Archives for Inspiration category
On this day of your life, Agatha, we believe God wants you to know … that you are blessed.
You may think you have challenges, but you have so many blessings. Sometimes it takes only a moment of conscious effort to recognize those blessings. Once you focus on the gifts instead of the problems, your whole perspective will change and you will see blessings everywhere.
~via http://quote-book.tumblr.com/.
(Thank you Alpha for always sharing the best inspirational cute stuff!)
I haven’t even gotten to summarizing 2009 in this blog and here I am swamped with backlog of stuff I want to write about. But then again, who decides which is important in the blog or not? I need to stop trying to accomplish everything and do it in sequence, or else I will never be caught up with life. What I am trying to say is, I may or may not be able to summarize 2009 for you in my blog – but as long as I have pictures and entries for it, I can always look back to it in April or June or August – when life gets less busy. In the meantime, I am sure most of us are still trying to recover from the holidays (drinking and taking colon cleansing products from all the indigestion) and trying to make goals and resolutions.
I am still trying to decide my one little word for the year – so let me just share with you an article I read over at Zen Habits to help all of us achieve our goals. Just live a simpler life.
A 12-step method, perhaps, simplified into just 6 steps.
1. Write down your top priorities. We all have a long list of things we want to do, to try, to learn, to accomplish. Just pick 4-5. You can do that right now — make a short list of the things that are most important to you. My list: spending time with my family, writing, reading and running. These are the things you’ll build your life around, for now. You can always change this list later, as your priorities change.
2. Reduce one commitment. What is something you do every day or week that’s not on your short list? Is there any way you can get out of it? Make a phone call or send an email right now that will get you out of that commitment. It might mean disappointing one or many people — but you are going to create the simple life you want, not the complicated life others demand of you. By reducing this one commitment, you are simplifying your life, creating more time and space for the important stuff. Make the choice to put your priorities first, to find the time for them, by reducing your commitments.
3. Simplify your to-do list. Same concept, but at a smaller level — what’s on your to-do list that doesn’t need to be there? Something you’ve been dreading that you don’t absolutely have to do? Can you tell someone you’re just too busy to work on this? Can you give it to someone else, or automate it? See if you can pare your to-do list to just the most important things. Alternatively, just pick 1-3 things to do each day, and don’t worry about the rest.
4. Set aside some disconnected time. If you’re connected all the time, this step is essential. Don’t skip it! Pick one hour to be disconnected — no Internet, no email, no IM, no phones. You can use your computer, but just for desktop computing, like writing in a word processor or text file, or working in Photoshop, or what have you. Use this time to really focus, to pour yourself into important tasks that you love to do. Or you can use this disconnected time to relax.
5. Create your perfect day. You’ve blocked aside some disconnected time, but let’s take that a step further: what would your ideal day look like? What would you do when you woke up, what would your work day look like (hint: it doesn’t have to be the work you’re doing now, but it could be), would you have time for exercise or sports or taking a walk or relaxing or reading or doing a hobby, would you have time for loved ones, time to clean or do errands, time for checking email, etc.? List the things you’d do, ideally, then simplify to the most important ones. Then lay them out in a schedule. You don’t have to stick to this schedule exactly, but knowing what’s ideal gives you something to work toward. In some cases, you can simply start living this day, tomorrow, but in others you’ll have to make gradual changes to allow this ideal day to happen. The key: taking control and responsibility for making the perfect day a reality.
6. Declutter. You want a nice, decluttered, serene space to surround you in your new simplified life. So you’re going to create it. Two ways to go here: if you don’t have much time, just do 10-15 minutes for now, and continue to do small increments until you get to where you’d like to be. Here’s how. Second method is if you have an entire day or weekend — set aside a big block of time and just overhaul your workspace or one or two rooms in your home. Here’s a good method.
Next Steps
Once you get to this stage, things should be a bit more simplified. But you’re probably interested in going beyond that. Here’s what you can do next — but please, please, don’t try to do these all at once. Pick one at a time, and do it slowly, over time. Simplifying isn’t a race — it’s a life.
And most importantly: enjoy the process! The important thing isn’t a destination — a perfect, simple life — but the journey along the way.
Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.
- Lao-tzu
If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
Copyright © 1972/1975 by Dorothy Law Nolte
Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.
This is the author-approved short version.
See, there is a good point hanging around FB sometimes. I read this post from Clarice (a fellow W@wie-turned-wedding coordinator) and was instantly floored.
Let me remind you today. You’re not gonna promise to each other that you will not disappoint one another. You will. At some point you will. What is important is you don’t go away, you don’t escape, you don’t leave one another because you were disappointed. That is the meaning of fidelity.
That was part of a homily the priest said during a wedding. The priest was Fr. Ed Africa.
She was nuts.
When I was a teenager preaching in small prayer groups all over the country, I’d see this woman sneak into the room—trying hard to conceal her face—carrying a mammoth of a tape recorder inside a white plastic bag over her shoulder.
And like clockwork, before I step down the pulpit, she’d sneak out and leave quietly, vanishing into thin air.
This woman would be present in every single talk.
I can only imagine the lunacy of this woman. If she wasn’t listening to me live, she was listening to me on tape.
So naturally, when I go home, I knock on my mother’s door and say, “Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, stop doing that! You embarrass me!”
My mother would open the door and with an innocent look that could win an Oscar ask, “Huh? What are you talking about?”
But behind her, I could already hear my voice being played from her recorder.
“Mom, you’re getting too proud,” I said, “and that’s pride just the same. Look at your room. It’s a national museum of my talks, my articles, my photos…”
Mom said, “Bo, don’t you know that God has given mothers an exception to that rule? Mothers can be very proud of their children.”
“Where did you read that? Vatican III?”
“Go away now. I’m busy,” she said.
No doubt about it. My Mother is the Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Bo’s Fans Club International.
Today, at 84 years old, she hasn’t changed.
Every Sunday, I preach three times at the Feast: 8am, 10:30am, and 1pm.
Would you believe? She attends all three sessions and listens to me preach every single time. Not content with that, before leaving the house on Sunday, she’ll first watch me preach at six in the morning on TV5.
And from Monday to Saturday, she wakes up really early just to listen to me preach through Radio Veritas at five in the morning. And in the middle of the week, she’ll ask my sister to put on the internet so she can watch me at www.PreacherInBlueJeans.com
Mom loves me. No doubt about it.
I also remember one thing about her…
Mothers Are Givers
**I originally titled this Dad and her girls…bwahahaha, thanks to whoever noticed, you didnt to comment anonymously 
*
My dad turned a year older today. A year older, a year wiser, a year given to his life.
My Dad always told us he might never reach 60. Or even 50. Now he is 58 and I know those 8 years were just additional life terms given by the Big Man up there. I am thankful that despite my Dad’s many many health complications we can still go out, do father-daughter things and most of all, he can still enjoy his grandkids 
A year ago, he told us that he is now living for his grandkids. I know Matthew and especially Martha give him so much joy and something to look forward to everyday. Especially now that we live so near. It kinda reminds me of this picture taken a year ago:
If you know my Dad, you will never see him smiling or even acting for picture taking. These pictures are priceless to me. And seeing him with Martha makes me see how he was with me when I was a kid.
Many people tell me I’m my Dad’s favorite 
. Maybe because I’m such a certified Daddy’s girl. Or maybe because I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Or maybe because we look alike . On my 18th birthday, my Dad ended his speech on my celebration by saying, “ You were the first (daughter). You will always be the first.”
I know I broke his heart when I got pregnant at 19. Yet I never heard a word from him of disgust, shame or anger. He didnt even flinch when I told him I didnt want to get married. Him who is head of our religious organization, the very breath of me getting pregnant and NOT wanting to get married would be a scandal to his name. Yet he said, scandals don’t hurt him. He was with me the whole time I was pregnant, he taught me how to cook, he bought me ice cream at 10PM and even taught me how to breastfeed three hours after I gave birth (my Mom was knocked out of worry she didnt sleep the whole time I was in labor. Dad slept through it though).
Yet he was still proud of me. A cousin of mine told me my Dad told her that eventhough I got pregnant unexpectedly he has seen me try na itama ang aking buhay.
I dont know if my Dad remembers this, but I told him once Im going to make him proud of me some day. Im 27 now and feel like Im going nowhere. So my only wish is that my Dad live longer so he can see how his efforts to raise me have borne fruit – I wanna make him proud of what I WILL become soon. I know my time is running short.
So…I know my Dad reads my blog ya know
So Daddy,
I know Im making tsismis on my blog again but you read naman it’s all about the good things . I love you and I hope you take care of your health. People still need you. We need you. I know you are tired and ready to go. I once told you you need to wait until I walk down the aisle. Now Im telling you to wait because there is another apo on the way but he or she is not coming anytime soon. Kawawa naman sya walang magiispoil sa kanya. Me apo ka pang darating sa tatlo ko pang kapatid.
Think how many years it can add to your life
Thank you for everything, and for showing me how to be a great parent to my kids. My only hope is that I can impart all the wisdom you have shared with me to my kids, long after you are gone.
I will always be your Piggy Gie
And yes, I can print this and make this my card for you. I dont give you cards anymore do I?
Love you,
Agatha *(because my Dad likes me real name)*
Happy Thursday!
I leave you with a nice prayer forwarded by a good friend. I love it so much, I made it into something nice
May you be reminded to put your full, unquestioning trust in the Lord
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