Bandaged Soul...so I can open my heart to you again.

My colleague loved it, my manager raved about it. And knowing that it's a movie about C S Lewis (Clive Staples "Jack" Lewis, to be exact), I just had to get hold of it. So I watched the movie, Shadowlands , on DVD yesterday. The film basically tells of the true story of the man whose profound words I have found myself to be pondering deeply about these past months. Playing the character of Lewis is Anthony Hopkins, one of my favourite actors. At this point it is probably more interesting for the present generation to note that Lewis was good friends with J R R Tolkien, author of Lord Of The Rings . Watching Shadowlands evoked some things within me which I thought I had resolved. Perhaps my feelings have evolved as more truth pertaining to issues of love and affection came my way. Experiences do change our point of view, don't you agree? Well, you see, the film portrayed Lewis' love life and his grief at the death of his wife. The relationship between him and his w

THE PRAYER Duet By Andrea Bocelli & Heather Headley I pray You'll be our eyes, and watch us where we go And help us to be wise in times when we don't know Let this be our prayer, when we lose our way Lead us to the place, guide us with Your grace To a place where we'll be safe La luce che tu hai [I pray we'll find Your light] Nel cuore resterà [And hold it in our hearts.] A ricordarci che [When stars go out each night,] Eterna stella sei Nella mia preghiera [Let this be our prayer] Quanta fede c'è [When shadows fill our day] Lead us to a place, guide us with Your grace Give us faith so we'll be safe Sogniamo un mondo senza più violenza Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza Ognuno lo dia la mano al suo vicino Simbolo di pace, di fraternità La forza che ci dà [We ask that life be kind] È il desiderio che [And watch us from above] Ognuno trovi amor [ We hope each soul will find ] Intorno e dentro sé [ Another soul to love ] Let this be our prayer [Let this be our

It's almost 3am in the morning and I find myself unable to sleep. This has been quite a long drawn condition that is affecting me in many aspects. And sooner or later, it will affect, or perhaps it has already affected, my health. Well, I know at least my mental health is beginning to deteriorate. I think my "RAM" is at an all-time low. Please forgive me if my short-term memory fail on me... So, as usual, I parked myself onto the sofa, switched on my cable, channel hop for awhile before settling on Grey's Anatomy . The final narration by the character of Meredith caught my attention, "Sometimes, that invasion of personal space is exactly what we need." All of us, at one point or the other, have experienced relationships that caused us to build barriers around our hearts. Sometimes the damage done could be so great that bringing down the barriers would seem impossible towards the person who hurt us, or even anybody around us. The resistance to connect at a pe

In less than 24 hours, I would have to hand the key to my sister's Kia Carens back to her. Need to pick her and the twins from T2 tomorrow night. Just as I was getting used to travelling behind the wheel. Oh well, I should be contented. Now perhaps it's time to get my own set of wheels...muahaha!!! I just hope that after this, I could transit well into taking bus (and the 44 steps up the overhead bridge) to work. Having said this, I do have my doubts about how long I could keep to this plan before I give in to flagging by the roadside again. I'm a woman of simple dreams. I'd be willing to settle for a Kangoo van. Problem is, need to do some business registration. But, if I do get one, the first thing I would do is to get a couple of large cooler boxes. They could serve as seats (may be too high actually) and store things that I need to keep at room temperature (e.g. my notebook). Then when I feel like going for a picnic, it would be a perfect ice box for cold drinks or

See, I don't believe in Santa (sorry kids) and there are no chimneys in Singapore anyway. Hmmm...don't think he's gonna come down through our HDB rubbish chutes. You'll need agile and fit body contortionist for that, too. Facebook. Many are falling into the trap of subscribing to all those applications and sending requests to get others to join in so that they can either gain points, tokens, etc. Poke, poke here. Poke, poke there. Here poke, there poke, everywhere poke, poke! Well, I don't know about you. But I'm finding it hard to keep up with Facebook requests and mass messages. I'm quite tired of deleting and ignoring requests. What has making friends come to? I invite you to hear what these people have to say...haha! Very clever. For the HEROS fans out there! :D HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS!

Yay! It's Christmas Eve! The past few days have been a bit crazy. And I'm so glad that my sis agreed to let me car-sit while she's out of town. Strangely, since the ComfortDelgro fee hike, I've not taken any of them last week. Somehow, those that came my way were not. Monday - flagged down a Silver Cab though I was hoping to get on the bluey to see exactly how much more I need to pay if I cab to school in the morning. Tuesday - managed to skip a couple of cabs and got hold of a TIBS. Not in the mood for discovery. Wednesday - I was in the blue mood again, but what did I get? Prime Cab - the orangey brown one that looks like a SUV. My first time on this cab, I think. You don't find many such cabs on the road. My sis came to fetch me in school on Wednesday late morning and we drove to the airport to drop her and the twins before my 'job assignment' began. Since then I've been cruising half the island in her MPV...but mainly in the east lah. So Wednesday, w

The St Patrick's School Alumni Band In Concert at the Singapore Conference Hall was a big success. I smsed a couple of my students who performed, that I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I meant it from the bottom of my heart 'located deep inside my body', quoting the emcee. Don't be mistaken, I am no band music critic. My appreciation is limited to the overall pitching and togetherness based on what I hear. And even for that, my words should be taken with a pinch of salt. Thus, I'm not writing to comment on their technicality, but as a novice in the appreciation of band music, how I felt as a member of the audience. All in all, it was an entertaining concert and definitely well worth the $12. My main objective, of course, was to support my students playing in the Alumni Band For quite a few instances, I totally forgot about that because they were not on stage for a substantial portion of the programme. The stage was taken over by the St Patrick's School Junior, th

It was just an afternoon nap. So tired from the gathering last night and only managed to hit the bed after 2am. Went to Church for rehearsal at 10am. ZZzzzz...not enough sleep... Then it was home for lunch and a drive to Mui's for a trim. I think I can get used to driving. Reminds me of the times in Perth where everyday was an almost 30km drive to and from campus. While waiting for the hairdresser to come, the sofa in the guest room proved to be irresistible. So I dreamt of you. That we were what normal friends should be. In the dream you gave a hand of assurance on my shoulder, and your leaning over to seek comfort. I felt it signified a 2-way expression of friendship. But like most of my dreams, as I think about it, the details fade away. I only remembered that things seemed to go back to how it is now - till now I'm still perplexed but I'm just leaving my emotions to God and let rational thinking set in. This is just an aspect of growth I need to go through. Whatever tha

Feeling the Christmas mood yet?

Got a call from my former secondary school classmate on Friday inviting me to her house for dinner. Some friends, but mostly family members and relatives would be there, too. She refused to tell me the occasion, just asked me to be there. So I went and it turned out to be her son's birthday...apparently she didn't want me to get any present, not even an ang bao. It was not much of a celebration, really. Just a couple of mahjong tables set up, an open dinner table, free and easy. The kids were upstairs playing computer games while the adults kept their hands busy on full white tiles. These are semi-pros playing, so, way above my league. Anyway, I had the chance to sit down with my old friend and she revealed that she and her husband will be signing the divorce papers soon. An eye-frowning moment. Though, sadly, it was really the fact that they stayed married till now that was more of a surprise to me. It pains me greatly to look at her countenance as we continued chatting. I can

A conversation with an ex-colleague on my way to a concert yesterday led to a realisation of a few issues within the deepest part of me. No amount of justification would be able to hide it this time. I have to accept it right in my face. I guess I have been deceiving myself. Oh well, why am I not surprised? I'm a believer of the deceitfulness of one's own heart, remember? So I pulled up my courage and embraced the inevitable truth. Dear Abba, I'm sure You saw it coming. Thank You for being so gentle and patient with me. And I thought I have laid it bare to You. I guess it wasn't enough. Or perhaps I knew it was there all the while... but I just chose to ignore it - in denial? Now that I'm able to accept it, I believe it would be easier for me to deal with it and to fix anything that's not right. Indeed, confession is good for the soul. Thank God for friends with whom I can bounce off my thoughts (could be personal issues, work issues, or a mix of both - that'

WAY BACK INTO LOVE From The Movie Music & Lyrics Verse 1: I’ve been living with a shadow over head I’ve been sleeping with a cloud above my bed I’ve been lonely for so long Trapped in the past I just can’t seem to move on I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away Just in case I ever need them again someday I’ve been setting aside time To clear a little space in the corners of my mind Chorus 1: All I want to do is find a way back into love I can’t make it through without a way back into love Ohh... Verse 2: I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine I’ve been searching but I just don’t see the signs I know that it’s out there There’s got to be something for my soul somewhere I've been looking for someone to shed some light Not somebody just to get me through the night I could use some direction And I'm open to your suggestions Chorus 2: All I want to do is find a way back into love I can’t make it through without a way back into love And If I open my heart

Less recently, I find myself more in need of my personal space, of inactivity, of rest, of understanding myself. Maybe it's time for a sabbatical to gain fresh perspective of life. I've been working at the same place, doing the same thing for 10 years - and this is my first job since I graduated. Oh my, oh my, I can't believe that I just entertained a shooting thought of taking up a course. This is NOT good! Am I experiencing identity crisis? Okay, let's look up identity crisis: 1. a period or episode of psychological distress, often occurring in adolescence but sometimes in adulthood, when a person seeks a clearer sense of self and an acceptable role in society. 2. a psychosocial state or condition of disorientation and role confusion occurring especially in adolescents as a result of conflicting internal and external experiences, pressures, and expectations and often producing acute anxiety. 3. a psychosocial state or condition of disorientation and role confusion occ

"Many things - such as loving, going to sleep, behaving unaffectedly - are done worst when we try hardest to do them." - C S Lewis I'm particularly intrigued by the condition of a person "behaving unaffectedly". The word "behave" implies an outward manifestation. What does it really mean to be unaffected? Perhaps it's maintaining one's composure regardless of surrounding happenings. If it's a conscious effort that we need to put in, then it would suggest a natural tendency for the opposite behaviour, wouldn't it? If it comes naturally, then is it out of apathy (uncaring, can't be bothered) or is it a calmness - a peace amidst tough times? They say that the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Regardless of your disposition, the difference in the underlying motives is what matters. The thing is, though the difference between being unaffected and being apathetic is great but the line between the 2 can be very thin. Recently

BELONG TO ME By Joanna Carlson She walks in and closes the door Shuts the world out of sight for another lonely night And she cries as she kneels on the floor For this empty room and this solitary life But heaven is hearing and sharing each tear And I know the Father is near He's saying You can belong to Me I'll cherish you, treasure you, love you completely Someday you'll finally see How precious you are in My eyes You've never been out of My sight I love you for all of your life You can belong to Me A little boy lies on his bed Wondering where daddy's gone And did he do something wrong And he hides all the fears in his head As he tries to be strong But he feels so alone And heaven is hearing and sharing each tear And I know the Father is near He's saying You can belong to Me I'll cherish you, treasure you, love you completely Someday you'll finally see How precious you are in My eyes You've never been out of My sight I love you for all of your life

SMALL ENOUGH By Nichole Nordeman Oh, great God Be small enough to hear me now There were times when I was crying From the dark of Daniel's den And I have asked You once or twice If You would part the sea again But tonight I do not need a fiery pillar in the sky Just wanna know You're gonna hold me if I start to cry Oh, great God Be small enough to hear me now Oh, great God Be close enough to feel You now There have been moments When I could not face Goliath on my own And how could I forget We've marched around our share of Jerichos But I will not be setting out a fleece for You tonight Just wanna know that everything will be alright Oh, great God Be close enough to feel You now All praise and all the honour be To the God of ancient mysteries Whose every sign and wonder Turn the pages of our history But tonight my heart is heavy And I cannot keep from whispering this prayer Are You there? And I know You could leave writing on the wall That’s just for me Or send wisdom while

For many Christmases that we have celebrated, the song "We Are The Reason" seems to be the evergreen song that we would present. Of course, besides Christmas, this song is appropriate for any season because it speaks of the basic of the Christian faith, God's love for us, and of our response to His love. So if we were the reason Jesus died, are we living for Him now? "But seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (ALL life's worries) shall be added to you." The Bible verse, Matthew 6:33, is a call to trust God's provision. We obey to seek what we need to seek FIRST, and He promises to take care of the rest. I've embedded a version of this song arranged and recorded by a local A Cappella group called Agapella and the song is in their Christmas album. WE ARE THE REASON By David Meece (c) 1980 Word Music / ASCAP As little children We would dream of Christmas morn Of all the gifts and toys We knew we'd find But we neve

Had a good time at Harp & Bowl just now. For those who don't know, it's a Worship (Harp) & Prayer (Bowl) session. The Worship Ministry and Vanguard (Intercessory) Ministry had a 7pm to 12am combined session to do, as what the event name suggests - Worship & Pray. Went there with Chin Sin for the 10.30pm slot straight after cell group. It was a time of prayer in emotional healing and I received an instruction from the Lord - FOCUS ON HIM. It was a timely reminder and a posture to take on. Hallelujah! Thank you, Abba Father, for Your instruction. I will definitely take heed. I am indeed a beloved child of the Almighty God! Amen!

It has been a season of ups and downs. I'm sure that every thinking person in this entire universe would have their fair share of this rollercoaster journey. The thing with such trials and tribulations in life is that they cannot be compared between any 2 persons because we don't know what the other person has gone through and we certainly won't know how much more they would experience along the way. It's like comparing apple and orange. I find that there's too much of "me too" responses going around. I know in counselling there's this term called "normalizing" where you try to help the counsellee feel that what they are going through is ok, or what they feel is natural. It helps to a certain extent. It makes the person feel that you can identify with the problem at hand, or that you can understand the situation. Yet, if not careful, instead of identifying, we may come across as making our troubled friends feel that they "shouldn't b

I took a read at my blog's header once again. Bandaged Soul...so I can open my heart to you again. "Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." - C.S. Lewis I once quoted another of Lewis' notable statements: "The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and purturbations of love is Hell." Hmm...I seem to like Lewis, don't I? So here's another one for you: "Many things - such as loving, going to sleep, or behaving unaffectedly - are done worst when we try hardest to do them."

I think it's quite obvious. Yes, perhaps I shouldn't insist or even hope for anything more. I'm probably just being selfish. My heart is breaking, and I can't help it. But give me some time. I'll deal with it. With Abba Father's help, I can. Hoping versus playing dumb - it's a thin line in between. But eventually, one would have to take a side. Either way, it's going to be painful in the process. Yet, sitting on the fence would just be...really dumb.

Have you ever placed someone so close to your heart that you want to know everything and anything about that person - how he's feeling, thinking and doing at the present moment; his hopes and desires? His likes and dislikes? Today, I was tempted. So tempted to access some information to answer the many questions. Yet my love for that person made me hold myself back from discovering what I could so easily and legitimately get my hands on. The last thing I want is to enter where the door is not open to me. Merely knowing serves no purpose if it's not going to help in the relationship. Well, what's the point if, in the end, I can't do anything with what I know about you? Yes, I want to be a part of your life, to know how I can make your world a better place to live in. But not without your consent. I mean, what if I'm not even welcomed? Notwithstanding, it took a lot of self-control to just leave things as it is and maintain this respect for your personal space. There

I Will Fly Ten2Five You know all the things I’ve said You know all the things that we have done And things I gave to you There’s no chance for me to say How precious you are in my life And you know that is true To be with you is all that I need 'Cause with you my life seems brighter And these are all the things I wanna say, hey I will fly into your arms And be with you to the end of time Why are you so far away? You know it’s very hard for me To get myself close to you You’re the reason why I stay You’re the one who cannot believe Our love will never end Is it only in my dreams? You’re the one who cannot see this How could you be so blind? To be with you is all that I need 'Cause with you my life seems brighter And these are all the things I wanna say, hey I wanna get myself close to you

You know how it's like when you thought you were being helpful and caring and you did something for somebody, only to find that not only were you not appreciated, you even got a door slammed to your face? I remembered a conference trip to Sydney with a group of friends years ago. Being there for the first time, everything was new to me - the experience, the company, the purpose. One of our stops landed us in a place of interest and I came across a stack of colourful postcards on a festival that were free to take. So I took a few for myself and my friends as a souvenir. One of them was probably in a foul mood, cos he not only rejected it but made sure I knew that he couldn't care less about it. I was a bit upset then and complained that he should be more appreciative. And to that, he said, "I didn't ask you to do it what!" That really hurt. Well, thanks to God (and to that 'friend', after I was able to recover from it), I've learnt that when we initiate

It seems that if you keep to one thing long enough, you can call yourself an expert. Don't believe me? Well I just came across this To-do-list-ologist. I was like, huh??? Quoting from the blog "TO-DO LIST has been a magazine and a blog. Now it's a book, To-Do List: From Buying Milk to Finding a Soulmate, What Our Lists Reveal About Us, a collection of 100 lists and the stories behind them." The blog: http://www.todolistblog.com/ . Go knock yourself out! The book will be launched today (10 Nov 8pm US time) in San Franciso and she's even been interviewed on NBC11. That's how real this is. A random thought: To-do lists may not be the wisest form of recording things that you need to remind yourself to do. Cos if you are that busy or forgetful that you need a to-do list, wouldn't it be highly likely that you would lose the list cos you are too busy and forgot to look at it? Isn't it true that when you jot down all those things, you do it because you want t

Was watching "It's So Over - 50 Biggest Celebrity Break-ups" on Channel 5. I don't usually watch entertainment news, unless I don't feel like doing anything else. A movie/dinner deal didn't come through so I was kinda stuck at home with a left swollen eyelid. Probably better this way - sometimes it's better not to insist. Anyways... Well, out of the 50 break-ups, 3 of the couples were from the reality show - The Bachelor. I recall watching a few of the late night episodes at random and vaguely remember it's elimination process, the bitching of all those women against each other, setting themselves up for emotional roller coaster rides. Some were pretty serious, and were ostensibly giving all they have in the hope to be the one chosen. Yet, as authentic as it had appeared on TV, and perhaps at that point of time they were genuine in their feelings with all the hypes, these 3 couples did not last, one of them barely made it to a month. I know it's ju

2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! Romans 1: 28-32 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, tha

It was a simple dream, to do something that I'm familiar with - perform a song accompanied by TP Band. I had that dream not long after I took charge of the band almost a decade ago. Besides being grand to be accompanied in that manner, the idea was that I'm backed by people I love - my students. This year, my dream finally came true...well, half of it. The other half was really unexpected - performing on the clarinet. It didn't even cross my mind when I first picked up that instrument. The objective was to get a deeper understanding of how a band works from the inside, you know, the real thing, not just administratively, so that I could better manage it with the committee with empathy for the members. Learning the instrument opened up my understanding of the players' needs, considerations, and so on. A few things I found out as I learnt how to play the instrument and spending a lot of time with the band members within (sitting in) and out of practices: I finally underst

I read a quote by Elbert Hubbard. "Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway." It really feels good to be able to trust someone, doesn't it? It feels even better to be trusted. People are trusted for different reasons and at different levels. Sometimes the variation comes with our encounter with the person concern or from our own experiences with others. At my first reading, this quote made some sense and even sounded nice. But I think it can be a bit overated. The quote seems to imply that not having the need to explain is one of the criteria for friendship. Does that mean that there's no need to explain ourselves and our actions to our friends at all? I feel that making that effort shows how much someone means to us. After the explanation, how much the person believe in our words, now, that determines the trust level and the depth of the friendship. We can't be very much of a friend ourselves if we can't even be

Look at the object with your mind, so you will not be bound to it. In other words, look at it with your heart, and you'll get emotionally attached. So is that why some people choose to be cool and unaffected by things, and even people? Is that why some choose an intellectual disposition? Who is the more courageous one, then? One who is fully logical and void of feeling, or one who love with abandonment? Which approach requires more from an individual? It is said that to truly love is to love when the loving is tough. If it were easy, how true would that love be? You wouldn't know. Just like patience and longsuffering cannot be truly proven when circumstances run smoothly or when those around you are easy to live with. Love, patience, longsuffering, or whatever godly characters in person, can only be accurately assessed under difficult circumstances. It's natural to love those who love us or those who are lovable; overcome evil with evil. Yet we are called to love our enemie

It's been a disappointing day. That was how I felt as I drag my feet walking home from the bus stop. I'm disappointed with myself and people. People who thought that because of some special occasion, exceptions could be made and took it upon themselves (again) to do the wrong thing. People who act irresponsibly and foolishly, knowing for sure what was not supposed to be done, yet chose to ignore warnings and in so doing affect the innocent ones. Liars! They simply gave me reasons to be on guard against them. I hate to be in such a position especially when it comes to relationships. It's tiring and makes me suspicious. I would rather trust and take people for their word. No wonder the world system is filled with "terms and conditions", contracts for almost everything, even marriages. Perhaps that's why some people would rather live in denial in the name of positive thinking, to overlook when their spouse (for e.g.) cheats on them. Oh well, personally I can forg

Her youth was spent as an athlete , training for heptathlon but due to an accident she was forced to switch career paths . Not having other options she performs at family gatherings, weddings and formal celebrations. On one such occasion, a singing-master hears her and almost immediately begins to teach the 16 year old Erika. She has not earned a university degree but at the age of 19 she was the youngest opera singer to be contracted by the Hungarian Opera House. Erika has studied in Milan and in the US, has performed the "Queen of the Night' (Mozart: The Magic Flute) nearly 300 times and the role has become a part of her image as, she is requested to sing this role everywhere - Berlin, Paris, Madrid, London, New York, San Francisco. Besides her talent, they say, she is a delightful, 'attractive phenomenal' - on stage, the air virtually vibrates around her. Sold-out performances and huge successes are characteristics of her career but despite this she prefers the qu

Apparently, I still CMI. Sigh... But truly, I appreciate the honest feedback from a reliable source. Can always trust this one for non-sugar-coated comments. I can deal with it... Yet having said that, 5 months already...what is wrong??!!! How to listen to another player and improve just by hearing? Can one actually listen to a professional player on the CD and pick out the tone and articulation of his playing? Hmm...I guess it's possible...just that I'm not there yet. So don't know what to pick out. I know that in singing, sometimes it's difficult too, but I see the possibility and there are certain aspects I can draw from. Though sometimes, when people ask me if I can tell the difference between the sound I produce before and after I applied some imaginery technique, I honestly can't tell the difference. Usually I just sing what sounds good to my ears. Cham le lah...less than 2 weeks only. The clock is mercilessly ticking away. No time le...I'll just do my bes

I went to a free SSO Pre-tour Concert yesterday, thanks to a Church friend who is the Music HOD of her secondary school. We were seated at the Choir Stalls (right behind the stage). It was quite exciting. Call me mountain tortoise, but I've never watched a performance in the Esplanade Concert Hall from this angle. I felt like I was one of the performers cos we were facing the audience and the spotlights were extended to our section too. The plus point, well for me, was that I get to see quite a close-up (approx 15m away) of Maestro Lan Shui in action. And I realised that Conductors can be quite self-absorbed...so I'm not alone. Haha! Anyway, it was quite an eye-opener. So, coming back to the subject matter, the orchestra played 2 pieces in total. The first was 35mins while the other was 45mins. Unbelievable right? But each piece consists of a few movements. In terms of concert etiquette, well, you don't need to applause until the end of the whole piece. Even though the Cond

This morning I finished the book which I've been reading for more than a month - " Passion And Purity " by Elisabeth Elliot. Such a sense of achievement. I think I could probably count on with both my hands the number of books I've completed in my lifetime, except for the textbooks that...eh? wait... hmmm... still within both hands. And this one is even more rare cos I find myself wanting to get back to it whenever I find a chance. And I know the lessons learnt in the book will take me through a lifetime of relationships of all sorts. Believe it or not, this book was given to me on my birthday a decade ago. It took me a 2-week MC and a crisis to dig it out again and it benefitted me beyond my need. God really has His way of getting His message across to His children :) Well, I have this bad habit of buying a book (or anything) at the spur of the moment, either (just) because it's the topic of interest at that point of my life, or that and plus it has a nice cover

Misunderstanding is prevalent. It is probably unreasonable to assume that if you can express yourself clearly, you would be understood by all. As simple as I think life can be, human beings are hardly that simple. We come from all over, we have difference in background, unbringing, education, beliefs, values and experiences. Every second of our lives, everything and every person we get into contact with plays a part in molding who we are. So, just like our thumb prints, not one person is exactly the same. Even in the field of psychological research, nothing can be proven. Nothing can be 100% sure. Cause and effect studies can only be measured by degree of probability. It would make life less ambiguous if we become transparent in our thoughts, emotions and intentions. But unfortunately, everybody has secrets, things we would rather conceal sometimes for reasons unknown. To add to the complications, sometimes we don't even know our own intentions. I find that to be true many times of