I believe every single thing, big or small, happens for a reason.  I’m not saying this just so that we can all go micro-analyze every aspect of our lives and go crazy.  In fact, if we trust life enough to bring us to where we need to be, at any given moment, we’d be going with the flow and there’s really no need to analyze anything much when you’re going with the flow.  Of course while we ride the waves, we still need to work to keep our balance and stay afloat, but we’ll “usually” end up in a pretty decent place, some way or another.  Yes?

I see some people shaking their heads.  Right.  So what do we do when “unusually” happens and we realize we’re drifting off tangent into unknown territory?  We’ve seen quite a bit of that happening lately, with all that’s going awry with the economy.

I was reading a very inspiring article just the other day on Forbes.com - it was an interview with Samuel Palmisano, Chairman and CEO of IBM Corporation.  Amidst the economic turmoil, Sam remains optimistic (this seems to be a trait of hugely successful people) and points out two exciting things that he sees:

1. getting people to change is easier in troubled times;
2. there’s a lot of growth happening in the world - it is just happening in unfamiliar places.

Sam also said, “As a leader, you have the mandate for change … you could create the future, or defend the past.”  It is obvious that he chose the former for his company.  The positive implications were not just used on his company, but also on his country.  I believe the same implications can be used on me and you, as individuals.

When life throws us outside of our comfort zone and into the unknown - when we lose our jobs, end a relationship or discover a tumor in our body - what does this mean and why?  Sure, we can get angry, bitter, sad, afraid, we can blame it all on the world and hope that someone will come and lick the wounds of our egos, but will that change things for the better?  I’ve heard some people lament about how their friends were lucky to have escaped company retrenchments, and they felt hurt that they had to be “sacrificed” instead.  This is when I feel that change happens when it needs to happen.  Sometimes it happens when you least expect it.  Sometimes it happens as a collective exercise, or it just happens to you exclusively.  Whatever it is, change happens to everyone - just not at the same time, and only when it’s needed.  Change happens because it is time for us to learn something new.  It is time for us to grow and expand into something better.  The process may be unfamiliar and scary, but it’s usually with a good agenda.

There are countless stories out there of people who had been through some serious adversities, but came out of them even better than before.  Perhaps the man who was making a million dollars a year had to lose his job for him to realize that he had not paid enough attention to his family for the past five years - that he never knew what his son’s favorite color was, or that his wife was seeing someone else for the past three years behind his back because he had neglected her.  And that despite his wealth, he had no real friends to turn to when crisis hit.  It is time for this man to shift his focus into areas that have been missing or are incomplete.  It is time for this man to grow in areas where he is unfamiliar, so that he may learn to live a fuller life.

I hope that someday, everyone of us will be able to look back at some (if not all) of our life lessons and give thanks for the opportunity for growth.

Blessings,
Irene

Do you believe in coincidences?  Or chance?  Or accidents?  I used to be very intrigued by how unexpected events would unfold in my life.  If I bumped into an old friend while travelling to another country on business, I’d think, “Wow, what a small world!”.  If I stepped on dog poo while rushing for an important appointment, I’d exclaim, “Oh, what bad luck!”.  And if I won a prize in an art competition because I’d submitted it under the wrong category and it turned out to be in my favor, I’d say, “That was by accident!”.

Today, I no longer believe in coincidences, nor chance, nor accidents.  I believe that everything - big or small - is orchestrated in our lives, by a Force that simply knows better.  I am still intrigued though, by how events are still unfolding unexpectedly in my life.  Sometimes it feels like they are little details that I’d left out in my grand plan, but they have been taken cared of nevertheless by my ever efficient spirit guides behind the scenes.  It can be pretty fun to observe the synchronicity of it all.  I have to say … these synchronicities can come with humor and mind-blowing creativity.

I did step on dog poo once when I was rushing for an appointment.  Just as I was sprouting, “Oh @#%^*!”, guess what happened next?  A flower pot fell right in front of me, about 10 steps away from where I stood. and smashed to the ground.  I was stunned!  If I had not stepped on dog poo, my head would be the smashed one.  Was that luck?  You tell me!

It is also interesting to note how some divination methods - such as Astrology, Chinese 4-Pillars Chart (also known as Ba-Zi reading) and Palmistry - have been able to foretell progressive events in a person’s life.  I’ll give you an example here.  My sister had a Ba-Zi reading when she was about 3 years old by a very experienced master.  In his reading, he mentioned that my sister would marry in her thirties, to a fair-skinned foreigner who looks “just like her”.  When my mom shared this info with us when we were younger, we thought nothing of it.  After all, my sister hardly travelled, had local boyfriends, and … well, just didn’t seem like someone who would marry a foreigner.  What are the chances of her meeting the fair-skinned man of her dreams while on a short vacation to South Korea 3 years ago?  Apparently 101% - and she did not speak Korean!  They tied the knot this year (my sister is in her thirties) and my brother-in-law does kinda look like my sister.  Is this chance or destiny?  I’ll leave that to you to decide.

I’ve also noticed how these subtle (and sometimes very obvious) coincidences and accidents in my life come with mini lessons of their own.  Everything happens for a reason, and we can indeed learn a thing or two from every occurrence.  Some have taught me to be more open minded.  Others have taught me about joy, love and gratitude.  Most have taught me that we are all connected - that everything is orchestrated, that we do not meet by chance, even on blogosphere.

I’ll tell you … I’d never thought I’d ever be so grateful stepping on dog poo and feeling so blessed that I’m being watched over!

Blessings,
Irene

Another guest post … this time from my younger daughter, Natalie.

Hello, my name is Natalie.  I am Irene’s younger daughter.  I am 8 years old and I’m fabulous!  I don’t really know what’s a blog and I can’t type fast, so I’m talking while my mommy is typing for me.

I don’t like what my sister said about me on my mommy’s blog (what’s a blog?).  Yes I talk a lot and sing a lot coz it’s so boring when everything is so quiet.  My sister always tells me to shut up, that’s mean!  She complains a lot, so she should be the one to shut up.  I have to take everything for her coz she won’t get off her butt!  She calls me a nerd too.  Hmph!

My mommy calls me a humming bird, coz I hum to myself everywhere I go, and I hop around a lot, like a bird.  She also calls me a squeezy ball and she squeezes me a lot, but I’m not squeezy!  Maybe just a little chubby.  I don’t like being the baby of the family - I’m not a baby you know!  I LOVE dark chocolate and anything with cheese.  The only milk I drink is Meiji milk.  I can eat Koko Krunch cereal with Meiji milk all day.

Last night mommy took us out for seafood dinner with her friends and Shaman Wai.  Shaman Wai is a very kind person, like Grandmother Willow in “Pocahontas”.  She even sang a Dutch birthday song for my sister, who is turning 12 today!  So nice.

My school exams are over, yay!  My sister is still not done with hers yet, hehehe.  OK, I’m bored.  I’m going to talk to my sister now.  Byeee!

Natalie

This is a guest post by my elder daughter, Beverly.

Hi, I’m Beverly and I’m Irene’s elder daughter.  I am turning 12 next Sunday, YAY (actually I wish I’m turning 21)!  Since I’m taking a break from my homework, my momsie says it’s OK to write a guest post on her blog, as long as I don’t mess up.  Cool!

So … what should I write about?  Let’s talk a little about my momsie, my little sister and me.  We are like the cartoon characters in “Phineas & Ferb” (sometimes I think we are like the family in “The Wizards Of Waverly Place” too).  My mom is like the mom of Phineas and Ferb and Candace, who is always nonchalent.  She is too calm when I complain about my sister.  I think she is weird and cool at the same time because she’s not a typical Singaporean mother.  She doesn’t nag (much), she doesn’t cry on our first day of school, and she makes us do Dance of Shiva (which is really fun but difficult - I’ve already mastered one step, which is the whirly swirly movements of my arms but there are thousands more to conquer -.-”’).  She’s sometimes kinda tomboyish and she fights back when we get bullied by even weirder people.  She spoils me too much with good food.  She’s really weird and cool at the same time, I can’t decide which is which.

So … about my irritating little sister, Natalie, a.k.a. monster.  She’s like Isabella in “Phineas & Ferb”, the one who is always asking, “Wat ya doin’?”.  She talks A LOT.  Really.  Seriously.  A.  Lot.  She’s like the thing that won’t shut up.  If I have an enemy, I will send her after him, coz she will talk him to death.  Enough about my irritating little sister (whom everyone says is cute coz she sings like Boo in “Monsters Inc”, but I don’t think so … at all).

So … about me.  I’m like Candace from “Phineas & Ferb”, always whining.  I’m a glutton for food and I love to doodle.  I hate my passport photo … I want to lose it so that I can re-take my photo and make a new one.  I don’t think I’m weird, nor cool.  I’m just whatever.  I love scary movies but I cover my eyes and ears about 90% of the time.  I can meditate and go to my sacred garden … which is a really cool secret place that looks like the grandmother tree in “Pocahontas”.  By the way, my meditation visions are all in cartoon.  I am trying to enjoy the last few weeks of my primary school education.  I’m really nervous about going to a new school next year.  I play ping pong and I plan to go to the Singapore Sports School next year, where I will train to be a prominent ping pong player on this planet.  ^.^

So … that’s all folks!  Thanks for reading!  TTFN!

Beverly

Having a relationship with spirituality is indeed fascinating, often surprising, and at times very very weird. It is true (for me, at least) that once you’ve taken the first step towards Light, you will find it almost impossible to turn back.  It’s like going to school, and then trying to unlearn all that’s been taught and absorbed - very hard.  So even when your vibrations shift you out of your comfort zone, or when your changing energies drive you absolutely berserk, you just keep on going.  Sometimes, change will keep happening until you get the message of growth its trying to deliver to you.

Since my last episode of mini epiphanies, I’ve been pondering quite a bit.  I realized I got hooked on epiphanies, and to my horror, my psyche has decided I need more of that weird stuff.  And so I (the psyche) set out to find more ways that could trigger more of those “a-ha!” moments (with my physical body screaming in tow).  Interestingly, I found one that came with a serious warning label.  I’m a curious cat and I love warning labels, in a twisted way.  This little packet of epiphanies came in the form of a not-so-common type of yoga … it’s called Shiva Nata, a.k.a Dance of Shiva.

At one glance, it all sounds workable.  You can do this in the comfort of your own home via a DVD (and I’m perfectly the home-study sort), without having to announce to the world just how clumsy you are.  The instruction covers some - actually, many - graceful hand and leg movements, breathing and meditation techniques … you just need to learn how to coordinate them at your own pace.  No dangerous back-breaking moves nor stretches that threaten to snap you into half, so that’s cool.  This practice will not only give you more flexible and toned muscles, it will also train your brain.  I don’t know about you, but the part about training the brain appealed to me, BIG time.

And so I ordered the package, and it arrived swiftly.  I even got my kids excited about doing the Dance of Shiva!  So when I first popped the DVD into the player, three of us (me and my daughters) were standing right in front of the TV, eager to do the impossible.  The first few steps went well - the very very basics, loads of fun there.  And then came the challenging part - limb and mind coordination!  I have to admit that I’ve never felt so clumsy in my life.  The moves are not that physically challenging, really, but boy trying to catch the sequence of the moves sure does burn the brain!  Since I’m not exactly doing an official product review here, I will skip the juicy parts on the instructions, but I will sum up my brief experience.  I felt like a big fat eight-legged Tarantula with 4 legs crippled, doing a sloppy job weaving my web and getting myself entangled in it at the same time.  And my two baby Tarantulas were coming out with their own kung-fu moves.  Gosh, this dance is hard!  I was sweating and trembling after 15 minutes, and I haven’t even started on the leg work!

So what’s the point of this?  What do I like about Dance of Shiva that sparked off this post?  This yoga practice works the left brain SO HARD.  With all that ridiculous limb coordinations, you can’t afford slack in the left hemisphere, not one bit!  By the end of 10 minutes, your left brain is ready to give up, and that’s when you sit down, center yourself, breathe and allow your right brain to come in and say, ”Hello, remember me?”.  That’s the time to focus on areas in your life where you feel you’re not progressing or getting enough “a-ha’s”, and allow your right brain to chirp away while the left brain goes for a drink of water.  It was a really weird experience for me, but it felt really GOOD!  My arms were aching a little the next day … I love that achy feeling after a workout, makes me feel I’ve done something good to my lazy body.  Another plus point (well, I see this as a positive thing) is that the Dance of Shiva is something that will take me years and years to master (if ever), so I guess I won’t be getting bored anytime soon!

Just so that you know … I will never recommend anything that I haven’t personally tried before.  So if this post brings out the masochistic side of you that’s yearning for some epiphanies and toned muscles, check out Havi Brook’s beautiful and funny site.  Or you can click on the nice blue spider-woman image on the right hand side, under “Recommended Links” for more information.

Wishing you loads of fun, “struggle” (well, that’s how Dance of Shiva works) and epiphanies!

Blessings,
Irene