“To Do or Not to Do, to Be or Not to Be”

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives. The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less, to have less, to read less and think less, to try less and discipline ourselves less. These choices lead to an empty life. These choices lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.
And the second choice, to do it all!….. To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To strive, produce, and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.
To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing at all.
Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to stretch upward and outward to the full measure of our capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment that we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?
Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability. To settle for doing less that we could do is to fail in this worthiest of undertakings.
Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! In addition, if the results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before.
The greatest rewards are always reserve for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them because of whom and what they have become.
Most of us have lots of fears. Fears of rejection and fears of failure. So always, think of this.
If you do mistakes, so what, nobody is perfect. You can strive better next time. If they will reject you, then so be it, think that they are just a challenges to overcome . If you fail, then learn from your failure, and start all over again tomorrow. Everybody fails
one way or another. Thomas Edison failed over 3,000 times to develop the light bulb. Think about scientist. They are the failure masters: they never get it right the first time. Did you know that Colonel Saunders went through nine years of failure just to perfect his secret blend of herbs that the KFC Chicken having now a days.
It takes a lot of courage and hope … But we always have to choice along the way, “to do or not to do, to be or not to be”.

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Everything Is Grace

        I have just been re reading in my Mustard Seed  Dulle’s little book on his conversion to Catholicism in the early 1940’s. It is entitled Testimonial to Grace and it is a moving account of what God can do in the heart of a genuinely good man. The introduction to the book says, “” When a Avery Dulles entered Harvard in 1936 he seems to have  been as completely without malice as he was without faith. He had neither belief in God nor in his own soul, but only because his education had left him with impression that neither  was worthy of the attention of an educated man. His position was typical of many young men and women today- good will but no faith, nor any notion of the need of faith.” The description could fit a lot of people in our own country today.

       The book tells the story of how Dulles struggled through Aristotle and Plato and St. Thomas toward intellectual acceptance of God. But the most moving part of the book  is Dulle’s account of how faith touch him one rainy afternoon in Cambridge. He tells the story of how he was reading St. Agustine for and assignment in a Medieval History course in Widener Library, and was prompted to close the book and go out and walk in the rain. He walked aimlessly along the bank of the Charles River toward Boston. Something  impelled him to look at a young tree eagerly waiting the spring which was not too far off. The thought came to him suddenly like a revelation that those buds in all their innocence followed a rule, a law of which he know nothing. How could it be. he amused, that this delicate tree sprang up and blossomed from a tiny seed? That all its complicated cellular structure contrived to make it grow and bring forth leaves and blossom?

           That night, Dulles said, for the first time in many years, he prayed. How knelt down by his bed as his mother had taught him when he was a boy. He recited the Our Father.” It was a moment of special grace for a man who was looking for God.

           A few months later, he was baptised and in 1946, he entered the Jesuits. Today he is the one of the outstanding theologian of  the Church. He searched for God in books and in libraries, but he found Him in a little tree along the Charles River outside Boston.

           The spiritual writers call it a faith experience and most of us have had experience like that of Avery Dulles at one time or another, though it might not have been as profound as his was.

           A young man told me once how toughed he had been one day standing at the top of the Zigzag Road in Baguio and marvelling how God could have created that valley and those mountains through thousands of year of archaeological development. He later went on to enter the seminary and his now a priest in Mindanao. Others tell us of similar experience at Lourdes or at Medjurje,or at the bedside of someone they have love is dying – happy and at peace in God.

         I remember looking at the complicated perfection of a tiny premature baby in an incubator in a hospital in Brooklyn. After they had baptised the baby, who was hardly bigger than the palm of my hand, I couldn’t help marvelling how God created life out of a single sperm and ovum. The wonder and the beauty of Gods creation!

        Gregory Baum says, these faith experiences make us suddenly aware of God, of the holy, of something beyond our material existence. They make us realize how contingent we are, that we  are so totally dependent upon something above us and beyond us. And that at any moment we can cease to exist. But they make a deep impression on us and often lead us to deeper and more meaningful living.

       Faith experiences are like little epiphanies. They are manifestations of God. In the midst of our daily routine, they are like a window in heaven, opening up and letting God shine through.

        Sometimes it comes in the form of a retreat, sometimes in a sermon. Sometimes its a death or a birth in our lives. Sometimes it’s a  thought that comes to us when we are waiting for a friend in Makati, or watching a movie. But for the truly religious person, everything is potentially a faith experience. Everything is grace. Everything is God. If only we have eyes to see.

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When Tomorrow I will Die

I always remember what my mom used to tell me about her life when I was a kid. She said, ”  Life is very short. Its just like yesterday when I was a little girl, I used to water our eggplants and feed our pigs every morning and afternoon. I  still remember when I was in high school,all my friends that i used to hang out with,. I remember how my younger brother Nedi tease me all the time and make me cry.

Now, im 36 and blessed with a  good husband and 5 lovely daughters. I don’t know when I die, but life is very short.  One year after,my mom died….. She wasn’t ill or anything, she just had a sudden heart failure. We are all very down and depressed that time.

Every time I remember what my mom told me, It reminds me how important each time we spend in our life. Each year, month, day, hour, minute, and second we live. Every moment is a chance to live better, to live happy and to live more better person than we are yesterday.

If you are to ask, What if tomorrow you will die? Are you ready?What would be your answer?

Probably most of us would say,  I’m not ready, I still have a lot of things I wanna do in my life,, my dreams and plans, I still need to show and say I love you to my mom and dad, brother and sister, my wife and children and friends. Some say,I need to reconcile to somebody.Others may say I still want to travel to Italy or Paris, in Rome and other great places. I’m not ready, I never went confession yet and Im never been a better person for the past years, I still need to say sorry to some people… And many other reasons….

Sometimes we forget that we are only borrower of our life, and that we abused our chances. We always spend much more time on this earthly things than our own family. We worries a lot about things that will come to pass… And  more sad when we  see people who step ones right and dignity for sake of this earthly things. Every life is significant in each different way. Its a gift from God. We only live our life once, so we ought to do our best as we could while we are still here.We will not come back when tomorrow we will die.

Its very beautiful to imagine when we are old  and dying, when we have done all the best things in our life, when there are people surround us  that always there to love and care for us. People who always there through good  and bad times.

Spend more time with your family, show them how much you love them… Don’t waste time, for we never know tomorrow we may die.

Do a little act of love and kindness each day and you will see how beautiful life will be when you are love by people surrond you.

Ask forgiveness to all people  you offended and you will find peace. Try not to worry too much and learn how to surrender everything to God. And trust Him, for He satisfy our needs.

If you have live in sins for many years, repent and do your best to stay away from sins from now on…. If you don’t want to change your life now,then when? When you have very little time left ?Or might be too late in the future.  Now, is the right time. Change your life, live happily, live with peace and love, and you will see how great your life is.

And when your dying you can say to yourself ,I’m ready.I lived my life to fullest.

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What Shall I Do When I’m Depressed and Lonely?

We all want to have a healthy heart, healthy soul, and healthy life. But part of our journey in life  are those times we experience loneliness and depression, sometimes even scared. This, may lead us to unhappy, miserable life and so as with our souls. Its a hard time. Hard to get over…….

I will share to you some tips on how you can handle depression and loneliness in a powerful ways. This is what i do in my down moments of  my life.

1. Recognize what you feel. I mean don’t hide it Because the More you hide it and pretend , the more scared,depressed and lonely you will be.

2. If you feel like crying, then cry….Don’t hold it…If you think you lose or weak when you cry,  You’re not! You just wanna let it go whats inside your heart and set it free. Everybody cry even King, wisemen,or criminals..They all do. If you don’t feel like crying, Then just be yourself.

3. Try to talk to God…If its hard for you to do,Just tell Him,hey God its hard i don’t know how to do it, show me how . He cares about you more than anybody you know.He cares how you feel..He knows your hurt and He is always there to comfort you. Talk to Him all your fears, all about you feel and you think. For sure you will feel much better

4. Go outside your room. Look around you. The people who is there and all those who cares and love you always. If you live alone, go outside, look at the nature, the birds, the little plants and flowers. Look at them closely. Think how they live and how they grow. Its amazing! How they find thier food and how they survived.Some of the plants if anyone forget to water them in a couple of days, they may die, but they never worry or afraid.God cares and love so much of His creation,much more with you.. The birds, they greet you a melodious song when you wake up every morning.There are lots of things surrounds us that give us meaning to life and inspiration

Depression, is natural but, don’t let them down or paralyzed you… Face it! Don’t choose to escape from it!

Don’t get drunk you will only have headache  when you wake up in the morning, and still realized depression and loneliness is still there. Don’t caught up on drugs either, you will be just making it worst and ruin your future life.. Don’t do any sexual, you will just regret it and find yourself even more depressed and lonely……. But rather , Be Brave! and face depression and loneliness with confident. I know its never  easy but Trust yourself, and  specially in God. Ask His help and guidance…. It wont be hard anymore..

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Follow Your Heart

          I was reading my favorite book “The Mustard Seed” today and it makes a very beautiful reflection for me..

         I know the sun will rise every morning, even there are clouds,I know the birds sing melodious songs because I have heard them from the empty enclosure of my room. I know the sky is blue through the clouds,that the grass is green even I stand in the desert.I know the branches of tress dance to the movements of the wind even though now the wind is still.I know flowers have beautiful smells,that the ocean never sleeps and that rain falls upon high mountains.I know deeply all human beings are beautiful if they are born free to follow there hearts.

         It has been said,long before these words were written,that if you build an archway for your heart,with neither lock nor door,life will pass freely through that archway in harmony with your senses.

         Touch your friends, your husband or wife, and they are strangers no more.Hold them as you would touch the delicate petals of an orchid, or put your hand in a gentle stream, or feel the sand beneath your feet, or climb upon the rocks and crags on the shoreline.

         Listento their words, their breathing, their heartbeat, their footsteps on the stairway or at the door as they come to you, as you would listen to the rain, or to the cock crowing in the early morning, or at the bark of a dog, or the cascading of a waterfall or a tiny breeze.

         Seethe expressions on their faces of their different moods. See in their eyes the longing for love, companionship and a meaning in their lives. See  their body move, uniting themselves with life. See their hands create their being, as you would see a quite pool, the splash of a wave, a new portrait made by falling rain, the landscape of a valley, the changing of the sunset.

        Speak to them of love, of the harmony of nature, of quite understanding among men, of the simple things in life in which one can find peace of the truth you have found,as you would speak to God.

        Ride the crest of the waves to the shore. Follow the river till it merges with the ocean. Look at the clouds till they disappear. Watch the sunrise trace its path across the sky,then vanish.

         When you have experience these things, you will know your heart . Follow it.  When you have freed yourself from the dogma and conditioning of society, where will you go? To those things you love.

         Let your mind and your action explode,with awareness as you light yor forgotten lanterns of happiness, as you find a peaceful clearing in the jungle of our society.

         Love is everywhere. It is in the night where the stars smile. It is in the field of rice dancing in the wind. It is in the waves sculpturing the rocks. It is in the sound of music, in man’s creation of art. It is a seed nourished by two human being. Love will find you and you will find love — if love becomes your attitude.

        

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