Inspiration & Paradox 49: Our best may not be God's best.

Perhaps one of the greatest ironies in my own life is having two daughters. As all my three other siblings are girls, since young I longed to have heros and brothers who could stand up and protect me like what was often shown on TV and movies. Ironically, my mum put me in a girl school for six years until secondary one, a welcome change for me. Later in life, before settling down, I still had a social life, then I liked to hang around a lot with guy friends. I enjoy their company, I like their culture, straightforwardness, no wishy-washy, in Mandarin we call it "shuang kuai". When my husband and I decided to have kids, I yearned for a boy, I wanted to have boys. It was as if my hopes were build around bearing and raising up fine boys and strong men. When I was pregnant, I was almost sure that I was carrying a boy, I felt it was a boy in all my nerves. During my second pregnancy, I had the same feelings. But in both cases, I was wrong, they all turned out to be girls. I name them Jerrie and Jackie -- both very strong female names, in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, I love my girls a lot, and I love them with all my heart, and I don't have the slightest sense of regret of not having any sons. I often think that if God then had given me boys instead, I would not be as blessed and happy as now with my girls and their loveliness and gentleness and all the precious lessons they taught me to be a better mother. I am just sharing with you how ironical life sometimes can be, and how sometimes we may be wrong about what could really make us feel contented and fulfilled in life.

Inspiration & Paradox 48: "Acidic" foods are alkaline-forming foods

You heard of acidic versus alkaline foods?

If you have, I am sure you must have also been advised to include in your diet more alkaline-forming foods for better promotion of health. What I find very interestingly and also very ironically, a food's acid or alkaline-forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH of the food itself! Take for example, lemons and limes are very acidic foods, however the end-products they produce after digestion and assimilation are very alkaline, so lemons and limes are considered alkaline-forming in the body -- which is good for our bodies. Likewise, meat will test alkaline before digestion but it leaves very acidic residue in the body so, like nearly all animal products, meat is very acid-forming. Hence, stomach acid or the pH of the stomach is an entirely different matter from the pH of the body's fluids and tissues. The body has an acid-alkaline (or acid-base) ratio called the pH which is a balance between positively charges ions (acid-forming) and negatively charged ions (alkaline-forming). If you are interested to read more, go to my honey web resource: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/vinegar-and-honey.html

Inspiration & Paradox 47: What is Perfect Vision?

Recently I had my short-sighted vision corrected to 6-6 using Lasik. I was told that in 5 years time, I will not be able to escape long-sightedness. I find the idea of long sightedness and short-sightedness all very paradoxical if taking them apart from all the scientific reasonings we learn in school. Short-sightedness seems to be easier to understand -- you can see only near and not far, your vision is limited. Long-sightedness is not so easy to understand, if one cannot see things from a short distance, how are they able to see things that are faraway? In life, if the short term needs are not met, how will one be able to have the drive to go for things in the future? I have heard of people having a problem of short-sightedness on one eye and long-sightedness on the other, I cannot imagine what the world is like for them..... But may be then having a perfect vision is not about having 6-6 for some people who choose to just see with their mind and not eyes -- they only focus on things they can see. It is perhaps all about seeing what you want to see. Like bablies, don't they only focus on what is around them and what they are interested in or what catches their attention? So perhaps a real perfect vision can only be envisioned with the mind -- all our needs of seeing something is met when our focus is only on that something, that is, there is no need to see at a distance when our focus is only on all the happenings right in front of us, and similarly, there is no need to see where I am when my mind is on an object faraway.....