Freedom at Christmas

On Christmas Day this year, I felt a great amount of freedom. I was free from worries about my backlogs at work, I was free from the workaholic side of me. I emailed my resignation letter during the first week of this month and right after I pressed “Send”, I immediately planned to start decorating the house for Christmas. It was hard to schedule that activity because I knew I had a lot of pending tasks for my current job. I realized that my job was starting to control my life because everything in my mind was how to get things done at work, never mind the house. But as much as I wanted to extend my time to finish those pending tasks, I couldn't because my special child, Lyca, was demanding for my attention also.

A week after I submitted my resignation letter, I also realized that my job has affected my health too. Just a call from a client caused my blood pressure to rise, maybe because about the same time, I also received two SMS messages from other clients. The client who called me up said she wouldn't call me up if there is no problem. That is the sad part of my current job. Calls would never bring good news, only bad ones. So I turned to Facebook although rarely, to find some good news from friends.

Though I still have a month to try to complete those pending tasks, at least for this very important month, I've set myself free. I just hope and pray that my team mates who are my subordinates will cooperate to make my remaining days worthwhile. I also hope they will understand why I had to leave. This was not the first time I thought of resigning from this job because I already felt that I had to make a lot of adjustment since I was used to working in a corporate environment for the 30 years that I've worked. Decision making was dynamic and fast because we always did that as a team, which included the division head who is always an officer in the corporate. In my current job, there were several times I felt all alone making tough decisions. Tough because resources required were not enough and beyond my control.

I had second thoughts about resigning because I wanted to share to my team mates my experiences in the corporate world. But I realize now that could take so much time if a company is not really a corporation in the first place. I also don't have enough time to hasten the process because my team mates were scattered around the country and I need to be always near my special child. I tried to share some of my experiences through the documents and sites I've created in our official domain, but I don't know if my team mates could appreciate them. I wish they could, so that my 6-month stint in working with them would serve its purpose. I will surely miss them when I'm finally out of the scene.

My Little Mermaid

This post is dedicated to my mother who is celebrating her birthday today. She was an example that inspired me to take good care of a special child like Lyca, who was a Little Mermaid during the Christmas party of the rehab center of Quirino Memorial Medical Center, where she undergoes regular physical therapy.

Happy Birthday M O M !!

Weekend in Bacolod

I can't believe that it has been almost two months since I last posted in this blog! I should have at least posted about my weekend in Tanza, a barrio near Bacolod City. I'm doing that now, and the only reason for the not-so-precise title of this post is to get attention since Bacolod is a well known city internationally, because of its Masskara festival held every 2nd week of October.

I had been requested to go to Cebu last month, so passing by a client in Iloilo who has written requests to visit them months ago was finally practical. A team mate with me who would be assigned in Iloilo for some time lives near Bacolod City so I requested to stay at their house for the weekend in between my Iloilo and Cebu trips. We rode a ferry boat from Iloilo to Bacolod, but since Bacolod was not in my official itinerary, I had to shoulder all my expenses in that trip.

My weekend in the house of my team mate was not an ordinary weekend because I had a personal objective unknown even to her. I wanted to know her condition in her own hometown because she will be 60 years old next year and may retire. I wanted to discourage her to retire but I would like to be sure if that will be the best advice I can give her. She has a nice house, but she expressed her desire to renovate her kitchen when she retires. Their barrio looks like a subdivision in Metro Manila. Her siblings and grandchildren by them live next to or near her house so she won't be lonely in case she decides to retire.

Though her hometown is an ideal place for retirement, I hope I can still work with her longer because so many clients expressed their need for her expertise.

I can't end this post without mentioning the sugarcane plantations all around their barrio because I was overwhelmed with the vast area of the plantations. The winds coming from the plantation was very refreshing!.

Musings of a "Batang San Miguel"

Today is my eldest daughter's birthday, I wonder how else can I make her day happy aside from cooking her favorite pasta. Oh yes, I made her use my laptop practically the whole day until the desktop computer was vacated by her brother.

I thought maybe I can search youtube for a song I can dedicate to her so I'm now searching. But my search brought me to an article she wrote for my former employer's newsletter, "Kaunlaran". Here it is:

MUSINGS OF A ‘BATANG SAN MIGUEL’

‘Ang Batang San Miguel’- 1. The epitome of the humble Filipino patriarch, who works day in, day out, to provide for his family. At the end of each grueling day, he finds himself weary, nevertheless still inspired by the blessing that his family is as he reflects and relaxes over a bottle of his favored Gold Eagle beer; 2. The hardworking Filipino laborer, who, in the hard slog of manual drudges, finds time to loosen up with fellow laborers, over warming shots of Ginebra San Miguel Gin; 3. The much-idolized San Miguel cagers, who, in their ‘game-less’ nights, take on the flippancy of your ordinary ‘barkada’ in your ‘inuman sa bahay’ thing, guzzling none other than the ‘barkada’s’ favorite pick-me-up, San Miguel beer.

Much of the familiar personas of a ‘Batang San Miguel’ are owed to the ideal images indicated in San Miguel beverages advertisements. The lesser known of all these personas, is the ‘Batang San Miguel’ that I claim I am. I hardly fit into the embodiment of a modest patriarch, or of an industrious laborer, and especially not of a vigorous San Miguel cager, though I enjoy the liberty of drinking the famed beer in moderation. But I am a ‘Batang San Miguel’ in the most literal sense I could think of. How? Let me walk you through the prospects of an unassuming San Miguel ex-dependent: Myself, a ‘Batang San Miguel’.

My mom became a San Miguel employee in 1987. I was seven years old then, and all I knew was that mommy holds office in a big building of slanted glass poised in a big space of greenery and ponds of orange fish. I did not know that her employment would have repercussions on us, as I did not understand why we should drink Coke (not Pepsi), or consume Magnolia Ice Cream (not Selecta), or even why we should root for San Miguel Team (and not any other when San Miguel is on the court). We just had to because her company endorsed the products. I got used to being a loyal consumer anyway, and that was not so difficult especially when we got product freebies, discounts, and free tickets to San Miguel games. Through all those years I grew up in amusement of San Miguel celebrity endorsers, and my teenage years were consumed in admiration of the hunks that San Miguel cagers were.

I basically grew up reaping most of the benefits of the common dependent. Of course, your usual San Miguel dependent enjoys a whole lot more benefits than product freebies. I, for one, at fourth grade, had my first pair of spectacles prescribed by and loaned from San Miguel. I was entitled to subsequent visits to the San Miguel clinic in Makati for free check-ups and consultations, taking on the San Miguel route through my mumps, chicken pox, measles, typhoid and other childhood ailments I do not even remember having. For the more pleasurable benefit of it, I always tagged along in company outings, which took our family to different scenic summer places such as Cavite, Antipolo and Batangas. I also had the opportunity to suit myself as a spectator in San Miguel events and programs (singing contests, photography exhibits and the like), but the ones having the most impact on me were the performances of the recently founded San Miguel Orchestra and Chorale, which I beheld with much amusement and pride, as they, I believe, are the best in the country.

Though I personally think that all these opportunities and benefits were a great deal to earn, our family’s ‘involvement’ with San Miguel was not limited to mere advocacy of the products, nor to the ‘event-crashing’ we constantly did. Not long after my mom’s employment, San Miguel Corporation organized summer workshops for the employees’ children, which ended with a culminating activity at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. My brother and I were made to join the workshops, myself in the beginner ballet class held at the gym, and my brother in the singing workshop they had for little kids. It was a fascinating experience for me, a shy seven year old, to socialize within the San Miguel complex, then energized and animated with more than enough kids my eyes feasted on (and WOW they were all potential playmates!). The workshops were fun-filled with much dancing, singing and acting, as we prepared for our production entitled ‘The Wiz’, directed no less by the Bernardo Bernardo. It was my first taste of ‘stardom’ as I tottered on stage, as one of the flowers in the play. From then on, I was no stranger to public performance, and my brother, as a Batman action figure, had his debut in the theater at four years old.

Now, at almost twenty-three years old, it gets a little different, I guess. No more perks for me because I AM an ex-dependent. But come to think of it, I got more than what was given to me, that in this adult juncture in my life, I regard myself someone who has a far better title than “The Ex-Dependent”. I am a ‘Batang San Miguel’, because it would be hypocritical of me to say that I was made nothing by all of my ‘dependent’ years. After all those years of product endorsements, event spectacles and glitzy productions, I found myself in a “destined deja-vu”. Interestingly (for me, at least), I turned out to be a public performer, because I took up a course, the love for which, was instilled in me by my San Miguel workshop days ---- MUSIC. I came to love music and I found myself in proximity to the stage, and all the love for that started when I was designated a flower in a glittering powder blue tutu. It was also all those years spent as a spectator to San Miguel’s creative programs that I was unknowingly honing my own creativity and imagination, as I sat through each singing contest, choral competition, dance intermission, photography ehibit, and most of all, the breathtaking performances rendered by the San Miguel Chorale and Orchestra. Not only was I given the privilege to witness all these happenings, but to a greater extent, I was given the honor to become inspired by it all.

I guess for the most part, the benefits enjoyed by San Miguel’s dependents do greatly to ease the everyday lives of the employees, that they are assured of aid to come especially in times of need. Little do they realize that they are in store for more significant advantages, like what being a San Miguel dependent did to me: it gave me the inspiration to find out who I was, and to seek where I belong to. I now deem myself a part of the San Miguel family, as I deem it a valuable part of me. With all of these musings in mind, I am full of pride in claiming myself a ‘Batang San Miguel’.

Lauren Lois Venida
11 Sept 2003

"love your blog"

Though I also considered it an advertisement, the email below made me happy because of its message, which confirms my objective for this blog to help people from all walks of life.

I'd like to thank Mike Melen for sending me this email with "love your blog" as the subject, because it will serve as an inspiration for me to write more quality posts that can truly help people.

Our website TherapyCounseling.com is a Mental Health Care Database that is used by over 100,000 users monthly to connect to and seek Mental Health Care professionals. We have compiled a list of roughly 1000 professionals for our users to contact and receive the best possible advice. The professionals we have listed on the site are very active in the mental health world and are contacted by our team sporadically to update their information and most recently discuss their practices. We recently ran a poll asking the professionals listed what online informational resources they use to keep up to date or even to simply find great information. It seems many of our users have labeled your blog as an excellent source of information and would like your blog to be a part of our website. I have reviewed your blog and must say, I absolutely love the information you have made available to the public and would love to make your blog a part of our site. I would like to offer you our Featured Blogger badge that can be posted on your site, which recognizes you as a top blogger in the mental health field or simply a text link within your blog roll (Therapist). I would also like to post your blog in our resources page with a FULL banner to make your blog available to my thousands of users. Thanks again for the great information and I look forward to the great responses your blog will receive from my users!


James Whitfield
Sr. Marketing Director
1 International Blvd.
Mahwah, NJ 07430
1(201)252-8260
TherapyCounseling.com

Here is a List of some of our affiliates:
American Telemedicine Association
Prevention First
TeleHealth World
Latin American and Carribean Telemedicine Association
Telemedicine Information Exchange
TeleHealth World
TelePathology
UCSB

ILLAC DIAZ is my cousin!!

After watching that video, you would understand why I was very proud to shout to the world that "Illac Diaz is my cousin!", although he doesn't even know me. His grandfather and my grandmother are second cousins.

How stupid of me because i was already at the same place where he was last Friday, at the venue of the seminar of Francis Kong where he was one of the guests and I was an attendee. During his portion in the seminar, every time he would present one of his projects, the audience would applaud while I would be very touched and controlling my tears. During the break, there was a long line of people who'd like to talk to him that seem to have more important agenda to tell him, but I still fell in line until there was no more time and the seminar has to resume. Well, maybe there will be a more appropriate time for me to meet him, perhaps when I already have the time for My Shelter Foundation where he is now an AVP.

Illac's purpose in life and his missions are very clear, may God bless him always!

All will be well

It's a Sunday and I'm just glad that I found time to send messages to introduce myself to some friends in Facebook and also follow some people I idolize in Twitter, like Barrack Obama, Ophrah Winfrey, Josh Groban and many more. Of course I have a lot of work to do, and I work any time of the day and week, but I can feel that I've already adjusted to the pressures of my new work, thanks to our staff. I should have adjusted by this time, since by next week, it will be four months since the time I was hired.

How I wish it will be like this once in a while, not always because to always have time for non-work related activities is not a good sign for me, and its still work I enjoy doing most. Tomorrow is another holiday, to celebrate "National Heroes Day" in the Philippines, but most probably I will be working in one of our clients, unless something comes up that will require me to stay at home.

Maybe I was just given some time to rest, because the week ahead will be full of challenges at work, with the scheduled demos and one presentation I myself have to conduct in front of an Executive Committee. I just hope that all will be well.

"Ama Namen" (The Lord's Prayer)

Mission Impossible Part 2

One of my favorite posts in this blog last year was "Pearl Farm in Davao and Mission Impossible", probably because it tells about the most unforgettable chapter in my life, so far. My trip to Davao was sudden, of course also the stay at the beautiful Pearl Farm resort in Davao. I was not on vacation, I was on a mission, and that was to take back a special child to Manila.

My task in Davao was just to wait if the mother, who asked me to adopt her child who was born inside our house in Manila, will bring back her child to me before I go back to Manila. I brought them to Davao because the parents of the mother wanted to see their grandchild who just turned a year old, and whom our whole household, including that of my in-laws, learned to love so much in spite of the child's disabilities. She is blind and has cerebral palsy, two reasons why we and the mother would like to take her back. So she could be taken cared of, which would be hard in a remote town in Davao four hours away from a hospital.

While the mother's parents were enjoying their biological grandchild, my daughter and I stayed for 2 days and 1 or 2 nights at Pearl Farm resort. My objective was to forget the real reason why I was in Davao, and to take away all my worries. Afterwards, a couple in Davao City very close to our family brought us to the Santo Nino Shrine to pray. My prayer was to grant to the child “whatever is best for her welfare”.

On our fourth day in Davao, it was time for the mother and child with a child's relative to meet us in a mall in the morning. While waiting, my daughter and I shopped for some items, but ended up buying only for the child (a stuffed toy and a pair of cute sunglasses). I asked my daughter, "will she be able to wear this?". We were both sad, but decided to think positively. Unfortunately, they did not appear.

There was a garden resort owned by my husband's good friend, Mr. Puentespina, where we were invited to stay even for just a day, so my daughter and I proceeded to go there. But on our way, the child's relative sent me a message through my cellphone saying that they rented a van and that they wanted to follow us. She did not mention if the child was with them.

It was past noon I think, when I was waiting outside the resort for the van. As they went out of the van, I can't describe how happy I was to see the child. I learned that at 2 in the morning, they kidnapped the child using the rented van with driver. The mother kidnapped her own child.

I think that was August 26, six years ago. The adoption process is now over, only this month, and that was the reason why I haven't told a more detailed story like this one in my first post. Her new birth certificate is now filed in the National Statistics Office. It took years to complete that, because we wanted to be sure about the mother's decision, and some red tapes happened during the process.

Both the biological mother and grandparents of the child are now happy that she is in good hands and is loved so much. The adoption process is over, so she is no longer an adopted child.

As long as you pray

My special child, Lyca, just turned 7 last July 24. I'd like to write a nice post about her birthday but I didn't have the time to compose a usual touching post about her.

Lyca has been helping her Dad and I to pray every night. She might not understand what we're praying about with her, but she pours out her emotions whenever we do, as if she's really asking for mercy.

My current job is not easy since it is something new, so I've been praying with Lyca about my work, not only for me but for the people working with me, especially those handling major projects.

There were many times in the past I was put in a dilemma about making important decisions, and they usually involved people. But I must make a decision anyway, and more often than not, those decisions were reached in the most unlikely manner of making decisions. Prior to that, I had prayed sincerely, and I had always believed they could be good decisions for whatever reasons, because I prayed. Sometimes many months would pass and nobody could tell yet whether it was a good decision or not. I just know in my heart that as long as we pray, God will always guide us to do what is best at the moment, or God Himself will work so that only the best thing should happen.

Love Thy Neighbor Part 2

It was maybe two months before I was employed when I published my post titled "Love Thy Neighbor". That was more than 4 months ago if I'm not mistaken.

Just this morning, I was in the same situation but with an entirely different outcome. I entered the LRT-2 train, it was full and all I can see was the ceiling and tall guys all around me, most of them students because they were wearing white uniforms. There was no bar to hold on to. One of those tall students looked at me, I said "I hope there is a bar I can hold on to".

He said "just hold me, ma'am". I held the side of his bag in front of him, but he offered his arm. So I held his arm, until I was able to get a bar before he stepped out at Central Terminal Station.

To that very kind student, I'd like to say "thank you", but I'd like to tnank his parents more for raising a child that turned out to be like him.

Still no time

I can't believe this, I still don't have the time to write for this blog. This Sunday for example, I am torn between studying the module we will be discussing with the client tomorrow and telling a story about a memory that lingered since the day I arrived in Davao two weeks ago.

Since the discussion with the client is tomorrow, I have no choice because I want to write a nice story in case I'll choose to do that instead.

Regards to my readers and fellow bloggers, I'm missing all of you!

My Roots

One of the original objectives of this blog was to talk about my hobbies, which was fulfilled in a few posts. I've talked about painting as a hobby, but it was painting the house I wrote about, not painting on canvas, which I decided to defer.

With the new job that I have, I found a deeper objective to publish my first portrait oil painting. It is not my self portrait but the portrait of my late famous aunt, Rio Diaz, who died of cancer. It was Rio Diaz who inspired me to write, and to continue her legacy of inspiring people through writing.

I believe that it was from the genes of my grandmother where I got my talent in arts. I was referring to my grandmother who belong to the Diaz and Abellera clans of La Union, a province in the Ilocos region of the Luzon island in the Philippines. The company where I now belong is based in San Fernando, La Union. Most of my work mates came from this province (not officemates since we are usually scattered in the offices of clients nationwide), so it is not surprising if some of them could be my relatives.

I also belong to the Catriz clan of Ilocos Sur, Vigan. If there is a province I would like to spend my vacation once in a while, it is this province of beautiful antique houses. Unfortunately, I heard that most members of the Catriz clan are now in the United States, but there is one left in Vigan, one of the parish priests there, Rev. Reyes, whose mother is a Catriz.

Probably my technical abilities came from the genes of the Taa clan which originated from the Gandeza clan of Abra, another province in the Ilocos region. Most of my relatives in the Taa clan have professions either in Information Technology or in the electronics industry.

Last but not least, I belong to the Balolong clan of Pangasinan. One characteristic of this clan, I noticed, is the principle that the father should be a good provider, and the head of a family of well disciplined members.

My only hope for these clans where I belong is for the good values and the talents of each clan be sustained and even enhanced, while the bad practices or habits be eliminated. My given name was taken from my father's name who belongs to the "Taa" clan. It fitted me because I turned out to be an IT professional, but I also want to remember that the love for arts is in my blood. Thus I am now using the nickname only my mother and siblings and the people who took care of me used to call me, the name "Lubel". The "bel" part reminds me of two Isabels, one is my mother who is an artist herself, while the other one is a famous painter, Isabel Diaz, the sister of Rio and Gloria Diaz, two famous beauty queens.

Little did my mother know that her story about an aunt who owns an art gallery in New York, who turned out to be Isabel Diaz, plus her charcoal drawing of me when I was a child, will inspire me to recognize that I also have the same talent and love for arts.

Hope for Type 2 diabetics

I was finally hired and I'll probably talk about some details in my employment some other time. That is the reason why I wasn't able to post in this blog for the past ten days, and most probably, my weekly posting might now be a bimonthly posting.

Anyway, for this post, I'm somewhat glad that it came later because I'll still be in line with my "Bloggers Unite" entry, "Hunger and Hope", where I talked about the source of hope for hunger, which is Spirulina, the blue-green algae, and the United Nations organization, the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM). This organization hopes that Spirulina would save the lives of almost 900 million people worldwide that are affected by malnutrition.

The good news is that Spirulina can save not only the lives of malnourished people, but the lives of Type 2 diabetics as well. It is ironic that most Type 2 diabetics for sure, are not malnourished, since they most probably acquired their diabetis from the food they eat. Their diabetes can be reversed, by eating nothing but spirulina, like the astronauts do. But they have to look for the purest and unpolluted Spirulina they can find, and if they can afford to buy any food, then they can also afford the purest uncultured brand.

A doctor who was a diabetic himself, have tried several brands of spirulina and assures that the Tiens or Tianshi brand is the purest brand that can cure a Type 2 diabetic by taking 5 capsules during breakfast, lunch and supper. Change of lifestyle is a must, meaning eat only low GI foods and exercise even by just walking for at least 30 minutes everyday. Those with alarming levels or complications should eat only spirulina for breakfast and lunch and just eat low GI foods during supper. Self-discipline is very important for an afflicted diabetic to be healed.

United Nations and World Health Organization recommends spirulina as safe and nutritious (even for children). I have special hopes for my special child, Lyca, so I give her one gram of Tianshi spirulina everyday.

Swine flu and Pacquiao

For the past two weeks, we were scared by the swine flu virus. I did my homework for several days by researching all I need to know about this virus and how to prevent and treat it in case it hits the Philippines. Perhaps I was overloaded with information that I didn't know which of those information would be most valuable to share.

Until yesterday. I and maybe the rest of the world who have watched the Paquiao-Hatton fight were glad how the fight turned out. It was over in a flash but it was an amazing fight that I know will be hard to forget.

How I wish there is a Pacman like Pacquiao who can extinguish in a flash the likes of swine flu virus. But there's more to reality, and Manny Paquiao should be our model. He has prepared himself extensively for the fight, and for any fight. We should do the same for our fight with the swine flu virus or for any virus still to come.

Hunger and Hope

At first I didn’t want to write about the topic of hunger because it is an issue that is very hard to resolve, but my researches are now telling me that there is hope to resolve hunger.

Here in the Philippines, the less fortunate Filipinos have been very creative in fighting hunger. One extreme example is hanging a dried fish or “tuyo” at the middle of the table so that each member of the family can smell it right under the nose while eating only rice. Another example is to add any sauce on top of the rice, or others would add the oil from cooked pork. Even the middle class Filipinos would do that to suppress hunger in between meals, if they are not health conscious. Others would lengthen the availability of rice in their homes by cooking rice congee, instead of the usual cooked rice.

The more unbelievable ways to fight hunger are countless, but people practicing them are exposed to a lot of health risks which include food poisoning and of course, malnutrition.

The past week, I’ve been researching about "Spirulina", a blue-green algae that can help me and others prevent cancer, the main reason why I became interested about it, in the first place. It is now called the "21st century food", because of its potential to solve malnutrition. A lot of studies have been conducted, involving preschool children, to analyze the potency of its vitamins. It can be produced easily therefore there is hope that not only hunger but more importantly, malnutrition, can be resolved.

I’m glad that United Nations has set up an institution to fight malnutrition , and this is the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM). This organization hopes that Spirulina would save the lives of almost 900 million people worldwide that are affected by malnutrition.

"In the year 2009, IIMSAM along with the Republic of Honduras and an increasing number of Member States of the United Nations that support the mandate of the organization such as Argentina, United Kingdom, China, India, Russian Federation, Qatar, Italy, Jamaica, and all the Central and South American countries and many more including IIMSAM Official Member and Supporting States, would initiate a Draft-Resolution in the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly to promote the use of Spirulina against severe malnutrition and make it a key-driver to achieve global food security and bridge the health divide." - www.iimsam.org

Traditional Chinese Medicine

At last I can now really talk about Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM. With the current global economic crisis and the discovery of more bad effects of prescription drugs everyday, I feel that it is about time we people in the East go back to the traditional ways of our ancestors to treat diseases which is really mostly TCM but fully understanding its principles, while the rest of the world should try to be enlightened with the principles of TCM, which was a product of 5,000 years of study by the Chinese.

Or maybe I am late to say that because TCM is already practiced in every part of the world. Of course there are still a lot of people who are not aware of TCM and these are the people I’d like to reach this time. Don’t worry because I am just a layman like you and I became interested in TCM because I’ve seen that there is so much logic in its principles. Information Technology deals with logic so it will be easy even for IT professionals like me to understand and appreciate TCM.

TCM views the body as a unified organic whole. It

• believes in balancing the body as a whole rather than treating separate parts
• focuses on prevention rather than crisis management of a disease

TCM is all about balancing and harmony, and balancing refers to YIN and YANG. Disturbing the balance between the YIN and YANG will cause illnesses.

YIN and YANG represents all of opposite principles found in the universe and cannot exist without the other.


Examples of YIN-YANG:

NIGHT - DAY
DARK - LIGHT
COLD - WARM
NEGATIVE - POSITIVE
PASSIVE - ACTIVE
FEMALE - MALE
SOLID - HOLLOW

(The hollow organs are the gall bladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine and urinary bladder. Solid organs are the liver, heart, spleen, lungs and kidney.

“YIN and YANG” is a very basic logical concept. My next topic about TCM will be the 5 Elements, which deals with more interesting logic and in relation again to YIN and YANG.

Start young!

Inspiring people to be healthy is not an easy task for me, but a lot of help come my way to be able to accomplish that. The topic about team sports for example, reminds me to persuade people to start young in the quest for good health. Engaging in team sports will develop that good habit of physical fitness, aside from having the opportunity to socialize with friends.

A kid who participates in team sports will know the importance of targeting a goal. In volleyball for example, a simple "serve" can meet the goal to make the ball go over the net and inside the court. That simple goal of serving successfully can defeat the opponent.

Have you watched a game where the cheerleaders who perform at the middle of the field are the parents of the players? Well, this is just to give parents an idea how to really inspire their children to strive for their goal of winning the game! The Shop Wiki website can help you with your cheerleading outfits, and you will find more information about any sport in this website.

Starting young in team sports will help give a person the discipline to be fit at all times.

Sharing health information and TCM

Exactly a month ago, my post was about "Learning TCM", and during that time, I've started to be serious about learning the principles of TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine, which I've said I found very amusing. The past month however, was not focused on just TCM because I had to do a lot of researches about some specific chronic diseases. It was a fulfilling task though, because I was able to share significant health information to my relatives and friends, and also through my new blog, "Amusing Tips".

Yesterday, I've attended a seminar which was focused on the principles of TCM and I was reminded it's about time for me to share my learnings. It will not be easy to understand but once we have internalized those TCM principles, the rest will be easy because there is a lot of logic in those principles. I promise to start sharing those principles in my next post, but I will also share in my other blogs, if relevant, other significant or important health information that I will encounter.

In the meantime, to give you an idea on how holistic TCM is, here is an example: Fear affects the kidney. So whenever a person experiences sudden fear, there is a chance that person will accidentally urinate on his or her underwear. Have you experienced that? The ear is the window to the kidney. If the kidney has a problem that will need attention, your ear will have a sound, like ringing of the ear or tinnitus. Amazing, isn't it? That is just one example to show why TCM is both amusing and amazing.

Love thy neighbor

Whenever I'm free on a Wednesday, I go to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Baclaran. I just take the Light Railway Transit going there. I really would like to talk about that activity here in my blog but I'd like to prepare for that, to even include a photo of the church whose structure is one of the historical architectures in the Philippines.

But last Wednesday, there was an incident forcing me to talk about it. I was on my way to the church, and as I stepped inside the LRT-2 train, there were no more seats as usual since on weekdays, both LRT-1 and LRT-2 are full of students especially in the morning and late afternoon. I tried to grab the first vertical bar next to the door but I noticed that it was swamped with several hands and there was no more space for another hand. I looked at the vertical bar near the opposite door and what I saw was a young lady with the full stretch of her body leaning on the bar as if she was measuring her height with the bar. There was a perpendicular bar attached to to it but it was blocked by arms holding the bar. I had no choice but to squeeze my body and stretch my arm to that bar because the train started to move.

I was thinking if I should scold that irresponsible young lady on the bar but I thought that maybe her parents should be more responsible for her insensitivity to other people. I am a very imperfect parent and there were several instances I felt sorry for not being a more responsible parent, but I'm sure I did not fail to show my offspring how they should show compassion to other people.

Being compassionate or loving thy neighbor doesn't necessarily mean giving alms to the beggars since you might even destroy some of them by doing that. I feel that the smallest things matter, like offering your seat to an elderly, or just by being sensitive to the people around you who might need a space on the same bar you are clinging to.

God's time

At this point in time, I can say that I will have a bright future as far as my career is concerned. I can feel that I will soon be able to put to use the expertise that I have developed when I was working in the corporate. That cannot be immediate, because I still have a lot to learn that concerns wellness, the natural or TCM way. I can feel that will happen in God’s time so there’s really no need to hurry.

Why wait for God’s time? If you wait for God’s time, the reasons for waiting will become clearer when it arrives. I’d like to use as an example that “message of God to mankind” again, which I believed I was tasked to spread. The message was relayed in 2001 and it was strengthened by a proof for me to fully believe it in 2002. Obviously, the time was not right for my task in 2001. The succeeding years, a lot of changes happened in my life, which resulted to my being more confident with my decisions. I was optionally retired from work in 2005 but I became busy right after, studying and becoming an entrepreneur at the same time. Business was not good by late 2007 so we had to stop by early 2008. For the first time in my life, I had time for lighter activities like writing. God’s time has arrived for me that 2008, to finally spread God’s message, because everything seemed ready. That was seven years after the message was relayed. It was that year, 2008, when blogging became the best medium to spread a message, because it was a year the population of blog readers and bloggers all over the world increased tremendously.

The term "kairos" is used to refer to God’s time. In the New Testament, kairos means "the appointed time in the purpose of God", the time when God acts (e.g. Mark 1.15, the kairos is fulfilled). It differs from the more usual word for time which is chronos (reference was Wikipedia).

Reinvent yourself!

The lecture of Pete Avila on reinventing oneself was very inspiring. He is the Marketing Manager of the Philippine branch of Tiens Biotech Group, or Tianshi Phils. We can reinvent ourselves by learning new things which is not hard because learning is an everyday activity.

A number of reasons why we should start reinventing ourselves:

1. The world's economy is changing
2. Demographics keep changing
3. Competitive players are changing
4. Playing fields and market scenarios are not constant.

Reinventing should start within ourselves. How?

1. Always maintain a positive attitude and avoid negative people.
2. Maintain good integrity and character.
3. Work on your strengths, not on your weaknesses.
4. Be passionate, persistent, ethical, and a hard and smart worker.
5. Give up something.
6. Sharpen your skills.
7. Invest in your knowledge, health, relationship, comforts, etc.

That lecture inspired me to seriously study Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM which includes Acupuncture. I can be passionate about it but I have to give up something. That can be my desire to completely learn about web design programming though just the design of the background can be easy. Maybe when I start the formal TCM training next month, whatever won't fit my time, should be given up, of course with the exception of caring for Lyca, our special needs child. I can be sure it won't be blogging because I can share whatever I learn through my blogs. That can even help me retain everything I learn and at the same time help people.

TCM definitely has a place in a world undergoing economic crisis since to be admitted in a hospital can be very costly. The world has changed so that TCM is now well accepted everywhere. My challenge is to introduce the modern acupuncture without the needles, either the electronic acupuncture or the green acupuncture with the magnetic tip. I'll share all these in my next posts.

Learning TCM

As far as education is concerned, the best thing that ever happened to me was to learn about TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). This study focuses more on the causes and prevention of diseases than the cures. Although it of course includes the supplements that were studied and proven thousands of years ago, it also includes very natural remedies that has nothing to do with the supplements.

TCM is holistic, so it covers the relationship of each organ to the rest, also the effect of the emotions to each organ. Prevention of an illness involving one organ will usually involve another organ or several organs. A cyst on any part of the body for example, is usually caused by an imbalance of energy in the liver, so if you want to prevent its growth or make it disappear eventually, take care of your liver by avoiding anything that will make the liver work hard. For example, softdrinks will make the stomach acidic, so the liver will work hard to make it alkaline. Anger will affect the liver, so avoid it!

I will surely share more about TCM in my blogs, but it will take time for people not used to its principles to absorb everything. To learn about TCM faster, keep an open mind because your health is at stake! TCM is in because of the economic crisis. Yesterday in Dr. Dela Cruz' training about thyroid in TCM, it was a good thing it was the end of his lecture when there was an emergency because a patient was rushed to a very popular hospital nearby, while the closest relative rushed to him to consult him about the TCM side.

A new blog template

At last I was able to change this blog's template to a 3-column one, thanks to "BloggerStyles". I did this for three reasons.

First, I want to give equal importance to my advertisers' widgets and my blog's contents represented by the labels. Since I've started to monetize this blog, I'd like to be serious about it. That will mean displaying advertisers' widgets in an auspicious area, without sacrificing the best way for my blog's contents to be noticed. Content is King, and will still be the best source of information, whether intended for buyers or people from all walks of life who might benefit from what is relayed by a post's content.

Second, to make my blog's layout more organized. One of the best ways for me to be organized in my thoughts is to have an organized surrounding and the layout of my blog is not an exception.

Last but not least, to give my blog a more professional look. I believe that is one way a blog can attract traffic. Taking myself as an example, I stay longer on blogs that look professional, looking for posts that might interest me. That doesn't mean I ignore blogs that don't look professional enough, it simply depends on the time I have the moment I happen to land on blogs. Professional looking blogs would usually steal my time from doing my intended tasks.

Blog advertising

I'm so glad that through blog advertising, both advertisers and bloggers like me will have more opportunities to earn. They can sign up for free in a site like “Paying Post” where bloggers and advertisers meet in the marketplace, the latter making his offer and the former selecting an offered opportunity.

There were times in the past when my only objective in looking for social network sites for bloggers and advertisers was to earn, but later, blogging about products which I would have wanted to write about in the first place became my objective. I enjoy writing about those products, and the readers enjoy reading my posts. That, I feel, is the main reason why blog advertising will always work more than any other mode. The passion and sincerity of the blogger can be felt by the readers. Rapport is established, and that can be the most important link that can hold the readers. Of course a link to the blog is first established through the search engines where keywords are entered by readers looking for products. These keywords are required by the advertiser for a blogger to include, or sometimes, creating the effective keyword is left by the advertiser to the blogger.

The new layout of the "Paying Post" site is so friendly to both bloggers and advertisers because articles about the most frequently asked questions is the first thing they see so their interest to know more about the site's features is triggered. It also gives them the assurance and comfort that they are on the right site.

I was inspired by advertisers to create a new blog, titled "Amusing Tips", because I simply find most opportunities offered by these advertisers amusing. I've enjoyed talking about their products because I was always reminded of past experiences I wouldn't thought of if not for those products, and I was also challenged to be more creative and persuasive. I've said that in the past, and I can't help but say that again, so that the advertisers and other bloggers, especially the new ones, will also be inspired like me! In other words, the advertisers and bloggers should sign up as early as possible to sites like “Paying Post”. Do that now, and let’s talk about your wonderful learning experience!

25 things about me

I was tagged by my daughter to do this "25 random things" about me in Facebook. At first I said 25 is too many, but when I reached the 25th no., I felt there are still a lot I'd like to include, but I have to stick to 25 since I'm also supposed to tag 25 people to publish his or her 25 random things. Since I don't have many friends in Facebook yet, I'd like to include some bloggers because I also would like to know what can be the 25 random things about them. Here are the 25 random things about me:

1. I want to be all I can be but time is just not enough.

2. I want to continue my Interior Design course but I also want to have enough time for Lyca, my special needs child.

3. I also want to continue learning about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). So far, it is the most enlightening field of study that interests me.

4. I also want to study web designing and SEO.

5. I’ve removed some of my wrinkles in my profile’s photo using Adobe Photoshop. My goal is to remove them through TCM so I won’t have to edit my photo next time. I’ve already seen an improvement.

6. I joined a singing contest when I was 6 years old. I was supposed to sing a song titled “Maybe this year”, but many contestants ahead of me sang that song so I changed my song to “Sampaguitang Mahal”, a 30-second Tagalog song.

7. My talent in drawing was discovered by my aunt when I did my “Birds” project when I was in Grade school. My aunt was so glad with the drawings that she volunteered to paint them with watercolor.

8. In my very first school card, my name was “Marilu”, which was really my nickname. The people in our house gave me another nickname, Lulu, which became Lulubelle, because of the yellowbell flowers we had beside our door.

9. My given name is really Maria Luisa but my birth certificate was burned together with the municipal hall in my birth place, Kidapawan City, (Philippines' "City of Fruits"), so registration of my birth was repeated before I was enrolled in college.

10. In college, I introduced another nickname, “Malu”, which I’ve used until I was employed in San Miguel Corp. (SMC), my last employer.

11. My interest in Feng Shui increased when two mechanical engineers of San Miguel Corp. conducted a Feng Shui seminar in SMC and told stories how Feng Shui improved their lives from the time they were students in Mapua Institute of Technology. They decided to develop expertise in Feng Shui even while working as plant engineers.

12. Based on the number formula for names of the two Engineer-Feng Shui experts, they recommended that I change my nickname since “Malu” or “Malou” is not so favorable with my marital surname.

13. My airplane board pass always reflected the name “Malui”, obviously the first 5 characters of Ma Luisa, the name the airline always type every time I book a flight. Because of that, an officemate called me “Malui” which I thought sounded good, so I introduced this as my new nickname.

14. It was my grandmother who taught me how to sing, maybe when I was 3 or 4. We were in the garden one evening and there was a firefly so she taught me the “Firefly” song.

15. I learned to play the ukelele when I was 6 and I think it was my aunt who taught me.

16. I also learned to play the guitar, when I was in high school.

17. I was forced to join a singing contest during my first year in college and I played the guitar while singing. I won the “Most Promising Singer” award.

18. While in college, I joined our neighborhood’s choir, “The Samaritans”, together with my first boyfriend, who became my husband (Lauren’s father).

19. While a member of “The Samaritans Choir”, I began to sing the songs of the Carpenters and since then, I became a copycat of Karen Carpenter. The Samaritans Choir also sang songs of the Carpenters, with me as soloist.

20. After sending my children to arts classes, I felt that maybe I should also enhance my talent in this area, so I also attended art classes later. My real talent is in sketching portraits.

21. I’ve encountered a lot of miracles in this lifetime. The first was when I passed the competitive scholarship exams at Centro Escolar University. Nationwide, less than 20 students passed and were given four years full scholarship by this school.

22. The second miracle was when I passéd the Medical Technology Board exams and got high grades in the exams. I can remember some items in the exam that should be answered in essay form but I had no idea about the answers. I tried anyway and was surprised that what I had answered were correct and can be found in the book

23. The third miracle was after taking the Board exams, I passed another scholarship test for computer courses at the National Computer Institute, a government funded institution located in Camp Aguinaldo at that time.

24. The fourth miracle was when I was experiencing a midlife crisis. I conversed with God and He proved it was He who was conversing with me by answering my question “what is His message to mankind?” through the number of stones I was cleaning. His answer was 143.

25. The fifth and perhaps greatest miracle I experienced so far was when God proved how much He loves me when I asked for a child when I conversed with Him in item 24, because after a year, Lyca was born inside our house.

If you feel you'll also enjoy doing this 25 random things about you, consider yourself tagged and then please include your link to your 25 random things through the comments portion of this post. I'll be very eager to know about them!

Be all you can be!

When I was younger, I tried to be everything I can. I wanted to follow the footsteps of my mother who called herself "a jack of all trades, master of none". Like her, I tried to be a good cook, baker, dancer, singer, actress, painter, artist, writer and more, though her achievements in some of those areas mentioned were on a professional level. On the other hand, my profession was focused in Information Technology until I handled the computerization of my employer's medical department meaning I had to focus on two entirely different fields of study. Because of that, I failed to gain enough expertise in a specialized area in IT, which I believe is the main reason, aside from my age, why it is hard for me to land in another IT job. I then realized that there is a disadvantage in being a jack of all trades and master of none.

From a different perspective however, I and the rest of "jacks-of-all-trades" should be very thankful for their God-given talents. God must have a purpose but at this very moment I'm wondering if I need those talents just to relay His message to mankind, the main reason why this blog was created. I have a small book by John Maxwell titled "Be All You Can Be!", but there were just a few pages that I've read so far. It tells about a much deeper meaning of being all what you can be, and that is the challenge to stretch to your God-given potentials. I am now again wondering if I will need all those potentials to take care of a special child, which came after His message. Maybe a bigger challenge will come and maybe God has given me gifts that are more important than those talents that I can show off. Maybe I can be more patient, more generous and more compassionate. Believe me or not, I've thought about that only while typing the last two sentences before that.

Now I get the point. "Be All You Can Be!" includes everything you can be, and you have to stretch yourself every time until it becomes easy and you are able to stretch again. With a special child beside me, maybe I am more patient now and more persevering, but those qualities can still be stretched far. I believe that is what the trials and unexpected undesirable events that we encounter, are for.

Start of the year thoughts

I can say that this is a good start of the year because I can tell that most of my worries will be over before the first quarter ends. Maybe this will be a good year for me but this time I have to be smarter and be prepared for the coming years. I'm no longer worried about being jobless since that is already given. Companies will prefer the fresh graduates who are more worried than me about getting a job.

I just wish that more opportunities to earn will come my way this year. That will include my blogging, my membership in Tiens, and maybe more computer tasks involving writing or designing. I'm not sure however, if studying web designing will be a right move, if an extra income will come.

A lot of people hate credit cards but ours had saved us from extreme financial problems last year, through these cards' installment schemes. The result was of course debts to pay for the next 12 or 18 months, but what I've appreciated about that is I can plan ahead to pay for them as long as they are kept to the minimum (not bigger than Php10,000 per month). What made that planning possible was the assurance that we will be able to sell our townhouse unit. A month from now, we're expecting to get the proceeds from the sale of this townhouse unit which I will use for the payables for the next 24 months. I cannot invest on anything from that sale, except for the Tiens health mattress that will surely help me and my husband avoid the hospital.

The best development that made me feel good is we will now be able to get the finality of the court's decision for our adoption of Lyca, our special needs child. No more cash needed to get that finality, thank God!

Amusing Tips

I have created my new blog as scheduled last January 16. Before that, I've been testing appropriate names for this new blog but they were already used. I've thought of "Amazing Tips" but it was already used. From that title, I've thought of an alternative which is "Amusing Tips". I then realized that this title is most appropriate for my blog because I hope to "amuse" my readers, either in belief or disbelief. The other titles I've thought of, including "Amazing Tips", assume that all my readers will believe all the tips I will publish.

If my readers will enjoy reading this blog, they will remember those "amusing tips" and maybe subconsciously believe in them even if they didn't at first.

I was not able to announce this new blog upon creation because I'd like to look for a better template. Luckily, I found one from another blog offering free Blogger templates. It also offers 3-column templates, so I guess one day I'll be changing the template of this blog, "I Don't Want To Retire!", which will also function as an "administrator" to my other two blogs".

A new blog

I'm thinking of creating another blog, and I'll do that tomorrow. I can't publish the name of the blog yet since I'm not sure if the URL I'm thinking will still be available tomorrow. I've been planning to do that since last year and I've thought of focusing in Traditional Chinese Medicine as a topic but I lacked the confidence to write about it. I've thought of a better idea, so I hope you can check what's it all about maybe two days from now. Just to give you a hint, my new blog will cover the following topics:

1. Feng Shui Tips
2. Traditional Chinese Medicine
3. Household Tips
4. Interior Design Tips
4. Any helpful tips I'll encounter
5. Tips from advertisers

The last item insinuates that I also hope to earn an income from this new blog but that will come later, maybe after 6 months or even one year of posting. Through this blog, "I Don't Want To Retire!", I've enjoyed talking about products from advertisers because they've always reminded me of past experiences I wouldn't thought of if not for their products. I was also challenged to be more creative and persuasive, and I really had fun!

2009 Babies

The New Year is always symbolized by a baby, so to start the year 2009, I’m excited to talk about the things babies or toddlers will need! I know that a lot of mothers are more excited than me because a baby grows so fast, and sooner or later will need this and that.

When my son and daughter were babies until they became toddlers, I could remember I would go to several malls to look for the exact item fit for them. Window shopping for the right item at the right price would last me a week or two. It’s easier with my special needs child now, since her requirements are not as many as that of a normal child. But I’m equally excited as the other mothers because this kind of child would use children’s items for a long time, and therefore I should choose the more durable ones. Our special needs child is now six years old, but she still has to use the play pen or play yard we bought more than 3 years ago. We knew that would happen, so we saw to it that it was a durable play yard.

I have good news to parents! That exact model of the play yard is not always available at the store where we bought it, but I saw it in a website called ShopWiki, which is linked to several stores. It was fun to go through this website and the sites linked to it because all the items for babies and toddlers can be found there. It is categorized into "buying guides" that will assist the buyer, and each guide presents helpful information that are linked to other sites or stores. The play yard for example, can be found in the "Activity Sets and Play Yards Buying Guide". The "Infant and Toddler Clothing Buying Guide" has countless of different kinds of clothings for babies and toddlers to choose from.

While everyone is skeptical about how Baby 2009 will develop or progress, mothers can’t wait to see what their babies might need the whole year. With proper nurturing, both kinds of babies will be healthy and happy throughout the year!

The Modern Three Kings (with Two Queens)

Christmas is not complete without the symbolic giving of gifts by the Three Kings to Baby Jesus. A photo of some family members that I shot last Christmas Day reminded me of the Feast of the Epiphany or the story of the Three Kings, but analyzing the photo further even gave me a more symbolic picture – a modern picture of the Three Kings, but this time with two queens.

Women now play very important roles in the society and that explains why my symbolic photo includes the Two Queens. Here’s how I’d like to interpret the photo:

As an offering to Baby Jesus, the First King brought a dog. Perhaps some animals can be more taken cared of by women and that’s how I want to explain why there is a Queen who brought a cat as well. The Second King brought a special child, but perhaps women are more caring as far as relationships are concerned, so the Queen at the back brought her sweetheart. The Third King brought some special food like Yam Jam, Christmas Bread Pudding and Russian Salad.

To summarize my interpretation, What the Three Kings and Two Queens are offering to Jesus are their love for the things they brought, like the love for animals or pets, love for the partner, love not just for the ordinary child but for the special needs child or people as well, and last but not least, love and gratitude for the graces of God, like the special food we were able to serve last Christmas. I think that was the best interpretation I’ve given so far, about a very simple photo!

Happy Modern Three Kings !!!

Festival of choirs

My Dreams List's Festival of Choirs is my New Year offering to all !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!