Birthday Celebration

Going into LT8 for tutorial yesterday, there sat my three classes, 2 of my own, and 1 (PM4) that I was baby sitting for Soo San for 2 weeks.
They started to sing 'Happy Birthday'. I stood and received their wish (energy) as they sang, and looked at every one of them, as they looked back.
This wish was very powerful. It was a simple act of singing but, I could see & feel the sincerity of their heart as they sang. That made me feel appreciated and I felt the same for them. Joy arouse in the heart that stayed for the whole night. I could not remember when was the last time this year that I felt this kind of very gentle, but deep and lasting joy.

True indeed, when I recalled back what Dr. K Sri Dhammananda said in one of his talk in UKM last time, that the most powerful wish is the sincere wish from the heart. No fancy word, no expensive gift, but just a sincere act of a word, a song, a gesture or a smile. That is what touches the heart.

Indeed, this year has been so hectic. Every day, I need to prepare teaching PowerPoint for the next day until today morning, which is the last teaching day of the year. When the students were away for the AS examination, I was busy doing research, and leading a team to draw up a plan to implement Student Portfolio for CAL next year, and to give a seminar regarding this to the lecturers. I was also busy mentoring my new lecturer this semester whom also created some misunderstanding within my dept. Even during the Chinese New Year, I was busy preparing PowerPoint for the A2 Practical (Paper 5) Workshop together with Le-Na, with lots of anger as the management decided to remove the OHP from all classrooms when the semeter commenced, and hence we were left to prepare Powerpoint the last minute. I do not mind doing it but it takes up most of my after office hour and eats into my sleeping hour every day for the whole year which really makes me look old...and too tired to exc regularly. I also noticed a lot of back biting in the staffroom this year due to the appraisal system that made the career path very competitive among us. Indeed this year is a stressful year from many angles. However, towards the end, I have got all my Powerpoint completed!! The backbiting is slowly fading away as the truth reveals, and friendship emerges.

The most memorable event of the year is my dream trip to NZ. Other memorable/ meaningful events include:
(1) my mum showing more care & respect in her action and more gentle in her words , thanks to Di Zhi Gui.
(2) Getting to know Di Zhi Gui, which instill wisdom and compassion.
(3) Learning compassionate communication

My wish for this holiday:
1) Sleep more & sleep early
2) Exc regularly
3) Detox, liver cleasing & deworm
4) Meditate to go deeper to the 'heart' of the being & pick up mindfulness again
5) Practice compassionate communication
6) Catch up with friends
6) Facial & massage!! Pamper myself to the max :-)

The next thing I am looking forward is my Taiwan trip next week!!