Tag Archives: family time

Three Wishes for the New Year

11 January 2018

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I know January is almost half-way, but I hope this New Year’s wishes are not too late. My wishes for you, yes you who are reading this, are:

1. To remain in good health.

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Being healthy though is not an accident. It is a constant choice of having healthy habits and lifestyle. It is well-known that the top new year’s resolution is about getting healthier. We also know that membership to local gyms spikes in January. Unfortunately, some of the people who were so eager to “live healthy” at the beginning of the year fall off the wagon, so to speak, in a few months or even weeks after their resolution.

Joining a local health club might help motivate you, but it is not really needed to stay healthy, as there are a thousand other ways to do it. The key is sticking to whatever resolution you made.

2. To experience warmth and love in your family.

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In today’s society, in our pursuit of our dreams, sometimes we forget the more important things in this life. What does it mean to have a job promotion, or a better pay, or a bigger house, or a more luxurious ride, if our relationships with our spouse, or our children, or with our family in general are wanting?

Invest more time with your family, for that’s what really matters. Nobody in their deathbed wishes that they should have spent more time in the office or that they could have had a bigger TV. It’s the failed relationships that they are regretful of.

3. To live a life with a purpose.

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To have a meaningful existence, we should have a purpose in this life. Whether that be to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, or to save the Galapagos penguins, or to be the best shoe repairman in the world, or be the best dad to your children are all good ambitions.

That purpose in life cannot be decided by somebody else. You have to determine that for yourself.

Actually the above wishes and aspirations are for myself. But I’m glad to share them with you. May we all have a prosperous new year.

 

(*all photos taken with an iPhone)

Treasure in the Junk Mail

20 February 2011

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buried in junk mail

Few days ago, my wife cleared out all the letters, and junk mail in our table. As we received a lot of materials in the mail, most of them junk mail, they just piled up in our counter. Most of the time, I will separate the bills from the rest of the mail, and put it to my important mail pile. (Yes, all I am searching for in the mail are bills!) How funny that the only “important” letters we receive nowadays are bills.

As there are some personal information on the letters and even in the junk mail, my wife decided to shred them before she toss them away. As she was sorting the pile of papers and envelopes, she found an envelope with a check inside that amounts to more than $1,500 named to us. Yes, more than $1500! The check was sent to us more than 4 months ago. It was from our previous bank lender and it was given back to us, when we refinance our home to a new lender. We have mistakenly stacked it in the junk mail pile.

I cringe at the thought that we almost shred  and throw away  a nice sum of money. We have never thought that there’s something precious buried in that pile of junk letters. And we never even knew that we had it.

Sad to say, there are also other precious things in our homes that we are not aware of, or worse, pay no attention to. Treasures that are buried in the clutter of our busy lives. Valuable moments that are stacked upon by our preoccupation and distraction to “junk mails.” Constant deadlines, overtime at work, games and amusements, TV, computers, and other forms of entertainments heap over and bury this simple treasures.

A quiet family meal time together, a moment reading with your child, tutoring them with their homework, or time just playing with your children — these are the treasures I am talking about.

My son just entered the room with a chessboard in hand. I think I should finish this piece and heed my own advice.