I came across this story and found it very meaningful and touching, and so decided to share it here with fellow Kiasu Parents here.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult.  Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.  When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. 'We must do something about father,' said the son.  'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'

I first came across this young armless pianist in the show China's Got Talent 2010 and was deeply inspired by his unwavering determination and immense talent.

He lost both his arms in an accident at the tender age of 10. Watching him play the piano with his toes, many in the audience were moved to tears, including me. In an interview, he told the host of the China's Got Talent show that his life motto is this: "I can choose to either die as quickly as possible, or to live a brilliant life." Obviously he made the latter choice and not surprisingly, he was crowned the winner of China's Got Talent 2010.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see”..... Mark Twain

Kindness is one of the most admirable traits a person can have.  Though to many of us, kindness is a natural human instinct, and acts of kindness, including most of our thoughts just come naturally.  This however isn't true for everyone, because for some, being kind is a hard thing, especially if you grow up in or are constantly around the type of environment that doesn't really illuminate kindness.

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with up turned hat by his feet.  He held up a sign which said:

"I am blind, please help."

There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat.  He then took the sign, turned it around and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. More people were giving money to the blind boy.  That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.  The boy recognized his footsteps and asked,  "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?  What did you write?"

The man said,  "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."

I wrote : "Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot see it."

Brought my 8 years old son to take a bus to a mall a few stops away from our house.

Two of us were seated.  Son noted an inch worm crawling on my arm and alerted me (might have crawled / dropped onto me while waiting under the tree next to the bus stop).  I swept the worm gentle down to the floor (never to kill).

Son observing it inching itself forward in an interesting manner on the floor.

Son: Mum, what will happen to this creature?

Me: What do you think?

Son: Someone may accidentally step on it and kill it.

Me: Yah, I think so. Even if no one steps on it, it may also die because this bus is not its natural habitat.

Son: So poor thing.

Me: (pause for him to carry on)

Son: Can you give me a piece of paper?

Me: For?

Son: I want to pick it up and drop it on a plant.

Me: (trying to fish paper from my bag. Couldn't find any and gave him a name card of a supplier).

When Mother Nature is enraged,
there is no stopping her from lashing out at those around her.

The Earth is bleeding,
from the mass destruction where homes were wrecked and thousands of lives lost.

For those who survived,
they still have to live in the nightmare of losing their loved ones.

The world is weeping,
for those who didn't have a chance to run for their lives when calamity struck.

The old, the sick and the little ones
were buried or swept away before they could even cry out for help.

Yet amidst the chaos and suffering,
we saw heroic acts of rescue and extended hands of aid from all over the world.

Came across some messages that I hope can inspire u to be in a positive mental mode for 2011!

Fear of Failure

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3 foot wall. The animals will not jump if they can not see where their feet will fall.

Some humans are like this, not true risk takers. We need to break free from the toxic mental model and learn to take calculated risks!

Today is 1 January 2011 (1.1.11), perfect numbers for a new beginning of a new year. Looking back on the past one year, I marvel at how much my daughter has grown. She is now a bubbly, chatty and inquisitive 3-year-old who has a penchant for books and loves to ask "why" to almost anything she does not have an answer.

If there is anything I am most proud of in achieving in the last one year, it's seeing my sacrifices (in terms of my career, time and efforts) paid off in how my child has developed thus far. She is eloquent, bubbly, joyful and well-behaved most of the times. Of course there are the usual tantrums and occasional misbehaviour that is expected of a child her age, but generally she is a good-natured child with a big heart.