I Saw Jesus in the Mountains

It was a beautiful evening and He was walking amongst the people.

My family, one of my cousins and I took a trip up to the mountains for Canadian Thanksgiving a few weeks ago.

We started our adventures at Heart Creek Bunker, where we went on a 3-hour hike. At the end of the trail was a cool cave that the Canadian Government used to store important documents during the Cold War.

After exploring the cave, playing practical jokes and taking pictures, we hiked back to the parking lot and debated where to go next. We decided to go to a nearby town, Canmore, for ice cream.

The first thing we did when we arrived was look for a place to buy treats. Once that task was completed, we walked around the town, checking out the shops and a street fair that was going on.

After getting a souvenir from one of the street vendors, my nephew needed to use the washroom, so I took him. But as we returned to our family, something amazing happened: I saw Jesus walking around. Continue reading “I Saw Jesus in the Mountains”

The Zen of Basketball

Basketball is a great activity to help you be more mindful.

Stress is something everybody deals with as everyone has hard times in life.

The majority of the time, however, stress and anxiety build up because of what we think will happen, not what will happen.

As the great stoic philosopher Epictetus said:

“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.” 

Continue reading “The Zen of Basketball”

Summer Days in 2000

Being a teen in the early 2000s was great.

In 2000, I was a 14 year old kid. And I was a pretty stereotypical teenager.

All I wanted to do all day was play video games, listen to music, and watch music videos.

And that’s exactly what I did daily in the summer of 2000.

I’d wake up around 10 a.m., do my business in the bathroom, and head downstairs for breakfast.

Most mornings, I’d eat a bowl of Nesquik cereal (not sure if this is a Canadian thing, but this cereal is similar to Cocoa Puffs) but sometimes I’d fry myself an over-easy egg.

My parents, older sister, and uncle -who was living with us- would be at work at this time and I’d be home alone.

And like any regular teenage boy, I’d spend this time doing naughty stuff: Continue reading “Summer Days in 2000”

The Dark Side of Pogs

Pogs brought a lot of joy but also caused a lot of pain.

From the outside looking in, people see 20 to 30 kids squatting on the blacktop, yelling in excitement -and disappointment- as they play a game.

And if you don’t see this scene often, it may seem like someone started an illegal Chinese casino in the 1800s on the schoolyard.

But it’s the mid-90s. And these schoolchildren aren’t technically gambling. They’re playing Pogs. Continue reading “The Dark Side of Pogs”

Successful People Can Struggle With Mental Health Too

DeMar DeRozan mental health

Despite being a successful NBA player, DeMar DeRozan still deals with mental health issues.

It is extremely difficult to be drafted into the NBA.

It is even more difficult to have a long and fruitful career.

And it is even more challenging to become a star in the league.

DeMar DeRozan did all three.

He was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in 2009 with the ninth overall pick and didn’t have a high ceiling. Though scouts believed he had a ton of potential, they also didn’t see him unlocking it.

And in his rookie season, he proved them right. He struggled against the best in the world and averaged just under 9 points a game. He also didn’t provide much else.

By the time the offseason came around, he knew he had to improve if he wanted to stick around the NBA for a while. So, he took on the challenge of being a professional and devoted himself to basketball. He trained day in and day out. He made working on his basketball skills and conditioning a daily habit.

The following season, the effects of the training kicked in. He nearly doubled his points per game by averaging 17.2 points. He also averaged 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1 steal -all improvements from the previous campaign.

After seeing the successful results of the deliberate training, he continued to put in the work every offseason thereafter.

Eventually, DeRozan became an All-Star. But more importantly, he was leading the Raptors to the playoffs perennially while also helping them secure the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.

But while he was on this journey, he faced some difficult times. He dealt with depression and anxiety and didn’t openly talk about it until he was a few years into his career. Continue reading “Successful People Can Struggle With Mental Health Too”

Making Sense of the Israeli-Palestine Conflict

Both sides are in the wrong.

Last Saturday, the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israeli citizens partying at a music festival.

The attack was brutal and barbaric as they kidnapped, raped, beat, and killed innocent people who were going about their day. Hamas shot missiles into the town and charged into the territory with military weapons and armour as they massacred at least 260 civilians.

Since that initial raid, the Israeli government, who received support from first-world leaders such as Canada’s Justin Trudeau and the U.S.’s Joe Biden, has responded with retaliation.

After hearing this news, I was unsure what to think. I didn’t know who or what to support and how. Continue reading “Making Sense of the Israeli-Palestine Conflict”

The Myths Asian Parents Tell Us

Some of the things Asian parents tell their kids are wild.

Asian parents have a stereotype of expecting their children to be obedient, where they want their children to listen, obey, and believe everything they say -fact or fiction- and not argue and talk back.

And I know this doesn’t apply to all Asians. 

It is just a stereotype. 

But there is usually some truth to stereotypes, especially this one because my parents were like that.

They often told me ridiculous things so that I would behave or stop bothering them. 

And a lot of the time, I believed them. I didn’t argue the lack of logic in their “facts” because I had no logic to back it up. 

The things they told me were, indeed, factual.

So, here are the myths my young naive self believed but turned out to be quite silly:

  • I wanted to lift weights when I was about 11 or 12 years old because of ’90s action movies, professional wrestling, and my older friends doing it. But my parents didn’t let me because they said weight training (or any physical activity that exerted too much energy or any activity that used too much leg muscle for that matter) would make me short. So, I didn’t lift weights until I was 16, which was the age that, according to them, my height wouldn’t be affected. I found out that this was false many years later and recently learned that lifting weights could potentially make you taller if you do it right.

 

  • I have always loved the smell of coffee. Ever since I was a young pup, the aroma of coffee as it slowly drips into a mug was satisfying to me and I badly wanted to drink it. But my parents never let me because they said consuming coffee at a young age would stunt my growth (what’s up with Asians and their obsession with being tall?). So, I never drank it -in front of them- until I was an older teen. But every time I drank it as a young teen, I felt guilty because, in the back of my mind, I thought it was actually hurting the potential of my height. But who would’ve known that there is no scientific evidence that says coffee makes you short? Also, I’m taller than both of my parents, so it definitely didn’t hold my height back.

 

  • In early spring and autumn, I often didn’t zip up my jacket because I was either not cold or didn’t want to look like a dork. And every time my parents caught me, they yelled at me for not staying warm. I would argue, “Well those kids over there aren’t even wearing a jacket.” My parents would look to where I pointed at and reply, “White people can handle the cold better than Asians.” The funny thing is that I was born and raised in Canada just like those white kids. All of us were born and forged in this cold, snowy habitat. But my parents knew all so Asians can’t handle the cold as well as White people.

 

  • Every time I had a booboo or an ache, my parents applied the Vietnamese version of Tiger Balm (this green eucalyptus oil) to the spot as they believed it was a cure-all. Whenever I had a headache, they dabbed some on my head. Whenever I had a bruise, they rubbed some on the bruise. And when I sprained my ankle, they doused it with it before wrapping it up. To them, it was the ultimate medicine. However, I discovered many years later that it doesn’t actually cure anything. It just relieves pain. But, again, my parents are all-knowing, so that green oil is the cure for all ailments. It’s a magic potion.

Yup, those were the myths my Asian parents told me. And my naive self believed every bit of it.

My Embarrassing Attempt At Trying To Be A Tough Guy

Ah, this is an embarrassing story of when my middle school friends and I tried to be tough guys.

It was the late 90s and gang culture and violence were popular amongst young boys.

Teen boys from all over gravitated to gangster rap and movies, and the WWE. Their minds were intoxicated with this version of masculinity and they just wanted to be tough guys that were feared by other guys.

I was one of them. Continue reading “My Embarrassing Attempt At Trying To Be A Tough Guy”