The Book Of Your Life

Japanese Boy Teaches Lesson In Sacrifice

This letter, written by Vietnamese immigrant Ha Minh Thanh working in Fukushima as a policeman to a friend in Vietnam, was posted on New America Media on March 19. It is a testimonial to the strength of the Japanese spirit, and an interesting slice of life of Japan's crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. It was translated by NAM editor Andrew Lam, author of “East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres” Shanghai Daily condensed it.

Brother,

How are you and your family? These last few days, everything was in chaos. When I close my eyes, I see dead bodies. When I open my eyes, I also see dead bodies. Each one of us must work 20 hours a day, yet I wish there were 48 hours in the day, so that we could continue helping and rescuing folks.

We are without water and electricity, and food rations are near zero. We barely manage to move refugees before there are new orders to move them elsewhere. I am currently in Fukushima , about 25 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant. I have so much to tell you that if I could write it all down, it would surely turn into a novel about human relationships and behaviors during times of crisis.

People here remain calm - their sense of dignity and proper behavior are very good - so things aren't as bad as they could be. But given another week, I can't guarantee that things won't get to a point where we can no longer provide proper protection and order. 

They are humans after all, and when hunger and thirst override dignity, well, they will do whatever they have to do. The government is trying to provide supplies by air, bringing in food and medicine, but it's like dropping a little salt into the ocean.

Brother, there was a really moving incident. It involves a little Japanese boy who taught an adult like me a lesson on how to behave like a human being. Last night, I was sent to a little grammar school to help a charity organization distribute food to the refugees. It was a long line that snaked this way and that and I saw a little boy around 9 years old.

He was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. It was getting very cold and the boy was at the very end of the line. I was worried that by the time his turn came there wouldn't be any food left. So I spoke to him. He said he was at school when the earthquake happened. His father worked nearby and was driving to the school. The boy was on the third floor balcony when he saw the tsunami sweep his father's car away. 

I asked him about his mother. He said his house is right by the beach and that his mother and little sister probably didn't make it. He turned his head and wiped his tears when I asked about his relatives. The boy was shivering so I took off my police jacket and put it on him. That's when my bag of food ration fell out. I picked it up and gave it to him. “When it comes to your turn, they might run out of food. So here's my portion. I already ate. Why don't you eat it?” The boy took my food and bowed. I thought he would eat it right away, but he didn't. He took the bag of food, went up to where the line ended and put it where all the food was waiting to be distributed. 

I was shocked. I asked him why he didn't eat it and instead added it to the food pile. He answered, “Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally.” When I heard that I turned away so that people wouldn't see me cry. A society that can produce a 9-year-old who understands the concept of sacrifice for the greater good must be a great society, a great people. 

Well, a few lines to send you and your family my warm wishes. The hours of my shift have begun again.

Ha Minh Thanh

Source: Shanghai Daily

The longer you live, the more you realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company or a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our ATTITUDE. A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.

Forget the past and move on!

A wise man once sat in the audience & cracked a joke. All laughed like crazy. After a moment he cracked the same joke again and a little less people laughed this time. He cracked the same joke again & again. When there was no laughter in the crowd, he smiled and said, “When you can't laugh on the same joke again & again, then why do you keep crying over the same thing over and over again?”

张惠妹

Recently, I like listening to these 2 songs especially the 2nd song. When I knew the story behind the existence of this song, it really touches my heart.

自卑

I am. You may see me as someone who is full of confidence with high self-esteem but it is only part of me to protect myself and hide my fragile heart which can be easily broken. I care about my appearance a lot. I admit it. It took me years to build up my confidence and everytime I look into the mirror, I need to tell myself, “You look good.” But the fact is, I know I don’t. I don’t even think I belong to the average look category. I might fall below that. Everytime when I tell myself that I look good, that’s a lie. I know most of you would say outer look is not important and the most important thing is inner beauty. Bullshit! You can only feel the inner beauty when you get to know someone well enough. But for 1st impression, looks does matter. When people see you for the 1st time, marks is already given upon the face. This is reality. Sometimes I really feel I’m ugly. This factor pulls me down a lot and I’m only using other factors to pull me up.

 

When only can I stop lying to myself and have the courage to face the truth?

已经很久没有这种感觉了。。。回想起来应该有大概五年了吧。。。我从来没有特别的想见任何一个人除了孙燕姿。。。但是这次，我真的很想见他。。。

Just some sayings...

Win With Character

Learn the difference between winning and being a champion. To win, you merely have to cross the finish line first. To be a champion, you have to inspire admiration for your character, as well as for your physical talent. You have to compete in spirit of fair play, respecting your opponents and the rules.

Jacques Rogge, President IOC

Chart Your Course

The sea is only beautiful if there’s a shore. Life is like the sea. There’ll be a direction to follow even if you sail more than one day or one life… the promise of a new land is your guide, because you know that the sea is a huge world that’s beautiful only if there’s a shore.

Patricky Field

Live Life Rightly

Seek education rather than grades. Seek your best rather than someone else’s. Seek friendship rather than acceptance. Seek worth rather than rank. Seek to build rather than to tear down. Seek laughter and love in spite of pain and you will have learned to live.

Jaqui Sheehan

Love Enriches Life

Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service. Whatever form we are, able or disabled, rich or poor, it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing; a lifelong sharing of love with others.

Mother Teresa

Attack Your Fears

Living fearlessly is not the same thing as never being afraid. It’s good to be afraid occasionally. What’s not good is living in fear, allowing fear to define who you are. Living fearlessly means standing up to fear, taking its measure, refusing to let it shape and define your life.

Michael G Ignatieff

Challenges Strengthen Life

Everybody has barriers and obstacles. If you look at them as containing fences that don’t allow you to advance, then you’re going to be a failure. If you look at them as hurdles that strengthen you each time you go over one, then you’re going to be a success.

Benjamin Carson

Accomplish With Humility

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.

Helen Keller

Lead By Example

Leadership rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity; having the capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it. His leadership is then based on truth and character. There must be truth in the purpose and will power in the character.

Vince Lombardi

Knowing Is Power

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

Sun Tzu

Focus on Positives

Real optimism is aware of problems but recognizes solutions; knows about difficulties but believes they can be overcome; sees the negatives, but accentuates the positives; is exposed to the worst but expects the best; has reason to complain, but chooses to smile.

William Arthur Ward

Adversity Breeds Creativity

What’s happiness without sadness? What’s light without darkness? You never can tell a positive thing without going through a negative thing. If you’ve been to the deepest valley in your life, then you will be very appreciative when you reached the highest peak in your life.

Evelyn Ha

Decisions Determine Destiny

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose the country of our birth. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions for our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live.

Joseph Epstein

Conflicting

I always told myself not to be too serious in anything especially when it comes to love. I’m not saying that we should not be committed to a relationship, but we should have a limit of seriousness to it. Sometimes taking it too seriously would only hurt yourself more. I admit I’m a playful person but I’m very loyal. But as I grow older and meet more different kinds of people, my mindset started to change. Now, I don’t mind to get involved in a relationship even though I know the ending might not be a happy ending. Sounds silly right? Being a playful girl, I really don’t mind to try anything while I’m still young. I wouldn’t want to regret later on in life for not giving something a try.

 

But at the same time I realize…

 

“曾淑铃，妳玩不起”

S.H.I.T.

我喜欢上一个“不是3岁小孩子”的人。

我真的希望老天爷可以给我很大，很大的心还有很多，很多的时间来应许我去多一点关心我身边的每一个人。有时候真的觉得有点内疚。关心到有些人，却忽略掉某些人。我已经尽量用我所有的空间去关心每一个人了。只是有时候还是觉得不够好。

偶尔会觉得有点累，有点辛苦应为我没有真正找过任何人去谈我的心事。但我知道同时我身边的每一个人都有他们自己必须解决的问题。所以我也不想再加重他们的负担来听我的心事。

者因该算是我成长的一部分。我必须走的路。我应该要面对的挑战。我要求不多，只要有一个能真正了解我的人，那就足够了。