How To Overcome Boredom

Idleness or boredom is the devil's workshop. When you are not down physically but still unhappy, there are things you can do to take charge of your life. The following are just a sampler:

1. Dream

   

Give yourself the freedom to write down your wildest dream. Make it as clear as possible until you can see it plainly like a picture. Put in all the details for your dream. Start with a sketch. Think of a fishbone chart. Draw the head, backbone and tail, and then line up the rest of the bones.

Your vision or dream in the eye of your heart will give you the motivation and courage to endure the valleys, knockdowns and detours before you reach the Las Vegas, Hawaii or Paris of your dream.

2. Smile

It takes less muscles to smile than to frown. Smile and keep the wrinkles away in your later years. Choose the positive over the negative, and the outcome on your mental wellbeing will be a world apart. 

Be thankful for the little things in life and you will be a happier person with a lot more reasons to smile. Stay on the positive side as you don't need to wait until you are reminded by someone who is always wearing a smile because he has 'lost' his mind.

3. Enjoy Life

Be content with your lot in life. There will always be people who have a better quality of life than you. On the other hand, there will also always be people who are much worse off than you.

Stop comparing and enjoy your current state of being. Take in a few deep breaths right here and now to pump in some fresh oxygen for your body and brain, and you will already be more uplifted.

4. Imagine 

Do some dreaming or visualisation while you are awake. If morning is too rush for you, then schedule for the evening before you hit the sack. Read your written dream and spend some time imagining living out your dream life -- how it feels, looks and sound like; where you will be and what you will be doing; how you will look like and what clothes you will be wearing; and what kind of people you will be hanging out with.

Feed your subconscious mind with the image of your future, and you will sustain the achievement of your goals.

5. Be Kind 

Being kind and doing good is a virtue as with having a good character. There is a difference between being good and being great. You can be a great person, but not a good person. Likewise, you can be a good person without being great. Greatness has to do with size or magnitude.

Choose to be good, primarily, rather than to be great but void of a good heart. That said, charity or kindness begins at home. Start by treating well the people who are in your immediate circle.

6.  Have Fun 

Life is serious. Our actions or inactions will have consequences. And, the choices we make may hold untold ramifications. The journey of life goes on unstoppable.

However, if we take ourselves too seriously, we may blow up whenever we make a mistake where even a molehill may appear like a mountain and a milk spill like an oil spill.

Also, take some time off from work and enjoy a Sabbath day of rest weekly. When you are working without rest, you will become dull and lacking in sharpness, alertness or cognitive skills -- "the core skills which your brain uses to think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention". 

The worst time to do some thinking or work is when you are tired or lacking in sleep. Take a nap or get some sleep and you will find yourself in a much better shape mentally to enjoy life, thereafter.

That's a wrap for this article. Thank you for visiting Daily Refreshing.

Inspirational Story for Mother's Day 2018

What will you be getting for your Mom on this Mother's Day? Do you know her most cherished wish?

The following story written by Kathryn Tolbert for The Washington Post tells of one mother who got her birthday wish and it is truly a heartwarming story for Mother's Day 2018.

Click here for He searched for his Japanese birth mother. He found her — and the restaurant she had named after him.

Let a Kite Brighten You Up

Let the vibrant colours of this kite brighten up your day.

To ham it up, go fly a kite -- get a dose of sunshine and tussle with the winds!

Can You Find True Love?

Love is blind. When two people are in love with each other, they live in a fairytale and see only a bed of roses as well as a promised Rose Garden.

Oh, yes, they will invariably profess and confess their undying love for each other .

Photo by Carly Rae Hobbins on Unsplash

You will in all probability discover how true your love is for your life partner and vice versa only in the course of time. There are degrees of purity in love (think gold).

Some may regard marriage as a contract where everything would be fine as long as both parties abide by the terms and conditions. Strictly speaking, if there is no provision for redemption or forgiveness when one party falters, the contract is voidable.

Some may marry for wealth, fame, companionship or beauty. What if your spouse loses fortune, status, health or youthfulness? Would your commitment to love and feeling of love still persist?

Some others may marry for a gamut of unimaginable misplaced reasons such as "all my friends are doing it and I don't want to be the odd one out".

The purest form of love would be a biblical covenant or bond to share, collaborate and help each other for life along the lines of "for richer or poorer, in health or sickness, till death do us part". 

It's not about 'I', 'me' and 'mine' only. Rather it's about 'us' and the example as well as legacy 'we' leave behind for our children to pick-up on.

That said, both parties gotta love each other enough to stay engaged with open communication and resolve to be a positive contributor to make the marriage refreshing for the other and vice versa. 

Yes, you can still find true love, but you have a part to play to make it easier for your partner to be over the moon with happiness so as to uphold the marriage with freshness  and liveliness.

Click here for a dose of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" even as you are writing out your own in real life.

What Do You Say To Naysayers?

What do you say to naysayers who belittle your dream?

Nothing. You don't have to be rude to them or resort to sticking out your tongue to them like this:-

Rein in your tongue, stay focus on your dream and work your socks off until your realise your dream.

"The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today." -- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Today you are one day closer to your dream life. Isn't that great?

Rajah Roti Prataa

Great food speaks for themselves as evident by their accolades and throng of followers. 

On today's menu, the spotlight is on Rajah Roti Prataa.

The egg prata is soft and easily-torn into smaller bites which are heavenly when dipped into a choice of either mutton or fish curry. The mutton curry is not unduly heavy with just the right punch of savouriness while the fish curry comes with a twang of tanginess. As for the plain prata it holds its own with added crispiness on the outside.  

The curry dip is like grease to the pratas which are gone to the stomach in no time at all and you don't get a stuffy feeling, thereafter.

Click here for more on roti prata.

Click here for 8 Best Prata Places in Singapore Worth Every Calorie.

You Are More Blessed Than You Realise

Pastor Joseph Prince seeks to glorify God the Father by drawing people unto Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with a refreshing and deeper revelation of the finished work of Jesus and the ways of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For example, Pastor Prince would have you know that you are more blessed than you realise.

Click here for Joseph Prince - Step Into Jesus' Supply Daily - 16 Oct 11.   

Click here for Joseph Prince - Turn Your Failures Into Blessings - 30 Aug 15.

Click here for Joseph Prince - God's Favor Will Cause You To Reign In Life - Classic Sermon.

Click here for JosephPrinceOnline.

About Pastor Joseph Prince 
(Source: www.newcreation.org.sg)

"With more than two decades of full-time ministry behind him, Pastor Joseph Prince is today a leading voice in proclaiming the gospel of grace around the world through his books, teaching resources, and television ministry.

The author of best sellers such as The Power of Right Believing, Destined To Reign, and Unmerited Favor, Pastor Prince is also a highly sought-after conference speaker. He has impacted church leaders worldwide by preaching the unadulterated gospel of Jesus with boldness. He is known for teaching God’s Word in a fresh, practical, and revelatory way that always unveils Jesus. His humorous, dynamic and engaging style of preaching has also endeared him to a wide spectrum of viewers who tune in to his daily television programme. His broadcast currently reaches millions of homes across North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Israel on both secular and Christian networks.

The Lord said to me, ‘Bring My Son back to the church.’

– Pastor Joseph Prince

A founding member of New Creation Church, Pastor Prince initially served as an elder and associate pastor. However, his unanimous appointment as senior pastor in 1990 marked a turning point in the history of the church, which started experiencing phenomenal growth. Under Pastor Prince’s leadership, the church has grown by more than a hundredfold — from about 150 to an average Sunday attendance of 33,000. He currently serves as the senior pastor of the church on a voluntary basis.  

Having built and established the leadership and congregation of New Creation Church on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, Pastor Prince is now actively fulfilling, around the world, the mandate that God has given him to preach God’s unmerited favour without compromise. He heads Joseph Prince Ministries, Inc., an international, non-profit organisation that seeks to build, encourage and inspire people with the gospel of Jesus Christ through television broadcasting as well as new media technology. Pastor Prince’s ministry as pastor, teacher, conference speaker and author continues to transform many lives, setting people free from the heavy yoke of the law, guilt and condemnation by pointing them to Jesus and His finished work at Calvary.

Pastor Prince believes the best in people and is committed to helping them discover how they can reign in life through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. His desire is to help this generation of believers understand the new covenant of grace and realise how greatly blessed, highly favoured and deeply loved they are by their heavenly Father."

Wu Shengming is a Super Octogenarian

Not many people would bother to watch a documentary on old folks. But, I was captivated by the story of 86-years old entrepreneurial Ms Wu Shengming. She is young at heart and full of zest to live a purposeful live. 

Photo by Carl Newton on Unsplash

According to the blurp on Toggle's website regarding this documentary by Channel News Asia (CNA), "Wu Shengming was once one of China's richest entrepreneurs. But she took a sharp fall when she was convicted for commercial fraud. Getting out of jail in her 70s, she kept her promise to her daughter to turn her life around, and now runs a business empire catering to the elderly."

The photographer, Ms Jia Yanan, assigned to take pictures of Ms Wu gelled well with her and did a fantastic job. Her idea of dressing up in Ms Wu's outfit was brilliant. The highlight for me was when they each shared about their favourite photograph from the photoshoot.

This story appeals on many fronts with insights on: fashion sense, the issue of aging in society, the workings of a professional photographer, having a life's mission, coping with aging fearlessly, how to live life to the full with courage, and how to connect with other human beings.

Click here for Super Octogenarians - EP3 The Eternally Beautiful Entrepreneur. The conversations are in Mandarin with subtitles in English.

After watching this episode of Super Octogenarians, ladies would be inspired to aged gracefully while the guys would learn to love their grandmothers more!


P/s: The videographer and all the other background staff deserve due credits, too, for bringing across this message on aging with wellness.

Never Give Up, Hang On

It mayn't be a pretty sight, but hang on tight until you get your break or take a leap of faith so as to move on to something new.

As you know, bad times don't last and they are surmounted by the indomitable human spirit. When you go through a tough period, that is the time to dig in and keep surviving for tomorrow and the days after. 

By the by, you will get through your rough spell and come forth stronger in character and as a seasoned individual with a story to share and inspire others. The trial will come to pass. So, keep your cool, be patient, persevere, stay positive and keep looking forward.

Click here for an encouraging article by The Straits Times on The Lives They Live: Low-wage worker got his break at 59.

Open Sesame!

Closed letter boxes

It's "Open Sesame!" when the postman shows up

Live In The Moment

A sage asked a young man and an older man what they could see in the horizon as far away as possible.

Photo credits: Alexas_Fotos (Courtesy of Pixabay)

After a period of due contemplation, the young man quipped that he could see his career path, doing all the things he enjoy (hopefully) and maybe marriage. As for the elder, he lamented the process of aging and stressed the wealth of having good health.

The sage smiled and said wryly, "I see God."

The bad things will not last forever; they will come to past. Neither do the good things at the level that you are used to. As such, even an earthly king or billionaire will have his winter years before he meet with God Himself.

Our life on earth is like a dressed rehearsal for heaven. Get to know God who has already revealed Himself in person of Jesus Christ and through His written Word as contained in the Holy Bible.

Having said that, live life to the fullest every day with guidance from the Word of God through His Holy Spirit.

Live in the moment, moment by moment. When you are eating and drinking, enjoy your meal. Thank God you can ingest food with ease and taste them, too.

Listen well with full attention to the person you are speaking with. Honour her by being a good listener and connect with her by showing that you understand and empathise with her.

Focus on what you are doing right now and shut out the distraction. Enjoy the music, the news article, literature, scenery, painting, cooking, washing the dishes (cos' you have a good pair of functional hands and not made as a dishwashing machine!), roller-coaster ride, etc. 

Do not take life for granted. Be thankful. Live in the moment aside from time spent planning your schedule and setting goals. Connect with the people around you and take on God's nature of love to love them unconditionally.

Have a great day ahead!


Click on the following video clip to view some near misses which was circulated to me via a chat group as a reminder that life can be fragile:-

It is loaded when people say, "Thank God, I'm alive!"

The Happiness Code by Domonique Bertolucci

Domonique Bertolucci's mantra is as follows:-

Click here to download a free copy of Domonique's "The Happiness Code Workbook" among her other free resources.   

An extract from the workbook on the first key to happiness, which is to Take Charge (The Principle of Choice), is as follows:-

"1. Happiness is a choice. Choose to be happy and you will be.

2. Perfectionism is a lost cause. Focus your energy on being the best you can be.

3. True happiness is a state of being, not one of doing or having.

4. You only have one life. Make sure that yours is one you are happy to be living.

5. Focus on what matters. Honour your values and make decisions that are aligned with them.

6. When you make a choice, acknowledge all the consequences. That way you won’t be left feeling compromised.

7. There is no such thing as ‘no choice’. There are always other options. Explore yours.

8. Self-pity never leads to happiness. Remind yourself, the situation may not be ideal, but it’s rarely the worst that could ever happen.

9. Don’t sabotage your chance for happiness. Own up to the real choices you are making.

10. Choose to be happy. It’s the only sensible option!"

Click here to make your further connection with Domonique Bertolucci.

Dare To Live

The following duet by Andrea Bocelli and Laura Pausini will wow you and give you fresh impetus to live strong and brave.

Click here for Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini - Dare To Live (HD) ft. Laura Pausini.

Dare To Live (Duet With Laura Pausini)

(Source: http://lyricstranslate.com)

Try looking at tomorrow not yesterday

And all the things you left behind

All those tender words you did not say

The gentle touch you couldn't find

In these days of nameless faces

There is no one truth but only pieces

My life is all i have to give

Dare to live until the very last

Dare to live forget about the past

Dare to live giving something of yourself to others

Even when it seems there's nothing more left to give

But if you see a human

In front of your entrance

Who sleeps wrapped in a box,

If you would listen to the world in the morning

Without the noise of the rain.

You are that one who can create with your voice,

You think with the thoughts of people,

Of the God who is just the God.

To live, no one has ever taught it,

To live, it's impossible to live without the past,

To live is beautiful even if you have never asked for.

It will be a song, someone will sing it.

Dare to live searching for the ones you love,

(Why, why, why, why are you not living tonight?)

Dare to live no one but we all,

(Why, why, why, why are you not living now?)

Dare to live until the very last,

(Why, why, why is the life not the life?)

Your life is all you have to give (Because)

You have not lived the life!

Dare to live until the very last,

(Why, why, why is the life not the life?)

Your life is all you have to give (Because)

You have never lived.

I will say no (I will say yes)

Say dare to live

Dare to live

And, the following clip will give you positive energy that a loved one or a muse does make a difference. 

Click here for Andrea Bocelli - Vivo per lei. Yes, Heather Headley was in her elements, too, in this duet.

Be Generous With Your Pats On The Back

This world would be an even better place if you and I could learn to encourage one another in every good endeavour. 

When we give each other a pat on the back, may we be generous about it. Sharing herewith a clip as obtained from a chat group to serve as an illustration. Let these toddlers show us a thing or two with their gleeful sincerity.

You might also find the following clips of renown singers singing together with mutual encouragement to be insightful that partnership and togetherness makes this world a better place indeed with greater variety and richness.

Click here for Andrea Bocelli, Céline Dion - The Prayer 

Click here for Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins - I Believe  

Raising Red Lanterns

Background work is not often appreciated and often go unnoticed.

Here are some unsung heroes doing back-breaking work to raise auspicious red and prosperous gold-trimmed lanterns to herald the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Souped-up Scooter

If you are passionate about scooters, by the by, you could well form or join a club of owners with souped-up scooters such as the following:

Revelation for the New Year 2018

You don't need no new resolutions for the New Year. What you need is a fresh revelation to follow through with actions. 

One plausible revelation would be: You have the power to change your life for the better by making some adjustments to your daily routine. 

Photo credits: Free-Photos (Courtesy of Pixabay)

John C. Maxwell said, "You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of success is found in your daily routine." The diamonds are hidden in your own garden, after all. 

For example, you can learn one new word each week and by the end of the year you would have learnt 52 new words. The little actions do add up if you maintain consistency. Nothing dramatic is required. 

Likewise, if you reflect hard enough, you would be able to find and journal 365 unique reasons -- one for each day of the year, on why you can be happy or thankful. Try it and you will see your life in a whole new light, and you will be a brighter person from the inside out.

Making a change to your life pattern is doable and charged with possibilities. Many studies have concluded that, in general, it takes about 30 days of consistent practice to change a behaviour pattern. The decision is yours to make. 

Photo credits: geralt (Courtesy of Pixabay)

Mark Hughes, President and Founder of Herbalife, said, "I believe that success begins the minute you start working toward your goals. The actions you take to fulfill your dreams and attain your personal desires make you a success today, not the end results you will get tomorrow."

Start with one change at a time. For example, sleeping an hour earlier and getting up an hour earlier so that you can beat the morning traffic congestion and have a head start in your office. Once this new routine is established, then you may wanna consider taking on a new challenge. 

As you do so, your days are gonna get brighter. You are a star in the making!

Photo credits: geralt (Courtesy of Pixabay)

Thank you for reading and sharing Daily Refreshing blog. May 2018 Be Your Best Year Yet!

Spotlight on: Save My Bag

If you are looking for a bag that is lightweight, durable and chic, whether for yourself or as a gift, then you may wanna take a dive into Save My Bag to explore their range of bags and accessories.

Aside from felt (100% polyester), their bags are made of a patented Poly-Fabric with Lycra ® that is softer and lighter than foamed neoprene -- the material used in making wet-suits for scuba diving and other water sports

The following is a blurb extracted from their website:-

"Save My Bag was founded in 2013 by Valentina and Stefano Agazzi in Bergamo, Italy. Intended originally as a luxury waterproof cover to “save” a designer bag, Save My Bag has gone as far as a unique “it bag” status all of its own.

The Miss Bag is chic and timeless in design, while its versatile construction is the essence of practicality. Made in over 40 fashion-forward colors, the Miss Bag, with a worldwide registered design*, is perfect for carrying your daily essentials and completing your look.

Save My Bag’s allure is in its ironic, playful and smart contemporary design, as well as its innovative construction. Made in Italy of Poly-Fabric with Lycra ®®, Save My Bag is chic and cruelty free, resilient and refined, super light and super unique. Our signature fabric is a super soft blend that is even lighter than neoprene. We use premiere Italian Lycra® to provide you with a lightweight, durable and chic bag."

Let the following sample brighten up your day:-

Click here to visit Save My Bag homepage.

Catching A Bite of Grand Castella Cake

The much raved Grand Castella cake from Taiwan has reached the shores of Singapore and you are about to find out why this sponge cake is hot.

The Grand Castella Cake - hot off the oven

Poking it to release the heat

Measuring and cutting it to size

Join the queue to place your orders

Click here for Castella Cake in Taiwan on the cutting process.

The cake is soft and fluffy, and its original flavour was pleasant enough without being outstanding. 

You have to queue to place your order and come back later to collect the cake when it is ready. My take is that it is like catching a huge grouper which would draw in the crowd and, if you cut it up, the customers can get their hands on a slice of your prized catch.

Click here for Huge Goliath Grouper Caught at Naples Fishing Pier, Florida.

This is a big marketing lesson on the power of perceived value and crowd psychology which could translate into handsome returns for your benefits. 

If the cake was baked in the exact size that it was sold, it would not likely be flying off the table. You don't need a shelf here as the cakes are gone soon after they come off the oven. (Hmm, would this marketing approach work for pizza, as well?)

Thankfully for the huge grouper in the above YouTube clip, it was allowed to swim off after making its grand landing to please the crowd.