No Better Way To Celebrate

I was so impressed by the number of persons who have reached out to congratulate me on my birthday which is today. Even though I'm far from family and friends, and even though I have to work today and can't be with my people, I felt like I was in a party just eating and talking with family and friends, some of whom I'haven't seen for along time. All of this took place on Facebook today. As I open Facebook, it was all "Happy birthday Melvin; Happy birthday cuz." These simple words meant a whole lot to me. They show me that my family and friends do love me. Its good to be part of a family that really loves you, cares for you, and cheers you. This feeling is even more pronounced in my own family - when my wife and kids woke me up to start me off with Happy Birthday. There's a bond that exists among us that cannot be broken by distance nor time nor anyone else. Let's keep it that way. Let's remember to love, care for, and cheer those that are part of us.

An Uncommon Phenomenon

I was with my wife just talking about going out to the store when all of a sudden we heard a pinging sound on the roof of the house. It was pretty strange, so I looked outside and to my surprise, it was hailing. This is not common in the city where I live, and especially in times like these where we have been experiencing daily temperatures of about 40° C. It was about 7:35 pm, today. I called my sons to see this uncommon phenomenon. They were enthused by it. They got outside in all the excitement: picking up small hailstones and simply enjoying it all. So, when we least expect it, mother nature surprises us. It was a good sight to behold.

To My Late Mom

Happy Mother’s Day. This is the first time I cannot speak directly to you. But you are forever etched IN my heart. Every time I think of you, I remember your love, your care, your counsels, your cheer, your smiles and your tears. All these have played an integral part in my formation. My TODAY is the result of YOU – YESTERDAY. I thank you and I love you. And to all mothers I say, “May you be blessed on your Day by your children, and May God abundantly bless you. LOVE!

Say It And Mean It

Interestingly, one of my banks called me to offer me a credit card to which I agreed. When I went to pick it up, it wasn't ready. So some time after, they emailed me  to tell me that it was ready. So I went to the bank. To my surprise, they had sent me two of the same type of cards which really made no sense. Why would I want two of the same type of cards? So I asked the person to cancel one. For that, I had to speak to another bank officer by phone. I told him that I wanted him to cancel one of the cards and I explained to him why. The guy, instead of going ahead and cancel the extra card, decided to to show me the benefits of having two cards. After he gave me his long convincing story, I told him I wanted to cancel the card anyway. So he insisted on not giving in. He tried to sell me another card in its place. After his long story, again I told him that I wanted to cancel the card. He wouldn't listen. So I had to say to him frankly in spite of all that he had said, "Cancel the card" -more like an order. Then he got it. So he finally agreed to cancel the card. There are many people like him - who  would not give up on selling you something or trying to win you over to their side, but would rather persist with their talk until you give in. Be careful of them, especially the ones who promote credit cards. You keep to your word. Say it and mean it. Don't give in to them if you don't want to. Don't be rude to them, and don't let them walk all over you. Stick to your word. Say it and mean it.

Little By Little

My family, including my wife, has just began athletic training together witth other families. Both the children and the mothers participate. When I question my wife about her progress, she commented that she thinks she is gaining strength. When she first started, she would run for short moments, with rests in between. Now she says that she's running longer distances with less rests. Little by little she's gaining strength. Little by little she's developing her athletic ability. So in life, we can achieve the things that we set out to achieve, if we keep our eyes on the goal, and little by little try to get there. When beginning anything, we should avoid giving up too soon. We should tell ourselves that we can do it, but this can only be realized with the passage of time. With the passage of time, things should get better. Eventually, as our experience grows, we'd be doing much better.

Patience

I was doing some painting a few days ago and didn't realize that I had on one of my nice dressy t-shirts until when I was finished painting. So you know what? It got painted-up also. It was so bad that I thought it would be dificult to get the paint off. So I placed it in a bucket of water to soak for some days. Then I had it washed in a washing machine. But that didn't do anything to the paint on the t-shirt. So I decided to try something. I asked my wife for some alcohol, some pine sol and some vinegar. Then I made a solution. My little son was with me and asked me what I was making. So I told him, "A concoction". He asked, "What?" And I said, "A concoction!" So he watched me use the concoction to clean the paint, and "Voila! It worked!" I was able to remove all of the paint from my t-shirt. So, I remarked to my son that this could be a good business, if we mass produce the concoction and sell it. He became interested and went looking for all kinds of bottles and vials, but eventually he realized that I was just joking. On a more serious note, this experience taught me one thing - patience. Because it wasn't easy removing the paint. I had to spend quite a long time, and energy to remove it. So, some things can only be achieved if we have patience. And patience does not come overnight. It has to be developed. Whenever we're faced with challenges, we should try patience.