WORRYING IS LIKE A ROCKING CHAIR

Has anybody told you that.............

“Whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not.” ― Ana Monnar

The author must be referring to those inevitable things which clutter our lives creating chaos exterior-ly and interior-ly. Our response to that predictably is to 'worry'. We do that every time..... worry. There's a Worry-Wart Club in our midst and it's filled to the rafters... and still more waiting to be listed. But the source of worry, legit or not, is all up to the person really and the decision to worry or not is also his or her to make.

But some things will just be as the sunrise which comes in the morn, like it or not. The inevitable is akin to waking up in the morning because. Period. You have no control over it. That's the key word or words ... 'no control'.

The inevitable which cross our paths sometimes unexpectedly may be somebody else's bad decision. It could be that he got stuck in his journey with a frustration or disappointment; stuck at just the point where ours happen to be getting along just fine until he came into the picture right smack in the middle of the road. And until that person learns to sort it out himself soon or soonest we are surely going to be affected as it's there standing in our way blocking our own journey. But objectively, if you can, it's not cause enough for us to worry because it's not our problem. Really -- it's somebody else's, right? Until or unless we unwisely make it our own. Then we should worry about it... intelligently. I've read it somewhere not so long ago that there are many ways to beat a 'perceived' problem or stubborn block which belongs to another person ...... either go round it, over it, under it or all else fails.. to crash through it! Basically, the idea is to try to give that person his space as we too try to keep our own sanity. Win-win solution.

Oh yeah, I have tried that several times at certain points in my journey. And too go see the mirror several times to check .. yup, I still see a sane person looking back at me. I hope this holds up for a long long time yet. 

Have a great day, people! Be sane ... a better way to enjoy life and the world. Blessings!

JUST A FEW SNIPPETS OF A BLESSED DAY WITH FAMILY, June 22, 1914

You don't look to your day thinking it's just another day. Because it is not! Even if it's just eating pancakes, it's special.

So the day started out as a plan for a simple lunch, no big drama on the horizon. As for me, I'm always content sharing family time with my children. So no big deal. These are simply my precious moments.

But a surprise was brewing somewhere....... Yeah, my kids are unbeatable at springing huge surprises. They've got a lot of practice through the years.... i.e. surprise lunch in Tagaytay, a vacation in Boracay, overnight stay in a grand hotel, etc. etc.  It's always the Great Conspiracy.

To sum it all up, the day was so blessed... I was feeling so blessed. My cup runneth over with joy ... grateful to a wonderful family. And last but certainly not the least to a Magnificent God for this lovely gift of family.

Memories one by one..................

 This and the rest -- 

All in the day's gastronomic delight.
P.S.  Pasta with Okra --- a special dish created by daughter Amchit.
Truly a gastronomic revelation!

......................................

 Great time!!

 Flowers --- I love them all....  

anyplace, anytime, anywhere.

 Gosh, can you imagine if they filled that up with 

all of 68 candles?!!

 Thank you, Marco Polo!

 The prettiest birthday cake in the whole wide world!

 Happy mother  :-)

 Amchit, eldest of three girls.

Christine, my daughter and Daniel's wife.

 

Youngest daughter Malen.

 With son-in-law Daniel.

 Lovely gift from Malen. ----  "Dance First. Think Later"

by Kathryn and Ross Petras, 

authors of  "Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're A Cheese"

 My treasures.

So very blessed.

Blessings all! 

 Happiness is spelled  F-A-M-I-L-Y !!!

So there you are...  a special day in the life of lil' ole me..... 

and shared with you all. Thank you. Blessings everyone!

WE WILL ONE DAY BE THERE TOO

   

 

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Got a question:   What is topmost on your mind when you see an old person... or much older than that?  Because the other day I saw young people laughing at an old older woman who walked past them limping. I hope that they're not somebody's kids I know because I would hate to think that their parents just raised such big jerks.

 I saw this online and just had to bring it here.
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When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

Cranky Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!

--- Unquote ---

Yeah.... respect old cos  'We will all, one day, be there, too!'

DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF NOW

This post below was written a year ago for someone who wrote to me..... who was at a crossroad in her life and felt crushed by it. Her story is one which many others share. Life is tough, we know that, but we are asked to be tougher..... to be even much tougher beyond measure. I am resurrecting this post here for a dear friend.

BROKEN BODY - UNBROKEN SPIRIT

Dear friend in the blog,

Such consoling thought it is to know that we are not alone in our trials and difficulties -- that despite differences in culture, traditions, color, and creed we stand connected in the same issues in life.

You have touched a common chord with friends and strangers here in the blog. Thank you for your courage in sharing with us your pain and suffering. We are privileged by your trust, sincerity, and honesty. I hope that the rest of us will do just as well in our own.

Often we are kept where we are by our society and culture; often they too help shape our lives. Undoubtedly we make mistakes in life— getting into the wrong marriages; marrying the wrong people; working in the wrong jobs; having the wrong set of parents, relatives, and friends; living bad decisions. But we never really will know how these things will turn out until the very end. We will never really know how these bits and scattered scraps of our cluttered life would fill up the bigger picture of our existence. Because oftentimes good can turn out bad or bad turn out good in the final end. There will be an end, positively, because no story ever finishes in midstream. Maybe we would come to a pause at a certain point but then again will resume at a triggered moment in time.

Whatever a person would do with his circumstances is purely his decision to make. No one can best tell you what to do. NO ONE KNOWS BETTER HOW THINGS TRULY ARE THAN THE PERSON WHO IS IN IT. Yet the truth remains that there are always two sides to a coin— yours and the other person’s. No matter how you think or feel that you are justified in your opinions or stand, the other end of the issue has his or her own story to tell. So goes every tale heard and told by man since long ago.

Let’s stop here to think awhile--- tell me, do you wake up every morning to cook breakfast and send off your children to school and tend to the nitty-gritty chores in the house day after day? Do you see yourself down on your knees in prayer without end? Do you remember pulling yourself together after a big cry and doggedly carry on with the business of living each time? Do you see yourself picking yourself up every time when all you ever wanted to do was stay down in the dump grovel and feel miserable?

YOU DO! Because that is what a person does whenever wherever around the world. We mortals may be battered, bruised, torn, and tossed around many times in the course of this life journey. But one thing is sure—the spirit within us can never be broken. That is why you do what you do then and now-- and onwards some more. You continue to stand and not fall—maybe battered in body but unbroken in spirit and soul.

Armed with that, DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF NOW. Build anew right where you are at. Develop yourself. Use your God-given talents to seek out new challenges, new meaning, and new direction. Can you teach, draw or paint, write well poems or stories, sew lovely dresses or embroider, and cook delicious meals your friends enjoy. Find out what you are good at. Never mind the kind of marriage you have or the kind of person you married; the important thing now is— YOU. Move on and reclaim your right to be you.

You know, my mom used to tell me long ago that-- sometimes when your ‘adversary’ sees you unperturbed by his blitz on your nerves and emotions, he goes crazy and utterly frustrated by it all. This takes out the wind from his sails. Do this not because you want to get even – but because you understand more. This is your strength--- seeing and knowing more what you can and cannot do. Don’t waste your time on things you can’t resolve, but rather pour all your energies on what is within your ability and control— YOU.

Last but not least, never stop believing that God sees everything and that it is in His magnificent heart to help you overcome. May your hope, faith, and strength increase and be blessed.

God bless you. Bye for now.