Preparing for 2012

In my case, preparing for a coming New Year is more complicated than preparing for a Christmas Day, which focuses on food that may be given as Christmas gifts. For both occasions though, I prepare the house a month earlier so that it will look festive and jolly. That is why my color motif never changes, red being the main color because the color of the New Year is always red for good luck and prosperity.

Starting from the day after Christmas, preparation even gets more complicated because I would start to look for clutters that should be removed or reorganized and it seems like a never ending task. Hence, I haven’t accomplished much really.

In the past, the most important part of preparing for the New Year is assessing my accomplishments and misgivings for the year and coming up with the New Year’s plans and resolutions. This time, it will be different because based on experience, new things or opportunities or directions always arise, and time is too short to accomplish everything. Perhaps because I’m not getting any younger and I have to accomplish more than or different from what was expected.

Here’s my biggest challenge for the year, it’s a very general statement but a very good basis for directing my activities and decisions not only for the coming year but also the years ahead.

"I am the star in God’s eyes, who illuminates and shows everyone the way to true peace and happiness."

What made me decide to be that ambitious is a short story I posted in my "Dreams List" blog titled "A Star in God's Eyes".

I'll repeat my last sentence in that post,

"MAY THE YEAR 2012 BRING TRUE PEACE AND HAPPINESS TO EVERYONE!"

Lubel

Eight Powers of the Soul

The eight powers of the soul are developed through positive thinking and meditation. These powers are not hidden, they can be felt by others and can be sources of inspiration to them so they too can change themselves and become powerful. Just realizing these powers which I learned from Raja Yoga at Brahma Kumaris gives me great happiness. Anyone can attain these powers through meditation, which is the main objective of Raja Yoga.

The power to WITHDRAW thoughts is possible even while performing action. During any task, one can withdraw his thoughts so often and return to a state of inner peace. In this way thoughts do not continue to be involved when not absolutely necessary and no mental effort is wasted. We need this power to listen effectively to others. This is a true controlling power and brings us great strength.

The power to PACK-UP waste thoughts means we can “travel light”, not carrying around negative and wasteful thoughts and that will keep us free from mental and physical tiredness. This economy brings us power and a completely positive outlook.

The power of DISCERNMENT is the ability to give correct values to our thoughts, words and actions and those of others. Just as a jeweler can discriminate false from real diamonds, so should we be able to keep positive, worthwhile thoughts and disregard harmful ones. It is negative thoughts which often cloud discernment, and we can eliminate them through meditation.

The power to JUDGE allows us to take clear, quick, accurate and unbiased decisions. For this we need to be above the influence of situations, emotions and opinions of others and have clear understanding of what is right and what is wrong. Meditation provides this strength and clarity of intellect through greater self-understanding and a detached perspective.

The power to TOLERATE difficulties involves going beyond the influence of negative situations, being able not to react, even in thoughts. If someone offers me insult, criticism or anger, or if there is physical suffering, I remain peaceful and happy with the power to tolerate. On the basis of soul consciousness, I will be able to give love like the fruit on a tree which, when pelted with sticks and stones, gives its fruits in return.

The power to ACCOMMODATE is the ability to be above any clash of personality or nature, to be able to mould and adjust myself as the situation requires. I should not be one to create conflict in any situation. Just as an ocean can accommodate all the rivers flowing into it, so should I not reject anyone or anything. I can instead change relationships or circumstances through the power of good wishes.

The power to FACE obstacles in life is developed through meditation wherein we experience our original nature of peace and become detached from the consciousness of the body. We are then able to observe and see beyond problems and difficulties, and discover a positive side to something which seems totally negative. This gives us the strength to face situations.

The power to COOPERATE with others requires seeing others as our brothers and sisters. It also requires recognizing the specialties of others as well as our limitations. A task will be accomplished if we put our specialties and energies together. This creates unity and strength within a group, making any task seem easy. The power of many brings great success and great happiness.

Social Responsibility

I am a peaceful and loving soul and my objective is to remain in that state at all times. But what if a person owes me a big sum of money? How can I be peaceful if I will have to constantly remind that person about his or her debts? I asked that question during one of my Raja Yoga classes. The answer was you can remind that person once or twice and that's enough. The universal law of karma will take care of reminding a person about his or her debts.

Somehow, that Raja Yoga session made my days more peaceful. I've ignored the opinions of other people about social responsibility, that I have to report that person or file a estafa case because of the check payments that bounced. But I decided to follow the advice of my father before he died, not to pursue that, instead just constantly remind that person to pay. But the constant reminding was hard and depressing. So the yoga teacher's answer was a relief.

Until I was recently required by a company to present evidences of the person's bad intentions because I'd like to terminate my affiliation to the said person's business involving that company.

After completing my report with evidences, I felt so much relief and I believe that was because I accomplished that missing task of social responsibility. I've considered the task a blessing and it has even more strengthened my faith in God.

I AM A PEACEFUL SOUL !

I am a soul. My original qualities are peaceful, loving, blissful, pure and always positive.

From my past lives I acquired some talents, memories some of them sad, beliefs and habits, and some vices. I am now aware of my original qualities. They could have been covered by bad habits, negative memories and sad experiences, but I should always try my best to let my original qualities surface by using my intellect which is part of my soul. I should use my intellect to discern situations positively, and judge and decide with love and peace.

I acquired this present body in the Philippines, and hold that citizenship, but my place of origin is the world of silent light beyond. With this body, I perform the role of a mother and wife, as well as a systems designer of computer applications. I'm glad that with this body, I am also able to share the talents I've acquired from all my past lives up to the present, to the whole world.

My husband, my two daughters and son are souls too, and as souls, they are my brothers and sisters. They have the same original qualities as mine, so I will respect their ideas and discuss matters or issues with respect. Like me, their original qualities at times will be covered by negative experiences even from past lives that they subconsciously recalled, but they can always let their original qualities surface and I should always respect them as souls that are loving, peaceful, blissful, pure and positive.

I was being tested through the loss of my job and financial losses, but I recognize my strengths and face each challenge with courage.

If my body gets sick, I can remain unaffected by the miserable feelings sickness can create, by being detached and loving. But I will use my intellect to take care of my body to the best of my ability.

When a loved one dies, I should understand that soul has another part to play in another body. I played my part as a relative or a friend to the best of my ability. I should allow myself to be detached with love. I will surely meet that soul again in another life.

When my body becomes old and won't recover from illness, I will need to withdraw from it, and leave it with love and peace. I'll make sure my affairs are in order. I will go to the light.

In the meantime, I will fulfill my mission on earth which I know are many. There are several souls around me supporting me in my missions, and I suspect that the soul occupying the body of Lyca, my special child, is here to support me all the way, and to support other souls too. With the help of those souls surrounding me, one of my missions could be to support other souls too. That soul can be you.

Birthday of a green turtle

Wendy, our pet green turtle or terrapin, became a symbol of strength in our household after surviving 5 months without food because of getting sick from overfeeding, at the same time not being able to move because of blindness resulting from the same illness.


That was 4 years ago and she was still a baby then, so she is 4 years old now! Here are her photos, the same photos I published 3 years ago, the photo when she was still a baby and her photo at one year old, and her photo now. The same gray stone will always be there in her pool to see how big she has grown, and it has now served as her stepping stone.

Happy birthday, Wendy !!

Left or right brained?

Five years ago I decided to shift my career from systems design and analysis to interior design. That would be shifting the activities of my brain from the left to the right, which is more my characteristic based on the "overlapping thumbs" test and my first response to the dancer test.

For financial reasons however, I was forced to revert back to the field where I could readily earn an income - the Information Technology. It was a long way for me to go as far as Interior Design is concerned. And even if I have a big potential to create good paintings too, I did't have the luxury of time.

So two years ago, I got back to the IT field. That took only 9 months though, and now I know the real reason why it did not last long. It was because of pressure in some major tasks that I had to handle alone. I decided to just focus and learn more about TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine since wellness or prevention of diseases is vital at my age, and to also find solutions for my special child. That means I was still using my left brain, am I correct?

After a year and a half I'm back to Information Technology but also still enhancing my knowledge in wellness since it is a basic need. That doesn't mean I'm earning through IT again because I've just started to enhance my knowledge of some software I've learned in the past. I'm excited because I'm learning again.

I'm just beginning to realize now that it's not really the dominance of my left or right brain that makes learning exciting but it is really learning about new things. It just so happened that those new things are new technologies involving the left brain.

I just had a more detailed "Creativity test" and it turned out I am 55% left and 45% right brained. But next time somebody asks if I am left or right brained, my answer would be "it is in between, ready to grasp whatever is new".

What's next?

After my anniversary post about my conversation with God, what's next? Every time I talk about God's message, it's as if I've done the finale of a story, so I tend to rest. As if there's nothing better to talk about than God's message. His "I loye you" message to mankind was so comforting but I hope it won't make mankind sleep.

That last statement "I hope it won't make mankind sleep", I just realized was so "human", so lacking in trust in God. Perhaps I was speaking for myself because I was sleeping. We may sleep but God is always awake to watch over us. And then He wakes us up even through simple things like a tv show, or a text from a friend. Like what He did to me...

The next thing I know is I'm at Georgie's place and met her sisters Coroy and Pempi there. Pempi has inspired me since I was a teenager through her artworks, and now it's clear it was Coroy's turn to inspire me too. She said I should continuously and intelligently converse with Lyca, my special needs child, because she will understand me. Lyca is blind and because of cerebral palsy cannot utter words that can be understood. But she could verbally respond, most of the time with actions, and I know she's intelligent because she laughs whenever a song familiar to her was sang out of tune, and would clap her hands unceasingly whenever her favorite choir, the Novo Concertante Manila, would sing. Time will come we will completely understand her and send her to school.

I just can thank God for His wake up calls to meet inspiring people. Shame on me to ask "what's next?".

My Conversation with God on June 12, 2001

Exactly 10 years ago, a boring task of cleaning the stones of a mineral water pot led me to reminisce my disappointments in life and at the same time ask God why such should happen. Awesome answers came from my own thoughts which made me suspect that I was already conversing with God. The final outcome of our conversation was the main reason why I created this blog because I felt obliged to share God's message to mankind, but waited for His time to do it, and that was when I learned about blogging in 2008.

Since I had to emphasize the main message of God, I haven't shared the other topics of our conversation and that is what I'd like to share now.

Since there were germanium stones that I was cleaning then, I told God that He is so kind because he created cures for cancer, but what about AIDS? He said He provided everything to mankind including all the cures to illnesses but mankind doesn't want to recognize them. I asked in my thoughts, where are these cures? I was outside at that time so I looked at the ground at a distance. The sun was shining brightly and there were a few plants. I thought perhaps God meant the plants that contain all cures.

I'm glad I didn't tell that part of our conversation the first time I wrote about it because now I think I was partly wrong. Now I realize that God meant practically everything abundant that can cure illnesses like sunlight and the magnetic field of an unpolluted ground. And they are free!

To verify if I was really talking with God, I asked what message He'd like to tell mankind through the total number of stones that I was cleaning. After cleaning, when I counted 143 stones, I immediately knew that His message was "I love you", but I was surprised so I verified by counting again and that was really the total number of the stones.

While thinking about my disappointments, I also told God I wish there was a child who could help me forget about those disappointments like my children did, when they were still babies and toddlers.

God proved His love by giving me what I wished for: a child who was born right inside our house, a year after. She was a very special child because she was born blind and had cerebral palsy. Through this child, God shook off my tendency to expect too much from people. That tendency was the real cause of my disappointments. For almost nine years now, this special child taught me to be happy with the smallest things people would show me.

God's message of love was for the whole of mankind. If He hasn't proven His Love for you yet, don't be impatient because He will prove that to you in His time. While waiting for that time, He promised to shake what can be shaken and removed from you, like impatience or even ungodliness.

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised". (Hebrews 10:36)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails". (Proverbs 19:21)

Soul Consciousness

Though I've just published in my other blogs about "Soul Consciousness", let this be my notes in a seminar about that topic which I attended at Brahma Kumaris, at least those topics or points that I could still remember.

6 Original Qualities of a SOUL: peaceful, powerful, pure, positive, loving and joyful.

Each person should be conscious in attaining the original qualities of his/her soul, so that every activity or challenge will be light to carry, and a light energy will be passed to the people or living things in the surroundings.

To be positive is to think:

1. only about the good things.
2. "What good things can I do?"
3. "How can I help?"
4. "What solution can I give?"

and remove all negative thoughts.

Two Kinds of Negative Thoughts:

1. Thoughts of a closed mind.
2. Waste thoughts - unproductive thoughts; will occupy time that should be spent in productive activities.
=> gossips
=> not in present time - unless it is about a past that gives a lesson for the present, or it is about a business plan.

If you want change, it should start with yourself, simply by manifesting your soul's original qualities. As usual, your surroundings will just react depending on your actions. So if you have changed, they will change as well.

A regular 10-minute meditation before the regular waking time will help achieve the original state of the soul. Since the total qualities of a soul can be hard to achieve, a quality can be assigned to be attained for the day, until such time all qualities can be attained altogether.

My Gifts for Mommy

I’m just glad that there was somebody who could bring my gifts to my Mom! All I wish for her is a real good health so I’m giving the best products portable enough to easily reach her. They are traditional herbs used in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) from TIENS, a company that has been endorsed by different organizations like the World Health Organization.

One traditional herb is jiaogulan or Gynostemma Pentaphyllum, the main ingredient in the box of tea I’m giving her, which also has green tea and 3 more herbs as ingredients. TIENS calls it Antilipemic Tea or Lipid Metabolic Management Tea because it cleanses the lipids and heavy metals from the blood vessels, purifying the cardiovascular system, therefore is very good for the heart. Jiaogulan is known as the "miracle herb" of China, the main reason why the Chinese folks lived longer and also looked younger. It is an anti-aging tea so I’m sure Mom will like that, and I really want her to live longer.





Another traditional herb is Cordyceps Mycelium in the form of capsules. Only the emperors could afford this very popular herb in China that is anti-cancer, very good for the lungs, protects the kidneys and liver so it is indispensable especially for those taking prescription maintenance medicines. I know my mother will easily feel the difference after two to three weeks of consuming one capsule 30 minutes after breakfast and another capsule 30 minutes after dinner, because she will no longer experience fatigue whatever she does. She will surely like that, and that will also remove all my worries about her health.

I can’t think of anything better that those two as far as supplements are concerned. I hope she still walks regularly like she used to do and eats only healthy foods.

My gifts for her will make me happy, and I know my Mom will be happy because I am happy.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!!

He died a Toastmaster

I was referring to my father, Luis Taa, better known as “Louie” or "Louie Boy", who died yesterday morning at the age of 82. His 5-year old cancer did not add more years to his life. These might be straightforward statements but that was part of my learning from Toastmasters Club, which my father had been convincing me to join for more than two years. I finally decided to be a member in 2003 and also persuaded my daughter to join too. My Toastmasters Club experience lasted only for 3 years but it brought about a big change in my life, and that is to be the best I can be. In those 3 years, I followed my father's footsteps by becoming an officer of Makati Toastmasters Club. I also joined Toastmasters Club contests where I won a place in some. During those years, my father was the wind beneath my wings.

The last time I was able to visit Dad was last month. Through a text message, he complained about a constant pain on his waist and asked me for a remedy I might know, since I have acquired some knowledge in TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine. He was bedridden during the first and second time I visited him that month, but during the second which was also the last time, he did not look like in pain. He was speaking in straight English, I haven't heard a single word in Tagalog so I jokingly said, "Are we in a Toastmasters Club meeting?" and he answered, "Yes, we are!". I then jokingly told my companions that we are in a TMC meeting and nobody should speak in Tagalog. After some time, I brought my special child to him, so we could "pray over" him, and I let my child hold his hand. My child couldn't control her grip because of cerebral palsy, so while we were praying, Dad said, "masakit!" referring to the grip of my child. If we were not praying, I could have reminded him of his offense because he uttered a Tagalog word.

A year after being operated and diagnosed with cancer of the colon, Dad looked strong and healthy until he was able to resume attending the Toastmasters Club meetings. If only the meetings finish early in the evening, he would have continuously attended the meetings. It was his loved ones who suggested he stop attending them so he could always rest early at night.

Though before we left on that last visit I could already sense his suffering because he vomited, my last memory of my father was as a real Toastmaster. He was jolly and made his guests laugh the whole time, a part of the task of the "host of the evening" in TMC meetings. I guess his comembers in Manila Bay Toastmasters Club can imagine how he did that. I had colds during the week before his death so I was not able to visit him again. So that was my last view of him alive, a Toastmaster, lively and witty!

"Once a Toastmaster, always a Toastmaster!"

The Right Choice

I was making a choice from two possibilities, only to realize later that what I should choose is not among the two. How many times did that happen to you?

In my case, I couldn't count how many and I thought I was through with that, at my age. Now I realize that at this age where the offspring are already adults, the more a person can be undecided because he or she becomes more considerate of other people. Even when choosing products for health for example, even if a health product is the best for the condition of a person, but if the manufacturer is a competitor of the company of a son or daughter, a person tends to forget about this product that can surely cure him or her.

That's life I guess, but when the life of a person is at stake, that is very sad. If only choices in life can be made "online", there will be less meddling and one's intuition will prevail. There's a big chance the right choice will be made. Of course not in all cases.

It's just good that certain choices can really be made online, like choosing products such as medical scrubs. For medical practitioners, life can be very stressful because they deal with lives. Choosing their uniforms should not add to the stress of their daily routines. They can now get a medical scrub uniform with a click and they can buy scrubs online from a scrubs store that offers several designs to choose from.

What a convenient way of making the right choice!

"Brought to you by my friends in www.blueskyscrubs.com."

Busy Days

If you want to make your life worth living, you have to be ready for busy days, even very very busy days, whether you've retired from your regular job or not.

Well, I can't believe what makes me busy these days: reading a lot, talking a lot and thinking a lot - just basic tasks really, but they can lead to accomplishing much bigger goals. Oh, I forgot discussing a lot, which is a more productive task resulting from those basic tasks.

Discussions can eat up a lot of time but it is an inevitable job that needs to be performed by responsible people. The energies of the year by the way can lead us to a lot of that, but the energies can be so strong that if a leader is weakened by corruption, a revolt can ensue and that has already started in the Middle East. The positive side of that is more issues can be resolved and more programs accomplished this year.

We just need to be always positive so that these busy days will not be put to waste. These busy days should bring about better days.

A Family Choir

After we sang the communion songs at this Sunday's morning mass at the Loyola Grand Villas chapel, there was an announcement that a plaque will be given, and we were surprised that the plaque was for us, the Venida Family Choir, “for their selfless sharing of their valuable time and marvelous talent, as they sing in our regular Sunday morning masses”.

After the mass, we tried to count how many years have passed since we started singing at the LGV Chapel as a family choir. The youngest member of the choir who was my husband's nephew and lives at the subdivision where the chapel is, was not yet a member of the choir because he was an acolyte assisting the priest, when we started. He was still in the primary grade level during that time, until he became old for an acolyte and could already join the choir. He has graduated in Pre-med school and now in his second year in Medicine Proper. In short, we've been singing in this chapel as a family choir for more than ten years already. My daughter is the director and an alto, my son a bass, my husband the guitarist and I am a soprano. There are times though when my daughter and I would exchange voices or would shift to just one voice, alto or soprano, depending on the need. Other members of the choir like the doctor-to-be, are the first cousins of my children, and then one member is a boyfriend of a family member, another one a girlfriend of my son.

Some members of the choir are also members of other choirs like my daughter and son and his girlfriend who are members of Novo Concertante Manila, while the doctor-to-be and her sister are members of Bukas Palad. That is the reason why the Venida Family Choir can sing well even without practicing.

In my case, I try to be always present during the performances of my children's choir so I can emulate their voices. And I'm very thankful that I am a member of a family choir because it really helped improve my voice. Every time we sing during the mass, I silently express how grateful I am. Of course the songs that we sing helped too.I liked songs that can express one's feelings but I realized that the best songs that can do that are the ones that praise God or are really prayers, not just songs.