Eating right all the time

Much has been said about diet and the road to a longer life span.

According to what I have seen and learnt, there are some foods to be considered if you want your body to be a constant state of good health.

1. Try one clove of raw garlic during at least one meal of the day.

2. Take fresh soya drink.

3. Eat more of your favourite greens.

4. Force yourself to get used to a diet of more liquids. That doesn not mean alcohol.

5. Take bananas. Eat more persimmons. Try grapes or cherries.

6. Eat always in moderation. In other words, don't be a glutton.

7. Always stop eating when you think you can still have two more mouthfuls.

8. Don't eat when you are in a stage of mental unrest. That is when you are uptight.

9. Take a walk after a meal whenever possible.

10. There's great benefit in having a cheerful spirit around the dining table.

Feel alive, every second of the minute and every minute of the hour

Everybody, apart from the insane, wants to live as long as possible. The trouble is they always avoid the path that is right for them.

Longevity is not that holy grail that Indiana Jones is still looking for. Longevity means you take note of all that is good for you and embrace them.

Can you learn to move away from self-inflicted guilt? Can you admit that everything that happens to you was due to you, and you alone?

Once you know that you are the centre of the universe and everything good and bad is your responsibility, a small window of opportunity will slowly open for you.

See the world as your oyster. It is yours to own and play with. Begin to know that you hold the future in your own mind.

Learn to love everything you do. Do everything you love, and love everybody who crosses your path.

The world of sorrow is reserved for those who is afraid everything that belongs to others must be theirs - yesterday.

Longevity has no room for selfishness. It does not tolerate anger. It will shy away from fear. It recognises that nothing on earth is permanent and all that is permanent belongs not on earth.

With that truth in your heart, your soul can then be awakened to do its work.
Good luck!

Here's something not so big a secret

The problem with most people is that they want to live a long life but when you ask them why, they can't come up with a proper answer.

Just live as long as possible until they are sick and tired of it or just plain sick and very tired. One of those things that people who live long lives have neglected to tell you is that they have learnt to "let go" of a lot of things that we personality type are still steadfastly hanging on to.

For example, if we can't get what we want, we kick up a fuss and make sure everybody within earshot hears about it. We do not know how to let go. It's not the physical act of unclutching something but rather the mental process of not giving that particular thing any importance so that we won't lose any sleep over it.

There have been times when all of us professionals become uptight and highly strung, so much so that everybody near us become nervous and restless.

Letting go is a good habit. It helps to relieve stress. People just don't want to let go. For some people when a loved one dies, they are in mourning for long stretches. Why?

It doesn't benefit the one who had passed away. It also brings nothing but pain to the one who mourns. Of course, there's a time for grief but sorrow like everything else is not supposed to go on and on.

When a person lies on the bed of sorrow for too long, it will paralyses his happy mechanism. This is where letting go comes in. For example, if your parents pass away suddenly, there will be shock, followed by pain and sorrow.

The time of bereavement will be a dark period for you and your family. That is natural and eminently understandable. But when you hold on to their memories for too long, the darkness will become your shroud.

Why indulge in misery and prolonged grief when it's totally unnecessary? As there is life, there must too be death. Both are two sides of the same coin called life.

We do not live as long as some animals on earth. Ours is a passing fancy. It is a light that lits up the lives of others and is soon extinguished.

Part of the process of maturing in the spirit of life is letting go on proper occasions. Man was not created to grieve endlessly or to mourn incessantly for people who have limited lifespans.

We are spirits living in bodies, and not bodies with spirit.

Learn to let go. The time will come when such an act is more of a balm than that of a shackle.

Hold that thought!

THE SEED of good health lies in a good thought. From that single thought sprouts other thoughts.

Thought is energy. If you think hard enough and properly, you shall in time improve your mind, your heart and eventually your health.

Life couldn't be simpler. But we are all human beings. In other words, we subject ourselves to the most ridiculous conditions even though we could freely not indulge in such practices.

For example, we choose quitely willingly to prey on others, instead of praying for others.

We think we are superior to others who may or may not be lesser than us. But the truth remains that all are created equal under heaven.

If you are physically more well endowed than others. It just means you have a phhysical advantage over some people. At the end of the day, the others may overtake you on other aspects.

They may have more pleasant personalities, or they may have greater patience, or even more diligent than you.

They could be more persistent, more determined, kinder, more loving and generally more optimistic than you. So if you are born good-looking. That doesn't go very far because the years will make you lose that advantage in due course.

So what is the secret to a long and happy life? Even though, it sounds preposterous right now, the answer is actually your state of mind.

If you hold on fast to a single thought of goodness and polish it every day like you are polishing it in water, soon enough, it will sparkle.

Just a diamond in the rough will shine through relentless polishing, a single good thought will lead you down the path to good health.

Millions ruin their own health with unkind thoughts. They dwell in the painful past. They speak unkindly of others. They plot other people's downfall so that they can advance unfairly.

These are the potholes in the highway of life. If there are many potholes in your path, created by nobody but you, you will soon find the going a bit rough.

Why make your own journey a bumpy one? So hold that thought and make sure it's a good one.

The REAL secret to longevity

Actually there's no secret. Just be one with everything.

For some people, it takes a lifetime to understand this precept. For those rare few, they got the answer 10 seconds I have uttered that sentence. Amen.

Don't be a prescription drug addict

There's something not quite right in the medicine world. It's my personal opinion so bear with me.
During my grandfather's days, medicine was not as plentiful as today. Whatever a man couldn't afford in the old days, he simply improvise.

These days, there's a drug for almost every ailment that afflicts man. The drugs come mainly from the developed countries where giant pharmaceutical companies produce some of the best and most expensive drugs known to the rest of the world.

My friends and I sometimes debate over this issue of prescription drugs. We came to one conclusion - too much dependence on those chemically produced stuff is bad for our bodies.

This conclusion comes from a lifelong experience with these medicines. So my take on this is DON'T take medicine unless you absolutely need them.

If it's just a simple cold, just rest in bed. If you have a slight ache, bear with the discomfort.

Often, city folks just can't stand pain. If there's a slight ache, they reach for the medicine cabinet.

In the end, some of them become dependent on these prescription drugs and begin a lifelong affair with the little pill that may or may not eventually do them in.

The common sense approach towards medicine is: Take only when the situation demands it, not when you demand it.

Life's too short to be wasted on these little boosters. If I may, the best things in life are still free. As you may have realised, prescription drugs can burn a big hole in your pocket.

Don't throw in the towel

The problem of staying healthy and keeping fit is the lack of mental commitment. Frankly, it is the biggest hurdle, as recognised by fitness experts. Some have said that the largest obstacle to staying fit is an individual's reluctance to make that journey from home to gym.

This is true in many instances. People become lazy after a while. Not many has the discipline that could turn them into Seal members. We don't need to be a Foreign Legionnaire in terms of dedication and determination.

A simple "keeping the faith" will do. That means you just go to the gym at the appointed times during the week and work out those flabby muscles.

There's no need to psycho analyse your reason for being there, or reflecting on the overall objective of why you should still be doing it five years from now.

If you can keep it up for five years, you would be a healthier and stronger person, simply because you have kept a promise to yourself and make your ownself proud.

One reason why others have a 10-year advantager over their weaker brethen is because the stronger ones blindly do what they feel is good for them. Why should you think too deeply about keeping fit and looking good.

For a lot of people, just thinking about staying healthy makes them tired. If you are inclined to be so, forget it, Be a couch potato. Many have opted for that kind of approach and happily check into Hotel Hereafter.

Longevity means staying alive as long as the body allows you too. It does not mean you can stretch your existence to 150 years. Why live up to 150 in the first place?

All of your friends and relatives will be gone by then. Nobody you know well will be alive when you are 150. It is not a Highlander thing, if you know what I mean.

The main issue is staying healthy and make good use of your years on year. Living an unreasonably long life is quite meaningless and it puts tremendous stress on medicare for the elderly.

Unless you are one of those mysterious people who look 50 when they are actually 100 years old, then the circumstances are different. If you actually fit into that category, I suggest you keep your age to yourself.

Anyway, life is full of surprises. Be healthy. It is your right. Stay cool under the most dire circumstances and you will be fine. The idea is to do it right every time.

Good luck.

Eat less, exercise regularly and sleep well

Some of the most reasonable suggestions for a relatively sick-free existence consists of doing the most ordinary things.

One of which is to get enough sleep. Why is it that people always shortchange themselves when it comes to sleep. If they are supposed to sleep at 11pm, they would push it to 1am.

When they are not supposed to eat too much, they gorge themselves until they can't breathe. Only the other day, I saw on CNN the hotdog competition where the champion wolved down about 58 hamburgers!

Personally, I thought that was not something to crow over because millions around the world were starving to death. And this kind of activity doesn't reflect the sensibility of a civilised society.

People these days also prefer to be ferried around in air-conditioned vehicles. Back in my grandpa's days, common folks thought nothing of walking a mile or two to visit their neighbours.

Nowadays, you can't even find a guy to lean over the fence to shoot the breeze with you. Walking is one of the simplest exercises ever devised by human legs.

And yet, we prefer to lie down on the couch the whole day to watch the telly. No wonder our human forms are deteriorating faster than you can say "Geronimo!"

Laugh your way to good health

You would notice that people who laugh a lot are invariably happy at most times. How can you stop a laughing person from being unhappy. It's a difficult task.

I am lucky to have a whole bunch of crazy, mad hatters while I was growing up. In fact, even now in my adult years, I have the good fortune of being in the company of people who crack jokes all the time.

Nothing like a happy prankster to chase those office blues away. It was only in the last three decades or so that medical practitioners found out that laughter was indeed the best medicine.

Actually, this is old news. I believe the Bible did pronounce two millennia ago that merriment doth erase those ills that besieged the human form.

If you are born with a crappy face and is not prone to easy laughter, then you should cultivate the art of laughter.

Try to find the funny side of every situation. Imagine you hanging by a thread on a steep slope and the person next to you, also in the same predicament cracks a joke about dropping onto a cushion of air that was deliberately put there to surprise you and your partner.

I know that's a ridiculous proposition but I really don't have a really good joke with me right now. But at least if the ultimate happens, you will enter the next world with a smile on your face.

My mum passed away on her hospital bed with a smile on her face. For that I shall forever be grateful to the Lord. I believe part of the reason why her face was so peaceful was because the priest who gave her the last sacred rites was a family friend, and she half-consciously knew that she was on her way to heaven.

What a way to go. Now on thinking back, I guess the pain and sorrow have gone, and what has replaced that is a feel-good sense of joy, accompanied by some easy laughter of the celestial kind.

Life is so boring when you have a bunch of sour-pusses surrounding you. I always try to get out of such company. I feel I really don't need such people around me because I have had my share of sad people when I was an altar boy serving requiem masses.

Yes, there's a time for sadness and reflection but life in general should be one that rings with laughter all the time.

I recall there was a movie made about Jesus, and it was the kind of Jesus that most of us are unfamiliar with. The story was about a Jesus who was also a bit of a joker. I could identify with that kind of a messiah.

Imagine, Jesus cracking a joke and pulling your leg at the same time. Now, wouldn't that be wonderful. I am sure during his preaching trips around Samaria and near the sea of Galilee and Jerusalem, Jesus must have listened to and cracked a number of jokes himself.

I really can't imagine a Jesus with a serious face all the time. Who would want to listen to a rabbi with that kind of disposition.

Look, if laughter is okay with Jesus, I think you can accept that as well. Just think of it, your shelf life on earth has expired and you meet Jesus at the Pearly Gates, and the first thing he says to you is: "Hey, how was life?" OK, forget that, just come in and join the banquet. We have all your favourite food on the table. The great thing here in heaven is you will NEVER GET FAT!"

So my advice to everybody who bothers to listen to me at this point in time is LAUGH ALL YOU LIKE. Because even if you don't, you will die eventually anyway. A happy face on a corpse is much more acceptable than one who seems to be reluctant to let go of earth.

Do or do not. No such thing as Try

If you are familiar with the line above, you would know that it came from Empire Strikes Back when Yoda chided Luke Skywalker for having no faith in his own innate ability.

This is the same with qigong, kung fu, taekwondo, hapkido and Aikido. It's all up there in the head. You have read the manuals, practise the moves and probably done the routine under the guidance of a sifu.

Next step forward is to do it, without thinking, without any preconceived anxiety but with confidence and pride, as if you have performed the system a thousand times before.

When you stretch out that finger, tighten that muscle, believe in total confidence, it is so.

Do not hesitate, do not tarry, do not doubt. There's no room for doubt in the minds of champions. Feel the rush, slow down the tide of anxiousness, and breathe in the energy.

Let it fill your lungs, reinvigorate your being, refresh your mind and soul and soar into the outer limits.

Just do. There's no try. You are ready. Believe it.

Why do you want to live a long life?

Everybody, with very few exceptions, wants to live a long life. But even few ever answer the question why?
Just give me a long life, says just about any normal person who can be 18 or 80. The question begs to be asked: "Why a long life?" What if you are destined to lead an impoverished existence?

It would be hell on earth to ask for that extra 15 or 20 years to continue a life of misery and sorrow. There are reasons known only to God why certain people do not live beyond their alloted number of years.

Imagine a child whose fate is a dreadful disease of which there is no known cure. Before you can say, maybe there could be one in five years' time, heaven may know better.

We human beings are constantly asking for things that are either not meant for us or they are too much for us to handle.

A man who lives to 100 may serve some great purpose. Having said that, a man of 30 can also live a life of great purpose but according to Enlightened Ones, longevity is merely a word of no great consequence except maybe to humans who can't resist the thought of giving up any earthly even though it serves no purpose.

The world beyond this has not been seen or explained with any clarity. We think death is an all-consuming darkness of unfathomable proportions.

Perhaps our earthly request should be a good life, not matter what it's length is. A good life of many extraordinary moments is a million times better than a long life of meaningless routines.

Therefore, trouble not your God about the extra years you want added onto the existing one. But seek to make the best of every moment of every day so that every second is accounted for in full.

If you can live such a life, even 30 years of human existence is a great bargain. Live every moment as if it is your last. Breathe every intake of air as if it is your last and love everyone as if they are the closest ones to you, and you will be all right.

Most importantly, you will be one happy person. Cheers.

Live like there's no tomorrow!

What will you do if you know that the world will end next week? If like most of us, you are normal and think you are missing out on a lot of things, you will certainly do one or two things.

One, you will spend all the money you have saved up for a rainy day. And two, you will take your family to as many great places as time and money will allow you.

What is the moral of the story? It simply means when a man knows he is running out of time, he will turbo-charged his life and squeeze every last ounce of thrill and excitement from the remaining hours and minutes.

Thus, you must live like so. What's the point of finding out at the age of 85 that you should have had that double-helping of hot chocolate fudge when you were 50 and threw caution to the wind.

Better die happy, my friend. All of us will reach that final destination sure enough. We need no prompting from anyone else.

If you want to tell anybody you love her or him, say so, and say it soon. You may very well run out of time.

Slow down or die fast

Too many of us are always in a hurry. This could be due to modernisation or simply a bad habit to get things done poste haste and then make plans for a great evening.

I have several friends who are constantly in a hurry. I sit with them for lunch but by the time, I have two mouthfuls, they have already finished.

When I cruised my way to the last morsel on my plate, they are already fidgeting with their watch, ready to run!

Life is not mean to be like that. No wonder the drug manufacturers are having a great time making money from those who are in a hurry.

Sedatives and other forms of medication are quite unnecessary if you just know how to slow down.
Haven't you heard that famous line: "No time man. Got to run. My boss is very impatient." Well, brother, I have something to tell you. If you die tomorrow, I don't think he will be at your funeral shedding those precious tears.

No boss, or hardly any top executives make it their habit or hobby to attend their employees' funeral. Such participation will only serve to remind them of their own mortality, and they are very much afraid of that.

Slow down, slow down. I can't say that enough times to anybody and everybody I come across. What's the hurry? Do you think if you are at an appointed place 10 minutes earlier, it's going to change the outcome of the event.

If you do your job well. If you are very organised and you know your work then, basically you have nothing to worry about.

People who are constantly on the run are always late for their own funeral. In other words, one day when they collapse, their spirit form will rise up and they look back at their body and exclaim, "huh!? Am I dead? Hey, I don't have time for that."

Well, it's too late when your spirit just simply can't keep up with your mortal frame.

There is no such thing as time, of course. But life in general is not meant to be savoured at zero to 10 seconds like an F1 race. Take time to smell the flowers, they say. Otherwise, you will be pushing daisies!

Easy does it, my friend

When people think of good health, three things jump to mind: right food, exercise and peace of mind. Although not necessarily in that order, they are equally important.

I would also like to stress that good health comes with common sense. Don't be obsessed by what you see on TV, read in magazines and on the big screen.

Each individual is born with a different personality and therefore, each will have a unique anatomical framework.

The rational way of doing anything is TAKE IT EASY. Don't run 10km everyday if you can't do it. Walking 3km will be just fine. Even walking around your neighbourhood is great, provided you enjoy doing it.

Don't have to do 200 sit-ups, or 30 chin-ups. If that doesn't kill you, the thought of it is already causing me pain.

The mind is important. Better to laugh a lot and often than to exercise a lot and frown an equal amount.

No need to go for an all-protein diet to slim down or to take mega-doses of vitamin supplements. Scientists have recently found out that those incessant intakes of vitamins in megadoses can actualy do more harm than good.

Eat slowly, walk leisurely and smile often.

The road to good health is long and has many sidelanes. Enjoy exploring all of them, or you will miss the real purpose of life. Good health is but one of the sidelanes. Find that out before you die lonely and broken hearted.

Frankly, what's the point of being the healthiest guy or gal on the block when you are also the most miserable one around or the loneliest. Think about it.

The longevity recipe

Take ginger whenever the cooking allows.

Consume raw garlic at meals whenever opportunity permits.

Prefer soya beans to others.

Eat a banana or two per day.

Water is best when drunk regularly throughout the day.

Sleep whenever you are tired. Do not push yourself too far and too much.

Laugh often, especially at yourself.

Don't hold back the tears when situation demands it.

Be kind without reason.

Be generous at all times.

Speak softly and often with great consideration.

Do not count the hours or the days. Live for the moment and you will touch eternity.

20 minutes of every day of the rest of your life

When people talk of good health and happiness, the inevitable formula crops up - EXERCISE.
How much and how long are the questions. I have it on good authority that if you are mentally committed to giving 20 minutes of your 24 hours each day to moderate exercise, there is a good chance you will have better health than a lot of people.

I have done it and I am here to tell you the good news (besides the ones in the Bible). If you wake up every morning and devote a mere one third of an hour every day to stretching your limbs and breathing deeply and correctly, you will be surprised how readily your entire body will move into the fast lane of good health.

People spend thousands of dollars on vitamins and other health supplements but they won't spend 20 mins of their time on exercise. And it involves no monetary investments. Actually, it's all free.
What's the point of accumulating millions, billions maybe in your offshore accounts when your health is washed down the tubes?

Ask those people in the thousands of hospitals spread all over the globe. Ask them what's their greatest wish. Most, if not all, will wish for continued good health.

A million bucks won't buy an extra minute's worth of health to a terminally ill patient. You will be shocked what cross your mind when Death comes a-knocking at your door.

All ordinary mortals want fame, fortune and happiness in double doses but they won't or are too lazy to invest in the obvious. The most expensive and best designed clothes will not fit well on an emaciated body.

A mind that is full of worries has no room for any enjoyment. Get your priorities right. It is not a human's destiny to suffer on earth. Good health is everyone's right.

The formula is so simple, it's almost ridiculous. Exercise for 20 mins every day, consistently, relgiously and earnestly, and you could well be on your way to becoming a happy, healthy human being.

Good health begins with a single thought

Many ordinary people think they have to exercise, eat sensibly and think positively for an extended length of good health.

That's all true. But the road to good health always, always begin with a single thought - that you picture yourself in your heart, mind and soul in a state of well being.

We all have to begin somewhere. There's only so much you can say about good health. It must first begin in your mind. If you are even too lazy to get up from your easy chair, then learn to breathe easy and have kind thoughts.

Make them happy thoughts. The body has no choice but to absorb happy thoughts from the mind, and thereafter proceed to follow the path that all cheerful thoughts go.
And that is signalling all the internal organs to come alive with clear signs of being alert, being sound and ready to go full steam ahead with nary a gloomy thought.

That's the secret of longevity.

Let the child be pure

Little hands find dad's fingers
Teen bodies seek expression
Adult minds confused by events
Elderly returns to childhood

The world's on fire

Gunshots echo across the globe
Madness in crazy streets
Mothers mourn, children cry
Fathers fight, brothers die

Much Ado About Nothing.....

Long hours, lonely trips
Saving on small meals
Money stashed buy emptiness
Life's gems are love, kindness

A moment in a lifetime

Walking with tiny steps
A classroom too big
Yesterday's idea fading fast
Basking in today's twilight time

Vision of Eternity

Alone aloft on mountain top
Gentle, drifting clouds
Thoughts scattered like mist
Lost in present non-thoughts

Sweet Dreams

Soft pillows on hard surface
End to long waking hours
Pleasant thoughts soothe
tired body and mind