Man’s Guide

Man in this moment of his history has emerged in greater supremacy over the forces of nature than has ever been dreamed of before. There lies before him, if he wishes, a golden age of peace and progress. He has only to conquer his last and worst enemy – himself.

The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes, but with this shield, however the Fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honor.

We shall go forward together. The road upward is long. There are upon our journey dark and dangerous valleys, through which we have to make and fight our way. But it is sure and certain that if we persevere and we shall persevere, we shall come through these dark and dangerous valleys into sunlight broader and more genial and more lasting than mankind has ever know.

姨姨们对婆婆关怀之至

亲爱的婆婆：

在睡梦中被婆婆慈祥的面孔唤醒，思念婆婆的心情让我不觉中落泪。婆婆青春年少时离乡背景到南洋寻找新生活；深切悉知这一离乡后，返回的日子遥遥无期，下跪家婆叩了头便道别潮安离开了汕头。这一幕让我深深的感动，婆婆为了让新生命能够在异乡延续下去，尽一生的忙碌与努力担当整个家庭的生活，其功不可没。如今婆婆已是白发苍苍的九旬老人家了，有安逸幸福的日子过是另人欣慰的乐事。幸好众阿姨们个个都能尽孝心，对婆婆关怀之至，周日不忘去探望您老人家，小姨也常陪伴婆婆逛巴刹。姨姨们深懂得感恩婆婆这些年来对她们的付出。这是我们做晚辈必须学习的风范。最后让我向婆婆请安，表达我深切的问候与关怀。祝婆婆永远健康幸福。

Life Instructions

Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

Memorize your favorite poem.

Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

When you say, “I love you”, mean it.

When you say, “I’m sorry”, look the person in the eye.

Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

Believe in love at first sight.

Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.

Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.

In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

Don’t judge people by their relatives.

Talk slowly but think quickly.

When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”

Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

Call your parents.

Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.

When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

Remember the three R’s: 1. Respect for self; 2. Respect for others; 3. Responsibility for all your actions.

Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

Marry a man / woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

Spend some time alone.

Open hour arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Read more books and watch less TV.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll get to enjoy it a second time.

Trust in God but lock your car.

A loving atmosphere in home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home?

In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation.

Don’t bring up the past.

Read between the lines.

Pray. There’s immeasurable power in it.

Never interrupt when you are being flattered.

Mind your own business.

Don’t trust a man / women who doesn’t close his / her eyes when you kiss.

Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth’s greatest satisfaction.

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.

Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.

Judge your success by what you have done compared to what you could have done, not to what others have done with their abilities.

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

教育下一代，用心做人

亲爱的姨姨：

妈妈时常都在提醒我说: “婆婆已活了这把年纪，你得空的时候千万记得常给她老人家打电话问候。”婆婆听觉不好，不如写信来得好，又有小姨亲口代问候来的亲切。谢谢小姨一路来讨婆婆的细心照顾，也常代我向婆婆问候请安。不因什么，只因您的妈妈就是我的婆婆。
最近爱写信，伊浚成了我电脑的文书助理。过程中也可以教育下一代，让他们了解我们这一代是如何把人做好，用心做人，做好本分的工作，如小姨现在做者是。
生命教育提醒我们活着要感恩，珍惜拥有，而很多时候这简单适时的提醒，真的可以免除一生的遗憾；这简单适时的表达，会让身边的人知道，您是多么的感恩他们对您所做的一切。因为生命有限所以我们更要格外珍惜，因为有缘，所以我们更应该把握。祝福大家身体健康。

Perseverance

Napoleon declared, “Victory belongs to the most persevering.” Upon careful study we find perseverance depends upon three things – purpose, will and enthusiasm. He who has a purpose is always concentrating his forces. By the will, the hope and the plan are prevented from evaporating into dreams. Enthusiasm keeps the interest up and makes the obstacles seem small.

Life is in a sense a battle. The man who thinks to get on by mere smartness and by idling meets failure at last. Perseverance is the master impulse of the firmest souls and holds the key to those treasure-houses of knowledge from which the world has drawn its wealth both of wisdom and of moral worth.

Great men never wait for opportunities; they make them. They seize upon what ever is at hand, work out their problem and master the situation. The greatest thing a man can do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given to him. This I success and there is no other.

One of the important lessons of life is to learn how to get victory out of defeat. It takes courage and stamina, when mortified by humiliating disaster, to seek in the ruins the elements of future conquest. Yet this measures the difference between those who succeed and those who fail. We cannot measure a man by his failures. We must know what use he makes of them. The man who has not fought his way upward and does not bear the scar of desperate conflict does not know the highest meaning of success.

不为什么，只因为你是我的孩子

亲爱的母亲：

念小学五年级的时候，因您的疏忽，忘了留下巴士费便去上班。当时家境贫穷，翻开整间家也搜不出两毛钱来塔巴士，由于有耻向邻居借钱，只好提早徒步从拉庆老家走到市区宽柔一小；路经义兴路婆婆家，顺道问候婆婆。婆婆见到我汗流浃背问起原因，我说着说着，婆婆眼泪掉了下来，泪中悲欣交集，悲中柔和了婆婆对孙女们纯纯的爱，是如实的爱，就像冰心最著名的那一句“不为什么，只因为你是我的孩子”的爱。婆婆慈祥的面容唤起了我对婆婆的思念。现今婆婆的记忆逐渐淡忘，请切记转告我对婆婆的问候与关怀，以免日后空遗憾。祝：万事顺利。

“The Present”

Dear Yi Jun,

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them: Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit. And you are keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

How?

Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself to others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would to your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.

Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us each together.

Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift; that’s why we call it “The Present”.