My Gifts

That day, Ronald was celebrating his 5 years old birthday. His dad brought in a box and gave it to him. His dad said to him, ‘My son, this is the gift for you. Remember, this gift can give you happines.'

Ronald was very happy that his dad has given him a birthday gift. He hold the box in his hand tight and kept shouting out, ‘Happiness is inside this gift!’, repeated and repeated while he hopped around.

Suddenly, his mother shouted out to him, ‘Dinner’s time !’

'Alright, let me keep my gift first !’ Robert put his gift inside a drawer.

For years, Robert has forgotten about the gift that his dad has given him. In fact, every year, whenever Robert did his spring cleaning, he would have seen it but he was like being hypnotised in a trance state. He saw it yet could not see it. Every year, he just pushed his gift aside.

Finally one year, he saw it again and decided to open the box. It was interesting that inside the box, there were 4 sealed envelopes. However, Robert thought it was nothing and conveniently threw it into the dustbin.

Robert never see his gift anymore; neither did he find it or remember about this gift.

In life, everyone have brought along this gift when we come to this world. This gift gives us happiness. With this gift, we will find life more meaningful. And it is always inside us. We just need to discover it, find it and love it.

However, there are people who choose to put it inside their drawers when they find it. Robert saw it but never open it and use it. Some are often distracted though is already in our hands. Remember Robert's mother shouted at him for dinner and he got distracted and the gift ended up in thre drawer? There are some who throw it away. Trash it ! Destroy it in our own hands.

What is inside those envelopes ?

The first envelopes says, ENJOY YOUR PRESENT. Yes, just be thankful with what you have now and enjoy every moments you breathe. Everything, everyone, every happenings; are our presents.

The second envelope writes, LEARN FROM OUR PAST. You may be enjoying your life every moment but you still do not find real happiness. You begin to ask yourself WHY ! Well, that is the time you have to start recalling and learn from your past. What have you done and can you do better? Why am I not as happy as my neighbours next door?

Well, you may be enjoying your life. You have learnt from your past. And yet, you are still not feeling happy. What must you do now? The third envelope says, PLAN YOUR FUTURE. Oh yes, many people do that. Many people do their planning.

You still may not find happiness. You still do not know what to do. So the forth envelope says, HAVE A MISSION IN LIFE AND DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO. Yes, think what you want to achieve in life. And you start to work for it. When you have achieved your mission in life, you will feel happy. You will feel satisfaction. You will feel life is meaningful !

If Ronald have done what he was supposed to do, open up his birthday present, do not throw it into his drawer, he would have found happiness earlier than most people.  So remember to do whatever you are supposed to do now, immediately !

We all walk on this earth for only once. Let us find the gifts that have been planned for us and find happiness and make a watermark in our lives. Do remember, every gifts are inside us. We just need to find it, discover it, open it and use it !

'Good or Bad, hard to say'

Once upon a time, there was a king. The king liked one of his followers very much because he was very wise and always gave very useful advice. Therefore the king took him along wherever he went.

One day, the king was bitten by a dog, the finger was injured and the wound was getting worse. He asked the follower if that was a bad sign.

The follower said, Good or Bad, hard to say'. In the end, the finger of the king was too bad that had to be cut.

The king asked the follower again if that was a bad sign. Again, the follower gave the same answer, 'Good or Bad, hard to say'. The king became very angry and sent the follower to prison.

One day, the king went hunting in the jungle. He got excited when he was on the chase of a deer. Deeper and deeper he went inside the jungle. In the end he found himself lost in the jungle. To make thing worse, he got captured by the native people who lived inside the jungle. They wanted to sacrifice him to their god. But when they noticed that the king had one finger short, they released him immediately as he was not a perfect man anymore and not suitable for sacrifice. The king managed to get back to his palace after all. And he finally understood the follower's wise quote, 'Good or Bad, hard to say'. If he hadn't lost one finger, he could have been killed by the native people.

He ordered to release the follower, and apologized to him. But to the king’s amazement, the follower was not mad at him at all. Instead, the follower said, 'It wasn't a bad thing that you locked me up.' Why? Because if the king hadn't locked the follower up, he would have brought the follower along to the jungle. If the native found that the king was not suitable, they would have used the follower. Again, the quote 'Good or Bad, hard to say' stands.

The moral of the story:
Everything that happens in this world, there is no absolute good or bad. Sometimes good things turned out to be bad things eventually, while bad things become a gain.

Whatever good things that happen to you, enjoy it, but don't have to hold too tight to it, treat it as a surprise in your life.

Whatever bad things that happen to you, don't have to feel too sad or despair, in the end, it might not be a total bad thing after all.

If one can understand this, he or she will find life much easier.


Article contributed by John Han

Beautifully Imperfect !

Remember this advertisement running on Mediacorp TV ? I found this at youtube ........


No wonder our life seem to be imperfect but in fact it is perfect .... all along.

S.C.O.R.E. Model

Every living person has problems. A problem is never a problem. The model or ways we use to solve the problem is the real problem. There are many ways and tactic to solve a problem. However, I particularly prefer the S.C.O.R.E. model and think it is effective yet simple and straightforward to try solving a problem.

S – Symptoms
C – Cause
O – Outcome
R – Recourses
E – Effect

This S.C.O.R.E. model is unique in a way that it touches on the effect of any decision we will make.

Let us put up a case study. Peter has 2 girlfriends, Cheryl and Mindye. He likes both of them and he cannot decide who he loves more and can live for life happily. Let us try to solve his problem using the S.C.O.R.E. model as follows :

Symptom - He is troubled because he does not feel good to be a 2-timer dating 2 girlfiriends at the same time
Cause - He loves Cheryl since young but recently met Mindye, whom now he find himself truely love
Outcome - He wants to make a decisive choice so he stay loyal to 1 girl only
Resourses - He can give himself more time to know the girls better and also know who he loves more. He can find out which of the girls he is happy with everytime he dates them. He can consult his parents for advice. He can talk to the girls and test them individually. He can check his peace of mind if he 'assume' a decision made. He can find alternative such as letting go both girls and find a new love
Effect. If he choose any of them, he will hurt the other and may even lose friendship. If he will to let go both of them, he has to prepare to hurt both and lose both relationship. He may have to live with regrets, if any, throughout his whole life

After asking these questions and getting answer from Peter himself, as a NLP coach, we will let him decide and not give him our answers.

I become

I happened to chat with one of my customer and she said something I really want to share with you. Quote her : I want, I will, I am and I become. Yes, this is the right attitude for anything that we want to do and wish to do. If you have set a goal, this is what it takes to get your goal fulfilled and wish come true.