Hope and Gratitude -- My Mind's Version of a "HAPPY MEAL"

When we are too scared of losing something, we end up really losing them because of the fear that we feel inside. Don't you notice that when you embrace the thought of a possibility, it suddenly turns into reality?

Breathing in day-in and day-out having that constant fear and doubt inside your chest won’t bring you any good. Instead, the presentiment of losing something spoils the beauty of having it. So instead of going about with your daily life trying to get a tight grip on something, try living a life filled with gratitude. Keep your arms wide open so you can embrace more possibilities and better things that might come your way.

If you fill your heart with love, high-hopes, and requital for what you currently have, there will be no more space left for fear and doubt to pervade. And since the mind has the power to make into reality all that it seizes, always fill it with good and positive thoughts. Have it encompassed with the notions of great possibilities. It's about time that you let your spirit soak in light-heartedness and the positive attitude of knowing your life will get better at any point in time.

Loss and disappointments are truly disheartening and the fact that they do exist does not help a bit in keeping your hopes up. But you should not let those things interfere with the good things that you will soon encounter. Never let negativity define your character. Instead, you can dote on each lesson learned and value each scruple that you picked up during every incident.

Sure, it is easier to let your selfdom wear the crown. You can do so and sulk in bleakness and hopelessness, or you can simply live in gratitude and let your spunk take charge.

Hoping you let gratitude fill your mind today,

Rain, I love thee!

Whenever I start hearing the rain pour down, I instantly feel glued to my bed. It seems as though the heavens poured down tons of magnets designed to keep me cling like ivy to my bed. It is such a painful experience having to peel myself off the cushion I laid my back on last night. I used to be cheery when when I wake up but when the clock ticked 6 this morning, I felt like I was dragging myself to eat, bathe, and get dressed. The cold weather didn’t help a bit in my efforts of pulling my energy up to its usual level. I used to hate the rain when I was in college. Living and studying in an area that can instantly turn from a busy road to an island, I must say that rain is not really sought-after.

Well, Im a fan of rain and every good feeling that pours down once it starts gushing from the heavens. It’s just that feeling the coldness from the outside makes me realize that I still have warmth inside me; that I still knew how to recognize coldness because I experience what warmth is.

There’s definitely something about the rain. Maybe it’s the negative ions that linger on the air after a heavy downpour that makes me feel good inside. When it pours, I want to just close my eyes for a little while. Doing so just feels right; it’s like having an instant dose of anti-depressant. Well, maybe the coldness of the weather is capable of bringing out my warmest emotions and sentiments.

Happy rainy days! :-)

Thinking that the rain is another gift that God sent for me today,

PS Perhaps I just had one of the best rainy mornings here at the office. The breakfast I had is like the cherry on top of my happy rainy day! ToSiLog for the win! :-)

Let the Beam of Love Shine Right Through You

Don't you just love the feeling of knowing you actually started the day right? Making amends with everything that concerns you for the full 24-hour is really frustrating but somehow, you know you've gone halfway through it just by simply starting your day right.

Just this morning, I came across someone I'm not totally in good terms with. I don't think we really argued in the fullest sense of the word "argue" but I just know we're not riding the same boat. I saw him this morning and it just felt right to come right up to him and greet him. I was hesitant to do it at first, probably because my pride was acting up. But I realized that if I can give a stranger a kind smile, how can I not give the same to someone who used to be my friend?

It's crazy that I always thought smiling can brighten up the day of that person I smiled at. But then I came to realize that it too is a perfect example of a win-win situation. At one moment today, I felt better and I felt (modesty aside) kind. It simply seemed unreasonable not to give out genuine smiles and affection to people who deserve it when you have too much in your backpocket.

It's really a minute thing to revolutionize my day, but maybe I'm weird that way. It totally turned my day upside down -- I left home feeling grumpy but then I arrived at the office somewhat relieved and light-hearted.

Grateful that I have too much love to give,

My Take On Relationships and Its Impact On My Life

I myself can attest that relationships are of the highest eminence in our lives.

Even before I stick my head out to get a good view of the world, I have established a special bond with my mother – inside her womb. And during the extent of my toddler years, I have learned to bet bottom dollar on the affinity I built with my parents and guardians. As time goes by and I get to interact with a multitude of people, I got to experience a great deal of things -- all of which were helpful in learning how to socialize well with other people including former schoolmates and neighbours. It didn’t occur to me at first but I realized that I was able to put up with life’s events and changes the moment I learned the basics of co-existence.

If there’s something that was a tad too hard to cope with, it’s that I have to embrace the verity that the world no longer revolves around me – that there’s a whole lot of different things in the universe that does not involve me. But with that thought, I have learned to generously share my “personal space” with others. Hence, I share a relationship even with those I barely know. Relationships are indeed INEVITABLE. However, not all relationships were built to last a lifetime. Yet it does not mean we’re not supposed to exert our efforts, spend some time, and pour out our love. This simply means that all our actions lead to further nourishing or unlikely destruction of these relationships.

All throughout my entire lifespan, I was able to encounter and be involved with relationships of varying depth, sizes, shapes, and colours. No matter how seemingly insignificant one is, or how influencing it was, it all made a mark in my life. It may come ambiguously evident but still, each made a significant impact in my life - an impact that widely affects who I am right now.

So if you were to ask me if I regret any relationship I pursued, then it's a NO. If all those relationships led me to where I am right now, then I’d gladly go through them all over again. I’d like to think that each and every relationship I had is like a puzzle piece that makes up my life’s picture. Every bit of the picture perfectly represents the infinite pastiche of relationships and the bond that sticks each piece together is life’s occurrences that I went through. Despite each piece having different qualities, vividness, and colour palette, they all seem to fit together flawlessly.

I’m just extremely grateful for everyone with whom I shared my life and formed relationships with –my families, neighbours, former schoolmates, and colleagues. Thank you for being an important piece of my life’s puzzle.


Still in awe of the beauty of love, growth, and companionship,

Walking With a Pocketful of Faith

There are times when we get all caught up with the fallacy that all things in this life is hopeless. Such deceit can snatch us away from our faith, especially when the enemy starts to imbue in us the spirit of fear, hopelesness, and self-pity.

If we truly believe in the Lord, then there is no reason for us to feel dejected and afraid because the moment we started believing in Him, we already received His inimitable love and favor.

In Corinthians 2:9, God has just laid out on us how perfect and unimaginable His plans for our lives are. We may not understand it now and we may fear it once its presented right before our very eyes but there's no reason to be doubtful. We just have to acknowledge and trust His ways for He knows best. He is perfect in every possible way.

If I were to revise that old saying that a journey starts with a single step, I'd take it this way:

"The journey towards a happy life and a successful future starts with a single step with God."

You can choose to walk with Him hand in hand or you can follow His ways, but never should you go before Him. Let God lead the way. While you're on that journey, you can be calmed by the fact that nothing and no one can harm you so long as you make the pilgrimage with the Lord.

Hoping you walk around with faith in your heart,

Getting Crazier by the Minute

A dung beetle trying to punch holes in his lungs by smoking. HAHA. What’s happening with the world? :))

Life's just full of crazy moments and I love it. :-)

Big thanks to Brian for the photo. :-)

Chillax Wednesday

Typical 4PM at the office - merienda time with teammates:

BTW, Jew got hold of the can opener and deliberately opened up the "Canned Tarsier". Here's what it contains anyway:

Finally found her long-lost son,

Canned Goods Just Got Better

I arrived late at the office this morning yet I still managed to be unproductive by heading off to the pantry to watch the Celtics beat the Lakers. But unfortunately, LAL bagged game 3. It was a good game, nevertheless.

BTW, I got this awesome gift from Jew who recently went on a trip to Bohol and Cebu. It's a canned tarsier. The label on the can says it contains one fuzzy tarsier. Cute enough, eh? Can someone please get Derek Ramsay canned and give it to me? Pretty please? :-)

And no, that's not what I had for lunch. It's a good thing that I have been taught that we should not eat family. =))

An animal advocate,

Perky Evening with Relatives

Since we intend to make Sunday a family day, my family and I spent the entire day with our much loved relatives.

Last Sunday, we attended Sunday service at VCF and I was elated at how much the preaching shook me until I became fully aware of my senses. It's like hearing the Word but somehow I felt like it was being spoken to my very own ears. That was how I felt last Sunday morning ergo I cannot help but feel blessed. I was literally grinning the entire day.

Afterwards, we headed towards Ina's home and we had a feisty lunch there. Later on that afternoon, Pop received a call from Ate Kay. She invited us for dinner somewhere in QC. We arrived at Gerry's a bit later than everyone else. After a very fulfilling dinner, we dropped by Starbucks just to have a good talk over coffee and to savor each other's company as well.

Before we all decided to head home, we dropped by the PBB House nearby. Just like how Ate Kay would put it, "Sakdalan na sa pagka-jologs!" =))

The entire day was fun, and I must say that this is how I ought to spend all the Sundays of my life. Sta.Ana family is LOVE.

Once you Pop, You Can’t Stop

I’m not sure if it’s just me or the weather’s too conducive for sleep that I can barely convince myself to work. The HB season just ended ergo most of our tasks were already settled and our Swedish counterparts are on leave for a week or so. I only have two tickets left on my plate and it has been that way since Monday. It’s almost the weekend now and I haven’t paid much attention to those pending tasks that I barely attempted to revisit them. So I ended up spending the entire day reading, eating, and chatting with my officemates.

I had Pringles for breakfast and I must admit that it quite made my day. :-)

Enjoying my lazy days at work,

Candy-fied

I've always been an advocate of anything sweet, fun, and colorful. Back when I was younger, I would so often rant if I would not get my weekly daily dose of candies. Perhaps my Mum thought it was those chocolates' fault why I can manage to be hyperactive for hours, but I always thought I was wired that way. So no harm done whatsoever. :-P

How I wish to see my initials or my face on a piece of chocolate as tiny as M&M's. That'll be way too cool!

Living in a candy-colored world,

AWOL – Let Me Explain

How I wish I can rekindle my love for writing in a bat of an eye. I mean the love and the keenness were not completely turned into dust, but perhaps the fire died down a bit.

For the past month/s, I tried to take a whack at composing anything worthwhile about what is going on in my life but I never mustered enough courage to hit the "Publish" button and let the entire world read such mediocre posts.

To tell you quite frankly, I have been a little too ambivalent about writing for the past months for reasons I cannot fully pin. Some of it is the usual wear down from the spurt of to-do's in the office; my so-called crammed up schedule; my writing job which seems to suck off all the words in my head; my flourishing relationship which I choose not to talk so much about so as to keep both those significant and seemingly nugatory things private. I seem to finally learn from the mistakes of my past follies. :-)

But the factor that played up the most on why I have 'decided' or should I say 'ended up' being too delinquent on my own blog site is a sense that perhaps I have said what I wanted to say. It can get quite luring to fill this space up with nonsense yaks just because it's here and I might as well make the most out of it.

So for those who dropped by and sort of wondered where on earth I am hiding, thank you for your concerns. I just want you to know that I'm still here, existing in the most subtle way I know. This might sound too familiar, but I do promise intend to keep this thing updated so I'll be popping in from time to time.

No longer Missing In Action,

Talking to My Eight-Year-Old Self, Telling Her Things I Wish I Heard Back Then

If one of these days I come across my eight-year-old self along the street, I would gladly talk to "her" and say:

"Life's going to suck more than how you think it does right now. So you better get a tight grip on your rainbow and secure your place in the sun while you are young.  Although you think that those mishaps are going to take the rest of you, you still have the best of you hidden somewhere in the deepest corners of your mind - safe from any adversity that you thought could harm you. Life can be tough at times but you should never ever lose that spark of madness you exude.  Believe in the power of your dreams and never be afraid to face the fact that your life is in constant flux. You can go where life takes you but always remember to find your back to where you are destined to be. Wherever it may be that your present or future self may call you to, take your sweet time so you can arrive at the very doorstep of your lifelong dream safely."

Forever my Daddy's little girl,

Let Go to Learn, Live, and Love Life a Little Bit More

"You have too much stuff, you even keep those you don't even bother using."

Those were my Mum's words that I get to hear every time she scheduled a general cleaning task for the entire family. I remember those days when my Mum would constantly nag me to get rid some of my shoes, clothes, and bags. She would always rummage my room on schooldays and when I arrive home on weekends, I can see some of my old things packed which was some sort of an indication that I should throw some things away. It even came to a point that when I buy two new pairs of shoes, she would require me to let go of two old pairs.

Whatever it may be - clothes, plush toys, accessories, etc., I should admit that I accumulated a lot of them in the past,  And to tell you frankly, I barely used all of them anyway so they just get piled up in the closet or in my room. At any event, I was not ready to just let it all go.

The first moment that led me to the realization that you can really lose things despite your tight grip on them was when my Mum deliberately ripped off my favorite sleepwear. I can still remember that I was in the 5th grade when she bought me those cartoon characters-inspired oversized tees and I made sure I'd wear them to sleep every night until I die. If there's such thing as a comfort zone, then perhaps those were my comfort "clothes". My heart broke one day when I found them on the floor, ripped apart - not even one out of those 3 shirts were spared from Mum's scissor hands.

Letting go is one of the most painful lessons that we all have to learn. There are many things that we need to cut our strings of attachment from. We have to let go of memories, things, people, and at times, even our own selves. Considering the fact that it is fairly easy to build an attachment with people, it is very unfair at how letting go can be too hard. In some cases, even the mere thought of not having that thing or not getting to see that person again just seems to pinch your heart out and feels like something bigger than butterflies are trying to escape from your tummy.

It can be a pretty daunting experience, but at some point or another, we all have to let go. And once you are able to do so, you can know that you are never your old self again because you're better - you're stronger. By that time, you can leave the comforts of that carousel ride you dreamt on riding when you were younger to take that much anticipated roller coaster ride of your life. Who knows that once you have learned to let go of those things and those certain people, you will be surprised at how life looked at a different angle - with nothing holding you back from the endless possibilities that life has in store for you. :-)

Enjoying my roller coaster ride,

Rip-Stick Madness

Lately, I've been trying to find some sort of a physical activity that can help me stretch out my muscles that have been on rest for too long. One thing that caught me by surprise is the rip-stick madness - almost everyone in our neighborhood knows how to ride one. And because I am easily taken over by peer pressure, I decided to try it on.

I had to borrow my brothers' boards just so I can try my luck at it. It's not that easy, I tell you. I usually fall down just because my knees felt too stiff to wiggle. Hence, that board won't even move and would cause me to go out of balance and hit the ground.

I've been trying to learn how to ride it with D, but to no avail. All I got was a bruised leg and ego. How in the world can those freakin' little kids ride that thing?!

I.MUST.LEARN.HOW.

Soon to blog while riding a ripstick,


I took that shot of my brother Aiah as he was effortlessly gliding down the road using his rip-stick. To tell you frankly, this was one of our training sessions; I asked him to teach me how to ride that thing yet I ended up falling down the ground for countless times. Poor little me.