Leverage

I just started this new series called Leverage. These are good guys turned bad guys turned good guys that got together and found a mission.

Their mission is to get revenge, give justice, and give money back to those who need them.

It's actually kind of interesting at first. But, when you really think about it, they live on a crooked principle.

They take law and justice in their own hands, and they break into several systems, because they are very good with that.

They use lies and deception, sometimes violence, to get what they want.

But, it's interesting, really, and very entertaining.

I think what I like about the series is that these people found their passion and they used their talents for what they believe is good and right, without being too selfish.

New Chapter

I don't know if it's too soon
I don't know if it's just the holiday blues
But I know I don't want to have my heart broken again
I know that I will put myself first

I am afraid to trust again
I am afraid that my family will feel my pain
But I will more brave
I will be stronger

I don't know what the future holds
But I know that I am in control of my present

There's a lot of things I don't know and a lot of things I'm afraid of...
But one thing I am sure of, I want to live my life and I want to be better than before.

What I Want in a Relationship

1. Christ-centered
2. Love
3. Faithfulness
4. Respect
5. Honesty and Open Communication
6. Affection
7. Laughter
8. Growth with direction
9. Friendship
10. Value each other's family

Some thoughts...

Sometimes, you reach a point in life when you think about what really matters to you...like is being complacent bad? up to how high is high?
A lot of people believe that if you want something really bad, then the universe will conspire to give it to you. What if you don't want anything at all?
What fun is it wanting something something to happen, only to get tired of it after getting it?
There is also a saying that goes, "be careful what you wish for, you might get it..."

I know someone whose parents were millionaires, but gave up all their wealth, even their children to a religious church bordering on being a "cult".

I somehow understand them. Simplicity in life, means unloading all burdens, responsibility and even happiness.

But, still, when you commit to marriage, you commit to having children. The children are their parents' responsibility.

I know I want to raise my own children in the future. They are a source of responsibility but also a source of happiness. I think that having children will make you selfless and you would be more passionate about life, work, health and money because you want to provide for them.

I was a child, but I have not yet experienced being a mother. I guess when that time comes, it would force me to grow up.

For now, I'll enjoy everything that's happening to my life now. I know there's that biological clock for women, but it's not my time yet.

The -Ber Months

So, so busy. I'm heading 3 projects in the office, I'm a participant/ organizer in our company sports fest for badminton, I'm gonna be celebrating my birthday, I'll be going home for a long vacation and I have to plan a team building...Talk about a full calendar!

The only "alone time" I have, is before I go to sleep, I would just surf the net.

*sigh*

Life can get better and busier... and during that time, time flies so fast... and before you know it.. it's Christmas!

Things to do for myself:
1. Register so I can vote for the 2010 election (done! but didn't register)
2. Learn how to drive ( a motorcycle? but maybe before my next bday)
3. Cut my credit card in half (d0ne!)
4. Exercise at the gym regularly (1/8th done, bought excercise videos...heheh)
5. Finish my clearance with my previous company (will never be done, accept it)

I just realized I've long procrastinated all the things I've listed above.

Time to change, and do some action!

My Poetry Attempt

No Expiration

I hope love doesn't expire, I hope it just grows.
I hope it doesn't come with a disclaimer.
No fineprints or anything between the lines

My faith in you, My love for you.
I would let you be the one to hold my heart.
I won't worry, because I know you'll keep me safe.

what's between us is something greater than us,
Hand in hand we will walk together through life.
I'll let you be the one to guide me through the path.

I'll have no worries, all my fears will be gone
All my dreams, all my wishes will be realities, when I'm with you.
Be with me forever and I'll hold your hand.

It's August!

Yes...one month before my birthday...I have to start thinking what I want. That is, as a gift to myself. =)

I also have to start thinking about my plans. I read somewhere that now the traditional "5-year Plan" scheme in living life doesn't really have to be followed. I mean why stress yourself if you don't have a plan or you are just living life a day at a time?

And this is the 21st century, where all the traditional and even modern ways are being revolutionized and evolved to a new way of thinking.

No, I don't mean forget about about all your plans. I meant just live life currently and do your best everyday to enrich yourself, mind, body and spirit.

So, for my birthday plans, let's just play it by the ear, ok? =)

Wonder Years

I've downloaded Wonder Years seasons 1-6 to my laptop. It's 14.7GB of data and it took a week for me to download. But it was all worth it. This was the TV series that I watched during my childhood days. I think I grew up with Kevin (the main character) and it's one of those series that really teaches you about family and life.

I could never forget the intro music...and I thought Winny was the most beautiful girl, and that Kevin was lucky to be her boyfriend. They were the first love team I knew, and I was so "kilig" during those times.

Now watching it again, I saw how cute Kevin was when he was younger. And I found out that this was my bf's super favorite series when he was a kid too! And so we will be watching this together and relive those days when we were innocent and when we thought the world revolved around us... truly those were "wonderful" years... =)

Rise Above Retaliation

Sometimes, we really can't help ourselves...it's like this bubble inside us that's on the verge of bursting.
Yeah, we sometimes, think about ways to do it and we get satisfaction from imagining those things. But, when it comes to actually doing it, you'll realize, it's not the same...

There's no satisfaction, there's just more hate, and you'll ask yourself, "Is this the person I want to be?"

Oh, what am I talking about, you might ask... it's the human tendency to seek retaliation.

I will remember the Golden Rule, "Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you."

Karmic.

Reviews, Reviews...

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Watched "Angels & Demons" yesterday to know what the hype was all about. I read this Dan Brown's novel before, forgot some of the details though. Even in the Da Vinci code, I really didn't picture Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. I figured it would be Harrison Ford.
The movie was ok, of course Robert had a lot of dialogues had to explain a lot of things. Maybe that's why also a lot of things were left out from the book, they'd rather keep it simple for the audience. I thought Ewan Mcgregor somehow stole the spotlight there (although his hairstyle reminded me of Moulin Rouge, and I thought he would sing something). =D

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On John Maxwell's "Winning with People", I thought it was a great and practical book. Already tried to applied some principles with my team, and it helped a little. Bottomline on the book is that in order to win people, you should be more interested in them than talk about yourself all the time.

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I don't know why but I seemed to be hooked with BGT 2009 rather than with AI. Anyways, I know for sure Susan Boyle will make it. Diversity is great, it's just that their performances seemed short and needs to have a longer and more cohesive theme. I have nothing against Natalie Okri, but I think she lacks the confidence, dancing skills and facial expressions when doing her song and dance routine.

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Short but sweet reviews. I'll try to do this more often. =)

Just Joined Twittermania

Oh well, what the heck!

That's what I thought when I joined Twitter. =) I don't usually join the bandwagon until all the hype has died down. Probably, it's just me, I don't one to be a part of the majority. But, oh, well, what the heck!

The more, the merrier!

My First Company Award

I was actually nominated for an award by my company. The awards were given by the big bosses. They recognized my performance for leading my team and consistently being top in Customer Satisfaction for the past 4 months.

I was really flattered. I believe though that great leadership should produce great performance.

I thought I had to make a speech. As it turns out, no speech needed. Whew!

But if I had to make one, here's my Oscar-winning speech:

"Leading a team is really a challenge. There's really no step-by-step manual that comes with it. You have to be creative and imaginative like an artist, at the same time you have to have the discipline of a military leader.
Also, in our field of technical support, customer satisfaction is what fuels this industry. Without customer satisfaction, there would be no business for anyone. With the growing consciousness of consumer rights and competition among businesses, interactions should be smooth and effortless.

With that being said, I would like to thank my team for believing in me. I'm only as good as the least of my agent. I'd like to thank my bosses, too, for teaching me a lot on how to handle people. They are my mentors.

I still have a lot to learn and a lot to prove to myself. I hope though that a lot of people learned from me too, since I'm more than willing to share what I've learned to other people.

Thank you, I'm truly humbled. "

Hehehehe.. seriously!

Past is Past

A man of many experiences told me to "avoid reopening the past and just concentrate on what you have now, because you will just destroy lives, yours, your current relationship and those involved in the past. "

I remember the movie "Mr. Woodcock" about Farly (played by Seann Willam Scott) who wrote the book "Letting Go". It's a light comedy that also makes you think if letting go is really easy.

I'm a pacifist, who wants harmonious relationships, values peace of mind and always thinks about the past, since they bring back happy memories. So, to let go of ALL the past is really impossible for me. I still keep memorabilia, pictures, notes, cards even from people whom I haven't seen or spoken to in years.

But, I see the point of the man of many experiences. It's opening the can of worms, Pandora's box from the past that could open a lot of emotions too.


In the end, the man of many experiences told me..."it's really up to you."

The 80/20 Rule

I read about this 80/20 rule in a relationship...

"In most cases, especially in relationships, you will only get 80% of what you NEED and you will hardly get the other 20% that you WANT in your relationship. There is always another person (man or woman) that you will meet and that will offer you the other 20% which is lacking in your relationship that you WANT. And believe me, 20% looks really good when you are not getting it at all in your current relationship."

This got me thinking...Can we ever get the 100%?
Why does it have to be 80 and 20? Can't it be 90 and 10?
But I guess they're just using the Pareto principle.

I guess it's really hard to give up that 80% for just 20%. You will end up losing a lot.
For now, I guess it's true, just make most of what you have in the relationship to make it work.
Sometimes, happiness can be found in the smallest of things.

And I intend to keep it that way. =)

I'm Evolving

Check out my previous blog back in 2005:
http://hopeless-optimist.blogspot.com/2005_09_25_archive.html.

I think my blog was more interesting back then, it was so full of enthusiasm, youthful dreams, and hopeful.

I guess now, my new blog is stripped down to its bare essentials. It's more minimalist, straight to the point, yet still not revealing everything.

It's me who's evolving also, and it's for the better. I still have that enthusiasm, youthful dreams and I'm still hopeful despite everything that happened to my life.

However, when reality happens to you (that kind you thought only happens in a dramatic movie), you will look at life in a clearer pair of eyes. No more rose-colored glasses.

4 years fly by, and a lot of things happened.

It's time to evolve more, become the best that I can be. =)

Nothing Compares to You

Sometimes, you just have to stop comparing notes. It leads you nowhere. You just have to appreciate each person, situation, or thing with its own uniqueness and beauty...

As they say, “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself”.

Back in Manila!

Dinagyang was fun! It was my first time to really walk the streets of Iloilo on this feast of Sto. Nino. It's really different when you are beside the tribes and you really feel the sound of the drums (as compared to watching the whole thing on TV).
During my 5-day vacation I was able to:
1. Eat lots and lots of fresh "kasag" (crabs) from Banate (brought by my tita)
2. Eat lechon manok.. can't get enough of it
3. Satisfied my craving for oysters (although my stomach really went bad after...had to throw up all I ate, but I'll still eat oysters)
4. Had a La Paz Batchoy snack at Ted's
5. Had an eat-all-you-can Japanese food at Maki's (although I ate shrimp tempura mostly, yum!)

So, that's how I gained 5 lbs in 5 days.. hehehe..

It was fun being with my cousins, had a night out, drank at MO2, had videoke at Annex, swam at Centennial resort (which we consider our backyard..hehehe).

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When we got back to Manila, had to send off my sister to the airport. She's going to be working in Canada. I'm so happy and glad for her, at the same time sad that she left. My parents dream of migrating there.

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On a lighter note, my agent texted me that I won a Canon digital camera! I wasn't surprised though, I was expecting to win the raffle in the office. The law of attraction worked! Heheheh.

Also, I know I will be lucky this 2009, I don't know why, but I know this is my year..Law of Positive Thinking...hehehe!

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Back to serious work again..

Going home!

Yes, I'm going home for Dinagyang! Well, what seems to be a week of merriment and fiestas for others is actually a week of relaxation for me.
It's time to take my mind off work and just relax and eat lots of fresh and healthy food. Looking forward to crabs, prawns, danggit, oysters, La Paz batchoy, pancit molo, Kong Kee siopao, Roberto's pancit guisado... ok, ok, not all might be healthy. =)
What I really miss though is my family... and my sister's going to Canada to work.. so, I guess this would be the last time we would be complete and it would probably be a year or two until we get together again.

However, I'm so happy for all of us. I feel so blessed that my parents and sisters are all enjoying life and I hope we will continue to be blessed with good health and good fortune this 2009.

Kung hei fat choy! =))

Unexpected Love

One topic in blogging that I really try to avoid is love and relationships. Because I don't want to turn it into a "Lovingly yours..." segment. Hehehe.
Anyways, can't help it. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and see where it leads you..(maybe to a vast sea and nice beaches??) =)
I just want to say that my belief for "everything happens for a reason" is stronger than ever and that He is in control of my life.

That's the blog...short and sweet.

=)