You'll Read This, Won't You?

Like a random leaf on a tree,
Like a grain of sand swept by the waves,
Like you and I thrown into this world,
I did not get a say,
About who or where I'd rather be.
No, I didn't.
I didn't think you did, did you?
Beyond my reach,
The world revolves,
Just like a bus,
Going on a never-ending journey.
And the world doesn't care about the leaf,
Nor it does about the grain of sand,
Nor it does about the leaf,
Nor about you or me,
I am just a passenger in this world,
Not knowing where I'm from,
Not knowing when the ride will stop.
I really don't know.I don't think you know, do you?But what made us so different?
Leaf from leaf,
Grain from grain,
You from me,
Was it because of where we were born?
I wonder.
You'd wonder too, won't you?Just like the leaf,
Regardless how great,
And the grain of sand,
Regardless how great,
And you and me,
Regardless how great,
We come, undecided,
We leave, undecided,
And, we fall undecided too.
As the leaf rode by the winds,
As the grain of sand swirled with the waves,
As you and I wade through our days,
The leaf falls,
The grain of sand falls,
I fall.
I think you do,too, don't you?

It doesn't matter when the leaf touches earth,
Undecided.
It doesn't matter when the grain of sand greets the sun,
Undecided.
It doesn't matter when you and I will be pushed off this ride,
Undecided.
No, it doesn't matter.
At least, I don't think it did, do you?What matters, is what's in between,
Before the leaf kisses the earth,
Before the grain of sand snuggly fits the beach,
Before you and I get of the ride,
What's in between-
What should have been?
Or what's left?
It keeps you thinking, doesn't it?

When the leaf bids goodbye to the winds,
It leaves behind a trail of wind, or nothing at all.
When the grain of sand bids goodbye to the waves,
It leaves behind a trail of wave, or nothing at all.
When you and I bid goodbye to the other passengers,
What do you want to leave behind?
A trail of footsteps? Or nothing at all?
I know you're thinking now, aren't you?
Our journey is undecided,
Like the leaf knows,
So it decided to ride well before it touches the earth,
Like the grain of sand knows,
So it decided to swirl in the best waves before it reaches the beach.
Like you and I know,
So what have you decided?
I decided to make this journey one to remember,
Because not like the leaf,
Because not like the grain of sand,
We, have you and I.

And THAT, made a whole lot of difference.
At least, I thought so, didn't you?

Something My Mom Hasn't Yet Know

I've passed that gate umpteen times but I've never thought of entering. Yesterday, I made my first turn into the compound.

A friendly, elderly lady informed someone and another elderly Indian lady welcomed me into her office. She is the centre's administrator; pleasant and very unlike the grim, old security guard I met on my way in. Then, we chatted for a brief moment and I explained my situation and how long I plan to drop by. One of the questions she asked was, "So, what is your course of study?"

"Finance?" I replied, knitting my brows with big, invisible question mark above my head. Now what does that have to do with...

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just trying to find out if there is a connection between what you do and why you might be here," she said.

Oh.

I came to the conclusion that many others must have dropped by with something under their sleeves. Well, I have none.

Anyway, let's talk about the following today when I told the administrator I'd drop by again. It was this morning, 8.30am. From there, I was led by the administrator who took me around and into a gym where I'd be spending one hour with a teacher/instructor. Well, I'd be a regular person in that gym for the following three weeks. Okay, so really, I myself needed a gym BUT, that was not why I was there. Huh, think again!

The instructor called for a girl around the age of eight. The little girl hobbled her way to the instructor and I, smiling. Boy, I was clueless.

"All you have to do is to watch her. Make sure she does her stretching exercises somewhere safe. Against the wall. She is unable to maintain her balance."

Here's a new term I learnt today:

Cerebral Palsy
Symptoms can be as simple as having difficulty with fine motor tasks like writing or using scissors, or as profound as being unable to maintain balance or walk. Severely afflicted patients may have involuntary movements, such as uncontrollable hand motions and drooling. Others suffer from associated medical disorders, such as seizures and mental retardation.

In my first 4 hours of presence in the building, the symptoms presented themselves to me as children and teenagers with the disability live their normal, routine lives: learning to speak, read, count, swim etc. I was an outsider, really. It was a whole new world I've never known.

"The Spastic Children Association of Penang".

I wonder what else life will teach me in my following weeks at the centre. It is something my mom hasn't found out YET. I'll let her know, maybe later. (Pauses to think.) Yeah. Later.

Ask Any Tadpole...

I'm just dropping in to share one analogy I learnt from Ajahn Brahm; one like those other things which seem to have found their places in our hearts, sometimes. Here is how I'd like to tell it (AND how my poor memory remembered it!) :

Ask any tadpole about water. 'What is water, do you know, o' lil' one?'

Isn't it obvious tadpoles live in water, the H2O we learnt in highschool? Bah, stupid tadpole, don't you know.."water"?!

The lil' one will turn to its friends and shrug. The tadpoles are all clueless of what they have been surrounded with throughout their tadpole lives!

But just you be patient and wait, said the determined lil' tadpole. I'll find out what it means!

And truth betold, that tadpole grew into a frog and is finally free to leap out of what it has been surrounded for all its life.

As the tadpole sat on land by the water, he looked down at what he emerged from.

Aha! So THAT is 'water'!

Doesn't this analogy sound familiar to you? We have been surrounded by 'life' for all our lives, just as the tadpole by 'water'. Think about it. I just find this analogy really fascinating and really eye-opening. Ask any tadpole!