Sedentary Excuses

ppl say our lifestyle in our 20s determine how we're going to be like in our 30s-40s.

i never really gave it a thought until some time ago.

nearly all the patients in the wards have the triad of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia. probably around 80% of them. or about 98% of patients ageing 40 and above have it.

i take a look at MY current lifestyle and i think i might just get hypertension in 10 years time. i shudder at the thought of having to pop hypertensive pills EVERYDAY for the next 50 years of my life. its like a drug addiction- just that i dont want to take it but have to.

the food i consume at the hospital cafeteria daily has the amount of salt that can readmit a hypertensive patient who just got discharged from the hospital. i refrain from taking meats like chicken, fish, beef bcz they're all, ALL mind you, either cooked in curry, deep fried, lathered with chillies or thick soy sauce (thats also spicy). so i'm down to taking veg and beancurd for protein.

so oily it shines :S

the veg unfortunately, has a serving of salt that will spontaneously erode any mouth ulcers you have and the only way to counter it is to bury it with a sizable amount of rice or drink tons of water along with it.

ok. 4get about hypertension.

now i shudder even more at the thought of being diabetic (no i'm not condemning diabetic patients. i'm empathizing). i noe dr.s counsel diabetic patients telling them they can still lead a normal life if they control their diet, be compliant to their medication which not necessarily have to be insulin injections- cz if its not severe u can just take pills. but again, its like a life sentence to lifelong medication and limited freedom. complications are bound to set in if not at 50 years old maybe 60 years old, or some time or another. its scary thinking of how ur arteries are going to slowly thicken and one day be obstructed and you'll get eye problems, nerve problems, kidney problems, etc. the number of patients with HUGE diabetic foot ulcers and gangrene and toe amputations in the wards are countless.

why do i think i might just get diabetes 1 day. or arteriosclerotic plaques so severe that i'll get a heart attack.

this i blame on myself. my very very very very sedentary lifestyle. i am appalled at my own ignorance and laziness. like seriously. i exercise like once in a blue moon. u noe the i-will-exercise-during-my-holidays syndrome where u never get to exercise anytime at all in the end.

i can blame it on terribly unhealthy food again at the cafeteria, the lack of squash courts in the college - the only sport i think i wont play so badly and even if i do, the court size is tolerable to run around picking the balls up :P.

the lake where i can jog being 500m away. is it? now that's the worst excuse ever bcz that's super near. i can blame it on my 'busy' schedule. oh no. i'm not that busy really.

its just plain ignorance. heeh.

throw in dyslipidemia due to superrrrr oily food provided by the cafeteria (again).

nah. if i constantly exercise like jog once in 3 days i'd be fine. dont keep blaming the cafeteria.

BUT...bbb...but....

sigh. fine. i'll start exercising during this coming semester break. heeeh...

Humbled in the Lord's presence

some important lessons were learnt this wkend + today. it showed me how putting God into the picture makes things different.

its pretty simple. but i'm writing it here bcz i think its sth that impacted me.

now ask yourself how you'd feel if u had spent a lot of time slaving away at sth, all nicely put into place but in the end some1 throws you last minute work or asked u to make last minute changes in a super panicky short span of time. i'd feel like killing the person and probably at some point refuse to make the changes bcz its their fault for giving it to me last minute. its none of my business and i'm not going to give in to them.

i started helping out in my church's LCD team not long ago and being there opened my eyes to behind the scene issues that the LCD team face. praise and worship leaders are very spontaneous in requesting for song lyrics bcz sometimes it depends on the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

and what the LCD person does is to make the changes in the nick of time, tries his best to accomodate to changes. he had to sort out 3 languages of translation for the songs and rearrange the words on the slides in the programme - its not powerpoint so its a bit different. and check for typos. it was ten minutes to the start of service.

the dynamics and the attitude and speed of reaction to change amazes me. no1 complains. they just try their best to adapt to change. and above all, remain calm throughout.

wow i would have panicked and have brain freeze if thrown into that situation. looks like i have a long way to go. lol.

i experienced God in my long case exam today. wow. got a patient i just talked to this morning. and the examiner was pretty forgiving. and in all that, i was really humbled. sometimes we have a tendency to be rather big headed but yeah, i was humbled today.

praise the Lord! :)

Wishing from across half the globe.

Now you have coloured my life, made me laugh, cry, wanna kill you, yet love you, and deep deep down i just wana sum it all up saying, U're An Amazing Awesome Friend to me and nothing can ever replace you - u know that too. grins.

Happy sweet sweet 23rd birthday Eu! this is dedicated to your sugar rush moments :D miss you loads!

Indeed, a King's speech

while watching The King's Speech, kevin picked up a few pronunciation differences that the royalties in England practice in their speech to distinguish them from common folk. such as controversial being pronounced con-tro-ver-see-al instead of the usual con-tro-ver-sh-el.

and to think it was so very important for the King to broadcast speeches to his ppl in a confident, convincing and charismatic manner, that ppl can feel his sincerity and commitment for the country even just through a speech heard off the radio.

the climax of the story was when England announced war against Germany (during the Hitler regime) and the King delivered a speech to give encouragement to the ppl of England to strengthen the spirits of the soldiers going to war, give comfort to their loved ones and to reassure his ppl that the government was thinking of the best interest of the ppl despite the war.

the language used was formal but still went as far as to reach into the bottom of the hearts of the English ppl. wow i was thinking that the writer of the King's speech deserved as much credit as the King for conjuring such an amazing speech -truly fit for a King.

one line that i loved was:

Lionel's wife: Would you care to stay for dinner, Your Majesty?

The Queen: Ah, would love to. Alas, we have a prior engagement. Pity. *disappointed-and-really-wished-i-could-join-u smile*

contrary to common folks who'd at most say: Oh no, so sorry but we're not free as we have other plans.

maybe Pn. June my f6 chem teacher might have responded saying she has a prior engagement. hehe. quite amazed by her classic use of language. :D fair enough.

this little exposure to royal lingo was very enlightening and engaging. oh, such politeness and civilization! i think the movie captured the scene in the early 20th century of England very well. very well indeed. :)

Independovidualistic?

between being Individualistic or Independent, which are you. or are you neither.

*this will be short cz feeling lazy atm.

ppl like to be called independent. being labelled as individualistic isnt sth really positive. but both, involves a person being on his/her own most of the time. some say its the motive. but..... is there a motive in being alone?

some ppl like to be alone most of the time bcz they savour the solitude, the peace of mind and the time of reflection doing things they like as an individual and not being troubled or bothered about what others think of them or what they're doing and not having to bother about that of others as well. they can be called independent, as in, not having to need the company of another to fulfill their needs and being self capable. they can also be called individualistic, for not wanting to mix with others so much and not sharing part of their world with the rest. ok, maybe not so much about not wanting to share, but not having to or inadvertently needing to share.

i wonder sometimes if being independent turns a person into being individualistic in the long run.

i like being independent. but to a point i don't want to be too individualistic. is there a way to get the balance between both worlds. sometimes it gets lonely to be independent.

like they say. No man's an island.

shrugs. ?

Speak not spit it out.

The stepping down of President Mubarak of Egypt marked the beginning of freedom and hope for thousands (or much more) of Egyptians and gave justice to those who had died in the demonstrations or police crackdown of civilians over the past 18 days.

now what has this to do with me?

for some reason when i scrolled over news about the change in regime and viewed photos of demonstrators, i felt a pang awe twds the people. i felt sympathy for those who lost their loved 1s in the battle, and i felt happiness for those who gained freedom.

Image by AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

it shows that the people have power too to make changes for the better of their lives.

it shows that an authoritarian cannot rule and abuse his power to oppress the thousands under his ruling forever. in this case it was 3 whole decades which was pretty long anw and even if he stepped down he could live a really luxurious life on some holiday island like Hawaii. but at least for the people, the oppression stops.

people are driven to speak out when their limit of tolerance towards injustice and abuse have reached the threshold. and it took the death of 1 brave woman to spark a demonstration of thousands. many a time we hesitate and we dare not speak our minds bcz of check and balance mechanisms and law that ensure people adhere to limitations of so called freedom of speech and actions to maintain peace and order in an organisation.

let's not even talk about issues at the national level.

let's look at issues in our own homes or workplace or learning institution.

we all agree that supression of freedom of speech will cause dissatisfaction that can either resolve with time, or mount to a volcano that explodes when time is due. most people choose to remain silent bcz that requires the least work, they want to maintain peace, they dont want to get into trouble or they think things work for the majority so they'll just go along w it.

when the time bomb finally starts ticking bcz the dissatisfaction has reached the border of its limit, u get anger, irritability, unhappiness and disharmony. finally 1 person stands up and says, ok i've had enough. i'm going to voice it out.

but by that time, bcz he is at rage and negative emotions are flying, he may voice out his dissatisfaction in a way offensive to certain groups of ppl. words that're too blunt, actions that're not tactful, and due to frustration he may throw in a slew of unrelated issues and personal agendas when making his point.

perhaps what we still need to improve on is the way we handle unwanted situations. making compromise, voicing out dissatisfaction in a liberal yet unoffensive manner at the correct time and being brave enough to stand for our own rights. all in the circle of rational judgement of course.

and if outbursts do occur, we need to look behind the emotions and study the issues brought up instead of turning his away or putting him down bcz we think his action and words were inappropriate or offensive. bcz volcano eruptions happen for a reason. when the lava cools, phps we can start talking.

on my part, i have lots to improve on. i have a tendency to speak my mind too fast (sometimes too loud) and expect ppl to have the same openness and respond in a rational minded way. its a part of debating i appreciate where ppl point things out and discuss issues in the open without feeling that the issues are personal attacks or selfish complaints but giving gravity to them.

not every member of society however has that level of openness yet. n thrfore i need to think twice before opening my mouth and layer my words with more peanut butter and jelly so that the sandwich gets eaten and digested more easily.

so much for the bad stomach. =)

yargh better start working on my case write up now lol.

Envious?

envy can be a good and bad thing.

while one may feel an innate sense of guilt for feeling envious (in this sense, intense jealousy) for another person's achievement or good fortune, sometimes its unavoidable. part of human nature, we can throw the blame on.

envy can churn out positive motivation but is also capable of bringing out really ugly dark emotions. it challenges you to work harder and excel to reach higher standards. but if one makes it personal or deems that person undeserving of the good fortune, it can bring out hatred or a form of detest or just about any negative feeling u can think of.

everyone is capable of being envious of another, esp if u bring comparison into the picture. ppl like comparing themselves to others, to match success to success and failure to failure, to see who's ahead of the other. ppl prefer comparing themselves to another they deem as less superior to themselves bcz it gives them a sense of achievement or superiority, the feel good factor that they are at least ahead of some1 in the rat race.

i seem to be painting a very crude picture of human nature, of selfishness and individualism. but isnt it true.

is it okay to feel envious of another? in this case, i mean the negative intense jealousy.

hmmm......

we do try though, to keep ourselves on track by having moral checkpoints constantly. and the better things in life such as joy, peace, love help to drown out negativity and keep ppl in harmony with one another.

Envious of this adorable bunny? :)