I want to start this letter by first wishing all a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
2011 was a roller-coaster ride of sorts. There were some bad moments but definitely a lot of good moments. In some aspects I’d even say this was the best year yet.
The highlight of 2011 was the wedding of my brother to his long-time girlfriend and now wife Imee. Their wedding was held last April. It was also my first time to be a best man.
I was really happy to see my brother finally settle down. His might only be the only wedding my immediate family sees, so I was really glad it turned out well.
One of the best things this past year, just shy of my brother getting married was that I finally got my hands on a Trilogy 100 ventilator. More than the fact that I was finally able to buy it, the journey towards getting it was much better.
Several friends all pitched in to help me get it. A couple ran marathons to help raise funds for it, several donated from their own personal pockets. All-in-all my friends raised about half the amount I needed to buy the new ventilator.
The other half was courtesy of Philips Respironics and their local dealer here. Through the help of their regional marketing manager, I was able to work at a deal with Philips to help them promote the Trilogy 100 locally in exchange for a hefty discount. That was really something else.
I’ve been enjoying the Trilogy 100. It’s allowed me more freedom to go out and live my life.
I’m grateful that this year saw a lot of blessings, in family, work and other aspects of my life.
It’s taken some adjustment to life at home. My brother has left the nest so to speak, leaving just my mom, dad and I. It’s been a little quieter at home, but life has to go on and all things must change.
Work has been ok. I’m grateful for that, although the end of the year brought a little anxiety. I’m technically moving to a new employer. It’s the same job but now I’m working for my employer directly instead of through a third-party company. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but in the end it looks like things are working out. I’ll be starting on the first working day of 2012. Hopefully this kick-starts the New Year with a bang.This year has been blessed. I chose to focus on the blessings rather than the challenges. I’m grateful for the family, friends, colleagues, clients I’ve spent the past year with. All of which have touched and changed my life in one way or another.
For the coming year, I pray for blessings. Specifically for stability at work, better health not just for myself but also especially for my family and those who are close and dear to me.
There are all these talks that 2012 is the year that the world will end. I really don’t know. Only God knows when the world will end. Sometimes it seems that it’s coming true. A lot of disasters have come, floods, earthquakes, wars, etc. It’s quite scary. However I choose to believe in God. I choose to hope that good things have yet to come.
These disasters and unfortunate events should only remind us to do better. For things that are in our control we should strive to do the best we can and trust that everything will work out in the end. For those things that are not, we just pray and trust that God is looking out for us.
I wish you all the best. I wish you health, wealth, love, happiness and peace. I hope that the coming year blesses you as much as this year has blessed me, if not more.
In the coming year, I hope to spend more time with my family, exercise more, eat healthier. I want to be able to work smarter not just harder or longer. I want to rekindle old relationships that have been set aside due to time or other circumstances. I want to meet new people and build new relationships. I want to experience new things. Most of all I want to do things that matter, not just to myself but the community too. I want to make a bigger difference in people’s lives. Oh if possible, maybe improve my love life.
Happy New Year to all! Be safe as you celebrate the coming year.
God Bless!
I remember sitting down at the dinner table talking to my parents on that faithful night. It was evening Manila time and it was just morning in New York. Our conversation was about the trip that my dad and I were supposed to take 2 days before to New York.
“I’m going to sue Northwest”. Those were the words that I still remember clearly. I was referring to the fact that Northwest Airlines refused to let me use onboard power so I can use my BiPAP machine while in flight. For an airline that said they were disabled friendly, they sure didn’t make it easy for someone like me to fly.
I had wanted to fly to New York for several months to see my then girlfriend. The romantic in me wanted to see her again to see if we could work things out. She had moved to the US a couple of years back to work there.
We broke up for awhile but I realized that I still loved her. So when the chance came up, I wanted to go and see her.
The phone rang. It was my cousin telling us to open our TV and watch CNN. By that time the first plane had hit one of the twin towers. We turned on the TV; we thought it was just a horrific accident. When the second plane hit the other building it had become apparent that it wasn’t.
As the night unfolded and as we watched on TV we witnessed one of the biggest acts of terrorism the world has seen. We knew the world would not be the same. Even though we were halfway across the world, it still sent a chill down our spines because, had we been able to take our flight two days back, we would have been in New York on September 11, 2001. Worse, my dad would have been on the twin towers. He was scheduled to meet his friend for breakfast at the “Windows of the World” restaurant.
It was then I realized, that it was God who was preventing us to fly out and not really Northwest. They were just instruments.
A month and a half after September 11 my dad and I flew to New York via San Francisco. I wasn’t going to let the biggest act of terrorism interfere with my love life.
I spent a month and a half in New York. We even made the trip down near ground zero. We saw the smoke coming out of the rubble. We even signed our names on a wall for people who wanted to leave messages for the ones that died, survivors and anyone who was affected by the tragic event. A nice priest even came up to me and gave me a cross.
10 years have gone by since that time. A lot of people have been greatly affected by the tragedy. Heroes gave up their lives so that others may live. The world was forever changed.
I write this entry as a reminder of that event. A reminder that amidst the biggest tragedies, people will emerge from it. People will pick up from the rubble and rebuild. I believe in the goodness of man. I believe that people are capable of working together to overcome adversity.
9/11 is a testament to that. While it may not have gone as good as what we’ve hoped for, 10 years after, Americans are rebuilding. They continue to be strong. The world stands by their side.
My thoughts and prayers continue to go to the families of the victims of 9/11. May you continue to keep fighting Use the memory of this tragic event as fuel to push forward and prevail. The best way to fight back against the terrorists who did this is to show them that no act of terrorism can deter people from living their lives.
May God Bless all the people affected by this tragedy. May you find peace after all these years.
So another birthday has come and gone. This one is different from the past few years. I’ve always had a party during my birthday for the past so many years to celebrate another year that has passed.
This year I didn’t feel like having a party. In fact I wasn’t really in the mood for any celebration. Turns out this year was one that was simple and yet quite a great birthday.
I woke up at 6 a.m. I couldn’t really sleep much since my body clock is screwed up. I had to be up early since apart from being my birthday I was going to be a godparent to my friends’ twin boys.
Allan and Gay, two good friends of mine have been blessed with twin boys. Emilio and Javier. They chose me to be one of their godparents. It was quite an honor for me since they are close friends of mine and it was my first time to be a godparent to twins.
The baptism ceremony went well. The baptistery was packed with family and friends to witness the welcoming of Emilio and Javier to the Christian world.
After the ceremony I stayed behind and went to mass. I had not had a chance to go and hear mass yet so I heard mass. After I mass my aides and I went to light candles and say a prayer. As we did, a man approached us and asked about my condition. He then after offered to say a prayer for me. I humbly accepted. After the prayer we spoke for a while. He said that something inside just compelled him to ask if he could pray for my healing. I told him it was much appreciated. Especially since it was my birthday and that his prayers were a nice gift.
I proceeded to the reception of the baptism after mass. I was able to spend a nice afternoon talking to some old friends that I have not seen in awhile. I saw Mai and Allan (newly weds, congrats guys), Pia (an old friend from awhile back) as well as others. I also had the pleasure of meeting Gay’s sister Joy for the first time. She’s an oncologist practicing in a hospital near where I live.
Dinner with my family followed after the baptism reception. My brother’s gift to me was a wonderful home cooked meal consisting of pumpkin soup, salad, roast chicken, pommes frites, mac and cheese and French green beans. Yum! Dessert was special cupcakes and a chocolate birthday cake courtesy of Camille (my aunt whom I treat like a cousin coz she’s younger than me) and Cha (good friend of mine). We were joined by Nes and Trina, two of the closest friends I have.
It was a simple dinner filled with laughter and stories. Candles were blown, cake was eaten, wine was drank, everyone was happy. It was an intimate dinner.
On another note, I was touched by the simple gesture that my newest aide, Anthony made. He gave me a small statue of the Mother Mary and told me that he had it blessed. He said it wasn’t expensive but it was full of his prayers for me. I was touched. I don’t ask for anything from my aides so this one was really appreciated.
It was a wonderful birthday. Simple but filled with good things.
Thank God for 33 years of life. Thank you for the gift of family and friends. Thank you for all the well wishes and warm greetings. I feel blessed to be living my life.
The weeks leading to my birthday, I was a little depressed and feeling sad. Not because I wasn’t grateful that another year has passed but it was something else.
Jesus was around 33 when he was crucified and eventually died. In his 33 years of existence he has done so much for the world. He not only saved us from our sins but done a lot of good for a lot of people. Healing, teaching, preaching, etc. he changed the world.
I felt depressed because I am turning 33 and I asked myself, what do I have to show for it? If I died tom, would my life have mattered?
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not comparing myself to Jesus, far from it. I was just reflecting on how Jesus and a lot of other people have done so much with their lives in a short span of time.
I was feeling depressed and one night I was chatting with a dear friend of mine on Facebook and I told her how I felt. She gave me some advice as to how she looked at things when she turned 33. She said that instead of looking at it as a “crucifixion”, look at it as a “resurrection”. She said that she made a deliberate decision to be more positive and decisive with her life. She thought of it as a rebirth rather than the opposite. Going forward she would try to do things better and make wiser decisions.
It was a simple revelation; one that was always there. I needed reminding. I need to be more positive in how I look at things again. It was a great piece of advice from a very wise and good friend.
So starting today instead of feeling bad and being depressed because I think I haven’t done enough with my life, I will focus on today and the future and think of more ways to do more with my life.
There are something’s I know I can immediately do such as try to do something good for someone every day and there are some that will take years. Whatever it is as long as it’s trying to make this world a better place then that’s what I’d want to focus on.
I guess in life we should keep focus on our “resurrections”, our rebirth. This means that from every trial and tribulation we can experience a rebirth. This also means that we should always look at the good in our lives. The things we can build on. We should focus less on our crucifixions, our problems and the negativity that brings us down.
I promise myself that from today, I will do my best and focus on what is good; focus on the things that will make me a better person and things that will affect change in the world around me.
Thank you Cha for pointing this out to me. You are a good friend and a very wise one at that. You are a person that I admire a lot. You show me everyday what it means to be a good Christian. I am honored to be your friend.
I had the good fortune of being invited, together with my friend Carlo to talk during a workshop entitled “Design Matters”. It was held at the DLS-CSB School of Design and Arts. What made it special was the fact that I came from the School of Design and Arts and it was nice to be invited back to speak.
However much as I went there to impart some knowledge to the students, I also a recipient of a simple life lesson that we people often overlook and take for granted.
Before our talk, I had the chance to see a friend that I have not seen in a long time. I saw Robert while waiting for the sessions to begin. We exchanged pleasantries and I mentioned to him that I saw his pictures from his recent trip to Europe. I told him that I admired his pictures and told him how lucky he was to be able to do that.
His answer surprised me and struck me. It struck me because of its simplicity and how he said it. Robert said, yes, I am blessed and I am really thankful for it.
Normally when you complement people about their blessings whether it’s a new pair of shoes, a nice watch or a fancy car, they would often reply with a phrase that will downplay the blessing. People will, “no, it’s not nothing” or something to that effect. People often deflect or downplay their blessings.
Robert on the other hand said it simply. He affirmed his blessings and was thankful for it. He said when people ask me about the things he does, he would just reply that yes, he is blessed and he is very thankful. Not a lot of people are able to experience his blessings. That’s not something to look down upon.
I realize now that when we have blessings, we shouldn’t try to brush it aside. When people compliment us we should just simply thank their compliments and say that we are grateful that we are blessed by God. There’s nothing wrong about being blessed. In fact giving thanks to God for the blessings is good. It tells God that in good times we have not forgotten him. It tells him that we are grateful that he has chosen us as a recipient of his good graces.
Robert, thanks for reminding me that when people tell me I am blessed I should just acknowledge the kind words and thank God for the life, the family, the experiences he has blessed me with.
Thank you God for the blessings. I am truly lucky that you have looked favorably upon me and my family. I wish that the person reading this is blessed as well.
The current hot topic today is the RH bill. While I don’t agree with the bill 100% and there are parts of it that I think should be changed, as a whole I think it is time we put forth a law that will aide and protect our right to choose.
Now there are arguments against the bill and here are just some of them:
1. Our country is not overpopulated – We have 90 million people living in our country. True, our population may not be as dense as Singapore, Macau, etc but those are developed countries. Ours is not. They have an economy that can support their population. But even those countries have resorted to some sort of population control. The Singaporean government saw the rapid population rise as a threat to living standards. Population is a resource it has to be managed. We need to be able to not just support our population but provide an environment wherein it can thrive and thrive well.
Someone said that God’s gift to us is our population and that our biggest earners are the OFWs who go abroad and bring back dollars. Our OFWs are our modern day heroes but I would rather we have a country wherein our people are not forced to leave in order to support their families. OFWs leave our country precisely because they can’t find adequate jobs here that will support their needs. Do you really think that most of them would like to go abroad and leave their families behind? No! I would bet that most of them would rather stay here if they can find work that pays them well. A lot of families have been broken because of the distance that separates them. Spouses forced to find comfort with another person out of loneliness.
2. Having a lot of children is not bad – True! Having several children is good. In fact I think you should have as much children as you can comfortably support financially, emotionally as well as spiritually.
From my own personal experience, most of the people I know who are generally middle class, the average number of children they have is around 2 to 4. I barely know anyone from my generation who has more than 4 kids. Why? Because they know that their resources can only support as much. They have that understanding. They know that having kids does not only mean putting food on the table but also providing quality education, a good home, adequate healthcare, clothes on their back, etc.
Generally educated people have this understanding. Sadly our citizens who live below the poverty line are not blessed to have been educated this way. That’s not their fault. It was their circumstances that led to that. This is the segment of society that you see a lot of families with more kids. Why? Because they don’t know better. Also because they’ve been led to believe that having more kids increases their chances to get out of poverty because they will eventually have more family members that can work to help them out of poverty. That’s wrong. A lot of these children will be uneducated, left to fend for themselves on the streets.
So while it’s true having a lot of children is not bad. It should be based on how many children can you comfortably support.
3. RH Bill is promoting abortion – This is simply not true. In fact let me quote a section of the RH bill
“While nothing in this Act changes the law on abortion, as abortion remains a crime and is punishable, the government shall ensure that women seeking care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner.”
The RH bill does not change the fact that abortion is illegal and that it remains a crime. However it states that if someone who had an abortion needs medical treatment post-abortion, that person should be given adequate healthcare.
In the same manner that when a person is shot while committing a crime, it does not mean that he should not be brought to the hospital and given proper medical treatment. He/she still deserves to be helped.
Some people also say that contraceptives are tantamount to abortion. This is an argument that I have trouble understanding. Is using a condom same as abortion? I don’t think so. A condom is a preventive device. How can you abort something that has not happened?
If this is the case then we can argue that natural family planning is also tantamount to abortion. Why? Because you’re choosing the days to have sex, with every intention not to conceive. So you’re still actively preventing the creation of life.
4. Sex Education in school is bad – This is one argument that honestly makes me shake my head. Some people even go as far as saying that sex education in classroom is tantamount to bringing pornography to kids.
Look when people buy stuff they get a users manual with it. In fact it is recommended that you go through the users manual and familiarize yourself with how that thing works. It’s the same with our bodies.
I think there comes a time wherein children should be taught about their bodies and how things work. This should be done in and educational manner with materials based on science and fact. Not in beliefs.
People giggle and laugh when you mention penis and vagina. Why? Because they were given the impression that saying these words are bad. When in fact these are the scientific terms used to describe a man and a woman’s reproductive organ. We were taught as kids that saying these words are taboo. We were made ignorant because of outdated views.
If you taught kids the proper parts and functions of their bodies this would lead to less experimentation and less questions and curiosity.
We can’t be a nation based on religion. I say this because I know that our country or world for that matter is a very diverse world. We have different beliefs and different ideas of God and spirituality. We cannot let religion define policies that will govern a nation that is so diverse. This is a recipe for disaster.
Laws and policies crafted and enacted by the government should be gender, race, and religion neutral. We can’t have laws or not have laws for that matter that will be biased or prejudicial to any of these factors. We should have laws that put the welfare of the entire country first.
Morals and values should always be taken into consideration and there are common values and morals that are intrinsic to all people regardless of race and religion. You shall not kill, steal, cheat, etc are common to all people regardless of religion. Those common values should be upheld and enforced.
From my own personal understanding, the current RH bill in no way promotes abortion or degrades the sanctity of life. In fact I feel that as a whole it helps promote a better quality of life by providing resources necessary in order to educate people about reproductive health.
I am a Catholic. I believe in God. I was also taught that God said we should be good stewards of the resources that he has blessed us with. People are also a resource and we should be good stewards of our population. We should know that at our current situation we couldn’t support a population as huge as ours. Therefore we should manage it.
