Johnny Tan

A friend once asked me to explain the difference between hearing and listening. I told her the difference is that when we listen to someone we are engaging ourselves to truly learn what he or she is trying to relate to us, rather than just hearing words coming out of someone’s mouth and hearing what we want to hear instead.

In today’s world of multitasking, we are all guilty of doing too many things at the same time just because we can, or perhaps just because we are multitalented. In order to truly build a good and everlasting habit of being a good listener, which adds value into any communication, we will need to practice something my Progressive and Spiritual mom Elsa Mae, used to tell me a long time ago. “When we listen to someone, listen to learn, and do not listen in anticipation to reply.”

In other words, when we listen to learn, we are listening and learning about what we can do to meet their needs, whereas when we are just hearing, we are simply waiting for the opportunity to pawn off our needs on them. We are caught up in the, if I were you, I would do … syndrome.

Guess what, we will always be who we are, and they will always be who they are. Each of us is different from the perspective of our own individualism—our very own upper and lower limits. Each of us is governed by our own strengths and weaknesses, and by our comfort zone.

We all operate at our best when we are in our comfort zone, so it is important to study that person’s needs before we can truly give our best input. In order for us to do this, we must make sure we give them our undivided attention. We need to be respectful, and be considerate of the person’s style of conveying his or her message to us.

Our actions and demeanor speak volumes to this. Someone can easily tell if we are just trying to pacify them, or if we are genuinely trying to help by effectively listening to them. A good rule of thumb to follow is—are we being selfish, or are we adding value to our communication? If we intend to add value, then we will give our input with love and tactfulness because we are saying things to benefit them and not us.

In a Nutshell—The art of being a good listener is nothing more than being genuine, sincere, and giving undivided attention to the person who is talking to us.

To read more recipes for living – please click here to purchase From My Mama’s Kitchen-“food for the soul, recipes for living” book, and help us to make a positive difference in our preferred charities.

Johnny Tan created From My Mama’s Kitchen™ concept to honor his 9 incredible moms who changed his life, and to honor moms everywhere by bringing “motherly love” to the global center stage by recognizing the significant roles mothers play in making a positive difference in our daily lives.
Our weekly From My Mama’s Kitchen Talk Radio Show (FMMK Talk Radio) on Blog Talk Radio also serves as a resource center for mothers everywhere by bringing inspirational, spiritual and motivational stories from our special guests of ordinary moms doing extraordinary things. All shows are archived. Please click here to listen at your leisure.
Thank you for helping us spread this wonderful unconditional gift “Motherly Love” to everyone you know!

Tags: 9 incredible moms, author and talk show host Johnny Tan, Blog Talk Radio, FMMK Talk Radio Show, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, Global Center Stage, listen to learn, Motherly Love, Motivational Stories, multitalented, multitasking, personal comfort zone, Preferred Charities, Progressive and Spiritual mom Elsa Mae, Recipes For Living, Resource Center for Mothers, The Art of being a good listener, Upper and Lower Limits
Posted in 9 Moms, Family and Parenting, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, From My Mama's Kitchen Book, Motivational, Recipes For Living, Self Help and Inspirational, Women Empowerment | No Comments »

During this upcoming holiday season some of us will be meeting new people for the first time and some of us will not necessary be looking forward to meeting the people whom we already knew, but am glad that we will only be in their company once a year.

Regardless whatever situation you are in, have you ever considered that someone’s brilliant one-liner may tickle you more than your funny bone, because it may ignite a tiny spark in your heart? If this is true about you, then you are one of the few people who can truly appreciate and realize that having fun and being funny can lead you to living a very healthy and romantic life.

My mom Cajun mom Ginger, believes that humor is essential in our daily lives because it brings balance and a sense of humility to us when we come face-to-face with challenging situations or demanding people. She says, “With humor we can always look and find the lighter side of things to be positive, regardless of whatever we encounter.”

The choices we make, whether to be serious or to have a touch of humor in anything we do, speak loudly to others about our personality and who we are. How we are perceived by others is how we would be rated by them verbally or nonverbally as to our credibility, trustworthiness, and sense of responsibility.

Although the accuracy of this kind of assessment done by others on us can be questionable; however, if we think about it, we do the same thing. Perhaps not as elaborate or thorough as others might see us, but at the very least we do have an impression of others as to how they view life.

To read more recipes for living – please click here to purchase From My Mama’s Kitchen-“food for the soul, recipes for living” book, and help us make a positive difference in our preferred charities.

Johnny Tan created From My Mama’s Kitchen™ concept to honor his 9 incredible moms who changed his life, and to honor moms everywhere by bringing “motherly love” to the global center stage by recognizing the significant roles mothers play in making a positive difference in our daily lives.
Our weekly From My Mama’s Kitchen Talk Radio Show (FMMK Talk Radio) on Blog Talk Radio also serves as a resource center for mothers everywhere by bringing inspirational, spiritual and motivational stories from our special guests of ordinary moms doing extraordinary things. All shows are archived. Please click here to listen at your leisure.
Thank you for helping us spread this wonderful unconditional gift of “Motherly Love” to everyone you know!

Tags: 9 incrdible moms, author and talk show host Johnny Tan, Blog Talk Radio, FMMK Talk Radio Show, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, gift of unconditional love, Global Center Stage, Having Humor in Everything We Do, healthy and romantic life, holiday season, humor in your heart, ignite a tiny spark, Motherly Love, Motivational Stories, my Cajun Mom, Preferred Charities, Recipes For Living, Resource Center for Mothers
Posted in 9 Moms, Family and Parenting, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, From My Mama's Kitchen Book, Motivational, Recipes For Living, Self Help and Inspirational, Women Empowerment | No Comments »

Holiday seasons is a time for celebration and joy, however, it can also be fairly challenging when we are confronted with memories of yesteryear when we reminisced events, situation, and people in our past.

Sometimes things may not work out as planned because the timing is off. If we have given our best, then we have to release it to the universe to be sorted out.

According to my Malaysian mom Nyah, “Life and situations have a way of working themselves out eventually through a universal order. If we believe in faith and live our lives with full expectancy, then we can trust that all things will work out for our greatest good.”

Over the years I know this to be true, because whenever I did just that I was rewarded greatly for not fearing the fear of letting go and not being in control.

A friend once told me that she has the ability to talk herself out of just about anything due to her tremendous amount of control over her mind. This is good; however, if not used or exercised correctly it can bring about the opposite effect of what this gift is intended for.

If we use it to run away from our fears then we are not utilizing it for the right reason, because we are actually giving into our weaknesses. My mom Nyah, said it best. “As easily as we can talk ourselves out of something, we can talk ourselves in to something.”

It is the essence of the power of positive thinking; talking ourselves into confronting and overcoming our fears that strengthen our overall being, which in turn moves us to the next level of personal excellence.

My late Southern Belle mom Eleanora, believed that perseverance and patience would always lead us to overcoming personal self-inflicted anxiety. According to her, you should never be afraid to change your mind. It actually shows maturity, intelligence, and character to admit mistakes rather than to stand firm on an ill-informed decision.

Whenever I had doubts about certain issues I was dealing with that required a leap of faith I always reminded myself of what my late Ballroom Instructor mom Betty, said to me over the years, quoting from her favorite movie line from the movie Strictly Ballroom, “A life lived in fear is a life half lived.”

She said that when we learn to empower ourselves to change the way we look at things, we are actually learning to know our inner self. When we realize that the power in us is greater than the one outside, then we are ready to change our situation. When positive changes come from the inside out, we have then attained the right positive vision.

In a Nutshell—The key to overcoming fear is to have the right positive vision that has been within us all along.

To read more recipes for living – please click here to purchase From My Mama’s Kitchen-“food for the soul, recipes for living” book, and help us to make a positive difference in our preferred charities.

Johnny Tan created From My Mama’s Kitchen™ concept to honor his 9 incredible moms who changed his life, and to honor moms everywhere by bringing “motherly love” to the global center stage by recognizing the significant roles mothers play in making a positive difference in our daily lives.
Our weekly From My Mama’s Kitchen Talk Radio Show (FMMK Talk Radio) on Blog Talk Radio also serves as a resource center for mothers everywhere by bringing inspirational, spiritual and motivational stories from our special guests of ordinary moms doing extraordinary things. All shows are archived. Please click here to listen at your leisure.
Thank you for helping us spread this wonderful unconditional gift “Motherly Love” to everyone you know!

Tags: a life lived in fear, FMMK Talk Radio, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, Global Center Stage, is a life half lived, Johnny Tan, Motherly Love, Motivational Stories, my Ballroom Instructor Mom, my Southern Belle Mom, Overcoming Fear, personal excellence, power of positive thinking, Preferred Charities, Recipes For Living, Resource Center for Mothers, Strictly Ballroom, Weekly Recipes For Living
Posted in 9 Moms, Family and Parenting, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, From My Mama's Kitchen Book, Motivational, Recipes For Living, Self Help and Inspirational, Women Empowerment | No Comments »

Sometimes in our busy lives we tend to forget to focus on the present moment. Our minds tend to drift ahead of us, thinking far off into the future with the, what ifs. At other times we are caught up with reminiscing events of the past. If it is a good reflection then we always wish we could replay it over again and again, but if it is a bad memory—we tend to be weighed down with disappointments.

If we are not careful we may miss the opportunity of enjoying today. To ensure that this does not happen we need to be present in the present moment. We cannot change what happened yesterday, and we can only dream about tomorrow. However, we can certainly affect today by being conscious of our present thoughts.

I am always reminded of what my Texan Earthly mom Terese, told me. “Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow may never come. One thing for sure is that we have today, and what we do with it will determine how we will be remembered tomorrow.”

To read more recipes for living – please click here to purchase From My Mama’s Kitchen-“food for the soul, recipes for living” book, and help us to make a positive difference in our preferred charities.

Johnny Tan created From My Mama’s Kitchen™ concept to honor his 9 incredible moms who changed his life, and to honor moms everywhere by bringing “motherly love” to the global center stage by recognizing the significant roles mothers play in making a positive difference in our daily lives.
Our weekly From My Mama’s Kitchen Talk Radio Show (FMMK Talk Radio) on Blog Talk Radio also serves as a resource center for mothers everywhere by bringing inspirational, spiritual and motivational stories from our special guests of ordinary moms doing extraordinary things. All shows are archived. Please click here to listen at your leisure.
Thank you for helping us spread this wonderful unconditional gift “Motherly Love” to everyone you know!

Tags: 9 incredible moms, author Johnny Tan, Blog Talk Radio, FMMK Talk Radio, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, Motherly Love, Recipes For Living, Texan Earthly Mom, Weekly Recipes For Living
Posted in 9 Moms, Family and Parenting, Food For The Soul, From My Mama's Kitchen, From My Mama's Kitchen Book, Motivational, Recipes For Living, Self Help and Inspirational, Women Empowerment | No Comments »