AT WHATEVER YOUR AGE ALWAYS BE KIND

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My daughter and I were walking out to the main street to get a ride to the mall, on an errand... when two ladies hurriedly walked past us. One looking in her twenties and the other apparently thrice her age. Overheard this.....

Young girl: "Bilis-bilisan nyo naman, nay. Ang kupad-kupad nyong maglakad!" (Walk faster, will yuh, mom? You're so slow!"

Old lady: "Eto nga, anak, mabilis na nga." "Doing my best."

Although the younger one showed such insensitivity to her aging mother, let's withhold judgement there because we do not know their stories. Or maybe they really have to hurry to catch up on something important. But I did form an unpleasant impression of that young girl in my mind. I was seething with anger, in fact.

But it made me think.....

On other occasions have I heard of similar words by the young. Sometimes even said in banter to and with their friends. Words such as......

"Para kang matanda; ang kulit-kulit mo ah!" (You're so annoying, like an old person!"

"Ang malilimutin mo naman. Para kang tanda." (You're so forgetful, just like an oldie!"

"Ano ba! Balat-sibuyas.. para kang lola." (Overly sensitive bloke! Just like granny."

"Ano ba! Dali mong matapilok. Tanda mo na ba!?" (Missed your step again! Are you that old!?)

That sounds so mean, harsh, and inconsiderate, even if it be true... or it be a joke. Sure older people can be ofttimes forgetful, repetitively annoying, and buckle down easily in their steps. But that is just the natural course of age and aging. We all know that. It's as normal as eating pizza pie. So why be mean about it just because in their company you would have to slow down or unwillingly rethink the usual things you would be doing in your own 'young' time, space, and world.

Let's nudge your memory a bit, young lady.....

Do you remember when your mom would patiently guide you through your first baby steps?  Or those long sleepless nights she spends by your bedside when you were sick?  Or those times when she listens attentively and patiently to your rambling mumbling incoherent stories?  Or those times when you stumbled and fell but she was quicker at catching you... every time?

This I have learned...... Life is not all about you. When you're done growing up (the time when everything is indeed about you), then it becomes time to think of others, too. Even care for them, serve, shield or protect, encourage or inspire them, maybe teach them too. In fact, if you have learned your lessons well you do all of those things alongside growing up.

Most importantly, at whatever your age --- always... "Be kind."

God bless you with everything good.

A TRIBUTE TO OUR FOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS

---- A pet dog loves you for whoever you are... whatever the color of your skin... the race you belong to... whoever you pray to. It don't matter if you are blind... crippled... deaf... mute... single, married, divorced, or betrayed, brilliant or intellectually challenged.  It won't matter if you feed him steaks or food scraps. Your anger or ugly mood won't stop him from loving you. He follows you everywhere you go, content and happy in your company. He won't leave you not even for the slightest reason or whatever his mood is. He is happy when you're happy; sits close beside you when you're lonely and blue. He protects you and your home from strangers, rushing to your aid at the slightest sign of threat. He has no issues with whether you are rich or poor..... a high and mighty king or a lowly street-sweeper.  He doesn't care a hoot if you are the CEO or the janitor of the company. Those things mean nothing to him. All he knows is that he loves you --- and that's forever!!
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If humans could do those things, too....... Imagine how good and wonderful this crazy world of ours could and would be!!
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Meet Maxi, my adorable companion (shown in picture). I love her, too .....and that's forever, too. And in case you would wonder, more canines and felines have made our home their home, too. Ain't that just crazy?!?!
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Enjoy a great weekend up ahead, folks. God bless you!!

LIFE CANNOT BE LIFE WITHOUT PEOPLE IN IT

I was on my way down the hill at the tail-end of my morning walk when this silver-haired gentleman-foreigner heading my way from the opposite direction on seeing me slowed down and greeted me with a huge friendly smile and a question... "How many times do you go round the neighborhood?" I replied "Twice, most times." To this he smiled even more and said.. "Good for you!" And walked past me still wearing his big wide smile..
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Apparently he too was doing his usual morning routine. And so were other Filipino residents of the neighborhood at that early hour. But one thing looks quite clear to me.... Filipinos are shy .. in fact, just too shy to jump on an opportunity to make friends or simply share the good vibes of the moment. I remember Mom said this long ago....... "The art of giving and receiving does not come naturally to many. But it can be learned. Start with loving yourself, life and everything in it."
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Life without people would be similar to one landscape of meadows, mountains, rivers, forests running endlessly beyond the horizon and even farther. Magnificent but somehow incomplete.
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People, on the other hand, bring into life those thousand-and-one things which make it come pulsatingly alive. Challenges... perceptions... insights.... excitement... adventure... joy and happiness... creativity... productivity... emotional diversity... development... growth, etc. Add to the same pot the worrisome and wearying disputes... arguments... sorrows... questions... destruction.... conflicts... negativity... and other things more which make you want to bang your head on the wall. These things happen between man and man interacting and colliding in a manner they alone best know how.
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Life cannot be life without people in it.
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Wishing for you and your family God's blessings beyond measure.

BEING AWESOME IS SUCCESS

 

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"Success comes in a lot of ways, but it doesn't come with money and it doesn't come with fame. It comes from having a meaning in your life, doing what you love and being passionate about what you do. That's having a life of success. When you have the ability to do what you love, love what you do and have the ability to impact people. That's having a life of success. That's what having a life of meaning is." ---- Tim Tebow

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Often we associate success with big bank accounts, huge mansions, flashy and expensive cars, impressive roll of connections, heaps of titles to a name, being on the society pages of the daily papers, the namedropping of famous names-celebrities-personalities, and all the curious trappings of wealth ---- all spell m-o-n-e-y and f-a-m-e. That's been fed into our brains by the media, by our schools, by our friends and peers, even by our parents. Everything that we try to do is measured against that list. If we don't make it on that list, we are immediately labeled 'failed'.
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Oh those things are not bad in itself; they also have their uses. What is sad is that some make them the only measure of success. That's being short-sighted. It's not seeing the whole of life and the people in it as a huge landscape and panorama of diversity of brilliance and talent,... and awesomeness.
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Life is awesome. Surely there are so many ways we can live that awesomeness and be successful at it. There is and can be no one label or tag for success. Anyone who lends his or her talent or gift to better other lives.........  or anyone who displays with authentic wisdom and clarity the magnificence of our God...........  or any effort, big or small, which gives life its awesome meaning is  ----  success!! That, for the record, tops anything and everything on my list.
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God bless you! Be awesome.
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Tidbit:
(Tim Tebow, whose birthplace is Makati City, Philippines, is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). Is known for sharing his Christian faith with fans and in clinics, hospitals, market places, schools, and orphanages.)

LOVE WILL TURN THE TIDE

I would like to do something here just so to let readers know that am very much around and blogging. This post is from the other blog. Am taking it here now and hoping that some would leave me a message or two to let me know they're there too. :-) Thanks.
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It's quite easy to turn your back to the misery of others. But not so when misery hits you. Then you wish that friends wouldn't turn their backs on you.

-"Love one another as much as I love you." - I've heard this spoken so many times, read it a thousand times over. I have realized that none can be more truer than this. God in His magnificent love has given us all of the earth... land - sea - air... under our care and management, for our living joy and pleasure. And too each other to love and care for. Every individual does not stand alone no matter how he says he does and can.. or tries. For no man is an island, each one is dependent to and on another for many different things. I need you as much as you need me. So how is it that we can't... love?

Love will turn the tide. Believe coz it's been done for ages, by many, in different circumstances, with the smallest or greatest of hearts and hands. Love breaks down all barriers -- real perceived imagined.

Don't make it difficult for yourself or for the next guy beside you or for the rest of the world. Love... and you will make a reality your and everybody's wish that the world were a better place . It'll start with you, me, them, us.