I am touched each time I read of someone doing more than is asked of him/her in times of need. To me, they are the true heroes whom we must stop awhile to appreciate the efforts of these people. And today, in The Star newspaper, I read of such a man, a Yii Yuk Seng, a middle-aged man from Sarikei, Sarawak. He was retired from the Fire and Rescue Department but when he saw a fire at six three-storey shoplots on Saturday, without thinking of his own safety he went to help the firemen put out that fire. In doing so, he lost his life due to a heart attack that must have been brought on by the excitement and strenuous efforts he put in to assist the firemen to put out the fire.
Putting out fires was a job he must have been actively involved in; not just being involved but someone who has had great pride in the tasks for he was known to the local people as 'Bomba Yii'. To earn such a nickname, he must have been well-known for his courage and performance. Although it is sad for the world to lose such a man, God has ensured that he chose the right path to go. The people who knows him would always remember that 'Bomba Yii' went down fighting a fire. And here is one son Sarawak will always be proud of.
Of course there are many in this beautiful world who are like him, possessing the same qualities he has. And it is this fact that make life such a wonderful thing; realising the fact that we live among great people such as this 'Bomba Yii'. May God send us more of his kind.
Showing posts with label Enthusiasm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Enthusiasm. Show all posts
Monday, October 04, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Children look towards their parents for encouragement.
A child would put full enthusiasm into everything of interest. In their enthusiasm, they concentrate on their project without thoughts for their surroundings, their clothes and the condition of their appearance. Thus, it is not surprising to find a child so involved in something that he/she does not bother about time. The child will go on and on with his/her interest.
This is something parents ought to understand to appreciate the cause of their ignoring calls to dinner and so forth which is interference to the child’s present time joy. Understand that the child is putting in one hundred percent interest in his effort. Do not expect him to stop immediately. Go and get his attention slowly and gradually, then tell him/her about his/her next project. Get the child to turn his interest towards another direction.
As the child puts in effort into whatever is being done, clothes are bound to be dirtied, wet and crumpled. Even the hair, face and body may get some nature’s colours and pastes. So, if possible, keep the dirt and bacteria from him/her, not keep him/her away from the contaminants. Meaning that if the child plays in a clean environment; a well-kept room or hall perhaps, then the chances of him or her getting dirtied can be very slim. However, let the child play on sandy, clayey or loamy ground and we can expect more changes of clothes.
Now, the above would warn parents about the things they can expect and so not go into a rage over such matters. Do not grumble or scold about the messiness of his/her efforts. Give him a smile instead and get him or her to bathe more often. Encourage all his/her efforts for, good or bad, clean or dirty, artistic or not, they are all sincere efforts at achievement. Never judge the work done by our adult standards. If we do that, the child does not stand a chance to feel confident to carry on. Remember that children learn through such play. They learn about things around them, the effect of such things on their hands, the feel and texture and, even more important, the appreciation of their work. Without adult appreciation, there can be no encouragement to continue putting in effort. So never ever dampen such efforts.
To understand the importance of this, adults should stop and think of the feelings felt each time someone appreciates their efforts, be it games, fun or work. If you know these feelings, then you understand how vital appreciation is to the development of any child.
So, the next time your child were to scrawl or drawl something on a piece of paper, colour it with crayons or colour pencils, do ensure that you find the time to stop at least for a short moment whatever you are doing to take a look at his/her work, smile lovingly to him or her and show your appreciation of the effort. Be grateful that your child is trying something and learning in the process.
I stress on this because of the numerous times busy parents would shoo away their children with their seemingly unimportant piece of art work or small piece of self-made craft. Of course, you may not be impressed with his work as you are an adult but that is your child’s wholehearted attempt at expression or creativity in a piece of child art. Know that those few minutes of appreciation, now and then, each and every day can bring so much much needed encouragement for your child’s progress in his growth of self-esteem, a self respect which would give him/her the confidence to learn even more and develop positively as he or she transforms from a child to a teenager into an adult with a sense of self worth that would hold him/her in good stead in every sphere of life.
So do stop to appreciate whenever a child approaches with something he/she had made. The fact that this child approaches to show it must mean that he/she have to be looking for some assurance that his/her efforts are worthwhile and his/her learning process can continue with confidence.
This is something parents ought to understand to appreciate the cause of their ignoring calls to dinner and so forth which is interference to the child’s present time joy. Understand that the child is putting in one hundred percent interest in his effort. Do not expect him to stop immediately. Go and get his attention slowly and gradually, then tell him/her about his/her next project. Get the child to turn his interest towards another direction.
As the child puts in effort into whatever is being done, clothes are bound to be dirtied, wet and crumpled. Even the hair, face and body may get some nature’s colours and pastes. So, if possible, keep the dirt and bacteria from him/her, not keep him/her away from the contaminants. Meaning that if the child plays in a clean environment; a well-kept room or hall perhaps, then the chances of him or her getting dirtied can be very slim. However, let the child play on sandy, clayey or loamy ground and we can expect more changes of clothes.
Now, the above would warn parents about the things they can expect and so not go into a rage over such matters. Do not grumble or scold about the messiness of his/her efforts. Give him a smile instead and get him or her to bathe more often. Encourage all his/her efforts for, good or bad, clean or dirty, artistic or not, they are all sincere efforts at achievement. Never judge the work done by our adult standards. If we do that, the child does not stand a chance to feel confident to carry on. Remember that children learn through such play. They learn about things around them, the effect of such things on their hands, the feel and texture and, even more important, the appreciation of their work. Without adult appreciation, there can be no encouragement to continue putting in effort. So never ever dampen such efforts.
To understand the importance of this, adults should stop and think of the feelings felt each time someone appreciates their efforts, be it games, fun or work. If you know these feelings, then you understand how vital appreciation is to the development of any child.
So, the next time your child were to scrawl or drawl something on a piece of paper, colour it with crayons or colour pencils, do ensure that you find the time to stop at least for a short moment whatever you are doing to take a look at his/her work, smile lovingly to him or her and show your appreciation of the effort. Be grateful that your child is trying something and learning in the process.
I stress on this because of the numerous times busy parents would shoo away their children with their seemingly unimportant piece of art work or small piece of self-made craft. Of course, you may not be impressed with his work as you are an adult but that is your child’s wholehearted attempt at expression or creativity in a piece of child art. Know that those few minutes of appreciation, now and then, each and every day can bring so much much needed encouragement for your child’s progress in his growth of self-esteem, a self respect which would give him/her the confidence to learn even more and develop positively as he or she transforms from a child to a teenager into an adult with a sense of self worth that would hold him/her in good stead in every sphere of life.
So do stop to appreciate whenever a child approaches with something he/she had made. The fact that this child approaches to show it must mean that he/she have to be looking for some assurance that his/her efforts are worthwhile and his/her learning process can continue with confidence.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The benefits of a new year.
It is great that we look towards the moon to calculate the number of days in a lunar month and the seasons to get twelve months in a year.
However, why do we have seven days in a week and see the moon twice in a lunar month-on the first and fifteenth day of the month. Since it is a lunar month, why not put that as two months? Then we could have 24 months in a year. Well, I used to wonder a lot about such things.
However, I know the good reasons we have a new year day, be it lunar or Chinese, Muslim or any other kind of calender.
The first day of the new year gives us a new beginning. If the previous year had not been good, we can have another try at it. That is why people think of new resolutions, another chance, another twelve months to achieve what we failed to accomplish in the past year.
Besides that, the knowledge that the new year is just round the corner gives us the impetus to clean up not just the mess in improving ourselves, also the mess in our house. it gives us new vigour to remove all the cobwebs from the ceiling and hidden corners of our rooms. It gives us good reason to clean up the whole house as we know there will be visitors and our house-proud ego demands that our home looks presentable to all those who come.
And that is the reason the eve of the Chinese New Year is the time relatives come a calling or gather at one of the houses to have reunion lunch or dinner. Reunion dinners are important as it is the time of the year when all the close relatives get the opportunity to meet each other and overcome whatever distance that could have occured the last twelve months.
It is also the time for friends to have the chance to gather to exchange news and information about each other. Sometimes, we defer meeting with friends due to our presumably tight schedule. Thus, when the new year holidays come, we feel obligatd to visit, removing all excuses for not doing so. Sometimes, we just need such a reason to be closer with our friends.
Well, is not the celebration of a new year so beneficial to us? To all those celebrating the new year, let's look forward to better things to come.
However, why do we have seven days in a week and see the moon twice in a lunar month-on the first and fifteenth day of the month. Since it is a lunar month, why not put that as two months? Then we could have 24 months in a year. Well, I used to wonder a lot about such things.
However, I know the good reasons we have a new year day, be it lunar or Chinese, Muslim or any other kind of calender.
The first day of the new year gives us a new beginning. If the previous year had not been good, we can have another try at it. That is why people think of new resolutions, another chance, another twelve months to achieve what we failed to accomplish in the past year.
Besides that, the knowledge that the new year is just round the corner gives us the impetus to clean up not just the mess in improving ourselves, also the mess in our house. it gives us new vigour to remove all the cobwebs from the ceiling and hidden corners of our rooms. It gives us good reason to clean up the whole house as we know there will be visitors and our house-proud ego demands that our home looks presentable to all those who come.
And that is the reason the eve of the Chinese New Year is the time relatives come a calling or gather at one of the houses to have reunion lunch or dinner. Reunion dinners are important as it is the time of the year when all the close relatives get the opportunity to meet each other and overcome whatever distance that could have occured the last twelve months.
It is also the time for friends to have the chance to gather to exchange news and information about each other. Sometimes, we defer meeting with friends due to our presumably tight schedule. Thus, when the new year holidays come, we feel obligatd to visit, removing all excuses for not doing so. Sometimes, we just need such a reason to be closer with our friends.
Well, is not the celebration of a new year so beneficial to us? To all those celebrating the new year, let's look forward to better things to come.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Bruce Jenner: A great example of achieving the full potential of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.
Bruce Jenner was born with part of his intelligence awry because of dyslexia. He had to struggle to be able to read. He was terrified of being called upon to read in front of the class.
Children with dyslexia have problems reading, spelling and expressing themselves. As a result of this disability, he dreaded going to school where he felt that every other child was better than him. His self-esteem was at an all-time low then.
Fortunately, every child has almost all, if not all, the intelligences necessary for life. Although his verbal-linguistic intelligence was affected by dyslexia, his prominant innate bodily-kinesthetic intelligence inherited from his athletic parent's genes took him to success in the field. His father,William Jenner, had won a silver medal in the 100-yards race in the U.S. Army Olympics in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945. Jenner's grandfather had run in the Boston Marathon several times. As he wrote in his book, "By the time I turned two, I'd already developed a big chest, wide shoulders and boundless energy, prompting my dad to nickname me Bruiser."
Let us see how he used this prominant innate intelligence to overcome his verbal-linguistic weakness.
Fortunately, little Jenner discovered something he was good at. His teacher wanted to see who could run the fastest and it turned out to be Jenner. He enjoyed the positive response then. As he excelled in sports, he worked at it to achieve his wonderful decathion success in the 1976 Olympics.
As he became aware of his ability in ahtletics, he realised that that was his strength, the strength with which he could overcome obstacles that dyslexia had placed in his path. One of the first and most important obstacle he had to remove was his inferiority complex developed from knowing that students with good verbal-linguistic intelligence could read and write well to achieve better grades than him.
His athletic ability was encouraged by his parents and coaches. His football coach's praise for his fantastic talent on the field gave him the confidence to strive to be the very best. As a result of focusing on his most prominent intelligence, Jenner was on the football, basketball and track teams at high school in Newtown, Connecticut. He won the water-skiing championship three times in the Eastern States Competition and was the New York pole-vault and high-jump champion. His wide athletic talent took him to become one of the greatest athlete in the world.
In Graceland College, through a football scholarship, he almost reached an insurmountable obstacle when he injured his knee and did not have the chance at football. Fortunately, 16 months later, he could play basketball and train on the tracks. Then, in 1970, he not only won his first decathion but broke the records. Decathion can only be won by athletes with all-round talent in sports as it covers ten different track and field events lasting two days. It covers running, jumping and throwing events requiring strength, skill, speed and endurance.
Since then, he trained for the decathion. He made it in the trials to be chosen to represent the United States in the 1972 Olympics and in Munich, Germany, he came in at tenth place. Though he was placed tenth, it was a terrific feeling to be chosen for the Olympics so quickly, merely two years after his first decathion in college.
Supported by his first wife, Chrystie Jenner, he often trained eight hours a day to aim for another chance at the Olympics. For winning the Amateur Athletic Union decathion in 1974 and 1976 as well as the Pan-American Games in 1975, he was chosen for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal where he won a gold medal, smashing his own world records. After this he stopped aiming for more athletic victories, having proved to himself that he was not inferior to any other, merely having different intelligence. As we can see, he not only became aware of his weakness, he had the determination to overcome it and worked very hard to do so. He is one great example to any human being with or without a disability.
Not only that! In going into his life, we learn how this great athlete, not only took his innate Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence to its highest potential in the decathion but came through speaking and writing aspiring messages to everyone which shows that he even worked on his weakness with success. This is possible as researchers have discovered that most of us exploited only about TEN PERCENT! of our brain. If we find a way to stimulate twenty or thirty percent of our brain power, imagine how much more can we possibly achieve. Wow! It would be just fantastic!
Getting back to Bruce Jenner, his good looks and modest demeanor helped him to become a national symbol and celebrity. With his celebrity status, he easily found fame in some film appearances. He was also a sports commentator. (That despite his problem with verbal-linguistic intelligence!)With an enthusiasm for success and life, he tried a number of entreprenuerial projects, the last rejuvenated by his third wife, Kris Kardashian who became the driving force behind a family business that covered a wide range of commercials. He also made appearances on television, sometimes with members of his family. He wrote books to inspire children. Success in life and business made a millionaire out of him.
Perhaps, we should see how this man could bounce back from obstacles. At one stage of his life of fame, he found that he still was burdened with the nervous dyslexia schoolboy mindset and his private life was in tatters. Everything was in a mess and his main source of income was from public speaking jobs. After working so hard, with two divorces, he found he had nothing much to show for it. Fortunately for him, his third wife came into his life to save him from his problem. Here, perhaps, we can say there is an element of luck. Or, could it be that, as I have often written, when one door closes, another opens.
Children with dyslexia have problems reading, spelling and expressing themselves. As a result of this disability, he dreaded going to school where he felt that every other child was better than him. His self-esteem was at an all-time low then.
Fortunately, every child has almost all, if not all, the intelligences necessary for life. Although his verbal-linguistic intelligence was affected by dyslexia, his prominant innate bodily-kinesthetic intelligence inherited from his athletic parent's genes took him to success in the field. His father,William Jenner, had won a silver medal in the 100-yards race in the U.S. Army Olympics in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945. Jenner's grandfather had run in the Boston Marathon several times. As he wrote in his book, "By the time I turned two, I'd already developed a big chest, wide shoulders and boundless energy, prompting my dad to nickname me Bruiser."
Let us see how he used this prominant innate intelligence to overcome his verbal-linguistic weakness.
Fortunately, little Jenner discovered something he was good at. His teacher wanted to see who could run the fastest and it turned out to be Jenner. He enjoyed the positive response then. As he excelled in sports, he worked at it to achieve his wonderful decathion success in the 1976 Olympics.
As he became aware of his ability in ahtletics, he realised that that was his strength, the strength with which he could overcome obstacles that dyslexia had placed in his path. One of the first and most important obstacle he had to remove was his inferiority complex developed from knowing that students with good verbal-linguistic intelligence could read and write well to achieve better grades than him.
His athletic ability was encouraged by his parents and coaches. His football coach's praise for his fantastic talent on the field gave him the confidence to strive to be the very best. As a result of focusing on his most prominent intelligence, Jenner was on the football, basketball and track teams at high school in Newtown, Connecticut. He won the water-skiing championship three times in the Eastern States Competition and was the New York pole-vault and high-jump champion. His wide athletic talent took him to become one of the greatest athlete in the world.
In Graceland College, through a football scholarship, he almost reached an insurmountable obstacle when he injured his knee and did not have the chance at football. Fortunately, 16 months later, he could play basketball and train on the tracks. Then, in 1970, he not only won his first decathion but broke the records. Decathion can only be won by athletes with all-round talent in sports as it covers ten different track and field events lasting two days. It covers running, jumping and throwing events requiring strength, skill, speed and endurance.
Since then, he trained for the decathion. He made it in the trials to be chosen to represent the United States in the 1972 Olympics and in Munich, Germany, he came in at tenth place. Though he was placed tenth, it was a terrific feeling to be chosen for the Olympics so quickly, merely two years after his first decathion in college.
Supported by his first wife, Chrystie Jenner, he often trained eight hours a day to aim for another chance at the Olympics. For winning the Amateur Athletic Union decathion in 1974 and 1976 as well as the Pan-American Games in 1975, he was chosen for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal where he won a gold medal, smashing his own world records. After this he stopped aiming for more athletic victories, having proved to himself that he was not inferior to any other, merely having different intelligence. As we can see, he not only became aware of his weakness, he had the determination to overcome it and worked very hard to do so. He is one great example to any human being with or without a disability.
Not only that! In going into his life, we learn how this great athlete, not only took his innate Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence to its highest potential in the decathion but came through speaking and writing aspiring messages to everyone which shows that he even worked on his weakness with success. This is possible as researchers have discovered that most of us exploited only about TEN PERCENT! of our brain. If we find a way to stimulate twenty or thirty percent of our brain power, imagine how much more can we possibly achieve. Wow! It would be just fantastic!
Getting back to Bruce Jenner, his good looks and modest demeanor helped him to become a national symbol and celebrity. With his celebrity status, he easily found fame in some film appearances. He was also a sports commentator. (That despite his problem with verbal-linguistic intelligence!)With an enthusiasm for success and life, he tried a number of entreprenuerial projects, the last rejuvenated by his third wife, Kris Kardashian who became the driving force behind a family business that covered a wide range of commercials. He also made appearances on television, sometimes with members of his family. He wrote books to inspire children. Success in life and business made a millionaire out of him.
Perhaps, we should see how this man could bounce back from obstacles. At one stage of his life of fame, he found that he still was burdened with the nervous dyslexia schoolboy mindset and his private life was in tatters. Everything was in a mess and his main source of income was from public speaking jobs. After working so hard, with two divorces, he found he had nothing much to show for it. Fortunately for him, his third wife came into his life to save him from his problem. Here, perhaps, we can say there is an element of luck. Or, could it be that, as I have often written, when one door closes, another opens.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Enthusiasm, responsibility and effort did the job.
You would think it difficult to find people to do work in which there can be no hope of a pay or reward. However, strange as it may seem, that was what the deputy chairman of our Sungai Petani Art of Living did. She found sufficient volunteers who were willing to sacrifice their time and other personal benefits to come forward to do the job.
Here is an enthusiastic lady who does things with all the vigour she could gather together from her diminutive figure, very short, slim, little girl-like body. But, in terms of energy, she is a giant, ever so exuberant and joyful.
It all started with a phone call from her just as I was having my lunch. In her laughing, joyful voice, she enquired about my whereabouts and my programme for the day. Having confirmed that I was available, she requested for help so sweetly that I immediately replied in the affirmative.
When I reached the Art of Living Centre, we continued our task of cleaning the centre, and redecorating it. For my part, I painted one part of a wall and painted happily dancing plants swaying upwards along another wall. Then, there was the seemingly impossible job of removing cob-webs from the very high ceiling, some thirty feet above the stairs. Fortunately, there were sufficient long poles to assist in accomplishing the task.
In just two days, we had done the job of painting and redecorating our centre with just a handful of volunteers. And it all began with the enthusiasm of just one tiny little lady with enthusiasm and a lively personality.
Once enthusiasm got us to the place to start work it was each person's desire to do whatever he/she could to improve his/her own centre. Yes, the centre was our responsibility. It was the responsibility to have the job well done.
Finally, it is our capable effort to ensure that our centre would be the most attractive centre possible that got us to put in our best and complete the job well. Satisfaction was our reward. Looking at what we had done, a sense of achievement permeated throughout the body and that brought us immeasurable joy and happiness.
Here is an enthusiastic lady who does things with all the vigour she could gather together from her diminutive figure, very short, slim, little girl-like body. But, in terms of energy, she is a giant, ever so exuberant and joyful.
It all started with a phone call from her just as I was having my lunch. In her laughing, joyful voice, she enquired about my whereabouts and my programme for the day. Having confirmed that I was available, she requested for help so sweetly that I immediately replied in the affirmative.
When I reached the Art of Living Centre, we continued our task of cleaning the centre, and redecorating it. For my part, I painted one part of a wall and painted happily dancing plants swaying upwards along another wall. Then, there was the seemingly impossible job of removing cob-webs from the very high ceiling, some thirty feet above the stairs. Fortunately, there were sufficient long poles to assist in accomplishing the task.
In just two days, we had done the job of painting and redecorating our centre with just a handful of volunteers. And it all began with the enthusiasm of just one tiny little lady with enthusiasm and a lively personality.
Once enthusiasm got us to the place to start work it was each person's desire to do whatever he/she could to improve his/her own centre. Yes, the centre was our responsibility. It was the responsibility to have the job well done.
Finally, it is our capable effort to ensure that our centre would be the most attractive centre possible that got us to put in our best and complete the job well. Satisfaction was our reward. Looking at what we had done, a sense of achievement permeated throughout the body and that brought us immeasurable joy and happiness.
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