Wisdom-to-share

The house was so empty and we had dinner … it was only two of us. It is so hard to be in an empty nest; I always miss my children.  Out of the blue I started to say to my husband,” I miss our babies… I miss our babies …. I miss our babies” Suddenly my husband said, “You are a great mother, you love our children so much but you let them go. You know my friend; he didn't let his children to be far away from him, and the children have to follow the dad’s will. I know how big your love for our children is but you let them go far away from you.” I said, “Our children have their own life and dreams, we can not keep them for our ego. I always want to see them every minute in my life but it is only for the sake of my happiness. They have to chase their dream not follow my will or my desire. My happiness is to see they become what they want to be. Love is a freedom.” That conversation reminded me; in 1986 my husband bought me a small poster said, “If you love someone, set them free.

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant. Epictetus One day I had a conversation with a friend, he said, “I want my children to be rich. I was poor when I was young and now I want to give them everything”. That was probably a common wish that every parents want to do for their children. The question is; how much money we should give to make them prosper? What if we as parents can not give them prosperity? Money, position and fame are the most wanted things in human life. We might chase after them in our life. When we will stop chasing it and start to enjoy our life, no one knows. It should come from our heart. I realized when I started to think what I wanted to give to my children. Since I couldn’t estimate how much money to give for them, I abandon the idea. My husband shared me a story about his friend, who spent all his family’s money in just a couple months. I imagined the pare

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong” I should write this article two or three years ago, however I never forget the story but I didn't really spend time to write this. Two days ago I had a conversation with young man, he shared me a story and it reminded me to write this article. Here is the story: His name is Jeff; I met him a couple years ago in the bakery where I used to buy bread for my family. The first time I met him, he asked me many question about the hospitality of his staffs and their service. I loved to give him inputs for his team. He was so happy and he recognized me as one regular customer. Jeff treated all his customers very well. It was easy to recognize him as the man with a big smile One day I visited the shop and Jeff wasn't there. One of his staffs told me that Jeff’s father passed away so he couldn't come. I sent him my deep condolence message. Two days later he called me and he thanked me

Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today James Dean.  A couple months ago I was shocked when I got news that one of my elementary school passed away. Actually I haven’t met her for a long time, but through Facebook I was able to connect with her. One day I got a reminder that her birthday was coming and I was surprised to see many people still posted in her wall “Happy birthday in heaven, May you have a blast celebration”. It seemed she still could read her Facebook account. It made me wonder what the Internet providers could reach heaven, or what God’s Facebook account. My imagination went far to heaven and I got the image of birthday party with angels and God. They brought me into a great imagination in Heaven people are still busy to check their Facebook account. Maybe someone sell the computer there or smartphone too. Anyway if I die I prefer people to send me a prayer instead of writing in my Facebook wall, because I couldn’t trust Internet providers in

Note: This article was my writing speech for the Area J4 humorous speech contest on 28 September 2012. It was the first time I joined the humorous speech contest. I won the second place in my club, but suddenly I have to compete to area level. I won the second place. Honestly I didn’t follow all my writing but I did well at that moment. When I don’t have any burden in my mind to win the competition, I already win myself before the contest. After 40 A couple months ago I had a high school reunion party, it was time to show off a bit after more than 27 years.  I prepared for that night. I chose my best dress, so I would look younger and sexier. Unfortunately when I just arrived at the front door and wrote my name … one skinny lady came and said, “ Hi… Lina! Wows… long time not see…. Looked at you… O…  you have extra lines under your eyes. Do you use night cream? And what happened with your hair? Your highlight color is not right; you have silver color. Lina … no w

“If your children look up to you, you’ve made a success of life’s biggest job.” Unknown.  Every time I met my student and he usually asked me, “Lina, how about your daughters?” I always loved to answer his questions. I always told him about my daughters’ achievement. He always smiled and said, “Lina, you are so proud of your daughters and you always full of love for them” I smiled and said, “I am blessed to be their mom” Both of us smiled and shared the happiness as parents.  One day, he asked me totally different question, “Lina, I have one question for you. You have spent money to send them studying abroad, what you will do if they die now?” O… I never thought I had to imagine about that. Sometimes in life, we saw people lost someone they loved and we never thought it would happen to us. Have I thought about it? Yes, 19 years ago I had an argument with my doctor when I wanted him to do the ligation because I wouldn’t have any more babies. My doctor came with an argument what i

On July 21st is my mom’s birthday, I planned a trip to Singapore for her 77th birthday celebration. Two days before the trip I wasn’t feeling well at all. I needed to cancel a meeting with my friend. A meeting was set for my friend’s son who needed some advices. I felt so sorry I couldn’t meet them in person, but I really thought my health condition would affect my trip. My friend understood my reason to cancel the meeting. Anyway I shared with him about my trip for celebrating my mom’s birthday. My friend said, “Lin, I want to give something for your mom” He sent something for my mom. Just a day before the trip, my mom was surprised to get the gift from my friend. She just knew my friends by name but she might not know my friends in person. My friend sent his best wishes for my mom through my cell phone. He wrote, “Lina, please tell your mom… she has outstandingly educated you…so you become a blessing to people around you” It touched my heart. When I read that message to my mom

My dearest husband Jozef, Today I will not write you the same notes. I always have thousand words to write about you and thousand stories to share with you. We have been sharing our life for twenty one years together. I am so grateful that we can go through problems and obstacles in our marriage. We still can enjoy walking hand in hand together. You are not a man who will give me a diamond ring, but you always give supports so I can shine in my life. You are not a romantic man who will prepare a candle light dinner, but you always make sure I can have my favorite food. You are not a man who will buy me the luxurious branded bag; you prefer to give me a simple present that I can write notes and articles. You show your love in a very simple way and it makes me so special. It doesn’t matter if you can not be so romantic, the most important that I always know that you always give me your support. I have your shoulder to cry on… I have your hand to hold me when I am weak. I alwa

The title of this article came into my mind while I was standing in the middle of buildings in one area of factory outlet in San Marcos, Texas. It was the second times I drove from Austin to San Marcos, because my mom loved to go around the shops. I looked around the branded stuff and I was tempted to buy something. There was a battle in my mind every time my hand grabbed something, there was always a question, “Do I need to buy it or just nice to have it?” I hope I don’t need any more battles in my mind about shopping. There is no denying situation; I used to be the person who loves to collect good stuff. I have a collection of small things but now all my collection was sitting dusty in the cupboard. I remembered spending so much time to find my collection and I adored them so much when I got it. Then time goes by … The excitement was gone. Sometimes I look at my collection and brought the memories back into my mind… I remembered I spent so much time walking from shop to shop, I

Once Dalai Lama said, “The purpose of our lives is to be happy” The statement is very strong and simple. How many of us believe in that statement? How many of us think to be in that stage of happiness? I was in the talk show “All is well” from Ajahn Brahm the author of the book “Who ordered this truckload of dung? Or Opening the door of your heart” He is a great author and a great monk. In his book, he shared simple funny stories to open our heart to see happiness in every single thing in life and see problems in positive perspective. Ajahn Brahm told one story that in life we used to show our pictures, wedding pictures, and graduation pictures. All pictures are good pictures with happy faces or happy moments in life. We wouldn’t put our bad pictures. However we all like to keep the bad memories in our mind. It might be because we want to hide those bad memories from other people or we love the bad memories and they become our attachment. If we love to show the world, we are happ

It was one of my busy days; suddenly I got a message, “Miss, do you want a chicken pie?” I was so hungry at that moment; however I couldn’t escape from my teaching time. The young man came to give me two pieces of chicken pie while I was starving during my teaching time. I was touched by that simple action. He is a brother of one of my students. We knew each other through a social network. World is so small and we met in the same building. I promised to have a chat with him during my lunch time. Right after teaching, I saw him standing and there was something in his hand. He gave me that box and I asked him, “What is this?” He said, “A cheesecake for you Miss” I was wondering, “Why do you buy me a cheesecake? “ He walked besides me and he said, “O… I saw in your status something about you want a cheesecake for your birthday” Ops… I forgot that I wrote in my face book about a cheesecake on my birthday. When I wrote it I didn’t think someone would keep in his mind. This young ma

Age is a matter of feeling, not of years. Washington Irving My husband Jozef is not an expressive person, no wonder if his friends always say he has standard smile and standard expression. It was Sunday, right after church, we were in the car to visit our parents. Suddenly he said, “You have more gray hair now” I looked at him and asked, “Do you mind if I don’t want to color my hair?” He gave me a standard smile and said, “It is up to you as long as you are happy” I replied him, “I am happy with my gray hair and wrinkles in my face and it is my choice” We just celebrated our birthday in the same month. He is just a year older than me and we will be married for twenty one years this year. The journey of our relationship started since we were in high school. Seventy five percents of our ages we spent together. Actually both of us are getting older in the same time. We had a discussion about old age along the way. It is common; when we are getting older we want to kee

The end result of kindness is that it draws people to you. Anita Roddick Walking through the security door and receptionist is my ritual every day. Sometimes I have to do it more than four times a day. No wonder if the security staffs and receptionists know me very well. I always greet them with smile and sometimes I tell a joke or just a short motivational story. Since they knew I am a teacher, they love to ask me some random questions or to teach them English language. I was happy to share my phone number with them, so they can send me any questions. As the result I got many SMS and questions, but I do love to share in my life. Last Friday, I got SMS from one of the receptionists who liked to ask me to translate for her. The SMS said she bought me a glass of mixed ice and she put it in the front desk. Yes I remembered, she promised to buy me an ice every time I did a translation for her. Actually she was not longer working in that building, but she came just to bring me a glass

It was in the afternoon, I sat in the corner of a coffee shop. I always sit at that coffee shop to teach my student or I just wait someone there. On that day I looked around and I observed people were busy ordering drinks. My mind was frozen a bit to capture the moments. I didn’t have anything that I wanted to do at that time. My mind was browsing randomly my memories. Out of sudden my heart told me to do something for someone. As John Ruskin said, “A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money” Right away my mind went to my student who would bring her dad to Singapore to get some treatment. I really cared about my student, she is not only my student but she becomes my sister. I sent her message whether she needed any help to find a good doctor for her dad. I got her message yes … she needed it. With the power of internet, I sent email to my handsome friend in Singapore, I asked him about the doctors. And in a couple minutes I got the doct

It was Saturday night two days before Chinese New Year 2012. I got the invitation from a good friend to have “fine dining at French Restaurant”. In my life I only had a very few time having “fine dining”, I believed not more than ten times. It was a bit awkward for me being surrounding with many forks and knifes, sometimes I made a joke about how difficult to recognize which knife can be used to cut or to kill, and it was easier for me to recognize the chopstick because they didn’t have “left or right”. Anyway my friend is a very handsome and extremely smart I couldn’t reject the opportunity to know people better, especially when the setting was in the one of the most expensive restaurant in Jakarta. I was in a very nice restaurant with three handsome men. We talked about random topic and suddenly one of them asked me, “Miss Lina, how do you enjoy your life? “ It was like a table topic speech for me. Yes… that was really a good question for me. I don’t really like shopping; I don’t

If you want to accomplish the goals of your life, you have to begin with the spirit. Oprah Winfrey It was December 13, 2011 we arrived safely in Texas and I was so grateful for the opportunity to bring back my mom to visit United States. I wanted to share my belief about “Life is not about age, life is about the spirit of life itself”. My mom’s last trip to United States was 22 years ago and she was 55 years old at that year. She didn’t want to visit USA again because it considered a long trip in the airplane, especially when she got older and older. She was worried about her health, her legs and there were many reasons not to go to America. I thought, maybe the biggest reason she didn’t want to be a burden for somebody during a long trip. In July 2011, it was two days before her 76 years birthday at one o’clock in the morning, my daughter woke me up and said, “Mom … wake up… please wake up.. Something happened with grandma” My daughters always slept in my mom’s room. I jumped f