Keeping Promises

“We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot” - Abraham Lincoln

Never promise more than you can perform. For every promise, there is price to pay. Just like eggs, oaths are easily broken. Promise only what you can deliver. Then deliver more than you promise.

"The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition." - Carl Jung

"The best way to keep one's word is not to give it." - Napoleon Bonaparte

The Bible tells us in Matthew 5:37,

"But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

Great friendships are focused relationships where promises are made and kept. However, most of the time, more is promised than delivered; more is said than done; more is pledged than completed; more is committed than accomplished.

Let's be slow in making promises but always keep them. Do you agree?

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The truth shall prevail

"Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason." - Anonymous

“Truth is not determined by majority vote.” - Doug Gwyn

"People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing." - Walter H. Judd

"If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." - Mark Twain

Anyway, according to Abraham Lincoln, “If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.”

We really need to be wise so that we could discern between lies and truth because not all news are truth. Let us pray for wisdom so that we will make the right choice. Think carefully before you cast your votes!

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The Secret to Happiness

“It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.” - Dale Carnegie

"The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." - Allan K. Chalmers

Many people spend a lifetime searching for happiness. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within. You can only bring happiness to yourself. Nothing else will.

Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. Happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. It is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.

Happiness comes whenever our work and words are beneficial to ourselves and others. May we always bring forth happiness to others wherever we go.

Do you have the secret to Happiness?

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Today is a gift.

“Time is more valuable than money.
You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” - Jim Rohn

Someone said, "Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." And yet, many don't really know how to appreciate it until it is gone.

If you don't have a plan for your life, you can't manage your time. Just ask yourself this question: "If all my days are like today, what will be my future?" and ponder over it. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.

Below are more questions for us to realize the value of time...

To realize the value of one year:
- Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of one month:
- Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one day:
- Ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed.
To realize the value of one hour:
- Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute:
- Ask the person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second:
- Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond:
- Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

"Time is equal to life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life." - Alan Lakein

Our time is indeed precious and limited. Plan your life well because lost time is never found again. Let us take all the necessary action now. May we have the wisdom to employ our time wisely.

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Happy Valentine's Day

To my lovely wife, Jenny!

“To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.”

Thank you for all the moments we shared for our wonderful family! You can spoil me but don't spoil our children. Love is All We Need.

Love is indeed a strong word, easy to spell but difficult to define and impossible to live without. Because of you I've learned what love is really meant to be; because of you there's happiness in every day for me and our children.


Thank you for all your love and kindness.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.

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That's difficult or impossible!

“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.” - Jesse Jackson

“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” - Peter T. Mcintyre

If all the world says, 'No!' it is your business to say, 'Yes!' and prove it."

The world says, "No!" in a thousand ways:
"No! You can't do that."
"No! You are wrong."
"No! You are too old."
"No! You are too young."
"No! You are too weak."
"No! It will never work."
"No! You don't have the education."
"No! You don't have the background."
"No! You don't have the money."
"No! It can't be done."

And each "No!" you hear has the potential to erode your confidence bit by bit until you quit altogether. Though the world says, "No!" to you today, will you determine to say, "Yes!" and prove it?

Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't do this or that. Never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible.

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Happy Chinese New Year 2008

For all who celebrate Chinese New Year, I hereby

Gong Xi Fa Cai and have a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Chinese New Year!

Employ the Golden Rule

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." - Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

“Practicing the Golden Rule is not a sacrifice; it is an investment.”

I believe employing the Golden Rule can even improve your blog traffic. If you digg others blog posts, your blog posts will be digged as well. If you click on the Ads, others will also do likewise. If you post comments to others blog, people will also post comments at your blog. So do to others what you would have them do to you.

Smile first because most smiles are started by other smiles. Be helpful and others will also be helpful to you. So treat people the way you'd like them to treat you.

By the way, I had started my Mandarin Blog having this Golden Rule in mind. I believe when I share how I study Mandarin, many will also share with me and I will definitely learn more!

What do you think? Have you been employing the Golden Rule?

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Be Tactful

“Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.” - Isaac Newton

"People with tact have less to retract." - Arnold H. Glasow

How we express our thoughts determines how it is perceived. Thus, it is very important to express our thoughts with clarity and diplomacy.

Look at the photo or read the story below that illustrates this point:

A King woke up dreaming about losing all his teeth. He summoned a very well known fortune teller of his kingdom to interpret his dream. "All losing teeth means the death of the whole family...", the fortune teller responded. Like stricken by thunder, the king got very angry, and he was very furious about it. So he ordered a sentence of 20 times whip to be given to the fortune teller.

The king was still curious by then, and so he again summoned another fortune teller of the kingdom.

After listening to the story, the fortune teller with a smile said,"The dream is saying that Your Highness is the luckiest person in the whole world. You will live longer than the rest of the other family members." Having heard the explanation, a bright smile cracked in the king's face. He was delighted and awarded 5 gold coins to the fortune teller.

"Silence is not always tact, and it is tact that is golden, not silence." - Samuel Butler

One of the basic causes for all the trouble in the world today is that people talk too much and think too little. They act impulsively without thinking.

Let us learn to be tactful, considerate and respectful when we speak. What do you think?

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Keep out of debt

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. "- Proverbs 22:7

Many people are one paycheck away from bankruptcy because they have no savings and spend every dime they make. If you're servicing debt you don't have any money for yourself and your family! You are then working whole life not for yourself and your family but for the bank.


Below is an advice from Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the world.

“Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and remember:

1. Money doesn’t create man; it is the man who created money.
2. Live your life as simple as you are.
3. Don’t do what others say, just listen to them, but do what you feel good.
4. Don’t go for brand name; just wear those things in which you feel comfortable.
5. Don’t waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on those who really are in need.
6. After all it’s your life so why give chance to others to rule your life.”

Your discipline today will govern you tomorrow. Do you agree?

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One Year has passed

"It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf." - Walter Lippman

Acquire Wisdom and Live with Passion has been around for a year.

Time really flies. The total hours that I spent for a year comes to 1460 hours if I spent an average of 4 hours a day in blogging. That is a lot of time – right? Anyway, I benefited a lot in so doing. Somehow, the saying is true. You get what you focus on. I got myself inspired when looking for inspiring quotes, wise sayings, insights and photos to match each of my posts. Anyway, moving forward, I will be spending more time doing other things that matters most to me. Thus, there will be much lesser posts in this blog. If you do not want to miss any of my future posts, please subscribe to this blog RSS feed.

I hereby express my thanks to all who had shared their experience, ideas, words of wisdom, and inspiration!

"Man is honored for his wisdom, loved for his kindness." - S. Cohen

One of my goals this year is to learn mandarin.


I will be starting a new blog very soon detailing my attempt to learn mandarin and I hope the new blog will be a useful resource for others wishing to do so as well.


Many Blessings
Sam Chan

The Familiarity Trap

“Nothing is wonderful when you get used to it." - Edgar Watson Howe

Autopilot kicks in when we allow what was once exciting and challenging to become boring or mundane. Because of familiarity, we tend to miss opportunities and fail to perform at our best.

A bomb could go through without being notice by the security official if they would look at the screen for a long duration. That is why security officials at the airport rotate their roles.

We need to aware the moment we are in autopilot because it is unhelpful when

• We want to do something better than we did it last time or
• There might be a better way of doing something that we are used to doing in the same way.

If you are experiencing autopilot in your life, it maybe time to look with fresh eyes. Do you agree?

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Daring Ideas with Burning Desire Wins

“Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“If you wish to win a man over to your ideas, first make him your friend.” - Abraham Lincoln


The following conversation may be able to illustrate this point:

Father: I want you to marry a girl of my choice.
Son: "I will choose my own bride!"
Father: "But the girl is Bill Gate's daughter."
Son: "Well, in that case...ok"

Next Father approaches Bill Gates.
Father: "I have a husband for your daughter."
Bill Gates: "But my daughter is too young to marry!"
Father: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."
Bill Gates: "Ah, in that case...ok"

Finally Father goes to see the president of the World Bank.
Father: "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."
President: "But I already have more vice-presidents than I need!"
Father: "But this young man is Bill Gate's son-in-law."
President: "Ah, in that case...ok"

Moral: Even If you have nothing, You can get Anything. But your attitude should be positive.

(Source: Internet)

“There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” - Napoleon Hill

“Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.”

What we need are ideas, burning desire and good moral as a guide. What do you think?

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ICE campaign

"Knowing who to call can make all the difference"

We all carry our mobile phones with names and numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) Campaign

The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" ( In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as "ICE."

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!

Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our mobile phones today!!! !

Please forward this. It won't take too many "forwards" before everybody will know about this It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest .

(Source: e-mail)

P/S:
If you support this idea, please create ICE number in your mobile phones and then post this on your blogs, digg this, e-mail this to all your friends or spread it in whatever manner you can think of.

Thank you.

The Greatest is Self-motivation

“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.” - Zig Ziglar

"Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly." - Stephen R. Covey

“You can motivate by fear. And you can motivate by reward. But both of these methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.” - Homer Rice

"When you know what you want,and you want it badly enough, you'll find a way to get it ." - Jim Rohn

Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. Do you agree?

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Long Lasting Relationships

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.” - Robert Benchley

Relationships whether friendship, marriage or relationship by birth are always an important part of life. Learn what makes them tick, why they sometimes go wrong, what one can do about it, and why they are so precious.

“Love lasts when the relationship comes first.”

"Love endures only when the lovers love many things together and not merely each other." - Walter Lippmann

Growth in a relationship should come from; doing things together, allowing things to happen, accepting them as is, and changing what you can. It involves sharing and caring.

"Assumptions are the termites of relationships." - Henry Winkler

What do you think are essential in building lasting relationships?

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Never-ending commitment

Studies have shown that a baby falls an average of 240 times before he learns how to walk. Funny thing is that when we become an adult, we call it quits when we fail just once or twice.

“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.” - Anthony Robbins

"In life, rejection is only a comma, failure a semi-colon. They are not full-stops!"

In order to follow your vision, you have to be committed. When you work toward what you really want, you are far more likely to achieve your goals.

Expect to win and you will win!

You won’t know your limits if you don’t keep trying.

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Renew your energy

"Goals help you channel your energy into action." - Les Brown

For every vacation, I always find my children very energetic at the start of the journey. However, on the way home, they will usually sleep in the car. I reckon one of the reasons was that the hope to reach the destination makes the difference in their level of energy.

“When you are in the valley, keep your goal firmly in view and you will get the renewed energy to continue the climb.” - Denis Waitley

"The key that unlocks energy is desire. It's also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited." - Earl Nightingale

To renew our energy, we have to write down what we truly want in our life. Moreover, we need to be able to see our goals in our minds eye and in our heart to begin to have a chance of realizing them.

Nothing happens until we plan and a good plans have goals and objectives.

Goals should be SMART:

• S - specific, significant, stretching
• M - measurable, meaningful, motivational
• A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented
• R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented
• T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable

Do you believe in goal setting?

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Happy New Year 2008

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

As a new year cascades forward with new beginnings....

May all of us be blessed with Happiness and Well being to last throughout the year

H ours of happy times with friends and family

A bundant time for relaxation

P rosperity

P lenty of love when you need it the most

Y outhful excitement at lifes simple pleasures

N ights of restful slumber

E verything you need

W ishing you love and light

Y ears and years of good health

E njoyment and mirth

A ll your tomorrows are bright

R emembrances of happy years!

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