Heart Touching Story

I was walking around in a Big Bazaar store making shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.

The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll. Then the little boy turned to me and asked: ''Aunty, are you sure I don't have enough money?''

I counted his cash and replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear.'' The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Self Appraisal

A little boy went to a telephone booth which was at the cash counter of a store and dialed a number.

The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:

Boy : "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

Woman : (at the other end of the phone line) "I already have someone to cut my lawn."

Boy : "Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price than the person who cuts your lawn now."

Woman : I'm very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy : (with more perseverance) "Lady, I'll even sweep the floor and the stairs of your house for free.

Why It Is So Hard To Let Go..

The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?" Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face. "A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.

On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere - Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?" "Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you." "Then give me your pearls." "Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess - the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite." "That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?" "Daddy, you know I love you." "Then give me your pearls." "Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper." "That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you" And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. "What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?" Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.

So it is with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasure. Isn't God good?

Are you holding onto things which God wants you to let go of. Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities which you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing.............

God will never take away something without giving you something better in ....

 

We Will See!!!!

Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the central region of China. He didn't have a lot of money and, instead of a tractor, he used an old horse to plow his field.

One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing to happen." The farmer said simply, "We'll see." He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift.

Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man." And the farmer said, "We'll see."

A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor fellow!"

The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see."

 Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, "What a fortunate man."

The farmer said, "We'll see."

Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on the horse and fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, "What a shame for the poor boy."

The farmer said, "We'll see."

Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him.

Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man."

The farmer smiled again - and said "We'll see."

Moral of the story: There's no use in overreacting to the events and circumstances of our everyday lives. Many times what looks like a setback, may actually be a gift in disguise. And when our hearts are in the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can learn valuable lessons from.

As Fra Giovanni once said:
"Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me... the gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence."

 

Tortoise And Hare Teamwork Story

This is an age old fable of the tortoise and hare race. Everyone knows who won the race or do you? Well, recently I heard a new version of this story with a new twist. Read this inspirational teamwork story with lessons in teamwork from an age old fable.

1. Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. The tortoise and hare both agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race.

The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.

2. But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this tortoise and hare story. It continues.

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.

This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.

It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.

3. But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. The tortoise and hare started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river.

The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.

In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you.

If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.

The story still hasn't ended.

4. The tortoise and hare, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better. So the tortoise and hare decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.

They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. Both the tortoise and hare felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.

The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.

Laughter is Best Medicine

Many years ago, Norman Cousins was diagnosed as "terminally ill." He was given six months to live. His chance for recovery was one in 500.

He could see the worry, depression and anger in his life contributed to, and perhaps helped cause, his disease. He wondered, "If illness can be caused by negativity, can wellness be created by positivity?" He decided to make an experiment of himself.

Laughing was one of the most positive activities he knew. He rented all the funny movies he could find - Keaton, Chaplin, Fields, the Marx Brothers. (This was before VCRs, so he had to rent the actual films.) He read funny stories. He asked his friends to call him whenever they said, heard or did something funny.

His pain was so great he could not sleep. Laughing for 10 solid minutes, he found, relieved the pain for several hours so he could sleep. He fully recovered from his illness and lived another 20 happy, healthy and productive years. (His journey is detailed in his book, Anatomy of an Illness.) He credits visualization, the love of his family and friends, and laughing for his recovery.

Some people think laughing is a waste of time. It is a luxury, they say, a frivolity, something to indulge in only every so often. Nothing could be further from the truth. Laughing is essential to our equilibrium, to our well-being, to our aliveness. If we're not well, laughing helps us get well; if we are well, laughing helps us stay that way.

Since Cousins' ground-breaking subjective work, scientific studies have shown that laughter has a curative effect on the body, the mind and the emotions. So, if you like laughing, consider it sound medical advice to indulge in it as often as you can. If you don't like laughter, then take your medicine - laugh anyway. 

Tomorrow Is Today

Once, the devil called for a demons’ conference. The theme of that conference was “How to destroy the Gospel.”

The devil lamented the fact that the Gospel is spreading like wild fire. He stressed that unless a counter strategy was found, the Gospel would indeed spread to the entire world.

With desperation, he urged the demons to come up with creative ideas. The atmosphere was extremely solemn as the devil waited for suggestions from the floor. For a long period of time, no one uttered a word.

One demon broke the silence by saying, “Let’s destroy the Bible so that the good news contained therein could not spread.”

Without hesitation, the devil said, “Have you forgotten that we tried that for centuries? The more we try to destroy Bible, the more it becomes precious to the Christians. It has become the world best seller of all times.”

There was an awkward silence as the devil waited for the next suggestion. Everyone was in deep thoughts.

Another demon timidly stood up an said, “Let’s destroy public prayer so that Christians would not have the power to spread the Gospel.”

The devil replied with impatient, “Have not we tried that in the States, as well as in many other countries? We instigated the authorities to prohibit public prayers but these Christians intensified their private prayers. Consequently, the Gospel is being spread even further.”

There was a longer silence before the third demon stood up. He was trembling visibly as he feared the fury of the devil.

Timidly, he suggested, “How about destroying the churches all over the world? That will stop the Gospel from going forth because churches are sending agencies of missionaries.”

The devil answered angrily, “Have not we tried that many times before? In China alone, many churches went underground during the reign of Chairman Mao. Look what happened today? These churches are flourishing more than ever! Millions are following Christ! And you useless dummies cannot do anything about it.”

There was absolute silence in the bowels of hell. This time the silence seemed like eternity.

Finally, another demon ventured another idea, “Let’s severely persecute the Christians. Martyr them. Put intimidation and fear into the hearts so that they would not dare share the Gospel with another soul.”

The devil snarled, “You idiot, every time a martyr is killed, his blood is the seed for another vibrant church. Since the very first church was born, we have been persecuting every Christians non-stop. Yet we are fighting a losing battle. More churches are springing up everyday. More people are breaking loose from us as they turn to Christ. We are losing out. Could not one of you come up with a viable idea?”

Suddenly, one tiny little demon stood up and said, “There is a strategy, I believe will work. But we must carry it out consistently. Let’s tell the Christians that they should not neglect reading the Bible. Let’s even encourage them to pray fervently, both in public and private. Let’s urge them to plant churches all over the world. Let’s implore them to do great exploits for Christ.”

He further suggested, “After we told them what they long to hear, let’s not forget to add this caution: But don’t do it today. Today you have too much going for you. You are too busy. Do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is a better day.”

He added, “When the next day comes, we will whisper the same thing into their ears, ‘It is good to be more committed to God. It is good to spread the Gospel. It is good to save the lost, heal the sick and set the captives free. But you cannot afford to do it today. Why not leave it till tomorrow?’ When the new day arrives, we repeat the same thing all over again. For them, tomorrow never comes.”

The Wise Man-- Dare To Live

There was once an old wise man who live on top of a mountain. (I don’t know why the wise men always like to stay on top of mountains.) Whenever the villagers had a problem, they would climb up the mountain and ask the old man for advice.

One day a young man decided to climb up and ask the old man a question.

“Wise man,” he asked, “What makes a man truly great?”

The old man looked at him and said, “Do you sincerely want to know?”
 

“Yes, yes!” the young man replied the wise man.

“Well,” the wise old man said to him, “Let me tell you in the form of a story”

There was once a Greek man who suffered from a deadly disease. Knowing that he will die soon, he was the first to join the army when his country was in a battle with the enemy. Hoping to die in battle, he would fight in the front line, exposing himself without any worry for his life. Eventually they won the battle and he was still alive. His general was so impressed with his bravery which contributed much to the victory.

The general decided to promote him and award him with medals of bravery and honor. On the day of presentation, he was looking very down and sad. Curiously, the general asked him the reason why and was told of his deadly disease. “How could I let such a brave soldier die?”, the general thought. So the general hired the best physician and finally cured the soldier. But from that day onwards, the once valiant soldier was no longer seen at the front. He would always avoid danger and tries his best to avoid danger and protect his life.

“Young man”, he wise man said, “if you want to be truly great, you must not be scared of dying, you must be daring.”

Split Milk-- specially for Parents

Have you heard of the story - spilt milk? Well, we all know there is no use crying over spilt milk. But this story is different. I would hope all parents would respond in this manner.

I recently heard a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?

He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!

When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, “Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”

Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.

His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!

This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make mistakes.

Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment “doesn’t work,” we usually learn something valuable from it.

Wouldn’t it be great if all parents would respond the way Robert’s mother responded to him?

Burden Of Our Own

A Monarch of long ago had twin sons. As they grew to young manhood, the king sought a fair way to designate one of them as crown prince. All who knew the young men thought them equal in intelligence, wit, personal charm, health, and physical strength. Being a keenly observant king, he thought he detected a trait in one which was not shared by the other.

Calling them to his council chamber one day, he said, "My sons, the day will come when one of you must succeed me as king. The weight of sovereignty is very heavy. To find out which of you is better able to bear them cheerfully, I am sending you together to a far corner of the kingdom.

One of my advisors there will place equal burdens on your shoulders. My crown will one day go to the one who first returns bearing his yoke like a king should."

In a spirit of friendly competition, the brothers set out together. Soon they overtook an aged woman struggling under a burden that seemed far too heavy for her frail body. One of the boys suggested that they stop to help her.

The other protested: "We have a saddle of our own to worry about. Let us be on our way."

The objector hurried on while the other stayed behind to give aid to the aged woman. Along the road, from day to day, he found others who also needed help. A blind man took him miles out of his way, and a lame man slowed him to a cripple's walk.

Eventually he did reach his father's advisor, where he secured his own yoke and started home with it safely on his shoulders. When he arrived at the palace, his brother met him at the gate, and greeted him with dismay. He said, "I don't understand. I told our father the weight was too heavy to carry. However did you do it?"

The future king replied thoughtfully, "I suppose when I helped others carry their yoke, I found the strength to carry my own." 

Things Are Not Always Black or White

In life, a lesson learned in your past that you will never forget completely.

When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson learned that day.

I was convinced that "I" was right and "he" was wrong - and he was just as convinced that "I" was wrong and "he" was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson. She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other.

In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. "White," he answered.

 I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.

The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, "White." It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side was it black.

My teacher taught me a very important lesson learned that day:  

You must stand in the other person’s shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective.

 

Real Life Story

Life Lessons From A Tragic Encounter – Story of Takalah Tan

Takalah Tan is someone I know living with the complex challenges of Post Traumatic Brain Injury. He is one of the most inspiring people I have ever come across. From him, I found the hope and zest to spurge ahead in my will to live life the best that I can.

I got to know Takalah whilst working as a relief teacher at a neighborhood school. This was during one of the most depressed and down moment of my life. I was then earnestly looking for a full time job.

During one of the breaks, I noticed a fellow teacher going to the canteen. I decided to acquaint with him. This was when our friendship began.

Takalah Tan introduced himself to me. To in a way enthrall me, he shared with me a poetry he wrote when he was fifteen years of age. Takalah recited his poem: “Against The Wind” with such zest and vivid movements, it indeed enthralled me. I was amazed by his intelligence and eloquence. He kindly shared with me some tips on speech techniques as well as diverse teaching stratagems.

I did not know Takalah well enough then to accurately grasp the immensity of the hurdle he faces each day. It shocked me to later realize that he has had been inflicted with critical traumatic brain injury in 1994. This incidence erased Takalah’s memory bank and inflicted on him other multiple deficits. Surprisingly, I later found out from students that he is their most popular teacher. Some even jokingly call him a little mad.

However he was conversely not popular amongst his fellow colleagues. Perhaps he seems a bit eccentric to many as Takalah uses unorthodox teaching methods. To bridge the teacher student gap and thus improve their information reception and also their knowledge retention, Takalah incorporate short breaks to demonstrate action songs to his students. These initiatives have helped the school harvested the much coveted obedient classes.

Perhaps Takalah’s adopted stratagem is a result of his brain injury. His ways have been gauged as unorthodox by many. His stratagem is however a refreshing breathe of fresh air for the many drained by the normal repetitive routine. Though Takalah’s teaching methods seem very unusual in our culture, he has successfully revitalized many of our students in despair and has inculcated in them all some of the fundamental values in life. Before Takalah Tan departed from the school, he handled the relief teaching for a class.

He spent the relief sessions sharing the art of poetry-writing with the secondary one students. Before Takalah left the school for further studies, he distributed to all his students a poetry book with forty-one poetries or self-help articles from himself and the fifty-four selected pieces that the students have written for him.

Some time later, Takalah Tan shared with me his traumatic brain injury infliction and it’s multitude of accompanying adversities …

Takalah was a fit athlete. He read a great deal and has noticed that many of the successful people in the world attained their distinguished status through endurance and continuous hard work.

Takalah Tan participating in a 100 Kilometer Triathlon

Takalah Tan was born an asthmatic. When young, he often experiences breathing difficulty. Looking on the bright side, this weakness has kept Takalah lean.
He chose not to just live with it. In his quest to becoming fit, Takalah reads profusely and actively involve self in physical exercises. Whilst in College, he joined its swim team and cross country race team.

He personally participated in endurance sports events such as the marathon as well as triathlon.

Expedition leader to the summit of Mount Kinabalu, East Malaysia.

Being a nature lover with lots of endurance capability, Takalah actively participates in a diverse range of outdoor activities. He scuba dives, do rock climbing and jungle trekking.

Takalah’s immense love for thrill sees him participate in parachuting as well as bungee jumping.

He is a camping and hiking enthusiast. He enjoys challenging sports. He likes to be ‘on the edge’. These short moments of thrill may satiate him temporally but sure thrilling and exciting but they sure brings much worries to his close ones who are concerned for his safety.

An Officer & A Gentleman

Takalah Tan was recruited to serve his National Service in the Commando Battalion. He worked hard and excelled in the Commando Camp’s Basic Military Training. He was thereafter selected for the Section Leader Course.

Excellent performance saw Takalah Tan short-listed to undergo Officer Cadet Training at the Officer Cadet School in Singapore Arms Forces Training Institute.

After completing his National Service duration of two and a half years, Takalah proceeded to do Mechanical Engineering Degree at National University of Singapore. It is indisputable at that time for one to state that pursuit for thrill is a integral part of Takalah’s life. The quest for thrill seems not to evade Takalah till 24th May 1994. Takalah encountered a calamity and was plunged into the deepest pit of tragedy.

Takalah Tan clinched a job in a coveted company; where out of seven thousand applicants, only Takalah and another were chosen. As part of the employment terms, he was to be issued a car for mobility purposes. Sadly, just a week before Takalah was to start his career in this coveted Multi-National-Company, he met with a tragic motorbike accident.

 He never thought riding motorbike is that dangerous but the uncalled-for happened. Takalah Tan now knows the truth but it is too late.

Just sent to hospital by an ambulance. In fear of spinal injury, Takalah Tan’s neck was supported by the above orange frame.

Just sent to hospital by a Civil Defence Ambulance. In fear that neck movements may aggravate possible prevailing spinal injury, Takalah Tan’s neck was fixated by the attachment of an orange circumferential frame on it.

The accident broke his right leg, dislocated his left shoulder, blinded his left eye, tore away his left-nose, broke his skull (liquid around his brain leaked dry) and had blood clots in his brain which resulted in brain injury.

His tragedy prompted his dad to postpone his heart-bypass operation. Just two weeks before Takalah discharged from NUH, his dad was struck by a fatal cardiac seizure. Upon regaining his consciousness, conscience prick the brain injured Takalah to feel accountable for his dad’s death.

Having been the primary cause for such a great sense of hopeless despair in his family, Takalah had little to fend himself with when the family members harshly scolded him for not following their instructions prescribed during the process of his recovery. The strict treatment and negative feedbacks aplenty from loved ones and peers indeed saddened and disturbed Takalah.

To make matters worse, Takalah was thrown into solitude. Due to his brain injury, Takalah could not remember his associative relationship with the many who visits him to care for him. The infliction of permanent amnesia on Takalah has greatly widened the rift between Takalah and peers.

Takalah Tan’s memory recall and retention handicap has resulted in his loss of close relationships with many friends. His good chemistry with close-ones has been badly corrupted by Post Traumatic Brain Injury handicaps.

Takalah required multiple reconstruction surgeries: “Talk about ‘The Ugly Look!’ What about me? Where do I stand?” Takalah Tan queries…

The accident smashed Takalah Tan’s face. His face becomes sunken. As the ‘fatty’ cushion behind each eye has been greatly depleted by the cranial - maxilla facial fracture, his two eyeballs have descended into their respective sockets. This has given Takalah the ‘sunken-eye’ look. His teeth set-up has been badly damaged and misaligned.

- He required a neural-pressure-relieve attachment on his skull
- He underwent major dental-realignment
- His shortened right-shin underwent elongation of 1.5 inches
- His crania-facial deformity was corrected in 7 surgeries
- Part of his left-ear was transplanted onto his torn-off left-nostril
- The misalignment of his eyeballs were to a certain extent corrected, via the detachment and reorientation of his eye sockets
- His left blocked-Eustachian tube have to be relieved and more!

Should conflicts do arise, Takalah will often avoid escalating the prevailing disagreement by not responding in a defensive manner. To help allow the turbulence to subside, he often strategically adopts sensible detachment measures. This delay tactic gives the conflict initiator ample time to reconcile within self the matter of concern.

During an occasion when all three of his family members bombarded him with heated words of impatient anguish, Takalah took a look at each of his family member, opened the front gate, and proceeded for a late night stroll. All this happened without him uttering a single word. Takalah strolled around his serene neighbourhood to both calm his own mind and dissipate his inner resentment.

This moment of break-in-contact gave ample time for his family members to do personally do a ‘third-party’ reappraisal of personal enactment. This has helped them reconcile in self the harm of their earlier thoughtless acts. From that night on, Takalah’s family have become more able to appreciate his unique psycho-social disposition and thus accommodate better for his unique disposition.

This above measure has helped provide for Takalah Tan and his family members a much-needed breathing space. It enabled Takalah and his family to look back on the unhappy moments more objectively. This strategy has helped many groups with entities of different standpoint to successfully resolve and reconcile pertinent conflicting issues.

Due to his brain injury and loss of memory, his mindset had become shallow. Takalah mingled better with young children. He was then a child in mind but an adult in body. Takalah’s Post Traumatic Brain Injury body-mind disposition greatly resembles a mismatch in the eyes of the general community.

Due to their level of maturity, Takalah finds himself unable to interact appropriately interact with his friends. This had in many instances made Takalah the odd one out. Takalah frequently receive demoralizing comments that he was always speaking of the same old topic (brain injury) and that it irks them to boredom.

Ostracism imposition on Takalah Tan was rampant. Lack of appropriate regard from relative and peers imposed upon him a challenging yet lonely post-head injury recovery trail. Such negative feedbacks stirred up in Takalah the notion, that his continued presence will be a demerit to the status quo of his family.

Wrought within Takalah then was the painful glimpse that he can only impose a permanent burden, rather than be a contributing member of his family. The negative prevailing environment that enshrouds Takalah and his post-trauma deficits has undoubtedly triggered in innocent him, thoughts of taking his own life.

Fortunately, Takalah Tan had a strong survival will to overcome his brain injury. He disciplined himself to do the following:

i. Perform stretching exercises
ii. Do counter muscle exercises
iii. Take walks (600m – 2km)
iv. Ascend and descend staircase (12 storeys – 2 x 12 storeys)
v. Walked 1km to swimming pool to do hydrodynamic resistance exercises
vi. Once better, though with right leg still shorter than left by 11/2”, he jogged. Takalah started his first post-accident run by tiring out at 600m. Consistent training thereafter helped him in a few month’s time complete 2.4km in 12min. Considering the multitude of constraints Takalah faces, this is indeed admirable.

One day a small poster caught his eye. Displayed was a picture of a lighted beacon in troubled waters. Takalah envisioned himself to resemble the ‘beacon’, one bestowed with the duty to clarify the vision of the community and to light up the supposedly bleak trail threaded by the those living with brain injury.

This vision has gotten him involved in many instances where he related “The Trilogy of Takalah Tan” in brain injury workshops, public forums, school assemblies and ad-hoc events.

After helping his relatives set up a standard administration stratagem for providing courier despatch services, Takalah Tan decided to fulfil his bestowed role to enlighten many. On noticing an advertisment for recruitment of teachers with working experiences, he applied for the Post-Graduate Diploma in Education. Despite the stringent criteria and his brain injury status, he gained acceptance for the course.

Takalah Tan, Before, Then and Now.

After having walked through the treacherous road of recovery, Takalah Tan learnt that Brain Injury Survivors live an “Out Of This World” form of life.

Family members, friends, or colleagues cannot adequately understand and sympathize with their dilemma, predicament and imposed deficiencies. Without strong determination and the will to fight on, Brain Injury people can make themselves feel that they live a lonely and meaningless life with a bleak future forthcoming.

Takalah Tan is indeed an inspirational person. He volunteers as a speaker at Brain Injury public forums. He is the elected President of Brain Injury Society of Singapore. He has left his previous vocation as a school teacher to further his studies in brain injury related disciplines at the Health science faculty of La Trobe University, Melbourne.

Takalah Tan with his mom

Despite being challenged by the infliction of permanent amnesia, Takalah Tan is now doing a Master of Public Health with respect to Brain Injury. Life is not exactly a rose for him.

His family is stretched financially just to support his school fees. But he is happy and believes in his calling. He has also found helpful friends in Australia.

Takalah is currently setting up a website to help the brain injured people at www.braininjurymatters.com

Monk N Baby

Once there was a monk who lived in a village. One day a young village girl became pregnant and was unmarried. She did not want to expose her boyfriend. Out of fear when her parents asked her who is responsible, she pointed her finger to that monk.

Her parents were infuriated. The next day, the whole village turned up to blame the him. “How could you?” “You dirty old man!” “You are a disgrace!” “Get out of our village, you hypocrite!” Some villagers even threaten the his life.

After listening to all the accusations, what he said was “Is that so?” and went back to meditate. Months went by; the young girl gave birth to a baby. The parents of the young girl were forced to find a father for the child. The parents and the villagers went up to approach him saying “You are responsible for this baby; therefore you should bring up the baby!” Once again, he said “Is that so?” He took the young baby in his arms and went back.

By this time the he has lost his reputation but it did not trouble him. He took very good care for this baby and he manages to obtain milk and everything the child needed from his neighbors.

After a year, he young girl felt ashamed and guilty and wanted to see her baby. She finally told the real story to her parents. When all the villagers came to know the truth, they all felt ashamed of having wrong him. So all of them gathered and went to the monk asking for forgiveness. Once again, after listening to them said “Is that so?” He handed the baby back to the young girl.

When you are right, one thousand angels swearing that you are wrong does not matter. But when you are wrong, ten thousand angels swearing that you are right will not make any difference. 

You Can Not Please Everyone

One day a man was going to market with his son and his ass. they met a couple on the way.

"Why walk when you have an ass to ride?" called out the husband, "seat the boy on the ass."

"I would like that," said the boy, "help me up father."

And the father did that willingly.

Soon they met another couple. "How shameful of you!" cried the woman, "let your father ride, won't he be tired?"

So, the boy got down and the father rode the ass. Again they marched on.

"poor boy", said the next person they met, "why should the lazy father ride while his son is walking?"

So, the boy got onto the ass too. As they went on, they met some travellers.

"How cruel of them!" They are up to kill the poor ass." cried one of the travellers.

Hearing this, the father and the son got down. Now they decided to carry the ass on their shoulders. As they did so, the travellers broke into laughter.

The laughter frightened the ass. It broke free and galloped away.

MORAL: You can not please everyone

To Realise Value of Time...

Imagine for a moment that there is a bank that credits your account each morning with
 $86,400.
 It carries over no balance from day to day.

 Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use
 during  the day. What would you do? Draw out ALL OF IT, of course!!

 Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
 Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
 Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to
 invest to good purpose.  It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.

 Each day it opens a new account for you.
 Each night it burns the remains of the day.   If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."

You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get
 from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!
 The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.

 To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a
 premature baby.

 To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to
 meet.

 To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.

 To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an
accident.

 To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver
 medal in the Olympics.

 Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you
 shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

 And remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery.

 Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!!!

I Have Learned

I’ve learned-
that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I’ve learned-
that no matter how much I care, some people just don’t care back.

I’ve learned-
that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I’ve learned-
that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I’ve learned-
that it’s not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I’ve learned-
that you should never ruin an apology with an excuse.

I’ve learned-
that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you’d better know something.

I’ve learned-
that you shouldn’t compare yourself to the best others can do.

I’ve learned-
that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I’ve learned-
that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I’ve learned-
that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I’ve learned-
that you can keep going long after you can’t.

I’ve learned-
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I’ve learned-
that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I’ve learned-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I’ve learned-
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I’ve learned-
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I’ve learned-
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I’ve learned-
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I’ve learned-
that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I’ve learned-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I’ve learned-
that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I’ve learned-
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I’ve learned-
that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I’ve learned-
that your family won’t always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren’t related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren’t biological.

I’ve learned-
that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive yourself.

I’ve learned-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I’ve learned-
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I’ve learned-
that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

I’ve learned-
that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.

I’ve learned-
that we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I’ve learned-
that you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I’ve learned-
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I’ve learned-
that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I’ve learned-
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I’ve learned-
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I’ve learned-
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I’ve learned-
that it’s hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people’s feelings, and standing up for what you believe.

I’ve learned-
that people will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

15 Laws Of Life by Swami Vivekananda

1. Love Is The Law Of Life: All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live.

2. It's Your Outlook That Matters: It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.

3. Life is Beautiful: First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves!

4. It's The Way You Feel: Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God.

5. Set Yourself Free: The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.

6. Don't Play The Blame Game: Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.

7. Help Others: If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.

8. Uphold Your Ideals: Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.

9. Listen To Your Soul: You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

10. Be Yourself: The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!

11. Nothing Is Impossible: Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin - to say that you are weak, or others are weak.

12. You Have The Power: All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.

13. Learn Everyday: The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.

14. Be Truthful: Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.

15. Think Different: All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.