Nostalgia

For some reason this week
i became nostalgic.

Suddenly remembered Ginger and then my old buddy Wayne.

Wayne.
i wonder how he's doing now.

Sometimes when i get really frustrated and acutely aware that i'm frowning away,
i can picture wayne coming to me, smiling away, going
"You are really pissed off aren't you?" *chuckle chuckle*
"shut up wayne"
"You can't let these things get to you. You're supposed to be the bigger person here."
"I'm also the woman. we're supposed to be petty."

wayne wayne.

"Hey look at that korean woman there. she's hot"
"Do i care?"
"Do you know how i know she's hot?"
"Do i really look like i care?"
"Because she was just standing in front of this fan, going 'i'm hot!'" *chuckle chuckle*

And on the one occasion i got some strange itchy skin allergy....

"You know the remedy for hives, take oat baths" he said.
"you mean quaker oats?"
"no dummy, they sell powder oats in Walmart. Yeah you just go ahead and pour quaker oats in your bathtub and tell me what the maintaneance guy says when you call him in to unclog your bath tub" *chuckle chuckle* "Hey my bathtub's choked! i think it's cos i poured quaker oats in there..."

"i'll just take these allergy pills..."
"you don't believe me do you, here ask Shirley. She's old, you have to ask old pple abt such things, they know every weird thing because they have so many kids"

(shirley stopped walking and turned) "Who's OLD?"

"Nobody. *chuckle chuckle* Shirley come tell her that oat baths are good for hives."
"Oat baths are good for hives. Or you can take pills," Shirley said.
"Wayne says these pills will stop me from having babies" I told her.
"WAYNE!" Shirley glared at him while he chuckles again. "No dear, these pills are harmless. Now you double check with me everything that he tells you from now on."

Funny how clearly i remember the conversations above like it happened yesterday.
The people there in alabama are just hilarious. Every normal conversation with them was like a stand up comedy routine.
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I began thinking abt the 5 influential ladies again,
and wondered what have i learnt, or should i learn, from them.

From Ginger it was servant leadership.
from the operators to the engineers to the directors,
she talked to us all.

She personally took responsibility of every product on the floor.
She walked around so much, sometimes she would just help carry the products from one station to the other, since it was along the way and it would move things along faster.

"how many project managers do you know," Wayne would say as we watch Ginger walk across the plant carrying trays of products for the hundredth time, "actually come to the floor and touch these stuff?"

"only Ginger," i would reply.

Ginger.
Very very fiesty lady.
with gd humour too.

"My husband just called to say he wanted a better lunch. I told him well then he should get a better wife!" *hearty laugh*

And of course, the one line from her that i'll never forget.

"It's ok guys," she said with sternly as the others played the blame game, "I am the project manager. The blame stops with me."

I miss alabama sometimes.
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From Rhitu it was pure dedication, and calmness.

She would send emails even at 2am, sometimes from the office,
and her hair would be messy sometimes,
but she was always a picture of calmness.

No finger pointing, just problem solving.
and we had so much shit going on, all the time.

But she was always the eye of the hurricane,
the calm point amidst the madness,
on top of things and keeping everything together.

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I've not had much chance to interact closely with Kris,
but her contest winning speech was prob one of the first to inspire me,
i still remember parts of it today years later.

a speaker, trainer and coach by profession,
she was the first to offer extra mentoring help whenever i won contests.

Storytellers rule the world.
if i have a wishlist of personal mentors,
she'd be in there.

From Kris it'll be to learn passion and energy.
Confidence without arrogance,
poise and charisma.

From Mad Mama i saw how to be an effective leader.
she came, she conquered, she left and the mission was done before we even knew what happened.

Again the energy, the vision, the timeline,
the don't stop till we get our goal attitude.
can be awfully direct at times to kick butts but nicely balanced with sincerity and affirmation.

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From Delia i saw a life dedicated to the love of God and people.
An eclectic mix of sterness and gentleness,
a curious swing from flashes of impatience to extreme patience.

a life of purpose can be a very inspiring one,
especially when coupled with traces of all the other leadership qualities above.

she is close to a model of what a Godly person should be i think,
dedicated to God, prinicipled, with a genuine relational love and concern for people.
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As I walk along with God,
slowly i begin to understand that everyone's purpose in life is different.

There is no generic "purpose to life",
There is only a specific "purpose to MY life".

i'm beginning to see the unique mix God has placed in me,
things that are more suited for some things than others.

That is why they say the Bible/Jesus has come to give you "life to the full",
because as we walk with God,
we will slowly come to understand what His purpose for our lives are.
and how everything comes together.
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Quotable Quotes

Poot: "Why you all go all the way to cambodia to build a bus stop?"
Me: "What BUS STOP. It's a SCHOOL."

Sms from fren in the morning: "my constipation giving me headache."
i replied the sms during lunch: "Are you feeling better?"
Sms from fren: "Did you pray for me in the morning? cos now i got lao sai"

Msn from Lao da: "Let me guess your spiritual gifts"
me: ok
Lao da: *listed down one gift*
Me: Hmm, that's near the bottom of my list.
lao da: *listed down another gift*
Me: this one is even lower than the other one!
lao da: *listed down a few more gifts*
Me: You have the gift of listing down all the gifts at the bottom of my list.
Lao da: That's the gift of DISCERNMENT.
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I had a lovely time juggling yesterday.
realised how much i missed it.
(also realised how unfit i am since i got tired easily and now i have muscle aches)

Met up with two entreprenuerial guys who wanted to do a book interview on pple with interesting money-making hobbies.

I had a good time chatting with them and turned out we're all toastmasters so more to talk about.

"I remember a juggler once told me this in Las Vegas. I asked him how he motivates himself to juggle for so many hours a day. He told me if i needed motivation to juggle, then maybe i should get myself another hobby.

I would advise people who want to do this to earn money; Don't do it for the money. Try juggling and love it for what it is, the money is a bonus. I would still be juggling regardless of whether someone is paying me.

When you go to conventions, you'll realise that jugglers are very laid back people, very relaxed, and we don't take ourselves seriously. We're supposed to be "clowns" remember. But when you see the stuff they do, 7 balls, 8 balls, you realise the amount of dedication and determination that goes on behind the scenes. it takes years of practice, of picking balls, to do it. YEARS.

That's what life should be about. Do things seriously but don't take yourself seriously.

There was a stage i was thinking of doing this full time. I'm not at that stage now. But it'll always be a part of my life i think. In future perhaps i hope to use it as a form of outreach, to get to know people, to know youths, to share this art with them."

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The 2 of them look fairly interested and inspired, dare i say.
"I think what you're doing is great!" one of them beamed.

It got me thinking.
whether God can use my life one day to inspire, as the 5 have done for me.
what would it take to live an inspired and inspiring life?

Later on while i juggled at SMU,
i started chatting with another bunch of SMU rollerblading youths,
curiously circling around me.

the more i moved away from them to give them space to run,
the more they moved towards me.
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I also realised yesterday that i look young.
"you look 24!"one guy quipped.

That's one instance.

After that, while i was juggling at SMU, DH smsed me to say watch for the guard because they walk around checking if the pple there are students.

5 min later the guard did walk by.
He gave me a glance and walked off.

Jugglers never seem to warrant any attention from authorities.
There were times at the esplanade,
when we'll be waving juggling knives,
and they're the length of parangs mind you, not the mini dagger kind.

And the police will walk pass us,
with hardly a glance,
and proceed to take down the ICs of some youths lying down near the pillars with their skateboards.

"even with knives the police ignores us!" i told my bro.
"that shows how nerdy you guys are" bro says.

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i just spoke with Sea God today.
i understand now.

"In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well...
If your gift is serving others, serve them well.
If you are a teacher, teach well.
If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. ...
And if you have the gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. ...
Hold tightly to what is good.
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other."
Romans 12:6-10

If you are wise and understand God's ways,
prove it by living an honourable life,
doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom."
James 3:13