The Echoes Of My Heart

I've been looking back at my life these past few days.

Many things touched me.
Things I am blessed with.
Things that molded me.
Things that helped me get through.
Things that brought me to where I am now.

I have been "investing" in people half of my life now. Come to think of it, that has always me something that I wanted to do since I was in primary school. The thing with these "investments" is that there are no "returns" guaranteed. But I must say that in these last few years, I'm beginning to see the fruit of it.

Don't be mistaken here, I'm not expecting anything back, just trying to say that what I get back is far greater than what I would ever ask for. Which is why I feel so blessed just moments ago.

But its not like that all the time
Sometimes its hard to "invest" in people.
Sometimes I tell myself that I haven't done enough.
Sometimes people just don't wished to be "invested" in.
Sometimes its about letting go.

Everytime that happens, I would wait patiently to be blessed again.

Some Pics From Leadership Camp

The wind was blowing so strongly that day,our students couldn't stand straight.

Haha, Faris didn't get to do the peace sign.

I left my mark on Jovin.

Prisoners awaiting execution at Changi beach.

Unleashing Potential

"Energy can only be transformed and not destroyed". I think it was something like that, one of the science lessons that I remembered from secondary school. In accordance to this theory, energy not in used is called potential energy.

Therefore, when someone says that he sees the potential in you, it also means that there are qualities or skills in you that are not being used. These potentials can be drawn out through opportunities and circumstances. However, the last stages where potential turn into skills or qualities, only happens when you decide to reach into yourself to unlock and release them.

Its kind of like a sleeping dragon (or maybe sleeping beauty for the girls); its prowess will never be appreciated till it is awake.

Leadership Camp 2007

This year's leadership camp was a very tiring experience. Sleeping on hard wooden plank and the constant noise from the landing airplanes makes it an unpleasant place to sleep in. On top of that, there were some boys who probably need their brains checked out, woke up just after 5am and made a lot of noise. My guess is that they found it difficult to continue sleeping but that shouldn't an excuse for being inconsiderate and waking up everybody else before dawn.

The whole camp reinforced what I told the Springfield kids about Leadership Qualities; that common sense should be one of them. This camp spotted a lot of jokers who did many silly things, not connecting with the grey matter in between their ears.

On the good side, the teens were much more ready and energized in this camp. This could because the experience from the previous leadership camp had prepared them and also that they needed less time to break the ice in their teams since a few schools went on their Service-Learning trips together. There were many unexpected participation and some of them did things that brought their hidden "talents" to light.

The leaders in the groups were also very outstanding this year, not only did they lead their groups well in the activities, many of them also engaged themselves in helping out where they would go un-noticed. This speaks of the great inner strength that they possess and for me, this is true leadership, in a form of a lifestyle and not just out there for show.

Hollywood Nite was a great success, we all had great fun and Capt Hary encouraged the students and staff through his words and affirmations. The students had a great laugh watching the Facils as they mimick some celebrities and many were greatly encouraged in being nominated and winning awards for their outstanding qualities throughout the camp.

Borrowing the words of Capt Hary, it looks like this batch of students have great potential. It'll be interesting to see how they would be leading next year and I hope that a great year of training would equip them even more.

P.S. Hadi owes me $5 for using my inspiring words and not giving me proper credit for them.

Something Off My Mind

The following is an inspiration from a conversation I had. Just thought its something "smart" that I came up with and gotta write it down somewhere, so don't think too much.

Anger and hatred are like Chinese Soups, the more you brew them, the stronger they becomes. At times, before you know it, all the soup would dry up, leaving a burnt mark in your own pot.

So, if you are carry a grudge against someone, serve him/her a bowl of soup (literally) before you burn yourself

My Farewell Gift For Springfield

I spent the last 2 days getting the students started on the Be REAL concept and managed to help them to put together an art piece of the size of 8 pieces of A2 size paper. They were a great help and everyone had fun putting their palm print on the piece. Those who were not around, remember to leave your mark when you come back to the PDP room.

New Crocs

Last Sat I was helping out at the Peacehaven carnival and Mui Lan bought me a new pair of Crocs to thank me for volunteering. Its one of the medical range that Crocs has produced; you can read the benefits on the pic. If you look closely, the crocodile is wearing a stetoscope.