Peace and gratitude

Peaceful life is something that you cannot take for granted. 

In a chaos world like now, it is something that priceless and not everyone is lucky enough to have it, even when you are living in a peaceful country. 

People are busy searching for a better life by working more, earning more, investing more and have no time to have a peaceful mind or restful body. 

Even when they are having more than enough, they still aim for more without realising by having less, you do not have to worry of losing what you have in case of leaving the world behind, moving out to other countries,  and so on. 

With the availability of social media, people also compete more - "I must have things that are trending now", "I must eat at that café or restaurant that are popular now", "I must show them a more expensive thing than what they are having", etc.

Well, it is up to individual what life they want to have. 

But having a peaceful mind, living in peaceful country, leading a peaceful life by living simply, is also a choice that human can choose to have. 

A simple cup of tea or coffee, a simple room or house to live, a simple cloth to wear, a simple food to eat can be a wonderful life to live in too, but not many would understand and willing to choose. 

Many are simply comparing what they have with what other people have, and therefore, in a blink of eye, that simple happiness has just disappeared. 

Gratitude is the key to treasure what we have. Count your blessings every single day starting from the time you open your eyes from your sleep at night - "thank you for the good sleep", "thank you for another day to live", "thank you for the roof on top of my head, the bed I sleep in, the peaceful morning, the clean water to take bath, to drink, the family and friends surrounding me, the job that I hold on, the salary I receive, the superior that teaches me everything by asking me to do lots of things", and so many more.

Just having the thought of it, it could even make you smile. 

And simple resolution each day, "hope today I can do at least one good or kind thing that can bring happiness to others".

You do not have to go up to the mountain, or to be at seaside, or inside the forest to feel peaceful and happy. It can be at any where and any time, although those places give a plus point, especially when things in life are rough, emotions are jumbled up and your mind would not stop thinking.

It is not easy being a human. Buddha already said that we are born to suffer from the moment we born until the time we die. But let us take it slowly and choose an easier way to live, and love ourselves more. It is not selfish. But if we cannot love ourselves, how can we love others. Only when we are full of love within ourselves, then we are capable in loving others. 

So remember, give yourself peace and happiness. It is better than busy aiming on something that only lead to nowhere but suffering. 

May all sentient being be happy and healthy,

free from suffering and the cause of suffering,

life full of peace and joy. 

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

Women in Mid 40s

Menopause (Pic source: Google.com)

Hey hi, how have you been?

It has been a while since the last time I posted here. Time flies like crazy. In few more years, I would enter the middle age that I never thought I would be one day. Hahaha...

Talking about this, I want to share what I have been through while passing these years. I would not shy sharing all these because one day, all young ladies (readers) would also one day reach this phase, if you are lucky enough, of course! :D

I wanted to share my menopause experience here. I have it already now. It considered quite early but still under normal age category. I had the pre-menopause moments for about two years before the period had actually stopped.

The most obvious symptoms was irregular periods. In the beginning, the period duration became shorten where usually it took 4-5 days each, had become 2-3 days. The flow had also reduced. 

Slowly, the frequency had also lessen  From the regular once a month, it had reduced to once every 2 months, 3 months, and even it stopped for almost a year. 

The other symptom that appeared was hot flush - a sudden feeling of warmth in the upper body. In my case, it was happened mostly at the back upper part, below the neck area. 

I heard about it before, but when I experienced it myself, it still felt weird and funny :D 

Brain fog and forgetfulness. You know, it was when you went somewhere like kitchen, room, toilet, etc., and then suddenly you could not remember what you were going to do by entering those places. Or when in your mind you could picture one thing but suddenly you could not remember "that particular word" of that thing. Or you just lost focus and harder to concentrate.

Well, we thought it was because it was parts of getting older, but apparently, that was symptoms from pre-menopause as well.

Some people would be having difficulty to sleep. Not to the stage of insomnia, but it was not as easy to sleep as before. Luckily so far I have no such thing unless I had a very high dose of caffeine after lunch time or took a nap in the afternoon. And I had to practice a simple mediation before slowly dosing off to the dreamland.

The infamous thing from perimenopause is mood change, which includes easy to get irritation, sometimes could feel depressed too as our hormones changed. Especially when you were alone. 

When I told the doctor that I had my menopause already, one thing she asked me if I did any additional measure in taking care of my bones. The lack of ovarian estrogen after menopause could cause a significant loss in bone strength, placing women at higher risk of osteoporosis. Therefore, I needed enough dose of Calcium and vitamin D taken into a daily basis. As I could not be exposed into the sunlight, I had to take vitamin D supplement into my diet.

I was also advised to do light exercise as not to exert the joint parts too much. So instead of running, I could do walking on a daily basis and light aerobic or Zumba few times in a week.

Food was also playing a big part to lead a healthier lifestyle. You could observe what you get in your basket each time you buy your weekly shopping. 

I just shared with my sister-in-law recently on how lucky we are for staying in Singapore as the Singapore government really takes care of its citizens by always encouraging us to take healthier food (less salt, less sugar, less oil campaign), do at least 150 mins exercise a week by providing us free exercises that we could book through the Healthy 365 apps, providing exercise places, grounds and parks accessible in each neighborhood housings for free or with lesser/ subsidized fees, free checkup for men and women above 40s, sometimes free in-body check up (to check how much muscles are in our body parts) and providing us advises on how to improve them - by exercising and taking more proteins in our food, and many more.

The high cost of hospital bill has also become the deterrent for us to prevent sickness and improve our health being.

I mean, how many countries in the world would bother to care to its citizens health like that? 

Maintain the moderate BMI is still difficult for me, so far, I have always fallen in borderline overweight category. But I tried my best to balance my meals and eat more healthier food. 

Most importantly, keep positive mind everyday. It is not easy, but we can do it. Especially morning time. It is the most important time of the day to have a positive mind. 

Getting old is part of process of living as a human being. We have to accept it that nothing stays permanent. Wrinkles, white hair, loosen cheeks and eye bags, slow metabolism, weaken joints and bones are something we need to face soon or later. 

We cannot avoid it all (unless you go for face-lifting surgery, or Botox, of course). But by growing old, we can focus on how we could grow wiser, calm in time of crisis, and maintain peace in mind despite whatever thing that happen worldwide - high oil and gold prices, wars, natural disaster, economic crisis, and so on. Also spend our money and time wisely in everyday life.

There are more and more people in their 60s, 70s and 80s in Singapore these days. Soon, I too will be there. Hope everything will be in smooth journey and most importantly blessed with good health so I still can travel and visit more countries in the world and do what I love doing.

So, one day at one time. Focus on what is there at the present moment. Just get ready of what will come ahead. Cheers and wish everyone be happy and healthy always..... :)