from Facebook to Google Plus account.
Do Check: Google Seeks Intergration With Twitter And Facebook



How To Export Facebook Information


First you need to download your Facebook information completely. For doing this you have to log into your Facebook account and then go to account settings section.





It is in the top right corner of the page. There you have to click on “learn more”. It is next to the “download your information”.





Next, enter your password and click on continue. Facebook system will send an email to you once the download is ready. Click on the link given in the email and a zip file will be downloaded containing all your files. After the downloading is completed, extract the files and open index.html file to check whether all the information is there.
How To Import Photos


Google Plus uses Picasa photo albums and you need to downlaod Picasa first. After Picasa is downloaded and installed, open it and add the Facebook photos folder to it. Before importing you need to scan the folders once with Picasa itself.





After importing the photos, find the relevant albums and select it to sync with web. It is one the right side of the window.


Next, a pop-up window will come up asking you to sign in to web albums. Here you have to sign in with your Google+ account. One more pop-up will open verifying your upload settings. You change the settings here and modify it according to your liking. Also, to avoid being asked every time, you have to check the box – “use the above settings”.





It is recommended that you keep the new album visibility as default private. Later you can change the settings from your Google+.


After doing this go back again to Picasa and click their Sync. The photos from the album will now be uploaded in the background.



How To Share Photos On Google Plus





Once your photos are uploaded on Google+, you need to log in there and click on photos icon on the top banner. Navigate through the photo albums on the left. Open the albums that you had uploaded little before and click on share album button at the top. Its done now. Your photos are now made public. If you don’t want it to be public then remove the Public circle and add your own choice. Both will make a post in your stream but the visibility is according to your settings. If you don’t want it to be in the stream then you can change it by clicking the edit button in the main album page.





Share it with only the trusted people because the person can re-share your photos.
How To Import Your Videos





Find the videos folder from the Facebook export that you downloaded little before. Log into Google+ and click videos on your profile. There you need to click on upload new videos and drag videos from your system to the browser. After doing this you can name the video album, create it and also share it.


How to import Facebook friends


For this you need to open login.yahoo.com and there you sign in with Facebook account. You can also sign in here with your Yahoo account if you have any.





Next you have to confirm access there and sign in with Facebook account. After this go to address.yahoo.com and click on tools > import.


Here you will get a Facebook option. Select the option and confirm the access. The contacts will start getting imported to it automatically. After the contacts are imported, export it to a .CSV file from the tools menu. Export it to Microsoft Outlook in your system and save the file.


Next, you go to Gmail and click on contacts after logging into it. There you have to click more actions > import.





Find the .CSV file and select for importing. Import the contacts in a new group there and then again go to Google+. There you see the new contacts under find and invite. Now you add friends to the circles and start sending invitation to all of them if they are still not in Google Plus.


Now you have successfully migrated from Facebook to Google Plus.

How to Migrate from Facebook to Google Plus

A Family Story....

A teacher from a primary school asks her students to write an essay

about what they would like God to do for them.

At the end of the day while marking the essays,

she reads one that made her very emotional.

Her husband, who had just walked in saw her crying

and asked her what happened.

She answered: ' Read this essay'

"Oh God, tonight I ask you something very special:

Make me into a television.

I want to take its place.

Live like the TV in my house.

Have my own special place and have my family around me.

To be taken seriously when I talk.

I want to be the centre of attention

and be heard without interruptions or questions.

I want to receive the same specail care that the TV receives

when it is not working.

Have the company of my dad when he arrives home from work,

even when he is tired.

I want my mom to want me when she is sad and upset,

instead of just shouting at me or ignoring me.

I want to feel that my family just leaves everything aside,

every now and then, just to spend some time with me.

Lord I don't ask you for much.... I just want to live like every TV"

At that moment the husband said ' Poor child.

What horrible parents'

His wife looked up at him and said,

' That essay is our son's'.

A Family Story....

Never Judge too Quickly

A 24 years boy seeing out from a train window, shouted...
"Dad , look at the trees, they are going behind!!" ... Dad smiled
.
A young couple sitting nearby to him, looked at the 24 year olds childish behavior with pity
.
Suddenly he shouted again saying ...
"Dad, look at the clouds, they are running with us, amazing!!"
.
The couple Couldn’t resist any more and said to the old man:
His behavior is very strange, why don’t you take him to a doctor?
The old man smiled & said...
"I did, in fact we are just coming back from hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today!!!"
.
Never judge too quickly! Because what you think may not always be the truth..!!

Never Judge too Quickly

Is windows a virus ???

No, Windows is not a virus. Here's what viruses do:

1.They replicate quickly - okay, Windows does that.

2.Viruses use up valuable system resources, slowing down the system as they do so - okay, Windows does that.

3.Viruses will, from time to time, trash your hard disk - okay, Windows does that too.

4.Viruses are usually carried, unknown to the user, along with valuable programs and systems. - Sigh.. Windows does that, too.

5.Viruses will occasionally make the user suspect their system is too slow (see 2) and the user will buy new hardware. - Yup, Windows does that, too.

Until now it seems Windows is a virus but there are fundamental differences: Viruses are well supported by their authors, are running on most systems, their program code is fast, compact and efficient and they tend to become more sophisticated as they mature.

So Windows is not a virus. It's a bug

Is windows a virus ???

Things are to be used, People are to be loved...

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked up a stone and scratched lines on the side of the car.

In anger, the man took the child ' s hand and hit it many times not realizing he was using a wrench.

At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.When the child saw his father with painful eyes he asked, ' Dad.. when will my fingers grow back? ' The man was so hurt and speechless; he went back to his car and kicked it a lot of times.

Devastated by his own actions...... sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches; the child had written 'LOVE YOU DAD '. The next day that man committed suicide. . .

Anger and Love have no limits; choose the letter to have a beautiful, lovely life & remember this: Things are to be used and people are to be loved. The problem in today ' s world is that people are used while things are loved.

Let ' s try always to keep this thought in mind: Things are to be used, People are to be loved.

Things are to be used, People are to be loved...

A True Story

English is difficult language specially for japanese.. A True Story, Prime Minister Mori was given some basic english trainig before he visits Washington 2 meet Presidnt Barack Obama.. The instrctor told Mori when u shake hand wid Obama plz say 'How r u' Then Obama would say 'I m fine, n u? 'Now u shuld say 'me too'. Aftrwards we, translators, will handle. Whn Mori met Obama, he mistakenly said 'who r u ?'(instead of 'How r u?') Obama was a bit shocked bt still managed 2 react wid humor 'Well, I m Michelle's husband,ha- ha'. Then Mori replied 'me too,ha-ha...'

A True Story

Be Content About Your Life

Wonder if any of you ever had the feeling that life is bad, real bad,…and you wish you were in another situation. Do you find that life seems to make things difficult for you, work sucks, life sucks, everything seems to go wrong….

It was not until yesterday that I totally changed my views about life; after a conversation with one of my friends.

He told me despite taking 2 jobs, and bringing back barely above 1K per month, he is happy as he is. I wonder how he can be as happy as he is now, considering that he has to skimp his life with the low pay to support a pair of old-age parents, in-laws, wife, 2 daughters and the many bills of a household.

He explained that it was through one incident that he saw in India……

That happened a few years ago when he was really feeling low and was touring India after a major setback. He said that right in front of his very eyes, he saw an Indian mother chopped off her child’s right hand with a chopper. The helplessness in the mother’s eyes, the scream of the pain from the innocent 4 years old child haunted him until today. You may ask why did the mother do so, has the child been naughty, was the child’s hand infected??

No, it was done for two simple words — to beg. The desperate mother deliberately caused the child to be handicapped so that the child can go out to the streets to beg. I cannot accept how this could happen, but it really did, just in another part of the world which I don’t see.

Taken aback by the scene, he dropped a small piece of bread he was eating half-way. And almost instantly, flock of 5 or 6 children swamp towards this small piece of bread which was then covered with sand, robbing of bits from one another. The natural reaction of hunger. Striken by the happenings, he instructed his guide to drive him to the nearest bakery. He arrived at two bakeries and bought every single loaf of bread he found in the bakeries.

The owner is dumbfolded , but willing sold everything. He spent less than $100 to obtain about 400 loaf of bread (this is less than $0.25/per loaf) and spend another $100 to get daily necessities. Off he went in the truck full of bread into the streets. As he distributed the bread and necessities to the children (mostly handicapped) and a few adults, he received cheers and bows from these unfortunate. For the first time in life he wonder how people can give up their dignity for a loaf of bread which cost less than $0.25. He began to ask himself how fortunate he is as a Singaporean. How fortunate he to be able to have a complete body, have a job, have a family, have the chance to complain what food is nice what isn’t, have the chance to be clothed, have the many things that these people in front of him are deprived of…..

Now I begin to think and feel it, too. Was my life really that bad?

Perhaps….no,… it should not be bad at all….

What about you? Maybe the next time you think you are, think about the child who lost one hand to beg on the streets.

Be Content About Your Life

Give time to our family

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked.

My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, “she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favor,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some other time.”

Give time to our family

Secret of Success

“Sir, What is the secret of your success?” a reporter asked a bank president.

“Two words”

“And, Sir,what are they?”

“Right decisions.”

“And how do you make right decisions?”

“One word.”

“And,sir, What is that?”

“Experience.”

“And how do you get Experience?”

“Two words.”

“And, Sir, what are they?”

“Wrong decisions.”

Secret of Success