Time...

Time used to be so strict, so tight, back in KL, when life was such a hasty rush everyday.

Time was almost a luxury, hardly having the privileged to be enjoyed slowly.

Time didnt permit me to lie back and read a book every night, as I would be "oh-so-tired and exhausted" at the end of each day.

Time was spent mostly on the road, travelling between the home and the work place, often caught in the snail-paced traffic jams. If it rained that evening, that's the end of your evening!

Time was also used mainly to work in the office till the sun has set far below the horizon before finally starting the long journey home.

Time always ran short on weekends...Saturdays whizzed by as the sun would be blazing through the late afternoon sky by time I got off work.

Time seemed even shorter on the weekends which I have to spend two hours driving on the North-South highway to get back to my hometown. By the time I got home, the sun was ready to set in a few hours time.

Time is almost unfair to me on Sundays, when I have to make my way back to KL in the evenings.

But now...

Time seems to treat me more gently and generously in this little town of Miri.

Time seems to stretch longer here, as the sun rises up earlier and sets earlier each day, so we all start the day earlier too.

Time is not wasted on the road for travelling, as most destinations are reachable within 15 minutes.

Time permits me to have extra hours each night, so I can read myself to wonderful dreams with my fiction books.

Time lets me go for evening jogs in parks, and serene walks in lush greenery or by the tanned sandy beaches.

Time gives me the opportunity to have meals, or go watch movies, or explore the colourful "pasar malam" with new friends found. (Of course, it would be just divine if I could have all these AND have my family and old friends around here with me too but then...). As the saying goes, "you'll need to let go of some things to make room for new, better things to come along".

Time lets me savour life here better, promising a better quality of life.

Time...however, only makes up 24-hours of each day wherever you may be...and each day passes by quickly all the same.

(I turned a year older recently, and realise that I've been here for 1 full month...already!)

Time...can you slow down? Let your grains of time slide down the hour glass just a little more leisurely?

*Here's a lovely piece I'd like to share*

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Author - Dr. David L. Weatherford

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
To call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music

Before the song is over.

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