
I'M NoT Da BeST BuT I'M NoT LiKe Da ReSt

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so..... 'Love the people who treat you right. Forgive the ones who don't.'
There is no greater power than love. All strength comes with the awakening of love in the heart. ... If there is any protecting influence in the world, it is no other than love. In all aspects of life, wherever we find protection, its motive is always love, and no one can have trust in any protection, however great, except the protection that love offers. If a giant were to frighten a child, the child would say, 'I will tell my mother.' The strength and power of any man is too small in comparison with love's protection which the mother affords her child. Love can heal better than anything in the world.
Behind all this world of various names and forms there is one life, there is one spirit. This spirit which is the soul of all beings is attracted towards unity, and it is the absence of this spirit which keeps the world unhappy. To a person who has just had some unpleasantness with his brother or sister, his food is tasteless, the night without sleep, the heart restless, the soul under a cloud. This shows that we do not necessarily live on food; our soul lives on love, the love that we receive and the love that we give. The absence of this is our unhappiness, and the presence of it is all we need.
True life cannot be ours until unity is achieved. It is the work of religion to promote the spirit of unity, in the knowledge and love of God to whom all devotion belongs. Man often seeks for psychic, occult, and magnetic powers. This is not the purpose of religion; these developments come of themselves. Where there is life and love, there is magnetism; love itself is the healing power and the remedy for all pain.
The dark clouds brought romance between Thee, my Beloved, and me.
Let Go
Usually we tend to let go of pleasant emotions and cling to the unpleasant ones. Ninety nine percent of the world's population is prone to doing this. But when the consciousness becomes free and cultured with meditation, the tendency of holding onto negative emotions is the first thing to disappear. We start living in "the moment" and let go of "the past". This is important because no matter how good the people we interact with are, there are bound to be misunderstandings in any relationship. Once a little misunderstanding crops up, our emotions get distorted and a host of negativities follow. If we are able to let go and focus on the ability of consciousness to revel in the glory of every moment, we are shielded from all the above. The truth that every moment is supportive and complementary to our growth dawns on us. Thus, attaining higher states of consciousness does not require any complicated strategy; one just needs to learn to let go
Divine Qualities
Our human body is made to bring heaven on this earth, it is meant to bring sweetness into this world, not to spill venom. It is easy to disparage someone, but it takes some guts, some intelligence, and some courage to uplift people, to bring out the Divine quality in those around you. By bringing out Divine qualities in others, you will see the Divinity deep inside you.
Expressions
You only see the fall of the water. You don’t see how the Ocean becomes the Cloud. The ocean becoming the cloud is a secret, but the cloud becoming the ocean is obvious. In the world only a few can notice your inner growth and height, but your outer expressions are apparent. Never brood that people don’t understand you. They can only see your expression.
Thoughts
Wake up and realize this is all made up of thoughts, just thoughts, just thoughts. Your appreciation of beauty is a thought, your aversion to an object that is ugly is a thought. Your craving or aversion is nothing but a passing thought in the mind. Realize this is just a thought and you will be free
Awareness
It is awareness that filters the outer negative influences and it is awareness that corrects and annihilates the unhealthy inner tendencies. The purpose of education is to develop this awareness so that you can be selective about your tendencies and influences. It is practically impossible to resist the external influences and the inner tendencies without raising one’s consciousness.
Compassion
Before pointing out a person’s mistake, see whether your comments will help to improve the situation, foster love, or bring harmony. Think about the usefulness of your comments. A magnanimous person does not point out the mistakes of others and make them feel guilty. Instead, they correct others mistakes with compassion and care, not through words but through their attitude.
By Lee Su Kim
If you are walking the streets of London or sipping coffee at a sidewalk cafe somewhere in Paris, and you hear in plain English, "So expensive-lah" or "So hot-lah", just turn around in the direction of the voice and I guarantee you that ten out of ten, the person who just dotted his or her sentence with a lah is Malaysian.
If you are feeling homesick in a foreign land and suddenly you overhear a conversation full of Yes-lahs and No-lahs, your homesickness can be assuaged for it sounds just like home and the speakers can only be Malaysians (or Singaporians, which is close enough when you're homesick!).
Just where did this lah come from and how did it creep into the English spoken by Malaysians? It is inevitable that Malaysians, living in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural setting will inter-borrow phrases and expressions from one language to another. Thus the very unique lah, used only in this part of the world (Malaysia and Singapore), could have originated from Malay, or any of the local dialects or languages.
Only a Malaysian born and bred in this country will know how to use the lah. A Malaysian who has been away for a while can slip back into using it quite comfortably but a Malaysian who has been away for a long time, say, seven to ten years, with little contact with fellow Malaysians, may find great difficulty as to exactly when to pepper his speech with lah. Just going lah, lah, lah every first or third word doesn't quite qualify. Malaysians will be able to sniff you out in a second and tell that somehow, sorry-lah, you just don't make the grade. For example, try saying the following sentence aloud:
"I-lah tell you-lah how-lah many times-lah but-lah you never-lah listen."
Any true blue-blooded Malaysian would cringe and tell straight-away that any person who speaks like that is an impostor.
Foreigners newly arrived in this country will find it quite baffling at first. Sure, these Malaysians are speaking English but what on earth is that strange musical note that they place at the end of their sentences every so often?? It does take some getting used to. An article in the Malaysian Trade Quarterly (Jan-March 1995) states that many foreigners have the mistaken notion that adding a lah to the end of every sentence lets them get away with a fairly good impression of a Malaysian accent.
This is hardly the case. The use of lah is, in fact, quite an art for those who were not born into the language. Here are a few sophisticated variations of its use:
"No fun-lah, you!" (You're really no fun at all!)
"You see-lah, like that also you cannot do!" (Can't you even do such a simple thing?)
What are the functions of the lah? What are the rules regarding its usage? How would you teach your orang puteh friend or spouse how to use the lah if he demands desperately for some help along the way ? Well, I'm afraid one can't learn it formally. Like sambal belacan or cincalok, it's an acquired taste. You've got to be around for sometime, and gradually you'll acquire a taste for it.
If you think the lah is baffling enough as it is, Malaysians have more tail words up their sleeves or in this case, off their tongues. A great favorite is the 'aaa', which has an entire repertoire of meanings, depending on how it is used. A simple 'thank you' to a Malaysian may sound too curt and most Malaysians, in informal settings, would prefer to say 'thank you-aaa' as it sounds softer and friendlier. A 'Yes lah' and a 'Yes-aaa' response are also subtly different in meanings.
If someone were to ask you a question such as, "Are you coming along?", a 'Yes-aaa' response would be inappropriate whereas a 'Yes-lah' response would be acceptable.
If your friend informed you that he's bought a brand new car, then a "Yes-aaa" response would be fine, meaning "Oh really?" The "yes-aaa" could cover a whole gamut of responses ranging from being a question to a reply dripping in sarcasm depending on the intonation.
Another popular tail word is one, as in,
"I don't know what to say-lah. This kind of things very hard to say one." or
"I'm so fed-up one, you know. I explain how many times in simple English, still cannot get through one."
Sometimes if you use one once too often, it can backfire. Your listener may find it hard to resist and may pun on your one. For example:
Lady: "I don't want one, but he wants so what can I do?"
Friend: "You don't want one aaa, but you want two, yes or not?"
Yet another tail word is man, as in "I say, man. Long time no see" or "I donno, man." This is an interesting adaptation from American culture rather than an influence of the mother tongues. Malaysians can add man to any sentence arbitrarily and even to exclamations such as "Wah man! Solid!"
To confuse things further, sometimes, Malaysians don't use single but double tail words at the end of a sentence, for example, "He's so bodoh (stupid) one lah!" or "Why your dressing so Ah Beng one-aaa?"
And sometimes tail words do not appear at the end of sentences but somewhere in the middle, such as in sentences where the subject is delayed, for example: "So action one man he!" or "Terror one lah she!"
Malaysians generally speak two types of English -- proper English particularly in business and professional settings, and Malaysian English with its charming and unique expressions. Just as the French have their oo-la-la, the Italians their Mama-mia, and the English, endearing expressions like "By Jove" or "Well, jolly good", may our Malaysian lah live a long and healthy life! Say yes-lah to that!
- Holding Hands: We definitely like each other.
- Holding you tight pressed against each other: I want you.
- Looking into each other's Eyes: I like you, for who you are.
- Playing with Hair: Let's fool around.
- Arms around the Waist: I like you too much to let go.
- Laughing while Kissing: I am completely comfortable with you.