LOVE

1Corinthians 13:4-8

Felt a sense of peace as I read the Word this morning.. and as I reflect on how time passes so fast, it's already one week since I am back from Bali.. Whew! I tell myself before I leave this earth, what matters most is what I do while I am alive. I trust you have a plan for me Lord, so let me live out your plan for me.. Thank you Lord for everything...

Was filled with gratitude for my dear2 this morning.. after a good discussion during the pre-marital counselling yesterday.. To memorise these 4 verses of the bible... And I make a commitment to live by it..

Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

So it matters. At the end of the day, it's the relationship that matters most.. amen

Checking Email

This is funny... My dear2 will love this... haha:P

Sales Conference 2006

Home of the United Nations for this week: There are Americans, Italians, Austrians, Britons, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indonesians, Thais, Filipinos, Singaporeans, etc all here to attend the sales conference.. Whew what a crowd.. like a playground.. !

Kuta, Bali Indonesia

This is the place where the 2005 bombing took place.. locals say very quiet now used to be very crowded.. well, gave a short prayer for those who perished.. But anyway dont know how to buy there, all the shops look so common in Singapore and prices not say very cheap..:P

Nusa Dua, Bali Indonesia

Here in Sheraton Laguna.. a nice resort in Bali.. cool place..

Reframing - The Switching of Perspective

This is one cool article by Bo Bennett on using positive words...

Being a dad, I have taught my kids many things since their birth, and they have taught me a great many things as well. When my two-year-old son would play with his toys, I found myself saying proactively, and in a warning tone, "Don't throw your toys," only to realize that I just put an idea in his little head that was most likely not there seconds ago.Sure enough, seconds later, toys would be flying across the room. I now say, "Play nicely with your toys please," and get much better results.

This same concept is a well-known phenomenon of human behavior thatapplies to people of all ages. Phrasing requests by using words suchas, "don't", "not", "stop", "refrain from", and other negative words or phrases require that the request be processed by the conscious mind. Therefore, if we make a request using a word or phrase in the negative, and the person to whom we make the request is not actively listening, or incapable of understanding the complete request, the request is passed directly to the person's subconscious mind without the negative term. So for example, saying, "Don't stick the pencil up your nose!" to a daydreaming student enforces this action by entering his subconscious as"stick the pencil up your nose". Even if the request does pass through the conscious mind, it still enters the subconscious without the negative word or phrase. This is because the subconscious stores images and feelings, not words. The word "not" or "don't" cannot be visualized and therefore is omitted.

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Which brings to my mind the subject of reframing which I learned in NLP course... Switch a negative subject into a positive one through the use of words... It's all a matter of perspective.. cos most people see the negative side of things, yet if i can get them to see the positive side of a situation, wont that be benefical to them? They will complain less and i get peace of mind.. hehehe:P

This morning, my training manager made a remark that he is overloaded with so much work preparing for the company sales conference, and said something like "all those things that people don't do one they throw at me"... Well, I just say that it only means he is good and capable of doing these tasks and that's why he is given the role of managing a big sales conference event.. on hearing this, his face lit up and said to me, "yah ha.. that's a good way of saying it, u sure know how to talk haha"

That's the power of reframing! Cool eh.. gotta practice more...!

How to have fun...

First you smile and act cute…

Then you look into the camera with your sweetheart…

Then pose and say “mi mi..” hehehehe:P

If all else fails, put on a hat…

Using Humor Effectively

I am thinking.. how to have a good sense of humour amid all the stresses and pressures of life? Watch more Stephen Chow movies? Act stupid? haha..:P After much google-ing and wiki-ing, came across this article "Using Humor Effectively" by Bo-Bennett.

This is most interesting -> People have different senses of humor; that is why not all people find all the same comedians funny. This is also why some people (such as myself) just about lose control of bodily functions when watching movies like The Naked Gun, while others just roll their eyes. Despite these differences, humor is recognised and the effects of humor remain.

Here are some different kinds of humor that you can use. You may find that you are better at delivering some kinds of humor than others. If you have a natural talent at one kind of humor, work on developing it. You may find a good backup career. (chuckle chuckle.. hehehe:P)

Then there's this list of humor -> the joke, the funny story, the impersonation, physical comedy, what ifs... and my favourite: Slapstick Comedy! hehehe... Example of slapstick = Leslie Nielsen acting as detective Frank in the Naked Gun, when he was searching for clues in an office, open a drawer and shouts 'Bingo' then pulls out a Bingo game card. Slapstick is also known as excessive silliness, but I admire slapstick for its inherent genius..

Which reminds me.. maybe it's time to chill out and watch the Pink Panther and laugh myself silly.. hahaha..:P I think my dear will appreciate cos she is just as comical as me, right dear? And she loves Stephen Chow movies.. now that's something common between us, maybe that's why I love her so much.. haha! We laugh ourselves silly over little things. If she is reading it, she's properly laughing her head off now.. (dunno how to explain.. but it's just so funny imagining it hehehehe..:P)

Does God Always Answer Prayers?

There's this question raised during Alpha last week, "Why sometimes my prayers are not answered?".. and I remembered cos it's quite disturbing to me at that time. But today's reading in Questions of Life, by Nicky Gumbel gave me the answers.. Praise God for His word!

Sometimes prayers are not answered because what we are requesting is not good for us. God only promises to give us 'good gifts' (Matt 7:11). He loves us and knows what is best for us. Good parents do not always give their children what they ask for. If a five-year-old wants to play with a carving knife, hopefully a good parent will say 'no'! God will answer 'no' if the things we ask for are 'either not good in themselves, or not good for us or for others, directly or indirectly, immediately or ultimately'. The answer to our prayer will either be a 'yes', 'no' or sometimes 'wait', and for this we should be extremely grateful. --- cool

Fun with Victory Sign

Eh.. world peace??

The Power of Focus

Interesting article by Rev. Kong Hee.. What I learn from here:

Focus can bring energy and power to whatever I do. The future of my business and career will depend on the focus I put into it.

I will not experience success in life if I focus on anything else than the source of Life - Jesus Christ

That which focuses on what 'God wants' and not what 'I want' establishes His purpose on which I must focus in order to know success in life.

To establish His purpose as my focus, I must:

Build on my strength and my distinctive: What are my natural talents, gifts and abilities? What is my uniqueness? What can I do effortlessly without alot of studying, training or preparation?

This strikes me the most: What is that thing that most people find hard to do but to me, it is very easy? And when I do it, I get fantastic results? That is my God-given talent: my special gift from God.

What has God shown me about my life assignment? What am I supposed to do for the Lord in this life? Lord, show me the way.. and I pray for your grace to stay faithful to it.

Lord, I know when I do things I have a natural talent for and I am gifted in, I will stay excited, passionate and energetic. Even if it's hard work, it will be like 'play' to me. All successful people discover their strength and distinctive, and spend their entire life practicing those skills, honing them and becoming excellent.

Lord, I commit all these questions to You. I pray for your guidance to show me how to do good using your gift to me and to serve your purpose. This life of mine is Yours. I thank you always, in Jesus' name, Amen! Yeah!

Boasting about tomorrow

Have to focus on doing God's will instead of what I want.. So many times i set my own plans and asking God to bless it.. maybe this verse speaks loudly to me..

James 4:13-17
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it's the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

So my Lord, what is your plan for me? I really want to make the most of my life.. what are your God-given skills or talents to me? That I can focus on them and practice and hone them to do good and serve your purpose. Tomorrow I will re-read the power of focus by Rev. Kong Hee. Lord, I pray your word to speak loudly to me through the passage. Thank you Lord, Amen!