Category: Inspirational

Upon coming home, I always ask Mom how her day went and I tell her about mine. Tonight, the “glib talk” wasn’t played. She was so busy talking to my uncle over the phone about Ted Williams that I only received a hand sign from her that was like signaling “Later.”

Wait! Ted…who? Without a clue, I asked Mom to give me a summary instead of watching it on YouTube because I didn’t want to face the computer screen anymore tonight since my eyes were on it the whole day. She said she couldn’t tell me the story because it’s so overwhelming and poignant to be broken down to words.

I was left with no choice; I didn’t want to go to bed without hearing the “big news.” So I watched the video, and I felt so touched with Ted Williams’ story.

Ted is a 53-year-old (but he doesn’t like like one; he looks older) homeless Ohio area man who held up a sign that read he had the “God-given gift of a great voice” and he was willing to share it with anyone who could donate some change. In exchange for a few coins, his patrons get a treat to sound bites of his bottomless, buttery, baritone voice.

You know, I’m such a sucker for stories that deal with the theme of “second chances” simply because I believe in them myself. His is the epitome of how dreams can come true in this modern-day “Internet” era. What makes it even more appealing is that he left a life of alcoholism and drugs two and a half years ago. Watch the video here.

Photo credit: NY Times

Every day as I commute to work, I see homeless men on the sides of the road, and it often piqued my curiosity on the words they scribbled down on pieces of paper. It must have been Ted’s lucky day because a kind patron encountered Williams on the highway and uploaded a video of him and his golden voice. The video quickly turned out to be viral hit on YouTube. As a result of the video’s success and the former homeless man’s perfect voice, the Cleveland Cavaliers offered him a job as a full-time announcer for the Cavaliers and even offered him a house.

This is what I call a miracle—certainly a phenomenon.

I also watched a tearful Williams telling the CBS’ “The Early Show” about the best gift of all: the chance to visit his 92-year-old mom whom he hadn’t seen in at least a decade.

I hope we can all learn from him. Let’s keep the faith and believe that there is a second chance in life.

May the good Lord bless you, too, Dear Reader. 😀

“Keep your dreams alive.Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

 

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” T. S. Eliot

Despite the challenges that our country will be facing in 2011, I am excited of the possibilities and eager to start things rocking and shaking. Around 30 minutes before 2011 came in, my family and I had media noche to celebrate New Year’s eve while watching ABS-CBN and GMA networks’ live coverage of the countdown.

Yesterday morning as I woke up, I reached out for my spanking new planner given by IBM, to start my vision for the new year. I opened the organizer and sniffed the smell of printed matter. Its pages are still blank. I know I am going to put words on them myself in the coming days. Yes, this is a book called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.

Yesterday at lunch time, Louie fetched me up to get me write scripts of copy-text for Sage Digital’s website and online advertisements. He also had me witness how he unwrapped his new 27″ Asus LED and ASUS laptop. He finished installing all software and removing bloated programs at past six o’clock in the evening.

We had dinner (North Park food delivery) and watched a movie (Good Will Hunting). Then, he went through his past goals and New Year’s resolutions posted on 43things.com and evaluated them before creating a new list for this year.

Somehow while he was going over tons of suggested goals of other people, I’ve thought of one goal I’d like to incorporate in my own list. This will remain secret until the end of the year. But because I’m so kind, I’ll leave you a clue:

“There comes a point when you get scared in life a little, when you want to stop dancing, but your feet move. And the music is so beautiful, and the tune is so upbeat and catchy that you can’t help but continue the steps. And your mind says ‘Are you crazy? You’re dancing with the devil.’ And you say ‘but at least someone will dance with me.’“

Another thing: I’ll stay true.

Next topic: People are getting antsy with numbers thinking that the dates 1-1-11, 1-11-11, 11-1-11 and 11-11-11 have meanings as well as the times 1:11 and 11:11. Since last year, I’ve been always seeing 11:11 whenever I look at my hand watch, the wall clock, the system [computer] time and even two side-by-side elevator floor numbers.

To quench my thirst of interest, I thought of finding what these mean over the Internet, and this is what I found out: Our earthly 1,111 Spirit Guardians, often called “Midwayers,” have been assisting folks of all walks of life for many centuries. 11:11 is like a wake-up call which our so-called “angels” use to prompt our innate ability for pattern recognition to let us know that they are here.

I don’t know if this is true, but sites say that when we see these numbers, we should vocally ask our spirit guides what they want to convey, and they’ll answer by showing us signs or going into our dreams while we’re asleep.

Sounds intriguing? Try it out yourself.

Tomorrow is back-to-work day.

Live long and prosper.

 

Well, it’s that time of the year again—time to revisit my goals and see in myself how far I’ve gotten already. If you have never set goals for yourself, it is one of the most inspiring and life-affirming things that you can do and I highly recommend it.

Writing my goals down gives me more direction and sets sail in finding out my next steps in life. (If what I’m currently doing doesn’t help me realize them, then I have to take a hundred eighty degree turn and walk away.)

I now present to the world the four big goals of my life. Drum rolls, please, in your ears. And read:

1. Increase my financial capacity.

Since I graduated from college in October 2009, I felt terribly desperate and keyed up at the same time to get a job. In a span of two months, I’ve applied to a number of companies as an entry-level IT professional and went frantic when I wasn’t getting any great response to the dozens of resumes I sent out daily. After getting through series of exams and interviews in different places (mostly in Makati and Ortigas), I’ve successfully landed my first job as a global system administrator/metrics analyst in IBM-Global Process Services (Eastwood) in December 2009.

At that time, I was only thinking about employment as the source of income I could get to support my sister’s college tuition. I thought I’d get myself employed by multinational companies to earn a title and good reputation in my profession while climbing all the way to the top of the corporate ladder through the years.

But this perspective changed when I’ve attended seminars, read articles and seen videos talking about other productive strategies in building my way to riches. This was also thanks to Louie who was all the time feeding me his insights on stocks, real estate, online marketing/affiliating, modern entrepreneurship and the like.

So where am I heading to? This year 2010, I have achieved my personal business commitment goals in my current role in IBM and even went farther. These I don’t brag off because I’m proud in being part of a “human domestication program,” where employees learn how to be “good pets” and become better ones, but these I’ll use as my passport to a better-paying job. “What? Job again?” you may ask.

For now, I’m looking to moving from one “bus” to another in reaching for my capital in establishing a business. I have resigned from my present company last December 6, 2010 in the pursuit of assimilating more technical skills and experiencing working in a different industry before I take the next “bus” next year.

Right now, my efforts aren’t enough to cover a salary for myself, but it’s enough to get us by until I found a more promising job in terms of compensation. I am very thankful for the learning experience and test in discipline I got from my short time as an IBMer, and I know those lessons will carry me through the next stages of my career.

Moving on, I have received job offers by three companies this month but rejected them all because I had to wait for 45 days of clearance from IBM; I can’t start working for others just yet.

I know it takes significant effort to build a successful business; it’s also a tremendous growth experience. Many people now are more aware that it’s better to have a business than a job. Many start-up businesses may fail, but the experience they get in return didn’t churn out any regrets for taking the plunge. There’s simply no substitute for holding the reins of your own destiny.

In three to four years, I’m going to make it. And you can take my word for it.

2. Travel.

There are a lot of things that build character in a person, like when you finish a milestone in your life or when you overcome sorrow or when beat the odds of some grave disease or sickness. On a lighter note, I believe that traveling builds character. Even though my family and I have not traveled together extensively, we know that from the few travels that we did have that it made us richer inside of us.

Whenever we come back from our trips, our eyes were more open to other cultures, traditions, beliefs and values. It took the experience of going to another places and seeing for ourselves the lives of others. It took the experience of dancing with its people, eating their food and walking on their “sands” to understand and believe that there was more to this life, our life, than what we had back home.

We learned that, in general, people are people where ever you go. People still react to your smile, your consideration, and your respect of life that you know here. It does not matter if you do not know their language or if the color of your skin is different than theirs. It does not take traveling to understand this, but it does help in opening your eyes to the colors of the world and its people.

My goal is to travel to Asian countries Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China and more destinations outside Asia if time and money permit me. So far, I have been only to China, Taiwan and Thailand. In the Philippines, I have visited Batangas, Laguna, Tagaytay, Baguio, Antipolo, Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Ilo-ilo, Bacolod, Olongapo, La Union, Tarlac and Pampanga. I am hoping to meet other booming areas within the country like Davao and Cebu. I mean we don’t even have to go far, we just have to keep your mind and heart open.

3. Be as happy as I can be.

Imagine you’re a builder erecting a tall building. You do everything to make sure you have a good foundation, and you make constant improvements as you build floor by floor. But you get so engrossed doing each floor that you forget to finish your building by placing something fitting on top.

It’s the same way in becoming rich. We need to not only focus on earning money but also on loftier, nobler goals such as helping others and finding real satisfaction in life. In the end, it all boils down to earning money as not a destination but a journey towards a greater destination obtaining full happiness.

My idea of happiness is making other happy, by helping others and providing them simple necessities in life I can provide. It’s when everything were to be ripped away from me, I’d still be just as happy as when I have all the material things I possess in abundance.

The grand key here as I see it is we can never really make it big unless we have inner happiness which we’ll get if: we enjoy what we presently have, associate with positive-minded people, increase our confidence despite setbacks, pursue what we really like, share what we have and exult in every attained goal.

To be truly happy, advisers say we must accept the circumstances we live in. I once found this as a struggle but now I can honestly say that I understand that these hardships are graciously given to me to grow. I took acceptance in what I have and what I don’t have. To be happy, I strive to do everything I can to make sure the people around me are happy as well.

To be happy, I must live, and to truly live, I must love as much as possible and be thankful for everything in this world because everything is beautiful and beauty deserves love. And love means happiness, always.

4. Maintain fitness in body, mind and soul.

Body (aside from keeping a flat stomach)

• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
• Live with the 3 E’s: Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
• Make time to pray and detoxify n silence.
• Play more games.
• Read more books.
• Sleep for at least 7 hours.
• Walk 10 to 30 minutes daily.

Mind

• Don’t compare my life to others. (I have no clear idea what their journey is all about.)
• Don’t have negative thoughts or things I cannot control. Instead invest my energy in the positive present moment.
• Don’t overdo. Keep my limits.
• Don’t take life so seriously. No one else does.
• Dream more while awake.
• Don’t feel envious. It’s just a waste of time. I already have all that I need.
• Forget issues of the past. (Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.)
• Don’t hate others. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
• Realize that life is a school and we’re here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away, but the lessons we learn will last a lifetime.
• Smile and laugh more.
• I don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Soul

• Do the right thing!
• Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
• Think that God heals everything.
• However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
• No matter how I feel, get up, dress up and show up.
• Think that the best is yet to come.
• Thank God for every day.

That’s it so far, but it’s long by my standards. There are other things that I could add, but these seem to be the most pressing. I’m not really into material things; I will stick to these for now. I think I already have my hands full!

I hope that 2010 has been a great year for all of you. I hope you grow to understand yourselves and your friends (and parents) better. I hope nothing ever holds you back from doing something you want to do, and that you find the strength within yourself to fight for what’s right, and make a difference. Make it a year of memories. Live for every moment, treat each day as if it were your last, and never regret anything that once made you smile.

On second thoughts, never regret anything at all. Laugh and smiles lots, but cry lots too, especially with friends. Whatever you’re doing, follow your heart. Trust yourself and your instincts. And every day, wake up with a smile of your face thinking “Roch loves me.” ♥

I hope you’re inspired.

Happy New Year!

My heart grows tender with treasured childhood memories and love of family when the Christmas season comes. I believe we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. It is an exciting moment for me.

Too bad we’ve spent Christmas in a Buddhist country: Thailand, where the holiday was not celebrated quite as much as we do in the Philippines.

Even so, we’ve had new encounters in our travel which compensated the merry feeling I’ve been long awaiting for and looking forward to. For sharing purposes, I have posted them in my Facebook album (viewable by Friends, Friends of Friends).

So…it has been a week of stressing, wrapping, spending, crowned with a glorious weekend of stuffing! December went by like some kind of twister. Now we can finally get back to normal.

Before the start of the New Year, I’d like to report and recap the 30 highlighted episodes I’ve lived through 2010—because it’s just self-fulfilling!

Here they are:

1. 2010jan10 – attended the Money Management Seminar of Create Abundance 2020 in Coffee Bean, Trinoma; learned about entrepreneurship, financial freedom, investment strategies, handling of personal wealth, conscientious budgeting practices, creating a savings plan, and a number of other financial concerns
2. 2010jan22 – chaired the first global bi-monthly checkpoint for TVC; talked with Bangalore, Costa Rica, Budapest, Brazil IBM centers; learned how to better understand their accents : )
3. 2010jan24 – bought a 22″ LG LCD PC [monitor] for my sister with my first month’s salary; felt like I’ve opened the gateway to life for buying something considerably big for my loved one
4. 2010feb2 – presented in IBM NHOB (New Hires’ On-boarding) for the first time; overcame my fear of presenting before a large audience (with no scripts this time!)
5. 2010feb6 – started writing for Triond; felt free; Sometimes when I write online I feel like it needs to be a masterpiece of my thoughts put together in a precisely and perfectly thought out paragraph… screw that! The idea is that I write a blog, online article, not a thesis paper or some technical or medical journal students and professionals would use as reference.
6. 2010feb12 – started using Twitter; engaged with more people online (including strangers); also started publishing ads
7. 2010mar3 – became editor of BCO (Blue Current Online), IBM’s online newsletter; sensed a higher altitude of authority; felt even more responsible for the articles we issue every month
8. 2010mar13 – joined a discussion on food-carting businesses conducted by a Royale Business Club resource; widened my horizons and knowledge on franchising, brand identification, marketing and distribution system of businesses and other possibilities open in that industry
9. 2010mar14 – hosted the Ming Sheng Wushu Association‘s inaugural ceremony, opening of its new gym at 5F Le Mar Building 2; gained a lot more confidence in speaking before a crowd
10. 2010may10 – voted for the National Elections; participated in the first ever automated elections (oh yeah!)
11. 2010may16 – learned how to swim correctly on my own in an excursion/swimming trip with wushu team in Villa Teresa Resort, South Spring Village, Laguna
12. 2010may23 – won in the 4th Season of ChiChing Wushu Competition, when I only trained for a max of five days
13. 2010may28 – was officially regularized as an IBMer
14. 2010jul25 – had a discussion regarding IPON investment fund of Prudential Life, SM Mega Mall with Louie; met Philip who shared stories about his being and he who made me redefine the simplicity of everything else in life
15. 2010aug3 – received my iPhone, my [late] birthday gift to myself
16. 2010aug9 – bought my first eyeglasses with updated eye grade prescription care of Maxicare, IBM’s health benefit, from Optical Works, Ali Mall
17. 2010aug14 – brainstormed on a food review blog with Henshel and Gianne, MOA; felt excited for another writing experience
18. 2010sep2 – ran the video I made for NHOB which made our presentation easier and faster
19. 2010sep27 – started Insanity (Beach body) workout which I continued and survived for three weeks (videos I downloaded via Torrent) and which you should try out yourself
20. 2010oct1 – passed the Six Sigma Yellow Belt exam after completing online and classroom trainings for a series of days (whew!)
21. 2010oct6 – chaired the BCO meeting for the first time as BCO backup lead
22. 2010oct16 – had my hair layered for the first time in many years, tried straight bangs for a more different look at David’s Salon
23. 2010oct17 – talked with Marian Goquingco, Geriec’s mom, about Philamlife mutual funds investment in Coffee Bean, Robinson’s Place Manila; fueled me to learn more about other investment funds’ trends and the market
24. 2010oct25 – voted for the Barangay Elections; exercised my rights and have done my job and my responsibility as a citizen of the Philippines
25. 2010nov4 – got my student’s driving permit from LTO-San Andres
26. 2010nov6 – had my first dental surgery; got my wisdom teeth (upper left and lower left) extracted
27. 2010nov14 – attended the UHSAAI Alumni Homecoming as one of the student awardees, lunch time, Dragon Gate-Roxas Boulevard
28. 2010nov22-26 – completed my driving lessons with A1
29. 2010dec25 – experienced the simplest form of para-sailing in Pattaya Beach, Thailand
30. 2010dec29 – had a pedicure for the first time; had my toenails painted green that resembles the color of light celery (yay!)

Today is the birthday of my grandmother. She passed away three years ago. Nevertheless, we still gather on this day every year in celebration of Christmas, which is not really the birth date of Christ but just a festival for its commemoration.

The not-so-good news is that I can’t attend this family reunion since I still have work and should stay in the office until around 7PM later after the team meeting. If I leave at exactly 7PM, I’ll reach home by 8:30 to 9PM.

This morning while in cubicle 2 of the restroom, I had a split second of thought of my grandmother. In a quick instant, a huge puddle of water splashed out on me from cubicle 3. I knew right before entering cubicle 2 that there was no one in the next stall. When I got out, I checked cubicle 3 and found that it was unoccupied. Whoa. It felt a little creepy in there! Do you think it probably was my grandmother who did it?

Every time I miss her, I plug a picture of her in my mind–chubby, warm, bubbly and healthy who always wears a smile–and then I’ll hug her tightly from behind. This habit has been like a balm to soothe the “wounds.” Along with this, I’ve come to an idea that we can love someone only so much, but we can never love him or her as much as we can miss the person.

My grandmother was the first who entered the regions of immortal felicity among all who are close to me. I went terrible, literally, after knowing that she has “gone home.”

Then there goes the afterthought: Appreciate what you have when you have it because you don’t know how much something means until you lose it. And maybe that makes you love them a little less, maybe you don’t tell them as often as you should that you love them. Sometimes you forget how much they love you. But the truth is, you love them. And you would miss them, more than you could ever love them, if they were gone.

I wonder where she is right now. Life after death remains to be a puzzling endeavor to me. What’s in there? I don’t know. Truthfully, I don’t think I’ll ever know. Not sure if I want to. I am content for now with the little understanding I have of the universe. I’m more concerned of my own sanity than spreading the gospel of deities.

God knows I’d rather be a jolly, plain IT professional (for now) than a philosopher.

But yeah, wherever she is, I hope her soul is at peace. It was through her that I learned that we don’t have to be a genius or win a Nobel Prize to be a remarkable person. My grandmother lived a simple life as a caring, loving and hardworking house-maker.

The life she lived extolled that being remarkable is what’s in your heart. And maybe it’s enough to love others and to treat them well, and maybe that’s all that life is about. You don’t need a theorem about love to know how to love. You don’t need a remarkable achievement to be remarkable.

On the other side of spectrum, I am terrified of not meaning anything to the world, of just fading away without making a difference, me not being the right person, me never making the right choices or leave even a small legacy. This is why I stick to being good. But often I ask, “How good do you have to be to be considered to be ‘a good person’?”

Maybe the answer lies within ourselves; if we feel we’re good enough, we are. If we set ourselves impossible standards of goodness, we suffer.

…

The good news is that there are only six hours left before FREEDOM! We’re flying to Thailand tomorrow morning and returning back to Manila on Monday afternoon. For this, I’d be completing my work/life balance list which our manager asked us to fulfill before the year ends. (Visiting another country is the last item I’ve written on it.) Yay!

I’m totally excited for the vacation that awaits hours ahead! I’m so happy. Today is one of the best days of my life. Imagine feeling “imprisoned” and then breaking away. It’s probably one of your best days, too.

You just have to believe it. 🙂

In IBM, we have a weekly contest called “Yehey! It’s Monday!” wherein employees can send their entries through e-mail to answer puzzles posted, questions and other fun trivia regarding anything under the sun.

This week’s challenge is somewhat relevant to this blog’s contents: “Describe your year in one word and elaborate why you chose that word in not more than five to 10 sentences.”

Winners will be given a P500 Bench Fix GC as prize. I’m not thinking about the prize quite so much because of the obvious fact that I can’t use it for myself. 🙂 I just want to compete a little; it’s cool to win. Right? Right.

With deep contemplation and reflection, here was my response:

“Carousel”—of learning, stress and crisis, emotions, uncertainties, opportunities and dreams. “Carousel”–because many things have happened, and the ball hasn’t stopped moving. This year broke tons of things in me; I have to glue them back in. I’ve had experienced both extreme ups and downs. And though the year still isn’t over yet, I’m putting my strongest face on. This year proved to me that I’m still here fighting for all that ever mattered. I’m surprising myself, and in my world, that often doesn’t happen. Every action I used to do was pre-weighed and packaged. But I realized that I’m stronger and more courageous than I give myself credit for. I savored every happy minute of doing what I always wanted to do and I taught myself to finally let go of the unwanted and the superfluous.

In addition, this year, I’ve felt like I’ve changed a lot more than I did the previous years. I used to be distressed on a lot things. Now, I’m still serious, disciplined and driven but I’ve learned that it’s okay to be silly and clumsy sometimes and it’s okay to act without thinking of the entailing consequences for a change. It’s okay to be a little different and it’s okay to be yourself! It’s okay to shake hands with the past, to be childish and playful; I’m just saying.