Sometimes even good things will come to pass.

It's been a long time since my last post
Some good times and some bad times have occurred over the years... kids grown up, new friends enter and some old friends drift away... my self included. I once asked a good friend and mentor, Alex Eng, why do things have to change? At the time my own mother had died and my life as a child had abruptly ended at the age of 23 while I was still in college. Well now I've lost another close friend that I considered family when I was a young man. She took her own life one and a half years ago (I've only found out now, and cannot mention whom in respect for the family's privacy)...She was 9 years my junior and I had considered as my own little sister. I've seen her flourish into a social media expert with tons of followers, I've seen her enter the workforce being a confident young woman, and was very proud of her when she became a young mom... but now I'm overcome with sadness, and even guilt, because maybe if I had only stayed in contact maybe I could have changed something? I feel awful for her parents and brother... I can barley comprehend what they may be going through.... I may add to this post at a later date, but one word I must leave you with is to cherish those around you that you love, one day things may change and all you have are the memories of what once was. Take Care.

Courage

Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's being able to face adversity in spite of your fear.
Taken from a book "Martial Virtue" by Charles Hackney -- "The centrality of fear and vulnerability to the nature of courage forms the basis of the often-heard statement that courage is never to be understood as the absence of fear, but as "doing the right thing in the face of fear.""

Sincerity

Don't use words carelessly. Don't make promises casually. A word, once spoken, cannot be retracted. However, people love to waste words. Perhaps that is why what we say often lacks moral force.
Sincerity is not something you can pretend to have. It comes from the integrity of standing by your words.

Aristotle

We may say, however, that we all aspire after what seems to be good,only we are not masters of appearances,and the appearance which the end takes in the eyes of each of us depends on his character. But if each of us is in some degree responsible for his character, he will in some degree be responsible for the appearance; in not, nobody is responsible for his evil doing, everybody was as he does form ignorance of the end, under the impression that by this means he is gaining the supreme good, the aspiration after the true end is not a matter of our choice,and a man must be born with a sort of vision to enable him to form a noble judgment and choose what is truly good. He then who is endowed with this noblest of all gifts, a gift which can never be received nor learned from any body else, but must always be kept as Nature herself kept it. To possess this natural gift of virtue and honor is to have a perfect and true excellence of nature.

Chinese Scholar Gentleman Warrior

I'm a firm believer in every Chinese young man (scholar, gentleman, warrior) should learn Gung-fu, to be able to protect themselves and their family. I also believe in learning The Analects of Confucius to learn how to fairly treat others. Learn Sun Tzu's art of war, in dealing with your enemies. An excellent resource which includes Sun's Tzu's Art of War is "The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China" translated by Ralph D. Sawyer. Read about 36 stratagems of ancient China as a guide on how the unscrupulous may prey against you. Good luck I wish you well.

T'ai Kung's Six Secret Teachings

T'ai Kung:"If the ruler lacks moreal worth, then the state will be in danger and the people in turbulence. If the ruler is a Worthy or a Sage, then the state will be at peace and the people well ordered. Fortune and misfortune lie with the ruler, not with the seasons of Heaven."