Michael Jackson - Free and At Peace

Michael Jackson is dead.

Died in the prime of his life, like many other great talents that the world have seen - icons like Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and many others.

I was never an MJ fan. I have never bought a single album of his.

Sure, I have heard his songs, which were played ad nauseam in the airwaves, shopping malls and at parties when his albums were released in the great 80's. I have watched his specials, concerts and performances in various award shows shown on the TV.

But yet, I was not his fan.

Why?

Because I just did not enjoy his songs and his singing. It is as simple as that.

And yet I DID respect him for the great talent that he was blessed with. The talent to reach out to touch people with his songs, his voice and his performances. The magic that he brings to his fervent fans.

I did recognize the greatness that the Universe has put on his shoulder. And I did appreciate the tremendous achievements that he had accomplished since he was a young kid.

Yes, he was truly blessed with a great talent.

However, every blessing is a double-edged sword. With great talents comes great responsibilities.

The responsibilities to share the talents generously. The burden to change the world for the better. The duty to live beyond himself.

Sadly, MJ did not developed the wisdom to do that.

With the successes that he had, he was consumed by the fame, the adoration and the wealth.

Despite all these, I doubt that MJ was ever truly happy.

He sought escape from the pedestal that his fans had put him on by getting addicted to drugs, addicted to the adorations that strokes his ego and addicted to all the material things that money could buy.

He did not have the opportunity to learn that all these will not bring him true happiness. All these will not last - not the fame, the successes and the adoration.

True happiness only comes from within.

Within is the stillness that would have told him about his calling and how he could have served the Universe to make millions of lives improve for the better.

In trying to escape reality, he tried to create his own perfect world. He built Neverland, filled it with toys and imaginative worlds. He surrounded himself with the innocence of kids. He spent a fortune on numerous plastic surgeries to change his face and the image that he saw in the mirror.

Yet, he could not have outrun the emptiness that he felt within his soul. He could not escape the painful Present.

Regretably MJ did not develope the wisdom to know that everything is transient.

He did not have the insights to know the good he could have done with his fame and fortune. He did not have the blessings of families and friends who could have given him good advices that could have grounded him to the Now.

Now MJ is dead.

And even in death, there are fights over his children, his will and his legacy.

In death, he has achieved the status of a legend, becoming an icon of our times.

MJ, wherever you are, I wish you peace and hope that you are now in a happier place. May you find the freedom, the happiness and the wisdom that you were seeking when you were here on earth.

Be well, be happy and be at peace...

Being In The Now

It is so normal for us to be preoccupied with the past and be worried about the future.

In living in the past, we refuse to let go of past experiences, regrets and what-ifs. This too is a type of prison - a prison of the mind that prevents us from living in the present and moving forward.

In worrying about the future, we live in fear and apprehension about what-will-be. There is guilt of what we should be doing, the regret of not doing what we have to do and therefore, miss out on the now.

Hey, please wake up!!

The past is just made up of dead moments piled into our heads.

And when we worry, we neglect the now and all its possibilities. The future is what will come soon enough - it is made up of all the now happening. If we are mindful of what is happening today, the future will manifest itself soon enough.

Be kind to your yourself. Be kind to the now. Be here in the moment. And the moment will stay with you.

Being in the Now is the greatest happiness that you can give yourself. There are no guilt and no worry. We become alive - we are in the reality of the present.

So, be here now.... and be happy...

Energy Vampire

I have a BFF that I love to death.

We have known each other for many years and got along very well. We have shared a lot of our lives - the ups, the downs, the joys and the sorrows.

However, whenever I spent time with her, I felt drained and very tired. Even if I had spent less than an hour with her, doing nothing but just talking over coffee, I still felt that way.

I had always wondered why I felt this way when I am around her.

Over time, as I become wiser, I realized that there are certain people who brings very good energy with them. When you are around these people, you felt very alive, energetic and a lightness. You just enjoyed your time with them.

And there are people like my friend, whom you feel bad after spending time with them.

Why is that so?

I discovered that these people are actually "Energy Vampires". When you are around them, they literally drained your energy and you end up feeling very tired, depressed, down or melancholy.

I have observed that these "Energy Vampires" share some characteristics : -

• They are generally very self-absorbed individuals that only cared about themselves.
• They also think that their needs and priorities are more important than yours.
• Every incident or events that happened in their lives are filled with dramas.
• And they are quite deluded, in the sense that they do not learn the lessons that the Universe is teaching them and as a consequence, they make the same mistakes again and again.
• They are also not sensitive to the people around them.

When I realized these, I developed a stategy to only meet my friend when I am feeling good.

On those days when I am stressed or not feeling good, I tried to avoid meeting her. I would make some excuses to reschedule our appointment to another day.

When I meet her, I always picture a bright light surrounding me.

I maintain an aura of impenetrable energy around me to ensure that her negative energy does not seep into my being. And with that, I am able to interact with her and not feel drained at the end of the encounter.

You may be asking : - Why not just avoid her altogether?

Well, some times, life gives you the people who challenges you, who teaches you patience and help you to cultivate the path to enlightenment and wisdom.

And therefore, I still keep in touch with her, sharing my wisdom and learnings so that she can become aware about her own dramas and move forward to better experiences.

Everything Is About Feelings

"The Best And Most Beautiful Things In The World

Cannot Be Seen Or Even Touched.

They Must Be Felt With The Heart."

Helen Keller

These days, we live in a mindless way.

We have our goals and objectives to meet. We set our schedules and a list of things to do for the day and results that we have to accomplish. We rush through the day.

In doing so, we forget the rhythm of life. We let the passing seasons go by without really appreciating the beauty and the transient state of time.

Finding one's rhythm is difficult to do amidst all the pressures and expectations from the world outside.

We work too hard, we force things to go according to our plan.

Perhaps, it would be better to find the flow of life. Find the rhythm that fits you.

Find your life flowing in a seamless harmony around you. Be spontateous, powerful and present.

Feel it - the beauty, the resonance and every aspects of life.

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A Beautiful View From Above

Sorry that I have not been posting much as I was in Australia for 2 weeks.

On my way back, I looked outside the plane window and saw this beautiful sight.

It really makes you realize that only the Almighty can make such a phenomenon of clouds all lined up in straight lines.

Looking at the clouds, you also know that the planet earth is a very beautiful place, that is fragile and imperiled by our actions.