Anyhoo, back to Dad. I love this man very much although I have to say he drives me nuts at the most unexpected times. In his older age, he has been imparting bits and pieces of knowledge that he disguises as some form of parable, or maybe the parable has always been there, and he likes it and he forwarded it on to me. Any other person in this planet who does this to me (similar to people forwarding useless shit via email) would just get ignored by me. But somehow, the fact that it's Dad makes all the difference.
So I am going to write down here a few things that stick on my mind.
My favourite to date is the one about a man who works as a logger. He works and works and works and notices that his productivity is declining over time. The harder he works, the less trees he gets to lodge in a day. Finally his boss told him to take a break so that he can sharpen his axe.
There are two things that make this a favourite - one is this is very close to home, I grew up in a place whereby wood was one of the prevalent industries. Two is the timing, I got this just before I left for Bangkok. It has been almost a month and I am still missing that place.
Another is the one I got this morning, which is an impartation of the words of the Dalai Lama. He said the most weird creature in this planet is human. Human sacrifices his health in his acquisition of money, and sacrifices his money in an attempt to regain his health. Human is so worried about tomorrow that he forgets to live in the present moment. Human forgets that he arrived in this world with nothing and will leave with nothing. Whatever that we have right now, is merely something borrowed. Moral of the story: be grateful for what you have today. Don't be proud of material accomplishments for the real price of those things are often unseen. Don't worry about the future, it is yet to come.
This one is a favourite because recently I keep hearing stories about my close friends and my Dad's close friends being diagnosed with various illnesses - some of which have no cure as of yet. There are various other parables that Dad shared along the lines of taking care of your health because it is your true wealth, but this one brings home the point nicely. The luckiest person in this planet is one who is healthy. And if he has love, then that's pretty awesome. And money and wealth - that's just a bonus.
You know, it is not like I don't know these things. Of course, I know. The point is that, I forget sometimes, and it is nice to be reminded of the things that truly matter.
Today, I am grateful for my health. Given that I have not been exactly focusing on it, I am happy that I am in a pretty good shape (age probably has a lot to do with it). Last night, my other half told me that he is curious to know what cholesterol level is because of the plethora of fried food that I consume (significantly less now, come on, fried chicken is like once a week?).
I am also happy that I have not put on weight from all the running I've been doing. The carb-cravings are still there and are present at the most annoying, most inappropriate times, I can't exactly ignore these and I don't want to succumb to temptation, so I am in this weird state of acknowledging them while at the same time fighting them as they happen. (When I say carb-cravings, I am referring to fries, pancakes, char kway teow and the like. I get my carb intake from fruits and vegetables, which I never crave.)
Running is not easy, it is in fact, very difficult for me. These days, every time I run, I focus on the fact that I can run, albeit on the slow side, and I am trying to enjoy this fact. Or in other words, I will run while I still can, while my body is still able to do that, and I hope to maintain this form for many years to come.
Minus the carb-cravings, preferably.
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