The Mountain Story

A son and his father were in the mountains walking when the son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" To his surprise, he hears a voice repeating, somewhere in the mountains: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Curious, he yells, "Who are you?" He hears the reply, "Who are you?" Angered, the son then screams, "Coward!" He receives the answer, "Coward!" He looks to his father and asks, "What's going on?" The father smiles and says, "My son, pay attention." Then he screams to the mountain, "I admire you!" The voice answers, "I admire you!" Again the man hollers, "You are a champion!" The voice replies, "You are a champion!" The boy is surprised, but does not understand. Finally the father explains: "People call this 'echo', but in fact, this is 'life'. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If you want more friends, be a friend first. This relationship applies to everything and all aspects of life. Remember, life will give you back everything you have given to it."

Your life is not a coincidence-it is a reflection of you.

(Courtesy of an article in eNN Neighbourhood news. A community project by NTUC Income).

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Well, I find to be very true. In addition, the character of your friends also reflect your own character, as the saying goes 'Birds of the same feather always flock together'. So the next time you say your friend has this bad character, etc., Take a GOOD LOOK at yourself first!! You never know that you too have this same exact bad character.

I don't quite understand this....hmmmm

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter ask for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.
The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.
"Congratulations," the boss said. "Go on that way!"
Very motivated by the boss' words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he only could bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
"I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologised, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
"When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked.
"Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy cutting trees..."

by: Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
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So the part that I don't quite understand is... what does it mean in practical terms to 'sharpen your axe'?? Can anyone please enlighten me?

National Day Parade

Just returned from NDP 05. It was fun goin to NDP after 5 or more so years. It was indeed a smart move on the organizers to give out the tickets through e-balloting... it was horrible before that especially the kiasu people who started lining up 2-3 days before.... super KIASU!!!

We reached the Padang ard 5pm and everything was alright. There was no rush whatsoever. Seating was done is an orderly fashion and since it was in the Padang, with the temporary seating structure, this meant that there were enough seats based on the no. of tickets given out. But if it was the national stadium, this will be a much different story... as some people have super LARGE butts (or shall I say even their bags have a seat also... haizzz)... u will understand when u happen to go for ndp at national stadium.

Show started ard 5.30pm but before that, it was the 2 hosts (Gurmit and Sharon) trying to keep people entertained. The performance was very nice but I found the fireworks abit disappointing. Last years' was much more grand and interesting. But I can understand why because fireworks were held at all 5 venues. So quantity increase, quality must decrease mah.

It was also the first time where the Singapore wave was attempted... not very smooth but very fun nonetheless. With the celebation mood, even if u r the reserved and quiet type, with the other people around cheering and shouting, u too will join in the fun. This was indeed the most relaxed and calm NDP I have gone to. Hopefully, next year I'll be lucky again to go for NDP.