A bit more purpose and a bit more meaningful

 I am sure you heard people asked … you want time or you want money? Of course you want both!

Well, some lucky ones will have both but most of us would have to take one only. It will come to a point when one will have to make that decision … either to continue chasing to earn more money or you want to have all the time in the world.

When will that point of time come? That depends.

For me … that time or money point came quite early in my life and the decision was easy. I chose time over money because I know how much money I have but I DO NOT KNOW how much time I have.

Knowing how much money I have, it is easy to manage … it is just about budgeting and making sure that I spend prudently within my means. That’s it.

But for time … I don’t know how much time I have. I may even drop dead tomorrow. So, I have to put a lot more effort into how I want to spend my time. There are a millions things to do but I will never have enough time to do it all.

Whatever I do, I will try to do it with a bit more purpose and do it a bit more meaningful.

And what do I do with my time?

I write a bit … but I am not much of a writer. Actually, I spent more time editing than writing. I am just a storyteller trying to share my experiences, my thoughts and my simple aspirations. There is a saying … either you do something for people to write or you write something for people to do.

I have not done anything worthwhile for people to write about … so I am hoping that I can write and share something that people can appreciate and learn. It is a form of teaching and it is the main purpose of my writings.

I spend more time looking at things around me. I learned to slow down, stop to look at the surroundings and I find many beautiful things. Looking at the early dawn breaks, the young blooms in the forest, the lively sound of the wild, the dew drops on the leaves, the colorful leaves shed by the forest trees … now, I find it a bit more meaningful when I trek or hike in a forest.

 Not just in the forest … if you slow down and take the time to look at things around you … you can even find some unexpected beautiful things in your own backyard. Really, life is full of simple pleasures.    

There are many beautiful things around you ... life if full of simple pleasures

I search for forgotten taste when I cook … the sambal of the makcik who sold nasi lemak on the roadside near my primary school in Brickfields, the fish curry from the Indian aunty who live next to us in the LLN quarters in Bangsar, the English pound cake that my mother used to make and many many more. 

It brings back a lot of good memories and nostalgias … whether it is a family dinner or good friends gather over a meal talking about the good old days … the forgotten taste makes it a little bit more meaningful for everyone.

When the CMCO is over, I will do a bit of traveling … maybe I will go to places that are a bit more meaningful to me. What do I mean?

I tell you about a Mr Tony Wright … an Englishman I met many years ago. He came to Malaysia with a stack of photos that his grandparents took while they were in Malaysia in the 1920s and Tony travelled across Malaysia visiting places captured in the photographs, visiting the places that his grandparents visited and reminisce the stories they told him when he was small. That made his travel a little bit more meaningful … doesn’t it?

Look … you may have all the money in the world to spend but do you know whether you have the time to spend it all?  The sad fact is, you don’t know … there are so many things you want to do and surely you won’t be able to do all.

So, whatever you are doing … spend your time doing it with a bit more purpose and doing it a bit more meaningfully.