Today…
I will never hide my talents.
If I am silent, I am forgotten, if I do not advance, I will fall back.
If I walk away from any challenge today, my self-esteem will be forever scarred,
and if I cease to grow, even a little, I will become smaller.
I reject the stationary position
because it is always the beginning of the end.
Vigan Ilocos Sur Sept 2011
Today Series 16/22
Today…
I will face the world with goals set for this day,
but they will be attainable ones,
not the vague, impossible variety declared by those who make a career of failure.
I realize that you always try me with a little, first,
to see what I would do with a lot.
ALiya’s profile by the bay, 2011
Today Series: 15/22
Today…
I will condition myself to look on every problem I encounter today
as no more than a pebble in my shoe.
I remember the pain, so harsh I could hardly walk,
and recall my surprise when I removed my shoe….
and found only a grain of sand.
Cagsawa Ruin, Mayon Volcano, Daraga Albay Bicol, Nov 2011
I know it is not a pebble, but this picture seemed fit with the subject, while almost all of us worry about small things other people have bigger tragedy in their lives. The rock in the pic is one of those spewn by the volcano when it erupted in 1814 that killed almost 1200 Filipinos (see story)
Today Series: (13/22)
Since I read this wisdom, I have look at problems differently. I took comfort on this insights as I face some hurdles. A pebble in my shoe. Looking back now with those seemed to be big problems in the past, one can see that we all came through, and how menial is the issue now…
TODAY….
I will treat today as a priceless violin.
One may draw harmony from it and another, discord, yet no one will blame the instrument.
Life is the same, and if I play it correctly, it will give forth beauty,
but if I play it ignorantly, it will produce ugliness.
Today Series
Today….
I will waste not even a precious second today in anger or hate or jealousy or selfishness.
I know that the seeds I sow I will harvest, because every action, good or bad, is always followed by an equal reaction.
I will plant only good seeds this day.
Pasacao Beach, Naga Bicol, January 2012
Life is too short to be consumed with unnecessary stress, hate and negative thoughts… Plant only good seeds!
Today Series: 11/22
Today!
I will remain aware of how little it takes to make this a happy day.
Never will I pursue happiness, because it is not a goal, just a by-product,
and there is no happiness in having or in getting, only in giving.
(Today Series 8/22)
Happiness is a choice! we can choose to be happy… just as the same that we can choose to be good! and better everyday!
Today…
I will free myself today from slavery to clock and calendar.
Although I will plan this day in order to conserve my steps and energy,
I will begin to measure my life in deeds not years;
in thoughts, not seasons;
in feelings, not figures on a dial.
Subic Sunset March 2010
(Today Series: 7/22)
How do we measure our “time”? Are we living our day by “just getting by” or we see our day as “8-5″ or just simply “whatever” or que-sera-sera? Time, for those who matters time, can really intimidates or frightens you or worry you… but however which way, we are “spending” it everytime… so how are we going to use and measure it matters!
I think we have can easure time by good deeds we’ve done, knowledge we’ve imparted, laughter we’ve blurted and love we’ve shown… and especially by the “time” we actually shared.
It’s been awhile since I made a very personal entry in my blog… maybe because it’s been awhile since that I’m in a roller-coaster of happenings and feelings. And I really don’t know my “mood” whenever I face my blogsite, so I just refrain from it…
Well, anyway, NOW I am good! not great but good!… OR I mean I decided to be just that (anyway it’s always a decision to make)….
So, I need to be inspired and get excited and I need to count my blessings again NOW!
1. I got friends who unfailingly support and cheer me!
2. My kids are as bubbly and rewarding as ever (thanks for amusing mornings)
3. The chance to “touch” my staff’s life whom I know I can still inspire (pinaghuhugutan ko din sla ng lakas)
4. A chance to create arts and hatch ideas (gumagana pa)
5. Ice-Scramble while walking with a friend in an amusement park.
6. Fancy pizza with the same friend, talking about life, age and aging.
7. Chicharon once in a while.
8. Thriving business….
9. Bonding moment with parents and kuya
10. Good books (“uhh-ohh” by Robert Fulghum).
So… I have no reason to be forlorn or grumpy… Hello LIFE! I’m BACK!
Dear Babel,
Your life is your beautiful novel. You’re the author, not me. I just supply
the paper and pen. But you do the writing. You control the plot. The
twists. The turns. And it ends the way you want to end it.
Avid Reader,
God
P.S. Can I make a request, Babel? Can the ending have lots of dancing,
hugging, laughter, and a buffet overflowing with yummy food? Just a wish.
Here’s the daily decalogue of Pope John XXIII (a “decalogue” is a set of rules having authoritative weight). One aspect of the list that’s worth noting is the emphasis on taking each day as it comes. Pope John XXIII was pope from 1958-1963 and was known as “The Good Pope.”
Then DO THIS AGAIN TOMORROW….. and the next day… and the next….. have a great day!
- source: The Happiness Project
A – Accept Differences
B – Be Kind
C – Count your Blessings
D – Dream
E – Express Thanks
F – Forgive
G – Give Freely
H – Harm no One
I – Imagine more
J – Joke and Laugh More
K – Keep Confidences
L – Love Truly
M – Master Something
N – Nurture Friendship
O – Open your Mind
P – Play Fair
Q – Quell Rumors
R – Reciprocate
S – Seek Wisdom
T – Touch Hearts
U – Understand
V – Value Integrity
W – Win Graciously
X – Xerox Good Values
Y – Yearn for Adventure
Z – Zealously Support a Worthy Cause
Five People You Meet in Heaven, another touching, enlightening book by Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays with Morrie.” The story begins with the death of Eddie at age 83 at a freak accident in an amusement park on which he is the “maintenance man.” The death it seems is just a beginning. Eddie met 5 people and learned 5 lessons of “whys” about the life he lived. These “whys” I believe are our questions too. It echoes our thoughts and wondering. The story also makes us imagine heaven and realize how we can “create” our own heaven. There and here.
Lesson 1:
“Fairness does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.”
“The human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersects. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives changed.”
“What good came from your death?” Eddie asked the Blue Man. “You lived” he answered.
“Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know.”
Lesson 2
“Sacrifice. You made one. I made one.” said the Captain. “Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to…. A mother works so her son can go to school. A daughter who moves home to take care of her sick father…. A man goes to war…”
“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.”
Lesson 3
“Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hated is a curved blade. And the hard we do, we do to ourselves.”
“Do you remember the lightness you felt when you arrived in heaven?” Ruby asked. “That’s because no one is born with anger. And when we die our soul is freed form it. Forgive.”
Lesson 4:
“Life has to end, Love doesn’t.” (Marguerite)
“Lost love is still love, Eddie. It just takes a different form, that’s all…Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.”
Lesson 5:
“Children, you keep them safe. You make good for me” (Tala)
“Is where you were supposed to be…”
In the end, it is all like “butterfly effect”… that we do and affect things and people…every minute of our life. So with that in mind, we must make everything and every moment worthwhile…
“Each affects the other and the other affects the next; and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.”
Coincidence that I just read Mr. Francis Kong’s thought about “Making the Most of Time” (see here)
This is an excerpt from “the God Memorandum”
from the book “The Greatest Miracle in the World” by Og Mandino
(this is the 3rd law to perform the greatest miracle in the world)
Whomsoever shall compel ye to go with him one mile … go with him two.
Go another mile!
The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you,
no matter what your task may be.
This is a habit followed by all successful people since the beginning of time.
Therefore I saith the surest way to doom yourself to mediocrity
is to perform only the work for which you are paid.
Think not ye are being cheated if you deliver more than the silver you receive.
For there is a pendulum to all life and the sweat you deliver,
if not rewarded today, will swing back tomorrow, tenfold.
The mediocre never goes another mile, for why should he cheat himself, he thinks.
But you are not mediocre.
Go another mile!
To go another mile is a privilege you must appropriate by your own initiative.
You cannot, you must not avoid it.
Neglect it, do only as little as the others, and the responsibility for your failure is yours alone.
Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, these cannot be separated.
The effect already blooms in the cause,
the end pre-exists in the means, and the fruit is always in the seed.
Go another mile!
Concern yourself not, should you serve an ungrateful master. Serve him more.
And instead of him, let it be Me (God) who is in your debt!
for then you will know that every minute,
every stroke of extra service will be repaid.
Go another mile!
And worry not, should your reward not come soon.
For the longer payment is withheld, the better for you …
and compound interest on compound interest is this law’s greatest benefit.
You cannot command success, you can only deserve it …
and now you know the great secret necessary in order to merit its rare reward.
Go another mile!
