Do you have inner peace?

In this “thing” (I wouldn’t even call it “work”, because it’s not work) that we do, we can never please everyone.  Whatever you do, someone is bound to accuse you of something bad.  Our actions can always be misconstrued.  The problem is, who should judge us but ourselves?  Who can judge us but ourselves? 

I think what matters is that we are true to ourselves and we know we never meant any malice in whatever we do or write.  I’m referring to everything that I do in this AnimalCare work.  You get bouquets, and you get brickbats too. 


So, while most people are enjoying a Sunday relaxing at home, I don’t even have time to take the day off after spending a whole day in Raub yesterday.


What is it that I had to do:
1.  First thing in the morning, I get an S.O.S sms from  lady in Klang asking for help.  Her neighbour had found a litter of newborns with eyes still closed.  Can I help?  I told her to keep the kittens warm and get kitten milk from the petfood shop.  Then, I sent out smses to the cat-rescuers who have mother-cats (and even those who don’t have), but I haven’t been able to find someone who could help at this point in time.  If you have a mother-cat, please contact this number directly (012-3388181), if you wish to help.  But please note that I do not know this lady and cannot be responsible for what happens after that.  I’m just making the connection between someone who needs help and someone who is willing to help.  
2.  I’m arranging for the next dogfood donation for Meiji.  Apparently, according to Meiji, she can get the food at an even lower rate from Batu Caves.  I’m thinking that we could get from this supplier and all we have to do would be to arrange a lorry to carry the goods from Batu Caves to Raub the next round.  We’ll see how it goes and if we can do the fund-raising again.  Thank you, Jessie, for helping out with this.  I sure appreciate it very much.  And thank you, Jeen, for being so willing to offer his lorry again.  
3.  Then there’s a boy who had written to me asking if I could help with the vaccination of his rescued cats.  He said he cannot afford the fee at the private clinic.  As you know, I normally need to raise extra funds for vaccinations, but with our tshirt sales going quite well (thanks to all of you), we can help him now.  
4.  I have been working behind the scenes to help Devakie with the 12 dogs in Penang.  I’ve actually got a place here that can take the 12 dogs, but we figured the long journey from Penang to Subang is going to be very stressful for the dogs and may be detrimental to their wellbeing.  And where are we going to get cages and transport from Penang to Subang?  The last time we transported dogs, it was during the Klang Dog Pound rescue.  We purchased the cages and later, donated them all to Meiji.  So, I’m now sourcing for adopters in Penang.  Devakie agrees this would be the better solution.  
5.  And there’s getting the files for our all-new black tshirt from Erin.  Bless her, she did it for me despite her very busy schedule.  I just need to put in the order now and we’ll be on our way.  Putting in the order itself is a big decision – how many pieces?  Will it sell?  I have to come up with the capital outlay myself, and HOPE it can sell!  
6.  And a few more things to do, and this doesn’t include household chores and responsibilities.  


So, in the process of doing the above, you’d get bouquets as well as brickbats.  I normally don’t talk about the brickbats unless it serves a purpose – to share with others that the reality of life is, no matter how well-intentioned you are, you cannot please everyone and there’s bound to be someone who will not be happy with what you do.  That’s life and we’ll just have to learn to deal with it.  

At the end of the day, I rely on Byron Katie’s wisdom to get me through.  I paraphrase the great guru of happiness: “If we think other people cause us problems, we’re insane.”  I’ve been insane many times in my life, blaming other people for my problems when I should have known that other people don’t cause us problems.  We create the problems for ourselves by the way we react to any situation.  I see wisdom in what Byron Katie said.  Do you, too?  If you don’t, it’s ok.  To each her own. 

That said, let’s enjoy this piece below sent by my teacher, Mrs Wong, who is always there at hand, to lend me her shoulder when I need it.  I just got a huge brickbat today, so this is most timely.  Enjoy!  And let’s learn to be a little more “sane” with this little piece below…

From Mrs Wong:

Inner Peace:
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat plain food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,  
 
 
Then, you are probably the family dog!!