Today is 1/1/11. 10 days later it will be 11/1/11. 10 months
later it will be 1/11/11 and 10 days after that it will be 11/11/11.
The 1s’ looks like someone up there is wagging his finger at
us. We pollute the earth, fight each other, the wealthy live off the sufferings
of the poor, countries with more weapons
are feared, there are more holy men and promises of wealth and heaven. Greed
seems to be the creed.
But if we stop to follow this wave we will be left behind
and be servant to the rich.
What to do eh?
Somebody sent me this story, so I will share this here.
BTW, any likeness or similarity to anyone here, there or anywhere is purely coincidental and is not meant to illustrate any behaviour, opinion, whatsoever.
The Turtles
A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last!
For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was
chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.
Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years…six years… then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, ‘See! I knew you wouldn’t wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.’
[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.]
This is a good catalyst for New Year’s direction.. before we start to resign to “fate”, and say that there is nothing much we can do about it, lets hold our horses. of course whether this year will be better or not, your guess is as good as mine.
But i feel that we should have clear direction; any direction whether ‘all roads leads to rome or not’. So this is where i like to add a bit more ‘preachy’ stuff to it; the desire to have no desire is still a desire
It is better we have a proactive desire than an inertia desire. If our fore fathers or grand fathers and grand mothers didn’t work hard and generate economy, we the next generation will not be able to say that “enough is better”.
what we do or didn’t do, will direct affect the next generation, our posterity, our business, etc.
what we do this year will affect next year, what harm we do to the environment and don’t join TS in his organic farming agenda will affect the condition of the environment at the time of the next cycle.
wealth and poverty will recycle or ripple on, depend on whether we are strategic or not. trying to take side on either rich life or emptied life is like trying to decide between the devil you know and the devil you don’t.
though we have worked hard and struggled all our lives, we don’t want to just live for ourself, we still have wealth of experience, resources and wisdom which others can take advantage of, if you wish to light your candle in places where it is still dark, and the devil is unrecognisable and folks are suffering unnecessarily.
lots of good opportunities to live interesting lives in the new year and it doesn’t have to make you poor and others rich!
Hi Terence,
Well said.
If we follow Gordon Gekko (“Greed is good”), than we will have continual crises like the ’08 GFC. Better to say “Enough is better”.
For some of the rich, it is nevr enough. But all of us have to make a stand and decide if what we have is enough, and to live accordingly. Like some wise man once said, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness (Confucius?…whoever)”.
It always begins with us. Anybody else is irrelevant.
If we want to change our lifestyle, resist rampant and unthinking materialism and consumerism, support the ‘Green movement’, help our neighbours, be more charitable, we don’t have to talk about what others are doing, we need to ‘just do it’.
We can’t do everything ourselves, nor should we. It is humbling to realise that we cannot achieve much but empowering to realise that we can always start with what we can do ourselves, in our milieu, with our friends.
Before I get accused of being ‘preachy’, let me wish my friends and others a “Happy, Prosperous and Contented 2011”.
Hi Tian Soo,
I guess there is not much we can do, if the rich wants to be richer. I have seen many rich people, and to them, it is never enough If you ask me, I will leave them alone.
Yes, there is so much that we can do to bring the world to its natural state. But, here I guess we do it at our own pace.
What will I do? I think I will have less chewing gum, recycle more of the plastic containers we buy, maybe eat less, drink less, take the bus more frequently, use more gas in the home and do more sharing.
When it comes to building less chimneys, mine for less minerals and ores, and poluting the rivers, I would think it is wise to support but leave it to the governments and Noble prize winnners to do more action.
Terence Seah
Life is about making choices. Do we want to continue to be greedy (human nature?) or do we decide to have less greed, less materialism, less salt, less oil…
I have a friend who gave up a well-paid job to go full time into Buddhist chanting and temple work. She looks very different now from her career days…so thin, so plain..unattractive – BUT she has SERENITY! Nothing worldly interests/upsets her anymore.
I think she’s experiencing ‘heaven’ on earth… :)
2-ct worth.
TS
Greed is indeed the root of many discontentment.
In the beginning, men probably have few basic needs and Life’s simple pleasures come w/out any pressures. A generous and blissful lifestyle.
Recently, I read a fwded mail which said “Every night, someone thinks about you, you mean the world to someone. You are special and unique, Someone you don’t even know – loves you” ..wow. Dreams must be a man’s best friend – no TLC needed. Before I go to bed tonight, I will go to Youtube and watch the slender lady singing “One day I’ll fly away”.. so delightfully romantic. Nice to turn away from the grievances of the world sometimes.
My wishes for 2011 are : the Nations of the World exist peacefully together, People are kind to one another and Everyone makes an effort to save the environment, including all the creatures of the world. Oh one more.. that Cars are cheaper to own and run in Spr. esp. for Silverhairs.
HC
“What to do eh?”
Buy 4D lah. Better thsn visiting the casino. But no assurance that “1111” will come out.
To interprete we need the wisdom of someone enlightened. Sam Huat Huat Huat, can help or not? How about his lovely assistant, Doll Lim? Buy 1, 11, 111 tickets of “1111” on 1/1/11 and/or 11/01/11 and/or 11/10/11 and/or 11/11/11? Or whatever?
Wishing all a very Happy, Prosperous and Contented 2011.
PS. No copyright on the numbers. Anyone can buy unless bookie says “ang jee”.