Which Are You?

One of my favourite poems. Heard it when it was read by a Director in McKinsey & Co. and immediately fell in love with it.

WHICH ARE YOU?

THERE are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.

Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.

No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.

Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.

And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor, and worry and care?

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox~


Dedicated to all those who are my lifters.....You have all been truly great friends and my rarest of jewels.

Mirage

MIRAGE

The hope I dreamed of was a dream,
Was but a dream; and now I wake
Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old,
For a dream's sake.

I hang my harp upon a tree,
A weeping willow in a lake;
I hang my silenced harp there, wrung and snapt
For a dream's sake.

Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart;
My silent heart, lie still and break:
Life, and the world, and mine own self, are changed
For a dream's sake.

~Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)~


Happy Chinese New Year to everyone and Happy Valentine's day (belated)!

The C-word~!!!!

The C-word!

Ouch, don't mention it again! Taboo?

No...just a word I associate with broken dreams..

Today, I bumped into a friend on the train whom I have not met for months. Well, we were happy to meet each other again(since I have only met him once when a friend took me out to meet his university friends) and the conversation on the train went well until that C-word reared its head out once awhile from my friend's lips....issshhhhh!!!

One girl friend of mine and I never really liked that word, mainly because we get so sick of hearing it. And for me, I tend to associate it with my broken dreams.Hence, it becomes a word I so adamantly don't want to hear.

I first heard of the C-word when I was 3. My mom used to tell me how difficult it was to get an English cert during her time from C******** and how getting in to C******** was difficult and how it was exclusive only to the very intelligent and bright people. That day, I told myself I would work hard and ensure that I will get in to C********* (Ah, a little girl's naive dream). As I grew older, C*********'s dream seemed to wither away as I learned that a lot of financial support was needed in order to get in to C*********. So no C******** for me nor any other foreign universities. There goes one broken dream.....

Another broken dream is when I didn't make it to my dream company, which has a lot of C-word people in it. And another broken dream is when...err...well, that one I'll keep for private space conversations. Hehehe....

p/s: To those who have built your dreams around C******** and then for one reason or another, they didn't materialize, take heart! There are still many dreams waiting to be fulfilled.

To the friend whom I bumped into today on the train, it was great seeing you again and I definitely enjoy the conversation we had. I do admire your university a lot, as much as I admire the people who have graduated from there. You are all truly remarkable in your own ways. Hope we'll meet again for yam cha.

Wedding Bells!

Wedding bells?

Mine?

Not yet.


Just over the weekend, I was attending Ken and Shireen's wedding in Penang. A red and passionate beach wedding. The couple entertained their guests with a splendid performance of what I would call a unique and sizzling hot dance, depicting their courtship. The climax of the day came when the couple exchanged their vows and the setting sun shone on them as they presented each other with a ring that would seal their marriage for life. (Ahh...how lovely!!!)

Ken's love story has encouraged me to trust God even more when it comes to marriage. Seeing how God has written so many interesting and great love stories for the couples in my church and observing how happy they are right now in serving God faithfully as husband and wife, it definitely gave me a fresh new perspective about the God who is the author of our lives. I believe God has carefully designed every detail in our lives, including who we meet, when we meet them, how we meet them, what events - successes, failures, death, the magnitude of each impact, everything! They are all carefully crafted by God with love. If only we can place that complete trust in Him and let go....He will lead us to the best He wants us to have.

As I watched Ken and Shireen gazed at each other's eyes, and was recalling the story Ken shared, I can't help thinking about the song Sarah introduced to me and promised to sing on my wedding day - When God made you.

It has always been a mystery to me
How two hearts can come together
And love can last forever
And now that I have found you, I believe
That a miracle has come
When God sends the perfect one
Now gone are all my questions about why
And I've never been so sure of anything in my life....

I wonder what God was thinking
When He created you
I wonder if He knew everything I would need
Because He made all my dreams come true
When God made you, He must have been thinking about me...



When God made me, He must have been thinking about you....
Wouldn't you like to have the God of love and the God who created love writes you a love story?

Sam, Me, Ken, Shireen and Sarah

With the bride

The red, chilly hot people