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......

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.

WHAT's IN A DREAM?

          Many interpretations are discovered in any dream that we have. And in a day, we could have multiple dreams with varied characters and themes. Sometimes we dream out of fatigue, out of frustrations, out of joy or sadness and at times, dreams just get in the way out of our imaginations and control. Furthermore if we are able to learn how to befriend our dreams, then consequently we can digest multiple interesting realizations and meanings from them. Even those buried emotions are freed through our dreams since when in our waking life, we tend to set them aside and forget them. 

          However, when we go to sleep and have our dreams, these forgotten negative emotions have their way back to our waking life. Thus, no matter how we ignore them in our life yet they also have their own way of letting themselves go and one of those ways is through our dreams. 

          Here's one of the techniques in interpreting our dreams:

1. Try to recall everything in your dream.
2. Take note of all its details like persons, things, emotions (both bad and good), time etc.
3. Of all these details in your dream, focus your interest and energy on any one of them that is most striking to you now.
4. With this chosen one (for example a person), write down all significant things related to this in the dream.
5. Pertinent details will include facial expression, clothing worn in the dream, feeling emoted, variations of emotions, tone of voice so on and so forth.
6. After identifying them, check within yourself and assess their presence in your present life.
7. To do this, try to ask yourself questions such as:
           a) How could I be similar to this person in my waking life?
           b) When am I behaving like him/her in my life?
           c) Where could I identify such character in my self?
           d) Who are my dream partners?
8. When you are able to pinpoint answers to questions above, now try to identify this dream character in your life.
9. When you discover it, then you enable yourself to get hold one of its meanings.

          Just constantly remember to prepare a pen and a paper when you go to sleep. And it is very essential as well that upon waking up, write down everything that you can bring back to mind about your dream. Afterwards, go to the process of interpreting it as I enumerated above. Enjoy dreaming and learning beautiful things from your dreams. 

TIPS ABOUT HAVING LUCID DREAMS

          Dream interpretation is one area of interest to me. I have studied dreams before and from there, I gradually developed to love the world of dreams. Dreams tell us about many things about us especially those which are hidden deep inside ourselves. So many interpretations and meanings of dreams evolved as humankind continued to develop as well. One of its definitions is :  

          DREAMS are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology. Scientists believe that, in addition to humans, birds and other mammals also dream.

Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep—when brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable.

Dreams can last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. The average person has three to five dreams per night, but some may have up to seven dreams in one night. The dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full eight-hour night sleep, two hours of it is spent dreaming.

In modern times, dreams have been seen as a connection to the unconscious. They range from normal and ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can have varying natures, such as frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous, or sexual. The events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is self-aware. Dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration. (Taken from WIKIPEDIA- the free encyclopedia)

          As such, a wide world of things engulf the world of dreams. Interpretations as well may vary from one dreamer to the other. The art of remembering one's dreams comes out of one's ability to focus his mind on the story itself of the dream. During our sessions, we were told to bring one dream in the class and if one could have a  hard time remembering and bringing a dream to class, he is asked just to bring along with him any story. From there, all of us, participants and mentors, helped in bringing related significance of the dream to the waking reality of the dreamer. Not all of us have the same capacity to dwell again on our dreams. However, experience would tell us that one's constant practice of remembering dreams enable him to bring back everything on a dream to the present moment.

                                                                    

          Yet how could we remember lucid parts of our dream? To answer this query, I would share this research done by one dream author Marc VanDeKeere. He said, 

"Increase your dream recall and write your dreams down in a journal.  You cannot have lucid dreams if you cannot remember your dreams and keeping a journal is a crucial step towards solidifying your intent.  By keeping the journal, your mind becomes saturated with the idea that dreams are important. Your dream journal will become one of the most frequently used tool sin your dreaming bag of tricks. If you have trobule recalling your dreams, then ry the following tips to increase your dream recall.  

INCREASE DREAM RECALL

Upon awakening inn the morning, do not move. Stay in bed for a while and recall your dreams before you flood your mind with everything you are going to do for the day. If you have trouble remembering them try to change your position in bed: lie on your right side for a while, then your back then left: sometimes the position you where in when you had the dream helps increase recall of that dream.   

BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR DREAMS:

Get to know the places, things, and actions you see and do in your dreams (beaches, classrooms, roller coasters etc) " this is why a dream journal is so crucial in identifying your dream signs. 

DO CONSISTENT REALITY CHECKS that is ask yourself frequently through out the  day "Am I dreaming?" Do this regularly. This constant signals ensured that one would remember the reality check. When you ask yourself if you are dreaming, check your surroundings to see if in fact you are dreaming. Try to read something like a text or a street sign. The words or letters may look unstable, or they may have the tendency to change or morph into different letters   and words entirely. Upon checking looking away and then looking back  again, if the letters have altered then it is safe to assume that you are dreaming. "

           Thus, the first step towards fulfilling a successful dream journey is to have mastered these steps to become familiar with the attributes and characteristics of one's dreams. Happy dreaming everyone.

EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY TO TODAY'S CHILDREN

          Nowadays, it is but a very common sight that children are exposed to all the latest gadgets that we have. Latest models of cell phones.formation helicopters, parrot ER Drone, etc are just some of the latest gadgets that we presently have. Personally, I believe that modern innovations have both good and bad effects on them however, today's parents as well as adults possess a very significant role in accompanying these children to present to them both the positive and negative effects of technology to our lives.

                   Moreover, no one could ever separate the present technologies with the development of our children. We as parents should be the primary contributors and models to them. As the years will go by, technology will be more advanced. If it therefore presents a very significant impact on the lives of the children, both parents and adults should also perform  their roles in a very positive way. Thus, a great challenge is thrown on them to face off squarely any negative influence of modern technology.

          As conclusion, ask yourself this question, " Have I played my role as an effective parent/adult to my children so as to positively guide them on how to use today's modern gadgets/technology?" 

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FASCINATING FAT FACTS

            The last time I visited my doctor, I was told to lose weight so that I can maintain a healthy lifestyle. He further mentioned that it is typical especially at this age that certain hypertensive related illnesses such as coronary heart disease (CHD) and the like occur. These disorders can be avoided through certain ways and one of them is by practicing a healthy lifestyle. Performing regular exercise, observing balanced food and diet, refraining from smoking, achieving weight loss etc. are methods of  living a healthy lifestyle.

          Reflecting on my doctor's words, I thought of extending to you this research by Rachael Hill, a Weight Loss Resources (WLR) nutritionist on fats.

"Fifteen Fascinating Fat Facts

By Rachael Anne Hill (R.P.H.Nutr)

1. We all need body fat to live. In fact, it is so essential to normal, healthy functioning that an average, size 10, slim female carries approximately 100,000 calories of fat on her body.
   
   That’s equal to 54 packs of butter in total but before you get too depressed, it’s also enough to fuel the energy required to shop for 86 days!
2. Thinking can make you fat! Brand new research, conducted at Laval University in Canada has shown that although thinking hard and concentrating doesn’t require any extra calories, it does stimulate the body to feel hungrier. 
   
   So much so in fact that volunteers of the study that were asked to carry out mentally challenging tasks went on to eat 253 more calories (almost 30% more) in just one meal than those that were told to daydream.
3. Most people gain an average of just 1g of extra body fat a day - but before you reach for that second slice of cake consider this...
   
   1 gram a day equals 365 grams of extra body fat a year. 
   
   A gain of 365g every year after the age of 25 would mean that by the time you hit your 50th birthday you’d have laid down an extra  20 lbs (almost one and a half stones) of excess body fat – or as it’s better known ...middle aged spread!
4. A typical adult has approximately 50 billion fat cells which means there are more fat cells in one human body than there are people on the earth. 
5. First the good news…fat cells generally do not increase in number after puberty so even if you gain weight the number of fat cells you have remains the same.  Now the the bad news...  Each fat cell simply gets bigger and can expand up to ten times its normal size.
6. Fat cells exist in all parts of the body except the eyelids, parts of the esophagus, the brain and the penis. 
7. Female breasts are composed almost entirely of fat which is one reason why, when dieting, they tend to reduce in size long before you lose the wobble elsewhere!
8. Spot reduction, the term used for attempting to reduce fat by exercising the muscle underneath fat deposits (such as doing sit ups to get rid of abdominal fat or thigh raises to get rid of fat stored on the hips) does not work.
   
   If it did, all gum chewers would have skinny faces! 
9. 1 pound of body fat is equal to 3,500 calories.  To burn off 3,500 calories the average woman would need to do 6 step classes, walk briskly for almost 9 hours or run for 33 miles. 
   
   To eat 3,500 calories she’d need to chomp through almost 50 apples or just two and a half Indian takeaways.
10. At 9 calories per gram, fat is the most calorific nutrient we can eat. 
    
    Alcohol contains 7 Kcals per gram.
    
    Protein and carbohydrate contain approximately 4 Kcals per gram.
11. The places you predominantly store fat and the places you lose it from first are largely determined by your gender (women tend to store it around their hips, bottom and thighs, men around their abdomen) and your genes – so choose your parents wisely! 
12. Fat cells live for an average of ten years.  Once a fat cell dies the body makes a brand new one to take its place. 
    
    However, once brain cells die they are gone for good which is why as we age we may lose our memory but love handles can stay for life!
13. Fat cells die at the rate of 150 per second. 
14. An average fat cell can only store half a millionth of a gram of fat therefore it takes 4 million fat cells to store the energy equivalent of a Tic Tac.
15. The ‘Tape Worm Diet’ is one of the craziest diets ever invented to reduce body fat. 
    Under the plan, followers simply swallow tapeworms then allow them to sit inside their intestines and dine off their dinner.
    
    Apart from the bit where you actually eat the worm and the side effects of bloating, nausea, and diarrhea there was a very real danger that the worms could lay eggs in other tissues, such as the nervous system, which could cause seizures, dementia and meningitis."

          Furthermore we need to understand better the significance of fats to our health. Maintaining fats in our body is needed yet it also has to be moderated since there is a strong risk that too much fats can cause hypertension. After all, we need to  consistently bear in mind that HEALTH IS WEALTH.

A COMPASSIONATE HEART

          One of my daily habits is to read the daily news and update myself with what's happening around me. Consequently doing this daily routine gives me various feelings such as awe, joy, sadness, compassion etc. My sharing with you today dwells on my attention to all children who are greatly affected by the sad plight of poverty. It is a plight which is beyond their control. I am moved with pity and compassion to reflect on this reality in life. 

            Yes indeed I am understanding the sufferings and limitations of these poor children. I am moved with compassion to hear these displaced children's condition. Being in contact with underprivileged children before when I was still a member of  the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, I understand it clearly that they are deprived of enough resources to attain efficient education. There are those who  are deprived of food and shelter thus they stay in a drop in center. Some of them are living on these city streets which at times tend too risky for them. 

imagecredit: 
A HEART FOR ALL...

         The craving of my heart is to constantly offer compassion to them- bringing them light and hope. I know that there are plenty of people who offer compassion to them like the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. Yet it will continue to be my heart's desire that more people will learn to endow compassion to these underprivileged, poor and deprived children. Extension of heart to them could be in any form and some of these are as follows:

• sponsoring them to school
• offering prayers for them
• guiding them the right direction to life through free counselling
• accompanying and offering them food, school materials, etc
• many more that you could ever think of.

          Hence may you and me unceasingly involve these children to our daily concern and at the same time, we will extend to them our own way of sharing our compassionate hearts to them.

  
                                                         

Daily Decision Making

Everyday, we find ourselves in situations in which we need to make a decision. Commencing from the moment that we wake up from sleep up to the last waking moment we have on each day, we are already in a decision making state. " What will I wear today?" "Shall I attend the meeting or not?" "Will I go to the concert tonight?" so on and so forth.

In fact, one famous blogger, Jocelyn K. Glei, mentioned in one of her works that " We make hundreds, if not millions, of micro-decisions every day – from what to focus our energy on, to how to respond to an email, to what to eat for lunch. You could easily argue that becoming a better (and swifter) decision-maker would be the fastest route to improving your daily productivity."

Thus, we exercise our capacity to reach any decision, no matter how trivial or significant that could be, in any moment in our life. Some of these conditions could even make a remarkable impact on others' life while some may just affect the person himself/herself. However, I would say that a significant part of decision making is the owning of the consequence of that decision, no matter what will it be. It's either that there could be victory in a particular decision such as when we earn successes when we decide to put up a business or it could be the other way around like when we stumble in our goal to succeed.

To emphasize further, let us not "cry over spilled milk" and may we never put any blame on anybody if a decision outcome comes out negatively. Hence, I would also solicit from anybody any comment or ideas on how you perform any decision making everyday as well as how you face the consequence to whatever decision you have made.

Significance of Dreams in our LIFE

             I once had an opportunity to study dreams and their significance to our lives. There are numerous interpretations by the way from one dream to the other yet at the end, it always goes back to the dreamer himself/herself to check the dream's relevance to his/her present stage. Understanding dreams therefore varies from one perception to another.

           " Interpreting our dreams goes back to ancient times- to around 3000 BC. The Egyptians of that time saw the dream-world as an extension of their reality and sometimes recorded their dreams in hieroglyphics. Dreams were seen as prophetic, as signs of warning and advice. 

          The ancients looked on dreams as messages from God; they considered all dreams to be extremely  significant. Men and women who had vivid dreams were thought to be blessed. 

Many cultures believe that while we are dreaming your soul is wandering. If you are woken up too suddenly your soul may not return. Alarm clocks are feared instruments. "  (from The Dreamer's Dictionary through Pennon Publishing)

          Thus may we all nourish ourselves by knowing the relevance of our dreams to our waking life.


                                                         

SPICES OF LIFE

             Life is made up of various chapters. As we move on from one chapter to another, we also encounter different situations that give us either of the two: growth or regression. As we gather experiences day by day, it is also part of the process that we face off with types of problems. Problems come in various forms, some are light while others are stress creating. Others may evolve as distractions while a few can change one's life significantly. On the other hand, we also vary in our own attitude towards problems. Others may think of them as negative while there are those who will take them as spices of life. Just like whatever favorite recipe that you and me would have in our life, this particular food is composed of spices that add flavor to its taste.

            Personally, I firmly believe that the most effective way of facing problems is by positively acknowledging them as spices of life. And as spices, they tend to make our life more colorful. Realistically, I know that it never come that easy especially when someone is confronted with huge problems. However, if considered as spices and overwhelmed, they will result to any of us being molded into a more healthy individual especially in terms of emotional wellbeing. It is also given that no one among us wants to be confronted by any huge problem yet if put into such a situation, treat such a problem as a spice of your life.

Every Day is a GIFT

          Actually, this is the title of my blog. Gift is something that is freely given. And that's exactly the point which I would like to share with everybody else. Consider each day a gift and since this is a  gift, this is best remembered as something that is also pass on to others. We have so much to celebrate each day. 

          Varied experiences, new chapters of our life, ups and downs etc. -----name it and it is there in our everyday life. However, it's a sad reality that many people tend to let each day pass without even thinking of all that transpires that day. We grow as human beings for many reasons and one of them, I believe, is through the daily events in life. 

imagecredit: By Worakit Sirijinda, published on 16 March 2011

          We are formed by them and by those people we constantly interact with. A cousin named Wilmie once said that "....waking up everyday is surely a gift for it gives me the opportunity to see all creations and appreciate them." 

          Yes, it is so true. We only need to see and be present on every event so that we will also learn to appreciate each one of them. Share today's blessings and be blessed. 

Being Grateful

              People come and go in our life. Everyday we meet people everywhere. Some just say hello, others make certain impressions while a few imprint insoluble marks in our hearts and in our minds. Many instances in our life's chapters, certain individuals have extended their hands to us in a gesture of goodness and compassion. They make conscious efforts to hold and assist us to get up when we fall down.  They sometimes over extend themselves up to the extent that they tend to forget their very own needs just to lead us the way.

imagecredit

              Thus in those instances in our life, have we question ourselves if we ever extend our hands to them and say, "Thank you!"...  The act of being grateful is an act of humbling ourselves and acknowledging the good deeds of others in us. It is our humble way of expressing our heartfelt gratitude. Look around us and let us express to those people who have helped us in one way or the other our sincerest "Thank You!".

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Pay It Forward (Pinoy Forum)

         Pay it Forward (Pinoy Forum)       Welcome to my new blog. As a start, I would like to share with you my forum on any kind of relationship. As I tried to figure out what kind of forum that I would venture into, it came into my mind my own belief and understanding that each one of us is into some kind of relationship everyday in our life. Part of our human journey is all those relationships that we create day in and out. Consequently, I am making this forum for us all to exchange experiences and thoughts on how then could we improve our various human relationships.

        You can find it here significant basic relationships that we treasure in our life. Whatever the form of this relationship is, what counts most at the end is the joy, satisfaction and memories that this brings into our life. Thus, sharing our thoughts on our relationships is a way of learning from each other.