Real joy....

How U Must Immediately Live In This Year! This is what I taught/shared with the Adventure Rangers boys and girls during our Royal Rangers meeting last Sunday. I guess, they didn’t expect me to start off the year with such a thought! Yunno, while I was attending church service that morning, I had asked God in my own private way, how I could inspire the boys and girls in the afternoon. In the midst of my “artwork” and scribbling of words, somehow the phrase came up! How appropriate that was! If you take the first alphabet of each word, you will find that you get : HUMILITY. Such a powerful word! Yunno, as a Royal Rangers commander together with my team of commanders, we are entrusted not only to reach, teach and keep children for Christ but to also inculcate character building and molding wholesome children of God for the family. Make no mistake that I don’t spare the cane when it warrants the canning or a good tongue lashing! I guess, some parents couldn’t stand that ! In all honesty, I just can’t stand whimpy parents who just let their children “steamrolled” over them with their high flying dramas, whims & fancies and have manners like cows, donkeys and monkeys! Sorry! I am just being honest, though! I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY would love to have such children in my class!~ Hmmmmmnnnn…………………
Don’t be mistaken too that I am definitely strict during sharing /lesson for I have always felt that I have been entrusted a spiritual and moral responsibility to look after these young lives. Make no mistake about that! However, most of the time, the children are really good children and it is always a joy to share with them outdoor skills, Word of God or even a time of heart to heart sharing. You’ll be amazed with the ability, the sensitivity and also, the pure hearts of these children. This makes my responsibilities as a commander such a joy, actually! For the shy, quiet and difficult ones, they’ll learn to be different and more open as they progressed. Hey, it is definitely not just us, the commanders, that made it happened. It is purely God’s grace that enabled us to see through the change in these children and the willingness of the children to change/transform themselves.
Coming to the lesson, I am blessed knowing that as I taught/shared this lesson, I too learned God’s way in my life. Gosh! There is so much to learn each day and it’s a brand new learning each time. I must say that though as commanders, we are constantly buoyed by time constraint, personal tiredness and hectic schedules in our working lives, we give our best to the children each and every three Sundays of the month. I guess, over the years of serving in this ministry, the children had become such an intergral part of our extended family.
That day, I taught them to the need to constantly be on their knees praying and interceding for their family, confess their ways to the Lord, repent and change for the better, hug their parents more and continually be humble in whatever they do – be it at home, in places they go and even in school. I could see from their eyes and their responses that they have learnt something today. That was most satisfying to me. As a father, a friend and a servant of God, I too want to see these children grow up in the will of God and to be good children to their family. This is my one and only prayer & hope for the children! ~

Common sense, please!

I really cannot tahan-lar! What utter rubbish and garbage! For days now, I’ve watched stupidity of the highest level being pranced around daily n our beloved nation due to the atrocities inflicted by Israel on Palestinian land in Gaza. The recent announcements by our leaders in boycotting products from US , burning of Israel flag and non-beneficial street protest and so on are really some of the stupidiest things I’ve ever seen in my life.
Probably this could cause an effect in our own country but it doesn’t hold valid or shall I say… helped not a single bit to the miseries that is being experienced by the Palestinians. Come on ! For crying our loud! Do more tangible things than resorting to such dumbness! And please, don’t gather sympathy from the rakyat or divert attention away from the current cloudy conditions looming nearby at the elections. It’s plain and simple ~ everyone is trying to garner publicity from the miseries faced by the Palestinians. I want to make one thing clear here – I am NOT a RACIST ! I am first and foremost, a HUMAN BEING with flesh ,blood and feelings!
YES! I am violently angry over the dastardly act from Israel [ BTW, Judaism is their official religion and not Christianity. So, don’t ply nor sow hatred on Christianity! This is for the benefit of those who do not or simply will not understand the difference between Judaism and Christianity! ] but at the same time, how could you live in your homes knowing every few weeks some missiles flies over your skies and bring misery to the families in your land ? So, they retaliated and what you see is happening today and then it’s vice –versa reaction! Hatred begets hatred and violence begets violence. For goodness heaven sake! That rears the ugly head of hatred, more hatred, vengeance and ultimately innocent death of thousands and even millions in time to come!
Coming back to our local scenario, don’t the politicians and people in power know that three quarters of the equipments and products they use in the Government departments are from US or somehow from US. If they really want to enforce this ruling, then stop using computers, automated bank tellers machines,aeroplanes, bicycles, shoes, clothes, cars, numbering machines & system, medicine, generator sets, projectors, DVD players, pointers, heavy machineries and so on - just to name a few! Come on! Gotta be responsible and accountable to what we say and not stirring up sentiments and “see how it goes” attitude! One famous quip and I quote , “ You could hoodwink some people some time but not every one , every time!” Anyway, try getting medicine from Iran, Greece, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Afghanistan or China for that matter to feed our people! Now, that would be an eye-opener, isn’t it? What a real joke on boycotting products!
Then comes this stupid culture of flag burning! You get some spray painted flags of Israel, some US products and you burnt it in the open, bringing more pollution to our air and you stand up on the podium and criticized open burning made by the citizens of our beloved nation and shout of murder and further enforcement against open burning when you do it blatantly for all to see & publish in newspaper some more! This to me is “cakap tak serupa bikin” mentality !
Look, this is my point of view of helping out the Palestinians. Get Jordan, Egypt, UAE or even Saudia Arabia or nations in the Arab league to open their borders for these people. Why are they not opening their borders for the sake of compassion and brotherhood? Why are they not feeding their fellow brothers? Let’s get our so-called patriot-thick leaders to pressure the UN for peacekeeping efforts and get those food, supplies and medicine to the innocent people in Palestine first or rather asap. The greatest thing a nation can ever do in such times is to feed, care and look after the hurt, the wounded and the orphaned. There is no greater need than these things at this time of mess. Then, pressure and get a ceasefire immediately! Stop the killing and get the nation leaders of the world to rally behind a ceasefire. Get peacekeepers from all over the nation to protect and preserve peace! Do concrete stuff rather than just shouting out of their vile mouths !
So, dear Mr. & Mrs Leaders, go and fly to UN to get those things done and don’t come back until you see a difference! That’s my challenge to the leaders of nation rather than boycott, burn flags and stop the media from overly-sowing hatred by showing the pictures of wounded, hurt and malnourished children over and over again! We DO get the message, believe me, WE DO GET THE MESSAGE – Malay, Chinese , Indians, Sikh, Eurasian, Kadazan, Ibans, etc. I am very sure that financial aid is being channeled into the Palestinians funds set up while this is written. Oh! BTW, what about the atrocities carried out in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia and even in Indonesia ? What? They are less important?!! Sheeeezsh ! I rest my case ! One thing I know, casualties of war will come from both Israelites and Palestinians! It's a terrible thing and help should go through as fast as possible for these people irrespective of race, color or creed!
We have had enough hatred, untrusting , corrupt, biasness and every negativities to flood this entire universe you can think of being shoved down our throats over the years. Enough! Please stop and let healing hearts heal! I will be the very first to tell you that I am a human being first – not a Chinese, an Indian, a Malay, a Sikh, a Eurasian, a Kadazan, an Iban or what ever. That is what I intend to be – A HUMAN BEING first in our beloved nation, Malaysia. Please, HEAL HEARTS and NOT sow HATRED!~ Remember, free the deceit of the heart and the mind and you stand tall as a human being.~ God bless you all !~

Majestic....Mt.Kinabalu

In all of my lifetime of adventure and outdoor fun, memories of Mt.Kinabalu climb will always have the sweetest poignant place in my heart. Not only was I able to have SLing to climb the mountain with me in my early teaching years in Sabah, I've managed in 1995 to bring a team of young students and teachers from Catholic High School, Melaka for an experience of a lifetime. It was a 3-in-1 quest of climbing Mt.Kinabalu, soak in Poring Hot Spring and enjoy the beauty of Mamutik Island.
In the early years of my teaching career in Sabah, I had loads of fun and I did a lot of travelling. Thanks to hockey competitions and examiner of SPM oral exams [ Yeah! I got to travel to Ranau, Kota Marudu and some other interesting places ! ] I get to live a lot of dreams that most people would glow with envy... places like Sepilok sanctuary, Kundasang vegetables farms and.............. Kinabalu Park.

I remembered that I was much fitter and I've always [ still do ! ] enjoy nature and what better place to enjoy that Mt.Kinabalu. Yunno, from my teacher's quarters on the 4th floor, my every morning scenery or view was the majestic Mt.Kinabalu! It was just awesome and breathtaking. I remembered when I first arrived in Tenghilan [ half way small town to Kota Belud ], I told myself that I was going to successfully scale this 13,455 feet high mountain. By the grace of God, I did just that and subsequently, I managed to get SLing to climb it with me. That was memorable, actually. I still remember that on our trip was Kak Zan, a senior teacher who has always wanted to scale the mountain but didn't have the opportunity to do so. Mind you, this was a mother of four children! Before going on this trip, Kak Zan pulled me aside and told me , " Foo, kamu tolong saya ya? Kak Zan nak naik gunung tu sebelum balik." I told her that I would look after her and I kept my promise. I walked with her, encouraging her step-by-step , prodding and egging her on and sometimes, pushing her to the limit of walking. Yes, there are times she was almost close to tears as she was tired but I continued pushing her coz' it's very cold up there [ I was in my usual shorts, anyway! ], the air thins quickly, muscles ached while breathing technique was important. In all honesty, she was a real tough cookie and she took every strength she got to get to our destination every time and ultimately, the summit of Mt.Kinabalu. At the end of it, she thanked me for helping her up to the mountain top but most of all, she thanked me for sticking it out with her even when she was on the brink of giving up. Yes, I practically had to drag her up the jagged rockface towards the summit when she wanted to quit. By that time I was physically and mentally tired but I was determined that no one in my team is going home empty! That's why I walked with her every step of the way until the last few metres and I just collapsed with exhaustion while asking her to complete the walk up by herself. By this time, there was a big smile on her face and I just told her, " Kak Zan jalan-lah sendiri, Saya dah pernah tengok dari puncak atas tu! " From her facial expression, I knew she was really happy and that was a worthy expression for me. She made it to the top on her own and I was just glad for her and at the same time marvelled at the determination of this mother of four! After resting for about 15 minutes, I went down to catch up with SLing and the other team members consisting of teachers and students.

BTW, for the students from SMK Tenghilan, it was the first time they had made such a climb eventhough Mt.Kinabalu is at their own backyard. Sorry so to say that poverty and no teacher was crazy enough to take up the responsibilities of organising & getting things done were some of the factors that had hindered them over the years. Yunno, Sabah is such a beautiful state , richly blessed with wondrous natural landscape beauty and natural culture but it is so pitiful that the teachers don't take up the opportunity to introduce them to their own children & students. I am so thankful to God for giving me this boldness and the favour for organising field trips and enjoying the nature that He has created for us.

Coming back to the climb, SLing had great company in Slyvia, Radzi, Jerry, Suhaimi, Tee and Azmil. In fact, I had arranged for them to take care of her [ Slyvia was a real gem in taking care of her! ] while I took care of Kak Zan. I guess, SLing did not understand it at first of why we did not climb together but later, I explained to her that I really had made a promise to Kak Zan and I intend to keep that promise. Yeah! Like all good wife, she wanted to take a picture with me at the summit and enjoy the scenario but I was nowhere to be found and that kinda made her disappointed. Who wouldn't right?

OhYes! There was one scene during that trip that made me felt so humbled until this day. It was during my climb up with Kak Zan, we saw this local man [ porters, we call them! ] had thick bandanna bandages around his left leg and he was carrying two empty gas cylinders. When he passed me, I had asked him what had happened. He told me that he slipped, fell and broke his left leg. I was shocked and when I looked closely at the foot, I noted that he had made a splint and tighten the splint to his broken left leg. My God! And he was carrying two empty gas cylinder in a local long basket over his shoulders! The wages...... RM 20.00 only! That really humbled me. Then there were these local women carrying groceries and bee hoon up to the Laban Rata where the special lodge house is located. The wages....again, RM 20.00 - that's four hours up and four hours down~ every day! This is the same with the gas cylinders. Wow! Just made me speechless!

Anyway, as I flipped through the pictures in my special Mt.Kinabalu album , the pictures are really special to me and so are the memories! Steven couldn't understand the bright luminous short pants and wanted to give me a slap if I am ever caught wearing it! Well, it was comfortable and easy for me to make my climb up the mountain. That was the purpose ,actually!

Yo! For those who had not made a trip up Mt.Kinabalu, hey, get it done, man. Save, scrimped, eat less, indulge less or whatever you do, if ever there is a chance for a Mt.Kinabalu trip, don't miss it! I guarantee you, the view is simply awesome & beautiful while the experience is humbling. Take it from me ~ I know it's humbling!~

My dream before I konk off from this world - Mt.Everest, really~! Now, that would be something special, isn't it?

Ahh! TTC college days....

I was cleaning up the cabinet where I have kept a lot of photographs when I stumbled upon a few albums of photographs regarding my teachers' training college time. I must say that browsing through some of the young people's blogs, they often have a lot to say about being in college and having no time for this and that. Well, I want to say that you can have plenty of fun while in college and I most certainly did! I really had a great time in college and caught the biggest prize in my life, SLing there! Honestly, I didn't do badly in my class [ I have great results! ] and in fact , I graduated from MPLP with the most satisfying result in my life that is a distinction in my Teaching Practical [ A ] - Thanks to Mrs.Jackie, my lecturer. She gave me a good and encouraging review. I owe a lot to her for actually teaching us how to teach primary children at that time! Gosh! At that time I was given a good class to teach during my teaching practical and I did the best I could. I was really glad when my teaching practical lesson at the school was recorded by Mrs. Jackie and shown to new intake of trainee teachers for pointers and encouragement. Really, I was humbled by this experience and I felt happy.
Yunno, while in college I had spent my time on the three things I love - playing hockey, being in Kelab Kembara [ get to travel a lot and do a lot of outdoor stuff ] and learn the fine pointers of art. I'll start with hockey. We had a fantastic team from my seniors right through the end of my playing year. I had great teamates like Santokh, Azmi, Joel, Jega, Saga, Naga, Pushpa, Suresh, Leo, Ruslan, Musa, Vicky and many others. We really had a good time on the field. Among all my teamates, I have a special place in my heart for Joel Jacob and Azmi. They were easily the best players in the team. Joel was not very skillful but he makes up for hardwork while Azmi was the architect of the team. I also had the opportunity to play in the TTC Combined Colleges team competing in the FT Div 3 league at that time. It was a really humbling experience getting thrashing from Kelab Aman, Maybank and many other teams. We were there for experience as we had a very supportive Ketua Pengarah, our team manager who was a hockey and rugby enthusiast. I remember having lessons under Mr.C.Paramalingam, our one time Malaysian hockey team coach , Mr. Siva, his protege and a few noted coaches. It was tough training sessions but I have learnt a lot from these guys. In later years this experience had earned me many competitions trip as I represented SED, PBS region , my district and the state while teaching in Sabah.

The next was Kembara Club under two dynamic lecturers, Mr. Indran and Mr. Bernard! Great guys and I went to G.Tahan, Redang Island, Pemanggil Island, Bukit Takun and many others. It was at this club that I refined a lot of my outdoor skills. I have learnt it from these two great lecturers. The pictures will really say it all coz' I really had a great time out there and having great friend to share the experience with. It is something you would cherish in your life. I wasn't particularly crazy of rock climbing and all that because I find it to be really crazy but once you've gone thru it , it's really fun! My favourite is still very much Bukit Takun! The abseiling down is fantastic while the challenging terrain is just a fantastic climb. The other thing is I like islands a lot. When I had the opportunity to go to Redang and Pemanggil, I jumped at that opportunity. At that time, Redang Island was a real paradise of corals and abundance of sea creatures! Really beautiful! Then, there is always this opportunity to do canoeing and a whole lot of new things.

Then, there is art lessons. Though I am okay in sports,I decided to take up arts & craft as my 1st elective speciality. I am always fascinated with art and I had a good and slow talking lecturer for this. I learnt how to do batik printing, tie & dye, "canting" batik, mask making, wooden puppet on strings and learn finer points of painting. This helped me a lot during my teaching practical where I drew a lot of arts pieces for my teaching lessons during practical. Also, I did a lot of funny assignment cover design and it is one way to "cheer up" my weaker assignments, at times! Yeah! I don't copy assignment and I do work hard at my assignments but I try to lift up the spirit of the lecturers while they mark my assignment. Thank you, Mrs.Lian, Mrs.Jackie and many others who commented that they have a fresh pair of eyes everytime the mark my assignments! Usually, I'll draw some funny cartoon strips on my assignment cover so that they would laugh and have a feast to the eyes before marking. My art lecturer taught me creativity and it helps me until today. He taught me to be humble in learning and never be afraid to go and try out with my creativity.

One funny experience I wanted to share was my first day at teaching practical with 3 other class mates of mine. You see, that morning, we were 'semangat ' to go to a school to get first hand experience and we met this guy, loosely clothed t-shirt, a small straw hat and intensely planting some plants and flowers. He was so committed into gardening and when Haja Mohideen, [ second from left ] my classmate asked him whether we could see the headmaster of the school as we are going to do teaching practical at the school, the gardener just smiled and said that he was the headmaster! We almost 'pengsan' on the spot but we laughed and laughed for weeks! This headmaster was a really simple man, indeed! When we wanted to take a picture with him at the end of our stint, he told us that he woudl change in something else and viola! You can see in the picture that he was really smart looking with his loosely fitted tie! I actually like this guy because he is simple, no airs about him and he really cares for us - one of the dying breed of educators!
College was also the place I met SLing and this is very best of my college life, actually. Well, she was my junior in college. Honestly, I am one of those handfuls who actually marry their college sweethearts. There are many other who did not and that's really sad. They used to say that first year trainees are like red spot books [ very important and must be handled properly! ] while the second year and third year trainees are thrown to the open shelf to fend for themselves!!! Teruk, isn't it? Well, it's a vicious cycle!!! Yes, she was very supportive of me even until today.

See, college is fun but do your work and study hard. It's fun to be in college and you can have a great time without having to compromise your own personality, your character and the beauty in you. Remember, there are real dangers in college too. Keep your eyes wide open for shoddy character, casanova and non-trustworthy people!~ You'll know their "bau" soon enough! It is not different too during my time!~

So, watch yourself and have a great year ahead in college! To me, I am just having great fun reminiscing the good ol' college days!~

Of Love...

For the past few days, my lifetime, faithful and "live-in-girlfriend", SLing had been down with terrible cough, flu and fever. It was different at first as I thought she would recover and bounce back in a giffy after popping Panadol actifast. [ My natural remedy for everything, actually! BTW, I didn't give her Panadol ! She took it herself ! ] However, it was not to be and on Tuesday, she got worst and I decided that it was time to see the man in white, [ Chooy! Not the mortician-lar! ] the Doctor. At first when I arrived home, the children [ God bless them! ] told me that mummy is really very sick and lying in the room. Well, honestly, I was very tired that day after a long day at work but I guess, this lady called my wife comes first before anything else. Like all good wife, she was adamant on not going to see the doctor and so on ; feebly explaining that she will be okay in a few hours but she cuddled up like a sotong on the bed! Anyway, me- the baddie, gave her a short fiery lecture before she got herself ready to see the doctor. [ More out of getting me to stop my "sermon" I would say! ] I tell you, the queue in the clinic was long and honestly, I almost doze off while waiting for SLing to see the doctor. Finally, when we got home and stuffing the medicine given down SLing's throat, it was already well into 11.00pm. That night , I stayed up to take care of her but SLing insisted that I was snoring! Sheesh! Honestly, I wasn't - I was awake because I had used the laptop, catch up on some news and young people's blogs that night!

I did the same for the last few nights and I always ensured that she is alright. Yes! It is never easy to take care of the sick because they can be really "sick"! [ You'll know what I mean! ] But the thing is that she is a part of me - for better or for worst! I must be a fool if I were to say that I was not worried. Well, it worries me not just because she is a part of me but she is an integral part of me - the part that you must have in your life. That is how precious she is in my life. I shudder at the thought of losing her. I know that God is always there to protect her and I am forever grateful to God for keeping her safe and sound. Last night, as I gaze lovingly [ once in a while must be dramatic a bit-lar! ] at her lying on the bed, I felt a sense of love and gratitude because I really really have a good wife. Seriously, one that I really cherished a lot. Like I said so many times, .... Sure! We fight like cats and dogs throughout the year but this is the very same woman who puts her life in line for me everyday- sending the children for school and tuition, getting the meals, washing the clothes, made arrangements for the household repairs and expenses, spending time to talk to me and many other chores. She has sacrificed so much for the family and I am really grateful for her sacrifices. Honestly, she didn't make any big demands/fuss or have very high expectations of our lives together. She is really simple and I like that a lot. Tempers and character ? Everyone has tempers/some funny character and when it flares up, it can become ugly-lar but always controllable! That's the beautiful part.

Yunno, for the benefit of the young people and "not-so-young" people out there, know that marriage is like a covered dish! You don't know what you are going to get and what you're going to expect out of your marriage but one thing you do know ~ marry the right person and make the very best out of your marriage, ok? Like I did !~ Stay faithful, stay loving, now!~

Lifts....

Today, I must have been really regretful to have taken the lift during my work visit at a nearby hospital. Don't get me wrong. The lift was in good order and working condition but I was talking about the occupants who shared the lift with me today.I guess, I could smell the foul and inhuman stench of racism, acts of selfishness and even the wickedness of the society we live in today. Let me start by saying that I had this unbearable anger and pain of sharing the lift with two individuals whom I shall call donkeys of society. It wasn't that their clothes stench or their body odour was too intoxicating or even their appearance was shabby ~ It was their inhumane heart and mind that I was talking about.
These two smartly dressed individuals ~ one from a reputable and huge company ( I shall call him the sicko ) while the one who swore heaven and earth to protect the sacredness of the Socrates vow ( the doink ) were my occupants in the lift. It all started with this sicko guy from the reputable company informing the so-called Socrates disciple that their company is going to scale down their workforce and the company have made the decision to lay off the sick workers, workers who met with accidents; be it industrial or work related accidents and even the ones who had been on /have taken MC! The other doink agrees with him! Can you imagine this scenario? To make the matter worst, this sicko asked the doink to provide a list of names of workers who had been receiving treatment as these would be the ones to be laid off! This dumbass doink says that he would provide it. Gosh! Have they no heart nor feelings at all? I sympathized with the workers who are going to lose their jobs. What a heartless society we bred today! I remembered this sicko telling the doink, "Lebih baik dia orang kena buang daripada kita!" Shameful, just plain shameful! What in the world is happening to us as a society? Caring? My foot! The fabric of earning a decent living fragility is tested right through and through. I shudder at the fact that many will be on the streets jobless in the coming days. What then? What do we do ? How can we respond to this ?

I have no answers but only two palms spread wide and up lifted arms facing the heavens seeking God for an answer. To many, who knows what the future holds for them? To me, I hold on to the scripture of Jeremiah 29:11 ~ a portion of the scripture that soothes my heart a lot in this difficult times.

In all honesty, I felt so sick in my guts for having listened to such a conversation. It is nauseating and downright degrading for me. As I walked out of the lift, I told the in-coming occupants that the lift is "smelly". One old man asked me , " Bau busuk? Busuk apa?". I answered, " Busuk hati, encik! Hati-hati ya? " I left a group of bewilded elderly people as I left the building. I guess, the air is much fresher outside and I do need a mint of fresh oxygen!~ Don't you agree?

Work...only work

Today, I went to Bukit Kepong in Johor for work. It wasn't the first time I was on this work site. In fact, I went to the site on Friday 2/1/2009 when I started work for the year 2009. It was tiring work and I got back at 9.30pm that day. Phew! It was really tiring. Well, you may ask " Why did I get back to work when I could have reported for work on Monday?", right? Well, I wanted to get the "feel" [ getting accustomed back to work load and putting on thinking cap! ] of work after having a good break of holidays. Anyway, I am happy to note that I did my job well enough and I was satisfied with what I have done. It wasn't easy climbing , measuring and counting piles/bundles of cut wood pieces and so on. Thank God, there was help from one of the workers/fork lift driver!
Anyway, today was more of closing up the loose ends. Went through piles and bundles of wood again, counting, recording and doing what they call the MC [ moisture content ] test on the wood piles/bundles. As I was counting and doing the test, I had the opportunity to talk to the fork lift driver, Hamdan and the assistant, Aziz. Though not much difference in age, [ both are in their forties - 46 and 42 ], we had a good chat and a relaxed atmosphere while carrying out our respective works. They shared on their lives, their families and their aspirations for their children and so on. No matter what , the work got done professionally as that's what we are paid for in our respective jobs, right?

Yunno, in many ways than ever, I want to thank God for giving me this precious gift of being able to make friends easily or strike a conversation easily [ not forgetting that I do get hurt easily too! ]. I guess, I am thankful that I can "blend in" with all types & all walks of people and it is such a privilege. To me, I just want to meet as many people as possible and to learn from as many people I meet. Yes, I do meet some nasty people in life while I also get the opportunity to meet good and humble people along the way. Really, I still consider myself to be learning to be a better person in life. I guess, God allows us to meet all sorts of people to colour our lives up and to ensure that we learn our curve in life. So, today, I just want to thank the Lord for His graciousness in my life amidst my tiredness and sore limbs! God bless you all.~