Do not rush to grow up...

Do not rush to grow up - you only walk by each stage of life once. Cherish each stage in time and enjoy it for what it is. You'd never walk by the same way again, so take a deep breath and appreciate where you are in life.

Take a critical look at yourself now. Many of us wish that we can move forward in time - be it towards the time when our children grow up and do not need our incessant attention, or towards the time where we can comfortably retire and do what we always wanted to do. Some wish that we can move backwards in time when life was much more simple and we did not have so much responsibilities on our shoulders, or we hope to go back to times when we were much fitter and younger (late nights were easy, and we can eat without fear of piling on weight).


"Do or do not... there is no try"

Not many of us can appreciate the time in which we live. As the Jedi master Yoda says, "All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. What he was doing." We always postpone happiness to the future, and recall regrets of the past. What we should do is to seize the day and make the best of today!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an entry about the Sunscreen Song by Baz Luhrmann. One of the lines in the lyrics go, "Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked…."

That's right... we all looked back at photos of the past and see how alive we were in our youth, before all these responsibilities were heaped upon us. Sure we looked dorky in the old photos, but hey... the glow of youth made everything seem possible! Those were carefree times, and we wanted to conquer the world. Who cares if we didn't look our best in those photos? Youth does not need any make-up or branded material to look good... youth itself is priceless.

So what happened to us in-between then and now? Work... stress... responsibilities... the demands of adulthood and working life took its toll on us. Our aspirations and energy were sapped away by the relentless demands of work and life, and time passed us by in an instant. We stopped appreciating life and the things around us, content to be able to grasp a moment of respite from work and life. Our personal time became a precious commodity, and we hated people and situations that wrestled the precious few hours from us. Anything that required our additional attention, such as cars or refrigerators breaking down, or family members falling sick ... such issues become irritating because they interfered with our personal time. We want time to pass by quickly to a stage in life where we are no longer irritated by the lack of time to handle such matters, or where such matters ceased to be an issue.

Herein lies the problem - it is escapism at best, and escapism is never a good thing. By always looking forward to the future, we miss the moments that defines our stages in life (yes... the stages that we only walked by once). I know of people who can't wait to get past a stage in life, only to find that the next stage carries its own set of problems. Perhaps that is that why girls always want to remain 21. At 14, they can't wait to grow up to have the freedom to go out without curfew and buy whatever they want. At 36 they wished they were back at carefree 21 again with that terrific figure and flawless complexion.

We face different opportunities and problems at various stages in life, and it is up to us to see the bright side of life at each point in our life's trajectory. If you are married and you can't wait till your kids grow up and stop bugging you incessantly with their questions, you'd regret sixteen years down the road when you wish they'd even speak to you about their lives and friends. If you are single, enjoy your personal time. If you are attached or married, enjoy your partner's company. Enjoy where you are now, and behave like your age. Don't be in a rush to grow up.





Here're pictures of my car - a MINI Cooper S Cabrio Sidewalk edition. I love it - and I love many other cars as well. I love the new Mercedes Benz C-Class, but I picked the MINI over the C200. Why? Because I know I only live life once, and at this stage in life when I'm single and I've no family commitment, I can buy the MINI without guilt and enjoy the wind in my hair (while I still have a crowning glory). The Mercedes can wait - it's a typical saloon car that you can fit a child seat so you can buy it when you have a family. The MINI on the other hand... is a gorgeous car that fits nicely into only a short time in your life. (No... MINI does not pay me for this triade)

While you are fit and nimble, go forth and seek adventure. Travel to places you always wanted to see. You will never remain so dexterous - the next time you spot an any elderly persons with walking difficulty, remember that they were once as frisky as you are. And that you will one day have as much mobility issues as they have now. Until that day comes, run like the wind and never look back or look forward.

So live your life without regrets - one stage at a time...

If you've not watched the movie "Click" by Adam Sandler... go watch it. I can't explain the concept more vividly than the movie.

The best advice ever - wear sunscreen

We often get emails with articles or stories of inspiration, which leaves us with good feelings in life - for all of five minutes, until we receive a nasty email from someone else and it's back to office politics again. However, sometimes we do come across gems of wisdom that may prove to be life-changing (so something along that line).

When I first heard about this song "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen", I was immediately struck by the lyrics and the obvious truths it held. It didn't change my life, but it did change my perception of life. In just a few paragraphs, the lyrics captured very much the essence of what it means to live a fruitful life, especially for those of us who have experienced enough in life to understand the lyrics, and probably have enough years left in us to benefit from understanding the lyrics.

Contrary to what many people believed, this song did not originate as a graduation class speech. It was originally written by a journalist Mary Schmich in 1997 for the Chicago Tribune, and subsequently turned into a song by director Buz Luhrmann. The "Sunscreen Song" became extremely popular, and for those of you who've not heard it, do pay particular attention to the lyrics.

P.S: The MTV looks really dated because it is!





We often get emails with articles or stories of inspiration, which leaves us with good feelings in life - for all of five minutes, until we receive a nasty email from someone else and it's back to office politics again. However, sometimes we do come across gems of wisdom that may prove to be life-changing (so something along that line).

When I first heard about this song "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen", I was immediately struck by the lyrics and the obvious truths it held. It didn't change my life, but it did change my perception of life. In just a few paragraphs, the lyrics captured very much the essence of what it means to live a fruitful life, especially for those of us who have experienced enough in life to understand the lyrics, and probably have enough years left in us to benefit from understanding the lyrics.

Contrary to what many people believed, this song did not originate as a graduation class speech. It was originally written by a journalist Mary Schmich in 1997 for the Chicago Tribune, and subsequently turned into a song by director Buz Luhrmann. The "Sunscreen Song" became extremely popular, and for those of you who've not heard it, do pay particular attention to the lyrics.

P.S: The MTV looks really dated because it is!



Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be 
it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by 
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable 
than my own meandering 
experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not 
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. 
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and 
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before 
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you 
imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as 
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing 
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that 
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm 
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with 
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes 
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with 
yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you 
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your 
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they 
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year 
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe 
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky 
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t 
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your 
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, 
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people 
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever 
own..

Dance… even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for 
good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the 
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you 
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and 
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you 
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live 
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will 
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize 
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were 
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, 
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one 
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will 
look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who 
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of 
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the 
ugly parts and recycling it for more than 
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…