" Nothing on My Head"

     While at work yesterday, out of nowhere, I asked a colleague what could be a possible topic for this blog and she told me, "Nothing on my head as of the moment". Then I replied her, that's exactly would be my subject. Hence I am here now writing something about it. Personally I perceived her honest reply to my query as a consequence of her being so occupied with our job yesterday.

     Yet as I reflected on her phrase after work, I told myself that indeed, it is a reality that in many occasions in our life, we tend to wonder to nowhere. "Nothing on my head" could mean that momentarily, life seems to be so boring and vague....or that nothing spectacular or splendid is happening in life. Mountains of reasons could play in such situations like losing a special someone in life or getting sick or being rejected from a job interview etc. However looking on the opposite side of the coin, is it so wonderful to wake up every single day in life?

                                                                       

imagecredit: Image by Kohji Asakawa from Pixabay

     In our lifetime, heaps of reasons can be our motivations to make this life as such a wonderful place to be. One thing then that can help us reach such state is by constantly being present to our "NOW" moment. Let us not be imprisoned by things done in the past nor lazily dwell on things of the future. Rather let us learn to savour life's every moment. Remember always, life's journey is a passing one and   we could be helped by our previous experiences even the negative ones by embracing them and facilitate them as a guide to trek positively today's journey. 

     Yes there could be thousands of reasons for others to live a miserable and empty life but  there are also millions of reasons for us to look forward and smile  to each coming new day. We should learn to be grateful for all that has been as well as thankful for everything that is coming. 

Special thanks to my friend, Dream 

for the suggestion

                                                                           

A Reflection on Life

          Nearing to the culmination of this year, I made a reflection on what has transpired to me all throughout those months starting from January this year up till the end. I was surprised to realise how blessed am I as I recalled back all my activities this year. And everything boils down to this reality that life is such a precious gift. And it just come and go hence we need to embrace every second of it. 

Consequently, I can compare life with a three-legged stool in the following components: 

photo credit: Windmill 'De Berk', Veenpark, Netherlands - 1534 via photopin (license)

-just like the stool which relies on its three legs for strength, we also need various support systems in life. Hence we need to establish as many friends as we can for they can journey with us no matter what kind of surface that we are trekking.

-while on top of a stool is a space for a comfortable sitting, we also have spaces in our life that allows others to feel comfortable with us. In relation to this, it is therefore impossible for us to live just by our lonesome. We can't hide or deny the fact that we need others. 

- finally, the stool also are supporting each other thus they are intertwined with each other. Similar with life, we need to have a space at times but we also need to extend ourselves to others. We need to establish that equal footing among us and as such, we are all invited to render equal respect for each other notwithstanding differences in terms of race, status, age, or gender. 

                                              

Where Do You Get Your Inner Strength?

          Recently, I had the opportunity to join our household community in one of its regular meetings. And the gathering allowed me to gain further strength in the midst of my own life's struggles. Hearing from the prayers and sharings of my brothers and sisters in our group, I realized how marvelous life is. Being with loved ones and with friends are favorable circumstances that enable me to go deeper of myself and look back if where am I leading to in my own journey.

          Having said that, I know beforehand that my time is not wasted unlike when I will allow it to just stay idle thus allowing me to just dumb myself with nonsense things. Moreover, I admire the candidness of my brothers and sisters in our sharing for this openness allowed me to have an outstanding sense of themselves and of myself.

imagecredit:By Christian Meyn, published on 08 April 2009

          Treasured moments like this are nevertheless imprinted in my heart and when I go back to my own self, this will serve as one experience that I can recall and extract strength. "I gain my strength from my husband and he does the same. Yet at one time, I realized that it is actually from God whom I am getting this real strength to face this life's struggles and trials"- Thus came one of the realizations of our sister in the group. While listening to this, I continued closing my eyes and inaudibly murmured to myself, "she is not alone in that predicament for that is exactly what I'm doing in my own trial stages". 

          Yes, everything lies in my God. He is my  main source of strength aside from my family (wife and little boy). Knowingly or unknowingly, He consistently guides me into the right path. To boot, He draws everything in me. Without His guidance, I am nothing.  "In Jesus, and through the relationship He offers me, I find my hope…He is my strength — my peace, my purpose and my power.:-Sylene Mack- president-Transformed by Grace community.  Thus, I offer to Him everything in my life-my joys, my treasures, pains, aspirations etc. Going back to our community, I am so grateful to have encountered the bond of friendship with these people. And as we proceed with our respective journeys in life, may the guiding hand of our Divine Creator continue to inspire and mold us into persons whom He wanted us to be.

                                                   

GRATEFULLNESS is a VIRTUE

          It has been several days since I posted my last entry on this blog. Anyway, my week though it is not yet over has been another wonderful one for me. All my rich blessings and colorful experiences enabled me to deepen further my disposition that life is such a great treasure. All the events that touched my life within this week added meaning to my life's chapter. No matter how monotonous some were yet personally,  each single experience extends a unique role to my continuing self discovery. Indeed this journey called life is a never ending one. It goes beyond time. No two experiences are exactly alike  from each other.

          For all those reasons, I could say that I am so thankful for all the

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experiences this week that allowed me to nurture more this gift called life. Meanwhile, even all the activities that I had at work were deeply appreciated for they allow me to survive day by day. Without the blessing of my job, it could have been so difficult for me to provide food for my family.  

          Consequently giving my best in anything that I do is a consistent daily goal. I always bear it in my mind that the quality and elegance of my work will always be my task's goal. Committing any error in my daily performance has no room since in the whole production process, I serve as the starting point. If I don't do it perfectly, then the rest of our production will suffer. 

          On the other hand, everything that I experienced this week was all noteworthy and special as well.  Those moments of togetherness with my dearest wife were extremely delightful moments. Both my wife and my little kid are my main reasons why this life becomes so meaningful everyday. All my efforts and dreams are geared towards their welfare and happiness. Watching them happy everyday accorded me great satisfaction and meaning for they are my source of strength.

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          Meanwhile, all the people that I interacted this week also enabled me to share myself and everything with others. After all, I believe that life is sharing and extending my self with others is my joy. That becomes another reason for my sense of self- fulfillment---- knowing that everyday,  I become a positive instrument for others to realize that life is such a wonderful journey. 

GOOD GOVERNANCE: How Relevant is this to our EVERDAY LIFE?

          While I was busy the other day checking out my blogs and trying to compose some posts, my wife Yanyan was also preoccupied with her activity on good corporate governance. She tried to ask my opinion on her topic hence I tried to educate myself on how good corporate governance affect any company.

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          Actually, based on her data, she noted that there were cases of companies being involved in irregularities thus for some, resulting to their collapse. And even if authorities in charge of monitoring such companies' performance and to check as well as act on these undesired activities, there are still companies that continue to involve with such irregularities.What was pointed out in her resources as a reason for those collapsed companies was the failure to diligently practice good company governance. 

          Thus, is good company governance really effective in providing a productive and a prosperous company?  In relation to this, one of the factors solicited from company leaders especially from the board of directors is their value on honesty, is honesty fulfilled by being efficient to one's role in behalf of the company or is it contributing gains to the company yet still doing unguarded undesirable acts while contributing positively to the company?

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          Relating to our personal life, are we practicing good personal governance in our basic and primary relationships like family and friends? How honest we are to our loved ones? Are we consistently acting and performing our roles as husbands/wives/friends in behalf of the interest of the other party or the other way around?

          This is indeed very challenging to us yet if we just think and enliven within our hearts the love that we have for our loved ones, I believe that realizing good governance in our relationships will just come out naturally and without stress. LOVE for our family and vice versa will be the guiding force that will inspire us to be consistently honest and contented everyday.

P.S. thanks to my wife, Yanyan  and our little boy Kurt, for their inspirations in this post

ROLES OF DREAMS IN LIFE

          Everyday we encounter #dreams in our sleep. And each of them plays various interpretations. Hence in my post today, I will share with you insights coming from friend's dreams. Actually, I could not help myself but be amused by her sharings on her dreams. What was touching in her dreams was their resemblance to her waking life. Below are some of her dreams as she shared them with me:

* Dream 1: 

          "I see in my dream a guy whom I haven't met in my life. One time, he is bringing a soccer ball with him. Then he brings me to his house which I notice that it is not lighted enough. We go through the kitchen door. Their house's style is  extremely different from houses way back home. When we enter the kitchen, there's an old man sitting on a chair in the dining area. Then as we come into the living room, there is this old woman sitting calmly on a sofa". 

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 -----relevance of this dream to the dreamer: when she was married to her husband,  she remembered that he looks very much alike with that guy in her dream. Then asking him about soccer game, he said he was previously playing the game and in fact, he was once a winner of the "Best Player" award. Further, she recalled that when they went to her husband's house, she recognized it as that in her dream. It was there that she also met his mother and step dad. 

* Dream  2:

          "In my dream, my boyfriend goes away one night. He wears a back pack and what he gestures to me as we part ways is that as he walks away, he just turns his back then gone".   

-----dream's relevance: It was a dream before she separated from her daughter's father. The next day after she had this dream, her boyfriend's uncle informed her that he went away just bringing his back up with him. 

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* Dream 3:

         " In my dream, I hear somebody knocking my bedroom door and when I open it, there is this lady standing then she hands over to me a baby". 

-----dream's relevance: After a few months, she and her family learned that her sister was pregnant and later, delivered  a baby girl during her (dreamer) birthday.

          Moreover, our sharer has other dreams which she claimed that later in her life, they became realities. In her case, I would say that there is that sense of connectedness between her life and her dreams. Were they all coincidences or not? I could never tell - perhaps they were or it could also be that she has the gift of foretelling certain events in her life through dreams. 

          As I remember back our study on dreams in one of the schools in Chicago, USA, we dwelt on several interpretations of dreams. In my friend's case, I  invited her to focus her energy on those parts  that she considered relevant to her waking life. A dream is composed of various important parts and it is the dreamer's option to pick out those which are most touching to him.

          After all, it is the dreamer who can evaluate a dream's impact on her/his life. On the other hand, my role lies on being a facilitator in identifying connections of any dream to one's waking life. This is done by allowing the dreamer to undergo certain accompaniment so that he will see his dream's impact. 

p.s. I thank my friend, EMILY C. DEVILBISS of Maryland, USA for sharing her story.

MY PERSONALITY TYPE: THE ENNEAGRAM

          Have you heard about the ENNEAGRAM? I find it so interesting since it deals about one's personality. With one's knowledge about his/her personality type, it therefore becomes a tool for him/ her to have a deeper understanding of oneself. On the other hand, this will serve as a method for understanding and welcoming the similarities as well as differences from one person to the other.

imagecourtesy:Lalaine Obrino Songalia

                                 
          ENNEGRAM is defined as "a geometric figure that delineates the nine basic personality of human nature and their complex interrelationships. That is exactly what I meant in my statement above that when this is familiarized, strengthening human relationships will become a reality. 

          To quote one blogger's reflection on ENNEAGRAM, " What I like most about it, it can show you your stress point and growth point. With ENNEAGRAM you will know the areas that you must improve on so you can be a fully integrated person. "- NOVA CRUZ (www.thefamilywoman.com)

          In my own enneagram type, I am a type ONE which is typically a reformer with a wing on TWO -The Helper. As a ONE, I am inclined to observe and practice an orderly sense in life. Moreover what is advantageous to me presently is that I am not imposing this sense of order with others even though at times, I am affected when things become disorder however I always put into consideration the characteristics and traits of others. 

          My second type (wing) is number TWO which is defined as the HELPER. However as a precaution, when left unhealthy, TWOs tend to practice self-denial thus allowing a person to merely deny his own needs and just recognizing other people's needs. Further, it is telling others the sense that "I don't need you; it is you  who needs me in your life". 

imagecourtesy:Lalaine Obrino Songalia

          In my case, I firmly believe that I can both be of help to others and that I also need them in my life. I would never survive just by myself alone. Through the Enneagram, being able to befriend oneself on a deeper level results to a more healthy dealings with others. 

SWEET JOURNEY: START THE JOURNEY WITH GOD

Thanks for the art of life!

Have you ever thought of the first sound, word, phrase, or sentence that you've made?

We can't really tell the things that we have been doing when we were still at the womb of our dearest mother..

They would probably tell us..we could create gurgling sounds, kicking sounds, so and so...

Well, those sounds weigh more than a thousand word, It's the sound of life!

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It signifies that we are ready to face the world...

Have you ever count the number of sounds that you've made from the moment you were born?

Try to imagine the sound of breathing, the sound of your heartbeat...

Have you thank God for that?

Life is a journey that we have to survive step by step...

Let me share some sounds in my life that you can reflect with my next blogs.

Let us all be grateful that God has given all these opportunities to live with and discover the purpose of LIFE...

I'm blessed to have a friend who invited me to express my journey on this page that he has made.

This is such a great opportunity to create a sound, shout, word, phrase, sentence and blog that is worthful; by spreading the word of God.

...And realize that everything starts with GOD.

So let's continue our journey with HIM...

by: Sweetumz16

A guest blogger

WE ARE ALL IN A JOURNEY

                              Video courtesy of: Profe Teia    

               

          JOURNEY- a travel.....that's exactly what this life is. We are all in a journey. And on this journey, we are all companions. Whatever our destinations and routes are, at the end we could still say, "It's so great to finish the journey with you. Thank you for being there all throughout my journey."

          Moreover, this journey called LIFE starts with a single step. There could be times wherein we need to stop and take a rest for a while. At a certain point, we might fall down but let us all be sure that we are strong enough to stand up. At times, we might feel that we are alone.......yet we need to open our eyes and appreciate the presence of others who are just there somewhere guiding us along the way.  And certainly, we will feel great to realize that we are in a company in this journey. 

          At the end, it is not a  matter on how we start the journey, rather what counts most is how we end it. 

                                                       

REMEMBERING in our HEARTS OUR LOVED ONES

          Significant people are ones who can give us comfort and strength when things are getting rough and tough...when everything seems so blurred, they come to our rescue and offer us a sense of perspective. Thus, it is but fitting to remember them always in our hearts including those who are away from us anymore-our faithful departed.

          Their memories and legacy will constantly remind us of their presence. They are merely physically absent from us yet their examples and good deeds guide us in choosing what is best for us. We always have 24 hours in a day and how great it is when we appropriate a part of these 24 hours to offer our prayers for these significant people for they would always be present in our life.

from:www.dreamstime.com

          Physically absent yet their love would always be our source of inspiration. I remember concretely  my mother who died many years ago. Ever since I  was  a kid, she was my mentor in my prayer life. She everyday initiated us into good deeds especially to prayer by reciting the holy rosary. Every Sunday is always a day of obligation. When everybody seemed to be enjoying their rest on Sundays, she constantly became the first person to wake us all up and prepared ourselves for mass.

          Hence, I offer my daily prayers for my beloved Mama and for other faithful departed and this allows me to continue my connections with them. Do you also keep in your hearts and prayers your own departed loved ones?...