Gratitude is power

If you were to ask your neighbor,"What would give you peace of mind?" he might tell you,"A vacation in Bermuda!" or"An extra hundred grand would give me peace!", or"A new Ferrari would make me content!"

But going places and getting stuff is usually a temporary solution...

Let's say you buy a lottery ticket and by some miracle you win your dream Ferrari. Today you are content. Tomorrow you are saying,"If I could just catch that little punk who scratched it in the car park!"

Peace of mind rarely comes from getting more stuff. Getting more stuff usually leads to wanting even more stuff!

Peace of mind starts with being grateful for what you have right now.

GRATITUDE is POWER, and here's why ...

When you are thankful for what you have --- for the friends you have, and for the things you've got, you attract more good people and good things.

People who always complain about what they DON'T HAVE, stay stuck.Complainers attract more things to complain about!

It is a law of life.

It's hard to explain, but you can observe it around you. We get more of what we dwell upon.

That's why all the spiritual masters have taught the same lesson... Start by being thankful. Be happy with what you have now, and more will come your way."

It's a practical advice.

Every time you say a silent "thank you" you become more peaceful and more powerful.

Happy Weekend guys.

Scribble... Scrabble...

Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble.

DORMITORY:

When you rearrange the letters:

DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:

When you rearrange the letters:

BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:

When you rearrange the letters:

MOON STARER

DESPERATION:

When you rearrange the letters:

A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:

When you rearrange the letters:

THEY SEE

THE MORSE CODE:

When you rearrange the letters:

HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:

When you rearrange the letters:

CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:

When you rearrange the letters:

IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:

When you rearrange the letters:

LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

MOTHER-IN-LAW:

When you rearrange the letters:

WOMAN HITLER

SNOOZE ALARMS:

When you rearrange the letters:

ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:

When you rearrange the letters:

IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:

When you rearrange the letters:

THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:

When you rearrange the letters:

TWELVE PLUS ONE

Yep! Someone with waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands!

1 message received... opening...

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"want u 2 knw dat d way i lov u has nvr changd, tym may hav jst blurred it, bt it remains deep in my heart,watevr hapens, il alwys b nluv w/ u..."

I was so scared before by the fact that after he left me, I might not have the will to move on and start life anew. Trying to stand up on my own after six long months of having someone around was the biggest challenge I had to face. If I had a choice then, I would rather have stayed inside my misery; I would rather have lived inside my broken fantasies. But reality nudged me and gave me no choice but to pick up the pieces and muster enough courage to move on. Moving on, like happiness, was really the journey and not the destination. I slowly healed. In my healing, I discovered forgiveness and faith, but never in one second have I lost love for him.

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"its a wondr wen u thnk evrythng around u s suddnly at astil, & u thnk evrythng s ovr, u wnt 2 put evrythng bhindden u hear ur heart, u cnt help bt say i lov u stil.."

Life without him around was a completely different universe. In moving on, I even discovered that life is full of new things. Things that I never really saw coming. I have met other people. I have even came to a point when I thought I was ready to fall in love again. But destiny dictated otherwise. Though I have already accepted in my heart and in my mind that what we had was over, there still was this unseen hand that almost always leads me back to him.

1 message received....
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"i hav alwys lovd u, nvr has it changd a bit...its only dcrcumstances around us dat kept me frm tellng u,& showng u dat i stil do...take gud care always, love u!"

Just when I thought that he had already left me for good, and that what we had would only be a cherished memory that I will just look back to every now and then, I would find out for myself that he still feels the same for me. It literally rocked my world. I silently prayed to God to tell me I am not imagining things. But it was his familiar voice at the other end of the phone, saying "i love you" much like the way he used to. I heard angels singing. But this time, my feet was firmly planted on the ground. Nothing mattered anymore, not the distance between us, nor the doubts that I might still have in my mind, the only thing that mattered is the fact that I still love him. And he still loves me. No conditions, no guarantees. Time has taught me to know when to trust again.

1 message received...
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“you cant control who you fall for. You can’t stop the feelings that you have. The’re just gonna come and go and who knows where it all kind of ends up.
Sometimes it’s for the best and sometimes its not but either way you can’t control it, none of it, sometimes you can control your mind, but your heart. Never.”

Visiting familiar places always gets me closer to him. I feel him in the wind. In the humming tunes in my head. The old familiar places never looked and felt so good, it's as if we were only here yesterday. I sit in the grassy field and see him running around, laughing in his old goofy ways. I walk through the halls and I imagine my hands firmly clasped in his, even smelling his old cologne in the air. Truly, love knows no distance.

1 message received...
opening...

“all my life I thought I needed the perfect setting, the perfect opportunity, and the perfect way to tell someone I love them, but suddenly I realized I don’t need any of that because i know it will be perfect as long as I’m saying it to you.”

Having late-night phone conversations with him are treasured moments, minutes stretched to eternity as I imagine him just sitting next to me, or lying beside me before I go to sleep. I am amazed how simple joys such as hearing his voice and his laughter makes me the happiest person in the world. I thank God for making me discover that happiness is not just being with the one you love. Happiness is having someone you love love you back the same way.

1 message received...
opening...

“you can try your hardest, you can do everything and say anything, but sometimes people just aren’t worth trying over anymore, they aren’t worth worrying about, its important to know when to let go of someone who only brings you down.”

Time has taught me that love knows no boundaries, nor limits. It made me understand how we are capable of loving someone, not "because of" anything, but "just because". Time has also made me realize that no matter what happens in my life, there will only be a "one true love" I would always go back to.

Never save something for a special occasion

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package: "This, he said, isn't any ordinary package."

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

"She got this the first time we went to Hong Kong, 2 or 3 years ago. She has never put it on. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is it.”

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.

He turned to me and said: "Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion".

I still think those words changed my life.

Now, I read more and clean less.

I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.

I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through. I no longer keep anything. And whenever I go home to Cavite, I always demand that we use crystal glasses every day.

I also wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.

I don't save my special perfume for special occasions; I use it whenever I want to.

The words "Someday..." and "One Day..." are fading away from my dictionary.

If it’s worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now.

I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell. I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends. She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favorite food.

It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.

I would regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would like to meet, letters... that I wanted to write "One of these days".

I would regret and feel sad, because I didn't say to my father, mother, brother, not times enough at least, how much I love them.

Now, I try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring laughter and joy into our lives...

And, on each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special day.

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

If you got to read this blog post, it’s because someone cares for you and because, probably, there's someone you care about.

Today is a special day... a special occasion.

Go and make the most of it.

Saan ba nakakabili ng spark?

Iyan ang tanong sa akin ni Marco, isang kaibigan. May umaaligid daw kasi sa kanya na matinong lalake, kaya lang, wala siyang maramdamang spark. Kaya nagtatanong siya kung saan nakakabili ng spark.

Hindi ko alam ang sagot. Kung alam ko lang, eh di sana matagal na akong pumila para mamakyaw. Kailangan ko rin ng spark. Maraming-maraming spark.

Ano ba ang spark?

Ito iyong kuryente na nararamdaman mo kapag kasama mo ang isang tao. Iyong nanlalambot ang tuhod mo. Iyong parang nauutal ka at ayaw gumana ng motor skills mo. Iyong kahit na anong gawin at sabihin niya, o kahit wala siyang ginagawa o sinasabi, kinikilig ka na. Kung hindi mo naman siya kasama, nangingiti ka kapag naiisip mo siya.

Ang tawag dun... spark.

Magic.

Kilig.

Kuryente.

At iyon din ang hinahanap ko ngayon.

May isang lalaking may gusto sa akin. Mabait siya. May hitsura. Matino.

Stable. Mature. May napatunayan na sa buhay. Maalalahanin. May konting sense of humor. At alam ko, aalagaan niya ako.

Siya iyong lalaking nanaisin mong makasamang tumanda. Kung pwede nga lamang ang kasal, siya yung lalaking iuuwi mo sa nanay mo at alam mong magiging mabuting asawa.

Pero wala akong maramdamang "kilig." Walang magic.

Lagi kong sinasabi, "He's a 'good on paper' guy, pero walang spark. Kahit kiskisan ko man ng bato... wala talaga!"

Sabi ng mga kaibigan ko, hindi na daw importante ang spark. Hindi daw ito tiket para sa isang masaya at tumatagal na relasyon. Maraming factors ang dapat i-consider, hindi lang spark...

Aanhin mo ang spark kung lagi naman kayong nag-aaway? Aanhin mo ang spark kung hindi naman kayo nagkakasundo sa mga bagay-bagay? Kung hindi naman siya puwedeng mag-commit? Kung alam mo naman na masama siya para sa iyo?

Noong huling usap namin ni Marco, sabi niya, baka daw bigyan na niya ng chance iyong manliligaw niya, kahit wala siyang maramdamang spark.

Pati tuloy ako, napapaisip na rin... Itutuloy ko ba kahit na walang spark?

Magiging masaya kaya kami, kahit na hindi ako kinikilig sa kanya?

Importante ba talaga ang "magic" sa isang relasyon?

"Baka naman nasa atin lang ang problema," dagdag ni Marco.

Mali nga ba ako kung maghanap man ako ng spark sa isang relasyon? Pang teenager na nga lang ba iyong "nanlalambot ang tuhod" chuva at kapag nasa 20s ka na ay nakakasuka na ang humangad ng kilig?

Siguro nga masyado na akong matanda para maghanap ng lalaking magbibigay sa akin ng "kilig" dahil hindi naman kami mabubusog doon at hindi rin puwedeng pambayad ng bill namin sa condo ang spark.

But I am also old enough to know what I want in a guy... and having that "kilig" feeling is one of them. At para sa akin, ang pakikipag-relasyon sa isang taong walang spark, ay maitutumbas na rin sa pagse-settle.

At ayokong mag-settle.

Pero di ako nawawalan ng pag-asa. Malay mo ngayon, walang spark. Pero eventually, sa tamang panahon, baka magka-spark na.

Kung paano, hindi ko alam...

Meron kayang binebentang spark sa pinakamalapit na Mercury Drug o Mini-Stop?

Saan nga ba nakakabili ng spark?

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE YOUR FATHER

You do not have to be your father unless he is who you want to be.

You do not have to be your father’s father, or your father’s father’s father, or even your grandfather’s father on your father side.

You may inherit their chins or their shoulders or their eyes, but you are not destined to become the men who came before you.

You are not destined to live their lives.

So, if you inherit something, inherit their strength. If you inherit something, inherit their resilience.

Because the only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.