Lake Goollelal

There is a lake near my house that I am always running around whenever I need my fix of cardio. The lake is quite large and is surrounded by trees so you can't really see it as you're running, except for one point along the path where there is a bench that looks over the lake. 

There is however, another point of access if you take a small detour on a dirt path. I really like it because the little path leads you to what is almost like a dock/miniature jetty. Here, you have such a lovely view of the entire lake. 

Of all the times I've been for a run, I have never actually taken that path down to see the lake until today. I made an effort to get up in the morning so that I'd had a good view, and it was indeed a stunning sight. 

The water was blue and calm, and the birds were out and floating about ever so gracefully. It was such a relaxing place to sit and soak in the beauty. There's just something about nature that really makes me feel so at peace...and then I went back to the run with my ghetto music blasting. A nice balanced run if you ask me.

So on a side note, I had great conversation with my dad tonight. You may or may not have read my posts where I rave on about how much I love my dad, but he is by far my favourite person on this Earth so you will read a lot about how much I love the man :) 

He imparts so much of his wisdom onto me and he always says so many great lines that really stick in my head. I could go on for a long time about all the advice he gave me tonight about relationships, but I don't have the time for this post. Worry not, because I will write it all another time. One thing he did say to me is that all his "knowledge and experiences he has learnt over the last forty years he wants me to learn in one minute" (he's actually 57 but I think he said forty because he probably didn't learn many life changing things before the age of ten). 

He said that there were many things challenges and life lessons he had to overcome, and that although he was able to work past them, I might not be able to; thus why he tries to impart the wisdom so that I have a better fighting chance. A younger version of me would have thought that he wasn't letting me grow and experience life for myself, but I see things differently now. What I see is a father trying to do his job. 

At different points in a man's life he must be a father is certain ways. As a child he knew that I was 100% dependant on him and so he provided pretty much everything. As I grew up however, I have been able to feel him nudging me forwards to grow up into an independent woman. My dad has reached the point now, where the best things he can give to me are his own life lessons so that I may have something under my wing should I have to face any tough challenges.

My dad is doing a pretty fantastic job of being a dad. Ain't no one ever going to take his place. 

This is one of my favourite photos from my 21st last year. If you see this man walking down the street, tell him that his daughter thinks the world of him :)

Dad wisdom #2

I met up with a very good friend today that I had not seen for about a year. We met up at Elixir Coffee Specialists which is a nice little cafe. I've been there only once before for a chai latte so this time around I decided to get the fruit and nut loaf with a blueberry, orange and apple juice ( a combination I've never had before. Delicious!). It was really just a cosy little place to catch up. The service was fantastic and the coffee apparently is good quality too.

Even though my 'somthing new' for today wasn't all that extravagant, the quality of those two hours spent catching up with my friend was what made my day grand.

My friend told me that she recently shared some big news with her dad who reacted in a completely different way to how she expected. You see, Asian parents aren't always the most understanding or predictable of people. But it caught my friend off guard when her dad reacted in a good way. For her, it was probably the best result she could have ever possibly imagined.

This good news kept me on a high all day long, and it got me thinking about dads who pull through for their kids when they need it most. Now, some people are extremely lucky and have fathers who always pull through, but you get those others who wait a very long time before they see anything like that. Sometimes all it takes is time and maturing of both parties. However, you get others still, who never see their fathers show love for them and although I wish I could fix a broken family, all I can do is use this as a driving force to never take my own dad for granted.

Yep, I love my dad. You'll read that a million times before this blog is finished. He has so much wisdom and I'd like to share another of my favourite little analogies my dad told me to help me get through tough times. This is one about God, so for all those who don't believe, feel free to read it or skip over it:

My dad told me once that God is to us, like a parent is to a young infant. At a certain age, infants like to explore and are very curious. If a young baby saw a knife and started to play with it because it looked shiny and interesting, then the parent would automatically take the knife straight off the baby and put it away out of sight. The baby would probably cry and demand for it back, but because the parent knows the knife is dangerous for the baby, they would never let it fall into the hands of their child again.
In the same way, God knows far more than we could ever truly understand. We may think we know what's good for us, but when those things are taken away or when they do not go according to plan, God is allowing this because he knows better. Trust is the key thing here. Humans don't really have the capacity to understand God, but we have the capacity to trust in Him.

P.s. Have you read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak? There's a really lovely father daughter relationship in there :)

New things at any age

I've been wanting to take my dad to the movies for a long time. The last movie he's been to was 30 years ago when he first came to Australia. At that point, he couldn't understand English very well and so he had no idea what the movie was about. All he can remember was that he went to an outdoor cinema in Innaloo and that it was a Western.

I took my dad to go see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yesterday with my little brother. Dad has been obsessed with Lord of the Rings after watching a feature on New Zealand and all the places that LotR was filmed. Dad was so excited about seeing the movie and we made it a truly legit cinema experience by buying popcorn and a drink. I love that you can still be doing new and exciting things and any age. 

Dad wisdom #1

Unfortunately I don't have anything new to report today, but I'd like to share with you something that my dad told me once. I'll probably end up posting a lot of things my dad shares with me. My dad is my numero uno rock and he almost can always pull me out of whatever rut I'm in. I'll post up whatever wisdom he gives me in the hope that it may be of some help to others too.

It has taken me 5 years to finally get into medicine. Those 5 years have consisted of a lot of hard work and persistence and my dad has always been my one-man cheer squad. He believed in me when pretty much no one else did, and on the days when I didn't think I could make the cut, he was always there to tell me otherwise. 

I remember talking to be dad in the car a few years back when he was driving me to uni. I can't remember exactly what I was upset about, but I remember that it had something to do with medicine and how horrible it felt having failed to get in so many times. My dad then told me this story:

A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong; she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake." 

"Here, have some cooking oil," her mother offers. "Yuck," says her daughter. "How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!" "Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"

 To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!"

I remember the moment so well. We had just turned onto Riverside drive heading towards uni. I'm so glad my dad was there to tell me that story. It's been in my mind for the past 3 or something years now and it's been one of the many things that keep me standing strong despite whatever challenging things I perceive to be coming at me head on. 

Hearing the story really helped me  to accept the fact that sometimes things get/are bad before they get good. It may not help everyone as much as it did me, but remember the story anyways just in case someone you know needs to hear it. 

Another road trip

The original plan was to write up a post everyday but I'm a day behind because my relatives and I were on the road all day long and I didn't have Internet access. There wasn't really a chance to make the most of the day but I did get a chance to go into Fort Sam in the city of San Antonio which is something I'll probably never do again in my life. It was very eye opening to see soldiers in real life in their army uniforms and I've grown a feeling of deep respect for them. My cousin who's in the navy was telling me about her daily routine and it's crazy how intense their training is. We saw a whole group of them with their giant knapsacks that they use to carry what seemed to be like practically everything they owned. So that was something new that I did the other day.

Something that I wanted to touch on though, was dad and daughter relationships. My relatives and I had to drive about 3 hours from Houston to San Antonio. The purpose of the trip was to deliver some goods to my cousin. My mum's uncle (i.e. my cousin's dad) had already done that insanely long 18 hour drive the day before and now he was back behind the wheel determined to get to Fort Sam in time before my cousin had to report back to base. We were cutting it so close but he drove the 3 hours straight. Now, we had breakfast that day, but then from 12 noon until 6.30pm he drove us around Houston and then to Fort Sam. He didn't stop to eat. He just kept driving. Even from the back seat I could see his determination to get to his daughter in time. This just made me think of dad and daughter relationships. I've really grown to love the relationship that I have with my dad, and he's the type to drive all night just to deliver me some of my belongings from home. My dad does a lot for me and as normal as that seems to me, I've come to realise that not everyone is as lucky as I am. Anyways, all this reflecting got me thinking about all the movies where there are great dad and daughter relationships. Here's a list of a few of my favourites:

To Kill a Mockingbird - The relationship is there throughout the whole movie.
Sixteen Candles - The scene when they're on the couch.
Mulan -The blossom speech & at the end when Mulan comes home.