Category Archives: Musings

The Meaning of Life

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The meaning of life according to the Dalai Lama:

“The meaning of life is happiness. Hard question is not, ‘What is meaning of life?’ That is easy question to answer! No, hard question is what make happiness. Money? Big house? Accomplishment? Friends? Or … Compassion and good heart? This is question all human beings must try to answer: What make true happiness?”

What makes true happiness for you?

3 years later…

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3 years after I moved my blog over to WordPress, I found it again!

It has now been over 5 years since my year-long travels and yet, I think about that wondrous year almost every single day.

A lot has changed but my passion for travel hasn’t.

I have decided to revive this blog and start writing again.

This should be fun! =)

So many things to do, so little time…and money.

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It’s 3:30am on Saturday and I’m on Facebook because I can’t sleep. Is it jetlag? Is it delayed reaction to being home after a year of traveling? Who knows? All I know is that the last couple of days, I’ve felt super tired, have no energy yet with spurts of hyperness and excitement thrown in the mix. I have quite a list of things to thing that I’m slowly working on, including my year-end conclusion update which is half written on the plane, I just need to finish the other half!I’ve been back for 4 days already. I can’t believe that it’s already been 4 days. It really is a surreal feeling especially since I felt like I never left, but then something will happen that jolts me back to the reality of being away for a year. There have been times in the last 4 days when I just get overwhelmed with all the stuff that is sitting there waiting, all the mess I’ve made since I’ve got back in my apartment, and the enormity of what I did. Did I really go away for a year? Did I really visit all those countries and saw all those places and things? Did I really spend that much money?

And I wonder why I can’t sleep…

Cheer up…or not

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I read an article in the Sydney’s Sun-Herald today and I thought it was very interesting.This article was titled “‘Don’t worry, be happy’ has a lot to answer for” by Hugh MacKay and it talks about how everyone wants to be happy to the point that no one wants to admit they are unhappy as if being unhappy is a disease to be avoided at all cost. Yet there is nothing wrong with being unhappy as it is part of the human emotion. If there was no unhappiness we would not know what happiness is. I don’t think this article is on the web but if you can find it, it would be interesting to read.

The following is a portion of the article that really struck a chord in me:

” “Cheer up” is about the most pointless – and sometimes the most heartless – thing we can say to each other, and especially to our kids. Here’s a better alternative: “You’re feeling down? It’s ok. There doesn’t always have to be a reason. If you want to talk about it, I’m happy to listen. But if you’d rather be left in peace, just say so.” ”

So from now on, my friends, if you’re not happy or sad, that’s perfectly ok. If you need someone to listen, I’m here for you. But if you rather sulk in silence, that’s perfectly ok too. =)

Food for Thought

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I found this quote today and it made me stop to think it over.
“If you feel drawn to someone, but you are annoyed because you think that they are telling you some lies, try to look beyond the lies and try to focus upon the feeling. People offer all kinds of words for all kinds of different reasons. Most lies are offered to try to keep things in alignment. We’re not encouraging it, but the motive behind lying is usually a pretty honorable motive. In other words, when a child lies to their parents, it’s usually because they want to be free to do what they want to do, and they don’t want their parents to be upset about it. It’s about wanting an alignment. Physical ears have a hard time hearing this. You keep talking about “We need to be honest.” And we say, we don’t meet any of you who are honest. Even those who claim to be the most virtuous, are not honest, but your vibration always is. We would trust the feeling more than the words.”
It’s very interesting as I’ve always believe in honestly is the best policy, but there is some truth in this. Sometimes people do tell lies (big or small) to avoid hurting someone else. But is that really a good reason for the lie? Wouldn’t it be less hurtful to tell the truth in the long run?
What do you think?
Ying Ying =)