Key message from this meeting: the audience doesn't know what you are going to say next. When you miss a point, just keep going. They would never know you miss a whole paragraph. :) [my speech from Monday starts after this photo. By the way, I was burning midnight oil for this speech. Quite messy. Quite unexpectedly doing not too bad.]
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Mei Yee (the lady with red at the front) left Altera and toastmaster Altera. Miss her already. -.-
Miss Ong is a kindergarten teacher. One day, she asked her students, “L is for love. Anyone know what love is?” Many kids were eagerly putting up their hands. Among the many kids, Miss Ong signaled Margaret to speak up her thought. Margaret said innocently, “When I kiss a boy and if my foot pops, that is love.”
Like Margaret said, love is magical. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. But, keeping yourself in love all the time is quite impossible.
On their anniversary, my friend, Jimmy took his girlfriend, Janice for an exclusive French cuisine at Equatorial Hotel. The light in the restaurant was dim. The music in the background was soft. The ambience was just rightly romantic for the event. Of course, the bill was a collateral damage for Jimmy’s wallet. However, the reward sent Jimmy up to cloud nine when Janice glanced at Jimmy saying. “Thanks for the day. I love you so much.” Jimmy thought, “Who say you can’t buy love with money?”
One day later, in less than 24 hours, when Jimmy was too busy at work and forgot to reply Janice’s mail, Janice questioned Jimmy in an angry tone, “Why are you not replying my mail?” Jimmy kept silence because he knew that the more he defends his position, the more his ear has to suffer. The silence irritated Janice. And, she went on saying sadly, “I know you don’t love me anymore. I think we are better not to be together.”
So, money can't buy happiness after all. However, for jimmy’s case, it can rent it for at least a few hours.
One of the paradoxes of loving relationship is that when things are going well, we are feeling loved. Out of the sudden, we may find ourselves negatively reacting to our partners due to minor tedious matters. It is common for two people madly in love one day and to hate each other in the very next day. Don’t you agree that happiness is the interval between periods of unhappiness?
Personally, I have been with my boyfriend for 9 years. There are still times that he can drive me to yell like a complete insane woman. However, there is seriously no reason for me to leave the nut I got for another one that I don't know at all. My mum did not tell me that loving my dad is as easy as spelling c-o-c-o-n-u-t. She shows me loving a man requires patience and endurance. I remembered asking my mum when I was a kid, “Mummy, how much does it cost to get married?” And my mother replied, “I don’t know girl; I’m still paying.” Until today, she still does my father’s laundry and cooks my father’s dinner.
Another key thing to keep your relationship uniquely magical is - do not compare. Getting into a relationship is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want. When you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that. The grass is always greener at the other side. For the man in the room, not every girl in this world is as perfect as Lin Zhi Ling. So, don’t complain when your girlfriend is putting on weight. For the woman in the room, I am sure you would not marry Bill Gates simply because of his fortune; so, don’t say something like this, “Ah Kow’s salary is higher than you even though he is just a butcher.”
Last but not least, always feel contented for having a companion who understands you and loves you unconditionally. If you stay caring for each other, your happiness can be ordinary yet heart warming. At the age of 70, my grandmother was still very fond of pedicure. However, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore due to arthritis. So, my grandfather did it for her all the time. My grandmother would cheer like a kid when the pedicure was done by my grandfather. The pedicure usually ended up quite disastrous because my grandfather’s vision was impaired as his age grew. Love is really blind.