What do people live for? 人为什么要活着？

Why do people live for?


5 elderly and dying Taiwanese found purpose to live...

What is your dream and purpose for living today?


This is a very inspiring video in Chinese mandarin. The director did an excellent job

Live for your dream.

Love Language: Jubilee Project Short Film & Fundraiser

Love - beyond words can describe.

No mushy words, no hypocrisy.

With sincerity.

Love rules over disabilities.

5 Important Lessons of a Pencil

A pencil maker told the pencil 5 important lessons just before putting it in the box:

1. Everything you do will always leave a mark.
2. You can always correct the mistakes you make.
3. What is important is what is inside of you.
4. In life, you will undergo painful sharpening, which will only make you better.
5. To be the best pencil, you must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that holds you.

MARRIAGE

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside
the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.

My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband....

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

Why am I different from others?

Extraordinary Pantene television commercial made in Thailand. It's simply brilliant. The story is about a deaf and mute girl who learns to play the violin against all odds. It's one of the most touching advertisements ever.

Question: Why am I different from others?
Reply: Why do you have to be the same like others?

No matter what happens, life can be beautiful if you persist.

Touching Cancer Commercial

Before her brother's return, the little girl went in search for a scissor and cut her own hair. This short video clip is definitely able to keep you in a suspend for the start. When her brother returns in bald head because he is a cancer patient, the little girl offers her hair to her brother.

The little boy may be in a sorry state and feeling the pain, but he is fortunate to have such a loving sister who is willing to sacrifice herself.

Filial Piety: Father and Son (Eng subtitles)

Follow the journey of a young boy, as he sees first hand the importance of respecting, honouring, and loving his parents, through the best and the worst of times. The latest installment of National Family Council's Family campaign, Filial Piety: Father & Son revolves around the ups and downs of a three-generation household, with the heart and soul of the campaign captured by the line, "How one generation loves, the next generation learns."

Love - Katie Kirkapatrick and Nick's Wedding

The girl in the picture is Katie Kirkpatrick, she is 21. Next to her, her fiancé, Nick, 23. The picture was taken shortly before their wedding ceremony, held on January 11, 2005 in the US. Katie has terminal cancer and spend hours a day receiving medication. In the picture, Nick is waiting for her on one of the many sessions of chemo to end.


In spite of all the pain, organ failures, and morphine shots, Katie is going along with her wedding and took care of every detail. The dress had to be adjusted a few times due to her constant weight loss


An unusual accessory at the party was the oxygen tube that Katie used throughout the ceremony and reception as well. The other couple in the picture are Nick's parents. Excited to see their son marrying his high school sweetheart.


Katie, in her wheelchair with the oxygen tube, listening to a song from her husband and friends


At the reception, katie had to take a few rests. The pain did not allow her to stand for long periods


Katie died five days after her wedding day. Watching a woman so ill and weak getting married and with a smile on her face makes us think..... Happiness is reachable, no matter how long it lasts .

We should stop making our lives complicated.

Life is short
Break the rules
forgive quickly
kiss passionately, love truly
laugh constantly
And never stop smiling
no matter how strange life is
Life is not always the party we expected to be
but as long as we are here, we should smile and be grateful

Funeral - English

"Funeral" is a new TV commerical launched by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) which looks at relationships in a different light, through a woman at her husband's funeral. Ultimately, the TVC celebrates the beautiful imperfections that make a relationship perfect. This is fresh off MCYS latest Viewers' Choice 2008 win for the Family TVC which promotes the importance and value of family bonding.

This is a very cool video.

The Burnt Biscuit

Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. That evening, mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed.

All dad did was reach for his biscuit, smiled at mom and asked me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and ate every bite.

When I got up from the table, I remember hearing mom apologize to dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: Honey, I love burned biscuits.
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"

You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else.

What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each others' faults - and choosing to celebrate each others differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

Because in the end, you are the master of your own life - to be happy or unhappy, to be positive or negative.

We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship.

Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own.
So please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burnt one will do just fine ...

Rich son poor son

Three of the old parents were proud of their children's careers. However, these children did not have time for their parents. "They were very busy" each said. The last woman did not talk much of her son. Her son was not a high-flyer like the others. But her son has time for his mother. The other three women were in awe. They would prefer that their children spend time with them.

Delighted with the filial piety 百善孝为先 - 感人短片

Family

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.


He said, 'Please excuse me too;

I wasn't watching for you.'


We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said goodbye.


But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old..


Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.


When I turned, I nearly knocked him down..

'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown...


He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.


While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,


'While dealing with a stranger,

common courtesy you use,

but the family you love, you seem to abuse.


Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You'll find some flowers there by the door.


Those are the flowers he brought for you.

He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.


He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'


By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.


I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said...


'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'

He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.


I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.

I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'


I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;

I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'

He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.

I love you anyway.'


I said, 'Son, I love you too,

and I do like the flowers, especially the blue....'





FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?

So what is behind the story?


Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

Touching true story of puppy Mari

Tale of Mari and Three Puppies
Mari To Koinu No Monogatari

A Most Important Question

During my second month of nursing school our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired, and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.

Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you can do is smile and say hello.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

Strength Out of Weakness

by Dick Innes (Daily Encounter)

In his book, Confidence, Alan Loy McGinnis talks about a famous study entitled "Cradles of Eminence" by Victor and Mildred Goertzel, in which the family backgrounds of 300 highly successful people were studied. Many of the names of those in the study were well known to most of us-including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, and Einstein, all of whom were brilliant in their fields of expertise.

The results of this study are both surprising and encouraging for many of us who came from a less-than-desirable home life. For example: "Three-quarters of the children were troubled either by poverty, by a broken home, or by rejecting, over-possessive or dominating parents.

"Seventy-four of 85 writers of fiction or drama and 16 of the 20 poets came from homes where, as children, they saw tense psychological drama played out by their parents. "Physical handicaps such as blindness, deafness, or crippled limbs characterized over one-quarter of the sample."

These people who had confidence in their abilities and put them to creative use all have had more weaknesses and handicaps than many who have a lack of confidence because of low self-esteem. So, what made the difference? Probably by compensating for their weaknesses they excelled in other areas.

One man reported, "What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature." The speaker who stammered until his death was W. Somerset Maugham, as he looked back on his life at age 86. By then he had become a world-renowned author of more than 20 books, 30 plays, and scores of essays and short stories.

It's not what we have or don't have that matters in life, but what we do with what we have and what we do about facing and resolving our issues. As somebody else has said and whom I have often quoted, "I may have been a victim in the past, but if I remain one, I am now a willing volunteer." No matter what our background, we can and do have hope for the future. It's up to us what we do in the present that will help us to become what we need to be in the future.

How Bad do You Really Want to Succeed in Life?

by Doug Firebaugh

How bad do you really want to succeed in life? A little? A lot? Are you willing to fight for it?

Let the fighting spirit in you refuse to give up. He did. He came home, slammed the books down on the table, ran upstairs, slammed the door and broke down and cried. It was his 10th grade year. His mother came in, and said, "Son, what's wrong?" Through a 15-year-old's broken heart, he said, "I didn't make the team … they said I was too small."

With incredible wisdom, the mother said, "Son, it's not the size of the person in the game, it's the size of the game in the person."

It clicked. The next morning, he got up at 4:30 AM and started practicing-every morning, every evening, every day, every week, every month, relentless, nonstop. He gave up movies and things that he did before.

He kept saying, "It's not the size of the player in the game, but the size of the game in the player." And when the season came around again, he tried out with a focus so strong that it intimidated even the coach. And he made the team. The next year he made the team. And he went on to explode.

His name? Michael Jordan.

True Success

"Contentment isn't getting what you want, but wanting what you've got," says David Ring, a motivational speaker who talks to more than 200 audiences and 100,000 people each year. What makes the quote and his busy schedule truly remarkable is the fact that David Ring has had cerebral palsy since birth. He can hardly walk. He can hardly talk. Yet he speaks with such positiveness, humor, and spiritual depth that audiences flock to hear him and go away changed.

A friend recently gave me a recording of one of David Ring's talks and, like hundred of thousands of others, I was convicted by his challenge: "I've got cerebral palsy. What's your problem?" His message is simple and clear. Refuse to give in to despair or self-pity. Don't gripe or become bitter over bad things that happen, but embrace life and get on with it. And, "If you don't like the way I am," Ring tells his audiences, "hang in there. I'm still in the oven!"

Another spiritual principle that is borne out in Ring's life is that if we can be genuinely thankful for even the seemingly bad things, we will be blessed with more good things. Ring is not only successful and in high demand as a motivational speaker (his 200 audiences per year are chosen from over 700 invitations), but he is happily married and the father of four beautiful, perfectly healthy children.

David Ring leads a truly victorious life, and so can you. As he says, "Don't whine, but shine!"

Mindset change

As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a rope tied to their legs. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break way from the ropes they were tired to but for some reason, they did not. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well", he said, "When they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." My friend was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were. The powerful and gigantic creature has limited its present abilities by the limitations of its past.

Life the elephants, how many of us go through life holding onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us refuse to attempt something new and challenging because of our so called MINDSET?

Your attempt may fail, but never fail to make an attempt...

and

CHOOSE not to accept the false boundaries and limitations created by the past...

Eight Lies of a Mother

This story begins when I was a child: I was born poor. Often we hadn't enough to eat. Whenever we had some food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice. While she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would say "Eat this rice, son! I'm not hungry."

This was Mother's First Lie.

As I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a river near our house; she hoped that from the fish she caught, she could give me a little bit more nutritious food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fish, she would make fish soup. While I was eating the soup, mother would sit beside me and eat the what was still left on the bone of the fish I had eaten, My heart was touched when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to her on my chopstick but she immediately refused it and said, "Eat this fish, son! I don't really like fish."

This was Mother's Second Lie.

Then, in order to fund my education, Mother went to a Match Factory to bring home some used matchboxes, which she filled with fresh matchsticks. This helped her get some money to cover our needs. One wintry night I awoke to find Mother filling the matchboxes by candlelight. So I said, "Mother, go to sleep; it's late: you can continue working tomorrow morning." Mother smiled and said "Go to sleep, son! I'm not tired."

This was Mother's Third Lie.

When I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother accompanied me. After dawn, Mother waited for me for hours in the heat of the sun. When the bell rang, I ran to meet her.. Mother embraced me and poured me a glass of tea that she had prepared in a thermos. The tea was not as strong as my Mother's love, Seeing Mother covered with perspiration, I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink too. Mother said "Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!".

This was Mother's Fourth Lie..

After Father's death, Mother had to play the role of a single parent. She held on to her former job; she had to fund our needs alone. Our family's life was more complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our family's condition worsening, my kind Uncle who lived near my house came to help us solve our problems big and small. Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken so they often advised my mother to marry again. But Mother refused to remarry saying "I don't need love."

This was Mother's Fifth Lie.

After I had finished my studies and gotten a job, it was time for my old Mother to retire but she carried on going to the market every morning just to sell a few vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was steadfast and even sent the money back to me. She said, "I have enough money."

That was Mother's Sixth Lie.

I continued my part-time studies for my Master's Degree. Funded by the American Corporation for which I worked, I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump in my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life in America but Mother didn't want to bother her son; she said to me "I'm not used to high living."

That was Mother's Seventh Lie.

In her dotage, Mother was attacked by cancer and had to be hospitalized. Now living far across the ocean, I went home to visit Mother who was bedridden after an operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heartbroken because she was so thin and feeble but Mother said, "Don't cry, son! I'm not in pain.."

That was Mother's Eighth Lie.

Telling me this, her eighth lie, she died. YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL! M - O - T - H - E - R

"M" is for the Million things she gave me,
"O" means Only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the Tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her Heart of gold,
"E" is for her Eyes with love-light shining in them,
"R" means Right, and right she'll always be,

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER" a word that means the world to me.