Ignatius'  picture Ignatius Y. Ding


    Dance like no one’s watching (an excellent advice from my friend Charles -- who doesn’t dance)

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another.  Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and we’ll be more content when they are.  After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.  We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.  We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.  The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now.  If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges.  It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.  One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza.  He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten thorough first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid.  Then life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness.  Happiness is the way.  So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.  ..and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you’ve sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.  Thought for the day.  Work like you don’t need money.  Love like you’ve never been hurt.  And dance like no one’s watching.

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Community Involvement

Member of the Advisory Council to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Spokesperson and member of the Executive Council of the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WW II in Asia
Board Member of the Silicon Valley for Democracy in China.
Former Board member of American Red Cross, Santa Clara Valley Chapter (1993-1997).
Former Member of the Advisory Panel to the California Board of Education on History-Social Science (1998).
Member of the West Valley Citizens Air Watch, a community environmental conservation group.

Special Skills

Knowledge of legislative and political processes.
Experience in legal affairs, state, federal and international laws.
Investment planning and execution.

Interests / Hobbies

Freelance writing and lecturing of both technical and non-technical subjects.
Extensive knowledge of modern Asian history.
Hiking and photography.

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Personal Information 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Home:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- We live in Cupertino, California.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our home is at the southwest corner of the city bordering Los Altos. It is located in the heart of Silicon Valley
     (about forty miles south of San Francisco and a couple of miles north of San Jose).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Family and I:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am a Chinese American -- born in China and brought up in Taiwan. I have been in the United States for more than thirty years.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- I read, write and speak fluent Chinese Mandarin and also frequently write articles or quotes for local and national English media as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- My wife, Josephine, is major in Business Administration and Accounting. She is also trained in computer graphic arts, photography,
     and fashion design, in addition to her gourmet cooking.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of our sons, Evers, is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and works for PayPal, an eBay company in San Jose, California.  His wife, Lois, is a
     graduate of U.C.Davis, and currently a homemaker and loving mother of their sons and daughter, four-year-old Matthew, 27-month-old Andrew, 17-month-old Emmaline and new-born Calissa. They live in Milpitas, California.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our other son, the twin brother of Evers', Eric, is a MIT graduate and now studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, located in Boston and South Hamilton, Massachusetts.  His wife, Hanna Mae, is a Harvard graduate and a high school English teacher in Boston.  They live on the campus with their first child, Abigail Eliza, born on July 24, 2006.

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News / Miscelaneous Information

Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
News from Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WW II in Asia.
News from Silicon Valley for Democracy in China.
My Seal

“Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
                                  -- Harvard Philosopher George Santayana
Drop me a line by e-mail or snailmail at P.O. Box 2658, Cupertino, CA 95015-2658