Embrace vulnerability.

Vulnerability does not necessarily makes one unworthy of being joyful, thankful and grateful. It actually enhances our experience. Experience that makes us wholehearted, and able to love beyond fears. ~Brown 2010

You don't have to be brilliant to be wise. But brilliant is not enough without wisdom. ~Schwartz 2009

Because of Jesus-there is always hope, even in the darkest moments of your life. ~Keller 2013, 251

I came across with these three sayings today. The first two are from videos uploaded in TED. I am quite a fan of watching and listening to TED talks, indeed their are ideas that are worth sharing. The third one is from the book I am reading at the moment, titled Walking with God through pain and suffering. I would like to recommend people to read this book, not necessarily if you are going through pain and suffering. But because I think the author helps us to understand better about suffering, why and how to deal with it and most importantly helps us to see how bible talks about suffering and how we could applied it in our life. 

On a side note, I asked a wise friend of mine about how she select her readings especially for Christian books. As we all know, there are hundreds and thousands of Christian books available out there, either hard or softcopy. But not all of them are beneficial or trustworthy. One tips I got from her to select a good reading is those that scripture-based. Therefore this one that I am suggesting to you should be fine.

I haven't posted any resolution for 2014 yet. I am still not sure how to start writing them down. I was browsing through my FB timeline the other day, and read some good comments and post which I think I would like to share it here.

1. You are more likely to achieve your resolution if you keep it to yourself.

I literally smile when I read this one. Because apparently, I saw many people posting their new year resolution in their FB. And this particular friend of mine, instead of sharing his resolution in FB, shared this quote. Which makes me think of why I blog about my resolution. This brings me to the next one.

2. I really think that people who posted long statuses should have their own blog.

Haha. I literally laugh at this one. Because sometime I did post long statuses in FB. I did not see this in my FB timeline though. This one was tweeted by my besties. And I really think that what she said makes sense. Well I don't necessarily think that people can't post long statuses in FB because at the end of the day, who am I to prevent them not to? Its their FB and they have their rights to use it the way they want it to be. Besides, sometime people who post long statuses do have something that I could learn from as well. Nevertheless, I love writing down my thoughts. That is why I am here. I just think that FB can't accommodate everything that I wanted to say. =D

I went to work today. My bos is a super nice women, queen of two prince and two princess. She cooked lunch for me and send me home afterwards. I am so thankful and grateful. We had lovely conversation today. The highlight was when she asked me who am I if I am not Malay, not Chinese and obviously not Indian. So I simply said, I am a native in east Malaysia. I am Dusun, and speak Dusun, Malay, English, and little bit of French and Mandarin. She asked me what kind of belief my ancestor had before Islam, Christianity and other religion came to my country, and I said, we used to be pagan and believe in animisme. We used to believe in the spirit of the land, the forest, the spirit of the unseen. Then, long story short, she told me a story that goes like this..

... Before they migrate to Australia, her family used to lived in Xinjiang, a Uyghurs (Turkic ethnic group) territory in Republik of China. There were not many Chinese living in her area at that time, just around 2 or 3 family who lived in the same street with them. There was this Russian lady who taught her mom to read the card-to see the past and also the future. Since then, her mom was quite accomplished in reading the card, so many people came to see her, to get their readings. When she was small, my boss remember that there is this one beautiful Chinese girl who be-friend with her mom. She had this very beautiful silky long black hair (keeping long hair is popular back then). At that time, they have this open cinema where you can bring your chair and watch movies outdoor. One day, the new indoor cinema was opened. Thus, some of their friends asked the Chinese girl to go watch movie with them. After asking and convincing her parents that she is going with friends, her parents finally allowed her to go. While watching the movies, the girl tells her friends that she's going to the toilet. However, after sometime, she didn't come back. Her friends went to look for her. The movie finished, but still she was nowhere to be seen. They've checked the toilet but she was not there. So they thought she went home since it was quite late anyway. So they went home as well. On the other hand, the parents was thinking that since she did not go back that night, they thought that she went to sleep over at her friend's house since it was late. So the next morning, they sent their son to check if their daughter was at her friend's house. But he was surprised she was not with them. The whole village knows about it, and they started searching for her. But to no avail, they didn't found her. At the end, the girl's mom went to see my boss' mother for card reading. My boss remember her mom asked her brother to buy new pack of card because it was believed that the newer the pack, the more accurate the reading are. So her mom did the reading. And my boss remember her mom talking to the girl's mother that her daughter was not alive anymore. Upon hearing it, the girl's mother hysterically cried, so heartbroken with the news. The other women who accompany her ask if this were true, can she identify where the body is? So, her mom went over the card reading but the result were the same, over and over again. She told them she can't tell where the body is. The only thing she can see is filthy, very very filthy. And she was still in town. It was four days before they fly to Australia. Only when they arrived, her mom finally heard the news from home. The Chinese girl was found. In the toilet. The toilet was not like what we have today. Back then the toilet was just a deep squared hole, with a wood plank on it for people to squat on. Once a week, people will dug up the hole to clean it. Only when the cleaner dug up the toilet for weekly cleaning, they found her body. She was raped. And was thrown into the toilet hole. Horrifying but true. So now the mystery resolved.

What a story she had. But now her mom did not do the card reading anymore.

As I arrived home today, I took a short nap. Then cooked fried rice and make a hot black tea. Upon writing this, I was sipping my hot black tea. =D its time to rest. 

Hope you enjoy reading my long entry today. I know its long. =D 

Until then.