Not really a Farewell?

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

Strangely we won't anticipate whom we might meet for the day and how they may have an influence or impact in your lives. Today is my last day of posting an article in Guyblog and wasn't thinking of continuing this blog in an independent site although I have received numerous feedbacks to continue it.

Today during lunch time I met a really sweet girl who encouraged me to continue this blog. Well she had good reasons as to why I should continue and after weighing her thoughts I decided to continue this site,

here is the new site;

http://andrew-guyblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/welcome.html

kindly visit the above blog and we will continue from there.

Farewell!

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

Well, I guess its time to bring this chapter to a close. All great books finish eventually and so must this blog. I hope you all enjoyed reading my “one cents worth”, as much as I enjoyed writing them. If I have offended any of you in my articles, please accept my sincerest apologies. No malice intended, all written in the spirit of sharing and caring.

 

Life is a gift from God, to sum up my entire articles over the years in a few words, I would like parting with this;

 

Live life to the full, it’s a gift from God. Enjoy every moment of good things that come your way, even as simple as a nice meal. Do the things you only dreamed of. I got the monkey off my back and did sky diving. Although it was crazy and I would never do it again, it was something worth experiencing. If you have a crazy dream, just do it, but make sure you don’t risk your life in the process. (When I did my skydiving I made sure I got the right instructor, right training on safety etc before attempting the jump).

Live life to the full, appreciate the good things and the wonderful people God has surrounded you with

 

Love others as you would love yourself, serve others and be kind to the underprivileged and strangers. Continue to be a blessing and don’t take advantage of others.

 

And above all, love (fear) God and serve him only, this sums it all.

 

God bless and farewell!

 

p.s for your feedback you can e mail me at rhythmsandgrooves@gmail.com

 

p.s.s. contrary to what some may think from my articles about women, I love women very much, they are truly a gift from God and a blessing to mankind.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

I just started reading a book called “ A thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. The book unravels with the life of a young girl born out of wedlock in the middle East. The book also unveils the story of another girl in the war torn country that eventually saw the fall of the Soviet ruling in Afghanistan.

 

Ever since I picked up this book, I have found it hard to put it down. I haven’t finished reading it yet. It is one of the most amazing books written on true account of everyday lives portraying injustice and human tragedies. This girl was not only rejected by her community, but her own father who eventually got her married to a man three times her age while she was 15 and sent to a place far away. She endured such hardship under an abusive husband. Although she faced such hardship she always found things in her life that would cheer her up, for an example such as the taste of an ice-cream for the first time in her life, she was amazed what tricks such things could play on the palette.

Happiness is not measured by what you have, its what you make of what you already have

 

Sometimes we forget the grace that is given to us. We wake up everyday, to a peaceful country, opportunities everywhere, a job to go to, meals on the table, friends, education, entertainment, access to the internet and information etc. When you read real life stories of people living not very far from us on the other side of the world, is when we will realize its time to quit complaining and being thankful for what we already have.

 

One of the parts of the stories of the characters of the book that touched me was a little boy named “Tamrik”, who lost a leg when he was 5 years old to a mine bomb planted by the soviets to cripple children so that their parents will quit the resistance and stay home to care for them. Tamrik was a little kid who was full of life; his handicap was not a hindrance to his amazing zest for life. He even won the heart of his childhood friend who was the prettiest girl in the village who eventually fell in love with him

 

Life is hard, in this world we will have trouble. Take heart, its not as bad as the others who have to endure more hardship daily than we would even experience in a lifetime.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

Certain laws govern the universe. Some of the common ones we know are the law of gravity, law of motion, law of thermodynamics, etc. The one that we are not very familiar with is the law of sowing and reaping. In the natural realm, if you sow durian seeds you will get a tree that bears durian fruits, not rambutans or mangosteen.

 

This principle governs all human beings in what the do to others. It's a law that some call it Karma, i.e. what goes around comes around.

 If you sow in kindness, goodness, mercy, grace and hard work, only good and in bountiful shall it return like fruits on a tree although one seed is sown.

 

Imagine reaping the fruits of unkindness, hurts, exploitation, offences and damage from sowing just one seed. How about sowing numerous of those, before long, you will be overwhelmed with what you reap.

You only reap what you sow

 

When I was in a teenage community, I observed a very interesting event that took place in this group of youths. Although I was only 12 years old, I saw and learned a good lesson from what took place. A certain girl about 22 years old was the prettiest among the group; she was the heartthrob of all the guys. Knowing this overwhelming attention, she would take advantage of the feelings of the guys; she would take them for a ride to make them think she is interested and would later say she only thought of them as a brother or friend. This broke a few hearts and some of the guys became delusional.

 

One day she met a really handsome guy, an engineer whom she fell in love with. They were the ideal couple and everyone saw that it was a match made in heaven. He even got to know her parents and visited her at her home regularly. This relationship went on for months and one day, he just vanished. In the days of no mobile phones and e-mails, it's difficult to contact someone once they go missing.

 

Two weeks later this girl receives a wedding invitation card in the mail. This guy was getting married to someone else!

 

So to all those who think that they can take the feelings of others for granted, let this true story be a lesson to you, that it can happen to you too.

Passion Vs Goals

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

We have heard it so many times that we should set goals in order to achieve what we want. Recently I was reading a magazine where the former Miss Malaysia who is now involved in social work and having set up a teaching centre for the refugee kids said, she does not set goals cause she has no discipline to follow it, she just does not procrastinate what she is doing.

 

I have also once heard from a study of some of the top students in a reputable college. Before graduation, they recorded the number of students who set goals to be a millionaire and the numbers that did not set any goals. After 20 years they were astonished to find that the group that set no goals, more than half of them became millionaires and the ones who set goals , none of them became millionaires.

What is your passion?

 

I have understood from these two observations and many others of financially successful people and the ones who are not, I have come to the understanding that we are all already successful. The money we make does not measure our success. We have been designed by God to succeed.

 

What then is our vocation that will help us realize our full potential and maybe make us a few millions along the way? The key is Passion.

 

When a person is passionate, he or she will go all out to do that thing out of love for it and need not set time or goals to achieve something out of it. The fact that you are doing it is already a goal in itself.

 

Take for example photography, how many amateur photography work have we seen that has won prizes, some of them have taken it as a full time work and have become financially successful.

 

When your goal is making money, when the going gets tough, you might quit, but if you are passionate about something, nothing will hinder you from you doing what you love.

 

I am not asking you to give up your job now and pursue your lost passion. Take your passion as a hobby first, see the creativity that God has put in you to flourish.

 

What is your dream or passion that was shelved aside because your parents were aginst it, or others discouraged you or you were overwhelmed with responsibilities that you have put it aside?

 

Is it a dream to build model cars and planes? A hobby to experiment on designing something? Photography? Learning a musical instrument? decoration? A particular vocation that you love? Mountain climbing?

 

As long as there is breath in your lungs and strength in your arms and legs, go for it, don't let age or anything set you back on your dreams.

 

You have one shot at life, live it to the full.

In and Out of a Relationship

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

There are people who just get into a relationship for the sake of companionship and leave once they are bored or having found another partner. These people never stay long in one relationship. The trouble with them is that they don't realize that they leave a scar in the lives of the people they dump. We must understand that people have feelings and being dumped can do a lot of damage. It demolishes or makes the person feel small and worthless. Some scars can take years to heal.

 

Its important for us not to jump in and out of an intimate relationship. Always weigh the desire to enter into one and only when things don't work out should one leave a relationship with enough encouragement to the other as to not demoralize that person. Don't leave with saying it was that persons fault etc. Remember the reason you got into the relationship in the first place. Highlight those qualities and leave gracefully, the damage will be minimal.

People have feelings, they are not inanimate objects

 

On this I would like to highlight some peculiar behaviors of certain women. If you are not interested in a particular guy when he shows signs of interest, I suggest to communicate it graciously. Be mature enough to handle it like an adult. I have seen enough women who will go out with a guy who has shown interest on a date or two and suddenly will totally ignore him by not answering or returning his calls to give him the message that she is not interested.

 

How about just remaining as friends? If the guy is persistent on his advances after numerous communication that you are not interested, then it would be just, to ignore him then, not give him a heart attack by ignoring him after the initial one or two contacts. Some women are even more brutal in this, even before a guy says hello to her, she decides to totally ignore him to give him the message that she is not interested. To all these women, my message is simple,... please grow up!

 

Remember, what goes around comes around, if you deliberately hurt others, others will someday hurt you likewise. Its called the law of sowing and reaping.

Shedding the Mr Nice Guy Image

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

" Nice Guys finish last", is the phrase we have heard so many times. How true this is. Why are women not impressed with nice guys? They could not define the opposite personality so we name it, "bad guys", But really, is it bad guys that women really prefer?

 

Well I have done my research and I have come to the conclusion, women like nice guys but they will not consider them as a potential mate. On the other hand they don't want a bad guy either as a potential mate, but given the choice they would rather settle for the bad guy instead.

 

What really women want is a good guy, not a nice guy and obviously not a bad guy. I will try to identify the difference between a good guy and a nice guy, We need not bother about the bad guy cause we all know what he is made of.

Women want good guys, not nice guys

 

A scenario between a good guy and a nice guy will define the difference;

 

Scene 1: In a bar a really pretty woman sits all alone having a drink. A waiter passes by, knocks her glass thus spilling the drink on the table and her. The waiter doesn't bother to apologize and not even concerned about cleaning the table or helping her, he goes about doing his work. The nice guys sees this, runs up to her and apologizes profusely for what has happened, he proceeds to get some clean cloth and starts wiping the table, continuing apologizing for the incident as it if was his fault. He then offers to send her clothes for dry cleaning and bearing the cost, he even almost decides to wipe her down which she promptly stops him and makes her way to the rest room to clean up. He waits in anticipation for her return. Although she is appreciative of the nice guy's help, she definitely was not impressed. She settles the bill and leaves the bar from the other side of the room.

 

Scene 2; Same incident happens, a good guy walks up and says something in this line, "these waiters, they just have no manners", and proceeds to help her by getting the other waiters to get clean paper napkins and he offers it to her to. He suggests that she move to another table and after she agrees he asks the waiter to do the necessary.

She is impressed! She soon is settled and they have a drink together.

Designed for a Relationship

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

 

We are all designed to relate with one another, if we believe we are made in the image of God. If God himself needs a relationship with his created kind, then we who are made like him cannot function otherwise.

 

Why is it so crucial for students to be accepted by their friends in school? Why do they want to hang around the so-called popular crowd. Why do we like recognition, encouragement and attention?

 

Why is Face book and other friendship portals so popular? People want to be recognized, appreciated and known. When you go on a holiday you want to tell all your friends about it. Life is never fulfilled unless it is shared with someone, your joys, pain, successes and everything

We were made to relate with one another

 

Relationship ( I am not referring to a boy girl intimate relationship here, it’s a general relationship with one another ) is the source of all joys and also the source of all pains.

 

How do you handle offences? Do we curl up go into seclusion and decide we can just be on our own and relate with no one? That is not possible if you are human cause you were never designed that way.

 

Offences are one of the best ways to build a stronger relationship. When a friend is offended, his or her person nature inside has felt diminished or small. Even if it’s not your fault and you can justify offending the person, go to that person and apologies, his or her person nature inside will rise up again. I assure you, your relationship with that person will be much better than you had before the offence. Would you both get offended again? Yes, but you will have a better understanding of each other and your relationship can be much stronger.

 

A broken bone healed is far much more stronger than the other parts of the bone.

 

Have you lost a relationship with a friend, family member or a loved one? Make an effort to reconcile today, you will open up a whole new world of joy flooding back into your life and your friend’s.

The Laid Back Life

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

The weekend holiday to Kampung Belanda was truly an experience to be cherished. I learned a few things during this trip. People live very simple in villages and generally in small towns everyone is so friendly. We met a couple of people in stalls who initiated the first conversation. I don’t know how they can figure out that we are from out of town. So they start the conversation with. “ where are you from”?

Part of Mak Cik's garden

 

They know all the best spots for food and are glad to help you find the place. Its quite unfortunate that in urban towns we miss out on the closeness and the warmth that these people posses, because we are so busy trying to achieve something.

Tree house at the resort

Even the Mak cik who did the cooking was so kind to us that before we left for home,  she packed some organic vegetables for us and some seedlings and baby shoots for me to get them planted in my garden.

Children know how to have fun

 

Living in the urban area, there are the benefits of being able to have all and everything we want. But in our pursuit is in order to enjoy all the material gains, we sacrifice in terms of quality time, relationship and health and work too hard to possess something that will after the initial excitement will fall out like soft grains of sand from our palm between our fingers.

 

My three nephews have gone to Europe, stayed in 5 star hotels, had the finest foods, but they enjoyed this holiday the most. They were not too keen on returning home and wanted to stay longer. Maybe we should learn a thing or two from children; they know what real enjoyment is all about.

Experiencing the Village Life

Posted by: andrew william Post(s) by this blogger

A number of us who were born in the 60’s and early 70’s probably grew up in a village environment and eventually came to live in the towns as developments began to concentrate in the urban areas.

 

For those who have not experienced or those who want to reminiscence the village life again, make a visit to Pasir Belanda in Kota Baharu. A small domestically run resort of 6 chalets, which is run by a Hollander family. They came some 7 years ago and settled in this village designing a chalet resort for those who would like to experience the village life. From the airport, the village is just 10 minutes drive away by taxi.

The Resort

 

The resort is smack right in the middle of a village. You will love the natural surroundings of kids in bicycle, coconut trees, all kinds of exotic animals including plenty of chickens and cows. The restaurant is a home of another villager next door to the resort. You make a prior booking on what you would like to have for lunch or dinner and the “mak chik” will prepare from her kitchen authentic Malay food with vegetables grown from her huge garden. (They are all organic). Breakfast will be by the riverside at the resort with fresh Holland bread and eggs on request.

A hearty meal cooked by the " Mak Cik"

You can hire bicycles to explore the village, or take a boat ride down the river.

 

After our arrival we decided to chill out the day and the next in the village. The day after that we hired a car to go to town where we visited the cultural centres and the old palace. Later we asked around for the best “chendol” and was guided to a hawker under a tree and true enough it was the best. Later we met someone there who encouraged us to take a boat ride to the nearby island for the best “serunding ( Meat floss).

We drove to the quay, took the boat and made our way to the factory. We packed some for home and true enough it was very delicious. In that island itself we visited a shadow play puppet maker who is world renowned for his artwork. My nephews had a go with the making of a puppet. We also bought a couple of authentic puppets used for the shadow play for one of my nephews who needed it for his school project.

Shadow play maestro

Later we drove to the beach and had a good rest while watching people playing kite.

 

My nephews had kite making and batik-printing lessons in one of the houses near the resort organized by the resort management.

 

If you plan to have a trip there with your family or friends, visit www.pasirbelanda.com