Moving About In A Sea Of Strangers

Being ordinary is immensely beautiful and full of bliss; it's beyond our imagination.

Moving around a place filled with strangers can be fun and entertaining.

And that is why so many of us quietly move to distant or remote places to enjoy mother nature with its landscapes, mountains, rivers, sunsets, lakes, cliffs, flowers and animals.

And so many spend our leisure times busy walking around shopping malls, restaurants, boutiques or other points of interest, frenziedly spending money.

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All of us are busy with our own lives, ever keeping pace with our desire and expectation, and always thinking of leaving our footprints and fingerprints everywhere for others to follow when we are gone.

Everyone is preoccupied, concentrating on what they enjoy knowing, thinking, perceiving, doing, valuing, seeing, reading, watching, wanting, reviewing, desiring, loving.......

No one seems to care about others' presence or absence, movements or actions, sayings or doings, shouting or screaming, crying or laughing.......

Everyone is a stranger to one another.

No one seems to mind if we talk, mumble, grumble, smile, laugh, whistle, cry or scream......

No one wants to care if we make a little more noise, try to whistle through broken front teeth, blow air bubbles, sing a little sunshine song or hum a sad sad tune......

Everyone has their own agendas and key priorities.

And so everyone moves, has their being, and has a great time with their own life.

Happiness is not measured by how much we have got, but how much we can enjoy what we have.

It really doesn't matter how much we have to live well, but rather what we do well while we are still alive.

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Chinese New Year 2010 was around the corner.

My family and I were happily shopping in a city hypermarket.

There was an ocean of people, squeezing, pushing, standing, shouting to one another over their shopping lists.......

And the children with their usual games, plays, and amusements.......

Goods of all kinds, shapes, types, sizes, and varieties were stacking up high and low, over the entire surface of the floors.

I was slowly following my wife and my youngest daughter, pulling and pushing the trolley to maneuver my way through thick traffic faster.

More and more goods were stacked up in the trolley.......Shopping was relatively smooth and easy today.

I was happily smiling away, hoping to get away from it soon.

But then I realized something strange - I had not spoken to anyone, except for occasionally discussions with my wife and daughter over the choice of goods we had bought.... Yah, not even a simple nod, a business smile, some common gestures or a shaking of the head to anyone around........

But it seemed so peaceful, so rested, so blissfully unaware, so undisturbed and pure........

Everything seemed so wonderfully smooth, sweet and exciting.

No one seemed to know my present, not even among those I knew very well and had a long chatting history.

Everyone was busy shopping with their family for the coming festival.

Everyone was having a long list of items of things to buy..... scouting and walking around the racks and shelves...... looking up and down, high and low....... sometimes stooping, bending, squatting and kneeling... frenziedly searching for the things they direly needed.

And so here I was, in a sea of strangers.......

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And that is the joy inexpressible, inconceivable, indescribable, and unforgettable.......

....Moving about in a sea of strangers.

Have Love Will Travel

A Tortoise agreed to a foot race with a Rabbit.

The Rabbit ran fast and looked back where the Tortoise was.

"It's definitely no match," the Rabbit said to itself.

The Rabbit continued to run, but taking some sweet time doing something else.

The Tortoise walked slowly and carefully.

A Snail appeared.

The Tortoise said to the Snail, "Hop on my back. I will give you a lift."

Then an Ant appeared.

The Tortoise said to the Ant, "Hop on my back. I will give you a lift."

The Snail told the Ant, "Hold tight. This Tortoise runs very fast."

.........................

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A young boy was on his own running to a shopping mall.

The father followed closely behind, holding his cigarette.

The mother was carefully helping and supporting her mother-in-law who was 80 years old.

They were a distant apart from the young boy and his father.

The young boy grumbled, so was the father.

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The young boy was very inquisitive and curious about life.

He wanted to discover fast and find easy solutions to everything he learned.

The father was deep in thoughts, with many dreams and visions and goals for himself and his family.

Knowledge and wisdom wouldn't wait that long....

Fame and celebrity status were at hand....

Opportunity came.... and went in no time.......

Wealth and riches came.... but slipped away so easily....

The notions of self-determination, self-regulation, self-organization, self-empowerment, self-sacrifice, self-sufficiency, self-satisfaction, self-serving, self-pleasing, self-appreciation, self-defense, self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-actualization...... seemed so commonplace to his understanding of the universe and they occupy so very much of him....

The mother was deeply concerned about her family.

She loved the son and was happy how he had grown.

She loved her husband who worked very hard for the family.

She loved her mother-in-law who was now old.

She was married for the welfare of her family.

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The old woman died....

They all cried....

The old woman died with tears of smile... she had a wonderful daughter-in-law.

The young mother cried, with tears of satisfaction in her eyes... she had taken good care of the mother.

The young father cried, with tears of the remembrances and regrets.... he had not spent many moments and events with his own mother.

The young boy cried, with tears of sadness and anger.... he lost part of his wonderful supporting system.

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The young mother had many sweet dreams of her mother-in-law....

The young father had many nightmares and bad dreams, filled with his regret and inexpiable guilt at his treatment of his own mother....

The young boy had many sleepless nights, wanting and waiting for the wonderful stories and tales of his grandmother.

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The Rabbit reached his destination and won the race.

Not many people clapped.

The Tortoise came at last with the Snail and the Ant.

Everyone, including the Rabbit, cheered, yelled, screamed, applauded, whistled, waved....

Then the celebration and the happy endings.

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The Tortoise went home satisfied and contented.

... for helping the Rabbit wins the race.......

... for helping the Snail and the Ant in needs.......

... for helping others to see the simple truth in everyday life.......

America's Got Talent.......

America's Also Got LOVE.......

"Have Love Will Travel" - Isn't it?

P/S The old woman was my late mother... and I miss her........