The power of influence

A very close friend of mine started a weigtht loss programme a few years back. He has always been an athlete, playing tennis and hockey. But of late, he took a serious turn and start running and cycling. He has loss a considerable amount of weight and he looks and feel great.

This story is not about him losing weight. It is actually about the power of influence and motivation.

He started this journey when he started hanging around friends who are Ironman freaks. Slowly, these group of people started to influence him. He started to join their cycling and running routine. The first few sessions were torture. But he persevered and slowly his stamina increased. And now, he's ready for real challenges (at least I think so!).

Yesterday, he did some running at Pandan Sport Center. Suddenly, an elder man appeared and approched him.

Old man: You have a good fitness for someone with your size.

Friend: Well, you are fit for a very old guy.

and he accompanied my friend for the next 4 lap. Apparently, the old man said he had been watching my friend run a few times already and this time he had to run with him.

As I see it, he was influenced by his friends and later motivated a stranger.

It is true that action speaks louder than words. Even when we think no one is watching or what we do wouldn't make any difference, it will impact something, somehow.

Being Happy...

We convince ourselves that life will be better once we are maried, have a baby, etc.

Then we get frustrated because our children are not old enough and that all will be well when they are older.

Then we are frustrated because they reach adolescence and we must deal with them. Surely we'll be happier when they grow out of their teen years.

We tell ourselves our life will be better when our spouses get his/her act together, when we have a nicer car, when we can take a vacation, when we finally retire.

The truth is that there is no better time to be happy than right now. If not, then when? Your life will always be full of challenges. It is better to admit as much and to decide to be happy in spite of it all. There isn't any road to happiness. Happiness IS the road.

So, enjoy every moment. Stop waiting for school to end, for a return to scholl. to lose ten pounds, to gain ten pounds, for work to begin, to get married, for Friday evening, for Sunday morning, for a new car, for your mortgage to be paid off, for spring, for summer, for fall, for winter, for the first or the fifteenth of the month, for your song to be played on the radio... before deciding to be happy.

Happiness is a voyage, not a destination. There is no better time to be happy than NOW...

NB: A another dear friend has a similar article on being happy which is equally has good.

NBB: As earlier mentioned, I have dedicated Mondays as "Chicken Soup" day (or as "E" puts it, "Cut and Paste" day). The articles are from various chain emails that have been forwarded to me, which I feel would be more beneficial being posted here (rather than clogging my friends mailbox) for eveyone to enjoy and ponder. It is not intended for anyone specific. It is just a way for me to share some "chicken soup for the soul" with all my friends out there.

Closure... Maybe...

After more than 2 years, I finally cried...

I would hold you in my arms,

I would take the pain away.

There's nothing I wouldn't do to hear your voice again,

sometimes I want to call you but I know you won't be there.

I feel broken inside but I won't admit,

I just want to hide cause it's you I miss,

it's so hard to say goodbye!

There's nothing I wouldn't do to have just one more chance,

to look into your eyes and see you looking back.

If I have just one more day,

I would tell you how much I've missed you

since you've been away.

I've hurt myself by hurting you.

I'm sorry...

Facebook

Facebook is definitely a "God Sent".

Yesterday, while I was playing around FB, I found a really, really old dear friend from my college days (we are talking 1995 to 1997). I was randomly searching for old friends in FB and I just typed in his name. Voila, there was his name and picture. No words can describe how excited I was to have found him. Once we "hooked up" as FB buddies, I explored his friend lists and found more long lost friends from my AC days. With the exception of gaining a few pounds, none of them have physically changed drastically over the last 11 years. Needless to say, I quickly hooked up with more old friends and what amazes me that all of them still remember me too!!!

FB is definitely one of the best ways to find long lost friend (or love). Even if we don't get to see each other, we can definitely update each other on our well beings and what we are up to. We can also send free virtual gifts,drinks, cupcakes, plants and any other virtual freebies to our friends. Or at the very least, poke each other once in a while to say that we still remember them!

So, hats off to Mark Zuckerberg, founder of FB, for creating such a powerful tool for the benefit of mankind.

Me... here, now and then...

I subscribe to Calvin and Hobbes comic strips via email. Each day, the moderator will send a strip for each subscriber to enjoy.

The one I received today automatically reminds me of me and my new found "love", blogging. When I decided to start blogging, my objective is that I want to share my stories and views with everyone that knows me. But when I read what Calvin had to say, it hit me that by having this blog, not only am I sharing my stories but it is also a way of me documenting my stories now for future references. I mean, blogging is like having a personal online diary.

Some of my friends choose to share their makan2 experiences, holiday experiences and pictures of where they have been. Some chose to express themselves, let it be politics, tv shows, movies or just b*&^%hing about everything that they are not happy with.

For whatever reason we choose to blog, one thing remains... Our blogs serve as a personal memoir of what we are now, a virtual monument of our current experiences, feelings and thoughts. Who knows, maybe later in life, we'll be someone famous and our life will be made into an autobiography. At least, we have our blogs to turn to as a starting point.