"Why are you always so happy? - Part 3

As you look at the world around you, what do you see? Do you not see people who are poor, who are jobless, who are deformed, who do not have a house to stay, who have no love, who are addicted to drugs, who are oppressed...

The third reason why I am always so happy is because I am grateful for what I have and am. No matter what is my difficulty or problem, I have a house, I have a job, I have 2 hands and 2 legs, I have friends...

Take a moment to consider all the blessings that you have. For most of us, I think we should be very grateful for what we have, don't you think? And when you are grateful, you will be happy.

"Why are you always so happy?" - Part 2

Another reason why I am always happy is because I know of a particular statistic which I shall explain in a short while.

When I was young, I was a great worrier. I used to have a very case of sweaty palms because I was anxious about a lot of things all the time. In fact, when I was younger, I used to hate shaking hands with people because I was afraid that my cold and wet hands would put them off. There was a time when I even contemplated going for surgery to cut a nerve near my spine so that I would not have sweaty palms. Now I am cured of this problem - without having to spend a cent!

One of the reason for the "cure" is that I hardly worry anymore. Let me tell you why. I found that

90% of the bad things that we worry about, never come true.
even if the bad things do come true, 90% of the time, it is never as bad as we imagined it to be.
even if it turned out to be as bad as we imagined it to be, we could not have done anything about anyway.

So I told myself a long time ago - Why worry? Why waste my energy on things that has 90% of not coming true? Why waste my energy on things that 90% is never as bad as I think it would turn out to be?

No, I rather spend my energy on doing other useful things like my work, helping the poor and disabled, writing this blog...

Like the famous McBrian song goes - DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY!

"Why are you always so happy?" - Part 1

Someone asked me 3-4 days ago why I always look so happy. She also wondered how can someone look happy when we are faced with disappointments and difficulties.

I could not answer her there and then but it made me think.

It is indeed true that I am always seen smiling. Many people have commented about that and there were a few who wanted to know the secret behind my perpetual smile despite my fair share of difficulties.

The first image that came to my mind as I pondered this question was a young girl I saw in hospital. She was born with Brittle Bone Disease or Osteogenesis Imperfecta. It is a disease where every bone in her body was soft and because of that, most of them are broken and they cannot heal. She was born that way and she was deformed and could only lie in bed. Yet, this was one of the happiest girl that I have seen in my life!!! While many people would have been bitter and even curse God, she was there in the hospital bed, telling me about the goodness of God!!!

I must say that that left a very unforgettable impression in my mind and I think it must have made me realise that people can be happy despite of their circumstances.

Which is true if we look around us. We do see people who face the greatest difficulty with a smile but there are others who whine and grumble at the smallest thing.

I can think of at least 4 reasons why I am always so happy.

The first reason is this - that HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE. If you are unhappy, no one is forcing you to feel not happy. The only person who decides whether to be happy or not, is yourself.

The next few reasons will come out soon. In the meantime, do feel free to read the rest of my blog :-)

Set Your Mind on Higher Things

I am currently reading a best-seller by Joel Osteen. The book is called Your Best Life Now.

He actually had a section on Set Your Mind on Higher Things. Just thought that I will quote something that he wrote in that section:

If you are depressed, you must understand, nobody is making you depressed. If your're not happy, nobody is forcing you to be unhappy. If you're negative and you have a bad attitude, nobody's coercing you to be bored, uncoorperative, sarcastic, or sullen. You are choosing to remain in that condition, and the first step out of that mess is to recognise that the only person who can improve the situation is you!

Some people say. "Well, my circumstances have me down. You just don't know what I'm going through."

Actually, your circumstances don't have you down. Your thoughts about your circumstances have you down. On the other hand, you can be in one of the biggest battles of your life and still bge filled with joy and peace and victory - if you simply learn how to choose the right thoughts. It's time to think about what you're thinking about.

How true! The book continues to tell us why it is not good to have thoughts that constantly mop the floor but rather it is a great advantage to set our thoughts on higher things.

What thoughts are you thinking today!

Bitterness

There are some of us who are always grumbling about this and that. They never seem to be happy enough.

I have found a great prescription for those with a grumpy spirit. Go visit an orphanage.

Did that this Sunday and the orphanage I went to was for those children who were disabled and mentally challenged.

If not for anything, just consider how perfect our body is. We can keep our head upright without any effort, but not for these children. We can do wonders with our hands and legs but these children need help with even feeding themself.

For everything, there is probably some good things and some bad things that could be said about it. Question is - why focus on the bad? Does it do you any good? Nay, rather it shortens your life.

Someone has said that bitterness is the poison that we eat in the hope of poisoning others.

Hope that you are not poisoning yourself. Cheers!

Social Graces

As I was walking around the estate recently, I saw dog poo on the road. Which make me think - actually animals do not have any form of social graces. If they were to go to a posh restaurant, they will probably jump onto the table and chairs and have no sense of inhibition or embarressment.

Which made me think a very "deep" question. Then what is the purpose of evolution (which I do not believe to be true but many do) to develop bladder and bowel control? Since it really does not matter to the animal where it pees or poos, then there is really no evolutionary reason for animals to develope very complicated systems of muscles to prevent urine or feces from coming out.

A strange thought? Perhaps. But it is just goes to show that if we open our eyes and mind wide enough, we will find that there will be thousand and one reasons not to believe in evolution and to believe in a Creator God. What is your REAL reason for not believing in God?