The value of a smile

Hello, let me give you this piece which I wrote after a little research.

If you recall, we were told (in a sermon last Sunday) there's much in the power of a smile. What a wonderful world it would be if people could just smile at each other everyday no matter under what circumstances.

There is not only a power but a beauty behind every smile. Remember the MONA LISA, how captivating her smile is and there was that beauty with a 'certain smile' that launched a thousand ships, do you remember who she was?

Let me ask; is it very hard to smile? To be honest, sometimes it can be. But then again isn't it true, no smile is as beautiful as the one that struggles through the tears? I am sure many of us have gone through that experience and recovered victoriously. Hallelujah!

Brighten the world with your smile. Never mind if it cannot launch a thousand ships or captivate your audience like the Mona Lisa does (still do). But put it this way, have you ever seen a smiling face that was not beautiful? I haven't.

It has been said; a smile costs nothing, but gives much. I have also heard people say that a smile can open a heart faster than a key can open a door! The world always looks brighter from behind a smile, true or not?

So what's holding back your smile? Is it because if you smile, it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to? Or are you afraid that if you smile at someone, they might well smile back at you? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Whichever way you look, a smile is a little curve that can set a lot of things straight and wherever you are; everyone smiles in the same language, don't they?

Effort-wise, you probably already know that it takes two-thirds less muscles to smile than to frown. But truly, no one can measure the warmth of a smile.

A smile is indeed a powerful weapon; you can even 'break ice' with it. Mother Teresa had said, "Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." So beautiful and so much about smiles that I never knew!

Now if you don't have a smile, is it alright if I give you one of mine? Say "cheese," keep smiling and spread the "magic," won't you? Tomorrow is another day.

Cheers!

English Antiques

Folks,

English is cute, I mean the language. Take for instance this article which appeared in the Star newspaper today. It's a good read, a piece that's written by SH Loke and entitled "Can you stomach this?". In case you missed it, the link is given below.

http://thestar.com.my/english/story.asp?file=/2012/2/22/lifefocus/10771048&sec=lifefocus

More about the English thru' some of the crankiest quotes that you can find. These could make you laugh but did you know that.....?

The English are not happy unless they are miserable, the Irish are not at peace unless they are at war, and the Scots are not at home unless they are abroad.
~George Orwell

England is a paradise for women and hell for horses; Italy is a paradise for horses, hell for women, as the proverb goes.
~Robert Burton

The reason why Englishmen are the best husbands in the world is because they want to be faithful. A Frenchman or an Italian will wake up in the morning and wonder what girl he will meet. An Englishman wakes up and wonders what the cricket score is. ~Barbara Cartland

"Many continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game"~George Mikes (1912-1987) - Hungarian Writer

"Ask any man what nationality he would prefer to be, and ninety nine out of a hundred will tell you that they would prefer to be Englishmen".~Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902)

"The (English) people are bold, courageous, ardent and cruel in war. But very inconstant, rash, vainglorious, light and deceiving. And very suspicious, especially of foreigners, whom they despise".~Emmanuel van Meteren - Dutch merchant

"In the eyes of the Englishman, the Frenchman is a dog, the Spaniard a fool, the German a drunkard, the Italian a bandit. Only the Englishman is the pinnacle of perfection and nature's masterpiece."~Riem (1762-1828)

"England: a good land and a bad people."~Traditional French saying

"When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles - but never England".~George Mikes - author (from his book "How To Be An Alien")

"There is nothing so bad or so good that you will not find Englishmen doing it; but you will never find an Englishman in the wrong. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles; he robs you on business principles; he enslaves you on imperial principles; he bullies you on manly principles; he supports his King on loyal principles and cuts off his King's head on republican principles".~George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) - Irish playwright

"It is not that the Englishman can't feel.it is that he is afraid to feel. He has been taught at his public school that feeling is bad form. He must not express great joy or sorrow, or even open his mouth too wide when he talks. his pipe might fall out if he did".~E. M. Forster (1879-1976) -English novelist

The English contribution to world cuisine - the chip.~John Cleese

An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven't been done before.~Mark Twain

"I don't like England very much, but the English do seem a rather lovable people. They have such a great gentleness".~D. H. Lawrence

"The gentleness of the English civilisation is perhaps its most marked characteristic. You notice it the moment you set foot on English soil. It is a land where conductors are good tempered and policemen carry no revolvers. In no country inhabited by white men is it easier to shove people off the pavement".~George Orwell (1903-1950) - English author

"England is a nation of shopkeepers!".~Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 -1821)

"English Catholics are just Protestants, protesting against Protestantism".~D. H. Lawrence (1865-1930)

"American politicians do anything for money... English politicians take the money and won't do anything ".~Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) - Canadian Humourist

"In England there are sixty different religions, and only one sauce"~Domenico Caracciola (1752-1799) - Neopolitan Diplomat

"The English winter - ending in July, to recommence in August"~Lord Byron (1788-1824) - English poet

English proverbs just 2, enough food for thought:
"Children are a poor man's riches."
"What good is running if one is on the wrong road."

"I know why the sun never sets on the British Empire: God would never trust an Englishman in the dark."~Duncan Spaeth (1868-1954)

Well I've never been to England
But I kind of like the Beatles.
~Hoyt Axton

Last but not least, pardon my saying but to quote Joseph Conrad, “Writing in English is like throwing mud at a wall.” I hope you get it (the meaning of it I mean)!

Cheers!

The passing of a singing sensation

It was reported that Whitney Houston, one of the most celebrated of female singers of all time was found dead (we were told due to drug abuse) in a hotel room in Los Angeles last Saturday. She was just 48.

What a waste. Another star just faded away! Question I want to ask is could it have been avoided?

So I guess, that's where most of the "coke" went. It's hard to believe, but seems to me the demand of it perpetuates its supply (?)

It has been said, most if not all ‘celebs’ can't handle fame and the trappings which come with it. To name a few, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and now Whitney Houston; they all shared the same fate!

Fame is a curse. The famous and the successful, most of them, they all wear a mask. All of their self-esteem is actually phony. They may have it all but they just didn't know how to live happy and to grow old gracefully.

Reminds me of this infamous quote which I think is apt: Winston Churchill once said, quoting Napoleon: "I cannot live without champagne. In victory, I deserve it, in defeat, I need it." So were those "stars.” But blessed are the exceptions.

Isn’t it true, drugs do not solve problems, they only aggravate them? Indeed, abstinence is a discipline we must learn if we are to stay healthy and alive.

A stark reminder: Say NO to drugs, it ain’t worth it!

Life is not easy but aren't we glad that though we don't have it all, every morning we have is a new beginning, a new chance for us to rewrite the story of our life! The advice is: Write it well, folks.

CNY and a Do-overs Story

Hello,

One last story for your reading pleasure before I hit the road.
I shall be celebrating CNY in Singapore and will be away for one week from 21st Jan 2012.

The story written by Steve Goodier and entitled "Do-Overs" is a good one and I don't want you to miss it. I hope Steve doesn’t mind I share it here. To me blessed are those who, when given their second chances in life didn't blow them. They truly went on to make this world a better place.

Cheerio and Happy Chinese New Year, folks!

dc

Do-Overs
(Written by Steve Goodier)

Even if you’re not from Washington D.C. you may have heard of former Mayor Anthony Williams. He has a remarkable story. Williams was born to an unwed teen who gave him up. He was known as a "problem child" in foster care. By age three, little Anthony had still never spoken a word. It seemed that a pattern for his life was set, that is, until two warm and caring people took a chance on him.

Anthony was taken in by an opera-singing postal clerk and her equally generous-hearted husband. He soon began to speak and eventually thrived in their home. He excelled academically and later attended both Harvard and Yale Universities.

In 1998, he came from obscurity to win 66% of the vote to become mayor in one of the world’s major cities. In his inaugural address, Williams said: "Forty-four years ago, my parents adopted me and gave me a second chance. I feel this city has now adopted me and I will give to it everything my parents taught me about love, service, commitment."

It’s no doubt that, had he never been adopted into his particular family, his life would have been wholly different. He was saved by a second chance. And haven’t each of us been given second chances? He got a do-over on his birth family. Haven’t we been given do-overs on relationships, jobs, blown opportunities and the like? Quite often second chances are the result of the generosity of someone who cares a great deal. And sometimes we are saved by those second chances.

Author Dr. Seuss says in his book The Lorax, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

I recently came across a story of a young American woman who was saved by a do-over. During the second World War, she lost her husband. He died in India of a tropical disease and she became despondent. In time, despair turned into depression and she lost all interest in living. She just didn’t care anymore.

She booked passage on a ship back to America. On the voyage, she became acquainted with a seven-year-old boy who, like her, was all alone. His parents had died in the fighting in Burma. He seemed to want to be with the young woman, but her pain would not allow it. She wanted nothing to do with him and avoided him whenever possible. She felt so ravaged by loss, that she was unable to get outside of herself and care about anyone else. And she certainly did not have the energy to take on someone else’s problems.

Then one night the ship was torpedoed. The young woman made her way to the deck and prepared herself to go down with the doomed vessel. Some part of her actually welcomed it as an escape from her pain. The child, too, came on deck. He shivered with cold and fright. When he spotted the woman, he came over and clung to her.

That was when a lump of ice melted somewhere deep inside her. She put her arms around the child and led him to one of the lifeboats. For several days, as they waited to be rescued, she held him and he held her. Years later her friends would say that they didn’t know whether the woman saved the boy, or the boy saved the woman. They each gave the other a second chance at life and a do-over on love.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

But it’s the people who give do-overs who truly change the world.

Posted by Steve Goodier in his blog dated Jan 17, 2012

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P/S: Thanks Steve for that wonderful and life-encouraging story. I am so glad that God gave us you!