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2010年7月2日 星期五

三種人 People and Respect

蘇州有三種人:老外 、台客、 老中
多數的老外是有禮貌的Gentlemen, 但我在五星級泳池看到一些自認不可一世、嬌慢無理的老外。有人動不動就對著服務人員大罵, 要服務人員卑躬屈膝賠不是, 找來Manager, 取得下一次的免費泳券; 有人下泳池不按規定戴泳帽,有人怕別人碰到她,把泳池當私家泳池,仰泳不閃躲,還抱怨泳客會濺水。
多數的台客是文明的,他們也這麼自認著,但我曾看到數十位台客聚餐,沒有包下整個場地,卻聒噪如雷。很慚愧地,我當時也身在其中 ,當時我想,應該不會有助紂為虐的下一次了。
印象中,多數的老中在與前二者比較時,是比較不守規則、自私的,我也覺得如此。但我遇到、聽到的老中,除了開車習慣和那些貪官、奸商之外,很多是良善的。我們說他們愛高調,那是他們的問題,也是經濟發展中的過渡現象而已;想一想,我們台灣,很多老人家還不是愛很高調地炫耀房子、車子、孩子、孫子、和有錢有勢的朋友們。
沒有任何一個國家的人是絕對的,去除偏見,理解、包容、原諒那些不合理的, 尊重那些應該被尊重的人。
If I put the people in Su-zhuou into three catergories, there would be Westerners, Taiwanese, and Chinese (local residents). This kind of classification is not proper, but it easier for me to talk about the issue. 
Most westerners in Suzhou are gentlemen, but I saw few ugly cases in the 5-star swimming pool.  One guy shouted to the service desk and accused the staff not doing as he requested. He called for the manager and got some free coupons for more visits. And he did that not for just once.
These recent months, I did not see him. I guess he must be back to his country for good. I also saw one lady, who treated the pool as her private own pool. She got nervous whenever someone swam close to her.  She could change her direction a bit to avoid close contact in the pool, but she did not. She kept complaining to the working staff like a fragile baby, and finally she was directed to a quiet lane where no one will disturb her comfy back-stroke. As one of the swimer in the pool, I felt bad about someone pointing to pool and complained about us swimers who all behaved. There was another lady who never put on her swimming cap and let her long hair floating in the pool. She shouted to the staff when the shower supply was a bit out of function but was soon fixed (in 3 mins).  
Most Taiwanese consider themselves better civilized than local Chinese. Last month, I happened to attend a Taiwanese reunion lunch in a restuarant.  There were more than 40 people in reunion, but we did not reserve the whole space, the meeting room was not separated from other guests. I felt ashamed about the noises we created. We often critized about Chinese talking loud in the public area, but we were even louder in that meeting.  I said to myself it would be my first and last time to attend this kind of party.  I did not want to make other or myself suffer in that situation again.
Most Chinese are considered not civilized enough and selfish (compared with the above two). Based on my observation in these 2 years, yes, especially for their driving patterns.  I know many known hidden rules. And I read many news about corruptions and poison food  made by ugly business man. Except for the mentioned, most Chinese people I know are nice and kind. Many  Chinese like to brag about their wealth by driving named cars, buying houses, etc..  To me that is their business. Many elder Taiwanese also like to brag about their houses, cars, rich friends, sons, and grandsons.  I consider many phenomenon as the culture and the pocess of the economy development, which Taiwan had experienced in its earlier years and some still exist today.
My point is that there is no one people can be strictly put into one category. We are all human in different colors or backgrounds. Family and education matter a lot. More understanding will help us forget and forgive those seemed unreasonable behaviors. We need to respect people wherever they are from. It takes turns for countries to be rich and people to be in charge.

2010年1月26日 星期二

Three of the best stories: TURTLES, FROGS and THE PRETTY LADY

My friend forwarded me this 3 Great lessons of life. Although I had read 2 of the stories before, I pondered over and over after re-reading them.  I like to share them here and hope to benefit my visitors.
因为值得,所以,我把故事心得整理如下:
1.信任:生活中,我们常常看到有些人,请了佣人或保母,确对他充满不信任,于是,整日盯着他的工作,看他有没有偷窃、有没有虐待家中的老小。试想,如果有空去盯住他人,干脆将那些家務自己做就好了,何必浪费金錢與雙重的人力?
一些政府机关或私人公司里的层级,有些不也是如此吗?
2.小题大作:以前,我和小孩子一样害怕黑暗,晚上一个人睡的时候,会乱想、害怕,早上看到太陽,就没事了.後来我告诉自己多想想白天的光明,晚上就没那么害怕了。但是,我遇到心烦的事时,还是很容易陷入忧郁的深渊,确实如同百万蛙鸣,无法入眠。我得好好学习此篇的“勿小题大作”,以及下篇的“放下”。
3.放下: 当我门一直沉陷在过去的烦恼与不愉快时,我们只会譲自己更痛苦,而那些讓你痛苦的人,可能还不知道你的情况呢!或许是别人的错,或许不是,多想無益,没有必要執著過去,傷害自己。
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The Turtles --信任
A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last!
For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.
Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, 'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.'
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[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.]


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The Frogs -小题大作
A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, 'There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs - millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!' So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, 'Well.... where are all the frogs?' The farmer said, 'I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!'
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[ Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs.
Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.]



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The Pretty Lady --放下

Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river.
The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. 'How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk. But he kept quiet... The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her. All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the
act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet.. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.
Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. 'How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite The big monk looked surprised and said, 'I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?'

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[This very old Chinese Zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous .. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away.We keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us.
We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony.
Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the 'pretty lady'.

We should let go of the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river.
This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over.

2009年9月10日 星期四

Depression Therapy

One of the books I read this summer is Feeling Good-the new mood therapy written by David D. Burns, M.D.
Here I like to share the notes I kept while reading the book. Why did I name this post a Depression Therapy? If you are someone who are sensitive to others' attitudes, critics or actions. Then from time to time, you may suffer from depression. And I hope these notes will help you deal with your problems to a certain degree.

The theme of Cognitive Therapy(認知治療的理論核心): Thoughts create feelings.
Cognition(認知): the way you are thinking about things at any moment. These thoughts will automatically have a huge impact on how you feel.想法影响感觉感受
Our cognitions may be affected by our childhood experiences, genes, and hormones, the controllalbes or the uncontrollables. Fortunately, as matured adults, we can change the way we think of things and change basic values and beliefs.或许是生活环境、成长背景、基因、贺尔蒙的分泌问题影响了我们对事情的看法,不论是先天後天造成的,身为一个成熟的人,是可以经由改变想法,進而改变心情、生活与健康。

Realize the Facts:
1.All moods are created by cognitions(thoughts).
2.When feeling depressed, thoughts are dominated by a pervasive negativity, then you perceive not only self but the entire world in dark, gloomy terms.
Bad things happened in the past may make you look into the future with emptiness.
3.Distorted thinking (mental slippage) is major cause of suffering.

Part of being human means getting upset from time to time.
What you think will affect how you feel, so Change the way you think of things will help control your mood. We must understand what is happening (look into the real meaning behind the scene, realize the real problem) before we feel it.

Cognitive Distortions((認知扭曲)include:
1.All-or-Nothing Thinking: See things as black or white
2.Overgeneralization
3.Mental filter: pick out a negative detail, dwell on it exclusively. When depressed, one tends to filter out anything positive and conclude that everything is negative. Also called selective abstraction.
4.Disqualifying the positive: throw cold water to the good things that happened; denying being loved, cared, and welcomed by others.
5.Jumping to conclusions: “Mind reading” without checking the facts, ex: non-returned phone calls. The fortune teller error: I’m going to …, I’ll never …., That is my fate to be… . Respond to the imagined negative reactions by withdrawal or counterattack.
Self defeating behavior pattern may act as a self-fulfilling prophecy and set up a negative interaction in a relationship when none actually exists.
6.Magnification and Minimization
Magnify errors and mistakes, while minimize strength
7.Emotional Reasoning : I feel …, therefore, I am following my mood to do things
8.Too Many Shoulds and shouldn’ts
They(you/she/he)should or shouldn’t…他应该…才对,不该…才对。太多的该与不该。
9.Labeling and Mislabeling
This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. When labeling others, you inevitably (invariably) generate hostility.
10.Personalization: Put the world on one’s shoulder; fill in the seat where you don’t have to take.

The solutions are summarized as follows (解決方法):
1.People do not live by our rules.不是每个人都照我们的规约生活的。人类会犯错的,对、错也没有绝对性的 Fewer shoulds and shoulden’ts will make our lives easier.
2.Why behave in ways that not in our best self-interest.
3.No one in this world has the power to put you down but yourself.
4.Don’t let others errors or mistakes upset you. 换句话说,不要因为别人的过错或失误而惩罚自己,如果因此而不悦,那你就赋予对方太大的影响力,来影响自己的情绪与健康了。
5.Don’t expect fair treatment from others or expect others to send expected feedback to us. Ex. Don’t be upset by unanswered phone calls. That doesn’t mean you are not welcome.
6.As we learn to expect less, we get more.
7.I am the one who decide whether I should be happy or not. My mood should not be controlled by others’ action or attitudes.

The basic law of physics (行为反作用力):
如果你和我一樣常常会收到一些不爱的意见建议,你和我一樣会为了反抗压力而反对,那读读此段吧。有时候会发现是跟自己做对。但该坚持的还是坚持吧!畢竟人生只有一次。
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction against it. You push harder, it bounces back harder.
Ex: When someone tries to push us or boss around, we will tighten up and resist, in order to maintain our equilibrium and self-esteem. The same applies to kids’ reaction to moms’ pushy hands.

By realizing this law, I suggest that:
1.If feeling pushed, you think of the essence of the facts first, if that is in your best interest, and that is in your plan, you should do it not because someone’s pushing you, but because you want to do it. If that is something you don’t like to do and not to your best interest, then don’t listen to others? You are the one who decide what to do. We all don’t like pushy hands.
2.Try not to be the "unwelcome" pushers. Respect others and others may learn to respect us.

Dealing with critics (comments):
Many times we feel bad when facing negative critics.
Here is the way to deal with them:
1.If Wrong Comments, Ignore it. Don’t waste time letting wrong comments upset you.
2.If right comment, we must know that we, as human beings, are not perfect in nature. Try to find ways to improve and correct it.

Dealing with fights (or arguments)
1.Ask the person to find out what he means ( avoid being judgmental or labeling or defensive while asking questions).
2.Attempt to see the world through the opponent’s eyes. Slip in his shoes.
3.Transform an attack-defense interaction into one of collaboration and mutual respect. Don’t fight back, as we know the law of physics, but find a way to agree with the critics (there must be some points he mentions are agreeable). This way you will defuse his anger.
4.Disarm the opponent, Admit that we make mistakes. You are not cheating. People do make mistakes sometimes or many times.
5.Feedback and negotiation. Find way to agree with critics. Being defensive does no good to the communication.

~Best Wishes to All~

2009年5月8日 星期五

Crying out is healthy --If you want to cry, must read this

Sorry, this story is not one of my originals. You have to click here to generate some tears: James Blog




June's comment
I cried while reading the story. I can understand very much the feelings of the woman who married to a man trying to please his parents. I think many couples suffer more or less from communication problem. Communication would work only when two sides are willing to setback and talk things through. And communication would be easier for those who grow up with similar family backgrounds than those who don't. Unfortunately, many times people think communication is the chance to make his point clear and sticking to it for not losing the fight. It just did not work smoothly especially when the matter of family-in-law is involved. Then one side or both sides would suffer unnecessarily. The problems are worse in Asia than America or Europe where woman married to a man doesn't have to marry the whole family. I believe treating family members like friends, respecting their privacy and giving ourselves and other family members freedom, more private time, and space would create a pleasant and joyful family relationship for all. If one side is forcing the other side to put up with something she/he doesn't like, he/she would feel suffocating and would never learn to appreciate others and life, no matter what others (family members) have done for him/her. Compromise will only last temporarily. Relationship out of repeating compromises would eventually break when the hidden time-bomb is ignited by some incident. Many Regrets would then follow.

Among the complicated relationship between husband and wife and between married couple with their families in-law, if you are as lucky as I am, everyone in the family is doing things out of good intentions. When there is argument or fight, it is not the time to say who is right or wrong because everyone is in different shoes and everyone is right in their position. But it is definitely unwise to force others to wear the shoes that don't fit. At this point, most of us are not so lucky to avoid compromises.

2009年4月22日 星期三

The blinking line between bribery and showing gratitude


This morning I told Richy that I had nothing to write in my blog today and I will find time to make some potato salad so I can bring to Winston's violin class to share with the teacher. Richy said:" You are doing what you were against before." What? I am accused of committing a bribery via potato salad! Now I feel I had so much to say in the blog to clear the line between bribery and gratitude. And I hope I still got time to make my potato salad.

Yes, I hate the way parents bribe teachers just to get more attention on their kids. First of all, because I think treating every student fairly is a teacher's mission and bribery is a bad example for kids to learn. Sencond of all, I don't want to spend any penny out of our still-not-enough fortune in bribery. Since I was a kid, I have heard and seen some parents buy luxurious things such as wines or jewelry to the teachers every year until their kids graduate. I also knew some students tried to please their teachers through the similar way. But mine is totally different. I only want to share my cooking with my teacher friends. I do not like cooking that much, but if I try some new recipes, I will prepare more so I can share with others including my neighbors. Since I do not have many friends in this new place. Winston's music teachers and kindergarten teachers become my friends in a very natural way. We talked about various things often after school even for a few minutes every time. And we know we are of the same type, straightforward, sincere and in some way, naive. If I don't like them I would not share with them so often. And they enjoy being the recipients of my food experiments out of my kitchen. One time, my cookies came out too sweet and once my turnip desserts were too salty, they tried and we laughed. I never expect them to treat Winston better after I share food with them. Because they already treated every kids the same best. And that is why I like them and we become friends. Either way it is: to to show my gratitude or just to share. I am definitely sure that I do not want to bribe.
It had been difficult for me to show my gratitude to my teachers and elder friends, because I was such a shy person. But now Winston's teachers are mostly around my age so we easily became friends. We talk and joke. And whenever I got something to share or suffer with, I am not shy to let them try first. That is what friends are for.

So, never try to justify bribery by putting my just-to-share into the same category! To me that is quite an insult. And think of this, how would anyone appreciate my cooking if they are not friends or Winston?
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Some exercise to lose weight, others exercise to turn healthy;
Someone prays or worships god to get more fortune, others do it for peace in mind or peace in the world;
Some teach because of the pay and regular paid breaks, others teach because they enjoy teaching.
Some do research for degrees, others do research because they like to chase the unknown.
Some carry brand bags to show their status or fortune, others carry bags because they only got two hands. (--ha, I like this one.)

The acts may look similar, but the motives vary.
-- - To me, The motives matter!

To view Richy's words from a different perspective, I should take his words a compliment.
If he thinks my potato salad can bribe someone then it must taste extremely good.
Thanks, Richy. You are so DEAR!
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2009年4月20日 星期一

A rice in the field

It rained this Sunday. We stayed home watching one kids movie and 2009 New Year's Concert DVD conducted by Daniel Barenboim. I also spent some time to renew the layout of my blog page. It looked fine to me now. Today is a rainy day again, I decide to do some reading. I am still looking for some good books to read. Please recommend some good books to me, if you got some in mind. I like to read books about life and words of wisdom.

This morning, I opened the book which I bought months ago and I haven't got time to read it seriously yet. I found on bottom of certain pages are some words of wisdom. So inspiring on such a rainy day!

We are the leaves of one branch, the drops of one sea, and the flowers of one garden. ---Jean Batiste Henry Lacordaire

My Note:
1.Yeh, and each person is a rice in the field. This fits very much to the theme of the movie we just watched yesterday " Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!". In this movie, a big elephant Horton found a speck on a clover. And inside the speck there were millions of little mites living in a village called whoville. A fight between regonizing and denying the existence of littles lives began...
2. While we are big and observing something tiny, Maybe there is someone even bigger watching us.


Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect. ----Ralph Waldo Emerson.

My Note: I feel ashamed that I always wish for good luck. I guess "hard work" will be the cause and never mind the effect.

Some more till next time~

2009年4月17日 星期五

Ex-life, This Life ? 前世今生

Someone forwarded me a PPT file illustrating the circle of ex-life and this life.

I am a believer of Gods. I respect all religions because I regard myself tiny and weak. And the believers' testimonies sound so real. I do need guidance when I get lost. However, I don't like to preach or to be preached. I like to keep the freedom on choosing what to believe, and what to read. I keep Budish books and Christian Bible on my book shelf. I checked the religious books out whenever I was in bad mood and needed guidance.
There is always new inspiration for me when I check those religious books out. Anyway, what I want to say is: whatever religion it is, as long as it cures.

I keep thinking if we treat the issue of ex-life, this life, and next life philosophically, instead of religiously, then we can be a believer without religious burden and live "this life" differently.

If we know that our family members were related in our ex-life and we may meet others in our next life, we would treat many others the same way we treat our family members. Our love to our family would not be so selfish and would be extended to others.

Environmentally, if we know this life is not the end of our life, then we would treasure more of the natural resources instead of use them as much as we can.

And, when we meet some problems repeatedly, we will try to deal and solve them instead of burying our head in the sand like an Ostrich. Because, as the ex-life theory says: the shadow of ex-life would repeat in our current life. So, if we deal with the problems , we may not need to deal with the same problems all over again in our next life.

I like to think things over sometimes. But with my tiny brain, I am not sure what I just said is right or wrong. But it does help me in some way.

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If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character...Would you slow down? Or speed up?
---by Chuck Palahniuk

2009年3月18日 星期三

要不要结婚?

一个学生与男友論及婚嫁,正考虑着这个问题?
我只能说婚姻不一定是爱情的坟墓,没有爱情的婚姻很难辛福,但有了婚姻要维
持爱情更难。

传统的中国人赋予婚姻与女人太多的责任与压力:侍奉公婆、传宗接代;
与其说侍奉公婆不如说是互相照应;传宗接代的压力太大了,延续人類的生命就只是一件自然的事儿。

而大男人主义更讓女人喘不过气。
有些人縂以为自己结婚后就自然而然取得对另一半任何的决策的否决權。

我想,如果男人可以试着用恊助的而非否定的态度去支持老婆做她想做的事情(即使那是天真的),那麽这个男人可以嫁了。

现代人对於孩子的教育方式已见大幅该善,不再是一味地保護、限制、与要求,而是启发、鼓勵与尊重。其实夫妻之间不就也应该简单如此吗?


孩子,祝妳好運!
.......

2009年3月17日 星期二

垃圾桶 与 交友 的哲学

Trash Can:
When you want to know whether you're in a rich or poor area on the way of your trip, you should look at the garbage cans. If you see garbage cans but no trash, it is wealthy. If you see trash next to the garbage cans, then it is neither rich nor poor--it is a tourist district. If you see trash without any garbage cans, then it is poor. And if people live in trash then it is very very poor.
心得所以啊,一个人家有没有钱,看他家的清潔程度就可以知一、二了,
如果一塵不染,表示很有钱请阿嫂打理;如果很髒,表示很窮,没钱没时间管肚皮以外的事了;若是勉强还算乾净但有点乱,就是老婆兼阿嫂,做着不支薪的工作,当然做得不够好,表示这个家庭不窮也不富。

交友
少年Momo 一副酷樣地站在街上,奇怪自己等了半天,仍没法顺利交到異性朋友,於是问了 Ibrahim先生。
Ibrahim告诉他:You stare at people as if wanting to say: see how handsome I am. Well, of course they laugh. You should look at them as if you want to say: I've never seen anyone more beautiful than you. For an ordinary man, like you and me, our looks are what we find in the woman.
心得要别人欣赏你,必须先学会欣赏别人;另解:交往的对象可以反映出自己。

以上,原文部分摘自書名:Monsieur Ibrahim and the followers of Koran , 2003 法国拍成电影 。作者是法国人:Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt,行文风趣富哲理, 我只有看到節錄部分,至於全文就要再花时间找了,应该有英译版。


故事裏,十一岁少年与雜货店老板的父子般情谊,在一个返乡的旅途上,少年受了義父Ibrahim先生的影响,学会了爱与宽恕,了解到生命的意义。
The film begins in a working-class neighborhood in the 1960s Paris. The main character, Moїse Schmidt (Momo), is a young Jewish boy growing up without a mother and with a father afflicted by crippling depression. Momo is fascinated by the elderly Turkish Muslim man Ibrahim Demirci, who runs a grocery store across the street from his apartment (where Momo often shops). Their relationship develops and soon Momo feels closer to Ibrahim than to his father. Ibrahim affectionately calls Moїse Momo, and adopts him when his father leaves and commits suicide. Momo and Ibrahim go on a journey to Turkey, Ibrahim's homeland, in their new car.

2008年10月9日 星期四

The Flowers and the Stock Market



The Flowers~ ~edited from Krylov's Fables

Inside a lavish room, with windows opened wide, in a fine china vase, sway some artificial paper flowers in all their pride, bright with rare colors. They show their flaunting charms to all that lingered there.

All sudden, showers down the rain; the proud painted paper flowers complain: Oh, Can he stop the shower, Oh, Jupiter! The rain! The rain! It does no good at all. The rain is nothing but a curse. You see the streets are getting worse and worse. The world's all pools and mud. But God does not grant to meet their wish. To fulfill the appointed task, he let the rain complete.

So, passed the heat, and now the air is cool, and nature breathes once more. And leaves and grass seem greener than before. Now on the window side, the pretty natural flowers that grow in all their native charm expand and blossom again, and smell sweeter and more fresh for the rain.

But those painted paper flowers have lost their colors, and are thrown away with the rubbish of the day.

Notes

All real and true talent can disdain detraction. It is the artificial flower that fears the rain.


The Financial Market

The downturn of the market was like the rain. The market is running its appointed task in its life cycle to dispose some rubbish. It will finally clear out the inflated or unhealthy business units or banks through the storm. After the big (or maybe long-lasting) storm, the healthy and good ones will grow. It is a good chance to teach the companies or financial firms to forcus on their core businesses, not just making money out of highly leveraged money.

The Lesson

You never know when it will rain and how long it will last.

To individual investors, the stock market is a black box with psycho traps. Usually the ones with too much greed could not get out. It is good for the investors to watch the chaos and learn the lesson years before their retiring age.
And in this mess, always remember that there are many more things in our life which are more important than money and stocks. So, forget it!

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