Love Prospered By Time

          Love prospered by time, that fills the memories. Memories are forever that makes us smile for a while even amidst confusions. Heart always beats, even feeling discontentment and suspicion sometimes. Heart is the reason for breathing, so asfor dying. Likely, few become insane, desperate, and unhappy bearing the fruit of mishandling the relationship. 

from:www.kozzi.com

          In crossing through the waves of adversities, the strength comes not from the paddles but the hands that hold the latter. As a cliché says, “It takes TWO to tango…”, therefore, partners form the strength to strongly overpass the challenges. 

         Love’s worth is more than a life. No one knows the fixed price. It has no monetary value. Some think it pays lower; some think it pays higher. Misunderstanding happens because we tend to gain back the price of how much we invest. Loving is not to outgive but to forgive.

from: www.kozzi.com

          So, love as much as you can, considering his incomparable sweetness and caress despite imperfection. Understand that everybody hasn't the same MENTAL and EMOTIONAL ABILITY as yours to interpret and perceive things happening. Indeed, same as you, no one is PERFECT!!! Besides, we have angel/s to inspire us daily...

by: ELSIE ALVARADO-ANDALES 

      Guest Blogger

WHAT REAL LOVE CAN DO...

          LOVE is such a very complex and vague matter that many meanings are attributed to it. Yet in the midst of all these complexities, there still exists a reality that true love exists. Indeed, it takes a while for true love to prosper. It is like  a rose  that needs to be consistently nurtured so that it will blossom into a beautiful flower. 

from Kozzi Inc.'s Portfolio

          Try to reflect on your own relationship in life especially in marriage. As the years go by, when the two of you being husband and wife reach a level of deep understanding for each other thus resulting to a feeling of being mutually comfortable with each other no matter what the situation is, then both of you can claim it to the world that real love exists between the two of you. 

      True love also happens when one could learn to forgive and forget everything painful that is done to him/her. That in spite of the pain with its natural tendency to inflict pain in return, it is rather forgiveness that is showered to the other party. Real love is ready and eager to do everything for the welfare of the beloved. 

from Kozzi Inc.'s Portfolio

          In the midst of life's suffering especially in one that is inflicted by another party within a relationship, the ideal response should be to embrace sufferings and to shower forgiveness. Meanwhile, suffering is the most difficult thing in life that we all want to eliminate or  at least avoid it. It may be either physical, mental or emotional but we cannot fully understand why it exists and affects our lives. Suffering is so much a part of life that we must accept and go through with courage and patience.  

          Our hope for perfection in any relationship surely does not make our sufferings less real and painful. The only possible answer to this situation is a real love that is radiated from one's heart. To be able reach this level, we all need to ask for grace and wisdom to go beyond what is superficial in life. While it is so difficult for us to grasp the real meaning of love, we can nevertheless open ourselves to whatever grace where we can get strength on. 

          Hence,  may this be our constant desire to enter into a relationship where true and real love exists.

GLOBAL WARMING: Am I personally Affected By It?

          Global warming is such a worldwide phenomenon and is actively affecting every human being on this earth. It is such a massive issue that nations big and small are having serious discussions to asnwer to this recent worldwide challenge. As I read in one of the blogs which refer to this subject as a serious phenomenom affecting everyone and everything on earth, its writer Rafi Miller said, 

" For most scientists, the evidence is overwhelming. They see it in the data, the models, and the massive climate shifts happening before our eyes. Every authority on climate, including NASA, NOAA, AMS, NAS, AGU,ACS, and APS, warns unequivocally of a grave threat to our welfare."

          It is then very evident that global warming's threat is such a very serious one that it entails an urgent action as well on humankind. Rafi Miller continued, 

        "This is an obviously tragic sentiment. But a serious question underlies it. And among my friends, it’s often the first question they ask once I explain the gravity of the disaster we face. What can we do about global warming? Do we have to give up our cars and air conditioning? Are we supposed to turn our economy upside down with new regulations? Should we board spaceship and move to the moon?"

          There are several answers to this questions yet it is most probably beneficial if we can also personally ask ourselves on what can we do in a special way to help prevent global warming's worsening threat to humanity and the world.

          We can think of so many things to answer this question. Some of those are through information drive. We need to inform ourselves how serious is the effect of this climate change to humankind. Recent man made catastrophe such as intense heat stress, more universal drought, uncontrollable wildfires here and there, fatal epidemics, the rise of sea level,  disastrous floods and many other local effects just visibly manifests the fatal effects of climate change.Thus, it is very positive to constantly consider whatever ways that can make us positive contributors to stop the spread of global warming. Several grassroots response that we can think of can be any of the following: energy, forests, education and agriculture. 

          Worldwide, there are several actions undertaken by groups to respond positively to this challenge on climate change. Numerous actions are undertaken such as the program to provide electricity to 500 students in Belize, the project to provide 1,500 clean cookstoves for Haitian families, the program to conserve thousand of acres of Tanzanian rainforest so on and so forth.

          Thus, may we consciously participate in our own ways to take part in these activities. Let our desire to extend concretely to these worldwide projects to stop climate change grow intensely day by day. Let us be persistent in educating ourselves on climate change's negative effects. Let us unceasingly ask ourselves, " How can we become agents of change to counter the evil effects of global warming and climate change to humankind?" 

WE LOVE YOU MAMA...

           We have basically various significant people in our life. We can name all of them yet personally what comes out as one of the most outstanding is that of our MOMS. Indeed our mother extend several sacrifices and their LOVE for us is beyond any price and timeless. Thus I would say that mothers play a crucial role in our development especially on our stages like when we are still babies, toddlers so on and so forth. Their LOVE is unconditional just like that of Mama Mary and we should always reciprocate this love with a genuine LOVE as well.

          Thus here below, I am sharing this reminder with you to remind us on the importance of our MAMAS in our life.

WE ALL ARE ONE IN SAYING " WE LOVE YOU MAMA"......

Kurt Kristoff Jugan and mommy....

THE LORD OF THE RING..............

good vs. evil....light vs. darkness......yin vs. yang.....these are the two contradictions in life.....however for every person there is no safer ground...one has to choose....am i for righteousness or the other way around? ......will you choose good rather than evil?....I believe that everyday we make choices ......and some of these choices lead us either to goodness or badness......

what i think is ought to be so necessary for us all is to endow ourselves a constant time and space to look deep into ourselves what is there deep inside of us......remember everyday is always  a MATTER OF CHOICE ......just like in the movie LORD of the RING the main characters made their choices---to make a difference. Are we ready to do choices which could also lead us into goodness?......kudos......

Every single second counts......

          Just to remind myself as well as others the value of life. First that it is a sacred gift from God and that it is ought to be shared with others. I have that responsibility---in fact-- a very serious one --to take care of my own self. I need not to create complicated ways to do it yet just by takin ggood care of this everyday makes it a very loving way of reciprocating this gift. 

          However, there are many factors in which I can begin with like taking care of my physical aspect and many more (emotional, spiritual, social etc.). There are so many do's and don'ts in my everyday living. Nevertheless, there could be times wherein I would fail in this daily undertaking. Yet at the end of the day, let this be a part of my daily perspective--to look back on all of my daily events and to express gratitude for all the good things I receive during the day and to feel sorry for all my wrongdoings. I may sound egoistic yet that is how the reality looks to me. 

          This is a primary duty to take care of my self growth. On the other hand, I also have that big responsibility to share this gift of life to others especially those who are deared to me. I need other people as well as others need me. That is the beauty of life---that I am able to realize that I am made unique from others so that I will come to know that there is a mutual need for each other. Others may not like me however I will focus on those who will assist me to grow deeper on myself. There is always be beauty in sharing myself with others. Hence, I will always strive for perpection as I am tasked to be and I will always extend this very self with others. There is no appropriate word also to describe when I feel the warmth of other people's care and love for me. 



                                                              

WHAT WILL I DO TODAY?

          Each new day brings lots of potentials to all of us. Different experiences, different people, varied memories. mixied emotions---these are but some of the chapters in our book called LIFE JOURNEY. 

          Everyday that I wake up, questions come out of my mind and what is prevailing to me everyday is the question, " What will I do today?" Upon stumbling this everyday question, it goes down to the very deep of me including my sense of priority in life. Personally this is an important question since I believe that each day brings numerous potentials to all of us. Thus it takes note to keep in touch of our daily priorities so that we can also answer positively the question I posed beforehand.

                               (Photo courtesy of BART MAMARIL)

FAMILY is always a PRIMARY SOURCE OF MOTIVATION

          My daily priorities may vary from time to time yet at top of them is always my family- my wife and my baby Kurt. They are always my daily consideration and that everything that I do daily is always for their own welfare. Knowing their special place in my heart and in my life, I consistently put in mind their own good in whatever I perform everyday. They endow me strength to be full of life in my work and in my other activities. 

          Families may seem distinct from one to the other yet at the onset, what binds them all together is the LOVE that   radiates from one member to the other. Ideally, LOVE seems so abstract yet when it boils down to any family, it then presents itself concretely through the loving gestures and accolades that family members exchange with one another. From the simple words "Good morning dad/mom" to any other act of affirmation such as "You did great in your math subject!", they already show much affection and love to every family member.

LOVE ABOUNDS IN THE FAMILY...

          Thus,  it is my attitude to show respect and love in very concrete ways to my most loved persons in life- to my wife Yanyan and to our baby Kurt. What will I do today" I know what exactly it is and it is to continue showering them with so much love and affection.

QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY

          One of our considered treasures in life is our family. Thus it becomes a very essential part of our everyday living. Apart from our own life, it is the family that stands as one source of strength for all of us. We can learn bountiful things from our interactions inside our family. Certain values we can attribute to our family are  respect, love, affection, truthfulness, certitude, compassion, faith etc.

          On the other hand, it is very essential to ask ourselves: " Do we spend quality time with all the members of our family?", "Are we willing to commit ourselves to spend more time with our loved ones?", "Do we treat all  members of our family equally regardless of their rank, achievements, roles, etc?"

          These are but just some of the questions that we can constantly ask ourselves since being a family man or woman is a day to day commitment. It is such a wonderful feeling when we see all members of our family bonded together by love, affection, trust, acceptance and mutual support.

BE HAPPY INSIDE YOUR FAMILY

          Moreover, each family is a unique entity of any community. Whatever the uniqueness of each family yet there would always be a unified element among all other families. LOVE then becomes the most important component of every family and this love is radiated to all others. Being able to maintain a spontaneous and a positive relationship among all members of the family will result to a healthier environment. Members then will become more gentle, intelligent and likeable person to others.

          Hence I would like to reiterate that spending quality time with our family serves as a positive tool to produce productive members wherein someday, they will also grow as matured members of our society then finally they will also build their own   wonderful families.

HOW COULD WE BE HEROES to our CHILDREN?

          Trying to check from several sources about what a hero is, I discovered that from these series of meanings for HERO, what stand out as typical among them is that they are all geared towards kindness- towards something GOOD for somebody. Considering our children, they love to identify certain heroes in their life. When they're together with their peers, they enjoy playing the roles of their superheroes. Most common of these are Superman, Batman, Hercules, Darna, and many others. These are but just some of our known superheroes in print and in movies. 

"Heroes are people who transform compassion (a personal virtue) into heroic action (a civic virtue). In doing so, they put their best selves forward in service to humanity. A hero is as an individual or a network of people that take action on behalf of others in need, or in defense of integrity or a moral cause.

Heroic action is:

• Engaged in voluntarily;
• Conducted in service to one or more people or the community as a whole;
• Involving a risk to physical comfort, social stature, or quality of life; and
• Initiated without the expectation of material gain". (from Mike Dilbeck, Founder & President- RESPONSE ABILITY PROJECT, www.raproject.org)

Be a winner in life!

          What are the characteristics and qualities of a hero? Courage, honesty, zeal, compassion, have noble idea, trust, loyal etc -these are but just some of them. Going now to our primary role as parents to our children, are we able to portray these qualities and characteristics to them? Ideally for us to successfully and consistently perform them all is challenging and difficult. Moreover I personally believe that the most urgent call for us towards our children is our being a role  model to them.

 

          And among these qualities of a hero, it is LOVE that unites them together since when one is loving, courage, noble, and others will just naturally flow. Consequently we will be positive in resisting temptations. We can also  endure difficulties since we know from the start that our efforts are geared towards the fulfillment of a dream- that is to witness the positive growth of our children.  

          The present world is befell and threatened by numerous negative things like drugs, poverty, absence of fatherly/motherly image in the home, failure to study, hunger and many more. However in spite of them, we can still contribute to this world's positive growth and development by establishing a home that is full of love. Therefore it now becomes an urgent call for us as parents- to consistently serve as role models and as heroes to our children.