Sunday, May 31, 2009

Waiting for Changes......

As I was driving back from supper today, somewhere between cars that mysteriously appeared at every junction which I arrived and thoughts about what's happening to me, it suddenly dawned on me. I am in a rut. I am fighting a losing battle. Yes, this is a depressing post. Note : If you are in a good mood, stop right here. If you want to feel sorry for yourself, continue reading.

I have been waiting. All my life, just waiting. Waiting to be rich. Waiting to have that six-packs. Waiting for that life partner. Waiting for a better tomorrow. Waiting for a better life. Waiting for a happier me. Waiting and hoping. Of course, none of it ever came true.... None!

Something's resisting it. It's like there's this whole big conspiracy.... all out to bring me down. Oh gosh... I'm talking nonsense. Or am I ? Every path which I walk, every entrance which I take, every road I cross, every shop I go to, every single thing I do.... something is there, just waiting to block me. You may say, `Oh, you are paranoid'. But I have demonstrated it to friends and they too were very amazed. Even at 3 a.m., on a remote road, I want to make a U-turn, comes a car zooming at me!

Do you know that, a person can be jobless for one whole year... and the moment I decided to hire her, the very next day, she gets hired by someone else ? Yes, it has happened, several times! And I have witnesses! Hehe!

Same goes with everything else in my life. What I want... is what everyone would `suddenly' must have and of course, I wouldn't even be close to getting it. You name it... parking place, queues, buying shrimps in the wet market (!!!), paying for groceries (suddenly everyone must buy from that same shop and would push their way to the counter, for cigarettes, sweets, candies... anything...as long as I get to wait)

The Malays call it `sial'... the Chinese people deem it as `bad luck'.... Yeah it is... in the extreme case. I try to be optimistic..... thinking about all the good things that happened in my life. I read somewhere yesterday....

In good times, people get to know you.
In bad times, you get to know people.

I find it very true.... cos that's the only good thing that came out of it all.... I really got to know some very good people. Thanks to all my friends.... I know you guys are reading this and you know who you are...

And by the way, from now onwards, I am no longer waiting for anything to happen.

I am going to make it happen! So,you want to give me a hard time eh ? Yeah, bring it on and do your worst, cos after so many years of disappointments, I am immuned to it. Now, it's my turn!!! So, watch out !!!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Divorce....

I received this email from a friend and found it really touching and meaningful....

To All Married Couples and To All Future Couples!!!!

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man!

That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to a lovely girl called Dew. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, 30% shares of my company and the car. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly.
Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now. The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a months time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going cr az y. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.
I told Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully. My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain.

From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset.

I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office. On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest.. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger. She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a su ita ble one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me; she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.
Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind... I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.
She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart.

Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The sales girl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote: 'I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart'

The small details of our lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, the property, the bank balance that matters. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!
If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you, but if you do, you just might save a marriage. Relationships are made not to exploit, not to be broken.

We teach some by what we say

We teach some more by what we do

But we teach most by what we are
You don't get to choose how you are going to die, or when, but, you can decide how you are going to live, here and now.