What's in it for me?

As human beings, there is always the expectation that when you give, you will receive.  However that's not always the case.

Watch this heartwarming video and it will explain everything.



Always give, no matter how small - we never know how big it is for the recipient. ^_^

Xoxo

Happy Friday: Size does not matter!

photo from Getty Images

When I was a little child, I used to think that when I receive a gift the bigger it is, the luckier I am.  

I always thought that quantity "really" does matter.  I used to envy little boys and girls who received big gifts and gigantic candy bags.  Those were the times where all I want is to receive the best gift a little girl could have.  Something that I can show off to my friends and boast about.  Something that they will be envious about.

As time went by, when I learned about "value" everything changed.
We have this saying "It's the thought that counts" and for me it really does.  It does not matter if you are giving the most expensive gift what matters is the thought behind the gift.

You can give a very expensive gift but if this is against your will then the thought is not genuine.  Better give a simple gift that reflects your dearest sincerity then it would be the perfect gift to give.  Also I am pretty sure that the recipient will feel your sincerity in gift giving!

-------------------

This principle is similar to happiness.  
One can have everything that he/she needs but is still not happy.  
While other people can have less but still manages to be happy!

This is where this simple quote starts to play

 

THIS ONE IS TRUE:  
 "It is through little things where we find the MOST HAPPINESS in life"

Christmas is not only the time for gift giving and merriment.  Tis' also the season to reflect and be happy about what we have in our LIVES.

I know I have written something like this before - please visit  
"What really matters most".

Xoxo



 

Craving for something to eat...

But you also need to watch your calorie intake?
I saw this quick guide in answering our cravings!

I hope this will be helpful for all of us.
We can look at this list all day but what's important is that we do something about this list.  It has to be done!  Let's start NOW!

Now are we ready to do this?

C'mon! There is nothing more cool than being healthy but satisfying our cravings! :)

Xoxo

Happy Friday: Who loves to sing?

... But singing does not like you? hehehe...

This is exactly what I have been asking myself all this time.  I admit that I am a frustrated singer; but I know that people around me are very happy every time I sing.  Not because I am a good singer but because I sing from the heart, I sing with all my sincerity.



I remember singing in a Palmeras with all of my mother side relatives.  It was Ate Yyette's birthday and they were all surprised when I went up the stage and sang "The Climb".  They were all yelling, clapping and taking videos because they were very happy (I suppose)! From all of my cousins and siblings (who were good singers) I had the guts to go up and sing! Ehem!! Well!

If I believed that I sang from my heart and I know that people smile because they can hear me sing then I will not stop singing! hehehe.. but not the serious singing stuff because that's not me.

Just this afternoon when I was watching this video, I remembered my singing talent.  I realized that sometimes it is not about how well I sing, but how well I can share my singing ability to others where they can appreciate and eventually make them smile. :)




This video is funny! Yes! But this video is INSPIRING as well!
Were you inspired? I hope so!

Talk to you soon!


Xoxo

Happy Friday: Carry yourself NOW!

 

 
Nothing is impossible even the word says "I'm possible" - Audrey Hepburn







The key here is for us to learn where to start.. once we have figured out where to start then the next question is "how?".
 
There is no question about when because it should be "NOW"!. 

Even the fish can fly ONLY if they believed in what they want to achieve so I think us as humans can do a lot more!

 
Sometimes it is not the goal that bothers us a lot, it is the ability to start NOW! :)

Xoxo

Pit Stop!

When the time comes that you feel down and exhausted, stop for a while!

Give yourself some time to think and reflect on where you are right now and appreciate every beauty in your surrounding.

Think back on what gives you the inspiration to live and live a happy life!

That's good enough to feel happy and contented!

Remember: Happy people are those who are contented with what they have and has the ability to continuously inspire themselves and others!

Xoxo 

Happy Friday: WORLD TEACHER'S DAY!

In many countries, Teacher's Day are intended to be special days for the appreciation of teachers, and many include celebrations to honor them for their special contributions in a particular field area, or the community in general.  The date on which Teacher's day is celebrated varies from country to country.
(From Wikipedia)

Today we are celebrating WORLD TEACHER'S DAY. 






Now I am not only celebrating this day for my teachers but I am very proud to celebrate this day together with Mama who has been my Teacher until this day and will be my teacher until forever.

She did not only contributed to an academic aspect in my school days but she gave me the LIFE that no one can offer and gave me the INDEPENDENCE that no other person can teach me (of course with PAPA's guidance as well).

Nothing can compare to how patient she was in making us (me, Gboy, Mika, Louise) a responsible student, person, friend and child. 

Everything was done with LOVE and COMMITMENT.

Now all people are celebrating this day to honor their teachers but I am celebrating this day to HONOR my MOTHER who became an inspiration not only to me ( and my siblings) but also to thousands of students whom she shared her LIFE with.

Being a teacher is no JOKE! It is the willingness to share your life to others even if some people do not realize its value!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Testament of Mama's Commitment --> Si Mama nasa Stage!

Mama with her latest extended children at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

 

LIFE is short! We know what to do!!

Start now because no one is stopping us!

Xoxo 
 

Pick yourself Up!

This was exactly what Daniel Rosa did and I was very proud of him!
Read full story here --> Daniel's Story
Daniel's 2nd Season Audition story.

I like watching singing competitions (mainly because I am a frustrated singer).  I like to hear people sing and I am inspired with what they have to say with their music and where they got the inspiration.

Well, if they are getting their inspiration from somebody else then I want them to be proud of themselves because I am getting the inspiration from them.  

Especially for this very special person Daniel.



Just when I saw his blind audition from Season 2, I immediately felt my heart for him.  I remembered by brother (Mika), apart from the body size, he resembled the person who wanted to prove something, not only to my family but to me (Mika, you have always and will always make me proud!!!). 

I know that Mika will go a long long way more than what I expect him to be (Pressure :D).

This is what I always tell myself and I want to tell everyone else.  There will be times that we will fall into pieces but we need to remember that this is not the end of the world.  It is just a reminder that LIFE is a sea of opportunities for learning.

We need to grab them and grow from it.
That's a life worth living and worth to be proud of!

-----------------------------

Update: The battle round.



Xoxo

How do you want to Live?

Sometimes I ask myself what I want to do with my life.  How I want to be remembered and what impression I would like to leave behind?

Being the practical person that I am, I always think that what I want in life is just a simple one.  Live within my means and share what I can share!   

Couple of weeks back I had the opportunity to watch Ladder 49.  This movie was very inspiring, I was moved by the fact that there are people who are ready to give their lives for others. Literally give their lives so that someone can live another day.

Have you ever felt the urge of doing something that you really want and enjoy?  This is what I have seen from Jack Morrison.  The passion to help people is burning inside him and not even his wife can stop him from doing such.  

The photo above was when he fought his first fire with Mike (John Travolta) as his mentor.   Never in his 10 years that he got tired of sharing his passion and life to others.

How passionate one can be with this kind of attitude?  This is a personality that I admire the most!  Someone who has the courage to do what he likes and do not regret anything at all.  

This is where a person feels fulfillment and contentment in life.  
This is where people become HAPPY.




A challenge that I am posing not only for myself but for all of us.  When are we going to have the courage to live our lives and be someone?

We don't need to be a firefighter to be able to prove our courage.
We don't need to be a policeman nor a navy to show our strength.

We just need to be ourselves.  

In my heart of hearts, at the deepest spot of my soul, I know that at some point in time, in my own little way, I have shared my LIFE to others!

And I will not stop because I know that this is what can make me HAPPY!

~ Spread the happiness and love and we can never go wrong ~

Happy Friday: What boosts you?

Was there ever a time when you felt that all of your energy were lost and you need to re-charge?

All of us has the tendency to lose our energy in anything that we do.  May it be at school, at home, in the office, while driving or while having any activity. My question would be how do we keep going?

Being exhausted may mean physically, emotionally or mentally.  Physical exhaustion is something that is very usual if we are doing physical activities - like sports or anything that involves body movements.  This one is very easy to cure, we just need to take the needed rest, get nutrients from food and we are ready to go.

Emotional exhaustion is another thing - it is a chronic state or physical and emotional depletion that results from excessive job and / or personal demands and continuous stress.  It is manifested both by physical fatigue and a sense of feeling psychologically and emotionally drained. (from Wikipedia)

This is where the word burn-out comes to play.  This is a very dangerous word and I don't want myself to feel this way.  For me it means that I am pushed to my limit and it's either I quit or I do something bad.  So before reaching that level we all should know how to prevent it. :D 

We are always talking about how we can be happy with our lives, how we can be positive despite the challenges that we face and how to always keep that smile on our faces.

One simple way is by thinking about the things that "Keeps us on the Go" ~ things that boosts the hidden energies that we have!

We can all have our list of "Energy-boosters" but here are mine:

1.  God - He who gave all the strength for me to move forward to any challenging situation that I encounter.  This is anchored with a sincere prayer and guidance from Him.

2. Family - Whatever I do at work and with myself I always think of the things that my family will be proud of me.  These are the people where I can get unconditional love even without asking.

3. Good Friends - I may have e few but I consider them as jewels in my sea.  They keep me up and running when I feel down.  Just thinking about what they have to say in a challenging situation already makes me smile.  Friends are family that you can choose, so choose wisely as I did!

4. mySelf - Yes, I think of myself as a source of my own energy.  This is because I know myself better more than anyone else.  I know where my limits are and where disappointments can lead me therefore having the edge of using them to my advantage.  Aside from dedicating my actions and achievements to the people I love, I also make it a point to make myself proud.

Choose where you want your energy to come from and you will never go wrong!  You will feel energized even before you feel exhausted. 

 After all it's all about learning how to be happy and alive! :D

XOXO

Happy Friday: The Donut Theory

Krispy Kreme - Photo from guardian.co.uk

If you have watched The Five-Year Engagement, definitely you have heard of the "Donut Theory" from that movie.  In the movie, Violet (Emily Blunt) got her new job in Michigan under professor Winton where she based her main thesis on people opting to eat stale donuts versus waiting for fresh donuts, associating impulse-control problems with personal and professional instability.  Then there was a time when Tom (Jason Segel) ate a stale donut instead of waiting for a fresh one, this is where she felt something was wrong with what they have.

Anyways, I do not want to focus on this theory because I haven't seen a study about this one yet.  Also, there can be thousands of other explanation why a person ate a stale donut and this is another discussion all together.  What I want to focus on is what I see about the donut.

We can look at the donuts as our own LIVES.  There will always be something missing in us but there will always be sweetness in it.  The hole is smaller than the entire donut and thus it will not make any sense if we focus on what is small in our lives.

This is where most of us struggle.  Instead of being happy and thankful with what we have, we tend to look for other things that we don't have, making us want more than what we can have.

One conversation that I had with my friend, Betchay:

KL: Ang ganda niya noh!  Apat na ung anak niya pero ang bata parin ng itsura niya (I was referring to a foreign national)
Beth: Kung alam mo lang, sabi niyan sa sarili niya, ang ganda ng kulay mo kase hindi ka namumula sa init ng araw.

My rule of thumb: Be Happy with your LIFE and be careless for the things other people have because you never know if they also liked something from you that you just don't realize.

Thank Therapy By Jim Burns

Photo from holleysoccer.com

If you have read the things that I shared in my blogs, probably you will notice that I always like to "Thank" people and appreciate simple things that Life has offered me.  

Two of the things that I shared was "What are you reaching for?" and "What really matters most" and both discussions were about how thankful I am for the things that I have now.

Just this morning, one of my very good friend Ochen, shared a very nice article by Jim Burns.  

I very much agree with everything that he said and I would like to share this to all of you!

"In studying thankfulness I've learned a very helpful idea: Thankfulness is a key which unlocks your depressive emotions. You cannot be both thankful and depressed at the same time. They are opposite emotions. You can be sad, hurt, or angered and still be thankful; but you can't be depressed and still be thankful.

We can't make the decision about whether some of life's negative "stuff' is thrown our way; but we can decide to be thankful, even in the midst of a not-so-perfect world.

Thankfulness is an attribute which transcends your circumstances. No matter what your circumstances, I believe there is reason to be thankful in them. Your circumstances may never change, but your attitude toward them can change -- and that will make all the difference. 

Above the stove in a friend's home is the modern proverb, "I complained because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." We must face the fact that some of our experiences may not be the best. But we can always be thankful for what we do have. 

I'm told it takes three weeks to form a habit, and another three weeks to solidify that habit. In my struggle to develop the habit of thankfulness, I tried an experiment I called "Thank Therapy."

Now, the ball is with us.  How do we intend to live our lives!
Be "Thankful" or be "Depressed" 
 
Simple tip from me - If you are "Thankful" it is less likely that you are going to have wrinkles! Choose wisely:D

That moment!

Last Friday (Aug 31, 2012) night we just stayed at home.    I was doing my same routine (FB and Blog), while my husband was playing SIMS City.  It was typically an ordinary night for both of us.

Our friend, Reo, was at our house at that time and she told us to look at the moon.  It was light orange in color and we were amazed and thought it was full moon.  I called my husband and he looked at it for 10 seconds.

This is the same moon that we saw the other night. 
(this one was viewed from Guayaquil, Ecuador)

After seeing the moon, all of us went back to do what we've been doing at that time.

Just this morning, we (my husband and I) realized that the moon that we saw that Friday night was not an ordinary moon, in fact it was a Blue moon.

Blue moon is sometimes defined as the second full moon in a calendar month.  The first full moon was August 1 and August 31, 2012 was the second full moon for the month of August and thus it is a Blue Moon! (from earthsky.org)

We've all heard the saying "Once in a Blue Moon" - this means "very rarely" and with what happened last Friday I am glad that at least I was able to glance at it for 10 seconds, because the next Blue Moon will occur on July 2015.

My two cents:  

Most of the time:
     ~ Special moments
     ~ Special people
     ~ Special things

Will come without us realizing how special they are in our lives. 
Life is a fast paced environment and we always need to catch up, 

BUT (a very big B-U-T here!)

Special things comes without prior notice and thus we all need to take each moment / person / thing as a special blessing from Him.  We should always be appreciative and thankful with what we have, with what we don't have and in what we have accomplished!

A "Blue Moon" will always be part of our lives, it is just a matter of being prepared and savoring each moment as if it will be the last.

Aja! ^o^
                   

What really matters most?

Photo from incognito1412.blogspot

We just finished our dinner and while we were thinking of what movie to watch for the night, my husband played one short film from Nestle Philippines.



I have watched it for the nth time but every time that I watch it, it still brings back the soft spot in my heart.

How a simple child can appreciate all the things in the world without even realizing it.  How he was able to influence his friend who was blinded about how simple things can make a person happy.

Most of the time we are blinded with what we already have by asking more.  My favorite quote below speaks so much about appreciation.

It's always thinking about what matters most to us that will make us happy.  Being happy will always be a choice and for me is very easy to determine.

Let us all appreciate the things that we have, we may never know how someone needs it most!

Happy Friday: Where are you right now?

What is your target?  We all have one but maybe for some they haven't identified it yet.  

If you are at the time of your lifetime wherein you are already looking forward for something and you are deeply preparing for it then this is when you are starting to build of your goal, starting to hit your target/s.

Knowing what you want in life is just the start of everything.  Going to where you want to go is another story all together.  We should always start from somewhere and I know just where to begin.

Photo from Gelo Lacanlale

See the image above?  Are you familiar with what they call "comfort zone"?  Comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition (from wikipedia).  In other words, this is a safe environment where one person is so used to and there are no risks involved.

However, being safe in what we do means we do not want to extend more effort.  It means not doing an extra mile, not adding value or not exploring new things.  It means that we will just being status quo, same old - same old and as usual.  For me this is not what growing is all about and this will not lead to anywhere.

In order for us to reach our goals, we should learn to do more!  Doing more is doing what we are not used to doing, literally getting out from our comfort zones to see how far we can make it.  Thinking that "impossible" is just a word but a possibility in doing things!

Photo from bloggers.com / Quote from Audrey Hepburn

Realizing that growth involves risks, risks that we all learn from.

Risks that will help us achieve greater possibilities that we never imagined.

Everything I mentioned above are very easy to say but I know are very hard to do but always remember ~ always take things one step at a time.

Now what are we all waiting for?  Let's start to explore to reach our goals!

Happy Friday: Who loves sending emails?!

We are used in sending emails whether to our clients or to our customers.  Especially if you are in an office setting you cannot do away with emails. 

We were always busy with work but one thing is for sure, emails can also be used as a tool of gratitude and thanks!  Make it a habit and you will make one person happy for the rest of the day.

Share the happiness and the LOVE!
 

 

Taking Life easy

 

This video was from Monster House and this scene was inspirational for me.

One good thing about this thing called LIFE is that all of us have our own responsibility to take care of it.  In my perspective, what you do with your life is the reflection of what you want to be and what we can be in the future.

I am a fan of taking things easily and lightly, just like the video where the girl was very relaxed strolling with her bike and singing "la la la la la".  What gave me the inspiration from this video was when the girl, being so relaxed singing, fell down on her knees.  

Inspiring because, although it is always good to take things easily we should always be cautious with what are happening around us.

Just a bit of reminder that I tell myself and I know it is also applicable to anybody of us.  

Keep on smiling, it's always good for our health.

Happy Friday: What is in your Smile?

Happy Friday everyone! Even before I was with Accenture, my colleagues would always ask me how the hell I keep cool and continue to be engaged at work.  They were telling me that I should be part of the Employee Engagement Team.


Actually it is very simple.  I always SMILE. =)


I was an HR Rep for 5 years; talking to people here and there.  Hearing about complaints, demotivating stories and unprofessional behaviors; basically negative comments, issues and what not.  Then after hearing all of them, I breath, talk lightly and smile.  After the conversation, I feel that somehow I was able to help.  This is where I get my motivation and engagement.


In a discussion; listening is the best thing to do.  It is the feeling of comfort that someone listened to what you have to say.


This is applicable not only for work, it can happen in every situation in our lives, whether it is a family member seeking for guidance or a friend asking for advise.  Therefore, whatever situation we may be, my take it so always listen and put a smile on their face.