flowers and weeds……

Put On The FLOWERS— Put Out The WEEDS
confident —-shy
calm —-tense
smart —-dumb
energetic —-boring
joiner —-killjoy
humble —-arrogant
friendly —-hostile
mediator —-provoker
motivator —-complainer
optimistic —-pessimistic
encourager —-discourager
approachable —-unapproachable
merciful —-ruthless
tactful —-tactless
careful —-careless
constructive —-destructive
objective —-subjective
generous —-greedy
polite —-impolite
good sport —-bad sport
flexible —-inflexible
responsible —-irresponsible
organized —-disorganized
industrious —-lazy
disciplined —-undisciplined
simple —-complicated
contended —-discontented
excellent —-complacent
independent —-dependent
considerate —-inconsiderate
forgiving —-critical

 

 

avoid idolatry…..

 

AVOID IDOLS

 

People spend thousand bucks to look and stay younger, but eventually, they don’t know the essential. I would like to quote in the book of Saint Antoine de Exupery, “The Little Prince,” these lines, “what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Most of the times, what we value in life is not really valuable at all. We are troubled by trouble, worried by worry and pained by pain simply because we have idols. So what are our idols? They maybe attachment to power, status quo, wealth, beauty, etc. that underneath the surface is a poisonous and acidic destination.
IDOLIZING THINGS, IMAGE, ONESELF, PEOPLE, POWER, FAME, FORTUNE, PLEASURE, ETC. IS A SELF-IMPOSED PRISON WHEREIN BAD THINGS WILL EVENTUALLY HAPPEN. Why is that so? Imagine, we have given everything, exerted our effort and spent our time pursuing our idols. What if one day we lose one of them? It is like the end of the world where we lose the meaning of our life. Beyond the deafening silence of idols is a falsity of it that we miss the bigger picture of life. Thereby, we should find a home within. This means no matter how many people we love will have to leave us and no matter how much of our investment, position, power, etc. will be taken away from us, we are still whole and complete. Of course, we are broken but we are not totally devastated because we do not solely depend our happiness and worth on external forces.
Most people cannot look and stay younger because of idols. They embrace showy, pretentious and superficial life to prove their worth. Their game is all about winning and succeeding and their philosophy is, “the more money you have, the more acceptable, important and secure you become.” While this maybe true in dog-eat-dog world, they have become price-tags. They are much absorbed by labels in life wherein one’s worth and value depends on titles, positions, roles, wealth, etc. They measure people’s status by their dress, house, etc., measure intelligence by their speech and school they go into and measure attractiveness by their looks, color and clan. And true enough, the more they are attached to idols, the filthy older they become and they stay out of youthfulness. My dear blokes, for us to look and stay younger, let us dispose idols!

time management….

DEVELOP TIME MANAGEMENT

It is said that we live in a multi-dimensional reality wherein we are here living in the moment, other aspects of our being are simultaneously existing in other dimensions at other time. This statement is so magnanimous and complex that many people will accept or reject this idea. But what is time, really? For me, time is passing of events. It happens freely, flows endlessly and slips away rapidly. Time metamorphoses us but it cannot be measured, possessed and controlled and we cannot turn back time.
It is the element in life that we cannot bring back that the ultimate and supreme wish of everyone is to have time machine or to be a time traveler. Unfortunately, that phenomenon only happens in science fiction movies. In contrast, according to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, it is theoretically possible to travel back in time if man can develop a machine that can travel faster than light. Well, that is everyone’s million-dollar question that the boundary among past, present and future is just easy through time machine.
If man can invent time machine or can become a time traveler, then there will be no longer regrets and setbacks in life. Man can correct mistakes and can do things over and over without saying, “I wish I could do that or I wish I could have not done that”. Young people, especially the students, workers and professionals should value time and develop time management. How?
Students should not cut classes. Avoid going to malls, computer shops and billiard halls, etc, during classes. These things are aimless and futile when done in improper timing. They should learn their grammar, history, literature, percentages, rhythmic, etc. well in school because they are weapons in the career they will have in the future. They should avoid failed subjects due to laziness or wrong doings.
They should finish schooling within time frame and be in the right sequence of studies. It’s embarrassing to be in 3rd year in high school when one is already 17 unless there are unfavorable circumstances to be not in school. They should study if parents can send them to school and they should enjoy the world of books, calculators, uniforms, etc. in the proper sequence of time.
Students should be in the right course. They should know their intellectual capacities, talents, skills and inclinations to choose rightly the course to get in college. One cannot bloom and flourish if one is not in the right course. He/she may waste his time learning or just learn subjects but not by heart. They should operate and work according to their natural gift and passion to be in the right place.
They should not downgrade general subjects like English, Filipino, Social Science, Mathematics or ROTC, NSTP or P.E., because without them, they cannot graduate. They should finish general subjects and thesis writing at once and avoid back subjects or underload units. As much as possible, whatever the listed subjects in the curriculum; should be taken and passed in the right sequence of time.
They should not only earn units in college or university but really learn. They should be part of extra-curricular activities and clubs that also harness their communication and social skills. Moreso, it is significant that they should attain high or satisfying grades to have brighter future. Grade point average may not be mandatory in finding job but the employers always want and prefer graduates who are fully-developed intellectually and socially.
Workers and professionals should develop time management to have time for everything. As a teacher, I realize that life sometimes is timed up and should be done at certain length of time because we cannot bring back the lost minutes and seconds. We should allocate time to gather and save resources and make money while still young. We should avoid wastage because every second counts in this competitive world. We should number our days and accomplish tasks at hand during work time.
Best of all, we should put God in everything we do because if we do, no matter how hundreds of undertakings we have, He can give us time for everything without a doubt. We should allow time for church time because there’s no other better activity than this. We should honor God supremely before anything else and offer worship time for His glory. However, church service is not just a mechanical activity. We should not just listen to sermon, read Bible, take notes, pray, sing and dance but worship Him continually without pause. It is thinking about Him constantly even in eating (breakfast, lunch, dinner), taking a bath, doing assignments, taking exams, going to work, exercising, reading books, watching TV., listening to radio, etc. In so doing, He can spare and stretch time for us to accomplish everything without hassles and frictions.

the power of words….

WORDS CAN MAKE OR BREAK

WORDS CAN MAKE OR BREAK
How grueling it is if we could never tell anyone else what we are thinking and feeling! So do talk…. Nevertheless, it is better to bite our lips and swallow the negative remarks than to utter hurting words. They are only WORDS but they have the power to make or break. It is of no avail that we have good oral health when we have sharp tongue and bad mouth. To be a winner in life, we should have them both.
Personally, I am convinced that there are things better left unsaid. Being honest and frank is good but we should consider the kind of people we are giving feedbacks or insights. Sometimes, we should keep our opinion to ourselves when not asked. We are not born in this world to always have side comments and criticisms and we should be slow to speak when we do not know the whole story. Moreso, we should not be brutally frank to never offend people.
We should be careful and cautious with our spoken words. We should avoid using coarse and offensive language. We should observe universality without bias or prejudices. We should avoid unintentional slurs, stereotyping of roles, cultures and nationalities. Words have vibratory effects. The words we utter may affect positively or negatively people depending on the words we say and the manner of deliverance. We should speak words of benediction and inspiration.
This place will be a better place to live in if we speak good words…. We always speak with a definite purpose in mind. Whatever motives or intentions every time we speak our mind, we should follow this case to case basis, “IT’S NOT WHAT WE SAY, BUT HOW WE SAY IT! Remember, the words we’ve spoken are injected into one’s unconscious mind. They may not remember the exact words but the emotion and atmosphere of the words are recorded and would recur, and playback as if it happened a minute ago. We should not only develop the gift of gab but also the gift of tact. Prudence, please! We should spread good words to other people.
Another thing is we should not talk too much when we mean horrible and tragic events, gossips or other person’s issues. If we keep on talking about those things, our energy might be drained because negative energy attracts negative energy. We may also enter into trouble if we indulge in gossips and backbiting. We should avoid talking too much about people because small minds talk about people all the time. When we cannot say that can make people feel good, shut up. We shouldn’t be quick with our mouth because words may make us closer or push away people. So it is the way of the winner to be wise on the choice of words and the manner of delivery and much wiser to avoid words that alienate us from people. Beyond it all, those words could either make or break a person. So it is very wise to

TALK LESS AND LISTEN MORE!
Not bad, quite good! Never FORGET this: TIMING! In speaking, TIMING SERVES AS A GREAT DEAL ON HOW COMMUNICATION WILL GO. We should ask ourselves pointedly, “HOW IS OUR TIMING IN COMMUNICATION?”. What is our tongue saying about us? No matter how good our intentions or motives in speaking, if spoken in wrong time, it won’t work out well. As persons, we should know when to speak or shut our mouth. For example, a world-renowned singer in a concert… if she sings her song in wrong timing even if she’s not off-key, her performance is not that praise worthy – (BRAVO) once and for all. I hope I don’t veered away a little too far…but folks, you get my point? In expressing ourselves, it’s not only the RHYMING but also the TIMING! When we want to speak words of wisdom and consider TIMING, follow this 3 T’S —–TRUTH, TEMPERANCE AND TERMINOLOGY!
Freedom of speech is not to speak as one likes. It should be worthy of utterance and listening to. We should understand that to (open or shut our mouth), these two approaches might be acceptable in a given situation. If we think that it’s better not to talk (when speaking one’s mind will aggravate the issue) then, SHUT OUR MOUTH. If we think that it’s better to talk (when moral or spiritual principle at stake and speaking one’s mind will alleviate the issue) then, OPEN OUR MOUTH. We should be assertive without being aggressive. Our assertiveness should be based upon self-esteem and high regard for others.
Our speech should descend to no cheapness and vulgarity. Also we should not talk or discuss issues until we know what we are talking about. There’s a big problem…it’s hard to know when to talk or not to talk… yes, indeed. Anyway, we have bigger mind and reason to discriminate the two approaches. Be silent when necessary, be outspoken when needed. We need to speak to be heard and to be silent to be appreciated. What are the signs to let ourselves shut or open our mouth? In freedom of speech, we should not speak careless words that can ignite a fight. We should not exaggerate facts to make them juicier or comes worse to worst, we engage in gossiping. Observe universality when using words. We should avoid biases, sexism, stereotyping of roles, culture, tradition and nationalities. Engage in topics that are worth- wasting salivas on but never engage in saliva-drenched topics that are destructive to one’s reputation. We shouldn’t be idle-mouthers who always talk but never say anything important and be bad-mouthers who engage in everybody’s talk of town but no one knows the truth.

Another thing about gossiping— we should not believe totally when we hear something negative and unverified about other people. Speculations and harsh judgments are destructive. We have no idea who really they are, don’t know them on personal level and where they are coming from. We don’t know the real story or the whole picture and we have no experience with them so it’s none of our business to meddle with their lives or give comments anything we want to say.
There are better things to do than to listen to unverified stories of gossip-hungry people. They just waste our time. We should not pry into other’s private life. No invasion of privacy please! Let us respect the privacy of other people because we are private persons. We should think hundred thoughts before we say a word… our unstoppable voices should stop us to think the limitations of freedom of speech.

destination….

DIFFICULT ROADS LEAD TO BEAUTIFUL DESTINATION…..

the magic of growing old….

The Magic of Growing Old
Reasons Why We Shouldn’t Be Afraid Growing Old

1. It sparkles inner beauty.
 Woman standing
 Sculpted face and body
 I want to know her
 She is the epitome
 Woman of inside beauty
As the years progress, we will find true beauty in growing old. It shows us the richness of getting into the top. Growing old is like climbing a ladder- there are challenges and struggles each step of the way. There’s no short cut in reaching the top. We have to climb the ladder that is full of thorns, needles and rocks. Finally, there is true beauty in the view from the top. If we don’t climb the ladder, we will never see true beauty in the top.

2. It shows full meaning in life.
 I have a jewel
 Beauty is where the heart is
 It is no great shake
 Hidden beauty’s best display
 If the inside has meaning

Life is so vast and fastidious. Growing old helps us reflect the meaning of our life. It is like a jewel which needs to be cut several times to be marvelous. There is pain in growth and growth in pain. Couldn’t it be that growing up is what meaning we put into it? In as much as it pains us to be purified, it is called growth. The meaning of life is to welcome pain until we are purified

3. It gives us wisdom.
 It has been measured
 Tested by humanity
 And been found wanted
 Growing old lies in the eyes
 Eyes of grace and purity

Growing old is caused by time. Allow time to let us grow and develop. Time is capable of making us matured persons. The experiences we have call forth wisdom… those experiences whether positive or negative teach us valuable lessons in life. Growing up thinking a day without lessons to learn is not much of a day… it shouldn’t be our life’s pattern. One way to grow old knowledgeable is to always reflect and re – assess our life.
Growing old… our face will wrinkle, hair will turn into grey or fall and our sensory organ and bone structure will decline. We start to feel our age when we feel too old to have bothered about the things we couldn’t understand before. We mellow down on such things and we’re no longer cute. When once we are young, now we have young ones. Is growing old scary and dangerous? Who wants to grow old when that rocking-chair philosophy always haunts us? Our erroneous society regards age as the determinant of beauty. We believe that age has monopoly on being attractive and sexy. We consult physicians, dentists, nutritionists, oculists and dermatologists to maintain our seamliness, sexiness and youthfulness.
We can deny or ignore aging but we cannot get away from it. It is a reality… it is a continuous process… we can never alter changes in life because the only permanent in this world is change. We should make the most of our age… because we will never pass this way again. We should anticipate the fruitful and meaningful years to come…only then, we can grow old gracefully. Twilight years is not a scourge, I bet!

LOOK AND STAY YOUNGER

Certainly the surest and perhaps the only wish of everyone of us is to stay and look younger. So much has been written about the fountain of youth in literature instilling into our subconscious mind the idea of being forever young. Contrary to that, we cannot be forever young because our cells up to our tissues and up to our bodies have their way to growth and maturity. Everything is impermanent and relative. We cannot live in an image forever. All we have to do is to accept change. Would we like to live up to 200 years?—– and still manage to look young? It only happens in fiction movies. But in reality, we can look fresh and young albeit the age if our body, mind and spirit are sound, healthy and pure.

So how can we look and stay younger? Here they are:
• Have healthy intestinal tract (balance of good and bad bacteria) by eating right kinds of foods and drinking pure and uncontaminated water.
• Drink more than 8 glasses of water and try to drink 2 glasses of water before breakfast. Only eat when hungry to flatten those bellies.
• Safeguard blood pressure, blood-sugar levels, weight and cholesterol by avoiding fats and sugars.
• Limit bad habits like overeating, too much smoking and drinking and exercising too little. Or better, avoid smoking and drinking.
• Achieve good hygiene. Always take a bath. Brush teeth. Maintain healthy skin, hair and nails.
• Have a good sleep and enough rest. Take a nap if possible.
• Spend quality time with family.
• Go out and bond with co-workers sometimes. Have fun with good companions.
• Have a hearty laugh and continual feast of heart. Sing. Dance. Play. They are good to immune system.
• Shut and scream (without interrupting other’s privacy). It’s good to release tension.
• Join civic and church organizations. Be a productive and responsible citizen.
• Reflect life. Examine conscience. Talk and pray to God and worship Him all the time.

 

why do we fall in love…??????

WHY DO WE FALL IN LOVE?
Katrina, 18 years old and a college student has a noticeable change in her behavior. She now puts on make-up to accentuate her endowed beauty. She also puts on cologne (vanilla scent because it’s said to have magnetic effect on men). She plays on different hairstyles and dress with a hint of sexiness. She becomes extra charming, tender and approachable to men.
Most of all, there is ‘spark” in her eyes everytime her suitor visits her, — that’s not ordinary to people who are in love… we’re in love when we find ourselves lying helpless in our beloved’s arms… when we imagine our unborn children in his/her eyes…when we hear every beat of our heart in his/her chest.. when we become romantic lover and sentimental fool… when we are with him/her even for so brief a time feels like an eternity…when we want the whole world know we are in love…. Oh! I have romanticized view of falling in love. But what is it really to fall in love?
Literary genre whether prose and poetry are all about falling in love. We are psychologically conditioned to believe in magic like the fairy tale stories ‘Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.’ Scientifically speaking, there happens in our bodies when we fall in love. The PEA (phenylethylamine)- an internally generated infatuation drug, is rapidly activated when we begin to feel attracted to someone. The love hormone in our brain ignites a series of complex biochemical processes.
Thus, we feel we are floating on air signaling that we are in love because dopamine stimulates oxytocin in our bodies. Norepinephrine, on the other hand stimulates the release of adrenaline. The blood pressure rise when near with our object of affection. We pound and sweat and have butterflies in our stomach. Yes, we are governed by the rhythm of our body chemistry when we are in love.
We may differ in interpretation of the various manifestations of falling in love, but all of us agree that there is such mysterious, strange, unknown, vast and infinite source why we fall in love. But why do we fall in love? Why there is strong attraction that we can’t fathom completely? In an attempt to explain it, we fall in love for many different reasons. We fall in love with a person because he/she gives financial support, offers moral support, becomes a shock absorber, serves as a mother or father figure (Oedipus or Elektra complex), possesses the qualities we lack in, etc. Again and again, why do we fall in love? There’s no absolute reason to this question. It is subjective and relative to different persons. What is true to one person may not be true to another person. It’s amazing how we fall in love without knowing about it. Love is there but it is not understood completely. Falling in love…heart on fire… no other emotion that can be black and white all the same time simultaneously. Scientists studied this emotion by its complexity and still… it remains a puzzle. After all, we cannot analyze love inspite that it is analyzable. Today, love is tremendously misunderstood. We think love when it is just infatuation, we think love when we feel lust, we think love when we want romance and so and on. Love also has ultimatums and conditions. We often say, ‘I love you if you change.. you leave your… I love you because you give satisfaction to my needs… you serve as my saviour… you are appealing to my senses… etc.” How about this…’ I love you inspite of your weakness…. You give me burdens… you have no job or money… you cheated on me … etc.”
If love has many considerations, could it be true love? Does love find us or do we find love? Again, being persistently curious, ”why do we fall in love?” Philosophers, psychologists, sages or love gurus can’t give the exact answer to this question. To this, maybe we should stop finding the answer but start asking the right question.
I hope that because of love, with love and for love… we become the person that we should be becoming!
I pray that we just not fall in love but we soar in love because we feel there is heaven on earth with our mate… we just not fall in love for our feelings sometimes fade but we grow in love because we develop the five stages of love… we just not be in love for sometimes heart is the most deceitful of all but we are inlove because our pure and passionate emotions will last. Aargh… I’m writing what we human beings always feel but never fully understood and I don’t think we’ll ever.

DEFINITION OF LOVE
I think love means Prince William of London
There’s sudden magic and it has no reason
Love is the third eye blind
It is extremely hard to find
Love’s a flirt
Love’s a hurt
Loving is madness
Madness is loving
Is love taking a cross?
Making heart our boss?
Does it make a constructive thing?
Does it give an immortal wing?
Flying and flying in the sky
Convince didn’t I?
L ove is not love if we’re in love with the idea of being in love
O r in love with the projection, possession or accomplishment
of our object of affection and the
V ery focal point on how he/she makes us feel
wonderful and passionate is all that counts not the
E ssence of who and what he/she is and how he/she
builds our character and value.
THE BEST DEFINITION I CAN GIVE —
LOVE IS BETTER FELT THAN DEFINED.

why do we fall in love….?