"Of Nostalgic 10 Years"

Of Nostalgic 10 Years…
4 April 2007

Four corners of a room with a busy feel
Reminders of triumph of 10 years
Colorful, beautiful and comforting
Wonderful moments frozen by such keepsakes
Mementos smiling back from wooden and steel frames
Of loved ones from the past and the present
However cheerful it should feel
These things just stare
Without a voice, or warmth or scent
Good ‘Ol Silence becoming a gloomy company.
10 years it has been
Of days of struggling and just living
The chosen path endured and achieved
A long way from the innocence departed
And in a waking chance you realize
Important parts of life is put to sacrifice
Wondering where they have gone
Or rather not choosing over them was worthwhile
The value of thy self transformed
In an identity unrecognized
10 years past.
Now being mindful of the precious things
Where shall it lead? 10 years forward...

FEAR

Those feelings that stop us from doing what we need to do. I’ve plenty of it to be honest with you. My fears come from deep rooted beginnings; and it was molded since I was a child. And I bet you’ll agree. As a child we’ve been programmed to fear a lot of things. And we have been carrying it in our present age right now.

But it makes us wonder why other people can do what we fear to do. How can they act so brave and courageous? What makes them so different from us? Sometimes we just answer like “iba sila sa akin” or “may pera sila kaya ganun.” We just let it go and kill our dreams because we could not face our fears.

But mind you those people who succeed in what they do have experienced the same fears as ours. The only difference is that they chose to face their fear and just go for it. And the fear becomes a feeling of liberation because they triumphed over what they thought was scary.

Fear can be defined as:

Fantasized
Experiences
Appearing
Real

We are in the times where fear is not at all a life-threatening consequence. Unlike millions of years ago where Cro-Magnons treat fear as a signal of threat in their lives like if a saber-tooth tiger is nearby or a wild beast is in front of them. People in this age experience fear and are being triggered by their thought or mind. Mostly we scare ourselves by fantasizing or thinking of the negative results of what we have to do. But fortunately we are also the ones who can put a stop to the fear that we are going through.

We can choose to be sensible. Rather than focusing on our negative imaginations. We can face the actual facts and bring ourselves to a state of clarity and peace. Focus on your intentions when you decide to do things, imagine what you will feel when you accomplish it. It might be frightening but just do it anyway… you’ll never know, you might be great at it!!



Reference: “The Success Principles” by: Jack Canfield

Is your Job your Passion?

How many of us Pinoys can really say that our Job is our passion? Unfortunately most of us are not really doing what we want to do. We were brought up believing that we can only improve our lives by working in a company that can provide our basic needs. But most of us don’t really Love our Job and just living our daily routine at work to get that paycheck twice a month. At the end of the day, we produce mediocre actions and mediocre results.

Surveys will show that a lot of employees are not really passionate about what they are doing in their everyday work. And if you come to ask them, they are passionate on something else. Isn’t this Self-Deception? We keep doing what we are doing, but in the end it doesn’t give us Happiness. And what does that give you? Burn-Out…

So what’s stopping us from pursuing what we like? Concerns will arise like:
“I don’t have the means to do this.”
“I will have to sacrifice a lot of things.”
“I fear that I will fail.”
“My family will disapprove.”
“I am already comfortable, I cannot let go of it.” Etc. Etc.

Successful people have undergone the same fear and challenges. But what made them successful is that they chose to go beyond those limiting and defeating thoughts. They had focus on doing what makes them happy and what gives them fulfillment in life. Success was just a consequence from their happiness.

“The Secret to Success in Life is making your vocation your vacation.”
-- Mark Twain

Successful people never get tired of doing their job, because it is their source of happiness and reward.

And so stop fooling yourself. Be honest with yourself and find that passion inside of you. Look for the thing that truly gives you fulfillment and happiness. Challenge yourself and believe that you can be successful in that passion as well. You are born to be Great and you deserve all the Greatness in Life!!!

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints

It has been a long time since a powerful moviebiography has touched my soul. The casting was really magnificent and full of raw emotional power. Robert Downey Jr. is I can say one of the best actors there is in this generation. Shia LaBeouf (Sam Witwicky of Transformers) was at par (if not the best) in the cast as well. Wonderfully written and directed by: Dito Montiel.

Here’s the plot of the story (courtesy of Wikipedia):
Dito (Downey) is a successful writer in Los Angeles. One day, he goes back to visit his childhood home, Astoria, New York
because his father has suddenly become very ill. Memories of his childhood end up in jail or dead - and being swept back to his past in the summer of 1986. His
friends include Laurie (Rosario Dawson), his
childhood sweetheart; Giuseppe, reckless, destructive, and possibly insane; Mike O'Shea, a Scottish boy who dreams of becoming a musician; Nerf, a friend who eventually calls Dito back; and Antonio (Channing Tatum), a confident, volatile boy with an abusive father.


Sometimes we resolve our bad situations by escaping or running away from it. We feel that the only way we can breathe is to go to a new environment and start a new life there. As effective as this would seem, we never really settle the root of the crisis. We may achieve great success and betterment in our lives but deep down inside there are wounds that has been killing us for a long time already and have been carrying for so many years.

“Sometimes the only way to move forward is to go Back.”

That was the tagline of the movie. Simple and straight. I guess why the movie struck me so much is that I have been in the same state of mind before, and the only way I really rose from my grave wounds and hurts was to truly embrace and face my deep rooted pains.

And so I courageously faced my demons and dragons. I settled the score with my dad and relatives. Found my peace again with my long time friends. But most importantly I forgave myself and found myself whole again.

Let me have this opportunity to say thank you to my living saints, my Dad, (my Mom, who is having a blast now with God J the true saint for me), my great siblings and wonderful nephews, and my wonderful friends. You have been a source of inspiration and a good reason for living… Life is indeed damn Great!!!