Happiness is ....(43)

 

 

 

 

A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER...BY JOHN KEATS

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing...


Although it has been almost more than two months since I visited Barcelona with Soh Wah, I often think of the lovely sights, especially the beautiful paintings, sculptures and antique furniture in the museums.

My favourite is the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona. The above pictures are some of the displays in the museum. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that photo taking was allowed, and hence I took photos to my heart's content. Now, whenever I feel tired, bored or restless, I would look at the pictures in my computer, and my spirit would be uplifted again!

John Keats was right with his thoughts expressed in his lovely poem above. I always
try to think of beautiful things and people with beautiful thoughts and actions. They help to make me feel happy and positive.

Truly, a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Gan Cao

Excuse Me, Are You a Property Agent? (28)

Warren Buffet has reminded his investors that when others are scared, then it is time to be bold, and vice versa. This probably explains why he has made his billions.

For the past years as an agent, I notice that many people tend to be bold when everyone is bold, and scared when everyone is scared. Hence, the prevalent herd
instinct.!

This probably explains why Housing Development Board flats have been driven up to sky high prices until the government had to come in to cool the market! The man who paid for $100,000/- above his valuation for his unit at Choa Chu Kang asserted his stand on why he was happy to pay the price for his unit.! Valuation of a property at any particular time implies the prevailing market price. It is amazing how when the market is hot, people are not hesitant to jump into the bandwagon.

I had advised my neighbour who is currently renting his unit to wait for a while to buy his 3 room HDB flat for I felt that prices would be coming down. Hence, when the rules came in, I was very happy and told him that I would take him around to look for his ideal flat, but to my shock, I found that he had already purchased a unit which he paid at $55K above valuation!

When I bought my 3 room HDB unit, I paid $5000 above the valuation. I felt it was worth it because the windows had been changed, and the flooring is solid granite, and the MRT station is within a stone's throw. Best of all, I could even walk to Orchard Road. My agent told me that after I put down my deposit, ten other buyers who had viewed the apartment earlier, also wanted to buy the unit! The market was very quiet then, and although the prices were already quite low, buyers still wanted lower prices! My agent told me that all the ten buyers had offered at below valuation for my unit, and I clinched the deal because I was willing to offer $5000 above valuation which the owner wanted as her benchmark. I had bought my unit on time before the price started to spiral.

Now that the government had come up with new measures, buyers start to offer their own valuation! My new agent recruit, Saras, was stunned when a buyer could offer her
$800 per sq. ft. for a unit valued at $1200 per sq. ft. for a lovely condominium in the East.! Unrealistic buyers offfering unrealistic prices will keep missing the boats, and soon the ocean liners! Agents have come up with TKK - in Hokkien, it means "Tan koo koo" (wait long long). Some of these buyers soon realise they have missed the boats, and then decide they must somehow get a unit even when the price is sky high! Yet when the price is already low, they want lower unrealistic prices.

The herd instinct is just too strong. Sigh....

Gan Cao

Clay Balls

My friend, Elena, sent me the following email. It has provided me with much food
for thought. A great article which I am sure you will enjoy reading.



Clay Balls


A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!


Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.


Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!


It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel.


There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.



May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune of friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people of our world as God sees them.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.



APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE


THING YOU HAVE DONE, ESPECIALLY YOUR FRIENDSHIP!


LIFE IS TOO SHORT AND FRIENDS ARE TOO FEW!


Pass this on to another Clay Ball!!!

Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to MOVE your Feet'