Sorry God...Say That Again Please

I don’t claim to be an expert in God-talk but based on my experience He has always given me directions whenever crossroads come my way. Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous---and believe me, I’ve had a lot of such coincidences in my life. The most recent of which was the competency seminar for our department last June 25.

Actually, the first half of this one day seminar involved an inspirational talk by Francis Kong and the second half devoted to HR issues. Truth be known, I wasn’t really in the mood to attend much less listen to someone tell me what to do with my life. I have heard of Francis Kong. I have been summoned to attend 2 company sponsored events with him as speaker which I both missed due to reasons that I could no longer remember, so, I did not find it any loss for me to miss this one too.

Coincidence #1: I was hell bent on not attending when suddenly I receive a text message from my boss regarding a family emergency that would render her unable to attend. Now for both of us to miss the seminar would reflect negatively on our team, so I was forced to drag my sorry ass and endure the day-long boredom (or at least that’s what I thought it would be).

Coincidence #2: I have been bothered by a question for the past couple of days and it has been giving me a heavy feet. Thirty seconds after Francis Kong started talking he gave me the answer to that question. It was as if God was talking to me through him. I was caught---HOOK, LINE, and SINKER! Boring it was definitely NOT!

“Life is not what happens, its how you deal with it.”

God may have seen me as a doubting Thomas so he did not just speak to me through Mr. Kong’s animated take on life. If you’re a Facebook friend of mine you may have seen my wall post about this itching feeling for me to buy a book.

Coincidence #3: Mr. Kong is also a writer and has brought copies of his books for sale. Four books were on display that day. Unfortunately, I have no idea what they were all about and so I just browsed through the back cover and inside flaps and found two books with the phrase “make you laugh” and bought them both---“The Early Bird Catches the Worm/But the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese” and “Just When You Think You Can’t Do it…Do it!” My itch to buy myself a book was satisfied twice over and you know what? These two books reinforced the answer that God made me realize during the talk.

Coincidence #4: I took the children to watch “Toy Story 3” after the seminar. At first I was so riled up to write this blog that I thought I can just pay for the tickets, bunk at Starbucks and pen my thoughts as I wait for the movie to finish. “No sireeee!” said my wife. 20 years married and I know the tone that would get me in trouble---that was the tone! So off we went to watch. Lo and behold! Guess what the moral of the movie was---LETTING GO and MOVING ON!

God really works in mysterious ways!

My Baby is Now a Lady

I don't like surprises. I was under the impression that my role during Chesca's bday was only that of the photographer and all the speaking chores given to my wife, I was caught flat footed when called on to speak. I found it difficult to arrange my thoughts that time. For me, the event was a mixture of happiness and sadness. Happy because it was Chesca's birthday; sad, because she's baby no more. Naturally, what came out of my mouth was so incomprehensible I didn't understand me myself! Anyway, here's really what I wanted to say:

1. Keep your priorities straight. Life is all about achieving your goals. Know what you want and focus on accomplishing it.

2. Don't rush things. Everything will come in God's own time. Rushing into situations usually end up a disaster.

3. Always keep a POSITIVE ATTITUDE. Look at your life as HALF FULL and not HALF EMPTY. An old Persian proverb would say, "I cried a lot when I had no shoes and then I saw a man WITH NO FEET." The kind of attitude that you have will determine your future. There is littel difference in men; but that little difference can be a BIG difference. That little difference is ATTITUDE. The big difference is whether it's POSITIVE or NEGATIVE.

4. There is no SMALL TASK. Whether you are cleaning the sala, washing the dishes, or nagtutupi ka ng damit---everything should be done with INITIATIVE and accomplished with QUALITY. Making this a habit will give you the proper foundation for the corporate life.

5. Remember Newton's 1st Law of Motion: Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. In the quest of your goals failures will be there to derail your journey every once in a while. Learn from them. Each failure will tell you what NOT to do in the future.

6. Remember Newton's 3rd Law of Motion: For each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, all our actions have CONSEQUENCES. Choose your actions well. When in doubt---PRAY and God will show you the way. Make sure that when you decide on something you are ready to face the consequences. WALANG NAG SISISI SA UNA---LAGING SA HULI. In relation to this, ALWAYS DO GOOD TO OTHERS AND GOOD THINGS WILL COME BACK TO YOU. Sa mga wawalang hiya sa iyo and sasabihin mo lang e, "KARMA-KARMA lang yan!"

7. Always remember God. Thank Him for all the blessings He has given you---BIG and SMALL. God is everywhere so take each opportunity to pray.

You may be a lady now but YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY BABY GIRL! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHESCA! WE LOVE YOU! .

Father's Day 2010

It’s hard to be a father. Often than not you’re the great “kontrabida” to your children. Sometimes you’d wish that they haven’t grown up so fast.

When the kids were younger you could always sucker them with a lollipop or chocolate. Now, your blood pressure rises, your face becomes scarlet red, your body trembling, and your voice booming like a howitzer on automatic fire before you get them doing what needs to be done! In their eyes you’re now that spit belching, tobacco chewing, bad ass gunnery sergeant in the movie “Full Metal Jacket”! The ultimate drill sergeant!

Let’s face it; fathers are not really built to be mushy and soft spoken. Nosireee-yippiedy-do-da! They’re not the talkative type and usually express themselves in terms of grunts and the “heat vision eyes”---you know, the time when they just look at you when they’re angry as if trying to melt you with their eyes thing?! Now hold your horses there! No need getting all cranky now! I know that there are a few exceptions to this and I must say I raise my hat to these good natured, calm, and composed daddies out there. One thing is for certain---you are a rare breed!

But despite a father’s notoriety to their children, some things just can’t be seen by the naked eyes---their love for their children for instance is extraordinary! They work hard like a horse and toil to make sure that the needs of the family are met. They sacrifice much of their needs to deliver for the family. To him, the only return is to see that all his effort is worth it. This is why whenever the children do not make good on their studies the father would almost always blows his top. For him this would be like stacking up bricks all day and seeing them fall down before completing the task.

Without batting an eyelash your father would probably pull out his wallet get his credit card and have it swiped so as to pay for your tuition fee in the A-1 college of your choosing. Pikit mata at kagat labi nalang knowing full well that it would mean two or more notches will be tightened in that otherwise tight belt! Now imagine how much pain it will cost him just to see you flunk your grades! Hmmm…I think I already mentioned this incident in a couple of my blogs already…I guess it must have HURT pretty darn bad!

My-oh-my, even the holidays does not agree with us fathers. Bakit ba June ang Father’s day e alam namang kaka-enroll lang ng mga time na ito at wala na tayong perang pang celebrate!

Happy Father’s Day to my father and to all you fathers out there!!!

When my wife and I got married 20 years ago, God blessed us with two children in the first 4 years of our life together, John Paul George aka Ringo and Francesca Camille. We thought that we already had a perfect set up---one boy and one girl. However, when our relationship matured, God was so happy he vested upon us what He did to Adam and Eve and said, "Go forth and MULTIPLY!" So 6 years after Chesca was born, my wife and I went into a reproductive overdrive from which were borne 4 more offsprings: Carl Joseph (1998), Gillian Colleen (2001), Timothy Allen (2006), and Justin (2008). It all happened so fast that they were there before I could say REPORDUCTIVE HEALTH! But God is really good because He did provide my family our basic needs when needed. Anyway...

My baby boy Ringo is now going on 20 years old and my baby girl, Chesca, is 18 years old today. How time flies, doesn't it? Before, I was only tossing the two of them in the air, now, if I attempt to do that I'd probably end up paralyzed...well actually, depending on what order I might just do that---if i toss Ringo first then I guess I'd be dead!-lol

Hayden Panettiere's Kitty

I wouldn't have thought that someday I would find Hello Kitty so appealing!

To Shave or Not to Shave? That is the Question.

I haven’t shaved for a while. Right now I have this three week old hair growth. Now why is that? Well, I have been looking at the same old mug staring at me in the mirror everyday and decided to just let the damn thing grow!

Actually, I only shave once a week. Usually on a Sunday. So by week’s end I have this centimeter long growth. By my reckoning, it’s already an inch long by this time.

My wife and mother don’t like it. They tell me that I look like Brutus. Hmmm…big, mustached guy---definitely like Brutus! But my two little boys seem to like the scruffy look. Justin likes rubbing the hair on my chin whenever he’d sit on my lap. Now I know how a goat feels like! Tim would stare and run his fingers all over.

My eight year old daughter Colleen likes it too. Well, Colleen likes me---PERIOD! I do believe she sees me as a big teddy bear! Clean or with the Cromagnon look!

I started shaving when I was in the seminary. I was second year high school. Everybody seemed to be shaving whenever it was lavatory time that I borrowed a shaver and just took off the baby hair on my face! Good thing I did not think my eyebrows as baby hair! Then I saw a couple of my classmates plucking on those critters and I asked, “Bakit?” E di para huwag tumigas yung buhok. Ooops! Too late!

I’d let it grow every once in a while during my seven year stay in the seminary just for the kick of it.

When I worked as a service crew and manager facial hair was a NO-NO. Food safety reason. Everyday was a shave day lest I earn the ire of my superior. My, my, did I get my share of scolding! That’s why whenever I was on my scheduled vacation leave I’d just stop shaving to break the monotony.

I guess not shaving is my way of purging myself from the constraints of my mundane existence and just hang loose. It isn’t that bad to look like Brutus every once in a while---not that I look better sans the facial hair!-lol

Whatever...

I was talking to a friend last night and he asked me why I have not blogged for quite some time. It’s either he’s really a fan of my blog or it was his state of inebriation that he thought he actually liked reading my blogs. Anyway, the question got me thinking myself.

My last blog entry was about the recent Philippine presidential election. I was really passionate about this subject matter specially the criteria by which we Filipinos choose our government officials---pitiful to say the least in my opinion. But that’s water under the bridge. I pray that those who voted for Noynoy actually have the balls to stand by him in all his presidential initiatives. Me? Well, I’m thankful Noynoy won otherwise we would have found the plunderer sitting in office AGAIN!

Passion. I guess that’s the reason for my blogs. I write about things and events I’m passionate about. Actually, I have been in the process of finishing a blog about a recent happening at work. Unfortunately, after writing, deleting, writing, and more deleting---I’m unable to control the emotion in my composition. So I just decided to cork it. There goes my catharsis!

Maybe I’m in the denial stage. Whatever it’s called there’s no use fussing about the situation. Everything happens for a reason. Now is the time for me to understand and hopefully make sense of what’s going to happen.

Wait and see.

At least there’s Plans A, B, and C to look forward to. Not!!