Perception - Seeing Beyond the Obvious

Perception is not as simple as it sounds - each and everyone is distinctly unique.
Perception is our interpretation of how things are. It is our view of what we see. Each will have different ways of seeing things. The essence of perception is encapsulated in the below story:

There once was a traveler who journeyed all over the globe in search of wisdom and enlightenment. In the midst of one village, he came upon a great deal of noise, dust, and commotion.

He approached the nearest laborer and asked, “Excuse me, I’m not from this village. May I ask what’s going on here?” The laborer replied curtly, “Can’t you see? I’m busting rocks.”

The traveler approached a second laborer doing the same thing and asked the same question. The second laborer replied, “Can’t you see? I’m earning a living to support my family.”

The traveler then approached a third laborer who was also breaking up rocks and posed the question a third time. With a broad smile and a gleam in his eye, the third laborer replied with great pride: “Can’t you see? I am building a cathedral.”

Three men.
Three different attitudes.
All doing the same job.





This story demonstrates the great value of seeing the bigger picture and learning to look beyond the obvious. How we perceive things impact the way we live our lives. :)

How To Truly Live

Take time to laugh.
It is the music of the soul.

Take time to think.
It is the source of power.

Take time to play.
It is the source of perpetual youth.

Take time to read.
It is the fountain of wisdom.

Take time to pray.
It is the greatest power on Earth.

Take time to love and be loved.
It is a God-given privilege.

Take time to be friendly.
It is the road to happiness.

Take time to give.
It is too short a day to be selfish.

Take time to work.
It is the price of success.

How To Be Perfectly Miserable

1. Think about yourself.
2. Talk about yourself.
3. Use "I" as often as possible.
4. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others.
5. Listen greedily to what people say about you.
6. Expect to be appreciated.
7. Be suspicious.
8. Be jealous and envious.
9. Be sensitive to slights.
10. Never forgive a criticism
11. Trust no one but yourself.
12. Insist on consideration and respect.
13. Demand agreement with your own views on everything.
14. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them.
15. Never forget a service you may have rendered.
16. Be on the lookout for a good time for yourself.
17. Shirk your duties if you can.
18. Do as little as possible for others.
19. Love yourself supremely.
20. Be selfish.

This recipe is guaranteed to be infallible.

- Gospel Herald

Balang Araw

Ako ay nakaupo sa apat na sulok ng aking kwarto.

Napakalungkot.

Pati ang dilim ay dumadamay sa akin.

Walang huni ng ibon,
Walang kuliglig ng bubuyog.

Patay na lugar - katulad ng aking patay na damdamin.

Tsaka ko naisip, wala ako sa aking bayang sinilangan!
Ako ay nasa ibang bansa!

Marami mang salapi akong kinikita, subalit ito ay hindi sapat upang maibsan ang lungkot na aking nadarama.

Walang ingay, hindi ko naririnig ang litanya ng aking Inay.
Wala ang mga nagtitinda ng kung anu-ano sa daan.

Tsaka ko naisip, napakahirap malayo sa sariling bayan!
Masakit malayo sa pamilyang nagmamahal!

Ang maliit na sulok ng aking kwarto ay simbolo ng aking damdamin.
MALUNGKOT.
MADILIM.
NAGDURUSA.
WALANG BUHAY.

Ito ang buhay na aking pinili, kapalit ng pangarap para sa aking sarili at sa aking mga mahal sa buhay.
Pangarap kung bigyan sila ng maayos na buhay.
Kaya iniwan ko ang masayang buhay sa Pilipinas at dumayo sa banyagang bansa.

Balang araw . .. Matatapos din ang aking pagdurusa.
Balang araw .. . Ang madilim na kwartong ito ay liliwanag din.
Balang araw . .. Ang malungkot na kwartong ito sa sasaya rin.

- Sherry

On Love & Relationship

why do we love ba?  

so we can have somebody to talk to?  

someone who can be there pag gusto natin gumala?    

a person na pwedeng manlibre satin?    
 
taong magbibitbit ng gamit mo?  ALALAY for short!    
eh pano kung di ka nya mahal?   would you still love him/her?
would you still continue to care for that person?
 
bakit naman hinde?   you didnt love that person para magkaroon ka ng alalay, magkaroon ka ng instant meal dahil libre, taong gagawa ng assignments mo or projects, or taong mahihila mo if you want to go out... if thats what you think about love well sorry ang BABAW mo!  
  loving a person doesn't need to have a criteria na dapat maganda o guwapo, dapat mabait or understanding, kasi once you fall inlove you take the risk of accepting dat person kahit maingay sya matulog, yung hilik ng hilik     kahit matakaw sya o sobrang fat na hindi kayo kasya pag puno ang jeep!  
 
kahit sobrang moody nya na kulang na lang ay sapakin mo sa inis!       yung sobrang selosa/seloso na pati barkada pinagseselosan..
badtrip diba? and yung napaka-arte OA kung baga!  
  o kahit ano pang things that would turn you off...
hirap tlaga magmahal trying to be PER FECT kase  
 
gusto mong magtagal pero hindi yun ang sagot sa lahat... ACCEPTING the real person fully     kase if you said na mahal mo sya you dont need to find answers kung bakit mo sya mahal...  
   

kase lahat ng tao nagbabago but if you accept
that person magbago man sya in the middle of your      relationship hindi ka masasaktan kase you know that darating
din yun.. tsaka tanggap mo sya ng buo...  
     mahirap gawin pero masarap subukan dahil   wala ng sasaya pa if you let one person feel na MAHAL NA MAHAL mo sya without asking 4 anything in return...     then you can say wow un pla ang  LOVE!      
 
Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections....
 
==========================================
 
 
 
  Nakakatawa talaga ang love. Isa siyang napakalaking oxymoron.   Lahat ng pwede mong masabi sa kanya, baliktarin mo at totoo pa rin. Ang labo diba? Pero ang linaw.   Masaya magmahal. Malungkot magmahal. Di mo naiintindihan pero naiintindihan mo. Walang rason. Maraming rason. Di mo na kaya, pero kaya mo pa rin. Masakit magmahal. Pero okey lang. Sus, ano ba talaga?!      May kaibigan ako, sabi niya dati "Love is only for stupid people."   Nakakatawa kasi laude ang standing niya, pero dumating ang panahon, na-in-love din ang hunghang. At ayun, tanga na siya ngayon.    
Lahat kasi ng nahahawakan ng love nagiging oxymoron din. O kaya paminsan, nagiging moron lang. Hindi lang kasi basta baliktaran ang pag-ibig. Lahat ng bagay nababaligtad din niya. Lahat ng malalakas na tao,
humihina.  
 Ang mayayabang, nagpapakumbaba. Ang mga walang pakialam, nagiging Mother Teresa. Ang mga henyo, nauubusan ng sagot. Ang malulungkot, sumasaya.  
      Nakakatawa talaga. Lalo na kapag dumadating siya sa mga taong ayaw na talaga magmahal. Napansin ko nga eh. Parang kung gusto mo lang ma-in-love ulit, sabihin mo lang ang magic words na "Ayoko na ma-inlove!" biglang WACHA!   Ayan na siya.Nang-aasar. Magpapaasar ka naman.      Di ba nakakatawa rin na pagdating sa problema ng ibang tao, ang galing galing mo? Pero 'pag problema mo na yung pinag-uusapan parang nawawalan ng saysay lahat ng ipinayo mo dun sa namomroblemang tao?   Naiisip mong wala namang mali dun sa mga sinabi mo. Pero bakit parang wala ring tama?  
 Bali-baliktad din ang nasasabi ng mga taong tinamaan ng madugong pana ng   pag-ibig. "Ngayon ko lang nalaman ganito pala. Sabi ko na eh!" "Ang sarap mabuhay.     Pwede na 'ko mamatay. Now na!" At hindi lang 'yon. Ang sarap din pagtawanan   ng mga taong alam naman nilang masasaktan lang sila eh magpapatihulog pa rin sa bangin ng pag-ibig. Tapos 'pag luray-luray na yung puso nila,   siyempre hindi sila yung may kasalanan.  Siya! "Bakit niya 'ko sinaktan?" May kasama pang pagsuntok sa pader yon, at   pagbabagsak ng pinto.
 
Grabe talaga.
Mauubos ang buong magdamag ko kakasabi ng mga bagay na nakakatawa 'pag pag-ibig na ang pinag-usapan. Ang daming beses ko na kasi siya nakasalubong kaya masasabi ko nang eksperto na 'ko.
Pero wala pa rin akong alam. Pero ang pinakanakakatawa sa lahat ay ang katotohanang kapag gusto magpatawa ng pag-ibig, ipusta na mo na lahat ng   ari-arian mo dahil siguradong ikaw ang punchline.
 
Nakakatawa no?      
Nakakaiyak.    

On Abortion: The Thin Line Between Right and Moral Obligation

Abortion. Just a word. Just an eight-letter word. Just a word - yet, so lethal.
A word that puts a period to a life.

I could recall the great writer Sidney Sheldon writing something about abortion.
In his novel "Rage of Angels," there was a part where the protagonist Jennifer Parker went to a doctor to have an abortion. The doctor asked her to think about, and after thinking about it, re-think about it ONCE again. This is just the author's way of showing his objection with this act. To quote the doctor's exact words about abortion -

"The thing with abortion is it is so final."

Yes. That is the ugly truth - It is indeed final.

One could decide to do it.
Then, one could do it.
But once it is done, it could never be undone.
ABORTION IS FINAL.

There was one article I read years and years back - one woman wrote about her personal experience, and she said:
"They say that the things that we will regret later on in life are not the things we DO, but the things we DIDN'T do. I just had an abortion and I am not quite certain if it is something I DID or something I DIDN'T DO."

I was so touched by her words that they still echo in my consciousness - reverberating through years that passed. Judging from her statement, one could say that she did regret it - and it is evident that she, herself, knows that it is something she DIDN'T DO. It is something that she regrets and will continue to regret until the end of time.

I will reiterate. . . ABORTION is final.
No rewinds. No pause. No nothing.
Once it is done, it is done.
Not a million "sorry's",
not a thousand remorse,
not a hundred regrets,
not an ocean of tears could ever bring a life back.

Let's discuss the main defense of women who do such act (I am not saying "despicable" act, nor "brilliant" act for I am trying to be neutral). They say that it is their body, and they have the right to do whatever they want. It is their right - nobody could question it. Fine argument - it is our body, and we have every right to do whatever we want to do with it.

I cannot help but nod with agreement. It is indeed our body. And we have all the right to it.

BUT  ----- there is a big, enormous, daunting BUT in this statement:
But is it our life that we are taking?

It is indeed our body, but it is NOT our life that we are ending with an abortion.
It is someone else life.
It is the life of a child - our own flesh and blood.

From this point, nobody has the right - for nobody has the right to take a life.

The right to live- that is the right of each and everyone.
Every single human being has the right of life.
And no woman should decide to end one.

If it is cosmetic surgery- breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, or collagen injection - no one could argue with one's freedom of choice.
With cosmetic surgery, one is harming no one.
Nobody has to die for a woman to exercise her freedom of choice.
But with abortion, it is utterly different.

Everybody has the right to choose. That is everyone's natural born right.
But we must not forget that every right comes with a responsibility: the responsibility to uphold others right of life. We could exercise our rights as long as we are harming no one.

Just like the freedom of expression.
We have the right to say whatever we want to say -
Whenever we want to say it . . .
Wherever we want to say it . . .
That is prevalent now in all free countries.
BUT . . . We must make sure that we are not damaging someone else's reputation, or else we will be legally liable for libel (written) or slander (oral).

I am not condemning them - I am not them.
If I would put myself in their shoes, I would not know what I would do, too.

It is just so sad to know that this practice is so widespread, and women are merely shrugging their shoulders nonchalantly and uncaringly.

The worse thing is, some women repeat the same sick cycle over and over again:
getting pregnant unprepared,
having abortion,
getting pregnant again,
then getting abortion again,
getting pregnant again,
committing abortion again. . .
Ad infinitum.

There are some of them who think abortion is just like taking shower: getting dirty, then getting rid of unwanted residues.

It is a scientific fact that some animals, mostly reptiles, eat their young (like snakes, spiders, fish, etc).

When I was young, I read somewhere that mammals (that includes human) have mammary glands that make them care for their young. This characteristic is unique only to mammals - reptiles lack this feature.

Its relevance to our topic is I find human's abortion and animals' filial infanticide similar.
Think about it - if these animals have the human intellect, and they advance in a civilization and live in a society, they would probably commit abortion rather than eat their young, right? ;)

For example, most snakes have no parental care at all. So those who have no parental care and commit repeated abortion should start doubting their "humanity" and ask themselves: "Am I still human?"

Let's go back to the argument of man's right to choose.
Well, I will reiterate my retort for that - How about others' right to live?

There is a thin line between right and moral obligation - that we must not forget.
Before we open our mouths and shout, "it is my right," we should make sure that we do our obligation first.
I know everyone agrees with my conviction:
Our moral obligation comes first - our right follows.

On Burning Bridges

Earlier today, one of my close friends posted in her Facebook wall:

"Don’t burn bridges; you will be surprise how many times you have to cross that same river."
-John Mason

Though she is a good friend of mine, I vehemently disagree with her idea of "not burning bridges".


Eight or ten years back, I wrote in my "About Me" page:
"I burn bridges and dump people just like that.
If people are mean to me, I am hundred times meaner to them."

What stroke me as odd is the fact that so many people believe in "maintaining" bridges, while I stand firm, and tenaciously live up to what I wrote ten years ago.

I reckon that only "brave" people have the "courage" to burn bridges.

There was this one person that my friend and I used to know (the same friend who wrote the above).

At first we thought she was a good person, but later on we found out that she was not.

I didn't hesitate to eradicate her in my life after learning her true color:
A user and a free-loader who saw her husband as an ATM machine.

I know you are thinking now that "that's none of your business".
I know that is none of my business.
That is her life and I know where to draw my line.

But it is my business to choose who to keep in my life.
It is my business to know who I am brushing shoulders with.

I am so meticulous with my circle of people that the moment I learned the ugly truth about her - she was out.
Do not get me wrong.

I am not judgmental, and I am not here to philosophize.

Let me reiterate the main topic again . . . And that is "burning bridges".

My question now is: must we or must we not burn bridges?

This friend of mine believes that we must not burn bridges for we never know when we have to cross the same river again; while I believe that we shouldn't be scared to burn bridges as long as we are either good swimmers or experts in building new bridges.

The example I have given above is the example of a person whom I would not hesitate burning bridge with.

I don't want to judge her.
But I do not want to have anything to do with her either.

Personally, she did me nothing wrong.

But I have seen what she did to others.

She wasn't the first one who I burned bridge with, and she won't be the last.

All my life, I have met so many people: some were really amazing, kind-hearted people who are worth keeping, while some were just waste of time (users, liars, freeloader, no backbone).

These dregs of humanity are ones that we shouldn't keep in our lives.
And by the word "dregs", I do not mean poor or ugly or anything.

I categorize people based on their beliefs, ideals, attitude, and outlook in life - not based on their social standing, financial standing, physical appearance, education, and some shallow things.

I truly believe that you are NOT what you have. You are what you do.

And I have ultimate respect for people who neither take advantage nor use anyone.

Don't get me wrong!
I am not claiming to be perfect!
In fact, I am far from it.

I am mean.
I am rude.
I am straightforward and nasty.

I know my ugly flaws, and I am not proud of them.

But one thing I am proud: I am the "truest" person you could ever meet.
I do not bullshit around.
I do not shower everyone with compliments.
If nice words would come out of my mouth, they are well-meant and true.
I mean what I say and I say what I mean.

You could never expect me to stab you at your back.
I WILL ALWAYS STAB YOU IN FRONT.
It could really get ugly- but at least, you know what I am truly thinking.

The thing with "not burning bridges" is I find it very superficial and shallow.
I find it very insincere.
We, Filipinos, have the best term for it - "plastik".

Why should we keep the bridges with people we do not like, right?
We should never!
We should always be fearless.
It is our life, and we have all the right to choose who to keep in it.

I am very particular with whom I keep in my life.
I always make sure that I keep only the special ones.
Life is too short to be filled with crap.

All my life I had dumped people, and I believe that I will continue to do so.
(Choosy as I am - only the true ones remain)

And unlike others, I resolutely believe that I have the luxury and the right to do so since I happen to be a good swimmer and I have the ability to build "new" bridges with "worthy" people.

I am not self-righteous (though I think that you might think otherwise after reading this blog).

I am mean.
I am rude.
I make mistakes.
I crumble.
I falter.
I fall.
But one thing I DO NOT do - I do not use people.
I love my friends from my heart.
I live by my means. And I do not pretend to be who I am not.

I am neither materialistic nor opportunistic.
Everything I have, I worked my ass off to get them.

I've never harm anyone for personal or material gain.
I do not take advantage of people.
If I help, I do so without expecting anything in return.

But I am not that good either - I am a gutter-fighter who venerates "revenge".

I am very belligerent and vindictive: if one does me wrong, he will find my retaliation ten-fold.
I do not forgive and I do not forget.

BUT once again, I DO NOT USE PEOPLE.

Let's go back to burning bridges. I think that some bridges are just too "unhealthy" to keep.
There are some people who are not good for us to keep in our lives: ex-lovers who used and abused us, ex-friends who betrayed us, ex-employers who degraded us, people who hurt or harmed us in any way.

This is a very big world - a "new" bridge is not too difficult to build, so why not burn the ones that are bad for us?