Having "Me" Time

This year has started out in a storm for many people I know. Even the weather gods are thinking that too with thunderstorms roaring across Bangkok when usually it is dry, sunny and cool. Nevertheless, let us not keep us from enjoying the wonderful year ahead of us. Today I want to write about something that sometimes we forget. We use it everyday, we use it all time and yet we forget to think about them. (I do forget often times) What am I talking about? Words. Yes, words like the ones you are reading now. Words to me are powerful and should be used with care. Words spoken or written have enormous influence and have resulted in either love or wars amongst men. It is with words, that people communicate and it is with words that others sometimes feel love, compassion, sympathy and understanding. Used otherwise, they cause others to feel anger, resentment or even sadness. Words can sometimes be therapeutic and healing, yet words of angerness, bitterness, judgement can also invo...

It’s almost the end of January, I have a zillion things to do yet right now all I am thinking about are socks. Yes, you read it right. Socks. Those soft cushy things you put on your feet to keep warm and wear with shoes. What? Are you serious? Yes, I am. I am very serious. I have to confess, I have actually been thinking about socks for a few days now so it’s about time I wrote about it. It all started when I resumed my running schedule after a few weeks of rest. Most days, running is a bore and I do it just so that I can eat and have that delicant piece of sinful chocolate that melts in your mouth. However, one day a week or so again, I ran and ran and for the first time in a long time, I felt that running was enjoyable. It was fun, relaxing and I enjoyed feeling my feet pacing up and down on the treadmill. I felt bouncy and my feet were happy. I could run more than I had for awhile. I wondered if it was runner’s high, but it wasn’t. I thought that maybe it was because I had...

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Even if you don’t celebrate it, I think it’s a great day to just go out, reunite with family friends and have an awesome day. Today what comes to mind is how we humans are indeed funny creatures (or maybe it’s just me). Have you ever been in a situation where you had to make a decision, yet a zillion different choices come up? Which choice do you choose? What happens to me is that at first instinct, I say “This is what I like.I choose “A”. However, to be sure that THIS is the choice that I really like, I end up going through all the alternatives in meticulous detail. I go through the pros and cons, check details on websites, read reviews and think about the choices day-in day-out. The result? After painstakingly looking at all the details and having a pile of information, I go back to “A.”The first option I decided on. It makes me wonder, why do I go through all these motions of checking, going through details, only to revert back to the...

Accidents do happen. When they do, no one wants it to happen and no matter what kind of accident it is, it always brings up a range of emotions. Yesterday, I crashed my car into the car in front of me while waiting for a turn. A dumb accident indeed caused by my somehow stepping on the accelerator instead of the brake. Good thing it wasn’t serious. It was my first real accident ever after over a decade of driving (that’s if you ignore motorcycles leaving their paint on my side mirror or another car hitting the corner of my bumpber). I’ve been fortunate and count my blessings. Most importantly though, yesterday’s lesson reminded me of an important lesson : have a positive attitude no matter what. When I realized what had happened and stopped the car, I immediately got out and went to see the lady in the car in front of me. Luckily she was alright and together we decided to move our cars to the side of the road to avoid causing any traffic jams. It was dark and for awhile both ...

It's a new year and I'm getting older.  Yes, these are two facts that one cannot avoid. Especially the painful truth of getting older.  You sense it more when some of your colleagues no longer recognize the songs you listen to nor recognzie the ones that were famous years ago when you were still in school.  No matter, I believe there is still always a child inside each of us and age are but numbers. Amidst the different New Years present I received this year, I have to say one of my favorites was a box of 120 crayons.  Of all the stationary and art supplies I've accumulated over the past few years, I have to say crayons are something I just didn't have. Never thought of buying. Now I have them. Thank you :)  Ever since I could remember I have loved to draw and colour and cherished my box of coloured pencils and markers.  To this day I still have my complete set of coloured pencils and do occasionally still take them out to use, although those times are no...

I need my sleep but sometimes I wonder, why do we sleep?  Do I really need to sleep? If I didn't sleep I could spend more waking hours doing a million more things. Why we sleep though is a question that has been asked for centuries and still no one really knows the answer.  I do not know why I sleep, but I know that if I do not get enough sleep, the next day becomes a waste of a day. I get headaches, feel groggy and my concentration level is low.   This lack of sleep is what scientists have been studying for centuries in an attempt to better understand why we sleep. Scientists study these various effects of sleep defiency to better understand sleep.  Without it,  our cognitive skills would be harmed and brain development probably affected. If you think humans sleep to save energy, the BBC article "The Science of Sleep" mentions that for eight hours of sleep, we only save about 50kCal which is very minimal.  One piece of my Peppe...

A strange kind of peace seems to have transcended since the New Years.  Maybe it is because I am just getting a little older and a little calmer.   Or maybe it's because I have been enjoying the time truly having some much needed "me" time reading books and being alone with my thoughts.  I think being able to just stay home with uninterrupted time for a few hours on a weekend is indeed a time to cherish and value.  It allows one time to really prioritize and define what is indeed important in life. This year I thought about why we all like Christmas and New Years so much.  I always enjoyed it but never really gave much thought to why we can't spend the rest of our year thinking it's Christmas or New Years.  Wouldn't life be so much more pleasant? For me, I discovered that Christmas and New Years are a good time for one to re-tune and get back in touch with those most dear to us.   It's when we often go out to eat ...

It's 2012. It's the year the world as we know it is supposed to end.  There's a whole movie dedicated to this year which I haven't seen yet, but many tell me it is strikingly familiar with earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and any kind of natural disaster you can think about.  Whatever happens, let's not live in fear about what will or could happen.  Let's approach 2012 from another perspective.  Let it be a year of new beginnings, new adventures and new life. Let it be a year you can say was your year. Life for me is a lot about what you make of it.   New Years is a good time for us to reconsider what is important to us, what it is we want to accomplish this year and most importantly, what it is we learnt the past year. I know I've learnt a lot and there is still much I have to learn.  One of the most important things I've learnt though is that your life is in your hands. If there is something about you that you don't like, you don't have ...