".....Apparently, whatever I learnt when I was a child lingers deeply and continue to affect my thoughts, believes, attitudes, behaviours and feelings. I can see that they have largely been moulded by the outside world, consciously or unconsciously. I quite agree with Don Juan Matus who said, "Human beings are perceivers, but the world that they perceive is an illusion: an illusion created by the description that was told to them from the moment they were born." (From Tales of Power by Carlos Castaneda.) And now am I really free to believe in anything I choose to believe?!..."

".....This week's class reminded me of some success books. Break the problem into small bits, set specific goals, and start with what you can do so that you get motivated. It is good advice. I know it works. Yet sometimes I just want to abandon myself to the flow of life without setting goals or planning future; just being contended with whatever my destiny has to offer. If death makes everybody equal, why bother? Death is inevitable, isn't it? No matter what you do, at the end of the day, you get nothing. So don’t try so hard. Just wait and die. Reasonable argument? It is, to me. However, there is the excitement of learning. I want to explore, understand and satisfy my curiosity. I feel that it isn't right to live without struggling to discover the meaning of life. Plus I don't know what happens after death. There is some serious promise and threat. Oh, I wouldn't mind an eternal bliss. And who could stand an everlasting torture?...."

".....It seems to me that my current aloof reaction towards my mother stems from the accumulation of years, not only how she recently treats me. Anyway, when all's said and done I feel all right now. I even sometimes feel thankful because my mother's undesirable behaviours apparently prevented me from having a strong attachment and enabled me to develop an emotionally independent personality. Above all, I owe a great deal to the unsatisfactory parts of my past as they have pushed me into a rewarding self-improvement journey....."

".....I saw Carl Rogers nodding and humming a lot. Just like me! When I saw him listening to the client, I said to myself, 'Hey, he is doing more or less what I am doing in my everyday life. And he is considered as a great listener. Wow, that is to say...' I was delighted to discover that....."

"..... The book categorises basically four types of people: intimidator, interrogator, aloof and poor me (victim). From this point of view, when people are angry, and if I perceive them as intimidators, I think I would probably behave as though I appeal to the mercy. My instant reaction could be to say something like, "I haven't done anything to you." In my childhood, that kind of reaction of me was more obvious and intensive. I suppose acting as a weak and helpless victim should have harmed me emotionally more than any actual physical damage which could have happened....."

"..... I have always hated intimidators who threaten, aggressively behave, use violence, physically and verbally abuse, give fear, and don't give a damn what's going inside me. And although my brain is not busy with them as long as I don't confront them, I still hate them. I think I haven't directed the same hatred to myself, but I have been unhappy with myself for being too cowardly. I wish I had fought in the streets since childhood so that life could have hardened me. Maybe some sort of desensitisation would have occurred. When I look back from this moment of my life, I say to myself I would happily see them as learning opportunities if I had experienced some hardship of life, especially confrontation with the beasts, bullies and baddies....."

".....I sometimes try to understand my feelings by attempting to analyse connections between my thoughts, feelings and behaviours. I see that just to be aware of what is going on inside me often makes me feel better. If the feeling stems from a person, I may talk to that person so that I can feel relief. Sometimes (nowadays rarely) it comes to a point that I can do nothing but weeping in a silent corner. Although I have managed to harden myself a bit in the process of overcoming social phobia (that's my ex-friend), I think I'm still too sensitive. I think I could get benefit from counselling. And I want to give it a try....."

".....I wish to be completely free from the prejudice that I have picked up from my parents, environment, culture etc. OK, I accept that I am looking for something impossible. But at least the answers to some basic philosophical questions could have been given in a different way. Whether I did ask the questions or the answers were actually unsolicited is another story, but if a child asked me, for example, what would happen after death, I would say something like, "Some people believe that... and some others believe that..." I don't remember if I ever received such a flexible answer in my childhood. The implicit or explicit answers to some theoretical questions like the meaning of life, where we came from or why we are here as well as some practical questions like how to live, what to do or what not to do were usually single, definite and unquestionable....."

"..... When kids gone? What do we have children anyway? Alan has asked that question several times throughout the course. What a good question indeed. Many people seem to have taken for granted that they should have children. But why? I think when you come down to it many people have children just out of conformism. I also suspect that, particularly in a western style urban life, some people choose to have children semiconsciously or subconsciously to keep themselves occupied so that they can avoid facing the meaninglessness of their life because it should be too scary....."

".....By the way, having children appears quite unreasonable to me. Why would I have children? Someone who would love & look after me, fill my emotional incompleteness, continue my existence through my genes? No, I don't feel like that. I don't want to make sweeping generalisations, but as far as I can observe, children's attitudes towards others tend to be egocentric and self-oriented. They just want their needs to be met. They just consume (well, at least in the society in which I live). I guess if I had children, they wouldn't be very different from any other children in terms of those typical characteristics. They would take my time, energy and money. They wouldn't have many significant things to share with me. They could hardly empathise or philosophise with me. At the end of the day, what I think is that the cost of having children for me would be much more than its benefits, so I don't want to put such a burden on my back....."