Mysterious Giver ...

(This writing was originally posted last year during Thanksgiving time)

There is this story about “The Mitten Tree,” by Candace Christensen, where this lonely older lady felt compassionate to a lone, young boy who was watching other children playing in the snow with his bare hands in his pockets. So, she decided to knit a pair of mittens for that boy. She enjoyed seeing the happiness in his face and being the mysterious giver. The lady decided to knit one new pair each day and hung them in a different branch of the tree for each child that has no mittens. Children enjoyed this gift giving game where they would search thru every branch of the tree to find the mittens of the day. The day before the winter holiday, this lady hung different color of mittens on every branch of the spruce tree.

This lady has found her happiness thru the gift that she has been giving to the children. She never expected anything in return but the happiness and contentment found in the children face. She felt as if her life was fuller from the laughter and expressions that the children had. One day, in return, she found a mysterious basket lying on her front porch filled with different color of yarns.

 

We are very lucky to live in this part of the world where people are quite generous when come to sharing their wealth. People have been involved in reaching out to the less fortunate, to the victims of many different disasters from different parts of the world.

Let’s pause during this thanksgiving time to express our gratitude for those who have been playing a crucial role in assisting the needy. Because of them, there are less people who would die from cold, hunger and lack of shelters. Because of them, there are a lot of children that would go to sleep with a full tummy. Because of them, there are a lot of children that would have some place to turn in before the darkness beckoned.

I would like to take this opportunity in my journey to wish everyone, “Happy Thanksgiving!” May this thanksgiving bring you all happiness that is beyond what you have given to others. And perhaps inspire the rest us to be the "Mysterious Giver!"

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

Sleeping Beauty

Recently some of you must have heard the Sleeping Beauty from Pennsylvania, a seventeen year old Nicole Delien, who allegedly have been sleeping straights 64 days. She did wake up for couple hours each day to eat which she couldn’t recall at all—in a sleep walking state. She was diagnosed with the disease called Kleine-Levein Syndrome (KLS.) This syndrome is categorized by repeated and unusually long occurrences of excessive sleepiness that affects behavioral and cognitive abilities and hunger, according to the Center for Narcolepsy at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The condition normally affects adolescent

Apparently if the syndrome is present, it could last for days even months, causing the victim to be dysfunctional from normal routines/activities. It is also noted that individuals who suffer from this disease are mostly bedridden and unable to communicate—they are either sleeping or in sleeping walking states.

According to www.cbsnews.com, “No diagnostic medical test can confirm the disease, with patients showing normal results on brain scans, EEGS, and cerebrospinal fluid tests. Stanford University School of Medicine said the rarity of KLS, compared to the high-frequency of flu-like illnesses suggests some patients may be genetically predisposed to the disease.” –cited from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57552053/17-year-old-pa-woman-battles-sleeping-beauty-syndrome/

Nicole and her parents are trying to spread the awareness about this Sleeping Beauty Syndrome and so is this stop.

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

Forever Young ...

Is that possible to reverse aging at all? Well ... have we heard from mothers that said, "Ah ...my children keep me young?" It turns out that they could be right.

Gro Amdam studies aging in bees at Arizona State University has reported witnessing an amazing cognition improving when the old bees have returned their attention back to nursing. She believes that "changes in social behavior could shave years of the human brain as well," Morgen Peck wrote in her article titled, Changing Social Roles Can Reverse Aging.

What Amdam has observed, was as the bees grow older, they usually are scavenging outside the hive. And what she did was she removed young bees from their hives, tricking the old bees to switch their attention to care for their posts. She noticed that those old bees are learning new old skills--skills to care for their brood. When they are tested, majority of them have returned to their former cognitive aptitude. “What we saw was the complete reversal of the dementia in these bees. They were performing exactly as well as young bees,” Amdam says.

Interesting. Apparently the antioxidant PRX6, a protein that exists n human and is thought to protect against neurodegenerative diseases--a generic term for all kinds of diseases that affect neurons in our brain--has increased. Amdam's theory is that when older individuals are performing the tasks that are normally done when we were younger--whether in a hive or in our own society, we are indeed could live Forever Young. Well, until the death angel come for us that is ...

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

Journey to the Night Markets in Taiwan

One of the many reasons we visited Taiwan was due to their cuisines. For some of us, they are so irresistible and not to mention beyond affordable. Taiwan's night Markets used to be called “Ghost Markets,” in the ancient time. You can find night markets in most Asian countries, namely, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Taiwan, there are a long list of night markets. The most popular ones in northern Taiwan include Shihlin Night Market, Keelung Night Market and Tonghua Street Night Market. Fengchia Night Market and Liuhr Night Market are respectively the most well-known night markets in central and southern Taiwan. 

As the sun sets over in many Taiwanese towns and cities, people are heading for the Night Markets, where a number of street food stalls, sidewalk vendors and small canteens are flooding in some streets in Taiwan. The streets are closed from traffics, only pedestrians are allowed. The idea is you can stroll around while enjoying some inexpensive food. Some of the night markets have live entertainments.

In the night markets,stuff are on sale vary from fresh food ingredients to electronic goods and clothing-but one thing is for sure- you'll always find something good to savor. Typical Taiwanese snacks can be found everywhere, but each night market has its own traditions and characteristics. Known for their low priced, freshly cooked and fast food meals- a night market is great place to taste local cuisine while taking in the their culture and nightlife.

Night market in Kao Xiong, Taiwan

Hope you enjoy today's stop, looking at the Night Market in Taiwan ..

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

The-writers-post-blog-hop55

This week, I am so fortunate to host Thursday Blog Hop for The Writers’ Post!!  And  the prompt is...

 Half empty or half full ... Your choice ..

Scientifically, whichever way you look at it, the volumes stay the same. The glass contains half of the liquid, so it could be half empty or half full. But, if we look at things philosophically, it is totally a different issue.

Have you ever met people in your life where all they focusing on are nothing but negative? Especially things about us, it doesn’t feel good. I don’t know about you, but I refuse to take it. Sometimes I simply walk away from the conversation.

A child came home and said “Mom, I have gotten A on my test today.” “What is your score?” Mom asked. “92, is that awesome or what?” the child answered. “I see. You have missed 8 points. What did you miss?” Mom continued.

Have we ever been in that situation or heard the above? The focus here was what the child had missed instead of what the child had accomplished. We may not realize this, but the impact could be dreadful. We are teaching our children to focus on what the child has failed to do instead of what the child had accomplished. I guess I am not saying that we shouldn’t learn from the mistakes. In fact, that is as valuable as realizing what we have accomplished. That mom simply could have acknowledged the child’s accomplishment then find a moment to learn from the mistakes.

We have been surrounded by negativity and sometimes we turn into one ourselves, especially when things are not going the way we had hoped.  Sometimes, we tend to see the world through a negative perspective, focusing on the bad and ignoring the good.There is a positive aspect in everything. In every person, in every situation, there is something good.  Most of the time, it’s not all that obvious. We just have to look and sometimes we have to look hard.

A positive attitude leads to contentment and achievement. It can amend our whole life. If we look at the bright side of life, our whole life becomes filled with brightness. This brightness affects not only us and the way we look at the world, but also our surrounding and the people around us. If it is powerful enough, it becomes infectious. Let’s pause for a moment in our life and spread the positive attitude and be infectious!

Until next stop,
Journey of Life