Wednesday, December 29, 2010

New Year's a time for resolutions

December 29, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

In two days, the old year will cede its reign to the new one. The old is over, with its ups and downs, its glory and its pains. Nobody can change that. We can remember and draw lessons from the past.

But the New Year that is arriving is full of opportunities and promise. We have our New Year's resolutions that are made for those next 365 days.

It seems it is human nature to attach hopes and expectations to somewhat arbitrary milestones. Jan. 1 is, after all, just another day.

Even knowing that, each year most of us affirm an intention to be kinder, eat less, exercise more, read more, spend less time online. ... It is our natural urge to improve, to restore, to progress that makes man different from other living beings.

Whether our roots are in Eastern or Western cultures, this characteristic is one we share.


I have a propensity to pepper my columns with the words of others. Some may find it "cheating" that I rely on third parties to fill this space, to some degree. I happily point out, however, that I believe in recycling even shop-worn truisms from time to time if I find them relevant and well-said.

And so I will indulge that habit here. The upcoming new year prompts my own retrospective and anticipation of a year ahead that offers much promise.

West meets East

A Sanskrit (a South Asian language that dates back to 1,500 B.C.) poem reads: "Look to this day, for it is life, the very life of life. For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision."

It continues, "Today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day. Such is the salutation to the dawn."

The West meets the East in thought.

Spiritual programs in the United States emphasize not yesterday, which is gone, nor tomorrow, which has not arrived, but today, which is here and now. "This moment is the only moment you have. Respect its possibilities. ... Regardless of what this day brings, thank God. An untouched day awaits you tomorrow."

American poet and educator Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: "Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine."

"However good or bad a situation is, it will change," I referenced a powerpoint presentation in this space last week. And I often quote Lord Buddha's "Everything changes, nothing remains without change."

Buddha taught us, "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."

The serenity prayer, translated into many world languages, looks for "serenity to accept" the things that cannot be changed; "courage to change" the things that can; and "wisdom to know" the difference.

Here and now

A school of thought says the problem with the past is that people tend to ruminate and get stuck. This can render one dysfunctional. But by focusing on the future, we may miss an obvious choice point in the present. As Mother Theresa advised, do what is in front of you!

The Christians' Golden Rule, dubbed by Wikepedia as "the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights," has a corresponding measure in each of the world's great religions.

The great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, preached, "Do not do to others that which we do not want them to do to us." This is a good place to start as we think of how to conduct ourselves in the new year.

It has been posited: There are only two kinds of bad situations, those that can be solved and those that cannot. Thus, people can either "get busy" fixing the problems that can be solved or "get busy" accepting the predicaments they must live with -- using positive and interpretive thinking.

Story for the New Year

Last year, a friend e-mailed me the "Law of the Garbage Truck." What? I was glad my quick fingers didn't press the delete key.

A passenger is riding in a taxicab to the airport when a car cuts in front of the cab, causing the cab driver to slam on the brakes. The taxi screeches to a halt only inches from the car ahead. Whipping his head out the window, the driver in the car ahead yells at the cabbie. The cab driver smiles and waves. The passenger asks the cab driver how he has managed to stay so calm.

"Many people are like the garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they dump it on you," he explains.

"Don't take it personally. ... Don't take their garbage and spread to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. Life is too short. Successful people don't let garbage trucks take over their day."

Happy New Year 2011 to all!

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

No you are not wast your time, SRP MP stand up against youn, that fine I undestand, and you may very knowledgible on politicale issue, yes I agreed, you may gentle and highly interlected people, I very please to hear from you that you love Khmer who stand against enemy. Since We all Khmer and allways, always want to see brighter future of Cambodia, PAD Thai theive they claim Hun sen tooke theire land, SRP you now Sam rainsy was cooporate with Thai,is it Right?, claim Hun sen give land to youn. is it provocative by SRP to help enermy Thai or Sam rainsy are Stupid, was Hun sen dare to give land to youn? and 14 millions Khmer stupid, or only SRP are smarter?. He who sold braind to foreign not Hun sen, but Sam rainsy. I frustreat too when I saw veit police in our territory, but why don't we base our judgement on both the JBC Var kimhong, and the SRP MP, I strongly beleived No one dare to give land to youn they will have no place to live if do so.
Regards

Anonymous said...

1)What you hear,but you
can't hear;what you see,but you can't see.
You see,hear,understand it,but you ignore it.
What did Vietnam and Thai do since Hun Sen became prime minister of Cambodia?
-Thai destroyed Khmer market which $2,000,000.00 million dollars,never paid back.
-Thai troops stayed at the Preah Vihear foot,never pulled them out.
-4.6 square miles,Thai took over.
-Thai killed Khmer looking for food.
2)Vietnam:
-6 million Viet illegal immigrants in Cambodia.
-Vietnam encroaching Svay Rieng,Kompong Cham etc...
Seven rubber plant fields in seven provinces with 99 years contract;Vietnam troops live there.
Did you see,hear,know it?
Is Vietnam govt nice to Khmer citizens?Is Vietnam a good friend to Cambodia?
Khmer lost Khmer Krom,Koh Tral etc...
Khmer wants peace,not war with Thai and Vietnam.
We want both of them to love,respect our integrity and Khmer territory since France took over Indochina.
Cambodia want Thai and Viet show respect as human being,not stealing land from one another.
How to protect Thai and Vietnam from encroaching Khmer motherland?
We learned from the past mistakes,don't let those mistakes to come back.
Khmer always blame each other like," you are Thai slaves or you are Vietnam slaves;to power back as king or prime minister,they need help from Yuon or Siem".
Khmer,please change this attitude please! I beg all of you.
How about," UNITED WE STAND"could we do it.

Anonymous said...

I enjoy reading your column, yes I really do. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and sometimes I do wish that current leaders of Cambodia try to learn from some excerpts of your writing such as: do not do thing to people that you do not want that people do it to you. They should reflect on this.

Anonymous said...

Khmer at USA are all coward and stupid. Please come to our vietnamese town at night with your chicken khmers men. OK! let's fight who is the strongest race. Will you!!!

Anonymous said...

Poor Dr,
we don't want to read your résumé.
The following would be enough:

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, PhD
peangmeth@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Bạn đang mơ ước một lần nữa người dân Campuchia. Không có quốc gia trên trái đất sẽ giúp bạn loại bỏ tiếng Việt của chúng tôi ở tất cả. Hãy abit thực tế, sẽ bạn!

Bạn Campuchia nên bắt đầu học tiếng Việt từ ngày hôm nay nếu bạn muốn sống và làm việc tại Campuchia trong mười năm tiếp theo. Chúng tôi sẽ sớm đạt 10 triệu tại Campuchia

Anonymous said...

Ah sva teang 3 ning pak puok vea nho nhim pruos chit dol thngay 7 makara dael ning trov kob kbal puok vea hoey.


The 3 monkeys and their gang are smiling because it is close to the 7 Makara which will burry their head.

Anonymous said...

We are vietnam ,we will be a great vietnam soon, we already control laos and cambodia, we put our people and our agent every where in cambodia ,even in government and in CPP, we tie every thing ,in1979 we work hard ,we send our suicide commando to phnom pnh to catch samdat sihanouk ,before we push pol pot to the forrest ,we need him stay with us and support us ,but the china worker at phnom penh catch our commando and destroy them,but we still lucky ,because now samdat sihanouk come support us by himself ,now we have hun sen in our right hand and samdat sihanouk in our left hand ,we are strong enough ,we will be a great vietnam soon ,no body can against us.

Anonymous said...

8:32 PM is an idiot !

Anonymous said...

a lot of us on this blog, if we pay attention to dr. peang-meth's teaching and lecturing, we can learn a lot about life in general. thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all, dr. peang-meth. god bless you, america and cambodia.