After I finished the last sentence in the previous paragraph, I went to put out the laundry to dry, took a seep of water from the refrigerator, had a piece of chocolate and took a toilet break before finally sitting down once again to write; I lacked the self-discipline to focus and concentrate on the writing.

Just with most things in life, often time we lack the self-discipline to see us through what we are hoping to do or achieve. One area where self-discipline is clearly important is in losing weight.

Some people are constantly looking for quick fix to their weight problem; they will jump at anything that gives them guaranteed weight lost in the shortest time. They may lose weight fast, but they will find the result short term especially if they do not change the way they live and the food they eat.

To me, I strongly believe that the best way of losing weight naturally is through changing our living habits and what we eat. Doing that will not only ensure keeping the ideal weight permanently (through continuous self-discipline), but will also give us the many health benefits that come with living right and eating right.

A friend’s colleague shared his experience going through the journey from 115 Kilograms to 56 Kilograms in around one year. Not only does he look fresher and younger, he has also inspired his wife and friends to follow in his lifestyle.

His journey of losing weight started from a trip with his daughter to the doctor for her check up. He playfully weighed himself on the weighing machine while his daughter was having the check up. The doctor saw his weight and made a remark, “If you maintain that balloon weight, you cannot see your grandchildren.”

That made him decide, “Enough is enough!” Not only that, he felt tired easily and his excessive weight made him feel like a walking balloon. In that moment of awakening, he made decisions to change his lifestyle and eating habits. To him, this is the one proven way to lose the excessive weight. “Seeing my kiddos help me stay disciplined.” He said.

How did he do it? He first calculated his Body Mass Index (BMI) and set the goal he wanted to achieve. Then he cut down on the amount of food intake as well as changing what he was eating (no junk food, no refined-Carbohydrate, less or no fried food). Eventually he becomes a Pescetarian. The second part is doing lots of Cardio-exercises from badminton to running to squash and just nature trekking sometimes. The trick is to do these Cardio-exercises regularly. He did it thrice a week.

In his own words, “There is only one way: in two parts to lose weight; eat right and exercise. And this is a lifelong thing.”

Another thing which probably contributed to his success in losing the excess weight were the moral supports from family, friends and colleagues. However, without him first deciding to lose the excess weight and then keeping it going through self-discipline, he would not have done it!

Most adults on the other hand have the ability, through learned experience, to differentiate people who are genuinely sincere and good from those who are not. This is one of the reasons, and a valid one, why parents find it necessary to protect baby from people who are not genuinely sincere and good.

In the process of growing up, the child will see, hear and pick up hatred we show to others along the way. We too had unconsciously learnt to hate from our parents and people around us; not that they wanted to teach us to hate on purpose, but through their words and actions, we imitated them until at such time that their words and actions become part of ours too. We eventually ‘pass’ these words and actions to our children. This is a vicious cycle that will stop only by consciously teaching our children to love people from the heart.

However, in order for us to be fitting to teach our children to love, we must first learn to love like them. Did I just contradict myself? It makes sense actually. We need to first learn to love people indiscriminately and with an open heart from them. Then we lead by example to love people indiscriminately and with an open heart. A challenging thing to do but so is anything worth fighting for.

Through conscious teaching of ourselves and especially our young ones to love, I believe that one day most of us will be loving people.

We are different and yet we are also similar to each other. We are all sons or daughters to our parents, fathers or mothers to our children, uncles or aunts to our nieces and nephews, brothers or sisters to our siblings and friends to our friends. You and I, we are just souls being housed in different bodies.

When we focus on the differences, we see the differences in colour and culture. When we focus on the similarities, we can look beyond the physical layer into the beauty of the soul – the essence of life.

This is a journey with lot of challenges, but one which we do not travel alone. And together we can do it! Let us join our hands together to take on this journey of peace where our children understand and respect each other difference. And they treat each other with loving kindness and compassion. We can positively influence our children through our actions.

While we were at the playground, this little creature (thanks to Amanda @ MooreBlogLife, I now know this is a Woodland Skipper) landed right in front of one of my nephews. My nephew started to huff and puff at it, like the big bad wolf in the three little pigs. No, it didn’t make any attempt to fly away at all. What a fearless creature, standing up to a creature so many times its size! I just had to take a shot of it with my Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot camera phone.

There are some limitations in using a camera phone to take photo. Go over to Amanda’s site to see her shot of the Woodland Skipper, her shot is so much clearer and you can see much more details of it. The power of a proper camera is truly amazing. My shot is nothing close to her photo.

Pretty soon all the other children gathered around it. I was kind of worry with the fate of the little creature. Fortunately, it knew just when to take flight.

There are times in life when we have to stand up fearlessly to challenges, like the little creature, and yet know when to ‘take flight.’ The challenge is knowing when to do which. Some of us are ever ready to give up when we hit walls and yet others just do not want to let go and move on. When we take time out to reflect in the quietness, our inner voice will reach out to us. We have to learn to listen and to trust that inner voice.