A Better Year Ahead

Many people cram for their resolution. I, for one, am contemplating what to do this year. However, there are still boundaries that are yet to cross. By now, I already realized that I can’t be lower than 100 pounds not unless I suffer from eating disorder. I can’t shoot, swim, or run fast enough. I hate walking lengthy distance and don’t consider working out a happy experience. Diet? I can go as far as oat meal and cereal bars just don’t take dinner out from the schedule. So the idea of getting thin and on top form is probably reserved for next life, err, I mean next year. Others would suggest opening a business. Well why not if you have the time, money and inclination for it. As for me, I can only do it as a sideline but not really a source of living. Taking a vacation is also a good resolution. However, it should be at barest minimum, within the budget and with immediate family only.

But then, not all resolutions are difficult and stressful. You can actually make them simple. Here’s what I learned from Bo Sanchez in his recent blog:

Cut TV watching. Replaced it with reading books, playing with your children or listening to your spouse’s stories.

Be the kindest person you can be. Offer your seat and learn to put others’ needs before your own.

Listen to understand, not to reply. While it is liberating to express yourself; it is more healing to know that there are other people who are in a tougher position than you are.

Learn to save, invest and to tithe. This may not be the easiest times but saving a portion of your salary will help keep you afloat when in great financial difficulties. No matter how small. 10% or not, it’s between you and your God.

Keep dreaming. I once read that idle mind is a Satan’s workshop. So? go ahead. It will save you from catching Alzheimers.

Have a blessed year everyone!

How I Feel in Photos

"Say the word and I will sing for You
Over oceans deep, I will follow
If each star was a song
And every breath of wind, praise
It would still fail by far to say
All my heart contains" - Hillsong

Here Comes December

I always love the feeling this month brings. It’s like a magic to me of some sort, fascinating and all. It’s as if there’s a supernatural power that turns things and people around. Ever notice that people get less complaining, worrying or critical? Have you ever been just sitting there and all of a sudden you feel like doing something nice for someone you care for? Have you ever been thinking about somebody that you haven't seen in a long time and then next thing you know you see them or receive a phone call from them? Could this be an act of chance? I know that these things can happen anytime. But why of all months, December seems to be when nearly all act of kindness, favors, charity, forgiveness come about? It is a trend, you say, fleeting and short-lived. But true or not, the spirit is alive in them. How sad it can be for one person to get through Christmas and misses no one, wishes nothing and never changes anything.

But surely, these are not always easy words to accept. We know, of course, there are others who are in crisis, in a time of dread, in days of isolation and pain, and hoping and wishing and dreaming hardly take them out of their present situations. But no matter how does one feel, no matter where they could possibly are, there is always a reason to be happy about this time of year. I look at my family and hope that it is Christmas all year through. My husband Jun, though no longer romantic as he was before, is the same thoughtful and loyal person I know. And my children, Lian and Yana, they are what Christmas is all about: puritan happiness and joy. I look at my mother and I take pleasure that she is still with us, tempers and all. My other siblings who love me dearly and accept whatever this life has made me. My in-laws, who show nothing but kindness and concern and my friends, who help bring out the best and worst in me. This said, I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Or may be not.

How about a car for next year? An I-pad? Kidding.

Hope you find your own reason to celebrate the holidays.

An Open Letter to Myself

You been in to so many things lately, too busy you didn’t have the chance to pause for a rest, to slow down, to while away time and do what you really want. I caught you one time, staring blankly. You are thinking of your crazy work load, juggling one task to another so you can finish everything on time and make all people around you happy and satisfied. After all, who would do it if you wouldn’t, right? So may be this is just pointless. But may be not. Truth be told, no one stop you because you make them feel you’re okay. Were in fact, you’re not. I almost heard you cry for help, for a break in your seemingly endless, physically tiring routines. And what’s worse? You feel guilty if you stop.

Finally, you rest. No, make that lie. On the bed, with fever that shakes you up and down, with headaches that won’t go away. The doctor said it is some form of infection, I say, it’s a relapse. I haven’t seen you laugh this much, smile this often or just be happy. I see traces of that happy, giggly girl you used to be. I see glimmers of those sparkles in your eyes. It’s nice to see her again. It’s nice to hear her laugh again. I know that you already missed the freedom of having your own time. Is it such a bad thing, you wonder? Of course, not. It's human. Don’t fret over things you can’t do, that you are not reasonable if you will spend time alone. Don’t take that individuality loses when motherhood comes. Husband and children are bonuses. Only they come with great responsibility. But they should be as much fun as they are challenging. Just grab the moment where you can read as many books, magazines, novels you want, watch a movie, spend time with friends, go window shopping and buy that bag your longing for the longest time for heaven’s sake! Just let go and not think everything to death. You have procrastinated enough.

The bottom line: I love you. I love who you are, just as you are. I don't ever want you to change for anything or anyone. Just be happy. Be spontaneous. Be bold. And try to live for the moment. If only once.

Day of the Dead

Few days from now is All Saint’s Day. While in many countries, this is a solemn holiday set aside to remember the dead, in the Philippines the holiday is a day of festivities. November 1 marks the beginning of the Filipino "Araw ng mga Patay," the celebration of the dead. The memorial continues through the next day, All Souls Day. If for others it is sincere and solemn, for some it is a day of fun and pleasure. Do you put faith in stories about the return of spirits of the dead, of witches, and of ghosts and goblins? If you are from my country and was born in the 70’s, you are surely familiar with the all the sequels of Shake, Rattle & Roll or see Noli de Castro delivering his spiel “Magandang Gabi, Bayan” in a dark, spooky graveyard.

Before November 1, people would cram to Divisoria for the candles and flowers. Also, join thousands of people who gather early in the cemetery to decorate their dead relatives' tombs. Cemeteries consist mostly of mausoleums instead of grave plots and generations of ancestors are often buried in one tomb. The mausoleums are gaily adorned with balloons and flowers.

Going to the cemetery is another story. Not only you spend for the candles and flowers, but you are also doomed to get stuck in the traffic and realized that everyone is out this time of year. And if you are visiting dead relatives in the province, you should have saved enough for the family to survive the entire vacation.

However, the true November 1 experience happens in collecting used candles, eating toasted corn nuts and salted snack foods, playing games and sharing stories while sitting on the ledges of tombs. In this festive atmosphere, it's not unusual to hear the echoes of the old and young laughing.

It is indeed not really just the living visiting the dead, but it is more of coming home to place that brings you back where you are rooted, to where you will more likely rest in peace when your own time comes.

Half Full and Rising

Oh I’m so into this website, bloggers.com these days. Not only was I able to read wonderful blogs but also get connected with wonderful people who have the same interests, thoughts and probably passions in life. There is variety, more like a buffet table of everything you want, need to learn, great to know in blogging.

Thanks to a new friend, Andy Ko, for the suggestion. Please visit his blog, “Jec and the Beans Talk” and “e-Revenue”. You will not only get a grasp of his personal views but hear him singing too. Did I forget to tell he is Marco Sison- Hajji Alejandro- Anthony Castello rolled into one? I say, he sings ballad songs really well.

I also particularly like the blogs of Ning Li, owner of “The Other Side of Me”. Well worded, with lots of interesting pictures in it. One can readily relate with her positive views. Ready yourself to see God’s plan in hailing distance.

Nur’s latest post “ Vitamin from Bo” from his blog Perfect Day has quotes, verses, speech marks that can be very useful in daily living. Although they are not originally his; but he cared to collect them for the readers. I happened upon just a few of his blogs and I thought he writes very well. Very Pinoy. With those family vacation picture and other topics from Edsa, Angel Locsin, to Mall of Asia and Pres. Noynoy etc. etc. This man can talk about anything.

I guess that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I can only guess who I will bump into in the next days. Imagine the drive, motivation, wisdom you get from these people. And I hope to meet more of their kind.

“All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind.” ~Martin H. Fischer

Life Half Full

This title because I still want to do a lot of things. Aside from my daily demands and routines. Everyday, I would bump into ideas or thoughts that left me preoccupied practically the whole day, sometimes the whole week. My curiosity had led me, so far, to learning Photoshop, photography, origami, stage hosting, event coordination, cooking among other things. There are also days that I want to write a book, and other times when I like to master the art of singing in second voice, more like 2-part harmony. Although I have not mastered them yet, but at the very least, I can say that I have gained a bit of knowledge about them. Jack of all trades, but master of none, you say? Yes, in a sort of way.

But here’s what I learned: everyone has enough talents, unsurpassed gifts and phenomenal intelligence. You can create your own universe from one single thought. If you really want something, and if you have a solid grip on what you want, and are totally sure of what you want, you’ll climb walls, move mountains, cross rivers, swim oceans- just to get what you really want.

So?
Go ahead.
Know what you want.
And be unstoppable.