Tag: philosophy

Life is life, Death is death

~ Swisa A ~ Leave a comment

It has been awhile since I’ve last written.  It’s been a long while.  I don’t even remember the date or the last time I sat at my laptop typing away.  It’s been that long. I’ve missed it.  Life as it is, has decided that this year would be the year to teach us about life and death.  This is a year of teaching what it is like to lose loved ones and be near death as it sits on the porch waiting to come in.

Even though the moment we are brought into this world, the one certainty in life is that one day we will all die, it is still a concept that is hard for us to embrace.  We spend our entire lives trying to avoid ‘death’ in one way or another.   We take care of our health, do yearly health checks, drive safely, watch for cars while crossing the road and are constantly aware of things that will hurt us or bring us closer to ‘death.’  We have rules and regulations to minimise deaths.

Yet, the fact remains that one day we will all be gone.

One lesson I’ve learnt from deaths this year is this.  “Enjoy life as much as you can, whilst you can.”  Don’t spend your life trying to be “perfect” or cow away from experiences.   You never know what will happen, what life has planned for you, so just do what you want to do in life and enjoy the experience.  Don’t wait until it is too late.

If there is something you always wanted to do in life, don’t think to yourself that you’ll do it when you are old and retired or at a later date.   Who knows, you might never reach that later date.  Life may decide to leave us without notice.

If here is something you want to do with someone, likewise, don’t wait.  Who knows if you’ll ever get the chance again.  Life may decide to leave them.

Don’t waste time pondering why death decides to choose one and not the other.  There is no logical explanation.  It is all just a part of life.  Just live your life the best you can and make it a happy one.  Walk out and smell the roses, feel the wind in your hair and listen to the birds chirp.  Play ball with your dog and spend time with your children before they are grown. This is life.

Have a great day everyone and remember to enjoy life! You only get one chance at it! 🙂

Be human

~ Swisa A ~ 1 Comment

Sometimes things happen when you least expect it.  Life brings along its paths many experiences and opportunities yet it is your decision whether to grab the opportunity, make something of it and live the experience, or just simply go with the flow.  If you spend your days pondering the consequences of your possible actions and do nothing, debating the pros and the cons, then the one thing you can be sure is this:  nothing will get done.  Life will go on as it does and pass by.  To be happy, as in many other things, depend on your own actions.

This morning I listened to a youtube video on Happiness 101 by Harvard Professor Tal Ben-Shahar.  I loved it.

Many of the things he said are things I’ve been pondering about in life as I am sure have many people.   What is it that makes one happy?  Is it money? Is it wealth? The answer isn’t.

Happiness depends mainly on your own actions. To be happy, requires participation and devotion.  You are responsible for your own happiness. No one else is.

Remind yourself of how blessed you are.  Remind yourself of the things that you are grateful for in life.  Think positive.  Exercise.  Take time to be with your family and the people you love.  Allow yourself to be human.  No one is perfect.

Sleep.

Simple isn’t it? Easier said than done.  Good night my dear readers. Be happy.

Future Not Past

~ Swisa A ~ Leave a comment

I can hardly believe the year is almost over already.  In just a few days it will be December and along comes with it Christmas, parties and New Years…Today I write about a quote that has been stuck in my head for weeks and believe it or not, it comes from Kung Fu Panda 2. (I know it’s an animation, but I have to say I think the creators did a lovely job of not only graphics, but the plot and content is also quite thought provoking. )

“It does not matter what your past is, but what you will do with your future.”

Master Shifu said something like this (I don’t remember the exact wording) to Panda when teaching him about “inner peace.”  Despite Panda’s success as a Dragon warrior Master Shifu says one needs to achieve “Inner Peace.” Inner peace is essential for without it, in the face of danger one can lose one’s grounding and fall flat on one’s face.   Inner peace stablizes us and lets us stand ready for whatever happens next, whatever comes to us.

What’s important though is not to let the past hold us down.

Many people and myself included sometimes get caught in the past. This is the way things were, this is how they should be.  We get obsessed with our own pasts, other people’s past and go about getting all flustered about it. We think our past defines who we are.  We believe that we are a product of the past. We think that we cannot change.

However, we are not.  The past does not define who we are.

What is more important is what we make of our future and who we are today.

What is important is what you learn from your past, your experiences and the path you choose for your future.

A robber doesn’t forever have to be a robber. If he realizes this is not the way he wants to live life, he can reinvent himself and find another career that is more honest.  We give them second chances.  In other ways, we can also give ourselves a new life.  Just because a certain event or certain experiences made us feel down and sad, it does not mean that our life will forever have to be that way. It is what Master Shifu says, “What you will do with your future.”

Your future is in your hands. Make it what you want.

It was right here all along

~ Swisa A ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever had one of those moments when you want something, know you have it somewhere, just saw it the other day, but now that you need it, you can’t find it? It’s just not there?  I’m having one of those moments now.  It makes me wonder, if suddenly it is going to pop up out of the blue when I least expect it?  That is usually what happens to me. Days later, “Poof! Here it is! It was right before me all along, but it was hidden by something.”
Now I wonder why it is not there when I first wanted it to be.  Why can’t life be a little simpler?

Maybe it’s because we have to learn to really “see” things from another perspective before what we are looking for comes to us. Before we realize it was there all along.

Sometimes, oftentimes, people spend their lives looking for love, happiness and peace.  They want a happier life, a more fulfilling life.  Some will go through extremes, move countries, build a business empire, maybe even climb mountains, get rich and have all the money in the world in search of happiness. In search of reaching the ‘solution’ that would save them.

Many work so hard they forget to look at the people besides them.  Their families, their relatives, their loved ones, or even their children. Many children are growing up with nannies and daycare centers rather than with their family.  That is modern day life.

Then one day, after all those years of searching, working, trying to find the ultimate ‘solution’ that would make them happy, they find that what they had been looking for was right there besides them. Maybe just there inside of them.   Why didn’t they see this earlier?

For me:

Happiness is internal.

Happiness is appreciating  and being grateful for those around you.

Happiness is being able to do the things you love.

Happiness is being able to smile after just having an ice cream or chocolate. Happiness is living life the way you want to.

Happiness is not expecting. Happiness is being happy when others are happy.

It’s like when the food critic in the animation “Ratatouille” has his favorite ratatouille dish and he is reminded of childhood days. His eyes gleam and he is transported back to happy days.

It’s like when you look out the window to see leaves on a tree rustle in the wind and grass sway.  You can feel nature and its wonders.

It’s like when you are just sitting on a couch watching TV with your family and happy they are all alive and well. It’s like getting excited when you first get a message or call from your crush.

It’s like remembering how it felt to have your first bite of divine chocolate.
If you can look at everything around you with an open mind, like that of a child who is happy at just getting a new pencil or a piece chocolate, then I think we would all be happier human beings.

Have no expectations.

If you can look at what you have around you.  Be grateful for what you have, be happy with what is given, then you will find that life becomes a lot more pleasant.

Didn’t you ever notice that many times the poor street sweeper smiles more often than the rich businessman?  Life’s really a lot about what’s ‘inside’ not ‘outside.’

Yes, search nearby, inside and out before you go searching far and wide.  Maybe what you were just looking for, was right there all along.  It was just hidden from view behind that layer or dust.

The Sweeper

~ Swisa A ~ 1 Comment

On the street where I live, the streets are always clean.   Every morning an old  man, who lives in a little unimposing house in a corner, gets up and sweeps the streets.  I call him “The Sweeper.” He’s not paid to sweep the streets.  He is an inhabitant of the street, yet every morning he sweeps the street for everyone.  He gently moves down rows and rows of houses with broom in hand sweeping away trash, leaves and whatever else is left on the street.   He asks not for recognition, he asks not for notice, he asks not for money.  He sweeps the streets because he wants to.  He sweeps the streets because he has a good heart.

It’s not easy to find a man like him in this modern day where no one wants to do anything for free.  Everything now must be bought, be exchanged, be in response to another good action.  It reminds me of what Thomas Hobbes wrote in the Leviathan about man being innately selfish.  The Sweeper, however, sweeps because he wants to. He is not selfish.

I have not talked to him, but early mornings around 6am when I am rushing out to run, I’d see him already sweeping.  From the looks of his age, he must be many years past retirement.  Perhaps a decade or more.  I assume he started sweeping to keep himself busy, as a form of exercise, but I could be mistaken.  One day, I shall have to park the car and have a chat with him.

I wonder what pushed him to start sweeping. I wonder what his life is like. I wonder what he thinks. I wonder what he was before we all know him as “The Sweeper.”  I wonder if he has any family.  From what I see, his only companions seem to be the dogs that wander around his house and watch out for him while he sweeps.  Some days, I’d see him sitting on the street in front of his house surrounded by the dogs.  They love him.  Dogs know who have a good heart.

I wonder if there ever was a day he wanted to give up and just not get out of bed.   Rain or shine, he
is always there.  He is like a reminder of times past.  A time when Bangkok was less cosmopolitan, less busy, less hectic, and more loving.
I am thankful that on this earth there are men like him.  He reminds us that sometimes life isn’t about always doing things in expectation of returns or compensation.  Life can be about giving.  It’s about doing what gives us pleasure.  He need not be boastful, yet his goodness shines out far and wide.

Thank you Sweeper for reminding us all.  I wish you a pleasant, healthy and good life.

The Kitten Reminder

~ Swisa A ~ 3 Comments

Tonight I am a little contemplative.  I think it’s perhaps because of what I first saw when I got out of the house this morning coupled with the scandals making headline news.   Usually in my usual rush to work, the focus is about getting there on time, getting things done and ignoring all what else that might come between me and my goal.  I get a little frustrated when things don’t go my way.  So when you open the front gate and come face to face with “death” it can
be a little silent reminder on the brevity of life.

Don’t worry, it wasn’t someone by my front gate (if it were, I’d probably be in too much of a shock to write tonight.)

The “death” I saw was that of a young little kitten.   At first glance I thought the little kitten was just having a nap by my neighbour’s house, but upon closer inspection I realized that it wasn’t moving, it wasn’t breathing and that there was dry blood not too far from the
kitten.  The little kitten was gone and lost to this world.  Its life cut short just like that.  One mistaken step out in front of a passing car. A second too soon.

This image brings me back to a particular memory that has been embedded in my mind for a couple of years now.  It’s like a video clip that would not erase.  It’s about a little puppy whose life was taken right before my eyes.  The worst part was that there was nothing I could do about it.  Playing on the pavement, this barely three month old puppy decides to play a game of hide and seek by the wheels of a car that was stuck in traffic.  You probably can tell what happened when the traffic lights turned green.  There I was witnessing all this and completely helpless in my car.  In the space of a minute, the puppy’s life was no more and it ceased to exist.  Just like that. One mistaken decision.

So the kitten and the puppy had a similar fate.  Who knows what our fate will be?

One mistaken step, one mistaken turn, one unexpected move.  Our lives too could be gone in a matter of seconds.  Sometimes when you don’t get what you want or things don’t always go your way,  it isn’t always necessarily a bad thing.  It might even be for the better.  As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining.

As it turns out, those who got to work late on the fateful day of September 11 were the lucky ones.  So when things don’t always go your way, rather than be frustrated and use up all your energy;  I think the best way is to take a deep breath and be reminded of the brevity of life.  Enjoy each and every minute of your life for who knows what will happen next.  See the good things in life.  Be positive.

No one knows what will happen tomorrow.  What you do know is that when life is gone, it can never be taken back.  Not even for a split second.  Death is final. So do what you want to do and say what you want to say before you can’t.

Anger Be Gone

~ Swisa A ~ 1 Comment

The other day I had a chance to go to a temple unlike others in that the monk does not simply chant the buddhist prayers during the funeral, but instead he’ll spend roughly half an hour teaching us some of the philosophies in plain language for all to understand.  I think it’s great and I although the journey there was long and the journey back included wading through the flood and having my car at times turn into a boat, a lot of interesting thoughts remained in mind.  So much so I thought it’d be great to share a little of it here with you today.  It’s about anger.

Now we humans all have emotions. We feel happiness, sadness, fear, anger, jealousy and a zillion other feelings.  Sometimes we feel more than one at the same time and cannot quite distinguish which is which.   Sometimes they get the better of us and start influencing our actions.

It’s how we control those emotions though that make all the difference.   The monk’s example was on “Anger.”  For example, he said, if you light a match, the flame at the end of the match is but a small flame and you can easily distinguish it with a fling of the hand or a little blow.  However if you let the flame catch onto other things, it can grow to be so powerful that it’d burn down houses or even rows of houses.  By that time, a single firetruck would not be sufficient.  You’d need a couple firetrucks and a team of firefighters.

Likewise, if we get angry and cannot control it,  our anger can grow to be so powerful and strong it will overshadow our life and our actions.  We might spend lifetimes seeking revenge or retribution for a remark once heard, or an action once done.   We might kill lives, destroy things around us, or even misplace our anger on those who love us most.    Because of our anger, we do things that have utterly no benefit to our life.  We waste a good portion of our energy feeling “angry” and plotting revenge.  Then in the end, we all die with nothing left but that feeling of “anger.”

Of course it’d be great if we could all just turn off our emotions at a flick of a hand, but it’s something that is achievable with practice.  It’s not easy,  but if you stop, pause, take note of your emotions before it becomes a storm, then perhaps you’d have added a little more happiness to your life.  Count one to ten before you send of some remarks in anger or seek revenge.  Life is so short.  Who knows what will happen tomorrow?  Why waste time being angry when you can be happy?  Look up and smell the roses 🙂 Life is beautiful.