Every Day is a Gift

     Life- one of the greatest gifts that we have received on this earth. In fact this is the most treasured one yet somehow along this gift comes our responsibility to take care of it. No matter what then is at stake to us every single day, whether positive or negative, still we have the huge promise that we will make the best of what we can do to preserve and improve it.       On this time of pandemic brought by Covid-19 reality, we are challenged to strive further in spite of all the limitations that we encountered such as the numerous lockdowns plus all the restrictions as consequences of this pandemic. Life must go on as the popular saying tells us and with this, we continue to trek our separate ways thinking that with or without this pandemic, life must be continued. Image by  Peter H  from  Pixabay        On the other hand, we should believe that this gift of life is a temporary one. That sooner or later, one ...

     While I am relaxing here on our living room with our kiddo, I am reflecting on my life and able to think of a comparison between it with that of a three-legged stool. Recalling back how lucky am I to have received all my life's blessings, I have heaps of reasons to be so glad and feel so special in spite of life's being so complicated. Everything in life then is temporary so we have to embrace every moment with openness and a welcoming spirit. Consequently, these are my reflections for today: A three-legged stool: - each leg relies on each other for strength; - on top of the stool is a space for a comfortable sitting; - equal footing for each leg to stand in balance and in harmony; - each leg's brace provides support and strength as the three of them are intertwined with each other                                                      ...

     Before, it was typical for a family that the father is the one that works while the mother takes care of the kids and at the same time managing the house. But with the present set up that we have especially here in Australia and maybe in other countries, it is a common sight to have both working parents.  These two contrasting realities have their positive and negative effects.       One may perhaps think that the kids with both working parents naturally receive the material benefits. As such, the parents can afford to buy anything luxurious like toys, modern gadgets, and can even send the children to exclusive and popular institutions.  Moreover,  proponents of this view argues that due to the family's extra wealth, it will enable them to go overseas for holidays.                                                ...

     Whew...... how time flies and I just didn't realise that it has been a long time since I published my last writing here. However it is but with sadness that pandemic is still very much present in our society today. As a result we have the so called "new normal" nowadays and most significant among the list is the trend nowadays to work from home and also the remote learning of our kids.       If one needs to become relevant there is that challenge to learn how to cope with today's reality that we have. No one among us ever have that idea when will this pandemic ends but the concreteness of surviving each single day is present in the here and now moment.      This trend of the so called new normal is not easy though personally I see them both on the positive and the negative sides of the matter. Like for example at work, there could be limitations that working remotely will bring and also that many are not appropriately designed to wo...

          Australia is tested at this point in time through a major incident which is the ongoing bushfire especially in states like Victoria and New South Wales. Since last year, bushfires happened everywhere in those states plus that happened in Western Australia and South Australia.         It is painful to see the damages done by the tragedy- all lost lives, burned properties like houses, centres, playgrounds and millions of animals dead- they also left a burning pain on the hearts of the directly and indirectly affected.         On the other hand, the influx of assistance handed to the victims and to the affected states as well clearly shows the caring hearts Imagecredit: of others who have witnessed the said incident. How people sacrificed a part of their resources, time, presence and others to support all victims is a clear manifestation of the goodness in humanity.       ...

Disclosure: "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon and Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com,Inc. or its affiliates."           What drives us to wake up everyday to go to work and perform our daily activities? What motivates us to hang on to life in spite of all its challenges? How do we make our life more meaningful and worthy? The answer to these questions is our dreams- they are the ones that drive us to look up each day as a gift full of surprises .         Given that we have varied dreams from one person to the other- may this be a bright future for our family.... for our loved ones....or this is the dream of building and living in a house which you can call as your own someday......dream of achieving the best of our ability realising our potentials to its maximum capacity.        Yet later on, we then realise that achieving our dreams is not an easy thing to do--------nev...

          If I may ask you a question, " How would you perceive the image of the cross? Is it a sign of victory or a defeat? Is it a sign of hope or a sign of failure?" These are but some of the questions we can raise in our mind in relation to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ when He offered Himself to die on the cross.           Personally I would say that we should always be grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ for His preparedness to sacrifice His own life to merit our salvation. With this in mind and in heart, I unceasingly put my prayer that may our minds be enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit, the source of truth so that any decision that we will make especially those which will affect others could be honest and sincere. Photo credit If we can live by the principles of truth then we will be able to contribute to the peace and harmony in our society no matter where we are in.        ...

          January 2019 has started and maybe it is good to look at how the first few days of this month and of this year has gone undetected.  Perhaps we already encountered several incidents in the workplace, or at home, or in the streets and others that brought worries to us. That when faced with a challenging situation, we resulted to negativity and such attitude also affecting our dealings with the other members of our household.  Photo by  Robert Katzki  on  Unsplash             Moreover, instead of leaving behind in our workplaces or office desks/ corners the worries of our responsibilities at work, we decided to bring them at home therefore, they also stressed out those people living with us. Confronted by them, we tend to panic right away and overthink about what will happen in the future without enjoying the now moment. There is a call for us to change this perspective and as a matter of ...

Note: "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com,Inc. or its affiliates."            Soon 2018 will be a part of our history and we welcome a new year 2019. For sure, 2018 has been a colourful year for all of us- yin and yang, white and black, light and dark etc- those are constantly the contrasting reality of all our events this year.           However whatever may be our moments for this year, we should learn how to move on from those negative memories that we had and be grateful for the positive things that we experienced. Photo by  mckenzie toyne  on  Unsplash           Moving forward could be challenging for some most notably if it involves a lot of pain but for us to grow physically, morally, psychologically and spiritually, we ought to embrace both positive and negative events.     ...

          Each day in our life, we encounter moments wherein we are pained, down, disappointed and it is as if life is so meaningless anymore. Yet at the end of the day, we all need to remember that when we look into our eyes, we can always tell ourselves, " I LOVE YOU" then just by saying those magical words, may we remember that life indeed is so precious. By telling ourselves those affirmative words "I love this self" in front of the mirror, we are therefore affirming our own belief and acceptance of our own uniqueness. On numerous circumstances, we fail to appreciate our own giftedness and instead, envy those of others.  imagecredit:            Learn to move on in life. As I was listening to one motivational speaker today, I was reminded that life is such a beautiful gift that we ought to treasure and no matter what obstacles lie along the way, there is always a force that will allow us to let it go of all those ...

Note: "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com,Inc. or iyts affiliates."           Everyday we heard of stories of love fading away for some reasons. And usually at the losing end is someone whose heart is bleeding with tremendous pain that at times, it results to the person losing her identity and the will to hang on to life. And this is true to life's various forms of relationship such as wife-husband, family (parent to kids), friends and so on.            Days become so difficult to cope with. Other forms of relationships are deeply affected by the sudden loss of enthusiasm to life. No amount of comfort can ease the pain of letting go and love again. And to think that real love is so painful once it is destroyed and gone. image credit           However, the other side of the coin will tell us that when somebody has the wi...

          Examples in life- that is exactly what we need at times so that we can have proper guidance on how to manage our lives. And when we grow up, that now is the challenge that befalls us- how to become, in our own way, examples to others especially to the younger generation before us.  As I reflected on this reality, I then realised that for us to be able to come up as one, we need to be more committed to life.           We all know that it is not always easy to be  a good example to others,  to always show to those around us that we care for them especially if our own personal needs come into the picture. Apart from this one, there are other considerations so that we could serve as noteworthy examples for others: fulfilment, conversation, honesty, commitment, admiration and other forms of support.          Fulfilment comes to us when we are able to act and say those proper thin...

          Being a gift from Somebody, each one of us has the responsibility to proceed to self-development and never to self-destruction. Life is such a complicated yet much more of that a wonderful gift. Every single day, you trek a tougher road ahead of you. And you never know what the future holds for you. Yet  when you look back and reflect on your past events, you can be very proud to say that indeed, you made some tough decisions in life and somehow, what counts most especially for you is that you made the right decisions.           Life, for some people, is often associated with pain however, never stop there. Try to flip the coin and you will discover the other side of it- the other side of life. Always tell yourself, " I'm in charge of my whole life ." and refrain from allowing anybody to dictate you what to do with it. It doesn't stop there for the next essential thing for you to do is to accept  imagecredit ...

Note: "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com,Inc. or its affiliates."              The issue of being relevant to others can be told through the various treatments we  accord to others. Indeed it's true that human relationships reside on different levels like cliche, skin deep or the more serious ones. when we hear about stories of people like when one is feeling so excited about a new brand   being launched is worth note taking.            So many stories about human experiences which are entertaining and of interests to people. On the other hand, when we discuss on human interests, I understand that we normally are impacted by the effect of such stories to our very own life. imagecredit: We are directly or indirectly affected by certain people so that they already become a part of our journey in life. or not by those experi...

God Will Make A Way (Don Moen) God will make a way where there seems to be no way He works in ways we cannot see He will make a way for me He will be my guide Hold me closely to His side With love and strength for each new day He will make a way           What a wonderful song ( though this is not the complete song ) from the ever known musician, Don Moen. And as I reflect on this day's event, the more that I am awed by the greatness of God's love that in spite of all this so called earthly limitations- things within and beyond my control- still God continuously guides me to life's right path. The more that I appreciate and treasure the presence of those people important in my life.          Indeed it is very true that in those moments of darkness, when everything seems to lose its meaning, God's embrace engulfs us all. imagecredit: From the moment we wake up in the morning until the time we go to be...

What would be food without salt? Salt, what an amazing ingredient. Can you imagine your favourite adobo without any salt? Salt is even added to caramel to give it a rounded rich flavour, don't believe me? Get a salted caramel ice cream or tart they're the craze nowadays, I've had an amazing, can't get enough of it popcorn that was so sweet and salty. It was sold in this huge, plastic pillow case size bags and people where queueing up to buy not just one bag but two! Salt, what an amazing ingredient indeed.  Ever wondered what it meant to be salt? In Mt. 5:13 Jesus told us " You are salt of the earth but if salt loses its taste it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing. It must be thrown out of people to walk on."  One of the functions of salt is that it helps preserve food. I know, I'm thinking of tuyo (salted pilchard or anchovies), dried squid and I know this writing is making me hungry.  What salt does is that it prevents the ...

          As Australia is an ageing population and many of the old people did come here during the time of the World War, there is a big challenge for those persons who are tasked to accompany them to fully understand them and provide their appropriate needs and wants. Hence it is very important that those carers taking care of them know exactly how to provide a person-centered care to them.                            What then is a person-centered care ? It is satisfied when the carer focuses his care plan on the client himself and not on his disease. Let him understand that on the first place, he is a human being that needs full understanding of his age,stage, culture, preferences and everything about him. Furthermore, this is satisfied when the carer will try to know exactly who the client is, to entrust him a genuine value as a human being and to offer him empathy. ...