Bukit Timah, which literally means “tin hill” in Malay, is Singapore’s highest hill at 163.63 metres (537 ft.). It is also the highest point in Singapore according to Wikipedia. Composed mainly of granite, Bukit Timah Hill was once an active quarrying site in the mid-1900s but has since then become one of the popular nature reserves in Singapore.
I was there last week for a morning walk with a group of friends and had unintentionally left my footprint at the summit. Since we were in a nature reserve, I thought it was only naturally to walk barefooted and be connected to nature. It had been a long time since I last did a barefooted walk but nevertheless it was an enjoyable experience.
A morning walk in the goodness of nature was both refreshing and revitalising; followed by a simple and yet good breakfast. The goodness of life can be so simple and yet fulfilling to the heart and soul.
Take a break and take a walk in the goodness of nature and feel the positive energy of nature going through your body!
I am truly thankful and grateful for the foot that left the footprint!
If you happen to be in Singapore and want to take a morning walk in Bukit Timah Hill, you can take a look at the below information:
By Bus SBS service 170. TIBs services 67, 75, 171, 173, 184, 852 and 961.
Alight along Upper Bukit Timah Road, opposite Bukit Timah Shopping Centre and Beauty World Centre, or along Jalan Anak Bukit, opposite Courts furniture store, and walk to the end of Hindhede Drive.
By Car
Travelling from the city, follow the direction of Upper Bukit Timah Road towards Woodlands, make a u-turn just after the Courts furniture store and turn left into Hindhede Drive. Limited parking is available at the foothill of the reserve. To minimise our impact to the reserve, especially on weekends, you may like to take the public transport instead.
Very often, we may take for granted the simple things which we enjoy in our daily life until we may not be enjoying it the way they are. In this short film directed by Constantin Pilavios, it was mentioned in the film that, “… happiness is nothing more … than moments … small and invisible moments.” Moments … some of us may have taken for granted. What are the little things that we have enjoyed doing but have given up because of our busy schedules day in, day out?
Some of the Random things or simple pleasures I like:
A sunrise!
A bright sunny day.
A cooling breeze blowing in my face on a hot day when I am walking.
The singing and dancing of the leaves and branches to the wind.
Blue skies!
White and big fluffy clouds which remind me of cotton candy I had when I was young.
The dark clouds before the storm.
The smell of rain in the air and the peacefulness before the storm.
The sounds created by the rain falling on different things.
The raindrops falling down on puddles of water and the ripples.
The fresh smell of the air after the rain.
The droplets on the green after the rain.
Rainbow!
The green of the trees and grasses.
The flowers.
Going for my run.
The occasional snails I see when I go for run.
The wild mushrooms I see when I go for my run… it could be quite hard to spot them around my place.
The wonderful feeling after the run and sweating it out.
Singing while I am walking.
Watching people and observing them in the public transports.
Watching children playing, running, smiling, giggling and laughing.
Observing and act of random kindness.
Performing act of random kindness without expectation.
Making a different to the life of another.
Last but not least, spending quality time with family and friends!
And of course a sunset!
As you have noticed, I could probably go on and on with the list of things and simple pleasures which I like and enjoy doing; and which also make me happy! When we take the time out for the moments in life, we would discover the simple pleasures these moments bring to us.
Why not take out a piece of paper or make a post in your blog today and do this exercise with me? Write down as many as you want, the simple pleasures which you like and enjoy doing everyday …. and most importantly which also make you happy.
Photo by nbphotogfy
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That is a bold title I must say and yet all of us know the secret to happiness; it is how we apply the secret that our results vary from each other. Some are naturally happier and some work hard to be happy but never seem to be any happier. Most people want to be happy and why then are we not happy? We may be thinking right now, “How can we be happy? We have our family problems, health problems, relationship problems, financial problems etc the list just goes on and on.” Now, can I have a show of hand who wants to be happy?
Scientifically, happiness has been said to be related to the Serotonin level in us. “Of the approximately 40 million brain cells, most are influenced either directly or indirectly by Serotonin. This includes brain cells related to mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, and some social behavior,” according to Xing.com.
In so speaking, is Serotonin the answer to all our unhappiness? The answer may not be as straightforward since we cannot simply inject a dosage of Serotonin into the body. Fortunately, according to an article in PubMed Central, the author mentioned that the possible approaches to increasing Serotonin are exposing to bright light, exercise and through our diet. I would leave you to explore that further on your own while I go on to disclosing what I thought to be the secret of happiness that we all know.
I read an interesting article recently by Belinda and she mentioned, “Have you ever looked up quotes on happiness by great thinkers? If not, I recommend you don’t. It won’t make you happy. It might even depress you.” I tend to agree with her to a large extent as you can find numerous quotations on happiness. And who is right or who is wrong? It truly differs from person to person; what makes one happy may not work for another. It can certainly be confusing with so much information we have accessed to. What I would like to point out is for you to select what works for you and fuse it into your own system.
However confusing it may be, I found that most of the quotations on happiness, which I adopted for my personal usage, all point in the same direction:
“No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.” - Barbara de Angelis
“What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.” - Leo Buscaglia
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” - Mahatma Gandhi
It is all about YOU! It is the being we are seeing every time we look in the mirror. The secret of happiness is really no other than ourselves! The next question to ask ourselves is, “How can I be happy?” As indirect as it may seem, to be happy is simply choosing to be happy and making conscious choices in all areas of our daily life to be happy.
One may question, “How can I choose to be happy? The situation is not always under my control; I can’t control the weather, the outcome of event or people around me etc! You are right! There is no way we can always control the external factors around us. But we definitely can control the internal factor within us. The simplest thing we could all do each day when we wake up in the morning is to decide to have a happy day! I did this morning. How about you?
In a column written by Christopher Toh in the paper today, his colleague, who is also a father, said, “…time is a luxury that we don’t have because we’re too busy trying to make sure our children have the luxuries we never had.” Instead of saying that we don’t have the time for our children, it would be more accurate to say that we do not make time to be with them because of our busy schedule. However, I believe that most would want to make time for their children.
Most parents nowadays are facing this similar challenge and are guilty of not spending enough quality time with their children. In a highly competitive society like Singapore, a lot time both parents are working and their children are either left to the care of grandparents (who are the more fortunate one like my siblings and I) or domestic helper.
As much as I believe that it is important for parents to be working hard to provide for the family, it is equally important for parents to spend quality time with their children and to be there for them.
Reading the column reminds me of a meeting I had with a friend last year. While giving him a ride home, I sensed his weariness and asked him about it. He shared about his new appointment at work; he was given a role to manage projects and some junior staffs. With the new appointment and responsibility, he not only had to work late almost everyday to fulfill endless deadlines but also had to spend time to guide the junior staffs. Even at home, he often had to reply to time critical email; ignoring the email could hold up the whole production.
As a result of his new appointment, he was always tired and did not have the energy to spend time with his new born daughter. He told me the feeling sucked. It was clear that his top priority is his family but his work was keeping him from doing what is important to him. It was no wonder his positive energy was all drained and he appeared so tired, not only physically but also mentally. Good thing he realised what is his priority and making change.
I believe that most people realised the important to attain work-life balance but most are being thrown into the same situation as my friend. As what the columnist wrote, “The hard part of course, is putting realisation into practice.” A message from a fridge magnet given to the columnist, which I found very true, “This is how kids spell ‘love’ - ‘T.I.M.E’.” Children will not understand “…we’re too busy trying to make sure our children have the luxuries we never had.” To them, ‘love’ is us spending quality time with them and always being there for them.
We were only children once and so will our children be children once. When they grow up, the opportunity to read them books, bringing them out to the parks, taking them to the playground or, as apparently as in the case with the columnist’s son, just lying there next to him as he sleeps will be lost forever. We won’t get a second chance.
Photo by cema
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That is a bold title I must say and yet all of us know the secret to happiness; it is how we apply the secret that our results vary from each other. Some are naturally happier and some work hard to be happy but never seem to be any happier. Most people want to be happy and why then are we not happy? We may be thinking right now, “How can we be happy? We have our family problems, health problems, relationship problems, financial problems etc the list just goes on and on.” Now, can I have a show of hand who wants to be happy? 
In a column written by Christopher Toh in the paper today, his colleague, who is also a father, said, “…time is a luxury that we don’t have because we’re too busy trying to make sure our children have the luxuries we never had.” Instead of saying that we don’t have the time for our children, it would be more accurate to say that we do not make time to be with them because of our busy schedule. However, I believe that most would want to make time for their children.
