"If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace."
 ~Ajahn Chah

“Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

 Surrender is the beautiful soft space of acceptance. It is an allowing—allowing life to unfold and to be what it is, irrespective of your agendas, expectations, and judgments.

 Surrender allows us to step into our lives ready to receive, completely able to manifest, and willing to embrace everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly—with an open heart. It’s from this place that real magic happens.

  Taken from tinybuddha

The Tutu Project
 “Oddly enough, her cancer has taught us that life is good, dealing with it can be hard, and sometimes the very best thing—no, the only thing—we can do to face another day is to laugh at ourselves, and share a laugh with others.”

Indonesian copywriter dies after working three days straight.
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I asked her for a piece of advice, and she reached into her mom's purse and pulled out a whiteboard. "She has laryngitis," her mom explained. "No talking for a week."

Humans Of New York

 Great Initiative....

Suspended Coffee

This NYC cop gave the shirt off his back to a homeless man on a cold day. Officer Carlos Ramos saw Robert William shivering and barefoot in the freezing cold weather on Friday morning and gave the man his sweatshirt to warm up! "I saw he was in need and it was my job to help him" says Officer Ramos.

I watched the animation Ratatouille again.
I remembered how much I enjoyed the first time I watched it in 2007, so I gave it a go again.
Wow, there were so many meaningful quotes.

“You must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul.”

 Gusteau: Ah, but that is no match for wishful thinking. If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead. Now go up and look around!"

Django: [showing the exterminator shop to Remy with the dead rats in the window] Take a good long look, Remy. This is what happens when a rat gets a little too comfortable around humans. The world we live in belongs to the enemy. We must live carefully. We look out for our own kind, Remy. When all is said and done, we're all we've got. [he starts to walk away]
Remy: No.
Django: [turning back] What?
Remy: No. Dad, I don't believe it. You're telling me, that the future is - can *only* be - more of *this*?
Django: This is the way things are. You can't change nature.
Remy: Change *is* nature, Dad. The part that *we* can influence. And it starts when we decide. [he turns to leave]
Django: Where are you going?
Remy: With luck, forward.

 Gusteau: [on the TV] How can I describe it? Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you. You need only to be aware to stop and savor it.
(Mindfulness - focusing on the NOW)

LC was telling me that she dreamt of an Indian man massaging her.
I gave her the look. "Woo.. kinky.."
"He was speaking some Indian dialect, I didn't understand him, so I asked if we're connected spiritually."
Again, I gave her a look. "Wow, even when dreaming, you're so deep."

Two Malaysian Indian lecturers walked in.
One was a professor whom both of us are very fond of, Prof.M.
Prof.M, "LC , you should just forget all these fellas and we'll find you a nice Indian man."
I raised my eyebrow.

Prof.M continued, "We'd find you a nice Indian man. You know, the local Chinese and Indians always make a good match, very good combo. Make little Chindians..."
She said a whole lot more, but I can't quite recall as I was too busy holding back my laughter.
Just then, two foreign Indian male lecturers walked out of the lounge.
All of us were embarrassed that we didn't notice them earlier.
Though we didn't said anything offensive, I find this whole episode very entertaining.

"I've put in a lot of years behind prison walls. You get used to things when you're in there. You get comfortable with people telling you what to do, when to get up, when to go to sleep. And when you get out, you don't really know what to do with your freedom. They might not admit it, but most guys who come out are looking for a way back in." Humans of New York

 

Zach Sobiech had written a song called "Clouds" about coming to terms with his imminent death.  5,000 people got together to create a giant choir in the middle of the Mall of America. Then they sang his song, which debuted a year ago. The couple in the middle are his wonderful and supportive and brave parents.
 

"Synthetic happiness is every bit as real and enduring as the kind of happiness you stumble upon when you get exactly what you were aiming for." (Dan Gilbert)

 Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert says our beliefs about what will make us happy are often wrong -- a premise he supports with intriguing research, and explains in his accessible and unexpectedly funny book, Stumbling on Happiness.

 When we got a new brain and tripled in size, we got a new structure with a new part called the prefrontal cortex.
It does lots of things but most importantly it is an experience simulator.
Therefore we can have the experience before we actually experience it.
Lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy.

Impact Bias – the tendency to belief different outcomes are more different impact and duration that people have; to overestimate the hedonic impact of future events.
Happiness can be synthesized.
But we think it is to be found.
 “I am the happiness man alive. I have that in me that an convert poverty to riche, adversity to prosperity, and I am more invulnerable than Achilles; fortune hath not one place to hit me.” ~ Sir Thomas Browne (1642)

Synthetic vs Natural Happiness:
Natural Happiness is when you get what you want.

Synthetic happiness is what we make when we don’t get what we want
We think synthetic happiness is of less of a quality than natural happiness.
But synthetic happiness is as real and enduring as when you get what you want. “The one I got is better than the one I got.”
Happiness is synthesized.
When you don’t have a choice, people find a way to make them happy
. The irreversible condition (when you can’t change your mind) is not conducive to the synthetisis of happiness.
But we opt for the opportunities that will us to change our mind.
“Tis nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.” ~ William Shakespeare Turgid Truth saying ~

Adam Smith from The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759
Somethings are better than others. We should have preferences that lead us to one future over another But when those preferences drive us too hard and too fast, because we have over rated the difference between these futures, we are at risk. When our ambition is bounded, it leads us to work joyfully. When our ambition is unbounded, it leads us to lie, cheat, steal, hurt others and to sacrifice things of real value. When our fears are bounded we are prudent, caucus and thoughtful. But when our fears are unbounded and overblown, we’re reckless and cowardly.

The lesson to leave with us: Our longings and worry are to some degree overblown because we have within us the capacity to manufacturing the very commodity we are constantly chasing when we choose experience.

This Guy Travelled The Country In A Pink Tutu Just To Make His Wife Laugh During Chemo

After Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer, Bob began taking beautiful but totally ridiculous photographs of himself in a pink tutu.
“When Linda would go in for treatment, she would take the images on her phone and the women would look at them and it would make them laugh and make the time pass,”
Bob said. Linda said the other women appreciated that Bob was standing out in order to stand by her.
After so much postive feedback, Bob knew he had to continue making the photographs.
The Tutu Project was born and quickly went viral.

“Oddly enough, her cancer has taught us that life is good, dealing with it can be hard, and sometimes the very best thing—no, the only thing—we can do to face another day is to laugh at ourselves, and share a laugh with others.”

I invited a gym friend for lunch.

Where did I get the courage?

Anyway, I'm glad I did.

I added her on FB too.

We talked about the instructors over Taiwanese food.

Turns out, she was in the same primary school as the famous Malaysian badminton player, Lee Chong Wei.

Nice lady.

I hope that guy whom she had a date with last night will call her soon.

=)

 The best explanation I've ever come across.

My good friend M told me a disturbing news, via FB chat.
A friend of a friend is contemplating suicide.
She asked for counselling contacts.
Then, perhaps it was the two cups of coffee talking, but I typed, "why don't you give him my blog add as well?"
Coffee sober now, I'm asking myself, 'Just how on earth will my blog help him?'
Well, friend of a friend.
If you are reading this,
"Remember, you're not alone in this struggle. And you CAN beat this."

On a different note, I enjoyed yesterday's Yoga very much.
The teacher ( I very much prefer to address them this way) introduced us poses which helps the shoulders and postures- something which I really could use.
I noticed that a member brought along her young daughter.
The little girl helped her mommy in her poses.
Such a cute sight.

I proceeded to Zumba.
As I was dancing, or so I think I'm dancing, I really felt like a little kindergarten girl.
I can't follow the Teacher, but still, I'm trying.
I cared very little how I may look to others, though I was surrounded by many.
This really does bring me back to the Beginner's mind.
I really enjoyed Zumba.

Then, it was Body Combat.
A member had brought a few "Keep Calm and do Body Combat" T-shirts and gave them to the senior regulars there.
They took a photo. I smiled looking at their joviality.
I saw the photo posted on FB today.
Ah... such bliss.