Peace One Day... &... R U OK? Day

Peace One Day - every year - 21st of September.

Celebrate it.... Honour it... Support it... Encourage it.

http://www.peaceoneday.org/


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I've been trying to write about certain topics that I seem to keep getting reminded to write about. But I can't find the time to concentrate on them or I am too tired. I am always chasing sleep and rest lately; not home til after 10pm, and awake long past midnight most nights - tonight a good example. I have taken on too much. Nonetheless, I am confident in the fact that I am meant to do all of them.

I decided for now I can at least post about "Peace One Day" happening tomorrow (or today, since it is now past midnight); and the "R U OK Day". It wouldn't take me long at least to write about them :-).

.... I copied above from an old post I wrote in 2006, in an effort to save time. It is still current. It is still the same message of non-violence and raising awareness.

Another one is the R U OK? campaign. I haven't read anything about it, yet, I like it. Caring for others is always a good initiative. In my travels I met and/or noticed a lot of lonely people; a lot of depressed people. Again, if this campaign raises awareness and encourages people to think of how they can positively affect and/or help others, I hope this little blog post can contribute.

Check for the websites about the R U OK? Day within your country. This year it was held last week. But we can still continue applying the practice as part of our normal/daily caring life. :-)

Ten Things I Love and Miss (Spring)

Ten Things I Love

1. My pool and spa. I finally used them tonight. They're awesome!
2. My rice cooker, cooking rice is a bliss!
3. Flowers!
4. Great housemates
5. Clean home
6. Girlfriends - new and old
7. Guyfriends - new and old
8. My sense of peace (I get fidgety with life, my mind is active, but my body is healing and my heart is well)
9. My trips coming up, the fact that I can still do them. Thank you God and thank you work.
10. Finding out I'm actually better at snowboarding now. Having good, supportive and fun people around you is really very important. I had the courage, they gave me the push. Then I flew! Thank you to my Snow Family 2011! :-))

Ten Things I Miss

1. Weekly, full body, head to toes and fingers, front and back, twist and pull and knead me like clay, deep tissue massages
2. Sleeping under the stars
3. Youngest member of our family :-)
4. South African rusks - especially the lemon flavoured ones, and butterscotch
5. Freedom of living with just one and a half (excess!) suitcases of stuff to rely on. Cash not wasted on keeping a nest, spent on others (or self) instead. Less materialistic, always looking forward.
6. Fattah Shawarma, with lots of garlic sauce and some chilli sauce
7. Superb earplugs for my music player. The ones I'm using now are faulty, came with the player.
8.
9. (I always struggle to list ten things to miss, must mean I'm pretty satisfied.... That's good!)
10. Holding hands (with someone I trust and love)
- I talked about this with a friend, about missing the basics. For him it's lying down in the park with his woman resting on his arms. We crave the positive energy that transfers between a couple. Still, even though we receive enough offers (unfortunately not from "the right person") that we do not have to live life now without it, we agreed we'd rather go without than to reach for someone to temporarily fill in these gaps :-).


POSTSCRIPT:
I'm running the campaign for Christmas shoeboxes to be filled with gifts for children (see earlier post "Operation Christmas Child"). Someone asked me what I would like in my box, heheheh.

In humour (and wistful thinking), here's what I came up with:

- Something to Love: My namesake, aka "little lamb", accidentally taken away from me to UK last year :-(, my constant travel companion for almost a decade, this may be the last photo I took of her
- Something for School/Work: Macbook Air (wish it has 10 hrs battery life like my laptop, not 5 hrs!)
- Something to Wear: Homemade shea butter body lotion, or reef shoes
- Something to Eat/Drink: A box or 2 of South African rusks
- Something to Play With: Iphone 5 (coz I heard it will have 2-simcard slots! Yey! With the other bonuses I need - flash camera/video, wifi, music player, radio?)
- Something for Personal Hygiene: A specific bath sponge (from Germany, Ghana or Taiwan)
- Something Special: Inga, my personal masseuse :-)

A Child's Enthusiasm (That I Crashed Into His Dad!)

I love random chats with kids. Another such encounter was at the bottom of the slope, where a child, a boy no older than 5 years, ran up to me while he carried his little skis. I think he was looking for me, as I crashed into his dad two runs earlier up on the slope. I let myself crash-stop, landing on my bottom, as I was finished snowboarding for the day. I sat on snow while I tried to muster more energy to separate my snowboard from my boots.

The boy started laughing even before he could reach me. Which made me laugh too even though I didn’t know why yet! I guess I also felt relieved coz I knew he wasn’t going to scold me for hurting his dad or for snowboarding badly, whew! :-)

He said something like, “You crashed into my dad! You both flew I saw it!” To which I replied, “Ya, I did. I tried to avoid him. Is he okay?” I don’t think he listened to me as he said, “I almost hit you too but I didn’t, hahahah.” This quickly replayed the event again in my head as I said with horror, “I know, I was avoiding you so I ended up on your dad. Your dad will have an awesome souvenir on his camera” (he was filming). The boy kept quiet, but the disappointment on his face showed he wished I crashed into him instead! Which made me remember the event again in horror, ack! Thank God his dad was there for me to aim for! ;-)

I asked him if he was finished skiing for the day, he said yes then took off, climbing up the slope, already off to whatever else caught his attention.

(By the way, it wasn’t fully my fault, ack! I was practising sharp turns with my off-foot forward. The dad was skiing backwards while filming his son ski downhill. He entered my path when I already turned. I tried to warn him, his friend did not warn him, and I could not break because I was terrified to slow down and hit the boy instead! So I made a weird, loud, undecipherable sound, then BANG! IMPACT! I asked him quickly if he was okay, while looking for the boy, who was laughing. We admitted our faults – him not looking where he was going, me leading with my weaker leg - and pretended our crash wasn’t as painful as it really was. I think it helped that I was a girl wearing my hair in pigtails, heheh ugh, and that I was so worried I hurt him! The dad said he probably had an awesome video clip of it. I apologised again then we separated ways.)

A Child's Compliments

I was at the summit, resting for a few minutes before starting another downhill challenge on my snowboard. Behind me to my left I heard an older man and a young girl talking. I caught a glimpse of them as I turned to put on my board - the man held the child’s hand as they slowly skied down. The little girl looked barely 4 years old, so cute, wearing a pink coat. I didn’t listen to their conversation, but I caught the part where the man said, “it is, very good of you to notice”. I looked up to make sure I wasn’t in their way. The little girl looked back, waved at me and calmly said, “I really like you’re jacket”. I realised she mentioned my jacket to the older man earlier and she made sure I knew she liked it. I smiled and thanked her, her compliment expressed so sweetly it made me feel warm and fuzzy.

Some of my friends got off the chairlift, so I waited for them. We took photos and played with a video camera while snowboarding. Halfway down the mountain, I boarded down slowly as I practiced my switch moves. I ended up in front of the little girl and her carer again. I passed by them a couple of times earlier too. The little girl recognised me (or my gold jacket) and beamed a HUGE smile at me! Then she said, “I saw you go down, you look so good… and you’re jacket is so pretty…. It looks beautiful on you”. Aaaahhh, bless her sweet heart! :-)

Kids! I love how they freely say what’s on their minds. I love how they are a source where pure and simple compliments come from, and expressing these compliments come out naturally to them.

The little girl reminded me of me. And I quickly prayed (or wished) that she does not lose that quality, even if it places her in awkward moments as an adult. As an adult, when I saw something I liked, I was most likely to tell about it, even to strangers. I try to be aware to not overdo my expression of compliments, but sometimes, like the child, “it” just captivates me that I end up telling the person/s several times.

I knew from past experiences lots of people do not feel comfortable (nor do not like) receiving generous amounts of compliments. I had on many occasions inadvertently made people feel awkward of my lavish praises. Continuous compliments from a child is viewed as adorable. But from an adult like me, they could be uncomfortable if not creepy, ugh hahahah. I understood - if the older man complimented me continuously instead of the child, I would have been thankful, but I would also have felt awkward. But I would not have thought negatively of it – I would have been grateful he took the time to do so when he didn’t need to. I know giving a compliment could be as embarrassing as we never know how it will be received.

During those awkward/funny times, I’ve learned to just shrug my shoulder and stop telling the person (or lessen my gushing if they are friends, not strangers). I know I will continue complimenting freely in the future. I try to be better at stopping myself from being over-enthusiastic, but I can accept the consequences, because everyone deserves to know and receive praises.