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 This one is for Putchee who gives without remembering
and takes without forgetting. The song playing in the background is "Sweet
Dreams" by Annie Lennox. Women go to the ladies’ room in groups to plot
their next move against their men.
Adventures in Living
 I am going to write my autobiography here. It is going to be fun
because I haven't done it before! 
Oh, joy! You will enjoy reading it because it will be nothing like you
have ever read before.
 Come back often if you want to read
about my adventures in the business of living. The truth is stranger than fiction!
You should see my story here next month unless I am very busy!
. . . Do you have
a mental retreat? A place where you can go to relax and get away from the humdrum and
stress of daily living once in a while. A place that is like your personal paradise...
 Let me tell you about mine. Actually, I have many and they
are all taken from my childhood memories. You see, as a child and up to my teenage years,
I used to roam the countryside and all over the country by myself on foot, by bicycle,
motor-bike, car, bus or train in search of adventure. It was all in the spirit of
vagabondage. I got all fired up after reading the stories of the great Masters when I was
a kid. To me, they were great vagabonds.
Anyway,
let me tell you about just one place to show you what I mean by a mental retreat. When I
was nine years old, my family rented a house at the edge of a rubber estate. We were very
poor. Every day I would wander alone all over deep inside the plantation searching for
things to play with. You know how curious a nine-year old boy can be. I would play among
the trees, and catch dragonflies, butterflies, and grasshoppers.
My
favorite pastime was catching the fishes in one part of the small stream that flowed
through the estate. I would use my bare hands, a basket, an empty tin or anything I could
improvise on. Sometimes, I would dam the stream. Of course, it was a dangerous thing for a
child to play for hours alone in the rubber estate every day. But then no one had taught
me anything about danger and I didn't know its meaning. Fears? Never heard about them!
Besides, my parents couldn't care a damn about me at all.
Sure, I got stung by bees and wasps, bitten
by leeches, mosquitoes and other insects, and had both legs covered with sores. I suffered
terribly from Malaria thirteen times and was (unknowingly) an anemic throughout my youth.
This anemic condition caused me to faint countless times in the public for no apparent
reason. I always thought that it was due to an erratic nervous system since I was an above
normal person! Ignorance is, indeed, bliss. Now that I know that I am anemic, it scares
the 'hell' out of me!
As a wild boy, I get many encounters with snakes,
goose, wild boars, dogs and all kinds of weird people. I accepted all these as part of the
adventure of life. I have been frightened many times but never gave it any serious
thought. There have been times when I was close to death that I never felt my life to be
in any grave danger. Since I didn't know what is fear and couldn't feel it, there was
nothing to fear.
Now,
whenever I need to refresh my thinking, I would mentally recall the particular spot where
I squatted beside the stream to fish. There I was,... alone,... enjoying my own
company,... and at peace with my natural surroundings. I could feel and hear the sounds of
nature all around me and I always felt like I was home among friends. I never had any
childhood friends and the best times of my life were spent alone in the company of mother
nature. As I write these words, I am there in my favorite spot right now.
I know
that you too have a favorite mental retreat. Everyone has. Your retreat can be anywhere -
in the countryside, on a mountaintop, inside a tree house, on a boat, on a park bench, or
in a corner of your house. As long as you feel that the place has the right atmosphere for
you, it is your personal paradise.
Imagine that you are
there now - in your enchanting retreat. Can you do that? You can because you have often
visited it. Now, imagine that I am also there with you. We are seated face to face in your
favorite spot. I have this piece in my left hand and my right hand is moving through the
air to stress a point. Yes, I am reading from this piece and you are listening
attentively. If you can transport yourself to this scene and picture it as such, you have
a powerful imagination. Create a mental atmosphere like this whenever you need to learn or
solve something.
You can
change the scene if you like, and substitute me for anybody else. You are not at my mercy
or that of any outside influence. You have your own mind and with that the power to
direct your life in any way you choose.
The
above exercise should convince you that you have the power to think, feel and experience
anything you want with the help of your million-dollar partner - your subconscious mind.
When used properly, it will create the right kind of atmosphere for you to act. You can
induce it to create a beneficial influence that will bring out the best in you. Why
wait for the right circumstance when you can create it yourself.
 Don't blame your circumstances for the
person you are now. You are a free person and have always the right to go out and seek the
right circumstance.
And, if you could not find one, you, with the help of your mind have
the power to create one - the right one. Assert yourself and stop being enslaved by
circumstances.
Exercise your will
power to discipline your mind. Control your thoughts and you will not have to be a victim
of circumstances again. All circumstances are within your control. In the game of life,
you have been given free will to play as you see fit. How you play today determines the
fate of your tomorrows. Your future lies in your hands which are controlled by your
mind which is yours to use in any way you like.
Is this like any autobiography you have read? Remember, I write
without rules and I have only read one (that is right, only ONE) autobiography in my
entire life. It was the autobiography of Errol Flynn, the swashbuckling Hollywood actor.
What a book!
-
Tan Kok Heng
Be an Individual. Being an individual is the easiest and the
wisest thing you can do to make your life a success. A true
individual is a giant among people. To be an individual,
think freely and do what you like to do. It is your life and
you have the right to live it your way! Go where you
like to go and be what you want to be. Live by your
own beliefs based on your own life’s experiences,
not on the beliefs or standards of other people.
- Tan Kok Heng |
 | The purpose of life is living. Men and women should
get the most they can out of their lives. The smallest, the tiniest intellect may be quite
as valuable to itself; it may have all the capacity for enjoyment that the wisest has. |
— Clarence Darrow
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