what matters most

One person who holds a significant place in my life, apart from my dearie, is my mother. Yesterday evening was an emotional one for her and as I saw her home, I couldn’t help shedding tears to the pain she had been going through.

I penned a mail to her, 3 pages long (small notepad), telling her there is a lot more to life and many things worth our time and efforts, instead of mulling over things that did not work out the way we hoped they would.

I wrote in Chinese.. and shared with her..

Is life really unfair? We often feel it is, isn’t it? it only becomes unfair when we compare with the people around us; accounting what they have, hence realizing what we haven’t got compared to them. For example, mr x has a 3 storeys bungalow..drives a posh car and owns investment all over the world. Oh dear! Life’s not fair! I only have a HDB flat. No car. No investment (except my bikes).

Stop and think again. If we haven’t compared and instead give thanks for what we have, probably we won’t feel life’s not fair. God is fair. Life is fair. We have some, we don’t have some. I don’t have a bungalow but I have a flat which gives me shelter. I don’t have a posh car but I have ez-link card to commute. I don’t have investments all over the world but I have relationship investments with the loved ones around me. I don’t invest money but I invest time and love to people which yields returns that can never be quantified by money. Relooking now. is life unfair? Not really so.

It’s only human to want more and weigh things in monetary terms. I do not deny that I sometimes compare myself with others and wished I had more money to do the things I want. It’s carnal. It’s realistic. It’s human. Nothing wrong about that in my view.

Yet most importantly, out of all the whines and complaints, we must know what is lies paramount in our hearts. Is it money?

Simple exercise, let’s all spare a few minutes and do this.

Think about 3 things or events brought a smile to your face in the last 3 days.

What are they?

For me, my 3 events are:

1. having training with my Team and then sitting around the canteen eating cream based pasta, chatting and laughing.
2. going shopping with dearie and helping him choose suits for our big day.
3. hugging mummy and telling her she is important to me before I left for home yesterday.
   

What are yours?