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| Many times when we wanted to show our indifference or indetermination, we would say ‘Whatever!’, ‘Whatever…’, or ‘Whatever.’ A ‘whatever’ attitude may also reflect a mixture of feelings as a result of being disowned, denied, disapproved, rejected, ridiculed, or scorned, etc.
The 'whatever' attitude can be of good or bad. I believe most teachers hate to hear a student said ‘whatever’ every time after the instructions. This is not just a rude response, but also shows one’s ignorance toward life. This ‘whatever’ mode forms a barrier in gaining further improvement undoubtedly.
‘Whatever’ is probably followed by ‘I don’t care’ in most cases. When we say "I don’t care", we are not necessarily in a passive mode though, especially when somebody is trying to bully or ridicule us with words. A simple ‘whatever’ not only tells the bullies to back off, but also delivers a therapeutic effect to our strain.
There is an old song ‘Whatever will be, will be.' I learned this song when I was small but never quite understood it till I grew into middle age. I came to know that apart from ‘what we can do’ and ‘what we have done’, we actually have little control over our own prospects, since ‘the future is not ours to see’. So, ‘whatever will be, will be’ is a rather optimistic choice, it is like saying "whatever it brings, I will just take it."
Still, I think the best mentioned 'whatever' is in Philippians 4:8 “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”
Oh yes, whatever I do today, I will definitely commit myself to the Lord’s guidance.
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| To a studious person, knowledge may easily accumulate within years; to a shrewd person, tactics and strategies may develop after pitfalls. Yet, it is only to a person with good attitude that knowledge and strategies can be applied wisely, and this type of people will often admit the more he learns about life, the less he really knows.
A person with wisdom is probably quite intelligent and knowledgeable, but intelligence and knowledge won’t necessarily lead a person to wisdom. Like Einstein said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it.”
There are many people who haven’t received much education that show wisdom in living. They do not develop theory models like many scholars do, but they do know how to choose wise ways to live a fuller life. Interestingly, I think it somehow relates to one's attitude.
I believe we can choose to do anything with a good attitude. By selecting a good attitude, we can be kept from being too self-seeking which might lead to calamities. Besides, a good attitude may also rebuild our resiliency from past failures.
There have been many quotations about wisdom, yet I found Proverbs of the Bible probably covered most . After all, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” ~ Proverbs 9:10....of course, it requires a good attitude to know the Lord, too.
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| I showed this video to my classes last year when I was in Hong Kong. I’m glad RTHK produced this program to provoke many of our thoughts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwcunTryZp4
One of the reasons why I said so is, Hong Kong, being one of the most competitive cities in Asia, has twisted much the value of music education in the last few decades. While most everybody is on his/her way to pursue prodigies, techniques, phenomenal performances, competitions, awards, recognitions, and money made by the profession, etc., it always comes to my thoughts that do we really love music as music itself? Did we miss the real fun? Or is music just being a tool to exalt ourselves in a superficial way?
I daresay all musical trainings, lessons, techniques, performances, festivals, awards, and even brands names musical instruments are merely means to achieve the higher ends – good music. No matter what religions we embrace, one thing we can’t deny is good music is always so enjoyable. Or should we put it this way, that good music is one of the amazing creations from above to fulfill the expressions of human souls?
It is always a privilege to be able to play and participate in music related activities because the process and experience is often so gratifying. Funny that when we want to enjoy more, we will naturally want to put in more effort in learning, preparing, getting better instruments and accessories, as well as acquiring a higher technique when time goes by. From this point of view, various music festivals, concerts, and recitals provide us excellent platforms to express in no doubt.
It is a pity, therefore, to see so many people nowadays happen to put things the other way around. Is it because of the growing utilitarianism that the pragmatic and commercial value should weigh way beyond the aesthetic side of music learning/making? To me, this is something that goes against a higher purpose of human living…that our lives should really embody something more than winning human recognitions.
I still like music festivals and competitions, but definitely not the ways I liked some 15 years ago. Due to my faith to Christ, I believe God makes everything beautiful in His time. Just think about these:
How many keys are there on a piano?
How many notes can human hear audibly that are comfortable to the ears?
88? Not really that many, eh? Yet the number of beautiful pieces out there and yet coming are enormous. With all the unlimited possibilities, shall we say that music as an art itself is already a MIRACALOUS creation? Maybe that can explain why Christians like to worship and praise God in His house with music as a sacrifice.
Anyhow, isn’t it good that music can be enjoyed by everyone in different ways? We can choose to play or simply to amuse it, depending on our musical gifts. Yet like all other art forms, we will surely miss a lot of fun if we cannot see the inner beauty of it.
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| One Day at a Time Life is never easy, and it seems getting more and more difficult nowadays. While my nickname is “Queen of Worry”, I reckon that there is a ground for this - it is the fallen world that embodies human’s fallen nature, which has no assurance of what is so-called a “worry-free” zone, because problems and troubles exist till our last breath (and very likely still exist after that, too). As much as the Bible tells us not to worry because our Lord will take care of our need, it will only be part of our knowledge instead of part of our lives if we are not practicing this faith. Now then maybe I should remind myself of what I told the school kids the other day, “It’s always more difficult to form a good habit than to form a bad one. It often takes effort, determination, and perseverance to practice over and over again on something good, until it turns into a good habit and becomes part of our lives eventually.” So, if worrying is a bad habit that I need to get rid of, I guess I definitely need to practice so at once, disregard what realities that the world is bringing from time to time. Maybe I should also tell myself that I should not be greedy, and put it into practice just one day at a time. After all, this is as the Bible said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
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| What Happen To His Sheep In Winter? 
It's been snowing hard in West Michigan since the first snow in Nov last year. The great meltdown last week was a little confounded - looked like spring was here! I must admit that being a new Michigan resident, I was naive enough to hope that's the end of the snowing season.  Actually, no sooner after the January meltdown, tons of snow started to blow in with the Artic air, resulted in frequent school closings. This may sound absurd to some who live in the west coast or Asia. The snowy roads here are so slick that one can only drive at 30mph. Even so, there's still a threat to slide. I always consider those who choose the fast lane under the snowy weather adventurers, not mentioning those who constantly, aggressively, cut / squeeze into others' lanes. This style of driving maybe dazzling, but is also the cause of many accidents - ended up fallen into ditches or rolled over, etc. To me, the funny part is, even the adventurers have to stop for the red light (if not on the expressway), and while they are waiting, other vehicles will just catch up. So, really I don't see the point of speeding at all. I never like to drive in the snow, especially when there's freezing rain/snow sticking on the windshield. The windshield liquid and the wiper may help a bit, but it's nevertheless a frustrated thing when the windshield is murky while driving. The wisdom and protection from God is definitely essential in winter driving. That's why I often like to shout 'Hallelujah' when I reach the destination. Next time if you see a woman shouting 'Hallelujah' in the parking lot, that can be me.  | | |
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