Expect The Best!

Expect only the best!

What seemed difficult today,
may be manageable tomorrow.

Take each obstacle as a challenge
Trust yourself and be strong
Belief in your own potentials
Strive a little harder and always do your best
Keep on believing in your dreams

Always remember that no matter how things turn out,
you can make the best of them! =)

Picture resembles GuiLin LiJiang Waterfall Hotel ~ listed in the Guiness Book of Records, waterfall is 45 meters high, 72 meters wide at the top and 75 meters at the bottom.

New Moon (初一）

Yesterday marked the New Moon of 7th month in Lunar calendar. I always have the thought of the presence of a New Moon brings negative energy. As the "yin" energy is at its peak, individual (especially the women) will be emotional & often suffers from depression! Thus, there comes the believe of being vegetarian every New Moon to ward off the negative "qi".
Well, actually based on Astrological studies, the New Moon (occurs when the sun & moon are in conjunction, occupying the same part of the sky from the viewpoint of Earth) is the time for new beginnings. This signifies the best time to plant your seeds for transformations - such as growing energy, newness, rejuvenation, growth, renewal and hope. It is a good point to make changes in your life too, for instance ending bad habits or relationships.

On a practical side, this is the time to start a new venture, initiate new business contacts, start an advertising campaign and visualize where you are headed both spiritually and emotionally.

According to studies, the energy of the moon is what guides us and is the directive force in living our true path. Working with the cycles of the moon allows us to position our creative forces in an almost serendipitous way. When working with moon energy, we draw in the energy of being in the “right” place at the “right” time.
The energy of the moon itself, also carries intuitive perception. Nowadays, intuitive perception is being used to fine-tune our life changes that we are all experiencing on the planet. Psychic and intuitive awareness are now being used to assist us in our life changes and transformations on a much deeper, internal level.

In short, whenever it's a New Moon phase, you may practice the below steps:

• Initiate the changes or transformations for yourself
• Allow your logical minds to focus on your life changes
• Welcome the development of new habit or approach in you (with consistent focus)
• Feel the changes taking place in you & acknowledge them
  
• Your logical minds remind you that there was an intent to change
  
• Voila! The new habit or approach begin to anchor its essence into your everyday normal life
  

Working with the cycles of the moon can be tremendously empowering and remove a lot of energetic resistance to manifesting your desires. Go out tonight and sing to the moon! She is simply sitting there, waiting to pour her golden light onto you. =)

Believe It or Not?

"Don't stay out till late night." Be extra careful when you are driving late night." Don't go for water activities if they are not necessary." - these are the few reminders from my mum lately as the lunar 7th month is approaching. Being grown-up in a typical & reserved family, I was warned to be extra cautious during the 7th month where the "Hungry Ghost" festival is celebrated among the Chinese.

Well, recalling these warnings, are they just merely indications to us so that we will be safe & sound? Or are they solely beliefs, superstitions in our culture?

• "Be extra careful when driving out late night" - aren't we supposed to practice this when we are on the road all the time?
  
• "Avoid water sports or activities during the 7th month" - what is the reasoning behind this? Lunar 7th month is also the monsoon in east coast, some of the islands are even closed for public use.
  
• "Keep the sun-dried clothes before sunset." - to avoid the 'beings' from borrowing them. This is what I was told. Why would one leave their clothes out when there is no sun?
• "When you smell the fragrance of Jasmine flowers, say your prayers!" - this indicates the presence of the 'beings'. It could be a passerby who adores Jasmine immensely?
  
• "Wash your legs before going to bed." - else the 'beings' will accompany you to bed & you'll have sleepless & restless night. Err...the elders want the bedsheets to be clean & last slightly longer?

There are plenty more dogmas that I've heard of. Am I supposed to adhere to each & every one of them? Hmmm...sometimes we have to act according to rationality rather than blindly following these ideologies passed from generations to generations.
However, sometimes there are phenomenons that took place where no one could explain, even science could not identify the cause. So, what could they be afterall? It's an individualistic perception, whether to believe it or not.

Needless to say, knowing me, I do hold on to the beliefs & myths. I do learn a lot from these beliefs & of course I have also seen the unexplained extraordinary scenes. =)

Superstitions...

Yesterday marked the longest total solar eclipse in 21st century. It lasted as much as 6 minutes and 39 seconds in some parts of Asia. This phenomenal is visible only in Asia this time around. Millions grabbed the once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness the phenomenon - where the moon moves directly in between the sun & earth, covering it completely to cast a shadow on earth.

As a number of excited viewers all set with gears (e.g. binocular, sunglasses), waited patiently & cheered when the eclipse took place, there were many who totally stayed away from the outdoor. In India, there was a special trip organized where a travel agent chartered a flight to fly a handful of enthusiastic passengers at the specific time to view the eclipse up close. Of course the fare was charged at a premium rate.
However, there were believers who stayed indoor throughout the sun eclipse, as they believed the occurrence of this eclipse emits negative energy as well as brings disasters to the world. There's a saying that phenomenon of the sun eclipse depicts a dragon & demon eating up the sun - taking away all the good vibes from the country. In eastern country, the eclipse depicts a death of an emperor. Some astrologers predicted that this eclipse will bring war.

There was a pregnant lady being told (by her elders) to stay in her room, curtained all the windows & chant prayers to protect her baby during the sun eclipse. They believed the sunlight would harm her baby - resulting the baby to deform, having unusual birthmark & premature birth.
A local well-known astrologist advised the people to fast during the sun eclipse (local time 8 - 10.30am) to collect more merits. It is believed that during these hours, the energy on earth are extremely low & negative. Thus, by fasting it could help to improve one's luck.
It was also stated that viewers will be in bad luck for 20 years if they managed to catch a glimpse of the eclipse!!

How true are the above statements?? Is it a belief in different cultures or ethnicity or is it purely a superstition?? Of course for myself, well-noted for being superstitious, stepped in to workplace before 8 & fast for that 2.5 hours. =) Luck improved?? We will see ;)