Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Fine Vintage


So there I was supposedly working on these articles written by the students for the annual college magazine in, uh, not so hot English. Then I see this Twitter update by Pastor Rick Warren who has such a great sense of humour. It's funny and pert and gets me kickstarted on good thoughts about getting mellow with the years.


I am no longer young enough to be right about everything,
lost my idealism,
the fierce insistence I always need to be right.
I no longer see things in black and white,
reality is too complex
and life comes in shades of grey.
It no longer matters that I should always be right,
I'm happy now to step back,
to let life surprise me
and expect the unexpected.



A feel good post. Thank you, Pastor Warren.

11 comments:

  1. Its where I'm slowly heading, but sometimes I still feel I have to prove my point which is frustrating at best and maddening at worst,cos nobody listens to you!

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  2. daniel, I know the feeling. Aggravating, isn't it? What a relief not having it as often anymore. I'm re-discovering that nothing in life comes without its pros and cons and this one's definitely on the up side of the other side of the hill.

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  3. Im at that stage where I still have ideals, but Im scared to rock the boat. I acknowledge yet resent grey areas, I hate admitting that Im wrong, and Im wary of the unexpected!

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  4. You're wary of the unexpected? That's kind of unexpected because here I was thinking that young people today thrive on the unexpected and unpredictable!

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  5. Love this!!Rick warren's view on life is always spot on....Its true youth perpetuates this sense of power, the feeling that "I" am right and ahs the right. There were so many bad experiences i now know i could have diverted with better judgements. In a world of anti-wrinkles,face-lifts, hair-dyes and botox, we think age is doom but we always forget the strands of wisdom that God sets aside for every grey that turns on the head...so "yay" to being old...and "yay" to calliopa for this post.

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  6. Thanks for the thumbs up, jay-me. And that's a really neat analogy about the hair strands :)

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  7. chiu chiu...this post remind me of Turner's satirical poem. I have a big fun reading, it was a time when i wrestle with a post colonial theories and it was such a big relief after goint thru the lines.. let me try to recall them.
    "We believe that after death comes the Nothing
    Because when you ask the dead what happens
    they say nothing."

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  8. well i google it out now huhu..
    We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
    We believe everything is OK
    as long as you don't hurt anyone
    to the best of your definition of hurt,
    and to the best of your knowledge.

    We believe in sex before, during, and
    after marriage.
    We believe in the therapy of sin.
    We believe that adultery is fun.
    We believe that sodomy’s OK.
    We believe that taboos are taboo.

    We believe that everything's getting better
    despite evidence to the contrary.
    The evidence must be investigated
    And you can prove anything with evidence.

    We believe there's something in horoscopes
    UFO's and bent spoons.
    Jesus was a good man just like Buddha,
    Mohammed, and ourselves.
    He was a good moral teacher though we think
    His good morals were bad.

    We believe that all religions are basically the same-
    at least the one that we read was.
    They all believe in love and goodness.
    They only differ on matters of creation,
    sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

    We believe that after death comes the Nothing
    Because when you ask the dead what happens
    they say nothing.
    If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then its
    compulsory heaven for all
    excepting perhaps
    Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn

    We believe in Masters and Johnson
    What's selected is average.
    What's average is normal.
    What's normal is good.

    We believe in total disarmament.
    We believe there are direct links between warfare and
    bloodshed.
    Americans should beat their guns into tractors .
    And the Russians would be sure to follow.

    We believe that man is essentially good.
    It's only his behavior that lets him down.
    This is the fault of society.
    Society is the fault of conditions.
    Conditions are the fault of society.

    We believe that each man must find the truth that
    is right for him.
    Reality will adapt accordingly.
    The universe will readjust.
    History will alter.
    We believe that there is no absolute truth
    excepting the truth
    that there is no absolute truth.

    We believe in the rejection of creeds,
    And the flowering of individual thought.

    If chance be
    the Father of all flesh,
    disaster is his rainbow in the sky
    and when you hear

    State of Emergency!
    Sniper Kills Ten!
    Troops on Rampage!
    Whites go Looting!
    Bomb Blasts School!
    It is but the sound of man
    worshipping his maker.

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  9. We believe that there is no absolute truth
    excepting the truth
    that there is no absolute truth.

    Tawmte, great share! And what an accurate summation of all the crazy notions postmodernism consists of, tsk tsk. Chuan i lines rawn quote khi Hamlet-a To be or not to be soliloquy ami min ti hrechhuak -
    ...the dread of something after death,
    The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
    No traveller returns..

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  10. Hey I like this. Specially this bit, "It no longer matters that I should always be right".

    These days I want to be and I like to be wrong most of the time. Aggravate the insufferable dimwits. Play the devil's advocate. Nay! Be the devil himself!!

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  11. Hahaha, I like that, Loch! Definitely quirky, and it also says a lot about your self-esteem, the not giving a flying fig whether you're wrong or right. Wow, life sure does have many surprises up its sleeve, doesn't it? Yay!

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