(no subject)
Daniel,
I want to congratulate you on a job well done. All these years of blood, sweat and hard work have finally paid off! You are going to be a doctor! You should be very, very proud of yourself. Me and Ma are both very proud of you as well. You’ve come a very long way and grown to become a very respectable young man.
Your life is just about to embark on a very eventful and wonderful journey. End of medical school merely marks a beginning of a next set of challenges, and they will be both fun and fulfilling as well. During the next few years you will learn so much, and these years are going to go by in a flash. When it is all said and done you will look back and be even more proud of yourself.
One of the biggest regrets I have had all these years is not talking and communicating with you enough. I know we’ve both been very busy with school, life and work so I figure now may be a good opportunity for me to share a few things with you. The next few paragraphs I am going to talk about what I learned over the years that I thought are important and valuable to me. These may very well be things you already know, but I hope through my eyes and experiences you can learn not to make the same mistakes I made and hopefully get a head start in life.
I think the happiest person that found out when you got accepted into residency is no other than ma. Both you and I know she’s come a very long way since dad passed. Please know that no matter what, she loves you very much. I know she makes mistakes and can be emotional or too old fashioned at times. At times your tone can be a bit rash when talking to her, or appear impatient or annoyed. You may not mean it, but I think deep down it still hurts her feeling. Right now we are all ma have. Please be kind to her, be tolerable of her mistakes, and listen to her when she needs someone to talk to. I know a lot of what she said can make no sense or irrational. You can agree or disagree, choose to do or not to comply with her request, but at the very least listen to her and let her finish what she has to say.
There are going to times that you feel like the world is against you. It will be easy for me to just tell you don’t let these things distract you, but I know they will. They will distract me and make me feel bad as well. When faced with overwhelming challenges it is only natural for us to have negative emotions. But I know you are tougher than that. What I typically do when I have a bad day is that I think about how transient and temporary these obstacles will be. These negativity will cause absolutely nothing long-term, looking back in hindsight. How would it affect the grand scheme of things? The answer is likely no. You may not be able to control what happens to you or your emotions, but you can always choose how you would react. Remember the old saying goes something like “you can’t stop a bird from landing on your shoulder, but you can certainly stop him from building a nest on your shoulder”. Also remember that prolonged negative mindset can not only be harmful to your soul and body but also negatively affects those around you and those care about you and who you care about.
Ma has always been very worried about your health and I feel the very strongly about that as well. You’re very hardworking and intelligent but please also take care of your own health. Even with all the wealth in the world, without a healthy body you would not be able to enjoy life for as long as you wish. Eat a little bit healthier, avoid sugary and junk food as much as possible, and try to get into a good habit of going into the gym or exercise at least 3-4 days a week. It may be hard initially but humans are creatures of habit. Once you have a habit set in stone it will propel and motivate you to be on autopilot. It is only the initial push that’s most difficult. What I also find helpful is find a specific activity you enjoy. Instead of just going for general fitness, pick a specific branch of fitness that you most enjoy and go for that. Be it bodybuilding, jogging, endurance training, HIIT, olympic training, powerlifting, or whichever.
When you finish residency, you are going to be making a very respectable salary and able to afford a much better lifestyle. The most important thing at this point is to continually invest in yourself and build on that. What i realized when I started working is that poor folks often get paid for their time, while truly successful folks get paid by results. As a radiologist you already have great asset to generate earning - but this is active income. It is always advisable to invest in other forms of passive income if possible, whether it be in the stock market, real estate, bond, funds, or any other form of business that yield predictable gain. If you are planning to invest in the stock market, please do not do what auntie is doing or what pa was doing in the past. A long-term passive investor that holds onto index funds that are diversified is probably going to be your best bet since your day job is a radiologist, not a day trader. And also remember that even just buying a self-help or tool book read it would still be something that I consider an investment - investing in yourself to make yourself a better person. Ideally your goal should be to become a little better person today than you were yesterday.
Many things have happened since pa passed. It has been almost 20 years since he passed. It all came down so fast; when I first heard of his diagnosis of lung cancer I thought it was all but a bad dream. I was so eager to go to bed and fall asleep and was hoping when I wake up everything would be back to normal again. Of course that was not the case, that’s when reality hit me. I remember one time he accompanied me to get some documents for my F-1 student visa after his chemotherapy, then suddenly I realized how I’ve always been watching his back growing up, and pretty soon I would never be able to do that ever again. In my 30 something years of life so far I felt that the happiest moments I’ve had always included pa, me and you.
I remember the good times when we went to WuLai to catch tadpoles by the creek; I remember all the times you got lost in Long Shan temple; I remember my 13th birthday at my home steak across from JianAn where I celebrated with my friends and you tried so hard to tag along; I remember every 滿漢大餐 and 湯圓 which I got to eat once a week and every single time I was reluctantly forced to share with you; I remember snatching your red envelope money, trading you coins for your paper cash only to have mom take away all that money later; I remember going to 半畝園, 北平村, 德州炸雞, 福賓川湘館, Mos burger, and of course eating hotpots as a family. When pa was alive we had so many wonderful memories and these memories I will cherish forever, and I hope you will as well. When you feel like you’re running out of steam, think about all the good times you’ve had, and how much you’ve accomplished so far - and you will realize that there is nothing stopping you.
I believe pa has been watching over us all along, and the thought of that has been what propelled me thus far in life. Even to this day I can almost see him smiling and proud of what we’ve accomplished.
Believe in yourself; if it’s something you strongly believe is the correct choice or thing to do; don’t worry about what others say and trust your own judgement. Pa, Ma and I are so proud of you. We all love you very much. And we will always love you.
Henry
I want to congratulate you on a job well done. All these years of blood, sweat and hard work have finally paid off! You are going to be a doctor! You should be very, very proud of yourself. Me and Ma are both very proud of you as well. You’ve come a very long way and grown to become a very respectable young man.
Your life is just about to embark on a very eventful and wonderful journey. End of medical school merely marks a beginning of a next set of challenges, and they will be both fun and fulfilling as well. During the next few years you will learn so much, and these years are going to go by in a flash. When it is all said and done you will look back and be even more proud of yourself.
One of the biggest regrets I have had all these years is not talking and communicating with you enough. I know we’ve both been very busy with school, life and work so I figure now may be a good opportunity for me to share a few things with you. The next few paragraphs I am going to talk about what I learned over the years that I thought are important and valuable to me. These may very well be things you already know, but I hope through my eyes and experiences you can learn not to make the same mistakes I made and hopefully get a head start in life.
I think the happiest person that found out when you got accepted into residency is no other than ma. Both you and I know she’s come a very long way since dad passed. Please know that no matter what, she loves you very much. I know she makes mistakes and can be emotional or too old fashioned at times. At times your tone can be a bit rash when talking to her, or appear impatient or annoyed. You may not mean it, but I think deep down it still hurts her feeling. Right now we are all ma have. Please be kind to her, be tolerable of her mistakes, and listen to her when she needs someone to talk to. I know a lot of what she said can make no sense or irrational. You can agree or disagree, choose to do or not to comply with her request, but at the very least listen to her and let her finish what she has to say.
There are going to times that you feel like the world is against you. It will be easy for me to just tell you don’t let these things distract you, but I know they will. They will distract me and make me feel bad as well. When faced with overwhelming challenges it is only natural for us to have negative emotions. But I know you are tougher than that. What I typically do when I have a bad day is that I think about how transient and temporary these obstacles will be. These negativity will cause absolutely nothing long-term, looking back in hindsight. How would it affect the grand scheme of things? The answer is likely no. You may not be able to control what happens to you or your emotions, but you can always choose how you would react. Remember the old saying goes something like “you can’t stop a bird from landing on your shoulder, but you can certainly stop him from building a nest on your shoulder”. Also remember that prolonged negative mindset can not only be harmful to your soul and body but also negatively affects those around you and those care about you and who you care about.
Ma has always been very worried about your health and I feel the very strongly about that as well. You’re very hardworking and intelligent but please also take care of your own health. Even with all the wealth in the world, without a healthy body you would not be able to enjoy life for as long as you wish. Eat a little bit healthier, avoid sugary and junk food as much as possible, and try to get into a good habit of going into the gym or exercise at least 3-4 days a week. It may be hard initially but humans are creatures of habit. Once you have a habit set in stone it will propel and motivate you to be on autopilot. It is only the initial push that’s most difficult. What I also find helpful is find a specific activity you enjoy. Instead of just going for general fitness, pick a specific branch of fitness that you most enjoy and go for that. Be it bodybuilding, jogging, endurance training, HIIT, olympic training, powerlifting, or whichever.
When you finish residency, you are going to be making a very respectable salary and able to afford a much better lifestyle. The most important thing at this point is to continually invest in yourself and build on that. What i realized when I started working is that poor folks often get paid for their time, while truly successful folks get paid by results. As a radiologist you already have great asset to generate earning - but this is active income. It is always advisable to invest in other forms of passive income if possible, whether it be in the stock market, real estate, bond, funds, or any other form of business that yield predictable gain. If you are planning to invest in the stock market, please do not do what auntie is doing or what pa was doing in the past. A long-term passive investor that holds onto index funds that are diversified is probably going to be your best bet since your day job is a radiologist, not a day trader. And also remember that even just buying a self-help or tool book read it would still be something that I consider an investment - investing in yourself to make yourself a better person. Ideally your goal should be to become a little better person today than you were yesterday.
Many things have happened since pa passed. It has been almost 20 years since he passed. It all came down so fast; when I first heard of his diagnosis of lung cancer I thought it was all but a bad dream. I was so eager to go to bed and fall asleep and was hoping when I wake up everything would be back to normal again. Of course that was not the case, that’s when reality hit me. I remember one time he accompanied me to get some documents for my F-1 student visa after his chemotherapy, then suddenly I realized how I’ve always been watching his back growing up, and pretty soon I would never be able to do that ever again. In my 30 something years of life so far I felt that the happiest moments I’ve had always included pa, me and you.
I remember the good times when we went to WuLai to catch tadpoles by the creek; I remember all the times you got lost in Long Shan temple; I remember my 13th birthday at my home steak across from JianAn where I celebrated with my friends and you tried so hard to tag along; I remember every 滿漢大餐 and 湯圓 which I got to eat once a week and every single time I was reluctantly forced to share with you; I remember snatching your red envelope money, trading you coins for your paper cash only to have mom take away all that money later; I remember going to 半畝園, 北平村, 德州炸雞, 福賓川湘館, Mos burger, and of course eating hotpots as a family. When pa was alive we had so many wonderful memories and these memories I will cherish forever, and I hope you will as well. When you feel like you’re running out of steam, think about all the good times you’ve had, and how much you’ve accomplished so far - and you will realize that there is nothing stopping you.
I believe pa has been watching over us all along, and the thought of that has been what propelled me thus far in life. Even to this day I can almost see him smiling and proud of what we’ve accomplished.
Believe in yourself; if it’s something you strongly believe is the correct choice or thing to do; don’t worry about what others say and trust your own judgement. Pa, Ma and I are so proud of you. We all love you very much. And we will always love you.
Henry