learning how to see; 

If you want to make something new, start with understanding. Understanding what’s already present, and understanding the opportunities in what’s not. Most of all, understanding how it all fits together.

But would you have the guts to go this slow? Perhaps if you stop resisting time, you'll understand better, you'll realize deeper.

An opportunity to grow.. and let go.

There are so many words, such little time to express them. I can tell you that this was the best year for me in a long time. A few bumps in the road… surely.. but nothing like before. Nothing that I couldn’t endure. I’ve grown so damn much, wised up a fair bit and I can feel it within myself. I realized that though I’ve hurt many in the past, this is my present. The only difference I can make is NOW, in THIS moment, I cannot go back in time.

This is my life to live and I do not want to spend it in sorrow.. though I shall not dare say that doing so is a burden, I believe that out of great sadness you develop great strength. Whatever happens to us in our journey, there always exists an opportunity to grow. I've learnt that I just have to trust within myself first...

Then I will be ready to take the step to move ahead.

Coffee Stained pages:

That’s how people live, by telling stories. What’s the first thing a kid says when he learns how to talk? “Tell me a story.” That’s how we understand who we are, where we come from.

Stories are everything. 

You’ll never know, maybe that time when you smiled and greeted the stranger, that stranger could have his/her life changed because of it. You’ll never know, maybe that kid sitting by himself is just waiting for someone to approach him and be his friend. You’ll never know, the rude cashier had a tough day with her family. You’ll never know, maybe you have already met the one just by doing one good act. You’ll never know until you try.

My idea of travel: travel is little beds and cramped bathrooms. It's old television sets and slow Internet connections. Travel is extraordinary conversations with ordinary people. It's waiters, gas station attendants, and housekeepers becoming the most interesting people in the world. It's MacDonald's drive-thru being a luxury. It's the realization that you may have been born in the wrong country. Travel is a smile that leads to a conversation in broken English. Travel is tipping 10% and being embraced for it. Travel is the same white T-shirt and jeans again tomorrow. travel is flowing in the back of a bus with giggly strangers. It's a street full of bearded backpackers looking down at maps. Travel is wishing for one more bite of whatever that just was. It's the rediscovery of walking somewhere. It's sharing a can of root beer on a overnight train with a new friend. Travel is "Maybe I don't have to do it that way when I get back home ♥