60 Km of Madness!

I have announced to a few friends that I am planning to do a solo 60 km walk to celebrate my 60th birthday next year. The general reaction to my plan was "mad ah?"! One of my regular walking kakis asked me why I was thinking of doing such a thing. I took two days thinking about it and searching my inner most being for an answer.

These are my reasons for my "Mad" endeavour:

1. I love walking.
2. I want to celebrate 60 years on this earth by walking 1 km for each year God has given me. And to celebrate the "extra" years He has allowed me to have.
3. I want to challenge myself by stretching body and mind.
4. I would like to raise funds for National Cancer Centre.
5. I just want to do something crazy at 60!

So, I have planned the route and am starting to train for it. Initially, I had wanted to search for a route that will take me through forested areas. I then realized that the logistics would be tremendous and it would have to involve other people.

So I have finally decided to walk Rifle Range Road to the end and back which is 6 km. Do that 10 times and I get my 60 km. It is just outside my place (Base Camp) which will allow me to drop back home for a drink or a bite, to pee and poo, change clothes and shoes and even take a shower or a nap! Friends wanting to join me can do so at any point in time. Super great idea!

The only draw back is that it is a road walk, no pavement and the traffic is quite heavy on weekdays. So, I have decided to walk on Good Friday which is a public holiday. This should mean fewer vehicles on the road.

The significance of Good Friday has an added meaning for me. It is when our Lord walked to Golgotha to be crucified. It is the day He suffered great pain and humiliation for our salvation. It is the day, sinners rejoice for God has redeemed us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. Not for even one moment am I comparing my "gila" and "seow" walk to His walk to the cross, but I know I will be suffering a little and it will serve as a good reminder that on that day I am saved! Amen!

Well, the hat has been tossed over the fence, so come 6 April 2012, rain, shine, storm, hail, snow, tornado, hurricane, tsunami or earthquake, I shall be walking my talk. More information closer to the date on how you can join me ... and I hope you will ... not all the way, but perhaps part of it.

It will not be an easy walk. This morning, I decided to start my training. It was a cool and cloudy morning, so I pushed myself. The first 6 km was a breeze. No problem. The shoulders started aching a little on the 12 km loop. Fingers got a little swollen so I walked with my hands raised above my head. Hip joints started to feel stiff so I varied my stride and pace and at times resorted to jogging downhill to break the tedium of the walking pace. The 18 km stretch was already getting tough. My lower back ached and the bottom of my feet hurt. Monotony was broken by a lovely couple who distracted me by pointing out a beautiful king fisher perched on a fence. I felt refreshed after that short stop. So, I know that I will need company on the way to distract me from the aches and pains I will be feeling.

After all, how much entertainment can one get from counting dead snakes, flattened frogs, squashed snails and avoiding live monkeys en route? The toughest bit will be to leave "home" after taking a rest. But I will persevere and I will complete this 60 km of madness with God's help and yours! Block off the date, set aside some funds (I will be asking for donations) and start training. See you on Friday 6 April 2012!

Learn To Stroll

We don't remember how we all learnt to walk as a little child. But we did. Soon, we learnt to run! Most of us fell, but we don't remember that either. Which is good. Because we forgot the fright, the pain and the fear, we could move on.

Have we noticed how we walk? I don't mean the way we walk, as in our gait ... that is another story! But, more the pace of our walk. Most of us tend to walk briskly. We stride.

At work, when we stride, we exude a sense of urgency, "busy-ness", importance and perhaps even power. Silently the message is "don't disturb me now, I am busy going about my business". Surprisingly, it works. People leave us alone. It would be foolish to stop an express train. So, things that seemed "urgent" becomes a matter that "can wait" ... for when the person is not striding.

At home, we can't stop the habit of "work striding" and we rush around as much. Family members make way and some stay out of the way of striding mum or dad ... or even striding children! Especially grandparents. Grandparents stay by the sidelines because getting run over by the many express trains can be a painful experience. The silent message is "so many things need to get done at home so we can go to work to get more work done". So, valuable lessons that would have helped shape values and build character stay by the sidelines. They are deemed not important.

During exercise, brisk striding continues. They show a level of fitness, wellness, healthiness and perhaps even youth. Silently, the message is "look at me! I am able to walk fast ... all is well". And, all might be so. Or perhaps not ... sadly, we get these "youngsters" collapsing and even dying. Only a proper and thorough medical can show us what our striding hides.

My message is - learn to stroll. It will help you stride better for longer!

I learnt to stroll from who else but my dear old Jordan who can no longer trot during his walks. He ambles and I stroll along. Suddenly, I noticed the morning moon, the song of the early birds (and silent screams of the worms???), dew clinging onto leaves, the freshness of the flowers, scurrying ants (er ... striding ants?) and faces of people that tell their own stories (probably misinterpreted and wrong!). These were never noticed or noted when I use to stride along with a younger Jordan.

There is so much in life we miss when we stride. Learn to stroll ... sometimes.

Gratitude this Christmas

There are so many things to be grateful for this Christmas ... I want to pen my thanks!

1. Thank you, God - for all of the below:

2. Thank you to all the friends who were with me on Saturday 3 December to "dress up" the chemo section of NCC for Christmas. Many staff and patients remarked that the place looked so cheerful and they were happy we took the trouble to try to make a difference in their lives.

3. Thank you both Joy Tang from Royal Cafe and Jean Santa Maria from Bruno's for baking, part-donating and delivering the Christmas cookies for the patients at ATU, NCC. Also thank you to all the sponsors - Agnes & Alice Tay, Jacqualine Ko, Lai Choi Kuen & Linda Lee. And a big "THANK YOU" to all volunteers for helping to give out the Christmas cookies with your warm smiles and huge hearts! Indeed many hands made light work.

4. Thank you to the many who responded to sponsor the Migrant Workers@Geylang to a Christmas Dinner. We asked for sponsorship for 120 workers and we got sponsorship for 320!!! God is so good!!! All excess funds will be channeled to the other Health Serve project to provide meals for injured migrant workers.

5. Thank you for being there with the workers to share Christmas and God's love with them. It was a night to remember! Carols in mandarin were sung, home-cooked meals shared, photos taken, post cards written and laughter and joy were the Christmas "gifts" exchanged. Jesus was there too! Our invited guest of honour ...

6. Thank you for all your prayer support for all of the above and for our group as we prepare to visit God's Holy Land - Israel. Please continue to hold us in prayer as we make our Personal Journey with God. We will be away from 31 December to 15 January.

Have a Blessed Christmas & a wonderful New Year filled to the brim with good health, laughter, love and joy of the Lord!

Growing Old

As kids we can't wait to grow - just simply grow. We measure ourselves against the door frame and squeal with pleasure when the pencil mark is above the last one. I recall having many pencil markings on my bedroom door frame. My cousins and I would be regularly marking our heights. Sometimes we would cheat by tilting our heads up or wearing a high curry-puff hair style, just to get our egos deflated the next time we measure ourselves properly.

Then, as teenagers we can't wait to grow up! We want to do grown up stuff like put on makeup, stay up late, be independent, manage our own pocket money, have a girl/boy friend, drive a car, hold a job, smoke (!), drink (!!) and kiss someone (!!!).

When we get there, nothing is as exciting as it was when it was imagined. We then start to grow again - we grow cynical, skeptical, bored, apathetic, disillusioned, disenchanted, proud, in and out of love ... and together with all that, we grow mustaches, sideburns, long hair, waistlines, bust lines and families.

Then, we grow old and this is the no fun bit ... or so people say.

I watch my 12 year old dog Jordan struggle to his feet. He is a proud and tidy little chap and I am sure it must have pained him to have had to pee and poo in my bedroom! It pained me to have had to clear and clean the floor at 5 am in the morning. But it comes as a package - keeping a pet. It was cleaning the floors 11 and a half years ago when he was a pup and it has come full cycle. I am still praying it was just an accident, but it is ok if it is not. He has given us 12 wonderful years of love and devotion as only a dog can give, and this is a small price to pay in return.

We loved him as a cute, energetic puppy and we adored him when he grew up obedient and loving. Now, he is growing old and we love him even more and celebrate every day he is still able to enjoy his walk, his food, Chloe's companionship and ours.

His walk is unsteady and his eyes are bleary. But underneath all that he is still Jordan.

I too am growing old. I pray that people will one day look beyond my unsteady gait, my cataract eyes, my faint urine ordour and see that I am still Elizabeth.

Growing old can be fun - if people around you allow it. So, stop nagging and stop gripping if you have someone old in your presence. Remember - we will all get there one day!

God bless us as we live each day. May it be to the fullest and may we experience a whole load of fun as we grow old!!!

How Are We Remembered?

I sometimes choose not to look at the obituary page just because it does sadden me at times ... even though I don't know the faces on the page. Yesterday, I turned to the page and was shocked to see a huge picture of a friend who had "fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith". Priscilla was a fellow principal. Before that, she was the first lady rugby coach and I was the second.

I remember standing on the rugby pitch with her, eyeing our own boys and muttering under our breaths each time a silly error was made. Occasionally, we would shout at our teams. More often than not, we would be smiling at the sideline and chatting about everything else other than rugby and boys!

I never got to know Priscilla well. She was quite a private person. But she never failed to say hello each time we met at meetings, conferences and exhibitions. I had a sense of who she was by our little chats as we stood by the rugby pitches. Her quiet sense of humour, her no nonsense attitude when it came to the rules of the game, her gentle chiding and disciplined silence when an "unfair" whistle was blown, her emphasis on sportsmanship over winning, her open passion for the game and "her" boys, her warm handshake at the end of every game - they all gave me a glimpse of this lady coach, this educator.

I was proud to have had the privilege of sharing the sidelines with her, learning from her "unspoken" lessons on tactical rugby and character building. Mostly, I remember her for that twinkle in her eye and her warm smile each time we met.

I don't know who said this, but someone did - people won't remember you for what you said or for what you did but people will remember you for how you made them feel. So, how will WE be remembered?

God grant us the courage to always "fight the good fight" in His name, "finish the race" of our life here on earth and "keep the faith" that will bring us together again on those "beautiful shores" in our Father's Kingdom. Amen!

Till we meet again ... Rest in peace Priscilla.