Friday, March 28, 2008

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL WORLD OUT THERE

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

Although I’ve heard it (It's by Robert Frost) thousands of times before and lived that experience at numerous times in my life, still those lines stick out like a tree amidst a flat meadow of grass and stones. You just can’t miss it!

Life goes on – mercifully it does.

You know, I’m glad that the sun continues to rise at dawn even if in other parts of my world fortunes are tumbling down or houses are robbed clean. It’s also a great feeling of rain on my face even if my neighbor just lost his precious car to a mortgage and many lives are eaten up by cancer. It makes me smile every time that I see the cherubic face of a newborn child even if people elsewhere are burying a parent, husband, son, relative, or a friend. And I still tend to my tiny garden every morning even if the daily news tells of bombings, shootings, coup de tats, killings, scandals, divorces, floods, pestilence, and drought.

Life goes on – mercifully it does.

You know something else too, I will be sad, angry, unhappy, miserable, frustrated, disappointed, afraid, cheated, betrayed, will suffer, and what else be added to that heap life throws at us… but I will not linger in that sorry state. It might break me and crush me to the ground, or hurt me deep and leave me with scars to show for it – yes it might. But it cannot destroy me or what I stand for to myself. No, because I know that those things don’t stay there forever. But it’s there for a reason. When it has exhausted itself, done its work and is satisfied that I have learned my life lessons well, it will move on and head for another human being another life. It moves on with the same bag of tools because Life is -- a teacher too.

And I will continue to hope, trust, have faith, believe in a constant and merciful God, build dreams anew, pursue destiny, seek new learning, create new passions, conquer new horizons, and maybe learn to reinvent myself too. Who says a person can’t?!

My life will continue to turn even if the rest of the world wrestles with issues and burdens and continues to fight big silly wars. Life goes on – mercifully it does.

And to the rest of you out there going through tough times in your life, acknowledge those pains and trials – cry if you must but only for awhile - Because you will soon discover that precious time waits for no one Oh No! And that life will move on with or without you. So gather yourself and decide --whether to move on along with life or stay behind in the company of your own misery. It’s your choice. But listen, it’s a beautiful world out there and with enough opportunities adventure blessings and joy for everyone, so then why not grab some for YOU? I think that’s what God would rather that you do too.



Wednesday, March 26, 2008

MY SPRING HAS COME AT LAST!



While sitting in an empty garage one early evening with the gorgeous full moon above and stars glittering like diamonds up in the clear night sky… thoughts came traipsing into my mind helped along by a gentle cool night wind--- Just the perfect setting indeed. Without further ado, let’s tick off just quite a few here.

-----There was this plan to make an out of town trip to Tagaytay City where one of the country’s active volcanoes -- Taal volcano – can be found. The volcano sits smugly and unperturbed in the middle of a serene lake in full view, scary but magnificent -- Takes one’s breath away. I would love to sit at a good vantage point overlooking the lake and alongside a well-packed picnic basket with my three daughters as company. Well, their boyfriends are welcome too. Lols

-----Another thought wrested my attention away from that ideal scene –it’s the continuance of the project of compiling the writings in book form. But I think I’m getting there having already printed one year’s writings. I wanted this for my daughters as a memento. It’s something I wish that my mom did for me. She gave me wonderful and precious pearls of wisdom which helped me in my life journey. But all that was left for me were those which I could remember in my growing up years. Much of her wisdom was lost through time and forgetfulness.

-----Then my thoughts skipped to another. Where am I at now? --A question that popped in so suddenly. And it was here that my rambling thoughts finally stayed.

Yes, so where am I now?

Nature is an imitation of life. Don’t we all know that? As it changes with every season, so does life. I understand that the glorious season of spring has come upon us now as winter with its cold has gone.

I can lay claim to that winter of my life too which was gleaned from the previous blog written (several if I may say so myself). The winter of misery, despair, cold isolation, desolation, loneliness, anguish, sadness, and grief which my family and I went through some months ago.

But... allow me to say this too…

That I can now lay claim to spring which has settled into our lives bringing with it new hopes, strength, courage, faith, and of being fearless and confident in treading new ground to the unfamiliar future.

This wondrous spring of our lives as seen in the laughter and smiles of my family, in the twinkle in my girls’ eyes, in the hopeful plans they make for tomorrows, in their fresh thrust at work, in the continuing expression of support and encouragement from good friends (they never left us), in the renewed ability to enjoy the simple joys of each day, in the increased wisdom of letting go and letting God.My spring has come at last!!


"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant:
If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

-- Anne Bradstreet


Friday, March 21, 2008

THIRD MONTH AFTER DECEMBER OF 2007


For those who have been following my blog, this I tell you guys keeps my pen feverishly working overtime – thank you for being there and making it all worthwhile, you all know what happened in December last year. My family lost a husband and father to diabetes complications. He was only 63.

Life indeed is not a bed of roses no matter how hard you work at it to make it so. Yes, you may get comfy and content sometimes happy for awhile but round the corner life will rear its ugly head seize you down and try to keep you there.

Is that a pessimistic view of life I’m taking? Not really. I’ve written so much on positivity and a can-do attitude towards life that being pessimistic so suddenly is quite absurd. But it is a realistic view of life ---as presented by life itself.

If indeed life isn’t a ‘bed of roses’, where therefore shall I plant my --- Rose Garden?

If life does not promise me joy and happiness, where therefore shall I search or go looking for that?

There hasn’t been many a time in the history of this old lady here (yea, I’ll be 62 in June) where I would wish to stay forever in utter bliss. To make a long story short, the rough beaten path or the so-called road less traveled (not the book) was the one laid out for me to journey through. I’ve got scars to show for having gone that way – in the mind, heart, and soul.

And another one, this time a bigger one, bruised me deep last December.

Looking back at all that transpired then now pins my heart down with a heaviness ---one which I think would take awhile to lift off and cast away. But they say that part of healing is going back to the pain, come to terms with it and then resolutely move towards bringing that chapter of one’s life to a close.

Going back to those difficult times of our lives always brings tears to our eyes—my eyes. My family and I miss many things of the family we once were with him. It was not a perfect family we knew that, in fact it had more rugged hills or steep mountains or deep valleys which took us careening wildly after every bout with it… but it was a family, our family. So when we saw the trend he was taking with his health condition which took him in and out of hospitals at short intervals through that year, we sensed a foreboding that something rough and tough was waiting up ahead. I was scared for my family.

And it came. It began in November and ended in his final days of December. He died on December 9 and we buried him on the 14th.

With him gone, a void took his place in our life – an empty space, an empty place… and

… a new set of FIRSTS.

  • Our first Christmas without him
  • Our first New Year celebration without him
  • Celebrating his birthday without him
  • Our first weekend bonding without him
  • Our first Family birthdays to be celebrated without him
  • Our first Palm Sunday without him with his usual purchase of a blessed palm frond
  • Our first Bisita Iglesia on Maundy Thursday without him leading the prayers with us
  • Our first Easter Sunday without him in church with us
  • Our first summer without him
  • My first wedding anniversary without him
  • And several more FIRSTS as life moves us along without him

But as a wise God has so arranged it magnificently… I have found my seeds now for my Rose Garden. Oh yes, it’s there on that list of firsts.

Seeds of…

  • Family
  • Closeness
  • Love
  • Faith
  • Strength
  • Hope
  • Resilience
  • Grit
  • Spirit
  • Laughter
  • Courage
  • Guts
  • Compassion
  • Kindness
  • Care
  • Bond
  • Friendship
  • Loyalty
  • Devotion
  • And even more new seeds are sprouting with each day, I can see.


This month, the third month after December, my Rose Garden will be planted. I have all the seeds I need and even more. One day soon those precious seeds nurtured and loved will transform into gorgeous blossoms of life and living. And from these my happiness will grow.

May God bless my Rose Garden.

Monday, March 17, 2008

TODAY'S MEANDERING THOUGHTS


There is something that I want to do now. Just to let the thoughts out what it thinks it wants without hindrance of any kind. Meaning –free-flow the thoughts. Like a person who's meandering down life's roadpicking up lots of forget-me-nots, not the flora and fauna song, but what we call our memories and experiences. So then let’s get this moving along.
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"Believe, when you are most unhappy,that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain." -Helen Keller

Ah, this is not one for the I-ME-MY-MINE individuals of the universe. Because this is a mind set that thinks outward to others not inward to self --- are more likely to put others’ interest or welfare first above self. Must admit it though that this rare human form is now certified endangered specie like the whale, dugong, and tiger of the animal kingdom. Did I just hear someone say ‘that’s true’? And that we live now in a claustrophobic material self-centered society and world? Really?!

"Pay no attention to what the critics say;
no statue has ever been erected to a critic."
-Jean Sibelius

Oh let’s be kind, they should be thanked for saving ‘talented’ people from a myopic vision of seeing their achievement, accomplishment, and success from the standpoint of I-Me-My. And on the other side of that spectrum, the ‘social butterflies’ or ‘pretenders’ are divested of their pretenses, posturing, and therefore revealed as to who they truly are. A genuine critic owes no allegiance to anyone or to the tyranny of money. He does what he does (maybe) because he believes in something and if that something be good, then lucky are its ‘victims’. It’s always a blessing to be told one’s mistakes and be pushed to change or improve. That is, if one can handle that.

Time is like a river You cannot touch the same water twice Because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of life. –Anon.

I keep telling myself this everyday. Today is all that we humans have. Everything in our today was placed there for certain definite reasons -- But certainly for our betterment, enjoyment, and growth. Even if today is perceived to be bland, boring, uneventful, and unproductive sometimes – you can’t really say that it is truly that. Because by some Divine purpose (and I know this to be true), the blessings sent us are often wrapped up in those ordinary-dull-dreary-barren-idle things of our day. And Somebody wise up there calls us to extract those gems from within, so start digging, brother!!

"Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: rationalize them, understand them thoroughly. After that, will be possible for you to sublimate them". -- Salvador Dali

It’s like saying that we will always be making mistakes in life. Very TRUE! --Won’t argue that. But one thing is clear too – that we are essentially to toss it over in our minds a hundred times over until we see where it can best serve us. Mistakes are meant to help us change; we are not supposed to correct mistakes, says Mr. Dali. It’s US we should be correcting. Maybe… we should thank our mistakes for showing us the path to improvement --- use it to better our selves with.

"Life is not always what one wants it to be,
but to make the best of it as it is,

is the only way of being happy." -Jennie Jerome Churchill

This should be everybody’s song …’to make the best of it as it is’. So no matter what you have there on your tray of life, work with that. Who knows, you may be getting a better deal than the other guy sitting next to you. Sift through the odds and ends, maybe a miracle is hidden somewhere. There always is, you know.

"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes." -- Hugh Downs

Wear your attitude everyday. A good affirmative positive can-do attitude that will take you through the day over the humps-and-bumps, the steep mountains-and-deep ravines, the walls-and-blocks, the difficult situations and people, and god knows what else. Your attitude is you. Only You can make the difference between happy or sad. Be happy!

"A year from now you will wish you had started today."   - Karen Lamb     

Don’t ever make room for the Ifs and If Only’s. You’ll only end up as worse as or much worse than when you started. Remember ‘time waits for no one’… and today is all that you really have because as the famous line goes.. ‘Tomorrow is just a dream’; it may or may not come. So what then are you waiting for? Begin now.

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Okay, that’s about it for now. More later.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU LOOK AT THAT MATTERS - IT'S WHAT YOU SEE


What am I looking at right now?

- Tall fruit trees growing in my neighbor’s yard across the street

- Maxie, my pet dog, taking her afternoon nap on the floor

- My daughter washing the dishes in the kitchen

- A dozen books of popular titles and authors lined up on my bookshelf

- The telephone sitting quietly in the corner of the room

- My favorite neck pillow arched comfortably on the armrest of the chair


So what do I see in them?

- I see the able and gentle nurturing hands of my neighbor in those trees. The trees have grown tall and bear good fruit. This nurturing surely can only come from a good kind caring soul. And truly they are! –-- in many ways which could fill up pages if I were to list them all down. Truly that a friend in need is a friend indeed.

- I see the devotion and love in Maxie which sadly is often found lacking in people. She was given to us by a friend --- a stray pup roaming the street until this friend found her and brought her to us. Scared, bewildered, and hungry she came into our home. We soon discovered that she’s a mixed breed not a native. But now she’s happy, frisky, healthy, fiercely loyal and protective over us. Amazing what love can do.

- I see the goodness of heart in her hands. She has a gentle tender caring heart which any mother or father would be proud to have for a child. She fusses over the cooking, the washing and cleaning, the correct medications, and always keeps a watchful eye over her parents’ health comfort and safety. By the way, I have two other daughters both marvelous in their own respective ways. Truly blessings from a magnificent God.

- I see wisdom and learning within every page of those books. Wisdom constantly guiding me in this life journey ---and learning which continually serve to mold me into the person I was meant to be… according to God’s set down blueprint of my life. Yup, I’m still a work in progress.

- I see the promise of new hopes, closer ties, fresh expectations, opportunities for good, and the chance for true communication where most needed. All that would take is a call and the world suddenly opens up with vast potential, opportunities, probabilities, and possibilities. Sometimes one tiny call makes a huge difference in the life of a person waiting for that chance.

- I see peace, serenity, calm, contentment wrapped around my neck every time. And hand-embroidered on one side are the words “Sweet Dreams”. And how I do!

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

-Henry David Thoreau