Kabayan Wake Up!

I am disheartened at how badly most Pinoy are behaving here in the Internet. I think its time that we people should be aware of this. It's not because we are in the net that we can hide our identity and we can do anything we want to the extent that we can abuse and be discourteous to other people or scam or worst be a menace to our society.

We were taught to "mano po" (the Filipino tradition as a sign of respect to put the hand of elders in our forehead or kissing the hand for family members) and po and opo as a sign of respect and calling elders with names as a sign of respect..like manong or manang or ate or kuya which i know is not being practiced by other cultures like we do and I'm very proud of this Filipino tradition we have and for sure we still have this being taught to us until now. I can still remember when we were kids that if we cant give due respect to anyone, we are being branded as ill taught by parents or perhaps we were not raised in a good family, this kind of values are a sign of good breeding to us. My lola (Grandma) used to say when we have visitors coming to our house and sometimes we neglect to mano po... "mag mano kayo baka sabihin kayo ay di tinuturuan ng mga magulang nyo" (You should mano po or else people think you are not being taught by your parents).

One of the good value we have is our hospitality not only to our family or neighbors but to strangers and anyone who happen to stray to our place. This i am proud to say is one of the good value we Filipinos possess. We pride of our hospitality.

I remember about a story of a salesman who happen to stray selling books to a remote place that he cant find a place to eat and he happen to come to a poor house where food is scarce and what the family have is only 1 fish for lunch which is being waited eagerly by a 3 year old hungry girl to have for her lunch while her mom was cooking. This salesman came and ask for a place where he could eat but what the poor family can offer is the much valued fish and he was invited to eat while the family have to wait for the salesman to finish and wait whatever is left. Hungrily the salesman sat at the table while being served and the little girl complaining about her fish being serve to the stranger was being told by her mom "You see the other half of the fish? that will be for our lunch after the salesman finish the half of it" Unknown to the hungry salesman who was obviously enjoying the food, while the little girl was watching for the half share of her fish.. he then started to turn the fish and started attacking the other half, at this gesture.. within earshot of the hungry visitor the girl yelled to her mom and said "Mama binaligtad na po ang isda..wala na po tayong ulam" (Mama he turned the fish already we don't have anything for lunch now). Anyways, I really don't know if the story was true but i think this probably happened since i knew how Filipino people are when it comes to hospitality.

While i was chatting in a dating site with some friends online using my cam last night, i got IM from a Filipino guy trying to chat with me and when i said hi, i can see i was talking with a kababayan. He then started hurling insults at me and i was taken aghast as i see when checking his profile that i was talking to a guy who claims to be a master of engineering.. i cant believe how ill mannered he is...he seem to be educated in his profile but it seems he is not cultured yet.. perhaps you need to go back to school and study good values and good manners.. i think you failed in your GMRC.. if you know what that means!!!

Anyway, this was not the only ill-mannered kabayan i have encountered here.. so many yet, that i cant mentioned it all but some came back to me and ask for sorry of what they have said. Perhaps they were guilty which means not all are bad. I can see perhaps there are flaws as to why men behave like they are doing now but i am just hoping that before you say daring words to women here.. please try to size up if the one you are talking with are to what category you going to classify and then you can say things which you think could be accepted and can be appropriate to whom you are talking with. I refuse to be ask just like a greeting to them asking for a sex, so demeaning really its not for us to say this things as a greeting, I refuse that. Perhaps coz I'm not used to be treated this way. I give due respect to anyone who are courteous but not to ill mannered ones.

I have chatted with a kabayan and have discussed about this.. and he said we are not the only ones who are talking shit here. Kabayan, i don't care what other nationality are doing or saying here, its their culture or maybe its how they are in their country but i am more concerned of our kabayans who happened to be losing their manners here. We should stand to the good values we have learned.. and to think that the very people doing it here are not the illiterate but educated ones is a shame... where have the good values being taught to us gone??

Gone are the days of Maria Clara and the moral values being taught to us by our parents to most Pinoy i think but for heaven's sake, being in the net is not hiding our identity but we are representing ourselves and our culture as well. We are being rated and evaluated according to how we behave here and unfortunately, when we misbehave it reflects how we are being raised by our parents and the whole image of us all as well.. Kabayan wake up!!!

Healing For Freedom

I had a chat with my friend Toni from Colorado. Its been a long time since we had a hearty chat together. Toni is one of my best friend online.. but we haven't meet in person yet!!! She had sent me a package of chocolates and candies which was very much loved by my dearest son who loves chocolates like i do.

After a few exchanges of greetings and talking about things that had happened to us since we last chatted, about her son who just got married and also her daughter who had been wanting to come home coz she missed her mom.. we talked about mystic things. Then she then told me... "OK, your cards say it is the Diving time for healing for your freedom. You have support from your angels and your intentions for a New Beginning is in your Dreams."

It confused me.. "what does that mean?" I said. "How did you do that?"
"I asked my guides to help me draw the cards to tell you what you need and then I cut the cards, layed them out 2,3,3,2 and that is how they came up. The only one that didn't seem to fit into the picture well was somewhere in this is your soul mate."

It leaves me thinking about what she had told me. I think Toni is right... its time to heal for my freedom of the past.. The past keeps haunting me and it become a fear. Maybe its time that i should stop re-living the past and think only of what is NOW. Fearing of the past to happen again make me fear to try a new relationship ... coz this fear of being hurt again keep haunting me!!!

"Is yesterday gone? Can you go back to yesterday?" then i answered her.. "I don't want to live in the past.. i want to forget it especially the relationship i had been through.. i want a new beginning..."

What Do You Know About Life?

I remember it was more than 12 years ago... i can still picture it in my mind vividly what happened that very night to me. I consider it a miracle which until now it brought tears to my eyes when i remember how it had changed me. It was the first time i had prayed desperately and felt like i was in the brink of a precipice that i cried.. "God why is it so hard to come to you? Why cant i feel you in my life?" At this point i was about to believe that God is not alive contrary to what i believe since i was a kid... but then that night....He was there for me, true to His promise. That night gives me a different view about life. How simple and uncomplicated things should be and how we shouldn't worry about anything and let things work its way for us everyday. Everything works together for good.... that's His promise.

There are times that things aren't working well for us.. we start to freak and feel that life is unfair but then when we knew that God is in our life, isn't it comforting when we would just tell Him.. "not our will Lord but your will be done!???" God knows what is best for us. If we would just trust and obey his will, life would be better and easier for us. He will be there to guide us and protect us that we wont ever have to worry about what the future holds for us.

Salvation is truly something every one should work on.... but unlike what I thought about it, its not something that we have to work on ourselves. There is nothing we can do to make us work for the salvation that we need. All we have to do is search and see what had blocked us from receiving the blessings that is meant for us. Let Him unblocked us and let his bountiful blessings shower us everyday. A Happy life is not all about money, power and achievements. More and more people crave for it everyday yet when we die.. what are those wealth, power and achievements are for if we lose our soul?

Life is hollow and full of discontentment without the happiness of having God in our life. Its only then that we would feel that we have live life fully when we live in the countenance of His mercy and grace.

SAYING I LOVE YOU

Today is another day....

I feel i want to hold time and just make it stop from ticking. I want time suspended and stop people from getting old. I want to treasure the past and enjoy precious moments i had with loved ones and friends.

How can I ever suspend time? I have this feeling that unless i do this i wont be able to save the lives of my loved ones who are now old and suffering from the pains this world brings. Mortal body yields and soon all i can do is treasure memories.

There are moments in my life when i miss someone- loved ones and friends i treasured...
so much that i just want to pick them from my dreams and hug them for real.

But i cant hold time and life is just too short. I feel that the people i care most about in life are taken from me too soon.. either they are gone... or just fade away!

Losing someone is a permanent thing in this world. However, losing someone becomes somewhat bearable when you have loved that person and have had the chance to say "I LOVE YOU'.

'PATAWAD'

I was riding my scooter along EDSA highway when traffic had been so slow that even riding a motorbike wont let you arrive on time with your appointments. I was so grumpy when suddenly a beggar got near me and had his palm open in front of me. I was trying to find any money I could find in my pockets and found nothing. My bag was in the compartment and it was hard to get it in the middle of the road... so had to tell the beggar.. "patawad" which means forgive me for not being able to give. The beggar seemed upset cussing as he scampered away while the traffic had slowly crawled along the highway.

While i was riding away to my destination, I was thinking about the beggar. I am always wanting to help anyone when i can but it seemed not right. This beggar was a man who wasn't disabled and was able to penetrate through the traffic dangerously and knock on car doors and motorcycles begging... and cussed at me when i wasn't able to give and to think i had asked him patawad was rude. Something is wrong... he should be at work and not begging.

Few weeks ago, while i was in a rush preparing to leave for work.. someone knocked at my door and when i opened it, it was a man asking for a donation with a death certificate in his hand. I then tried to read it and found that it was not authentic. Just a xerox copy tampered and being used for asking donations. Being one of the officers of our community .. i then ask him to pay a visit first at our barangay office and ask for a permit to get donations from the neighborhood. At this gesture, the man shouted at me and said.. 'if you don't want to give, don't talk too much.' .. and he call me names and cussed me.

That really shocked me. These kind of people need to be arrested to stop extorting money in any form. What saddened me is that others use kids some even their own to do the work of begging using innocent kids to work for them and some are syndicates and being protected by sick people.

I hope the government will give attention to these people. They need to be rehabilitated and taught livelihood programs to help them earn their living. I'm sure it will take more will and good heart in the part of the government to do this. Most government officials aren't concerned about the sick society that we have today. The rampant corruption and politics of most government officials makes it hard for us to move forward as a united country.

As a good citizen in your community... is there anything you can do to help your country move forward? Does the effort usually should come from the government? mmmmm?

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Many times i felt my life has no direction and meaningless that i felt life was boring. It was when i found THE LIGHTHOUSE that i found true meaning in life... "God is with you" it 's a wonderful promise!!!

But the storm is fierce and the tempest is raging... its never easy when we face life on our own ... we need THE LIGHTHOUSE. Is it because as human being we tend to forget that it would take only FAITH AND TRUST that we could overcome? HE will take care of you...

Finally, i had claimed the promise... and i knew my life has a purpose. Focus on THE LIGHTHOUSE and keep reflecting the light . It's only then that you can feel that life has true meaning.

BE CAREFUL

THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU....

I was barely sitting down when I heard a voice from the other stall saying:
"Hi, how are you?"
I'm not the type to start a conversation in the restroom but I don't know what got into me, so I answered, somewhat embarrassed,
"Doin' just fine!"
And the other person says:
"So what are you up to?"
What kind of question is that? At that point, I'm thinking this is too bizarre so I say:
"Uhhh, I'm like you, just traveling!"
At this point I am just trying to get out as fast as I can when I hear another question.
"Can I come over?"
Ok, this question is just too weird for me but I figured I could just be polite and end the conversation.
I tell them , "No........I'm a little busy right now!!!"
Then I hear the person say nervously...
"Listen, I'll have to call you back. There's an idiot in the other stall who keeps answering all my questions!

Dear Friends.....

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots; each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. 'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.'
The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?' 'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.' 'For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.'

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! And share this to any or all of your Crackpot friends and see what happens! And don't forget the Crackpot that posted this here for you!!!

Letting go....

Sometimes we meet someone and there is a click, a connection, a spark. Sometimes that connection is so strong that it pulls you together against all the odds. Sometimes the spark is so intense it can set things on fire. Then sometimes the very thing that brought you together in the first place ends up driving you apart. Finally, sometimes the separation is more intense than the connection. Do the most intense things in life last the shortest because that is all as human beings we can endure?

What could be more important than someone to love you for who you are? Some friends may come and go, you are one type of friend that will be with me til death do us part... but as I sit here tonight in the solitude of my room I can't help but think about all things in my life that I have had to let go of. I've never been very good at good-byes. This will take sometime to recover from, but just like everything else with time it will heal. It's funny.

I miss you already.

(an excerpt)

Woman

What woman doesn't like to be surprised by little gestures? what woman doesn't like to dance. to be held. to feel special to the person who is all too special to her. to be given a nice bottle of wine. to be taken to fancy dinners. to be surprised with little thoughtful love notes or gifts. i like public displays of affection. i would adore being serenaded. or to find some proclamation of love on a billboard. but it isn't those grand gestures that matter. if you remember my favourite things, if you just tell me the right thing, if you just make me feel special in the simplest way................. i melt inside.
(an excerpt)

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Today...

Today...I wish you a day of ordinary miracles- A fresh pot of coffee you didn't have to make yourself. An unexpected phone call from an old friend. Green stoplights on your way to work or shop. I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in... The fastest line at the grocery store. A good sing along song on the radio. Your keys right where you look. I wish you a day of happiness and perfection-little bite-size pieces of perfection that give you the feeling that the Lord is smiling on you,holding you so gently because you are someone special and rare. I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy. Take the time! Wishing you the very best.

As I Mature

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just assholes. I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.

I've learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better have a big willy or huge boobs.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think.

I've learned that you can keep vomiting long after you think you're finished.

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.

I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place!

I've learned that 99% of the time when something isn't working in your house, one of your kids did it.

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away.