… Watch the sunset on a beach. Watch the waves hit the shore. Absorb in their sounds and fury. These are a form of meditation, according to Breathwork India.
Meditation is not what you think (Photo by Samuel Silitonga on Pexels.com)
When I went for a meditation retreat, I sat on a chair most of the times. I had problems with my knees then. The guru told me I can meditate even when sleeping!
I can understand why I felt so peaceful for hours doing my pottery works! It was my solace, especially when I was feeling down.
“To let go does not mean to get rid of. To let go means to let be. When we let be with compassion, things come and things go on their own” – Jack Kornfield
Mother sand daughter (Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com)
“My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.
If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”… Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep.
When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl?
When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way… remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day…
… the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.
If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you.
And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked.
When those days come, don’t feel sad… just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared.
With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you… my darling daughter.”- Unknown
Karuna and metta (Photo by Diego Madrigal on Pexels.com)
I used to be very active doing voluntary works. I don’t seek them. Somehow, one gets drawn to these activities. “Can you help us with this cancer awareness project?” “Would you like to sit in our committee?”
When my son became unwell during his adolescence period, I slowed down these works. Because charity begins at home.
There was a time when I used to ask this question: “Why me”?, “Why my son?” I meditate. I read a lot trying to understand life purposes. It had been a long journey.
“I don’t understand how you can be so patient with him!”
One will, when one happens to reach this bridge…
******
Quotes-
Compassion is a feeling of concern for others who are suffering and therefore makes a person want to do something to help. In Buddhism, compassion is called karuna.
Another one of the Four Sublime States is metta, or loving kindness. It is important as Buddhists want to develop this quality in order to help others to be free from suffering.
There are always complaints about those running the country. One can feel the anger and disgust in them!
leaders deciding what to do (Photo by August de Richelieu on Pexels.com)
Read this comment:-
.. where they forced schools to reopen–even the reluctant ones–and no more than a day later closed them. Human I can live with. Incompetent, though? They have no right to be running a country.’
Many politicians are in this pandemic for the first time too! Their decisions are usually based on experts’ advice, lol aren’t they?
Quote:-
A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen. – Winston Churchill.
Prayer of appreciation (Photo by Arina Krasnikova on Pexels.com)
A welcoming speech by a chief nursing officer at a hospital in Perth concluded about the privilege of being a nurse!
I was there to learn about stoma and wound care. Being a pioneer then back home, I got many referral cases to see. Lack of appropriate wound and stoma products then, could be challenging.
It was 11.00pm at night, two hours past my working hours. I finished my shift. Another ward was calling. I went to see this frail Indian lady.
There was a heapful of absorbent cotton gamgees on the trolley. And a lined basket for the used ones to be thrown into. “… When she eats papaya, the next minute papaya comes out through her gaping abdominal (dehisced) wound! So much fluids coming out of her wound all the time… soaking through constantly!” Her distressed daughter explained.
I did a pouching system to contain the fluid to a drainage bag. Her daughter, also a nurse, watched.
I went home late that night.
At 2.oopm the next day, that lady, on a wheelchair, was waiting at the entrance of my ward. Her daughter who was with her said, ” my mother’s condition is terminal. She wants to die at home with her family and grandchildren around her. The doctor had discharged her this morning. But she wanted to say goodbye to you first…”
With that, her mother raised both her hands, palms together, to her forehead.
A few days later, her daughter called to inform that she had passed on.
****
Three decades on, the country has better commercialized products and more trained nurses to deal with complex wounds, compared to those days.
Many professions like healthcare staff and teaching faculties, have opportunities to serve mankind, by performing it well.
As I always reminded my students, it is indeed, a privilege to be a nurse! To have an opportunity to serve mankind!
I like this African idiom. It means “Get it right the first time”.
Peeling potatoes (Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com)
Organizational and country leaders make decisions all the time. They should be well-advised by professional experts.
For example, a single Sri Petaling religious mass gathering was held from 27 February 2020 to 1 March 2020. Some international delegates went back to their home countries with Covid-19, as well.
A state election ( September 2020) was staged in Sabah. It resulted in a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases which crescendoed throughout the country. This caused many deaths, followed by many lockdowns, and economic shutdowns. Increased joblessness, mental anguish and suicides are worrying, too.
They are indeed, expensive lessons to learn.
It is not easy to be country leaders. Their decisions hold huge responsibilities which have great implications on people’s livelihoods and lives.
Their decisions need to be a ‘get it right the first time’ quality!
Because… potatoes are not meant to be peeled twice!
Chen Song Ping 