Just Smile!

I was driving home a few days ago and I was entering this two-way road with houses on both sides, and in front of me, about less than a minute drive away, was the back-door to the condominium where I live in. I think one house was under renovation along that road. Under usual conditions where there is nothing obstructing the flow of traffic on the road, that road is pretty narrow, the breath of it will be just slightly more than the breath of two cars. yes, it gets uncomfortable when you see a car coming in the opposite direction and you sort of have the feeling of just being able to squeeze through with just a little bit of lee-way.

yep, so what happen on that day was that I think a small part of the opposite lane was cordoned off and this construction worker was standing in my path on the road. So I slowed down, but I didn't horn at him. I think I have only used my car horn once and that was on accident. I really don't like horning at others on the road, unless it is necessary to warn a vehicle of possible danger. yep, we should just try to be friendly and accomodating on the roads. The reason I used the word 'try' is because I, sometimes get a little bit irritated when driving. But I feel it's not correct. I mean it's just bad for the soul.

So I was approaching this constriction on the road slowly (because one part of the opposite lane was cordoned off) and this construction worker sort of realised that he was in my way and he moved away to the side to let me pass. And as my vehicle went pass beside him, I looked at him and I smiled. I really smiled and remain in that expression for a couple of seconds (I didn't time.) and you know what? He smiled back at me.

How would you react in such a situation if you were me? Would you start horning at him and ask him to get lost? Maybe add a few vulgarities here and there to spice up the language?

I mean, I am not trying to blow my own trumpet here, but can a smile light up a person's day? Could that be possible? Maybe he was thinking 'what is this guy smiling at me for?' Or maybe he was thinking 'man, he looks funny.' He could be smiling for a number of reasons, which I don't know. But is there a remote possibility that he was reciprocating my smile with a smile? Is it possible that this incident made his day better?

I seriously do not have the answer. But I think as much as possible, I would not want to resist flashing a smile at someone. You'll never know, I might make someone's day a little bit more bearable among all the work, lessons and assignments. Could someone take me as a fool for smiling? hmmm...I don't know, but I guess I am willing to take that risk. It should be worth it. :D

Sunday School....... Summer School!!

ok, this is a short one. I went to sign up for an interview for the summer school programme just now. I went to the counter and went through my schedule to see which time-slot for the interview will be the best for me. It happened that there was this lady nearby the counter when I was there and I asked her (to the best I recall), 'Is this where you sign up for the sunday school?' Then I sort of stopped there for probably a fraction of a second (no, I didn't time it).......and then oh yes! Sorry, summer school! haha...And then I think there was this man sort of giggling behind me. (Is that what you call 'laughing behind my back'? haha...but it's ok for me. This IS funny!) oh man......For those of you who don't know, I attend sunday school in church on sundays and it's a Bible study class. Summer school is basically like an exchange program. 5 weeks in Australia at University of New South Wales. I get to take modules worth of 8 MCs in total in an overseas university. (Now, that's way cool man. 8 MCs in 5 weeks? In overseas university? Actually, I wouldn't mind taking 8 MCs in 5 weeks at a local university, but taking it overseas is a bonus.) yep, it was quite embarassing. I wonder if the lady is a Christian, because she was quite puzzled when I said sunday school instead of summer school. haha.. ANYWAY, I went on with my business and signed up for the interview for the SUMMER School.

zzzzz.....

Sleep! I need sleep. ok, I am not THAT sleepy. oh man, just tired. Haven't been sleeping a lot lately. Late nights and early mornings aren't exactly the ideal sort of sleep I should be having. If I am not wrong, the only time I had a long sleep was during the weekend. And no, I think it was only one night of long sleep.

I tell myself that 'ok, I should sleep early tonight, like 11 pm, 12 midnight.' But eventually, I ended up sleeping at three plus and waking up at eight-thirty something. You know what? I think a huge part of it boils down to discipline.

Why discipline? Because I could have studied much earlier during the day and KO-ed earlier! yeah, I wanted to. But I came back from the combined CG outing recee at early evening and I was sort of tired from the walking and the heat. Didn't want to do anything other than watching tv, doing stuff on the computer.

oh yes, did I tell you guys that I have a molecular genetics CA (Continual Assessment) coming up tomorrow? yeah, that's why I was up until so late. And this test is like sort of the first of my tests since the start of the acedemic year. I really don't know what to expect since this is the first one I am having. And if you read my previous posts, you would know that the lecture was partially incomprehensible.....to me. (ok, I guess the problem lies with me since I have heard that there are people who understood like totally what the lecturer was saying during the lecture.)

So yeah, got to work a bit harder to get good grades man. And I don't even know if I am working hard enough and reading enough. But I just know that I have to do my best and give it my best shot. I hope I will. You know, the tendency to slack and compromise (like 'yeah, I think that's enough.' OR 'I think I am doing great. I have been reading.') and everything.

Yep, I definitely want to do well, but I know that it's really difficult to be the best. In fact, you can't be THE best, you know what I am saying? I am indeed aiming high, like first-class honours? But if I don't get it, I am not going to let that get into me. What can a certificate do when you lose the abundant life? I want the abundant life that Christ came to give me. If you have the calibre to do great things and get extremely high qualifications, go do it. But if you don't have what it takes, and you still want to aim high, you can also go ahead, but at what expense? You see, living a life is more important.

The danger of it is 'losing your life' to the whirlpool of competition. I don't mean losing your life, as in death. But imagine watching your life go by just LIKE THAT. At the end of ten years, you are going to look back and say 'hey, that's what I did. I took over that company, sold that for a huge profit. I clinched that million-dollar deal. I climbed up the corporate ladder far quicker than anyone else I know.' so on and so forth. And you can say 'That can the definition of abundant life to some people!' oh yes, we haven't mentioned that different people have different definitions of 'abundant life'. I guess you can say that one man's meat is another man's poison. Just like many people have many definitions of 'illegal'. What does 'illegal' really mean anyway? Is it determined by the law of a country? That seems to be the case now. But there is a problem. What's illegal in my country, might not be illegal in yours.

Let us not talk about legal stuff and go down to the 'less legalistic and more relaxed' ones. Pre-marital sex? Divorce? I am sure in some countries, it is more or less a taboo kind of a thing. But I am also sure in other countries, it is quite a norm. 'You are pregnant? And you are not married? That's cool. No big deal!' Then what if drugs become so common in the future, that they are legalised? Which mean they can be used as frequently and commonly as smoking cigarettes! Is that still right? You might say 'No way! That's not right!' now, but who knows what will happen?

I hope you see where I am going in this. Subjectivity. Almost everything is subjective nowadays. You believe in yourself? Go ahead! You don't believe that there is a God? As long that is what you believe in, it's fine with me! I can't stop you. Everything goes! Eventually, there won't be any right and wrong. If it arrives to that, people cannot charge you in court for doing wrong because according to you, you think that you are right. Think that I am being ridiculous? Yep, maybe I am pushing a little bit too far. But think about it. Are there certain things that are absolute??

Yes! Abundant life! There is only one definition for abundant life and it is found in Jesus Christ. If work is the source of abundant life, why are there still depression cases, suicide cases, people who are stressed and pressurized by the constant need to perform, to excel, to become outstanding, to rise above the rest? I don't have to read a lot to know that! If work is the source of abundant life, shouldn' t it make us feel happy and fulfilled? oh yes, work DOES make us feel accomplished and satisfied. It CAN have that effect. Don't get me wrong. But don't push it too far, or else it might bite.

I mentioned Jesus Christ and you might ask why. Imagine this: that you made a machine, an instrument probably. You invented this instrument and you have the entire blueprint of the machine. You can tell someone what are its functions and what does it do and how does it work. And let's say someone were to say to you 'I think the function of this instrument is not what you have described to me. I think it is supposed to do other things instead and this is actually how it works.' You will be saying 'hey, wait a minute. I invented this instrument. I made this machine. I have the blueprint and I made it to work in this particular way to achieve a specific purpose. This machine is MADE TO DO WHAT I WANTED IT TO DO.' Can you tell this inventor who invented this machine that this machine is meant to function and do something other than what the inventor intended it to be? No, you can't. If you do that, that machine won't be fulfilling what it was created to do and to be.

Jesus Christ is God and God created us for a purpose. A purpose that He had in mind when He created us and the abundant life is in Jesus Christ. Apart from Him, it is impossible to lead an abundant life - The abundant life that God intended for us to live. This is what Jesus said... "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10b)

Maybe you, out there reading this blog, might feel like you are in this cycle of 'Why am I working? To earn money. Why do you need to earn money? To eat. Why do you need to eat? To continue living and to work somemore.' Maybe you are searching for a purpose in life. Maybe you are searching for an abundant life. Maybe you feel that there has to be something more. Maybe somewhere in your heart, you are searching, thirsting and yearning for something to fill the vacuum in your heart.

'Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.' (John 14:6)

Truth is not subjective. There can only be ONE truth. In John 14:6, Jesus did not say that He will show you the truth and He did not say that He will tell you the truth. Jesus said that He is the truth.

If you want to know more about Jesus Christ and how to have this abundant life that I have spoken about, do feel free to drop me a comment, but please don't abuse it. I appreciate it, thank you.

Maybe I should share more about my own testimony. But I guess that's for future posts. Stay tuned!

Unusual seats....

hello everyone! man!, it has been quite some time since I posted something up here. (ok, it's just been a few days, right?) you know, I have been busy. 'Busy with what?', you might ask. Well, I don't think I have been busy being a busybody. Actually, I have been wanting to put things up here, you know, found some stuff pretty interesting around (not about me) me, but eventually, I end up only doing it now. oh well, now' s better than never, right?

I realised that I have been more conscious about the stuff around me. As in, I try to look for things that I can post onto my blog and I have been snapping away with my camera handphone (not 'snapping' as in getting angry with people), hopefully to add more colour to my blog. And if I see something interesting, I probably will think something like 'hey, I can add that into my blog.' and I start taking pictures.

And check this out...















I caught this photo when I was attending a tutorial and I think it was my first time in that lecture theatre and I saw this! Pretty interesting huh? I mean, it's like coming from a modern cinema with the cushion seats, nice nice (ok, I am just putting forth an analogy.) and then suddenly, 'wow, something's different. Time travel!'

I mean, they look old and definitely not the kind that you will find in schools nowadays, but I really don't mind sitting on them. We still managed to have our tutorial and it was really quite an experience sitting on these kind of seats. I had the feeling that they might give way to my weight. You know, I am not exactly very light and they look like they are made of very thin wood. I don't think most of the lecture theatres have such seats. Definitely an eye-opener for me in my first year of education in this institution.