The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

My favorite motto from Highschool until now is this: 

If you come early, you are wasting your time.

If you come late, you are wasting somebody's time.

If you come on time, you are wasting nobody's time.

So please come on time!

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I had the chance to read another Mitch Albom book and it's all about Time (the title was very clear :))
From the time that we were born up to this very minute, we are all bounded by time. 

Was born on November 15, 2007 at 11:15am

Was wed on May 22, 2010 at 2:30pm

Everything is time and motion, like every move is timed and this was how the story was presented.  One wanted to have more time (to live) and another wants time to stop (to savour the moment) -- but in reality, what do we really need?

If you ask me, I would have wished if there can be another day in a week; making it 8 days a week. I think it's enough time to go through the normal route of ones life.  And in that additional day, i wished that we can do more!! 

But that's not the way the world works.  Time is as it is, time! There is nothing we can do to extend it -- we can only live with it and make the most out of it.

How?? By being thankful, contented and happy.  Sometimes being too pre-occupied with things or fame makes us forget how precious time is and I mean spending each time to the things that matters most to us.  To the things that money can't buy but only time can give. 

Here are some simple examples on how we can make use of our time wisely: 

1. Spend more time with family - this is what you call "Emotional Insurance" (from the Last Lecture of Randy Pausch).  Creating memories that can last a lifetime is something money can't buy; because giving our laughters and cheers then recieving warmth and comfort from your family is just priceless.

2. Spend more time with ourselves - Health is wealth and thus it is important to also take care of our physical, emotional, phsycological self because it is from being healthy that we can give back. How? There are many ways and doing them effectively will make us more productive. 

3. Do something that interests you - may it be reading a good book, cleaning the house, painting, cooking, DIYing, crafting and many more -- things that can make you productive and fulfilled.  Things that you can pass on as a legacy and can leave a memory of you! Though internet surfing and watching tv might be classified as interesting, I say that it should be minimal.  Like Randy Pausch, I also believe that watching TV is an ultimate time waster. 

4. Do not over sleep - this is just me.  I believe that over sleeping is not "catching up on sleep", for me it's a waste of time! We need to get the daily sleep required per day so that we don't need to catch up on it on a weekend, where we could have been doing something productive - like cooking for our family. 

5. Work 8 productive hours - though this is something where we get a living, we are only required 8 hours per day to do this. Therefore, we need to make each minute of the 8 hour workday productive.

We all have our strategy on how we can make do of the time that we have here on earth because each precious moment that we live in is a gift from Him.  We then should be thankful because He made it all possible.  Giving thanks may require some time for us but it's always worth doing because it will be given back to us in thousand folds! ^_^

Xoxo

Five People you meet in Heaven

This is my fourth book and I am happy to read another Mitch Albom inspiration.  This is all about life and how things happen for a reason.

Many of us look at our lives as a journey.  We always look forward and we always learn from the past but this book tells me that life is not just me moving forward or learning from the past -- it's more of understanding what we didn't know in the first place. 

There were five people whom Eddie met in Heaven and from those five, I have gathered my own inspiration that I would like to share with all of you. 

I. Life is a coin; there can only be one head  - in our daily grind we will encounter a lot of people.  People who has their own business in life and might have their own struggles.  If we come across difficult people, sometimes it pays to be quiet for 5 seconds and think if it will be worth it to be angry to them.  We don't know what they went through or have been going through and so being quite sometimes gives them a favor or the other way around.  

II. Sacrifice - we often hear this word when somebody died.  In sacrificing it does not always mean that someone has to die -- not all the time.  For me it's simple; I can relate it to decision making.  Decisions, decisions, decisons -- they are an integral part of our daily lives, whether or not it's a huge decision or not, still we need to choose.  Most of the time we want everything in our favor but that's not how the world works, there will always be trade offs and that is when we sacrifice. 

When Sweets left for Malaysia to work, I had to make a decision on whether or not to follow him there.  I was having a blast with my career and yet I felt that I will be incomplete if Sweets is not with me.  I had to make a tough decision; it seemed no brainer but I had to think thoroughly, I had to consult a lot of people then finally came with the decision to go to Malaysia.

That for me was sacrifice worth doing!

III. We are all connected with Love - scientifically speaking, we were all made out of love and that's why love is so special.  It made us all connected.  Therefore, it's important that we value where we came from, our parents.  When I was younger, I tend to look at them as the villain who wants to chain me up -- i didn't understand it.  Now, it's a whole lot different story.  My parents and my parents in law are one of the ultimate individuals in my life and I will be forever thankful to them! 

IV. For the bitter and the sweet - how I loved this line!  It was mentioned by the one and only love of Eddie, Marguerite.  Her heaven was weddings in different countries and for me, my wedding was one of the best moments in my Life and it felt like Heaven.   It was, when all I can think of was spending my entire life with Sweets and spending it with him "for the bitter and the sweet". 

V. Peace of mind - this is the ultimate heaven.  Having to think about nothing and just be carefree is a special gift that we can give to ourselves.  Therefore, if something is bothering us then we need to speak up.   Most of the time, we just need to ask to get the answers that we need! 

Lastly, Heaven for me is everything!  It's the way we percieve things.  If we look at things on a positive note then anywhere we go, anyone we meet will be a piece of heaven here on earth! 

Xoxo