I AM A USER, NOT A HOARDER

Posted on January 20, 2019 by hafong

January 20, 2019 2:01 pm

Eleven more days till the end of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I haven’t fallen off the wagon though there are days. It would not be such a terrible thing if I do if there is a good reason. It would be if it’s due to lack of motivation and conviction. I have adopted this mantra from Regina Brett’s 50 life lessions in God Never Blinks. Lesson 46 –No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. This is one of my ways of showing up.

I was wrong in my self assessment. I am not a hoarder. I do use what I’ve gathered over time. Life is a long journey. Learning never ends. My ears are always open for tidbits of wisdom, however they come. This morning I caught a bit of Shauna Niequest’s interview with Oprah on Super Soul Sunday. It was on her new book, Present Over Perfect. I have not read it so I can’t give an opinion. One thing she said caught my ear though. “Listen to your own life.” I took her advice because the more she talked, the more she lost me. She rambled on and on about how much she had and how busy she was. She smacked of privilege. I agreed with many of the readers on Goodsreads who gave her a one star.

The one thing she said was worth the listen. Do listen to your own life. I’ve already heard the message when I looking at my spruce trees in the winter light of the morning. I saw how magestic they were, the top reaching higher than the windows, the snow resting on top of the branches. The Buddhas sitting peacefully at their base out of the wind. How beautiful it all is, the winter, the cold and the snow. I can see the slowness and restfulness of it all. It’s the season of rest, recovery and restoration for the body and spirit. There is no need to hustle and bustle. There is no need to escape, to haul ass and snowbird to the south – for me.

HAPPY FOR NO/MANY REASONS

Posted on January 1, 2019 by hafong

January 1, 2019 10:02 am

Happy New Year! It’s a new day, a new year and a new challenge. I’m committing to the Ultimate Blog Challenge of writing a post every day for the month of January. I’m not one for making New Year Resolutions but it’s not such a bad idea. Even if you fall off the Resolution wagon every year, you’ve made the effort to come back again and again. You have hope for a longer ride each year before falling off. It’s better than having no hope and no resolutions. What then?

My resolutions are the challenges of creating through words, art and photography that I find online. I’ve completed most of them except the 365somethings2018. I fell off its wagon maybe halfway. 2018 was a hard year, a long year. It felt good to surrender and say ‘uncle’. It was bigger than me. I had to ‘give up’, rest and gather up my strength again before climbing back on the wagon. My wheels were mired in immovable muck.

But here I am, sitting here, tapping, sipping my tea. I’m dressed in my ‘good clothes’, red sweater for prosperity. It’s not Chinese New Year, but it is a new year. I hope to tap up an abundance of Gong Hee Fat Choys (wishes for prosperity). Maybe they will come to be on February 5th, Chinese New Year. Wouldn’t that be cool?

It is cool on this western New Year’s morning. I’m warm and content, happy for no reason and for many reasons. When all my basic needs, food, shelter and clothing are met, the rest is like they say, is gravy. I have lots of gravy. I am retired with a good pension. No more early morning risings. No more night shifts. I have my health, family and a few good friends. I can count them on one hand. The Universe gives me enough. I am not able to handle much more than that. Sheba is the gift from my angels above. I get to celebrate the new year two times every year. I get second chances to get it right. I shall not make too many demands. I have enough.

TOUCH – KISSED BY SUNSHINE, HELD IN SHADOW

Posted on April 6, 2015 by hafong

Here I am, feeling challenged amidst my challenges. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? They are not ‘musts’, life or death situations. They are challenges I have signed up to give me goals, inspirations and structure for my posts and writing. If I leave it to time or inclination, you know what will happen – nothing. And so, I have signed up for #aprillove with Susannah Conway, April Moon with Kat McNally, and Ultimate Blog Challenge .

I am really loving the prompts and loving coming from these sources. Keeping up is not easy, but it is not hard either if I don’t let my thoughts intrude and if I stop thinking in scarcity of time. They rob me of creativity and mire me in STUCK. I am not behind. I am forging ahead the best I can. I have to embrace the good and bad, the yin and the yang. I love the day and the night. What am I but one dimensional without my shadow? It will be good if I can accept and embrace my dark side. I am me, myself and I. Wherever I go, they and my shadow also go.

#AprilMoon prompt

Cia, goodbye past, I am writing the next chapter, a new story of my life. You no longer work. And now I am free of fear of uncertainty, of the dark, of the shadows within myself. I can breathe now and let me, myself and I out completely. I am singing in the rain, dancing in sunshine. Oh let those clouds come by. I am not afraid. I am kissed by sunshine, held in shadow.

APRIL’S FOOL

Posted on April 1, 2015 by hafong

It is April 1, a grey, dismal and depressing day. I’m not the first to say it. Someone beat me to it on Facebook. I hate to be the first to rain on the parade but today would be the kind of day that I could easily cave into my ‘the heck with its’.

I could have easily eaten a platter of fried eggs on toast. It would have been so comforting. It would have eased that generalized sense of discomfort, grumpiness arising from the pit of stomach – that sense of restlessness, dissatisfaction. But I stuck with my one egg on one toast, topped with a fried sliced tomato. It looked lonely on my plate. It sufficed my hunger if not my disposition.

My morning view – promise of summer ahead. #aprillove2015

How does one move on with the day when clouds hang really and metaphorically over one’s head? It’s good thing I had already signed up for a few challenges though today is the least likely time for them. At least I don’t have to rack my brain for ideas and inspirations. Now is not the time for brainstorming or brain surgery. Following through is much easier. It does not take much thinking or skill to aim the iPhone camera out of window and post the photo. This is for Susannah Conway’s April love photo challenge. It’s simple and quick, giving me a sense of accomplishment.

As you might know my dog, Sheba has been experiencing periods of anxiety. I have not been resting well at night with her restlessness. I am tired and cranky even in the morning with no energy for useful purposes. My yoga and meditation routines relaxed and mellowed me so I could take her out for her walk. Yes, there’s no rest for us mothers, even if our baby is a furry one.

The good thing about these kind of days is that the day seem to stretch forever. I have time on my hands to do whatever. Perhaps it is not the best time to cut my hair but I took a chance. Hair grows. I hate going to the hairdresser. I am happy with the result. It doesn’t look like a hatchet job, does it? I guess I could have smiled but smiling takes energy.

I am happy with how I’ve dealt with my day. I’m down to my final challenge – writing my post for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It is hard but first one word, then another. Then it’s one sentence followed by another. That is how life is, etc. etc.

CELEBRATIONS AND CHALLENGES

Posted on July 1, 2014 by hafong

Today is Canada’s birthday. The sun is out and so are the mosquitoes. Life does have its bite. I wouldn’t want it any other way, would you? So cheers! Let us celebrate – to Canada and life with all its flavours.

This month brings with it new challenges for me – the Ultimate Blog Challenge and NaBloPoMo for July. I feel up to the challenges as I have been habitually tapping out words almost every day. .

I am reluctant to call myself a writer but words are my passion. They come to me unwittingly, when I least expect them and when I most need them. Other times I struggle to find them. They always come eventually. I just have to have the discipline to put my fingers on the keyboard and start.

BlogHer is celebrating its 10th year anniversary, therefore the theme for the month is DECADE. I like to take this opportunity to look back over my last 10 years or further – to take stock and see where I have been and to decide where I want to go. It is probably not easy. Most likely it will be painful to do it honestly.

I know from experience that I can never go home again for that ‘home’ (China) is not the village or country that I once knew. I can no longer read nor speak the language with any fluency. So am I really Chinese? Finding and feeling ‘home’ again is another challenge.

There’s a lot of work ahead, a lot of material and memories to sift through. It is worth the effort. I am looking for Hafong. I am searching for me. I am up for the challenge. I am going to type my heart out. How about you? Will you join me?

THE MEASURE OF MY SUCCESS

Posted on April 17, 2014 by hafong

How do you measure success? On this 17th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I am still writing every day. There are 13 more days to go. Success in this aspect looks possible and probable. But what about my other aspirations for this month?

Have I been living according to Don Miguel Ruiz’s FOUR AGREEMENTS?

1. Be impeccable with your word.

2. Don’t take anything personally.

3. Don’t make assumptions.

4. Always do your best.

It always helps to stop and evaluate your goals and progress. Having a challenge in the framework of this month helps me to focus. True, some days are better than others and some posts are more profound than others. Sometimes I can’t help myself and my mouth runs away on me. Judgement creeps in along with assumptions on difficult days. Some days I am more perfect than others. But always, I try to be conscious. Always, I choose to do the best I can.

Today is one of those not so perfect days. But it is the best that I could do. It is a success.

onethousandandtwo

Looking at Infinity

Tag Archives: Ultimate Blog Challenge