Tag: encouragement

No Hope – 31st March 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A lottery ticket’s luck
To a loser’s life will suck
Muddling on through the muck
Hope is a waste of energy

Waiting for a winning hand
To cross the line in the sand
If it doesn’t go as planned…..
Hope is just poor expectation

These tragedies will never fail
To inspire us to rail
Against them, tooth and nail
Hope is a waste of time

Don’t just hope for the best
Without committing to the test
There is never a second’s rest
For the heroes and their inspiration

Submitted to Ovi Challenge – Hope

Today I’m feeling:

Much improved.  Almost normal even!  Is it a psychological trait of mine?  A mental quirk?  Does my brain make me feel ill when there are things that I’m supposed to do that I really can’t be fucked to do? 

And now, Sunday – usually the day before going back to work (which I love when there are students at school and detest when there aren’t and we are there just because we are supposed to be) but tomorrow is the first day of the holiday.  Has circumstance suddenly tricked me into feeling well?

It’s also weird to be annoyed at having five weeks holiday this year, a week more than last year, and this is because it is the worst time of year here for air pollution and five weeks in October would be so much more preferable.  But like I say it’s weird to be bothered about having extra holiday time!

Today I’m grateful for:

Uncle Nit next door who is helping us sort out some extra work that we need to connect up our drainage to the new drains being added under the widened road.  

Uncle also told us that he’s never seen anything come out of our drain so I’m not exactly sure where our wastewater even goes.

The best thing about today was:

Getting this message from one of my grade 10 students Miwkey:

I am impressed and enjoy learning in the teacher’s lesson. Since I studied with foreign teachers, I have never met a teacher like you. I’ve only encountered foreign teachers who use their emotions towards their students while not paying attention to the lessons they teach in the classroom.

I kind of understand what she means – I think there are many teachers who don’t and sometimes can’t actually assist with explaining some things and just tell the students that they are stupid and should figure it out for themselves. Sigh.

I do also ask them to figure things out for themselves but I’m going to guide them with effective methods that they can remember and reuse.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Whilst at Utopia Amy called me to pick up some veggies at the market. When I got back she saw them and exclaimed ‘Noooo, not that one! Go back now!’

Luckily I was in a good mood and quickly went back and got the correct ones.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

More encouragement for students via LINE.

What word or phrase sums up this month?

Tired would pretty much be it. Is it that I’m tired after this busy school year? Because I invest so much of myself into it emotionally? It’s not really been that busy since Christmas.

Perhaps it’s a combination of that and missing the kids, the heat and air pollution and not really having any plans to go anywhere. 

But I did feel better today at least.

Amy took this picture because she wanted to show off her tamarind eggs. Unfortunately, she got a crazy teacher in the shot too!

The Teller And The Told – 8th January 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

The movement of air was released
As it passed through shaking lips
The ears were moved by the vibrations
But the brain only received some drips

Over again these actions repeated
And therefore nothing was learned
Forever frustrated, the teller and the told
And so it will be, no respect earned

11th Dec 2025 – Shared with Esther Chilton’s prompt #94 – respect

Today I’m feeling:

Ready to go, ready to do, ready to be.  Struggled through the new abs exercises but didn’t feel quite as much aching around the sides this time.  Back to some arm work tomorrow even though my shoulder isn’t quite yet 100 percent.

Today I’m grateful for:

The dental clinic because I had to change my appointment since I’m now teaching an extra class on Thursday.

The best thing about today was:

Watching my second lot of grade 8s making well-wishing cards and Poppy going out into the playground and giving the card to her crush.  

Then after that, Nicha and Tonkla gave each other cards in what could finally see them become closer.  Nicha has been crushing on Tonkla for a couple of months already.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Creme brought two kittens in to school today.  They are just two days old and their mum has disappeared.  She has to feed them goats milk every two hours.  

Is that good for them? I don’t know.  I don’t know if they will make it.  

Too many cats here and not enough responsible owners.  Everyone loves cats but they don’t want to or can’t afford to pay for them properly.

Something I learned today?

Arsenal are out of the FA Cup, Manchester City beat Huddersfield 5-0 and Israel has already spent 60 billion dollars on its genocide of Palestinians.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I sent messages to Nicha and Poppy telling them I was proud of their bravery today.

I encouraged and supported Nut and Namsai when I could see them understanding the work I gave them today.

Are these good deeds?  They feel like just the deeds of a teacher. It’s good to note them for myself I guess so that I am reminded of them in the future.

Write about a time when you laughed uncontrollably.

There is a joke, a basic form of which is below, that I used to love to tell when I was maybe 13 or 14 years old.  You can see from the text that the joke is not very long but with a bit of practice you can make it last as long as you like.  

I don’t know where I originally heard the joke but it got a good laugh when I first told it and then, when others had joined, I was asked to tell it again and soon it became a request and even though everyone knew the punchline, which is hilarious because it isn’t even that funny, the laughter was in the telling.  

At some point in one telling of the joke it took so long to tell because everyone was rolling around the room in tears of laughter, including myself.  I reckon it took about an hour.  I felt that that was the ultimate telling and haven’t thought about that joke for a long time.  

As I didn’t remember where I’d heard the joke I wondered if it was even a joke that might be popular and searchable online but sure enough I found it.  

I doubt it will draw much laughter now, unless you are 13 or 14 years old perhaps.

Three scientists were one day discussing what would happen if they rammed a cork up an elephant’s backside and force fed it for 2 weeks. But because the experiment had never been documented and the idea was hard to comprehend they decided to have a go. A week after the experiment had started they began to realize WHY the idea had never been tried, they were stuck for someone to pull the cork out.

One of the scientists came up with the bright idea of training a monkey to do the job, so they spent the next week training it to pull out corks once a buzzer had rung, then push it back in for another go. The big day arrived, they set up all the monitoring equipment and set out to a safe distance.

The first scientist went 1 mile away, the second went 2 miles away and the third went 3 miles. When they were all ready the first scientist pushed the button to sound the buzzer.

BBBAAANNNGGG!

The third scientist (3 miles away) was up to his ankles in shit, the second (2 miles away) was up to his knees and the first (1 mile away) was up to his waist. When the others joined the scientist who was 1 mile away they noticed that he was in fits of laughter.

“What the %$*& is so funny?” asked one of the scientists.

“You should have seen the monkey’s face trying to get the cork back in!!!”

For FutureMe

I took this picture because Earn was happy and dancing today. Her happiness often depends on the interest of boys and she confided something I didn’t quite follow but included the sentence ‘he’s come back’. I’m trying to encourage her to love herself more.

Our First Mother – 6th December 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Smelling the rain, sniffing the dirt
Bonding with our first mother
From the ocean to the mountain
We are not tied to any other

Chasing the rain, rolling in the mud
Climbing to the tops of trees
Out first mother grants us all
With her gentle fragrant breeze

Burning the oil, slashing the forest
Make her angry not
This mother is not just the first
But the only one we’ve got

7th May 2024 – Submitted to Word of the Day Challenge

Today I’m feeling:

Good again. Reasonably energetic and positive.

Today I’m grateful for:

Two easy and fun classes where the grade 10s were teaching me how to improve my pronunciation. I let them make fun of my pronunciation so that they don’t feel too bad when I correct their English. I did some reading with them and was quite happy to see them trying and not just looking to me to tell them. I really wish that I had more time to be able to do that with them individually or in pairs.

The best thing about today was:

It was another all-around good day without one thing being better than another.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Likewise to above, anything that was out of my control didn’t get in my way today.

Something I learned today?

I should probably stop reading about the genocide of the Palestinians. It’s frustrating and inhumane. Of course, there is nothing I can do about it but at least know that if there is evil in the world it is openly on display by the Zionists. Religion, whilst preaching goodness and acceptance continues to do exactly the opposite.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

Giving lots of encouragement to my grade 10 students and support to my grade 7s. Even though the 7s are still a little distracted they can get back to it if I keep shepherding them. I can see some friend group dynamics shifting a little in that class too. It will be interesting to follow.

Who do I trust the most, and why?

Obviously, this is Amy. Now we have shared 15 years of our lives together and have a deep sense of trust in each other. Our actions have proven that. Whether we are in the same country or not, we trust each other.

I am generally quite trusting of others, though also have a reasonably good radar about people. I like to think that most people are good and decent and I am also prepared to be let down.

Baipad took this picture because I asked her to take a selfie of the fursuit head that she is making. She reckons she can sell these for 150 USD! That’s wild. She’s a little critical of her work because she lacks confidence. She’s only 14 and her skills will only get better and better.

Mica Friction – 30th December 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A bowling ball
Heading toward the pins
A 7-10 split
Let’s see who wins
Internal asymmetrical block
Influencing spins
Dry board mica friction
Analysed, winner grins

We got some blowback afterwards, but so what? We won.

Brad Blakeman, Republican operative

28 Sep 2022 – Most quotes I find are affirmations of a sort, but this one is a reminder of how corrupt people can be, doing anything to win.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for the cat massage Kim gave me this morning when I went to see her in her room. Then we rubbed noses and cuddled until she got distracted and ran off.

A busy time coming up and my head is full of things. Good things though. Not feeling stressed about anything except for maybe overloading myself with too much. Nothing serious though – I just have so much I want to do in a day and it doesn’t really matter if I don’t get to do them.

I went to Central to look for a diary but couldn’t find anything suitable, so opeted to get another notebooks that I didn’t really need but felt compelled to buy after having made the effort to go there.

The omicron covid variant is dirsupting Amy’s thoughts about travelling and may change her plans. I think if she doesn’t go in January then she won’t be able to go until after my next visa is completed. I think she’ll make a decision in the next couple of weeks, carefully watching the numbers and decisions Australia makes about travel.

I’m about to rush back to school for a quick meeting with some selected grade 8 students to do some extra work on producing TED-Ed presentations in the future. Let’s see how it goes. I will go sit in the school cafe later and write some more. Right now – let’s see if I can spit outa poem for today!

Back again. Met with the students. It is painfully obvious the difference between those in M2/9 and those in M2/10 and M2/11. Those in M2/9 have confidence and feel that they can do things. The others – not so much but I really hope they don’t quit out of fear of failure. It’s a great opportunity for them to learn and grow, work with new students and make new friends.

I know sometimes, when I was that age, I would just give up. I know how they must feel. I also know that I would have benefited by changing my mindset and giving it a go. I’ll try my best to keep encouraging them.

I had hoped that Champ would be here to help reassure them and kicking myself a little by not explaining things clearly enough. Hindsight. That’s why I sent out a message of encouragement with a Thai translation. I hope I can keep up the momentum I’m feeling and don’t get dragged down by the setbacks.

What is difficult about being your age?

I’m half-jokingly thinking to myself that it sucks that I have the confidence (and lack of caring about the outcome) to talk to anyone now. Especially to pretty girls. Why I couldn’t do it when I was younger is annoying to think about! But it’s not really a difficulty of my current age.

The only thing that really sticks out is the obvious one of aching body parts. Constant sore neck, tender shoulder blades, sore wrists, and painful left foot. As I never really exercised much when I was younger, my muscles have all learned bad habits that may be difficult to reverse now. As with my initial thoughts, perhaps all I’m really feeling is regret – something that I consciously try to avoid or not consider.

At whatever age we are, we probably all want to be 5 years old again, without many a care in the world. So perhaps that is what is difficult – the inability to be a 5-year-old. Seeing things with a greater sense of wonder. It seems to require a greater effort to achieve that as you age.

I am a serious person these days. I’m happy like that. I can’t not care about things, so sometimes that is a little difficult to accept.