Tuesday, November 27, 2007

whew!

busy morning here. and it's not even lunchtime yet.

'been up since 5am, just picking a few emails from the 85 emails already in my inbox to open, read and respond to.

one email from my publisher got me cross-texting with another colleague, the storyteller who was here last month for the storytelling workshop in tandem with my booklaunch. apparently there were some misunderstandings on fees and costs, and i've been coordinating with both to clarify matters, texting, emailing and calling.

in between, had to bring Thea to her friend K's house, with K informing us at the last minute that her mom can't take them to the airport for K to see her boyfriend off after all, so it fell upon me, of course, to take them to the airport-- me driving in my nightgown (K's house was only in the subdivision next to ours, so i didn't bother to change)! even as i drove, mama called. thankfully, when she learned i was driving, she said she'd call later...

then, as i arrived home, J from the PJ office texted to tell me that our flight for CDO on thursday is at 9am, not 630am, thank God! and then L texted from the bank too to tell me my Euro honoraria would be deposited to my account instead since the bank didn't have any Euro smaller bills for withdrawal. hmmm, ok. i texted her back to go ahead (what else can we do if i want to get my full honoraria, down to the last Euro?).

as i was doing this, my brother Tope came to consult with me re his project paper, as i greeted him happy birthday, and we also talked about family (another episode in the long-standing tragi-comedy drama series) stuff and updated each other. he asked to borrow my car to go to the bank and run errands (as his car is in manila now) and i let him.

B said hi on the way to his own errands. i love this sweet man. it's always a joy hearing from him. : )

meanwhile, Bea's here with me watching tv. it's Sportsfest time at school and since she's not into any game or sport, she just decided to stay home with me.: ) my girl. the tv isn't helping me much concentrating on my own project paper, though...

im starting to get panicky. i have to have Tope's and my own project paper done by wednesday, before i leave for CDO, so Tope can print and submit them and schedule us for our target defense date of Dec. 7.

can i do this in two days?

probably, without sleeping.

but ive noticed this year that i can't handle no-sleep straight-through-the-night writing projects like i used to before (i even do straight-through-3-nights before!)... sigh. signs of age, i guess. hmmpfff! (if not for this, i absolutely relish and look forward to growing older! the older you get, the freer you are to be you... my uniqueness used to be considered nerdy, then crazy, now attractively interesting... i look forward to being full-blown attractively eccentric, a gorgeous globetrotting grandma, with my nose thumbed at all the madding crowd!)

...


hmmm... what am i doing rambling here?

i guess i just want to get all this stuff in my head down here --framing, in manifesting language : ) -- so i can get it cleared to focus on performing miracles with Tope's and my project paper!

oh, God, help!

and this is for mama, too, who hasn't called back. this is the answer to your unspoken "how are you today?" when you called earlier. : )

i love you!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

How Two Words Changed My Life

Two words which will change your life!
from Rhonda Byrne,Creator of The Secret:

There are two words that, when spoken, have the most unfathomable power to completely change your life. Two words which, when they pass your lips, will be the cause of bringing absolute joy and happiness to you. Two words that will create miracles in your life. Two words that will wipe out negativity. Two words that will bring you abundance in all things. Two words which, when uttered and sincerely felt, will summon all the forces and vibrations in the Universe to move all things for you.

The only thing standing between you, happiness, and the life of your dreams, are two words...

THANK YOU.

Gratitude is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to transform your life. If you become truly grateful, you will magnetize absolute joy to you everywhere you go, and in everything you do. In fact, without gratitude, nothing can ever change. Your life will change to the degree that you use gratitude and begin to feel grateful. If you are just a little bit grateful, your life will change a little bit. If you are very grateful, your whole life will change. If you live gratitude every single day, you will become one of the greatest human beings on the planet, and the light of your life will uplift our world.

The greatest human beings who have ever lived showed us the way with gratitude, and by their example became shining lights in our history. Einstein said "thank you" hundreds of times every single day! Ancient wisdom dating back thousands of years gave us the truth about gratitude. Every single religion speaks of giving thanks. All the sages and saviors of the world demonstrated the use of gratitude in all their teachings.

Of the thousands of letters we receive from people whose lives have become miracles after experiencing The Secret, every single one of them has made gratitude their way of life. It is impossible to be negative when you are giving thanks. It is impossible to criticize or blame when you are feeling grateful. It is impossible to feel sad when you are in gratitude. Most people are sporadically grateful, however, to change your life with gratitude, a new way of learning how to be truly grateful is what will bring unlimited happiness into your life.

So how do you live in gratitude? Begin your day by feeling grateful. Be grateful for the bed you just slept in, the roof over your head, the carpet or floor under your feet, the running water, the soap, your shower, your toothbrush, your clothes, your shoes, the car that you drive, your job, your friends, your refrigerator that keeps your food cold. Be grateful for the weather, the sun, the sky, the birds, the trees, the grass, the rain, and the flowers. Be grateful for the stores that make it so easy to buy the things you need, the restaurants, the utilities and services and electrical appliances that make your life effortless. Be grateful for magazines and the books that you read. Be grateful for the chair that you sit on, and the pavement that you walk on. Be grateful for your favorite music that sweeps you away, and for movies that make you feel good. Be grateful for your phone that connects you with people, for your computer, for the electricity that lights up your life. Be grateful for air travel that flies you everywhere. Be grateful for the roads and traffic lights that keep the traffic in order. Be grateful to those who built our bridges. Be grateful for your pet, for your child, for your loved ones, for your eyes that enable you to read this. Be grateful for your imagination. Be grateful that you can think! Be grateful that you can speak. Be grateful that you can laugh and smile. Be grateful that you can breathe! Be grateful that you are alive! Be grateful that you are You! Be grateful that there are two words that can change your life!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

The more that you practice gratitude the more deeply you will feel it in your heart, and the depth of the feeling is the key. The more deeply and sincerely you feel it, the more you will bring absolute bliss and happiness on every single subject. Watch what happens in your life when you practice gratitude every single day and in every single moment and in every opportunity that you can. Remember, if you are criticizing, you are not being grateful. If you are blaming, you are not being grateful. If you are complaining, you are not being grateful. If you are feeling tension, you are not being grateful. If you are rushing, you are not being grateful. If you are in a bad mood, you are not being grateful.

To understand the power and the magic of gratitude, you have to experience it for yourself. So why not begin by deciding to find 100 things a day to be grateful for? As you practice gratitude every day, it won't take long before gratitude is your natural state of being, and when it happens you will have unlocked one of the greatest Secrets to Life.

***

technical notes:

According to the Laws of Manifesting (Law of Attraction, Law of Deliberate Creation and Law of Allowing), the Universe responds to your vibrations, not really your actions. And your vibrations have a lot to do with the thoughts you think, and the feelings you feel as a result of the thoughts you think. So, saying "Thank You" is the best and quickest way to getting into vibrational alignment with your Desires. And when you're feeling good and joyful, you are inspired to be and act in ways which cause you to attract what you Desire, because you are now finally in compatible vibrations.

So, in summary, the principles are:

1. Vibration (vibrational Alignment with Desire, specifically), not action (unless Inspired Action, inspired from proper vibrational alignment in the first place)

2. Thoughts, not time-space-distance, rule!

This is the scientific explanation. And I guarantee, from my own experience, readings and learnings-- it does work!


personal notes:

when i started out in the habit of saying "Thank You", though, it was just to keep my self from falling into despair.

five years ago, at 34, i left my marriage, and with 3 young kids to support, with grudging and stinting "support" from their father then (i had to employ moral suasion even among the in-laws to make him give to the children what was already his responsibility)-- i was financially-constrained, and heavily in debt even (as i assumed all the marital debts just so i could be rid of him).

those early months and years made it much easier to complain, blame, worry and be fearful; but my overriding concern at that time was that i will NOT have my children remember those tight times with feelings of negativity. i didn't want them growing up with that legacy. i could still give them something even if only in terms of happy, positive memories, no matter what our circumstances were.

so i even took to singing Julie Andrews' "My Favorite Things" and writing my thanks yous everyday on my journal, feverishly-- just to prevent my self from falling into despair, which sorely tempted me then. how could i create happy memories for them when i myself was not feeling it? so adopting the habit of Gratitude was a desperate and emergency measure, in a way.

look at me now! : ) who would believe that i can take a YEAR'S UNPAID leave off from my regular day job today just so i could stay at home, be with my children more, and do more of what i really loved to do-- writing and communicating and even traveling!

and it's not as if i'm awash with my own personal cash savings to fund this year's off. people think that; i let them. : ) they don't believe i'm telling the truth that i'm just living by God's Grace, day after day, month after month!

they think i'm crazy to follow my heart, and to keep saying thank you before for not much to thank about...

well, my life now is my only reply.

so, THANK YOU-- to them, to the past, to life's circumstances and challenges, and most of all, to God and the Universe!

even with my children now, i've taught them to just say thank you when they pray, instead of asking God for what they need and want. for what they do need and want, i've taught them to thank God already in advance! : )

so, THANK YOU. it really works. : )

Friday, November 16, 2007

don't laugh now...

... but would you believe im not only learning how to prepare healthy and yummy-tasting food these days, im even studying how FOOTBALL is played, ... and enjoying the process, too!

imagine that.

i never thought i'd come to this. : )

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Words Have Power: 10 Tips for Kinder Speech

By Judy Gruen

In our media-driven society, it's easy to forget the awesome power of words. Words have enormous power to hurt or to heal, to make or break reputations, to uplift or degrade another human being. In this way, the words we speak literally change the world and how we view the people in it. Here are 10 ways to improve the world and ourselves through channeling our power of speech for the good.

Click here for the full article.

1. Avoid (gossip and) gossipmongers.

2. Talk about ideas, not people.

3. Think before you speak.

4. Use your words and your smile to uplift others.

5. Truth is no excuse; (practice verbal self-restraint.)

6. Judge others favorably; (always look for the good in people; there always is.)

7. Don't badmouth yourself either!

8. Change the subject when gossip begins.

9. Share bad news only if you must.

10. Be careful with praise (that it doesn't exclude others, too).

Monday, November 12, 2007

Santa's Early!!! : )

Wowwwwww. Life gets even better and better!

Lopue's East Mall just texted: Bea won in their RAD Bike raffle promo!!! : ) : ) : )

And just the other day, she was telling me she wants to add a bike to her Santa wish list, too, after she heard Paolo tell me he wanted a bike for Christmas!!!

Thank you, God!!!

Friday, November 09, 2007

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


- by Dylan Thomas

Thursday, November 08, 2007

10 Questions to Ask Yourself and Be Your Own Life Coach

pls. click on the title above for the full article. as for me i just want to list the 10 questions here for my own reminder and to keep my focus.

when faced with a life challenge, it is good to ask one's self these questions for inner guidance...


1. Is this Good for Me?

2. What does My Body have to Say About This?

3. What are My Values?

4. What would Jesus (Mary, God, Goddess, Grandma, any role model) do?

5. What Am I Not Seeing Here?

6. What Really Matters Here?

7. Where Should I Act and Where Should I Step Back?

8. What Would Make Me Genuinely Happy? (i love this one! this is the criteria i basically go by, aside from no. 3 above)

9. Who Has Some Guidance for Me Right Now?

10. What Is the Divine Intention for My Life Today?

Monday, November 05, 2007

Stop Acting Small

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.


-Marianne Williamson