Saturday, August 18, 2007

The Pursuit of "Happyness"



I want to share this very touching and inspiring true to life story of Chris Gardner who survived a great life's storm and how he was able to get to the top...... " The Pursuit of Happiness ". If you have the chance I highly recommend this film and get inspired from an ordinary man with an extraordinary heart.

The pursuit of happiness is not the simplest task we have in this world. You have to know and identify what makes you happy and gain that fulfilment. Everybody has a unique form of happiness. For me happiness is having peace and harmony with your loved ones and the people around you. When I see laughter and a smile from my family it makes me feel that life is not that bad at all and that life is worth living.

The state of being happy is a result of an achievement or a simple good deed that you have just done.It takes a lot of patience and hard work sometimes for anyone to achieve it. I actually never thought then when I was younger that the pursuit of happiness can be so complicated that anybody who is weaker in faith can just give up so easily and may never experience the Ecstasy.

In the movie , Chris Gardner identified an obstacle to the family's happiness. In his case due to his unfinished education, life has been hard in his quest to support his family. His wife began to feel insecure when things are getting tight.Sometimes this have to happen so you will find out who is really with you all the way. And it happened , his wife lost hope in him. She actually think he cannot change things as they are then when everything went so wrong in their life. Will Smith unwilling to give up , he made sure that he will be with his son as he struggle to survive.

There was a line that struck my mind in the movie. Chris said to his son :
" Don't ever let anyone tells you that you cannot do anything ... not even me ".

Being a father to a son , we tend to be assuming due to our own capacity that our young child will have a hard time if not fail to do something greater than our thoughts. Little that we know that we have brought into this world God in His image and likeness. In short, our child can transform into a better person even greater than us parents due to his inherit godliness from God.

My son was playing one day in our room. I was with him watching him play. He was just one year old then. The ball he was playing with bounced towards the bed below.He has just learned to walk then. I was worried he will fall down as he tries to grab the ball below. But he hanged on to the bed frames with his little hands as he grabs the ball without falling and he did it. As a parent we tend to worry for our child believing they have not learned that much to go on. In the movie, Chris Gardner demonstrated his respect to that fact that anyone under God's hands can be a winner.

With his mind set to win , Chris would only need a moral boost from his child. He promised to his child that he is going to look for a better job and he needs his trust. The go signal was given..." Yes Dad I trust you ". As he struggled to climb a high mountain to reach his goal Chris succeeded remarkably inspite the odds. You will be surprised how he end up on top after all the humiliating experiences he had. I can imagine myself the pain  he have gone through. But like a pregnant woman giving birth to a child, the birth pains becomes meaningless after seeing the child alive and well. That's what Chrid Gardner felt that special day of victory. He was almost without a word but tears was shown in his eyes with gladness.

So as we see life is difficult as it is but the winner always get to finish the game till the end of the line.In the movie the word Happyness was misspelled on the wall with "y" or why but it should be "i" or I...because the message tells us it is I or ourselves who can make it happiness.

If We Hold on Together



I want to share this old song of Diana Ross. Im sure you have heard it before. It was in Singapore when I first heard the song with awareness of its lyrics and content.

I attended a product presentation and at the end of the seminar the exhibitor shared this message song to all the participant. It was all about a business oppurtunity seminar and a prospect additional source of income. I have observed then that most of us who attended have this simple dream , to earn a little bit more to make ends meet for the family. And the key to its success is to work together as a team.

I hope this song will give you hope and inspiration like we did in that seminar. It adds sense in our lives and sooner or later you will find out that life is worth living for.


"If We Hold on Together"
By Diana Ross


Don’t lose your way
With each passing day
You’ve come so far
Don’t throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope & glory
Hold to the truth in your heart

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and i

Souls in the wind
Must learn how to bend
Seek out a star
Hold on to the end
Valley, mountain
There is a fountain
Washes our tears all away
Words are swaying
Somebody is praying
Please let us come home to stay

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and i

When we are out there in the dark
We’ll dream about the sun
In the dark we’ll feel the light
Warm our hearts, everyone

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
As high as souls can fly
The clouds roll by
For you and i





Saturday, August 4, 2007

Rainbow in our Soul


Whenever I see a rainbow in the sky it reminds me of God's promise to man. That never again will He destroy the world like it was.
Did you ever wonder what a rainbow was made of? ...It is made of light. In fact, it is made of seven colors of light. It only occurs when it rains. The light of the sun shines through the rain, causing the light to bend (or refract) and reflect off the rain. The rain acts like a prism, splitting the white light into the colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (deep blue), and violet (purple).They always stay in the same order, because the frequency is from low to high. It always forms an arch. It is very orderly and dependable as it shows consistency for everybody to see after every rain.
But before we see the rainbow it has to rain first......
The world experience variable storms and weather disturbances every year. The thought of an imminent storm can cause fear to many as extreme cases put many people homeless if not half of their house are submerged in water. In some cases may even take many lives to those who were caught unprepared.
Like the physical storm we encounter , Life too has its storms. Life's storms are not different from the physical storms. The first encounter makes a man's faith shaken like the strong winds that cause our windows and doors to tremble. Those who are weak tends to surrender and lose hope like a strong typhoon putting a house down leaving it completely wrecked and un repairable.
Life's storms are as devastating to man's life just like all the physical storms we know. But is there a way to survive?
When I first read St. Mark's gospel about " Jesus Calms the Storm " I was a child then. My faith in God began to grow as the event automatically makes Him my super hero. I can imagine the apostles' reaction as they witness deliverance from an imminent death. Then Jesus said : " Why are you afraid ? How is it that you have no faith? " Most of us fall in this kind of situation. We knew that He is in our boat and yet we tremble in fear and unbelieving.
In my personal experience of life's storms , I have to confess that most of the time I tremble in fear. Completely lost I often shed tears as my emotions takes me to the edge as it devastated my soul. Maybe because I have seen many failures along the way, my mind tells me that I am a certified loser. Sometimes I feel like a helpless child longing to be rescued by my Mom and Dad. They dont know how weak I could be that I wish I were at home with them. As I drop my sword in battle , tears flow unwillingly as I kept quiet in my room. It seems the rainbow is still far ahead to see.
There is a quote that answers the question in my mind. It says : " The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears. " ~ John Vance Cheney
I began to understand that tears are as important to our growth as the rain is to a flower. They help release the pressure of sadness so we can feel better.
After our tears, our inner sunshines, and rainbows are formed from our pain.
Yes ...it did came. Like the rainbow seen after the rain , I began to see a new beginning. A new hope and a life to start again. I told my daughter we will be together again. I told my wife we will start a new life. And I whisper to my young son that he will get to see the rainbow.

......A rainbow as beautiful as God's promise to us.