Rob Cheng’s Blog

I have a dear friend that is dying of cancer. He is still with us but I don’t believe that he has much time left on this earth. We have been talking on the phone frequently and one time he shared with me two things. ONE – He stopped having sex 6 months ago and TWO – He was still chain smoking. I found the topic fascinating and it really made me wonder, when do we stop doing the things we enjoy?

My grandmother died when she was 107 years old. Some time before she turned 100, she stopped playing bridge. She said that it made her think too hard for someone her age. She loved playing bridge and it puzzles me to this day.

I have another dear friend (still in the living) that was an avid golfer. Around the time that he turned 60, he stopped. That was 5 years ago, and he has not played since.

This got me thinking about my life and also “Why do we stop doing the things we love?”. Is stopping a sign that your life is running out of energy for certain pursuits? Or is it the opposite? Are you saving energy as you grow older by giving up these pursuits? I have no idea.

I love to run. It is a passion for me, almost an addiction. The reason is because it makes me feel good. About 15 minutes into the run, the endorphins kick in and the rest of the run is like a beautiful dream. I am relaxed. I am in harmony with my body and nature. I am mostly just lost in my thoughts. Those thoughts quite often will drive my direction for the day or more. I know that running is also a physically demanding pursuit and I wonder, will there be a time when I must stop. How will I know when I should stop? Either way, I know that my life will not be the same if I don’t run.

I also love to read. It is like tickling my brain or scratching an itch. It is a different feeling than running but it is relaxing and helps me sleep at night. I imagine that I will continue to read until the very end. It is not physically demanding, only mentally. But who knows? Not I.

I also play guitar. It is a peaceful pursuit and personally rewarding. I have been playing for over 30 years and honestly, I am only so-so. There are probably millions of guitar players better than me. It is rewarding when you feel like you have improved a little iota. It is rewarding to figure out a song that you never could touch before. Just to get a little better each time you play. I guess one day I will stop when I feel that I can no longer improve any more. There is so much room for improvement but I have reached a point where my lack of talent will not allow me to improve any more. I hope it doesn’t happen any time soon. Sometimes, it just makes me happy.

So I am just wondering out loud. What makes us stop? I used to drink beer every day and at one time in my left I was addicted to nicotine and cigarettes. These are two things that I have stopped because I knew they were unsustainable activities. They were doing more harm than good. But then, why do we stop doing the things that are good for us? The things that keep us challenged or motivated? What do we stop? I really don’t know. Leave a comment below.

October 25th, 2011 | Category: Religion, Stoned Thoughts | Comments (3)

As I already documented earlier, Teddy’s christening had a cloud over it because the Father at our church would not allow Augusto to be the Godfather. He did allow Augusto to attend the Christening, and we took some photos of the big event. Solange was really excited for the event and bought Teddy a special outfit just for the occasion. More »

June 1st, 2008 | Category: Brazil, Religion, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show, Teddy | Leave a comment

I wrote this song shortly after leaving Gateway. I was in my new house in Myrtle Beach pounding beers and hammering on my guitar. That was seven years ago, and now I am married to a truly fantastic woman. After so long, I finally found my angel. Next Tom took the song, and it now has a 50′s retro country type of sound to it. More »

January 2nd, 2008 | Category: Music, Religion | Comments (1)

Solange and I try to go to church once a week, but to be honest it’s been a chore because we have had nothing but bad and bizarre church experiences in 2007. One weird event after another. Sometimes, it makes you wonder whether it is all worthwhile. Here’s a tale of three churches. More »

December 31st, 2007 | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

I remember the year well. It was 1998, and I had just gone through a messy break up. But I was in great spirits. I had just bought a brand new Toyota Supra. It was a great looking car for its time. It was a beautiful day and I started going to a new church in Austin TX. I was in great spirits and this song popped into my head. More »

December 29th, 2007 | Category: Music, Religion | Leave a comment

Somewhere in Genesis, it says that God made Man in his own image. I have always wondered what that means. How are we the same as God? It can’t be that He has two eyes or two legs, because lots of other animals have all of that. The one defining thing that sets Man and humans apart is our ability to improve our existence. The life of an elephant is essentially the same as it was 100 years ago, but a human’s life is considerably more advanced. More »

August 30th, 2007 | Category: Music, Religion | Leave a comment

I wrote this song back in the mid 80′s. I can remember it like yesterday. My ex girlfriend Karol broke up with me for the second time. She broke up the first time, and it really did not bother me much. So we got together and this time, she made sure that it would hurt. It was bad. I could not sleep, and the pain was as bad as any physical pain that I had experienced.

I started going to Hilltop Baptist Church. Not sure why, just searching. Because of this, I started reading the Bible. I had an old Bible that I had received from some weird zealot while at Cornell close to 10 years earlier. There were many sleepless nights, and I just read the Bible. One night while reading the Bible, the pain disappeared! And then, I slept the night through. It was amazing. I felt like I had been washed. More »

August 22nd, 2007 | Category: Music, Religion | Leave a comment

I wrote this song back in the mid 1980′s. The songs lyrics are about my grandfather, Theodore Chen, who was of failing health but he had not yet passed away. On this web site somewhere is a version of me playing the song on my guitar. Since I know my limitations, I asked a friend of mine to rearrange the song, and also give it professional production values. I think it turned out great. More to come. I am hoping that we can work together to redo all of my songs. More »

June 18th, 2007 | Category: Music, Religion | Comments (1)

I have felt the Religious Right in American politics has been wrong for a long time, but I have never been able to fully articulate why. It is the middle of the night on January 11, 2006, and I had the strangest dream about my pastor Greg, and somehow, the thoughts have come together and I am typing as fast as I can to get them down. I hope it works. More »

January 11th, 2006 | Category: Politics, Religion | Comments (3)