14th Tues with Morrie - 16/12/08 ~ We say Goodbye

How do you say goodbye? Have you ever had a situation where you know that the person that you truly love is leaving you and you had to say your last goodbye ?

Personally, I dont know how to say goodbye...It was a wrenching sight when I first said goodbye to my Mum...

I looked back 3 years back and was glad that I had that opportunity to do it because I know that by letting you go and saying goodbye, I am relieving you of your sufferings.

Cherish your loved ones and friends when you can....say all the hellos and goodbyes..hugs and kisses...show all your love and concern without expecting any in return...say it while you can and when you can..

Another few more days before Xmas. I wish all of you the Love of Giving and Sharing. Merry Xmas !

11th Tues with Morrie - 25/11/08 ~ We Talk About Culture

People are inherently good. " People are only mean when they are threatened. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about losing them. When one gets threatened, one start looking out only for themselves. They start making MONEY a god. it is part of this culture.

The problem is we dont believe we are as much alike as we are. If we saw each other as more alike, we might be very eager to join in one big family in this world, and to care about that family the way we care about our own.

When one is dying, you see it is true. We all have the same beginning, birth and we all have the same end ~ death. How different can we be ?

Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and who love you. In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive. At the end of life, when you are dying, you need others to survive.

8th Tues with Morrie - 28/10/08 ~ We Talk About Money

" I Dont Want My Tombstone To Read"

"I Never Owned A Network"

Ted Turner lamenting his ability to snatch CBS Network !

Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. Neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for , no matter how much of them you have.

Do the kind of things that come from the heart.

~ What do you want your tombstone to read ~ ?

~I want mine to read as " Melvin left a legacy just like what my beloved mum left behind ~

What about you?

Share your thoughts here.

~ Excerpts from Tuesday with Morrie ~

5th Tues with Morrie - 07/10/08 ~ We Talk About Family

Love each other or perish. Without love, we are birds with broken wings. There is no foundation, no secure ground which people may stand if it isnt the family. If you dont have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you dont have much at all. Love is so supremely important.

"Love each other or perish"

~ Do you REALLY love your family ? ~

~ Excerpts from Tuesday with Morrie ~

13th Tues with Morrie - 9/12/08 ~ We Talk About The Perfect Day

We are so afraid of the sight of death..People act as if death is contagious. Death is just as natural as life. It's part of the deal we made. Its natural to die...

The fact that we make such a big hullabaloo over it is because we don't see ourselves as part of nature. We think because we are human and we're something above nature.Everything that gets born, dies. " As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on - in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.

Deathe ends a life , not a relationship.

Mum, you left a good name behind...for me and everyone who remembered you as the Hougang Ave 3, Dian Mo Jie...

11th Tues with Morrie - 25/11/08 ~ We Talk About Culture

People are inherently good. " People are only mean when they are threatened. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about losing them. When one gets threatened, one start looking out only for themselves. They start making MONEY a god. it is part of this culture.

The problem is we dont believe we are as much alike as we are. If we saw each other as more alike, we might be very eager to join in one big family in this world, and to care about that family the way we care about our own.

When one is dying, you see it is true. We all have the same beginning, birth and we all have the same end ~ death. How different can we be ?

Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and who love you. In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive. At the end of life, when you are dying, you need others to survive.

3rd Tues with Morrie - 23/09/08 ~ We Talk About Regrets

The first time I saw Morrie on "Nightline," I wondered what regrets he had once he knew his death was imminent. Did he lament lost friends? Would he have done much differently? Selfishly, I wondered if I were in his shoes, Would I be consumed with sad thoughts of all that I had missed? Would I regret the secrets I had kept hidden?

"Mitch," he said," the culture doesn't encourage you to think about such things until you're about to die. We're so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks- we're involved in trillions of little acts just to keep it going. So we don't get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing? He paused.

"You need someone to probe you into that direction. It wont just happen automatically.

~ Regrets? I have a few....
Not telling my mum I love her enough..
Not spending enough time with her...
Taking her for granted..

Do I want to go on regretting for the rest of my life? The answer is No. I would like to live my life for the living and not for the beloved that is gone...

What regrets do you have in your lives?

~ Excerpts from Tuesday with Morrie ~

2nd Tues with Morrie - 16/09/08 ~ We Talk About Feeling Sorry For Yourself

"Mitch, I dont allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that's all." I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day. And if Morrie could do it..with such a horrible disease....

"It's only horrible if you see it that way," Morrie said. " Its horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing. But its also wonderful because of all the time I get to say goodbye."

He smiled. " Not everyone is so lucky." I studied him in his chair, unable to stand, to wash, to pull on his pants. Lucky? Did he really say lucky?

~ Do you feel sorry for yourself most of the time? I spoke to an online friend..She was feeling depressed and dont wish to live any long..How sad when you come to think of it...

Do we really have to dwell into self pity ?

Hmm...I am officially out of Job for 2 weeks..Let's rejoice !

We should celebrate small victories...its been a struggle for me to quit my job before end of this year but am glad that it happened sooner than I thought.

~ Excerpts from Tuesday with Morrie