Urging to Improve Your Romance Life?

What do a man who went through two divorces and a woman who went through over 30 years of unfruitful relationships have to teach you about bringing those long lost romantic and loving moments back into your life?

• Learn about the different passages of your romance life and how to use them to become a better, more romantic and loving partner
  

• Why being too conscious about your relationship can break your love relationship rather than make it
  

• See why your fantasy of an ideal relationship can be the exact reason for your failing relationship
  

• Why hiding your true self and your emotional baggage from your romance partner can be devastating to your relationship
  

• Understand how quarrels can improve your relationship rather than break it

Click Here And Start Bringing Romance Back Into Your Life

Give Me The Evil Smile

This child has the potential to become a star of his generation. Lolx... ^^

What? Term Break Is Over!?

The past week was the NTU and NUS term break! Now as I was writing this post, this very short term break was coming to an end.

To me, this term break was surely god sent! It seemed so long since I last took a break. This timely term break prove to be a true breather for me. Phew... ....

For me, it was a time to relax, however for many, it seemed to be an opportunity to catch up on their academic studies and to complete any uncompleted projects. Undeniably, I also made use of the opportunity to study what had already been taught in school.

Yup, not revise but study. Revision is for those who attended the lectures and understand what the lecturer talked about. Study is to start from scratch and that is for me! ^^

This term break I managed to make some "accomplishments"

Monday: Relax, relax, relax...
Tuesday: Study CPE 409, help dear write SHE
Wednesday: Study CPE 426 and read up on the code
Thursday: Go gym, went to school to do CPE 409 project, study CPE 426,
Friday: Done CPE 426 lab 1 assignment and look through the code

And Saturday and Sunday is reserved for completing the CPE 409 project, to read and understand CPE 426 code and to learn the vocabulary for Malay...

Yup, kind of busy. Finally, after 6 months of industrial attachment, I am catching up on my studies and manage to overcome some of my inertia.

Hopefully, the rest of the 2 months is sufficient for me to catch up on all my studies, particularly my FYP! Sniff, sniff...

A Lesson Which Took Me Long Enough To Understand

Self love and self appreciation comes from the act of displeasing others.

Well, as rude as it may sound, this "ill-mannered"statement does stand. Especially when you are surrounded by the so-called "friends" or people who takes pleasure in leading you by your nose.

Having said so, who don't enjoys the feeling of leading others on when they have a chance to. I do not deny that sometimes I do get pleasure from it too.

It is just human nature to want to influence others to have others do something or behave in a certain way to their bidding.

Another reason is because the person who is being led enjoys the feeling of being told what to do. Such person needs others to validate him. And in order to achieve that, the fastest and easiest way is to do things which others want him to do, to be a person who others want to see.

What a pathetic life! And to think that I was living in such a life for the past decade or more. Always seeking for others' approval or validation. Who will not jump on the chance when they know they can manipulate you?

Thus, when you are out standing in a storm, don't blame the weather. It is your choice to stay away from such people or continue to be with them and get belittled by them.

Dare to be yourself is something most people fail to accomplish. Since young, when we were at home, we learnt to do to our parents' bidding. In school, we had to learn to obey our teachers. As times go by, saying "No" isn't something we are not capable of saying. After all, our opinions were never meant to be heard.

Children are to be seen and not to be heard. Eventually, when we go out into the corporate world, we again had to do what our bosses want us to do. In most cases, they are the ones who appraise you and determine your increment, bonus and your future in the company.

End result? We are always out to get others' approvals and validations. We learn to change ourselves to suit others in different circumstances. At the end of the day, we only go back home tired and burnt out.

In the past, I was so naive to think that when I do what others wanted to see, they will validate me. What a dumb thinking!

Tell me, will you validate a puppet in your hands? Well, it does act according what you want it to, doesn't it? So why are you not praising it for being a good puppet?

The reason is very simple, whether if you validate it or not does not matter for it will continue to do to your bidding.

It also makes sense that the lesser you praise it, the harder it will work to please you, right?

Are you a puppet in someone's eyes right now? If so, do you think it is time for you to break out of that role?

Majority of the people will like you for your strengths and only a handful is able to love you for your weaknesses, as who you truly are.

Give up on those who only like you for your strengths, for you know they cannot, will not and should not be your true friends. Making the mistake of getting a "puppet master" as a friend can be grievous to your self esteem.

True friends always point out what they think is good for you while "puppet masters" only force you to act in the way they want to see, whether you like it or not is not the problem.

When you don't know what to do with yourself, someone will always be happy to tell you.

Stop letting those "puppet masters" direct your life. You are the sole director of what you want to see in your life. Others are only the cast and you alone will determine who are the main leads.

Leave those "life manipulators" out of your life.

Actually to a certain extend, you also have to pity and feel sorry those "puppet masters" for it is only through manipulating others can they find purpose in their lives. What a pathetic bunch of low self esteem people.

And once again, it brings us back to the point, why seek the approval from someone who doesn't even approve of himself?

Question:
What is a blind mice leading another blind mice which is also leading another blind mice?

Answer:
Three blind mice!

Question:
And where will they go?

Answer:
The only place they are going is down!

News Spec and A New Racket... ...

The past week was such a happy week!

I finally got my new spectacles. The lenses of my old specs of mine was so badly scratched!! Now, after wearing the new spec, everything becomes so much clearer. Never did I know I was actually living in such a blurry world. Lolx...

Haiz, getting a new specs is good, however, knowing that my vision is getting from bad to worse is not that good news after all. So old already my vision is still detoriating, so sad.

Thinking of going for lasik. After all, the price of lasik isn't that expensive as compared to the past. But first thing first, let me get a job first!

Oh talking about my specs, the specs was designed by the vision empire. Wanted to post a pic of the design here, however, it seems that the webmaster only allows authorized people to view the designs.

Tell me if it is stupid or what. Damn dumb! Their eCatogules only allow their distributors and members to access. I really see no reason why they want to keep that area of the site private.


Following my new specs was my new racket... ... string! Wuahahahaha... Nah, no intention of buying any new rackets any sooner. Nowadays the price of a racket is so pricey. The one which I am looking at cost $279! That is almost double the price of my present specs le... So expensive.

Therefore instead of trying a new racket, I went to try a new string, its brand , Victor. Sama, sama la. Lolx...

Not a bad string. High replusion and has quite a nice hitting sound. The store attendant mentioned that it will be more durable than the Yonex string. Not sure about it. In any case, I always change my string before it snaps, so string durability isn't a big issue for me.

The rest of the day was to slack at home and to walk around. Actually wanted to watch movie, however there didn't seem to have any good movie to watch le. Quite sian...

Any recommendations? Anyone?

How Being A Road Bully Can Take Energy Away From You

Are you quite a short-tempered person? Are you finding it hard to control your anger when someone does something which just pissed you off on the road?

If so, you are not alone. Like many people out there, I too am very frustrated when someone cuts in front of me which giving ample signaling, or worse still without any signs of their intention. Think they are driving a F1 formula racing car here!?

And today, when talking to one of my badminton friends, one thing which he said really struck a bell in my head.

He mentioned that road rage is actually just a foot away from the brakes. Take some time to let the message sink into your head and ponder about the essence of it.

The fact is, if you were more willingly to step on the brakes of your car, there will little or no road rage to talk about.

Majority of our anger, irritations and frustrations all stem out from our unwillingness to step on the brakes! Frankly speaking, what does it takes to step on the brakes and let the vehicle in front of you pass? Not much effort, right?

However, on the other hand, if you don't want to take the small effort to make a small tap on your brakes, you are actually expanding more of your energy, negatively and destructively.

You may be thinking, "Why must I step on the brakes and let that idiot get in front of me when he drives so reckless!"

Well, the driving point here is not about what other drivers should or should not do which merits you taking the action to step on your brakes. I'm talking about what we should do, for our own sake and the sake of those who loves us.

You know particularly how dangerous it could be when we get into road rage. Even so, we still do that, especially for those hot-blooded youngsters like me.

Therefore, rather than concerning ourselves with what other should or should not do, why not we become more aware of what we should do to conserve our limited energy for the day on more useful and purposeful stuffs?

To speak the truth, if it is necessary for you to commute on the road daily, won't it just makes sense for you to take the necessary actions to manage your anger and frustrations you "receive" on the road.

Easier said than done? Totally agree! I will put two hands up in agreement of that. Nevertheless, it is still necessary. Why let others dictate how you should feel? Shouldn't you be the one in control of your emotions?

Do you think anger and frustration is something which you want to entertain everyday? I truly doubt so.

Do it not only for your own sake but also for the sake of your loved ones. Why make them worry unduly about your safety on the road?

Rather than entertaining those destructive thoughts, why don't you concern yourself with more constructive thoughts and ideas like how to change your life and the lives of your loved ones to the better?

Be more willingly to step on the brakes you will start to see what the small difference can do to your life. ^^

20 Secrets to Your Happiness

1. Return everything you borrow.

2. Stop Blaming other People.

3. Live within your means and within your seams.

4. Be Humble.

5. Listen more; talk less.

6. Everyday, do something nice and try not to get caught.

7. Strive for excellence, not perfection.

8. Be on Time.

9. Don’t criticize anyone for 24 hours.

10. Be kind to other people.

11. Be even kinder to unkind people.

12. Take time to be alone.

13. Admit it when you make a mistake.

14. Understand and accept that life isn’t always fair.

15. Let someone cut ahead of you in line.

16. Don’t Argue.

17. Know when to say something.

18. Know when to keep your mouth shut.

19. Don’t make Excuses.

20. Don’t sweat the small stuff

21. Indulge yourself in your favorite food once in a while

Eating just makes me happy... ^^"

Are You Neglecting Your Life? Or Parts of Them?

These past few days, I was listening to an audio on how to build great relationship with your love partner. Nope, not your sex partner I'm taking about here but your romance partner, though he/she can be the same person. ^^

Now if you are thinking, "Why in the hell would you want to listen to such audio?", the answer is actually very simple. Like many people out there, I want to become a better romance partner. Nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of.

The fact is everyone urge to be loved. However, how many of us are really a good lover to start with? Is it fair to ask others to do something which we cannot even achieve ourselves?

"The golden rule states "Do unto other what you want others to do unto you".

That is to say, if you expect something from another person, first offer what you wanted to him/her first.

Thus, if you are not able to deliver what you want, it gives you no right to demand that from other people, isn't it?

And my question here is, are you learning to become a better lover each day? Too often than not, we have put too much emphasis on only skills which can improve our productivity at work while neglecting other more important life skills which make us a better person as a whole. Are you guilty of that too?

No amount of success you achieved in an area of your life can make up for your failure in another. What you want to achieve is not successes in just a few areas of your life but in all areas of your life.

How many people when lying on their deathbed wished that they had spent more time in the office, working? Not one!!

And even having said so, are you currently taking actions to change that?

• What steps are you taking to ensure that you have a thriving relationship with your loved one?
  

• What habits do you want to change for the better?
  

• What are the words should you be saying more or less?
  

• Are you expected to carry out more concrete actions to display your love for the other party?
  

No man is perfect, so save yourself the time and effort from trying. Perfection is not what you want to go for in life, excellence is.

What you seek here is not to become a perfect partner but an improving one.

And if you are interested in knowing more, you may want to keep a lookout for the future posts to come. I will be posting more thoughts on what I have learnt from the audio course here.

Hopefully, they may be more some help to you too. ^^

An Eye Opening Performance

The video which I am going to show you later is certainly nothing short of specular. I thought the best gymnastics performance was shown during the Olympics!

Well, I don't know if you can call that gymnastic, nevertheless, their performance was definitely an eye opener for me.

Take some time to watch the short video below and be prepared to be awed by it.

Use Different Word to Get Different Results

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a 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. A lot 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." What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."

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Both signs were saying the same thing, however, each gets very different results.

Communication gurus will tell you that it is not what you say that is important, it is how you say it. How true!

"You don't have to shout to get your point across if you use the right words."
~Harvey Mackay~

Like anything else in this world, words are also not created equally. Some words possesses greater impact than others while others are more mild for a reason.

Not only do you use words in our daily communication with one another, you also employ them when your communicate with yourself, in your self talks.

That is to say, your choice of words do have a great impact on your well being and your relationships with others.

Two sentences may mean exactly the same thing. However, the variation of your pitch, tone and the choice of words which made up your sentence will affect greatly how well your message is received by the other party.

By the same token, the quality of your self talk is as important, if not, more important than when talking to others.

Studies have shown that on average, a person have thousands of thoughts going through his/her brain everyday. That is to say, the regular receiver of your messages is none other than yourself!

Notice how much self talk you actually indulge in everyday. In most cases, you will be talking more frequently to yourself than to others. Thus, if you are not choosing your words carefully, your well being may suffer as a result.

Start taking note of your self talk today. Are you including too many of the negative words inside them? "Cannot", "Should", "Must", "Need to", "Have to" etc may need to be revised accordingly.

Words have great influence over your mental and emotion health. When you are sad or angry, try downplaying those emotions.

Instead of using words like "furious" or "depressing", replace them with less impact words like "less cheerful" or "not so happy".

Another easy way is to add a word to downplay those words that bring about negative emotions within you. Examples like "slightly", "a bit", "kind of" etc.

Like in the story above, you are not lying to yourself. You are still expressing your anger, sadness or irritation, just in a more subtle and empowering manner.

Try it for yourself. You will be really surprised by results you can achieve just by making a simple tweak in your words.

Are You Truly Finishing Strong?

It is not what cards life dealt you; it is how you play the cards that is more important.

Everyone has their fair shares of mistakes, difficulties and failures in life. However, depending on one's perception of them, how they deal with their life challenges changes as well.

Those who view problems as they are rarely grow from their experiences. To them, other people or external circumstances will also be the reason why they are not able to achieve what they desire. For them, they are not in control of their lives, other people are.

Truly successful people never take others' criticisms to heart nor will they allow anything to stand in their way, even if it means that they are physically handicapped in some ways.

They live by the code, "I believe in me, and that means more than anything".

You are in control of your life, your self confidence, self esteem and self worth. Others can say what they want to dissuade you. However, as long as you believe in yourself, it is more important than anything else.

Below is one very invigorating short movie about finishing strong.

Remember, although you may not be able to finish first in every race. However, the very least you can do is to finish strong, to fight till the end of all your races.

http://www.TheFinishStrongMovie.com/Preview/

I have always been a fan of MTVs. Sometimes, the intention of the songs are much better delivered to the listeners through the combination of videos and audios.

However, we all know that not all MTVs are filmed equally. Some are created with the intenetion of delivering the underlying meaning of the songs to the audience while others may look quite incoherent with what the songs really signify.

While browsing YouTube.com, I came across a few halirious MTVs. The lyrics of the songs have been changed and frankly speaking, they don't sound all that bad as I had expected them to be. ^^

Now, no hard feelings here. I am not degrading any songs, song writers, singers or anyone here. These vidoes are placed here for the sake of putting some long lost laughters back into the modern people nowadays.

Mad TV: Britney Spears parody - "Lick My Baby Back Behind"



James Blunt- You're Beautiful- Mad Tv

What Happens to The Hygiene In Singapore MacDonalds?

Recently, my friend sent me a shocking, if not life threatening email about her "interesting findings" of the food she bought from MacDonald in Singapore.

When I read her email, I find it very appalling. And rather listening to me complain, why not you hear about it from her yourself:

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I went to the outlet at Compasspoint on 3 Sep 08 at about 10pm. I ordered 2 Double Cheeseburger and a 9 Pcs Chicken Nuggets. After which I asked for Curry Sauce and Chilli Sauce to take away.

When i got home, which was a short 2 mins ride, TO MY HORROR, when i opened the packet of curry sauce, i was greeted with a "smell" and there were many tiny maggots crawling inside with a portion of the curry sauce which have turned black and harden and possibly rotting.

I wrote in to feedback to Macdonalds the same night, and this morning (4 Sep) i had a call from a Business Manager apologising for this encounter, the first thing she asked was if i had kept the packet of curry sauce! The maggots were crawling out, obviously i had it disposed as soon as i took the photos, and in our conversation she also mentioned that this is not isolated to the outlet at Compasspoint! It was island wide as it could be a supplier problem. I think it is ridiculous! She also told me there were a few complaints already.

Shouldn't they stop giving out curry sauce while pending investigation? It was "fortunate" for me that the rotting and maggots were visible. For those packets which have not turned black may have maggots swimming in the sauce which is not known to the consumer. I asked her if they do check the expiry date of the sauces, she mentioned that the turnover for curry sauce is very high thus unlikely it would hit past the expiry date. Then my question is, if it is not even past its expiry date and it is rotting with maggots, what's going on???

This just serves as a warning to fellow Macdonalds consumers to watch out before dipping your food into curry sauce, you may not know what is swimming and growing in there...

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By the way, the email was not something that was circulated around where even the sender is unknown. It was a real "tragedy" experience by my friend.

Along with the email came some pictures. Just click on the pictures of enlarge them.





Disgusting, isn't it?

And just as I was wondering what had happened to Singapore hygiene, there was another concerning news about rats falling from the ceilings of the MacDonald in Tampines. How coincidence!!

You can get the full story here at http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg

Now, will there be any "more interesting" events to come from our MacDonald here... Erm...

And if there are any of such events, please share it with me. (I'm running out of what to blog here. Lolx... just joking. There are always one thousand and one thing to blog about!)

Just comment here or send it to support[at]zachkong.com if you have any. Remember to replace the [at] with "@" without the quotes. To prevent spams!

I Just Hate Spam Mails!

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee

Below is one very inspiring story shared with me by my gf, Yessy. Like her, I am always looking for inspiring stories that serve to motivate, inspire and mature us all.

Take some time to read the story and get inspired by it.

And if you have any stories you want to share with us all, please feel free to post them in the comment section. If not, you can also email them to me at support[at]zachkong.com. Just replace the [at] with @.

Please remember to put down your name and/or website/blog link so that the readers of this blog will know who the contributor is and know who to thank for. ^^

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A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. Most importantly, know that you cannot change people, but you can change the way you handle adversity...which just might encourage others to strive for change.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you; to those who have touched your life in one way or an other; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.

May we all be COFFEE!!!
Author Unknown

Who Gives Meaning to Your Life?

An old man sat outside the walls of a great city. When travelers approached, they would ask the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?" The old man would answer, "What kind of people live in the place where you came from?" If the travelers answered, "Only bad people live in the place where we came from," the old man would reply, "Continue on; you will find only bad people here."

But if the travelers answered, "Good people live in the place where we came from," then the old man would say, "Enter, for here too, you will find only good people."

A Yiddish Folk Tale

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Every events, situations, people or incidents are as they are. They are neither positive or negative. It is us humans which give the things, events or situations around us their meaning.

Think about it, during a hot, scorching day, a gust of wind is often welcomed. However, during a cold day when you are shivering, a soft breeze prove to be very "fatal" to you.

And if you see it, a wind is a wind, nothing more than that.

It is you who gives life its meaning. Depending on your mood, belief, principles and values the meanings of events around you change accordingly.

What you perceived through your 5 senses are not the truth of the real world, though it may look real to you. And expanding on that, everyone will have within them the "truth" according to their:

• Past experiences
• Emotions at the moment
• Belief system which they build up since young
  
• Principles
• Values

The world which you looked at is not the real world which is out there. You are in fact looking at the world through a pair of tinted, invisible glasses. And due to the different pairs of glasses each and everyone has, we will arrive at different conclusion for the same, exact issue.

For example, when you wear a pair spectacle with yellow tinted lenses and I wear the same exact spectacle but with blue lenses, we will end up seeing the world with two different perspective.

A piece of white paper will appear to be of different colors due to the tinted lenses we had in front of our eyes. So, who is right and who is wrong? Neither of us are! Quite contrary, we are neither right or wrong.

Our past experiences, value and belief systems determine how we want to view the world around us. And until when we have the desire to want to view the world differently, we will always see the world as what we want them to be.

Remember, it is you who give life its meaning. Thus, in order to change the outcomes of the events, people or situations around you, you will have to change the meaning you give to them.

Just a simple alteration of the meaning you give to them, you will start to see life in a total new light.

A Personality Test For You

Alright, not much introduction needed here. Just a personality test for your leisure viewing. If you are curious about the kind of personality you have, you may want to check out this power point slides.

Just right click on this link and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" according to the type of web browsers you use.

Requirement: You will need Microsoft Office PowerPoint or equivalent software to run the file.

Click Here To Download Your Personality Test For Now!

The Power Of Believing

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, 'Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen.'

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, 'Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one.' Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave. 'Hah, he thought, 'What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.'

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

'Lord, forgive me,' prayed the young man. 'I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall.'

We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget what God can work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. And remember with God, a mere spider's web becomes a brick wall of protection.

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Often we only want to see the things we want. However, if you look at life closely, it is not the things you want that will often be given to you. Instead, it is the things you need!

There is one such movie, Evan Almighty which really caught my attention. Not the story line nor the acting skills of the actors in the movie, rather, there was a very important lesson taught in the movie which stayed with me till now.

When you pray to God for something, do you really expect the things you pray to be given to you as it is? Most likely not.

More often than not, rather than the physical things, what is being presented to you are opportunities.

Opportunities for you to grow emotionally, mentally and in other areas of your life in order to prepare you for your gifts you prayed for. However, instead of viewing them as opportunities, many people have mistaken them as problems in their lives.

Instead of viewing them as opportunities to get or become what they want, they are often seen as problems to be detested or avoided.

Every situations or events are actually opportunities for you to learn, grow and mature. In fact, "problems" are just things you must overcome in order to reach your goals.

You get feedback when solving those "problems" and using the feedback, you change your strategies accordingly and try again.

If you have yet to know, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results. Thus, in order to change your life and the lives of others to the better, you'll need to know how to do things the faster, better and easier way.

And that can only be achieved by preparing yourself to meet any challenges and opportunities that come your way.

Luck always favors the prepared and motivated ones. So, are you one of them?