Live Life With No Regrets!

I've always known that it's either all or nothing for God. We give him everything in our lives to him or not. We can't hand over 99% of our lives to him and keep 1% of our lives for our own pleasure.

But a revelation just struck me.

God is interested in 100% of our lives too.

He isn't just interested in whether we pray or give tithes and offerings or in singing hymns or songs or being theologically right or whether we have been evangelising.

We assume then that God is only interested in the spiritual part of our lives.

God is interested in 100% of our lives. Unlike other mortals, He can give us 100% attention 100% of the time.

He's interested in our physical lives, whether we eat, sleep, and have a good sex life.

He's interested in our work, our hobbies, our enjoyment.

He's interested in everything we do too. Whether brushing our teeth, or putting on our shoe, or taking the lift, or riding the escalator. Even the most insignificant moments of our lives that we think are unimportant to him he is giving us 100% attention. He actually enjoys it when we are playing games on our Xbox 360 too! When we crack a joke, whether it is to an audience of one or even no-one when we do it only in our minds or in the mirror, he's laughing at it too! And he enjoys the joke! When we sing in the shower, he's enjoying our singing too. When we sweep the floor, or clear the dishes, he appreciates it.

This idea bears more thinking...

He's there when we choose between the red or the blue shirt. (Whether it has any eternal consequences, that's entirely another matter, and you know, perhaps it does, that red shirt may save your life.) But right at that moment in time, that point in eternity if there is nothing else that matters, then he is interested in our choice. We can actually ask Him, if we are troubled, whether He would prefer the red or the blue and whether we look fat in it.

God is interested when we gain 2 kilograms of weight.

He's even there when we clean our belly button lint.

Because there cannot be any other alternative. God cannot be interested in 80%, or 99% of our lives. Either God is not interested at all or God is interested in 100% of our lives.

God isn't just interested in whether we work hard and respect our boss. He's also interested in whether our boss respects us and deals fairly with us. (The reason why a lot of teaching focuses on our attitudes and what we do, is because our locus of control is only us, not the other person, but God is concerned just as much about the other person and he can do something about it.)

God isn't just interested in whether we respect our parents, he's also interested in whether our parents love us and respect us too.

God isn't just interested in whether we love others, but also in whether other people love us as well.

When I get shafted by others, he's interested in me and my reaction as well as the people doing the shafting.

When I win, he's celebrating with me as well as being sympathising for the losers. And when I lose, he's also supporting me and celebrating with the winner.

In a race, he wants everyone of us to race to win. Life isn't a zero sum game for God.

It's a mystery at work. I've been thinking about God's silence during suffering that we don't understand. But if we write it off that "God is interested in more important things". Then taken to the extreme, we become deists. If we say to ourselves, "God has better things to do than to bother with me", we start to believe then that God created the world then forgot about it. Why? Because the world, no, the universe is so insignificant when compared to God. Surely God has better things to do than to bother with the universe.

(Of course, the other extreme is when we are narcissistic and believe that God is only interested in us.)

God is interested in us 100% of the time, 100% of our lives. (The problem is we don't know how or in which way at times. But I know that he accepts us, warts and all.)

Posted by Nico at 5:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some things can be delayed, sweeping and mopping the floor can be delayed. Because if you decrease the frequency of some chores, the amount of work is still the same. If I don't make up my bed today, it's still the same amount of work tomorrow. So decreasing the frequency actually lessens the amount of work.

However some things cannot be delayed. Not doing your accounts, not doing your homework. Delaying some things only causes it to pile up. As compared to sweeping and mopping the floor or making your bed, doing the dishes is a chore that cannot be delayed. The faster it is done, the less of a burden it becomes, not just physically but also mentally. Having too many things on your to-do list burdens your thoughts with things like "I must do this, do that", leaving you with less peace.

Posted by Nico at 6:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pile of Receipts
Originally uploaded by nicodemus_chan.

It's easy to at least keep your receipts each day and spend 15 minutes updating your financial software like Microsoft Money or Quicken than to wait for a week or longer.

Trying to enter it all in once a month is just too much. Even after 3 days, we can tend to forget what sort of things we paid for, a burger here, a snack there. If we don't get a receipt, quickly jot it down on the back of another receipt or of a scrap of paper.

Posted by Nico at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There is a currently a feud in the Singapore blogosphere between the two biggest bloggers.

Wendy Cheng a.k.a. Xiaxue (http://xiaxue.blogspot.com) versus Dawn Yang (http://www.dawnyang.com).

Without taking sides, my observation is that the problem of being a blogger or more generally a public figure, whether on TV or the Internet is that you can be trapped into the persona that you have created.

Xiaxue is trapped in the persona of the bitchy, critical, angsty and immature teen/twenty something person that she is. That's what readers of her blog go there to read. People don't go to her blog to read about musings on the purpose of life and how to make the world a better place.

You can argue that she isn't trapped but she is merely just being herself. That what you read is her. But blogs being blogs, they are also what we want to project to the public, the image we create for ourselves, whether it is of a happy go lucky person or the manic depressive.

Being a blogger means we are revealing our thoughts and feelings towards the world. and we take a risk when we do that. Blogging gives us the opportunity to voice ourselves in this manic world, to express ourselves. But what happens when we write something that is immature or foolish or just plain wrong?

I think that there are some things that we should keep to ourselves. Even God keeps secrets from us. There's no need to tell everyone how we feel about someone else. Bitching about someone online reflects more on the character of the bitcher than the bitchee.

We often don't realize that in cyberspace our thoughts and views are there for the whole world to see including potential employers, business partners, friends and family.

There are some posts here on my blog that when I think of it reflects something of me 3-4 years ago that was different. And I thought of removing those posts.

However, for me, I'll leave them there for now. Because I want to use my blog more of a record of how I have changed through the years. I want my blog to have the theme of self-development, that we all undergo change, that when we look back at our entries we will see how we have matured, how some of our goals and feelings and thoughts were immature. Yet also there is treasure in reading back some of our decisions and insights that have changed the course of our lives. I am both ashamed, embarassed and amazed reading some of my personal journal entries.

Posted by Nico at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. (Prov 26:4) and right after that: Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. (Prov 26:5)

It seems at first glance that the Bible is contradictory in this sense. 2 verses contradicting each other, and one following the other.

One easy way to explain it is to use 2 common English sayings:

Look before you leap and He who hesitates is lost.

Both are contradictory, yet we know they are true. It's the wisdom to know the difference that is important.

The writer of Proverbs knew exactly what he was doing by putting those verses next to one another. He knew that life had paradoxes and was using these two sayings to illustrate the point. Both sayings are right. It's the circumstances that dictate how to apply it. The meta meaning is that "somehow, you'll still lose when talking to a fool". It's something like a Catch-22 situation.

Do a search for paradox in my blog, and you will find many examples that I have observed. It's because life isn't one dimensional.

So then, is the best way to "win" an argument with a fool is to try to avoid one much as possible?

Posted by Nico at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If I flip a fair coin 5 times, and 5 times in a row it comes out heads, what are the odds of it coming out heads again?

The answer is 1/2. Past events do not affect the probability at all.

In the same way, what happens in our past doesn't dictate our future. If we have failed over and over again, it doesn't mean we are doomed to failure.

We have just as much opportunity to succeed each day as any other man. It's just the choice we make and what we define as success and failure.

All we have to do, is know that each day our success is to do what we have to do each day. That's all.

For an alcoholic, it's getting through the day sober. For some of us, it's just managing our time. For another, it's negotiating a business deal. For some, just living is a struggle. For a grumpy person, saying words of encouragement is an achievement.

Let's live each day working towards our own individual success each day. Let us pray that God will give us each day our daily bread.

Posted by Nico at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been watching beauty pageants probably since I was, oh, 3 years old. It used to be a favourite program to watch on TV with my family, commenting on the contestants, especially deriding our own home contestants from Malaysia. (Why are contestants from Malaysia or Singapore not really that pretty?!)

Last year's Ms. Universe was a good one for Asian contestants. Two Asians were in the final five with my favourite Ms. Korea missing out because of her interview answer. Japan's Riyo Mori flew the flag for Asian contestants by winning it.

The program has just started with the final 15 announced. I doubt that the winner will be an Asian this year. There are two, Ms. Vietnam (most probably due to host nation favouritism), and Ms. Korea (they misannounced the country!) Ms. Japan making it. None of them are really dazzling. So my bet is that the winner will be a Latina, Ms. Colombia by first glances.

Swimsuit:

Ms. Venezuela: Looks good, very composed, right balance of confidence and femininity.
Ms. Kosovo: Her hair looks like big bun. what's this the 80's?
Ms. Mexico: Very confident, good eye contact.
Ms. Vietnam: I detect slight nervousness in front of the home crowd.
Ms. South Africa: Too aggressive.
Ms. Australia: Flirty catwalk, but a bit too thin. I can see her ribs.
Ms. Japan: Her hair style doesn't suit her. May be 1-2 pounds too heavy.
Ms. Dominican Republic: A bit too flirty.
Ms. Italy: Fine, but no X factor.
Ms. Colombia: Well composed.
Ms. Russia: Teeth are too big.
Ms. Hungary: Looks like a taller version of Hayden Panettiere.
Ms. Czech Republic: Could be in the top 10.
Ms. USA: Definitely a Top 10. I think she could be a Top 5.
Ms. Spain: Looks like a man in disguise.

9:55AM
So far, so good. Looking at the contestants, I think Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Colombia, Mexico will make it to the final five.

Top 10: Kosovo, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, USA, Dominican Republic, Russia, Italy, Venezuela.

I'm right so far, looking at it, I think Ms. Venezuela is far better. So she's my favourite right now. But everything depends on the interview question for the final 5. It's the sudden death round of beauty pageants. Ms. Mexico also seems good for the title.

10:10AM
Evening Gown.
Kosovo: Again, her humungous hair style detracts from the rest of her face or body. Her gown looks like a giant clam shell over her chest.
Australia: Pretty, but not striking. Could look like any girl you find walking on the street.
Spain: She gives a much more softer look, and less of a man this time. Better but not great.
Mexico: A very daring evening gown with a flesh coloured see through upper part. also very good.
Colombia: Very confident again, acknowledging the crowd with a a slight nod and eye contact.
USA: Oh $#!&. Not again! This year's Ms. USA slipped again! Jerry had to call her name twice and when she came out she slipped. She tried to save it by giving a clap getting up. But that's it. She's out. An 8.0xx score.
Dominican Republic: A slow walk, trying hard to look alluring but failing. And what is her dress? Looks like some floor mosaic.
Russia: Looks too airy in her gown.
Italy: Nothing much to shout about.
Venezuela: Very confident, but may be too relaxed twirling her skirt around. This a beauty pageant, not your debutante ball.

Ms USA is putting on a very brave front, I can't see a hint of her breaking down, but inside it must be oh so painful. She knows she's blown it.

And now the side prizes:
Ms. Congeniality: El Salvador. (World Peace! Comes to mind... :)
Best Costume: Thailand. (Her Muay Thai costume makes me wonder if she's a lady-boy instead, reminds me of the movie "Beautiful Boxer")

10:32
Top 5: Venezuela, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Russia.

Am I right or am I right? 4 Latinas and I was correct in my picks.

Colombia: Judge 4, Jennifer Hawkins: If you could go back in time, if you could change a moment in your past what would it be? In my life... it's been a wonderful life for me, there's nothing I could ever change, ... everything perfect. (She was caught off guard with this question and her reply seemed guarded and ungenuine. Who has a perfect childhood?)

Venezuela: Judge 7: Do you have it that men or women have it easy in life? And why? Men go straight. Women go in curves. (Trying to be witty, but the joke didn't seem to be pulled off)

Dom. Republic: Donald Trump Jr. Didn't catch the question. Her answer had something to do with sacrifices and her mother. Seems to be banking on sympathy for her single parent childhood.

Mexico: When is a woman truly satisfied? A woman can be satisfied when there is a balance between work, family and community.

Russia: Judge 6: Is there still discrimination against women and what can be done about it? Women have become smarter and stronger, a woman can have a successful career and have children. In our time, women can be stronger.

Ms Russia seemed to have the best answer for the question. Sad to say, I don't seem to like her. Maybe Mexico could do it or the Dominican Republic, but I'm not sure whether the answer was relevant to the question.

10:55AM
Finally, the winners:
4th Runner Up: Mexico (shucks!)
3rd Runner Up: Russia
2nd Runner Up: Dominican Republic.
1st Runner Up: Colombia

Congratulations to Venezuela... another winner from the land where beauty pageants are an industry.... Not really my first choice, her interview answer didn't pull it off for me... oh well.

Posted by Nico at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today, I am reminded of this quote (paraphrased):

Murder may be be a lesser sin than unforgiveness; because the former may have been done in a moment of heated passion but the latter brewed long and intentionally in our hearts.

Posted by Nico at 1:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

At each moment, ask yourself, what do I want to do? And how fast can I do it? Don't do random. Be like Jason Bourne, always have a purpose and intention.

Pay attention to your surroundings, what's happening, make everything a game. Even brushing your teeth. How fast can I brush it? How many minutes did I use to wash up today? It seems ridiculous, but that is the first step towards an autotelic self.

Posted by Nico at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The above is my weight chart. I will be updating this chart from time to time to view my weight loss progress.

Note to self: Update the Javascript links once the library has been upgraded from beta status.

Posted by Nico at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It isn't so much an action movie, nor a comedy but tries to be more of a dramatic movie. It tries to pack so much within such a small time (barely 1 1/2 hours) that there is hardly time for many jokes. (You can count them on one hand.)

If you don't know, the movie had to go through additional shooting due to concerns about certain scenes. Therefore the story didn't seem to gel together and it comes out like a patchwork of many things combined together.

I still feel that the concept is good enough for a sequel, but hopefully they will fine tune the direction and editing.

My verdict: 3 stars out of 5 (I expected better from Will Smith after his performance in I Am Legend)

Posted by Nico at 3:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It just happened today that I realized that we do a disservice to God if we don't use our talents. We may think of our talents as "useless", "just a hobby", "it'll never go anywhere".

After seeing a trailer of the latest Disney film, I then searched for a song from Wall-E, At Last by Etta James.

Coincidentally, it led me to the following clip:

Just listen to the judges' first impressions.

Terry Fator below was a ventriloquist who at one point performed in a 1000 seat theatre for an audience of one!

Talk about discouragement.

Below is another clip that I guarantee will blow you away from his participation in "America's Got Talent".

There's one thing to take from this real life story. If you have talent and know it. Don't give up. Let your light shine!

Read his wikipedia entry to find out whether he won.

Posted by Nico at 4:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tired of having maids that need rest?
Originally uploaded by mr brown.

I find it appalling that this basic human right is denied to a member of your own household (or are they even considered a machine rather than a human being?)

The following links from the BBC, and International Herald Tribune. highlight the foreign reaction to such a practice in Singapore (not given much press coverage in Singapore of course.)

The excuse given is that if you give them a day off, they may go off on their own and fool around and get pregnant.

If that's the case, how about we lock up our children at homes, since if they go off on their own, they may fool around get injured, mix around with the wrong crowd, become gangsters, or get banged themselves.

What about employees? We shouldn't give our office workers 5 day work week. My what could they be doing on their day offs? Actually enjoying themselves?

The bullshit answer that the government gives is that of using a convenient example of some families having someone needing constant care and attention, like an invalid parent. I think that that is wrong. (What about making it mandatory for a day off in households without invalid members of the household then?)

It implies that out of 7 days a week, the family members can't take a single day off to take care of their invalid parent/child etc. How convenient, to wipe their hands of responsibility and pass it to someone else. Maids are domestic help, to help a household, not to take over what is a persons rightful responsibility. I find this a reflection of the ugly Singaporean attitude, everything must be done for my convenience, everything must be done to my liking, my needs, whims and desires come first. The ugly Singaporean is like a pampered brat who wants someone to do everything for him or her.

I was reading Deuteronomy 5:7-12, (the 10 commandments) and the verse that stood out was verse 14 which said that the sabbath also applies to your servants "that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do."

Posted by Nico at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Makes you wonder, how beautiful people really are...

Part 1:

Part 2:

Posted by Nico at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)