The road less travelled

Around the World in 80 days was a special favourite book of mine simply because I love to travel and Jules Verne was able to describe the sights and sounds so intricately that I was caught up in it. It's one of the reasons why I love to travel.

The world has so much to offer but I've seen so little of it. Yet, I have been privileged enough to see the beauty of Europe in Germany and Denmark, Asia in Malaysia (since this is where I reside :P), Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand and the Oceanic in New Zealand. Many will wonder why I visited Germany and Denmark instead of the more famous countries like France, Italy, Holland and England. Well, I like to take the road less travelled where I can. Denmark and Germany boasts beautiful old buildings and structures and a history so steep that it fascinates me. And Denmark has the best hot chocolate with marshmallows, in my opinion.

It will probably surprise many who know me when I mention the word History. It was a well known fact that  History was not my favourite subject back in school but that was simply because we were only taught the history of our own country year in year out (every year is a repetition of the previous year with slightly more details thrown in) and the teachers taught by reading from the teaching materials. So, how interesting can that get?

In this age of technology, the world has opened its doors for me. Google has made it easy for me to learn history through images, write ups and best of all, from the comfort of my own time and leisure. Now, I study history for the simple reason of wanting to learn, not just to pass an exam. And I realise just how interesting it becomes.

Now, if only I can apply this same thought when I hit my Law books tonight. Corporate Law is so dry. Yawn...

Patience, patience

Patience is a virtue. It is also one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). And it's something that I really need to work on. As I grow older, I find that my patience level is diminishing and that's not a good sign. The King James version states patience as long suffering and that has caused me to ponder anew the extent of being patient. Patience means that we have to suffer and suffer long too! Wow!

I lost my patience with my daughter twice in just 2 weeks. She's at a stage where she likes to dilly dally when getting things done. Morning is not my best time of the day (and I think it's not hers too!) and it is when my patience level is close to zero. So any dilly dallying at this time of day really gets on my nerves. And the counting to ten before shouting really doesn't work when said daughter doesn't get moving after ten. So now, I'm learning to resort to prayer and getting up earlier so that the dilly dallying can be factored in. One small step at a time as I learn to be patient.

It's also just struck me that of the nine fruits of the Spirit, love is the underlying factor if we want to be able to exercise these fruits. If we love, then we can be kind, gentle, faithful, patient, good and self-controlled and we can attain joy and peace! Well, in my opinion that is what it means. So, then I must first learn to really love. Not just the superficial kind of love but to love with an everlasting love, as Jesus loved, because it will see us through the obstacles life throws at us.