It's Now or Never

How true it is that you don’t value something until you have lost it or about to lose it.

It could be a relationship which had soured over a misunderstanding and the reluctance of both parties to clear the air.

It could be a diagnosis handed down by the doctor that leaves you with a few months left to live.

It could be the imminent death of someone close to you.

We have the malaise of taking things for granted. We take for granted that we will always have good health and continue to indulge in unhealthy food that at the back of our minds we know is not good for us. E.g a diabetic who craves for something sweet or who simply cannot forgo the love of durians.

We let the sun go down on an argument because we know there’s always the next day. Yet when the next day dawns, no step is taken to resolve the situation.

We procrastinate outselves out of time and yeah, possibly out of life too!

Are we willing to take the first step towards salvaging whatever is left? We all are in this situation, one way or another. It’s time to wake up and do the necessary before it’s too late.

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Fine Feathers make Fine Birds........really??

Very often one is sized up by one’s appearance. What you wear and how you carry yourself projects an image of you and like it or not, this is how another person perceives you and has you pinned as “ your average Joe “ or “Jane” or a “go-getter” or a lady of leisure or a harassed housewife.

Sometimes the observer has a person down to pat while at other times she couldn’t be more wrong.

Dare I say that how one comes across is often a way of life? If someone is a working professional, the way he or she is dressed will shout it out. It becomes a habit so that even when you are off work, the usual style of dressing is there, albeit not the usual garb that you wear. On the other hand, you may be only too relieved to sport casual tees and pants. Still that “stamp” is there.

Somehow, your profession has a mark on you. Many a time, a woman

is asked, “Are you a teacher? You look like one.” Is it

the conservative way of dressing, one’s demeanour, the

tone of speech? Is there a “teacher” look stamped on a teacher?

Or what about the world’s oldest profession? Usually one can tell right away

if a woman is in that profession, There again, is it revealed by the way she is dressed, the way she carries herself, speaks and looks? Sometimes one comes across a walking “Christmas tree” , dressed to the nines, covered in bling with a branded handbag that is always de riguer. A member of the nouveau riche? Loud dressing is not a mark of the “old rich”. On the contrary they tend to play down their dressing but the quality shows through in the fabric, the cut and flow of the garment. Understated elegance. However this is not a monopoly belonging to them as it can be acquired, by observing, learning and adopting as part of your style.

Nonetheless don’t be fooled by the external trappings. There have been cases where a very simply dressed person in unbranded tees, short pants and flip flops whom you will give a cursory glance, is actually worth millions. Such low-key profile perhaps is a way of protection, not wanting to draw attention to his worth to keep predators at bay.

All said and done, your personality comes through in the way you are dressed, the way you carry yourself, the way you speak and the expression on your face. Whether you are the type of person who draws people to you naturally (not because of your social position) or the type from whom others shy, is a clue to the inner you, which fine clothes will not hide. As they say “truth will out.”

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Why do People do it?

The news is full of negative happenings, be they road accidents, violence against another human being, against animals, and against self.

Why do people do it?

Reckless drivers tearing down the roads, overtaking on the left and right when the road is wide enough.... is it so important to get to wherever they’re going faster by a few seconds? For all they know, in the words of a dear friend, they are “looking for a hospital bed”. Or worse, they could tear their way right out of this life into the next. If they only do away with themselves, it’s ok but on their way out, they do irreparable damage to other lives or even snuff out the lives of innocent parties.

Those who kill another, those who bully and torture a vulnerable person as in “ragging”, “bullying”, until it terminates in death, are said to do it in the name of orientation, a way of welcoming a newbie into his new environment. To me, it’s all BS. It’s just sadistic, enjoying the sight of someone forced to do something that he cannot do and abusing him physically when he is not up to the mark.

How many can actually do a couple of push ups? Imagine being forced to keep on at it. The effort could kill a person especially if his system cannot take it. There’s the mob mentality, being egged on by the crowd to participate in something you normally would not do in saner moments.

There’s the case of step children being abused with cigarette burns, beaten to an inch of their lives, maimed and traumatised for life. What about the children who have disappeared? What is happening to them? Where are they?

It’s such an unkind world, with the barbaric acts of the exposed minority. How many more evil, repugnant deeds go undetected?

It’s no surprise that some commit suicide when they can no longer take the pressure, the shame, the humiliation and the pain. It’s a terrible condemnation of our society when a child commits suicide.

Will the time come when everyone can forget about self and put others first? Can we take a step back and do an audit of our lives? What kind of footprints will we leave behind?

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