I saw this the other day while my associates and I were looking for some plants to add ‘colours’ to our plain looking office. I was elated to see the little ladybird and immediately took out my Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot camera phone to take a few shots; the few shots turned out pretty decent. It sure is good to have a camera with us always - we never know what surprises we will get in life.

Simple thing like this makes me happy. When we learn how to appreciate life, it is easy to be happy with everything and anything. Life’s goodness is in abundance all around us. I appreciate and am grateful for all these goodness; be it the blessings that came along the way or be it the challenges that came my way.

It has been challenging for the past few weeks with lots of brick walls to be cleared. Brick walls which seemed impossible to break down initially all came down eventually. Just as Randy Pausch said, “Brick walls are there for a reason…” They are there to test how much we wanted what we want. In his own words, “… The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” The good news is, the greater the brick wall, the bigger the opportunity for growth.

It was an amazing experience to see how each challenge eventually cleared and the limiting belief which I had of myself broke down. It was as if the Universe conspired to make things happened; all issues were ironed out with the assistance of family, friends etc around us. A simple realisation, “When we truly believe and hold the faith strongly that all will work out great, the Universe will respond in the most magical way.” This is the law of attraction.

However, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that all we need to do are to believe and have the faith that all will go well. We need to take action to make things happen too!

My journey started on Tuesday, 3 August 2010 when I left home at around 3pm with a simple backpack (with clothes and personal stuffs that are supposed to last me at least 3 months) and a laptop. Just before leaving the house, it started to drizzle all of the sudden, typical weather of Singapore where the rain could
come and go as it pleases. The drizzled lasted for a mere 10 minutes and I started my 7 minutes walk to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station. It was mentally a long walk to the station with the weight of the backpack weighing down on me. The hotness and humid of the weather were making it much worse
and by the time I was at the station, I was already sweating like a pig. Guess what? The train chose the ‘right’ time to be late; I waited for more than 15 minutes and continued to sweat like a pig. Eventually the train came and that ended one part of the journey.

The next part of the journey consisted of a 5 hours coach ride to Kuala Lumpur. I was a little anxious since it was my first coach ride to Malaysia and there were a lot of uncertainties. I was there much earlier and waiting, alone, for the coach to arrive did not make the waiting any easier. And yet there was this element of excitement of the ride ahead; I was looking forward to the long ride. It turned out to be a pleasant ride; I made a new friend on the coach and I managed to catch the Blind Side which I thought was a pretty good movie. A lot of times we just have to take the journey. Worrying is normal but futile. We might as well enjoy it since we have to do it. It may not be as bad as what we are thinking.

All the rides were just the side dishes. The real journey has started for me. Till this point of time, I have met a few challenges … some losses and confusions amidst the journey. However, I kept telling myself … this is the greatest opportunity for me to grow. As I pass each challenge, I am a better person. As Carl Jung said, "The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown." It might seem unsolvable initially, but as we calm our mind and focus on seeking the solution and have faith, the clouds eventually disperse.

As I proceed in this challenging journey ahead, I am also excited and happy of the person I am becoming.

According to Power Over Cervical Cancer (POCC), “Cervical Cancer is the 2nd most common female cancer worldwide with 500,000 women diagnosed every year!” In Singapore, about 200 women are detected with cervical cancer and about 100 die from the disease every year, according to Health Promotion Board of Singapore. According to the American Cancer Society estimates for cervical cancer in the United States for 2010, “there would be about 12,200 new cases of invasive cervical and about 4,210 will die from cervical cancer.” It can happen to any women around us!

I believe each and everyone of us can play a vital role in bringing down the numbers by sharing information of cervical cancer with family, friends, associates, colleagues and, as in my case, to strangers as what I am doing through this post.

Cervical cancer is caused by several types of a virus called human papillomaviruses (HPV), which is normally spread through sexual activity. “Most women bodies are able to fight HPV infection. But sometimes the virus leads to cancer,” according to National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH also states, “Cervical cancer may not cause any symptoms at first, but later, you may have pelvic pain or bleeding from the vagina.” According to the HPB of Singapore, signs or symptoms of cervical cancer may include:

Unusual or foul-smelling discharge from the vagina

Blood spots or light bleeding when you are not having your period or after menopause

Bleeding or pain during sex

And HPB of Singapore also mentioned that it is possible to have cervical cancer even if you do not experience any of these signs or symptoms.

Who are at risk? According to the HPB FAQ section for cervical cancer,

All women aged between 25 and 69 who:

Ever had sex

Had multiple sexual partners

Had sexually transmitted infections (STI) e.g. genital warts, genital herpes and HPV infection

Smoke

As the saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure!” A woman’s risk of developing cervical cancer can be reduced by having regular pap smears/tests which is an early detection screening program. According to the American Cancer Society,

“Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women. Then, between 1955 and 1992, the cervical cancer death rate declined by almost 70%. The main reason for this change was the increased use of the Pap test. This screening procedure can find changes in the cervix before cancer develops. It can also find cervical cancer early — in its most curable stage.“

Although HPB of Singapore states in their FAQ section that pap smears should be done every 3 years, two of the most important women in my life, my mother and sister, are having their pap smears done almost on a yearly basis. Are the important women in your life having their pap smears done regularly already? Have you done yours?

Regardless of where you are in the world, together, we can empower the important and special women in our life over cervical cancer! Just simply by sharing information on cervical cancer, We Have the Power to Save Lives! You can find out more on how to reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer from the website of POCC.

Somehow that one quotation touched me deeply and within an hour of reading it, I had shared it in my Facebook’s profile, with groups and friends. If there is a way to reach out to all people in the world, I would be doing it happily. Such a simple and direct thought, yet it can truly benefit us.

Gratitude is a positive thought that can empower the mind. In good times, it keeps us in check and remind us to share our blessings by giving unconditionally, without expectation to people around us and to the less fortunate. In bad times, Gratitude is probably the next best companion, besides support from family and friends.

In fact, there would be times when even our family and friends might not be there to root for us. However, like a loyal servant, Gratitude is always there; it is patiently waiting for us to summon it and ever ready to serve us. It works with us and give us the strength to get back on our feet during bad times. When life hits us with bricks on the head, it gives us the faith to move on and positively change our perspective of the situation.

I am consciously reminding myself to count my blessings especially when times are bad (I should be doing it even in good times), so that I can instantly re-frame my mind to be grateful for what is happening and to learn from the situation; sometimes it can be effortless but at times it can be a real challenge.

But like muscles in our body, which we need to work out regularly to make them stronger, we also need to regularly work out on counting the blessings; the more we do it, the better we get at tapping on the positive power of Gratitude.

Some of us will question, “How could one be grateful for the natural calamity which happened to one? The lost of loved ones, the lost of properties, the pain and suffering one went through!” However, we had witnessed how some of these strong individuals had re-bounced instantly, put asides their own lost and miseries, to reach out to others. I couldn’t hope to speak or know what was at the back of their mind, but I believe the feeling of Gratitude was one of the inner strengths within them.

However, we have very often heard from many who had near death experience to find new meaning in life and they become greater beings. Had you personally fought with cancer or knew of someone around you who did and triumphed over it? What was going through your mind? I couldn’t hope to speak anyone’s mind too but I believe there was definitely a feeling of Gratitude; the gratefulness to be alive.

I, too, am grateful to be alive and sharing with you the above quotation by Charles Dickens, “Reflect upon your present blessings…” As you were reading this, what were the blessings which came across your mind? Please feel free to share your blessings with us.