Make every minute of your life count

Do you remember the time growing up with your cousins, aunties and all your extended families? Can you recall the fun time you had with them during family gatherings, school holidays and special occasions?

Think of the cousins you spent so much time with, and who you fought with? How long since you’ve talked to them?

We used to head up Penang Hill for our annual family gatherings. It was such great fun playing with all my cousins, spending time with aunties, uncles and all other extended family members.

It was not long ago that I left for Australia to make a life of my own. My family and I have been back a few times to Malaysia to visit my family and my in-laws; however, there was always not enough time to sit down for a good conversation. It was always a quick hi and off we go again to visit another family.

It is very sad, as they were the relatives I grew up with and I felt that we had lost the connection. There was so much I want to share with them and to find out more about their lives, what’s happening in their lives while I was away, and to share with them what’s going on in our lives, our children etc. However, due to life’s “busy-ness“, we sort of lost those connections.

Over the past few years, our philosophy in life has become: “when you have the time, they may not have the time for you!”

What it means is your relatives and friends are getting on with age, so don’t take it for granted that they will be there for you when you decide to make the time for them.

We had our fair share of “wait” until we have the time to see them… sometimes we were too late.

So what I am sharing is:

  • Don’t let being “busy” be the excuse of not connecting with your family and friends overseas.
  • Don’t let the “distance” be the reason for you to not connect with your family and friends at home.

How are you going to do that?

Many moons ago, we relied on “snail mail” to share our thoughts and lives with family, and occasionally when we could afford phone cards, we would make one or two international calls to our parents or until the credit ran out.

However time has changed; now with technology at your fingertips such as Skype, Facebook, Snapchat, Whatsapp and so many more apps, as long as you have access to Wi-Fi, the opportunity for connecting with your overseas relatives is just at your finger tips.

On top of that, telephone companies are including free international calls (some with limited countries) with their fixed line contracts, so this opportunity let’s you call your elderly relatives’ landlines (who are not proficient with technologies).

Lives are moving very fast and we are busy, and we can have many reasons as well as excuses for not connecting with relatives at home. However, keep reminding yourself – “when you have the time, they may not have the time for you!”

So let’s start today – make it your mission to start connecting with relatives and friends overseas, be it letter writing, emailing, face-booking, whatsapp chatting or phone calls … make the time to reconnect with your friends and relatives back home. If you are the lucky ones with parents still healthy and well, make the time to connect with them as often as you can.

Have an amazing day and start connecting! And make every minute of your life count!