Blessings has been the theme of 2010 and what a way to start the year but in being reminded becauseyouonlyliveonce that it’s time to count your blessings twice-Once in the head and Once as you see in the words that comes from the bottomless pit that is our heart on this post.

1) You Never Know How Big A Difference You Can Make. But Just Do It Anyway.

If there was one thing I learnt this year, it was that you never know how much difference you could make. The results aren’t tangible and the the success isnt countable.But you do it anyway, staring sometimes into the long road not knowing where it leads to or if what you visualize in your mind will turn to reality. And that is faith. The ones that can move mountains and break down walls of doubt. That Full Assurance In The Heart that one act of love can truly move the person it touches into new worlds of possibilities. That the best investment you can give is not the ones you use money to buy or candlesticks to count. It is the power you can give others just by saying I BELIEVE IN YOU. YES YOU CAN. And that power is not in just the words that you say but the actions you inspire. That nudge into the unknown, that leap of faith, the very lessons that you teach. And above all, what makes the most difference aint really the lessons people learn from you or the words that you keep drilling upon them. People will forget all these but they will always remember how you made them feel. And when you make them feel awesome, they do awesome. Their awesome becomes their new average. Thank you @shuums@timsty@mahxueer@limhui@sophieleus@cheryl lim @tricia ang @terence low @jeremy lee @vivien tang @jeryn fok @mahesh for standing up each day to your true everyday greatness. You are an inspiration in my life. And to the many more who will follow these in the path of awesomeness, i am awed by your awesomeness and cant wait to see how all of you will change the world!

2) Your Gift could be your blessing or a curse. I choose to see it as A BLESSING.

Often I have received messages from friends on weekends who beckon me to stop working. Or sometimes a little voice in my head that tells me that my greatest fear is that i am inadequate. But truly, our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure – that we regret the things we didnt do and the opportunities that we didnt jump upon. And this year, i thank both God and the people around me for bestowing me with the blessings that accentuate my gift, for trusting me to deliver and for having faith in me even though i stumble sometimes. I do believe that the greatest gift you could ever get is the faith paid upon you. So thank you @vernie @ashlynes mother @gopal @natalie @shinuankoh @irene @jdlee @eileen @leonard for always believing that i can make a dent in the universe. And to @parents @friends of time immemorial like @weilipang and @melvinliu thanks for the never-ending support, faith and believe. I believe who i am today is because of how you made a differene in my life!

3) Every gift you get, pay it forward.

The difference between a present and a gift is that a present is something you can see with your own eyes, something you play with in the present, to maybe discard it when the next PSP coems out. A gift is something you cant get instant rewards with, you will have to do something with your gift to receive its true returns. Harry was given a wand. Edward and Lucy was given the kingdom. Eustes was given wings to fly and Ferguson and Mourinho football clubs. Look what they did with what they had.With every gift that you get, you may compel to give one back to the person who gave it to you. After all, aint life about exchange, transactions and the ill pay you back and i owe you one mindset. But life would be boring with the follow-the-crowd types. It has always been made more awesome by dare-to-be-different types. Steve Jobs did it with the iphone, Mark Zuckerberg with Facebook and Obama with the Presidency. So I ask of you to give gratitude where it’s do when you receive an intangible gift, a favour, a blessing. Then go out there and bestow it to as many people as you can. And ask them to do the same. Pay it forward. You never know what you will get back. This year, Ive learnt Ive got a lot more back in return. In fact, truly a lot more than I could ever ask for.

So as we step into the new decade, new challenges await us as new hope beckons. And with every challenge is an obstacle as with every new hope a dampener. Harry wouldnt be who he is without Voldermort and Eustes who he is without the dark mist. But just be like the sun. No matter how many bad things happen in the world each and every day, it rises up high up in the sky every waking day. You too have that choice to match the sun in rising up to life’s challenges.

Because you decide each day who you are and what you believe in. What you stand for and what difference you want to make. And true you may stumble sometimes, fall, crash. Face walls, obstacles and naysayers. But with every breath you take and every step you take you will come to know that although time flies, you are always the pilot. And that every second of every day you are given a second chance. To make a dent in the universe, change the world, plant a smile on someone’s face, leave every person and place better than you found it.

Happy Awesome 2011 everybody and this year dont just hope for awesomeness in all you do. Be the AWESOME you want to see in the world. Let YOUR AWESOME BE YOUR NEW AVERAGE.

With ELDD Coaches of 2011, I have already experienced that. Keep the faith as you Transform lives everyday.

I guess our problems are only as big as what we make them out to be. Always remember to keep them small for our spirit and our faith are bigger than we think. And sometimes people around us want us to focus on the negative and breed the limitations of our lives. When you look at the word upside down you ponder why it isnt downsideup instead? Because just perhaps those people who popularised it did not want things to go from down to up but rather made us believe that things that go up must always come down. Popular refrain eh. I challenge you whatever you think think different. Or rather whatever people made you think think differently. We can always be wired differently if we choose to be. Never make another person’s history your destiny. Your destiny that you have to design on your own.

And even if you’re losing faith and your beliefs are shaken, know that the word faith stands for FULL ASSURANCE IN THE HEART (thks nick vujicic) and that FAITH is something you cannot see but tells you everything will be ok. If it’s not okay then it’s not the end. And sometimes we live too much in our heads that we need to start living in our heart. For the mind can take you far, the rest is just your heart.(thanks celine dion-FYI this is the cooler way of citation and footnotes). So keep looking for that light at the end of the tunnel and as you look for it know that what you believe are crafted by the examples you find. If you find yourself in a weary position, it is because your conversation history are littered with examples of you telling yourself you cannot do it or youre not good enough based on what you have been doing. All you have to do is clear the conversation history and imagine yourself doing good-not doing right but doing good-here’s a key difference. Imagine and let your heart run your mind. For when you open your heart to a world of possibilities, you will look at yourself with brand new eyes. And with these eyes catch yourself doing good for too many a time we catch ourselves doing bad. Today do something – let’s stop just looking and start seeing.

And even if people around you are telling you you were born to do some things and you should never leave, I say to you that life is a race-run it the way you want.Stop working in life. Start playing for when you do what you like, the thing that makes you spring out of bed at 4am in the morning with an extra step, that makes you obsessed that’s when your life truly stops and your legacy begins. For then, you are fulfilling your purpose you have in this life-that is to leave every person and place better and happier than you found it. Do what you think is good for you, that makes your heart feel whole and that puts a smile on your face. Never ever ask the question what will make me happy-just be. And you will find yourself doing the things that make you feel awesome all the time.

So remember this (thanks ramesh!) that if you find yourself in darkness and your world is full of shadows, know that for that shadow to be cast, there must have been light in the first place. So keep looking for that light and never give up. Shut that voice at the back of your head and find your voice in the crowd that makes you go wowee. Find the pillars in your life-the ones that makes you stand up tall and straight within you. Your convictions and your beliefs that shall not be shaken come what may. We dont live long enough to live another’s life (thks Steve Jobs) so let us lead our own lives, instead of just living or existing.

Every step you climb another mountain (thanks kara diguoardi) and just believe. If you can’t go out into the garden and find a bee-they’re probably buzzing around a leaf. bee leaf. it ain’t supposed to be rational and logical. Galileo believed the world was round even though the whole world told him it was flat and he had no hard visual evidence. So believe is something we can’t see but gives us future rewards. And if you still can’t just MAKE BELIEVE. Make yourself believe that you believe. For when you look at the world of the make believe, you think of Disneyland and how it has inspired the world to never grow up and lose sight of our dreams. Make Believe. Yes You Can.

For Fairy Tales aren’t suppoed to tell us that dragons exist. They tell us that dragons CAN be beaten and be made into dragon fruit.(Thanks GK Chesterton).

And as for the 3 of you i am sure you know who you are. I just want to say You Inspire me in more than a million ways than you can imagine and even if you feel lost, remember you can always find a voice. For if you lose your voice, there’s always strepsils or pee pah kow but within a few days you will find it once more. Be the VOICE. Change the world one decible at a time.

This is for you . A Food for thought from Adrian Tan, lost in my treasures of wonders but an apt reminder that each of us has a story to tell…and that the only way for that story to unfold is for us to keep writing…even if we have to do it in a different way….

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You think she’s insane. Until, one day, you notice that she’s taking pictures of the license plates of the cars her child gets into.

Because you look. But you do not see.

And she walks out the shop with bags full of cat food. You think she’s some crazy cat lady until you find out, she has no cats.

Because you eat. But you do not taste.

It’s been a while since their last album but he assures you, he’s doing just fine these days, white flecks in his nostrils. Then he asks you if he can spend the night on your couch, even though it stinks.

Because you sniff. But you do not smell.

And they say “Just OK” when you ask them how school was. Then you wonder what they’re hiding until you find their diary and the last entry reads “I wish you’d give me some privacy.”

Because you listen. But you do not hear.

And they’ve got a bruise over their eye and you run the tips of your fingers over it and ask them how it happened. You believe them. Until it happens again.

Because you touch. But you do not feel.

And they walk past you everyday, one million stories, each waiting to be told. Waiting for you to ask.

Because you live. But very few, love.

(pleasefindthis.blogspot.com)

Every time you act and every time you respond, ask yourself do you exist or do you live?

I say to you to follow your dreams, you’ve got to lead your life.

And give every moment your personal best.

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDID THING.

One of the world’s most effective people, Stephen Covey, once wrote that Everyday Greatness is a primary form of greatness that resides inside each and everyone of us. Not the skill or tenacity that made Steve Jobs, Michael Jackson or Donald Trump into household names. But the ordinary things others do for us each day, the very things we sometimes take for granted. It is the persevering father who diligently works two jobs just to put food on the table, or our kind mother who always cleans up our mess for us no matter what we do. The farmer who conscientiously nurtures his crop despite the elements of nature that confronts him or the David Beckham-wannabes who spend hours at end practicing the free kicks on an empty field even when his teammates are gone and the floodlights have shut. So today ask yourself how can you unleash your greatness within? To show up in life at your personal best. To make a difference one life at a time.

For at the heart of everyday greatness is this simple concept called love. What brought each and every one of us together at any point in time of our lives are four letters  : FATE. But another 4 letters will determine where we go from here : LOVE. And when you love someone, you always have that HOPE in your heart that never dies. That FAITH that everything will turn out okay even if your life is hanging by a thread. So wherever you go, go with all your heart. The mind can take you far. The rest is just your heart. With enough love in this world, all things become possible. Look at the world’s most inspirational  people. Dick Hoyt. Nick Vujicic. Barack Obama. Correspond their everyday greatness with the love for his son, the love for humanity, and the love for change.

Cos after all my friend once told me, who doesn’t love presents? The wonderfully crafted birthday card, the hard to find limited editions, the once in a lifetime girl’s best friend. But what about those we cant’s see with our naked eye? The forgotten stories of the past that begs for a sheer light, the ones who have been faithfully by our side without any demand for recognition-our unsung heroes. So today you have a choice. To allow the dust to continue piling itself up or to unwrap the present of the past to make it their present of the present.

This Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day, know that the love for family and that special one is good. But why stop love there? Spread the love and do everything that you do out of love. Cliché? You may think so but here’s the big idea-people say things are cliché only because they know deep in their heart that these things are true. So today spread the love amongst the bread of people. Do every thing with all your heart. Open your heart to a world of possibilities. Because when there is great love, there will always be miracles.

(written for the Adam Khoo Newsletter : a writing debut. Look out for it!)

1. Make every day like a HAPPY NEW YEAR- A New Beginning and Our Spirits AWESOME BEYOND MEASURE

2. Seek Greatness, and not just Goodness in People.

3. Walk, Run, Jump More. Cos if Success is Baby Steps then you will have more steps closer to success!

4. Surprise Yourself Each Day. With the choices you make. If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.

5. Sleep Early. The More Dreams You Have, the Earlier You Can Wake Up to make your dreams come true.

6. Appreciate. The Act of Love is Giving. Which also begins the act of receiving.

7. Grow. Pick 2 People to shower your blessings (knowledge, experience,skills,faith,belief,hope). Tell them to change the world one person at a time. See what happens. This is called a LOVE game. You Shower your love and see where it goes.around the world.

8.Create. Something new that will totally change the world. Even if you can only think of one response of an idea you’re on the right track. One step closer to changing the world. It all begins with a spark.

9.Be The Friend You Want to See in the World. You are most like your top 5 friends. For your friends to find joy in the world, show them joy. For you friends to find inspiration, show them your inspired look. Lead the Change.

10. Find the IT word that defines your excellence. For Ris Low, it’s BOOMZ. For Barney Stinson it’s AWESOME. For Obama it’s CHANGE. What’s yours? Find it, Create It, Use It to change your existence from mediocre to a life of excellence. Today.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Lives.

The little boy had always wished that he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult for him to understand why he could not fly. There were birds at the zoo that were much bigger than he, and they could fly. “Why can’t I?” he thought. “Is there something wrong with me?” he wondered.

There was another little boy who was crippled. He had always wished that he could walk and run like other little boys and girls. “Why can’t I be like them?” he thought.

One day the little orphan boy, who had wanted to fly like a bird, ran away from the orphanage. He came upon a park where he saw the little boy, who could not walk or run, playing in the sandbox.

He ran over to the little boy and asked him if he had ever wanted to fly like a bird.

“No,” said the little boy who could not walk or run. “But I have wondered what it would be like to walk and run like other boys and girls.”

“That is very sad,” said the little boy who wanted to fly. “Do you think we could be friends?” he said to the little boy in the sandbox.

“Sure,” said the little boy.

The two little boys played for hours. They made sand castles and made really funny sounds with their mouths. Sounds which made them laugh real hard. Then the little boy’s father came with a wheelchair to pick up his son. The little boy who had always wanted to fly ran over to the boy’s father and whispered something into his ear.

“That would be OK,” said the man.

The little boy who had always wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new friend and said, “You are my only friend and I wish that there was something that I could do to make you walk and run like other little boys and girls. But I can’t. But there is something that I can do for you.”

The little orphan boy turned around and told his new friend to slide up onto his back. He then began to run across the grass. Faster and faster he ran, carrying the little crippled boy on his back. Faster and harder he ran across the park. Harder and harder he made his legs travel. Soon the wind just whistled across the two little boys’ faces.

The little boy’s father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little crippled son flapping his arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of his voice,

“I’M FLYING, DADDY. I’M FLYING!”
Mailing List Music Player

The naysayers and dont-do-thaters may constantly be the voices you hear in your life. But dont let these voices be the voices of you. Find your voice. It’s hidden in a secret compartment in your heart. The one that sings and dances when you reminisce about your good times, your hopes and your dreams. Look in the mirror and see your truest best self. Then let you fly. Like a coccon breaking into a butterfly. Because today, you can shine. Dont worry about the darkness. For it is when it is the darkest that the stars are the brightest:)

2. . Flying kites gives such a big idea about living life. Like how in life you have to tighten your grip and sometimes you just have to let go. Let how you can always fly your dreams up high and if they fall down on the floor, all you have to do is fly it up high again. And mostly for you to soar to your mountain tops, you will always need to run against the wind.

3.That in life we always seek to do the BIG things, not realising that life is made of the little things. When you went to look for the A to Z photos you understood how to look at the finer details of life, the little things of life and not just going about your big dreams. Like the happiness you find drinking a sip of coffee by the roadside or the warmth of sunshine every morning as you wake up. The A-Z is just a metaphor of looking at the little things, the finer details and start being great at them.

4.The greatest things that made your day, or made you smile in the camp wasnt the good food or fantastic accomodation. They were the little things : the landrover rides, getting dirty in the mud, the ecstasy of catching crabs, cheering for the ostrich giving birth, flying a kite and feeling the wind beneath your wings, knowing your teachers would walk the extra mile with you. Life is really made of the simple things. Count your blessings.

5.There was one girl- you know who you are aye. Who made a dent in my universe. Just because you never gave up on the ketupat. Kept asking for the coconut leaves so that you could master the art. Kept on going. That’s the mark of mastery. They say to be a genius at something you got to keep on going for 10 000 hours. The key is to keep on going, to keep on practising, to tell the coconut leaves of your life, YOU HAVE GROWN ALL YOU WANT. But I’m still growing and one day I’ll weave you into a beautiful ketupat! YES I CAN.

6.During the Dance A Mania activity, you really let your hair down and truly were yourselves. Even with the camera rolling. No fake pretenses. You truly let your inner child out and you enjoyed each other’s company. That’s how you should be in your everyday lives-authentic to one another, letting your hair down, letting each other see your funny and silly moments and knowing we are all but human.  Be yourself each day. There’s no better candidate. Life is a Dance-do the Twist.

7.Most importantly, I was reminded with what true council or student leadership was all about. The mass dances and committees. The bonds formed and the laughters shared. That when you sit in a circle nobody stands above each other , everybody knows that we are all in this together. 10 years from now when you look back, you would say those were the best years in your life. You will. Because for me, it is already 10 years later and I now look back to the 15th Council I was in and say WHOOSAY!

It’s not about adding years to your life, it’s about adding life to your years. Thanks for the wondeful experience and noMADic race in Desaru would be truly the start of something new. A journey of possibilities. Thanks to the pioneers, YJ noMADs and coaches:)

The most inspiring speech about education and taking responsibility of your life. Wonder why there is some resistance to it. But as always, even though circumstances may be in the contrary, the time is always right to do what is right. To start taking responsibility for our lives. So that we can create a better tommorrow. To ensure success is not a given right only to a few, but to everyone. To stop giving excuses about your circumstances, and to start giving voice to your dreams. Your destiny depends on you today. Start designing it.