One Big Fight.

So we lost.

I guess my alma mater won't be happy I'm using "THE" Ateneo's cheer as title for my blog. (RP said to always say "the", pronounced as thee take note, before saying Ateneo. The Ateneo.) I never really understood the hype over the rivalry. It's not as if La Sallians and Ateneans can't get along. More so, I never understood how the good tickets are always sold out, but can be bought more than 5x the original price from scalpers and resellers. Good thing we have a TV in the pantry (where the fanatics were having coffee and taking a break from work). But when the announcer said last two minutes!!! and Ateneo was up by 10pts (if I remember correctly), I started feeling guilty about watching TV during work hours. So I went back to work :P

Bad game for DLSU (of course it's bad. We lost). And Maierhoffer got thrown out of the game. Tsk. The only redeeming factor for me is: Chris Tiu is h-o-t. I can't help but cheer when he's the one making the shots. Oh right, he's an Atenean. Oh well. So no redeeming factor for me. There really aren't any players in La Salle's line-up that can equal/surpass Chris Tiu's hotness. End of story. I stand corrected. May gwapo naman pala sa DLSU.. Simon Atkins :x

So... congratulations my Ateneo friends (RP, Jaui, Ann, PJ, Aldy, Rica, the rest of the gang). It has been 6 years after all :) Might as well get a taste of winning the championships. Haha! :D

Expand!

The blessings of the Lord is commensurate to how much you can take.

If only most people would realize that self-worth is as important as bank accounts, we'd be saving the world from a lot of poverty. Yeah, it sounds too ideal.. too theoretical. But you have to admit, if we just thought more highly of ourselves, life can be a whole lot better.

I just came from a short talk by Alvin Barcelona on financial literacy (yeehhheesss... hahaha) and he said one of the top reasons why most Filipinos are poor is because they don't think they can ever be rich. How sad. But true. Perfect example is our household helper.. manang. I was cooking pasta a few weekends ago and I offered her a portion. She politely refused kase pang mayaman lang ang spagiti (spaghetti is only for the rich). If I didn't know manang well enough, I'd say she's just making up an excuse so she won't have to eat what I cooked. But, that's not the case. Promise. The pasta I cooked only had tomatoes (canned) and mushrooms and spices (from mom's pantry). Total cost: ~200Php Servings: ~4 so that makes it ~50Php per serving. I know food preference doesn't exactly determine financial wealth. What I'm highlighting here is the mentality. If you think you don't deserve something being given to you, regardless if the Giver thinks you deserve it, then it won't be given to you. Simple as that. Mom had an extra serving of pasta that weekend.

I still have hopes for manang that she'll be rich, too, someday. I have a long way to go in my personal mission to help her, and my first step is to make her realize that food isn't categorized (like humans in society) into food for the rich and food for the poor. It's just a matter of preference. And as for you and me, let's learn to expand. Expand our borders, our territories, our responsibilities, and our spiritual vessels so we can accommodate all the good great things we deserve.

For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. --Mt 25:29

The Shack

Mack lost his daughter Missy during a camping trip, and found her bloody dress in a rundown shack miles away from their camp site after several days of searching. Authorities never found her body nor her killer. A few years later, he receives a note apparently from God, inviting him to go back to the shack and spend the weekend with Him. Mack thought it was either a bad joke being played on him, or it really was God inviting him. Out of curiousity, he went on the trip expecting the worst.

If I could spend a weekend with God, how will I spend it? I mean.. should I ask Him the questions that humanity has been asking since the dawn of time: why does he allow bad things happen to good people, am I really going to be punished for all the times I lied, what happens to those people who don't believe in Him, which religion should I believe in? What should I expect him to look like? Will he be like Zeus in Disney's Hercules? Or will he look like Gandalf in Lord of the Rings? Is he really old-looking? What does heaven look like? Is it really guarded by a golden gate? Is it really up in the clouds?

Growing up, I've been raised a Catholic and I've been "programmed" to follow Catholic principles. Follow the commandments. Never miss mass on Sundays. Don't fall asleep during the homily. Love God with all your heart. Be nice to your sister. Be charitable to the less fortunate. Pray. Be afraid of the Lord because He punishes those who don't follow Him. Be good. Abhor evil. Not only that, my childhood and growing years were flooded with religious stereotypes. Cartoons and movies depicted God as an old guy with white robes and long gray hair and a loud booming voice, and heaven is a golden city up on the clouds.

After reading The Shack, it's like I've been reformatted and booted up with a new system, a new outlook and thinking. All the things I thought were true and righteous were debunked, and were replaced by new beliefs and values. Like Mack, my view of God changed into a deeper, more personal level. He doesn't look like Zeus after all :P And heaven isn't made of gold. It's amazing how many realizations were made and how many ideologies and theories were challenged and proven self-righteous in a few hundred pages. Being religious doesn't necessarily mean being faithful. Being good in our eyes does not necessarily mean being good in God's eyes. If there is one fictional book that you'll have to read for the month, grab The Shack (Yes, this is higher than Twilight in my list of favorites.). If it doesn't change how you look at humanity and how you view God and your relationship with Him, let me know. I'll have to treat you to a retreat and a session with a counselor or something. Haha!

When we leave our comfort zone, growth.

I was browsing through the comments section of one of my favorite bloggers and one of his friends left a comment:

When we leave our comfort zone, growth.

It struck a raw nerve. Because I am comfortable in a few aspects of my life right now. (I'm highlighting the word FEW. There are still areas in my life that I would want to be comfortable in, pero hindi ako dyosa..not too perfect you know:P) And haven't you noticed that I only write when I feel strongly about something or when I have a realization that I want to share with the world? I don't blog about stuff like my dog peed on the post of our stairs this morning. So anyway, before I stray too far from the topic, I cannot agree more with what he said. When we become comfortable, we fall into a routine and the next series of events become predictable. When people ask me how I am these days, I answer "same old same old". And I feel now that that's not entirely good.

It dawned on me that I might be experiencing quarter-life crisis.. wanting growth and looking for change to trigger growth... nurture my spirituality... live independently and boost my career. I think most of my friends are going thru the same thing. But then again, I know most adults who are way past their early 20s, but are still in a similar kind of predicament.

Sometimes, I feel that I'm living below my potential (right now). And that's probably the triggering factor why I'm feeling routinized. And now that i know that I can do way better than this, perform better when I have the proper mindset, I have already made the first step in instigating change.

Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown. --Author unknown

Retail therapy

For the past months, I have been indulging on my favorite hobby. Shopping. After getting myself insurance and a retirement plan (ha!), I vowed to curb my spending habits and focus on the goal: save enough to pay for the premiums.

But retail therapy is just so... appetizing. Getting something shiny and new beats indulging in ice cream and chocolate. I reallocate my resources if I have to. It's one of the spikes in my monotonous life line. (But don't worry, it's not as if I'm wallowing in debt or anything.. I still keep my finances in check, thank you very much).

But when the glow of the shiny, sparkly item is gone.. so is the excitement that came when it was bought. And then I realize (again) that retail therapy can only cure so much. A little over a few weeks to be exact. And life is back to its normal rate. And then I wait until I have pooled enough resources so I could spike it up (again). And a new cycle begins (again).

Sometimes, I wonder what it feels like to be on the other side of the game: be the retailer instead of the buyer. Will I feel the same high when I'm able to make people believe that this bag is the next "it" bag of the season so they'll buy my stuff? (I'd probably hoard items for myself. Haha!) That thought crossed my mind so many times that I sometimes think I'm in the wrong industry. But I haven't had *the* passion to push through with the idea. Well, at least, not YET.

What is it with women and shopping?! Tsk :P

Bester

Some things change...
From Backstreet Boys, Algebra problems, first boyfriends, physics long tests, lazy summer afternoons...
To Edward Cullen, career paths, Nth boyfriends and lost loves, once-in-a-blue-moon night outs...
But some never will. Bester to the end my one and only :)

New Look

Yipee! A more personalized look for my site :D

Well.. not really personalized cos I got the theme from multiply. But at least it shows off a bit more of my personality :P And my rusty CSS skills.. haha! The last time I used CSS was 2 years ago.. so I had to do a lot of trial-and-error. But it worked :D

Special thanks to