Time

Another season is swiftly passing as I enjoy this exceptionally nice summer in our beautiful city. It’s amazing how quickly time flies when you’ve got great plans. I painted my house two summers ago, (after procrastinating for two years) and decided the job would be complete when I painted the front door and the gutters black. This task was planned for the beginning of summer. I’m still waiting for the next nice warm day to do it; Yeah right!

You may delay, but time will not. Benjamin Franklin

The scary thing about time is that you don’t really realize the extent of its passing till you compare your old photos with the latest portraits. While the elements of time yellows and weathers old photos, they seem to be etched into your features in your latest shots.
Perhaps that’s why so much is spent on youth enhancing products today.
You may be able to hide your age, but you can’t turn the clock back on time.
Things to do:

Do what you need to do when you get the opportunity – they might never come your way again.

Tell your love ones how much you love and appreciate them – it might be the only time you ever get to express it again. Enjoy what you have now – don't complain about what you don't have!

Never Say never

It’s strange how God sometimes jogs your memory, and reminds you of things you’ve said years ago. I remember a conversation I had with a close friend in the Air Force, in 1987. It was about considering immigrating to a new country when we finished our stint in the military. Without much thought, I blurted out that Vancouver, Canada would be my first choice; but I mentioned it would never happen.
Here I am, a Canadian citizen, living in the best place in the world for the last 20 years.

Never say never!

Never say never, for if you live long enough, chances are you will not be able to abide by its restrictions. Never is a long, independable time, and life is too full of rich possibilities to have restrictions placed upon it. Gloria Swanson
Try something crazy. If it doesn’t work, do something else. No idea is too crazy. Jim Hightower.

Nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

Symbiosis

The term symbiosis commonly describes close and often long-term interactions between different biological species.It can also be defined as the living together of unlike organisms.
I discovered this interesting concept of survival of certain species when I was a teenager on my first snorkeling experience in a coral reef. On my first dive in 15 feet of water, I came across a purple-coloured anemone that was five feet in diameter and there swimming in the center, was a Clown Fish. I couldn’t get over the sight of this six inch clown fish swimming among the poisonous tentacles of the anemone with impunity. While other fish get stung and eaten by anemone, the clown fish had adapted to life in it’s poisonous host.
In later dives, I also discovered tiny striped shrimps that also lived in the anemone.
Through keeping a clown fish and some anemones in my marine tank, and research in the library, I learned more about this symbiotic relationship of the anemone, clown fish and shrimp in depth and discovered the following facts:

The clowns fish developed certain eye diseases when it was kept in a marine aquarium without the anemone.
The anemone would be poisoned by rotting scraps of food wihtout the shrimp cleaning up.
Both the clown fish and the shrimp gets protection from other predators.

What an amazing relationship that is mutually beneficial to all.

We need one another not only to survive, but also to grow and excel in our lives.

Music

In every culture and civilisation, one thing exist that highlights the development in that society, and that is music. It plays an important part in everyday life.
Music is experienced by individuals in a range of social settings ranging from being alone to attending a large concert Music has long been used to help people deal with their emotions. Music is a powerful force that can be used to excite, heighten emotions, treat mental illnesses, create a romantic atmosphere, and even set the tone for sporting events. In certain bad neighborhoods in our city, they play “elevator” music 24/7, and it has the positive effect of dispersing unsavory characters that would otherwise hang around those areas.

In the bible, David was asked to play his harp for King Saul and his anointed music drove out the demons from the King.
Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing. John Erskine

My heart, which is so full of overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. Martin Luther

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Psalm 150:3-6

Snail Mail

Face book, twitter, blogging, e-mail and text messaging has replaced snail mail in most households. However there are still some things about the age-old pen and paper method of communication that cannot be replaced by these new-fangled technologies.
The one aspect of letter writing that will eventually be lost is penmanship.
Penmanship or handwriting is the art of writing with the hand

and a writing instrument. Wikipedia In fact, a person’s handwriting can be so unique, that it can be used to authenticate a person’s identity, in a court of law. The character comes through in someone’s handwriting. I love it when I receive cards in the mail from my dad in Singapore.
His block lettering is so precise and consistent it seems to come from a stencil, almost!
One of the precious items left behind from my late grandfather is a job application letter preserved for posterity. Granddad was educated in Mandarin and grew up in China, but moved to South East Asia as a merchant. He was never formally educated in English, yet examine his almost flawless handwriting and Queen’s English. The early Chinese educators used to spend years teaching proper penmanship and Chinese calligraphy to all students as part of their early childhood development.
The other thing about snail mail that I so appreciate, are the many, and varied designs of mail boxes in different parts of the world. I came across these ones in Granville Island’s floating house community.
There are some old disciplines that should never be lost – penmanship is one of them.

The Power of Words

Consider these wise words concerning use of words:

Actions lie louder than words. Carolyn Wells

There are some that employ words for the purpose of disguising their thoughts. Voltaire A torn jacket is soon mended; but hard words bruise the heart of a child. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow One picture is worth a thousand words. Fred R. Bernard

Friends

Looking at old photos and thinking of old friends brings a smile to my face, and a tear to my eyes. There are some friendships that last a lifetime, yet there are those that survive only a short season. Friends that I played together with from dawn to dusk. My three good friends with whom I walked to school for four years…I wonder what became of them. Those friends that I stood shoulder to shoulder with in the sun, in our shinny boots and green army fatigues…did they ever get married and have a family? My good friends whom I spent a year with in a foreign land on a special mission…we made do with a food budget meant for street people, but we emerged with a greater faith in God’s providence. How about my many friends that I’ve made since emigrating half-way around the world? The greatest achievements in my life I share with these ones.

The brief time spent together in adventure and adversity with some of these friends, are forever etched into my memory. I cannot turn the clock back…but I wouldn’t trade it for the world either!
Passing the half century mark in life, I look back at the many nameless faces that were once friends. Names forgotten through time, but their influence irrevocably stamped into my temperament, my gifts, my experiences and who I am today. Old friends grow old together! True friends stick through thick and thin; they love you even more as they discover more of your humanness and frailty.
It survives misunderstandings, disagreements, let downs, and always hopes the best for the other.
Alas, there will be those friends you hold dear to your heart, those you have invested much, and those you are willing to lay down your life for that will inevitably abandon you along the road of life.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King Jr. Some days my heart aches for these friends from the past…Time to move on again!