"The Lucky snake gives you fortune so your heart will be satisfied." - translation from Asian calendar, thanks to Winnie C.
I have a friend (mentioned above) who is aware of my fascination with the Asian culture, and therefore gave me a Chinese calendar for my desk. (Yes, my room actually has a desk in it now..! No more doing homework on my bed and slowly dozing off!) Every month has an inspirational quote, all of which she translated into English for me. Though you probably won't ever see this, friend, I always appreciate how thoughtful your gifts are!
Anyways, she mentioned that the quotes don't exactly sound as poetic or as powerful in English, but I think that they still get the point across quite nicely. (If this is just me, then simply use your imagination while reading them.) Here are a few of my favorites:
"Relax with everything and happiness will come naturally." - month of February. To me, this means that one should avoid stress and worry as much as possible. It also implies that even though one should strive for happiness, it is not something that can be obtained with force or artificially. To be happy, you need to be at ease and positive.
"Being able to eat is a fortune and will give you a lifetime of satisfaction." - month of November. This implies that we should be grateful for the privileged life we have, as many are not so fortunate and don't meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and clean water. Referring to Abraham Maslow's pyramid of human needs, one needs to satisfy the first physiological level (survival) before they can work on themselves in other ways. We are truly lucky not to have to worry about where our next meal is coming from and will probably never understand how serious of an issue this is for some, unless we live in their shoes.
"Have no limits on anything and everything will to smoothly." - month of December. To me, this quote discusses the idea of having expectations. I don't know how it works for others, but I find that when I expect things to happen a certain way, I am usually disappointed. As a result of this, "no expectations" is often something I tell myself to avoid this from happening. The quote also touches the subject of not to setting restrictions and simply believing in yourself.
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