The Cooling Stream

"Friends are like balloons. If you let them go, you can’t get them back. So I’m gonna tie you to my heart so I will never lose you."

"If ever you need me… I’ll be just round the corner!"

"The most memorable people in life will be the friends who loved you when you weren’t very lovable."

I read with enthusiasm an email with the above quotes, and felt my heart warm.

I believe friendship is forever.

We may lose our balloons because of the strong wind or fragile string, or because of our poor handling. Likewise, we may lose our friendships because of carelessness, selfishness, or circumstances beyond our control.

Nevertheless, we still wish our friends well, though deep in our heart we desire to bring them close to our heart. Love is sacrifice, patience, and perseverance, but it is just not easy to say goodbye.

Our hope is that someday we may meet and come together again. Yes, some of us have been waiting patiently for years just round the corner. We may still have a glimpse of hope, though it may be a made up thought. Yes, we wish they may come back to us when they are tired of wandering and struggling.

Friends are never perfect as we may think, and can be disappointing at times.

But friends are always there for one another, even when we are not being very lovable.

There will always be a shoulder ready for friends to weep and cry.

Some friends are never far from one another; they live happily together.

Some friends seldom see one another; they yearn for one another

But friendship is forever because they need and care for one another.

A group of students were singing a song in front of a school assembly, dedicating it to the teachers. It was Teacher’s Day 2010.

It was a touching moment. They sang sweetly and sincerely. Everyone was quiet and listening, except for a few students who were still unable to stand still, and enjoy or treasure the few precious moments in life.

They sang in choir; in tenor and bass, alto and soprano. I didn’t really know the musical terms, but I loved the mixture of voices, the instruments, and the claps floating in the air; they worked well to present and create a wonderful atmosphere of love.

I believed the students must have many hours of practice before this. They sounded so natural and spontaneous, very soothing and comforting to hear.

Then teachers were presented with some bamboo crafts; more greetings and shaking of hand; and more laughter and heartwarming moment.

Then staff photo-taking session. Imagine more than 170 teachers wearing batik or coats, squeezing, posing, smiling and sweating together; it’s wonderful and memorial.

Then we had lunch together; tasty dishes and friendly staff, more than enough to share; and more stories and tales, and more delicious and filling meal.

Then, In the midst of it, we had birthday celebration for teachers born in the months of May and June. The birthday men and women were invited to the stage, presented a happy birthday song, and then came the cutting of the huge birthday cake, bringing in more broad smiles, jokes and photo-taking sessions.

What could you possibly ask for more?

Sometimes living together with simple people with simple lives bring more joy and fun than we can imagine.

You should try if you want to learn seriously about love!

True appreciation and gratitude is what we want.

We don’t need people putting up a show or a performance; a happy and meaningful occasion needs not be glamorous and rich in content.

What we really want is the people and their hearts.

True love is what matters.

When we are teenagers, the world is filled with its many attractions and temptations. We are easily drawn into sensual excitement, irresistible fascination, endless stimulation, and crazy madness. And we hardly have time for anything uninteresting and unentertaining. In other words, we tend to get bored and tired of them very easily.

But in the course of our lives, there will be times when we have to do serious thinking, and make wise and appropriate decisions and choices for the good of our lives. There will come a time when we hesitate because of fear, uncertainty and insecurity in our heart and mind, thinking about what to do next.

When we are sure of what we want in life, we know where to go and how to proceed. We may hesitate and ponder for a moment, but we will walk and continue our journey with confidence. We walk with purpose and we are goal oriented. To us, life is a journey to chase after our dreams and to taste the fruits of our labor.

When we are no longer sure of our direction in life, we don’t know where or how to proceed. We walk aimlessly, feeling more unsecured and unhappy. We make mistakes and errors. Sometimes we even go back to the sweet old days, trying to forget about our dreams and aspirations, and thinking that life ahead is way too harsh.

Whatever we think about our journey of life, it is always a journey of clear direction. We must be sure of what we want, interested in what we do, and accountable for the final outcome.

Whatever happens, never entertain thoughts of giving up, and never overlook simple things.

Life is a journey of deliberation and adventure.

It is also a journey of faith in God, knowing that God will work all things well.

Life is a journey that requires clear direction.

Have you found yours?

In the midst of our difficulty, when a battle is at hand,

We get panic and a sense of pessimism of the outcome.

We have prepared well in advance,

We have studied hard and knew the material,

And we have done fine on all our earlier exams and quizzes.

But now, as we enter into this final week of the trial,

The world suddenly becomes dark and gloomy again.

When Apostle Peter first stepped onto the water,

His eyes were fixed on Christ, and he walked to Jesus on the water.

But when Peter looked down, and considered all his circumstances,

He began to sink and asked Jesus to help him.

Life is of faith, hope, and love in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is how we have walked and traveled for many miles,

And that is how we have faced our many difficulties and challenges.

We have never won a single battle on our own, not once.

As we look back on our days, and consider everything that has happened,

It’s never luck and coincidence; it’s never our labor and hard work,

It’s God, who has worked behind the scene,

And bring everything to pass, for our good.

In the midst of our difficulty, when a battle is ready,

Look forward and regain our confidence,

In the Almighty God who has gloriously led us for so far,

And achieve the dreams of our lives.

In the midst of our difficulty,

We pray and feel the peace of God in our heart and mind,

Happily and confidently continue our journey ahead.

When life is in a mess, we need to take a deep look into ourselves.

When a computer is new, we use it the way we want it. We are happy to talk about it and we smile away happily. But with time, when the loading becomes slow, when there are error messages, and the frequent popping up of unwanted internet sites, we become annoyed, frustrated and scared. It is time to do some disc cleanup, scan and defrag drives, and run the antivirus and anti-spyware programs. The honeymoon period is over. It’s time to get real.

Lately, I discovered I had too many similar files in various folders of my computer. Some were documents on assessment tests and exams; some were personal thoughts on interesting topics; some were useful ideas that I had gleaned; some were files that should be thrown away long ago.

Oh! My computer was really in a mess; it was time to get organized.

For a full week, I thought through and tried various ways to go about it. It wasn’t easy to get things organized, especially if our priority was the ability to retrieve files fast and easy.

After some time, I managed to transfer all my files into new folders with wider categories. It was tedious work but it became easier with practice and in time.

Then I compiled the documents into various books with proper titles. I created a table of content, added some bookmarks and hyperlinks to make browsing easier. I also styled the documents in the formats required so that I could use them the moment I retrieved them.

It didn’t come easy. But the effort was sweet.

Now I can retrieve my documents any time I want and add on new documents whenever and wherever I want.

Organizing my documents in a logical manner makes my life easier and my work faster.

I suddenly realize that I have understood myself better.

Sometime it’s not the amount of work we put in, but the quality of the time spent.

As we grow in years, we must be able to see things in a wider, deeper, and fuller perspective.

Some of us just do not know what we have missed until it’s gone.

Appreciating life is a choice and a decision that we all have to make early.

It isn’t easy but it’s always good to get things organized.

So many times, we discount the seemingly little things of our lives.

We gaze at everything with disinterest as we carry out the daily schedule.

And we are angry at people who just accept life as it is and seem to be very happy with their lifestyle.

Life is a bore and a chore, a long slow death.

And we become more disillusioned and bitter as life goes by.

We desire a break, a runaway from home.

We want to get away, far, far away, away from everyone and everything.

But however hard we try, however far we go, and however long we linger, we will still have to deal with our little things in life.

It is neither the distance nor the time that matters; it is our manner of life.

Escapism can never help manifest our dreams, but our attitude can and will make a huge difference.

Never discount the little things of our lives.

What we see as a little thing in life can really change our lives.

What we see as a chance encounter with someone may just be the meeting of a lifetime.

What we see as an accident or a coincidence in life may really be God at work in our lives.

Life is full of its mystery and surprise.

Life is full of its bumps and bruises.

We may not have solutions to all our problems.

But everything will have its answer in its own time.

And we need not search far when the answer is near.

Whatever happens, never discount the little things in our lives.