Visiting My In-Laws

Someone asked, "How often do you visit your in-laws?"

The question came as a surprise; I didn't expect it to come, surely not when we were having our tea break.

But I loved it; it was a good question to discuss.

We had been doing mind exercises like this when we came together to talk and share and relax. No, we don't enjoy spreading rumors, backstabbing, and criticizing others. Instead we always thought of something to enrich and improve our lives.

Sipping a cup of hot Milo, I slowly thought through...

It must have been quite a while since I last saw my in-laws. I smiled a embarrassing smile, feeling rather guilty to my wife. How could I forget?

I looked at my friends; some of them were doing the same.

Somehow I had been busy with my works and my daily routines that I had forgotten about them. How could I?

Why didn't my wife mention to me? Oh no! She must have hinted to me a few times, but I was not paying attention.

But my children were having their studies and busy with their school activities! But how about the many weekends?

They must have aged, or are they sick? Do they require anything?

My best friend noticed my musing, shook his head and we had a rueful smile. We were in the same boat...

Come this weekend, we must go and visit my in-laws, I promised myself, and got ready to tell my wife.

Surely not this long. How could I? I reasoned within, thinking how I'm to tell my wife...

How often do you visit your in-laws?

Are you planning to visit them this coming weekend?

How To Address People?

I was surprised by some students who would address their teachers by their profession or job title: "Good morning, teacher", or "Good afternoon, sport/discipline teacher." These sound strange for me and I wonder if it is a new trend or it has been there for some time.

Then there are some young people who would address their family members or elders as "Hi", "Dude", "Hey", or "Buddy", just as they would call their friends. I have bad feelings about these; I don't think these are appropriate ways of greeting.

I would prefer people to address us by our name, our title or both. It would be nice if people can call us "Mr John" when our name is John, or "Madam Lucy" if we are older and our name is Lucy.

I am not trying to be fussy. But I believe there must be proper respect and honor among civilized people. And I think good attitudes and behaviors need to be inculcated in our young people.

Some of us just can't care less how people address them. They are happy if there are some who would just raise their hands or nod their heads or say "Hi".

Of course I am not in favor of creating human barriers among people by advocating strict rules. But I believe we should learn to submit to one another in our relationship. After all, we are told to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Courtesy and good mannerisms are important qualities in our lives. We must learn to use the right words such as "Thank you" or "I am sorry", and to greet people appropriately.

Good attitudes and behaviors are keys to good relationship, and need to be cultivated early in our lives.

How I wish our younger generations can be more careful in their speech, action and behavior.

What do you think about these?

Online Full-Time Earning

My friends are talking about earning full-time online. I love the idea; I am for it, though I only earn part time online at the present moment. I thought through, whenever it was mentioned, carefully weighing the pros and cons, and decided that it wouldn't work for me at least for the present moment.

I am a full-time high school teacher, and I love teaching teenage boys and girls in school. I love to see them chasing after knowledge and wisdom; asking questions and looking for answers every now and then. I love to hear them chasing after their goals, always talking and dreaming about entering an established university or college.

But sometimes, after doing the same things over and over again, I do get bored of what I am doing everyday. Maybe we all need a change sometimes, even for a short moment, doing something different and truly unique, or something we really want to do everyday.

A freelance work would be nice; maybe that's why some people prefer to work alone online and offline. I admire book writers, photographers, artists, musicians, etc., who enjoy working on their own and making big time money. Can earning online be one of them too?

Many young unemployed graduates are trying their luck on earning online too. But after many trying and failing, some of them finally give up and prefer to work with people for a rather low pay. Maybe earning full-time online is still a big dream for many of us.

It takes time and effort to know and deal with the trade if we are to make it. Success doesn't come easy. But I strongly believed if we are for it, we will be able to make it.

Online full-time earning is not a dream; some have made it and are now enjoying the fruit of their labor. But we must also humbly admit that not everyone is suitable for every job. Some of us need to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Online full-time earning...

Will it be a reality in the near future for me?

Or will it remain to me a wild dream?

I smiled, shaking my head... and sighed.

Negativity Can Kill

Negativity is not your friend!

Negativity will kill you if you don't stop it now!

Negativity can kill the body, the mind and the spirit!

Negativity can make you feel bad, drain your energy, weaken you and diminish your capabilities.

Negativity can turn you away from the very things that will make you look healthy and look your best.

Negativity has filled the world with so many critical people.

These are master fault finders and flamethrowers.

And they seem to be everywhere.

And there is really no getting away from some of them.

Sometimes, negativity can kill relationships and businesses.

Negativity can kill your chance of landing a great job.

Negativity can kill a great project that you have planned and implemented.

Negativity can kill your dreams and prevent your from reaching your goals.

Negativity can kill your excitement and keep you from living a motivated life.

Avoid negativity in your life by all means.

Negativity is definitely not the best way forward.

Negativity is not a healthy way of life.

You must stop it before it short-circuits your chances to live long.

If you think positively, feel positively, and live positively, positive things will happen to you.

Run away from negativity all the time.

And flee from it as fast as you can!