LIFE CANNOT BE LIFE WITHOUT PEOPLE IN IT

I was on my way down the hill at the tail-end of my morning walk when this silver-haired gentleman-foreigner heading my way from the opposite direction on seeing me slowed down and greeted me with a huge friendly smile and a question... "How many times do you go round the neighborhood?" I replied "Twice, most times." To this he smiled even more and said.. "Good for you!" And walked past me still wearing his big wide smile..
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Apparently he too was doing his usual morning routine. And so were other Filipino residents of the neighborhood at that early hour. But one thing looks quite clear to me.... Filipinos are shy .. in fact, just too shy to jump on an opportunity to make friends or simply share the good vibes of the moment. I remember Mom said this long ago....... "The art of giving and receiving does not come naturally to many. But it can be learned. Start with loving yourself, life and everything in it."
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Life without people would be similar to one landscape of meadows, mountains, rivers, forests running endlessly beyond the horizon and even farther. Magnificent but somehow incomplete.
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People, on the other hand, bring into life those thousand-and-one things which make it come pulsatingly alive. Challenges... perceptions... insights.... excitement... adventure... joy and happiness... creativity... productivity... emotional diversity... development... growth, etc. Add to the same pot the worrisome and wearying disputes... arguments... sorrows... questions... destruction.... conflicts... negativity... and other things more which make you want to bang your head on the wall. These things happen between man and man interacting and colliding in a manner they alone best know how.
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Life cannot be life without people in it.
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Wishing for you and your family God's blessings beyond measure.

SOMEDAYS YOU JUST HAVE TO CREATE YOUR OWN SUNSHINE

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"Life is a smile so find it
Put your face behind it
Get it straight in your mind
You gotta make your own sunshine
..... It can't be so hard to find."
(Anon)
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Even if life throws you a sour ball and you get it smack on your face......... that only means that you have to practice your ducking skills some more!
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And if life plays a sad bad tune and expects you to dance to it......... say 'thanks but no thanks' and go ahead make your own music and dance loco to it.
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When you get spoilers to your day of things and people......... show them the door and slam it hard behind them.... gleefully!! Bwahahaaaa......
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When something goes wrong to your favorite plan or project......... take that as a cue to ease up, lie down, or hit a ball or two on the tennis court or check out your better idea to unwind. Or better yet clear the cobwebs in and on your mind -- There must be a huge ugly super-pangit spider somewhere in there picking on your creative cells for lunch.
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When you feel that you could kill this jerk because he IS a big jerk......... think of how our jails are hopelessly congested you have to queue for hours to use the toilet.
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When no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to find that elusive sunshine......... i-drawing mo na lang yan! Draw your piece of sunshine with crayons and paper. Yeah, Go ahead!!! .... and rainbows and stars and roses and angels and moonbeams!
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When you feel that your prayers are hitting a huge blank wall......... it's just the devil making you think that way. So direct your prayers to the villain with this: In Jesus' name, go smash your ugly nauseating excruciating obnoxious villainous head to that wall there!!! ... Then go back to your conversation with God.
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Yes, I get bad days too just like everybody else and sometimes my sunshine goes shy. But I have learned to buoy up my sunshine with some wee bit of effort and a truck-load of prayers. You just have to try. Don't let a lovely day go to waste.
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Wishing you a lovely day of blessings. Shine with your light! God bless you.

LIFE IS NOT A RACE - IT IS A GIFT SO ENJOY IT

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Have stumbled on this quote...... but I don't know who wrote it. I would be happy to know who wrote this .... he or she wrote such a beautiful piece. To quote.......

LIFE IS A GIFT

Today before you think of saying an unkind word–
...think of someone who can’t speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food–
...think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife–
...think of someone who is crying out to God for a companion.

Today before you complain about life–
...think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before you complain about your children–
...think of someone who desires children but they’re barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn’t clean or sweep–
...think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive–
...think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job–
...think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another–
...remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to One maker.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down–
...put a smile on your face and thank God you’re alive and still around.

Life is a gift – Live it, Enjoy it, Celebrate it, and Fulfill it.

(Unknown) - Unquote.

May your weekend be blessed with wonderful moments and blessings -- God's gift to you. But definitely!

WHAT YOU DO WITH PAIN RATHER THAN WHAT IT DOES TO YOU IS FAR MORE ESSENTIAL

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An online friend once remarked in jest.... 'You smile to the world like you never knew pain. What a good life you must have.'
That's farthest from the truth; simply absurd. But if you don't mind I will consider that as a compliment though. You don't get to hear something like that everyday! So thank you, just the same.

As it's been said 'everybody has a story and is a story', right? I'm not different because I also have my story.

But I don't do Facebook to tell my story. It has its own place and time. A public place such as this is definitely not that place and time.

Pain. Now that is among the most spoken of or written about word in every history. It's experienced by every living thing, two-legged or four-legged, on our planet. Pain comes in many ways, in different seasons or time, for a diversity of reasons or causes, and in different shapes, forms, or sizes. 

It holds tightly in its grip the whole range of human existence..... the emotions, intellect, spiritual, physical, social, and every interaction feasible to our existence. Am I saying where there is interaction there will be pain, too? Following the principle of cause and effect, I'm saying possibly yes. Pain is an effect (one of several others more) caused by something or someone or sometimes even by the self. 

What do we do with pain? As we see it in people around us or in our own lives we either react to it ...or respond to it... as in fight it or take flight far away from it. 

I have learned through the years that.....'Reacting' could maybe make us even more miserable as it's done with the absence of thought. 'Responding', in effect, could take us to a higher plane of understanding and growth. 'Fighting' it could achieve for us strength of character... while 'taking flight' makes us even weaker in mind, heart, and spirit. 

Pain simply sits alongside its buddies... hurt, sadness, loneliness, frustration, disappointment, bitterness, depression, resentment, discouragement, confusion, and its other members of the same negative pack. They may seem or mean to break you but it can't succeed when you don't let them. They can't hurt you when you won't give them consent to do so.

Therefore, It can be said that what you do with pain (and its friends) rather than what it does to you is that which matters most, in any language. You define you. Nobody else will or can do that for you. 'Life is what you make it', so said a wise person.

And I would like to add....
Let your heart smile through all of life. There's always some reason to smile.

Blessings from above to everybody!

A CALENDAR IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT

Let me guess, when you see this title you probably will think... 'so what's so special about a calendar?' Well, hold on to conclusions forming in your mind or that half smile which actually is still a smile, only lopsided, but still a smile :-) ... and read on.

Here we go.

My calendar is made up of twelve months and all the weeks that make up a month, and all the days that make up a week and all the hours that make up a day and lastly but not the least all the minutes that make up an hour.

My calendar is on nice shiny smooth paper each page covering a month. On each page are small boxes which indicate each day of the week. These boxes are lined just like your grade school paper of long ago. And the space in each box can hold a short sentence or two.. or maybe a phrase. Sundays are highlighted in red.

I write on my calendar each day, each week, each month (now it's August)... writing in short staccato notes the highlights of the day. Also would draw a Smiley Sun to indicate happiness delight satisfaction or pleasure. And a Sad Sun for the opposites.

For instance, at the start of the month my youngest daughter in her new job flew to Kuala Lumpur for a conference meeting with her boss. Smiley sun. And Friday's food tasting at the residence of Kaye by Cunanan Catering. The official caterer for Christine's wedding in October. Yummy yummy dishes!! A sated satisfied pleased smiley sun. Then the Saturday that my three daughters received the Catholic rites of the Sacrament of Confirmation followed by dinner with their godfather at a nice resto. (Such fun). Blessed smiley sun. But oh the Wednesday that Pat, the street cat, died of sudden illness, not even the vet could save him. He was our adopted unofficial household cat; although he couldn't come into the house cos the dogs won't let him. Sad sad sun. And the day that the garbage truck collected the community's garbage. (You can count the times they come collecting with just one finger. Yeah! But they showed up that day.) Smiley sun still. Thursday we had Miko the cat (Persian-Siamese) vaccinated at the vet. (Oh he was a brave darling with the needle.) Amused smiley sun. And today I got back my groove on the morning walks I used to do. Weather much improved now, no intermittent rains, no rain puddles on the street, and the sun shining brilliantly like it does in summer. Felt great! Huge satisfied very pleased smiley sun.

The month isn't over yet. But each time I look at the calendar I see that I have smiled a lot more often than I didn't. The Smiley Suns tell me that. Also am reminded that blessings come -- they always do. Just keep an open mind and heart to see it. Be always grateful for the watchful and loving heart of a magnificent God. Also as I review the days of my calendar.. I begin to understand that life is a mix of happy and sad but both necessary to flavor the soup of life.

So you see, a calendar is not just a calendar -- it's what you make of it. -- Your life.

FILL LIFE WITH MOMENTS

A wonderful gentleman and friend Parthasarathi sent me this in email recently -- "Life never seems to be the way we want it, But we have to live it the best way we can. There is no perfect life, But we can always fill it with perfect Moments..." Thanks, Parth. -- Lovely, isn't it? And I particularly loved this line.... 'There is no perfect life, But we can always fill it with perfect Moments...'

That seemed to be my guiding principle when I started in retirement. When one comes to a close in one chapter of one's life (one of several chapters, of course), he has then to change gear and move in another direction to fill in the void created. Because there is a lingering void or a brief spell between chapters of life. It's like a landing on a long flight of stairs wherein one is given the chance to catch his breath and energize for the next flight up that stair.

I took that chance to rethink my directions in moving forward. The plans I had before seemed insufficient now and irrelevant with some things taken away and some more added which I didn't plan for. This made me think how fragile life can truly be. So I decided to scratch off 'forever' from my dictionary and resolved to live in -- moments.

Moments cannot be bought or bargained for, I thought then that I will and should create my own. But it turned out that I was going to be blessed far more that I expected wished or prayed for!

MOMENTS.....

-when my youngest daughter surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers on Mother's Day

-when my second daughter gave me a surprise treat on my birthday by taking me to lunch in Tagaytay City overlooking the magnificent Taal Volcano

-when my eldest daughter gave me a fantastic massage on my back which pain made my day grumpy

-when my pet dog came to me as I sat on the sofa watching TV and lovingly nestled her head close at my side

-when the soya vendor with a warm smile added two free packs to the ones I bought

-when I watched the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen

-when I heard a tiny bird somewhere up the treetops singing his tiny song and a gentle breeze nudged the leaves to a dance

.....and zillions more through the years!

What I'm trying to say is --- FILL LIFE WITH MOMENTS, PERFECT OR IMPERFECT; THAT DOESN'T MATTER. WHEN IT MAKES YOU SMILE... THAT IS PERFECT.