lesson #45: Gentle words can make a difference...

holidays're in and for those who ain't flyin back to their homelands, we've found ways to spend the time together in Singapore... one of them involves goin over to one of our rooms n havin (legal) fun, like playin Risk n sippin a little mix of gin n juice...

we were laughin, shoutin, and a lotta excitement (the gin didn't make us drunk, luckily...).. this we did with so much fun until we didn't realize the time showed 0130hours... and sadly, we forgot that we ain't the only ones livin in a hall... some people ain't "alive" at such unhealthy hours...

expected yet unanticipated, the night guard on patrol knocked on my friend's room door... Crap, i told myself.. (the last time this happened, the guard was such a jerk i was so pissed i wished i could pounce on him n beat the living hell outta him..) ..

but that night was different...

the guard didn't yell.. he didn't put on a Punch-me-til-i-bleed-cuz-im-sucha-jerk face... in fact, he smiled.. he politely asked us to quieten down.. cuz at the decibel levels we're producin, it seemed like we had pissed some hall residents enough for them to complain to the guard...

he asked us a favor... so that he wouldn't get another complaint..

and unlike my previous encounter, i reacted with a lot more respect for this man... i respect him for his patience n tact when dealing with rebellious post-teen-yet-not-adult-enough individuals like us, includin me...

and we ended thankin him for lettin us know our vice n he left us to our own discretion.. and trust me, i kept remindin my friends to tone down our volume.. out of respect for him..

although i've been trainin myself to use gentle words n a soft approach in dealing with people, especially strangers, that night was the first time in a long time where i was at the other end... i was the one hearin those words directed at me... and i felt the difference it made...

though dealing with different people might require different approaches, it might be possible to start with gentle words in any scenario (except in life-threatening danger)... at least when talkin to teens n adults (who - like me - don't like being told by Mr-and-Mrs-Right...)...

so who knows, using some tact n a string of gentle words are actually effective enough to get the job done...

Gentle words can make a difference. It might even make someone calm enough to listen to what you're saying.

lesson #44: The means don't justify the end...

with the holidays in, ive started gettin bored of nothin to do... and ive started using Youtube to watch Discovery Channel programmes... and one of the most interestin topic ive been watchin for these few days pertain to somethin ive jus recently considered to be quite controversial: future weapons.

as someone with interest in technology and science - tho without much of the brain capacity to achieve academic excellence in them - i found myself amazed at the amount of engineering precision n creativity in creating weapons... the bullet mechanism, the bullet and projectile, the versatility in extreme conditions.. they are the proof of technological excellence..

added to my liking for first-person-shooter (FPS) games, the extra knowledge about modern weapons and how they work intrigued me a lot.. these tools were the result of thousands of hours of effort, testing, and brainwork.. these tools were finely created for their purpose: to kill.

amazingly, it took some time until i realized that i was somewhat perverse enough to develop this interest in weapons.. it took another friend of mine to tell me that i was talkin to him about a killing machine.. i was actually intrigued by the sophisticated mechanism created to take another human life.. and in the background, i can barely see God squinting His eyes and murmuring, "Why in the world are YOU WOWed about killing off my other creation?? Are YOU any worth more than them?? I asked you to help Me save them, not kill them.."

and it hit me...

why, why am i interested in the various (and effective) ways in takin out a life of someone else? have my morals been so compromised to the point that i have no objections to killing? have i been so insensitive? have i got any love left for the rest of the world?..

i don't object to technological advancement.. most of us don't.. cuz in some way, it reveals how smart our Creator must be that we humans are such creative beings.. but then, that's how we are supposed to live, right? Creative... not Destructive...

and next time im gonna create somethin, or the next time im gonna say "Wow" to somethin, maybe i gotta figure out the ending that's supposed to follow it...

The means don't justify the end. So know what you're into.

a thank you note..

to those who have been reading this blog and those who have let me know that they benefitted from its existence...

i sincerely thank you...
these words that follow are only an explanation to the line above.. i treasure u much for lettin me know that this blog has lived to its purpose.. i created this blog to remind myself of the things that pass me by, the things that sometimes i'd often take for granted..

n i was hopin that somehow, sometime, for some reason, it might help someone else out there.. and i thank God for lettin things happen in ur lives that u feel tho i can't see..

thank u for ur encouragements.. not a coincidence, ur support comes when i felt tired of continuin this blog..

keep livin.. and lets all try to appreciate the little wonders in life..

thank you...