A Little Wisdom

A mirror is only as good
As the reflection in it.

Worry enough to anticipate trouble
But not so much as to bring it about.

Look back to where you have been
For a clue to where you are going.

Melt the icy fingers of fear
With the sunshine of hope.

Step by gentle step,
You can overcome the greatest sorrow.

The sweetest grapes
Are picked from the vineyard of friendship.

Find something you truly believe in,
And everything else will have meaning as well.

Keep in Mind...

Love is grand; divorce is at least a hundred grand.

Time may be a great healer, but it is also a lousy beautician.

Remember: amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.

Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.

Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels so good.

An optimist thinks that this is the best possible world. A pessimist fears that this is true.

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just stand there.

My inferiority complex is not as good as yours is.

I am having an out of money experience.

It is frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.

You are getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.

Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

Work... Work... Work

A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered.

Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible.

Came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, "Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself."

The above story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more money, to gain power and recognition. We neglect our health, time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love.

One day when we look back, we will realize that we don't really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have missed.

Life is not about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life isdefinitely not about work! Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life. Life is a balance of Work and Play, Family and Personal time. You have to decide how you want to balance your Life. Define your priorities, realize what you are able to compromise but always let some of your decisions be based on your instincts. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of Life, the whole aim of human existence. So, take it easy, do what you want to do and appreciate nature. Life is fragile, Life is short. Do not take Life for granted. Live a balanced lifestyle and enjoy Life!

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

The Little Things

After Sept. 11th, one company invited the remaining members of other companies who had been decimated by the attack on the Twin Towers to share their available office space.

At a morning meeting, the head of security told stories of why these people were alive.......... and all the stories were just: The 'LITTLE' things.

As you might know, the head of the company got in late that day because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One went back to answer the telephone.

One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.

Now when we get stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone ... all the little things that annoy us...let's think that everything happened for a reason. This is exactly where God wants us to be at this very moment.

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated; Angels are at work watching over you and may you remember their possible purpose.

Love and Madness

A long time ago, before the world was created and humans set foot on it for the first time, virtues and vices floated around and were bored, not knowing what to do.

One day, all the vices and virtues were gathered together and were more bored than ever. Suddenly, Ingenious came up with an idea: "Let's play hide and seek!"

All of them liked the idea and immediately Madness shouted: "I want to count, I want to count!" And since nobody was crazy enough to want to seek Madness, all the others agreed. Madness leaned against a tree and started to count: "One, two, three..."

As Madness counted, the vices and virtues went hiding. Tenderness hung itself on the horn of the moon, Treason hid in a pile of garbage. Fondness curled up between the clouds and Passion went to the center of the earth. Lie said that it would hide under a stone, but hid at the bottom of the lake, whilst Avarice entered a sack that he ended up breaking. And Madness continued to count: "...seventy nine, eighty, eighty one..."

By this time, all the vices and virtues were already hidden except Love. For undecided as Love is, he could not decide where to hide. And this should not surprise us, because we all know how difficult it is to hide Love.

Madness: "...ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven..." Just when Madness got to one hundred, Love jumped into a rose bush where he hid.

And Madness turned around and shouted: "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

As Madness turned around, Laziness was the first to be found, because Laziness had no energy to hide. Then he spotted Tenderness in the horn of the moon, Lie at the bottom of the lake and Passion at the center of the earth. One by one, Madness found them all except Love.

Madness was getting desperate, unable to find Love. Envious of Love, Envy whispered to Madness: "You only need to find Love, and Love is hiding in the rose bush."

Madness grabbed a wooden pitchfork and stabbed wildly at the rose bush. Madness stabbed and stabbed until a heartbreaking cry made him stop. Love appeared from the rose bush, covering his face with his hands. Between his fingers ran two trickles of blood from his eyes.

Madness, so anxious to find Love, had stabbed out Love's eyes with a pitchfork. "What have I done? What have I done!� Madness shouted. "I have left you blind! How can I repair it?"

And Love answered: "You cannot repair my eyes. But if you want to do something for me, you can be my guide."

And so it came about that from that day on, Love is blind and is always accompanied by Madness.

Cookies

At an airport one night
With several long hours
Before her flight,
She hunted for a book
In an airport shop,
Bought a bag of cookies
And found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book
But happened to see,
That the man sitting beside her,
As bold as could be,
Grabbed a cookie or two
From the bag in between,
Which she tried to ignore
to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies
And watched the clock,
As the gutsy cookie thief
Diminished her stock.

She was getting more irritated
As the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice,
I would blacken his eye."

With each cookie she took,
He took one too,
When only one was left,
She wondered what he would do.

With a smile on his face,
And a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie
And broke it in half.
He offered her half,
As he ate the other,
She snatched it from him
And thought.... ooh, brother!

This guy had some nerve
And he's also rude,
Why he didn't even show
Any gratitude!

She had never known
When she been so galled,
And sighed with relief
When her flight was called.

She gathered her belongings
And headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back
At the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane,
And sank in her seat,
Then she sought her book,
Which was almost complete.

As she reached in her baggage,
She gasped with surprise,
There was her bag of cookies,
In front of her eyes.

If mine are here,
She moaned in despair,
The others were his,
And he tried to share.

Too late to apologize,
She realized with grief,
That she was the rude one,
The ingrate, the thief!

How many times have we absolutely known that something was a certain way, only to discover later that what we believed to be true.... was not?

Always Keep An Open Mind And An Open Heart, Because........................You Just Never Know....

"You might be eating someone else's cookies!" :)

Smart Casual Event at the Tower Club

My 28th Birthday Blowout to my PSPC Taxation Family

The Taipan at the Tower Club

33rd Floor, Philamlife Tower

Paseo De Roxas, Makati City

11:30am to 2:30pm

ang siksik at ang seksi... una siyempre kami sa kainan at sa pagorder...

si arvin at si albin... nakakalito kapag tatawagin sila ng sabay...

si sir maeng na talaga namang chickboy (crush at niligawan si ms. paz nung nasa sgv pa) at si sir gabby ang kilabot ng halos lahat ng accounting firms sa buong pilipinas...

ang kambal na laging magkasama... si tito farley at si tito nick! minsan mahirap isipin na hindi sila magkasama or magkasunod...

si manay trel... maaasahan sa lahat...

ang sabi ni sir gabby, si aileen, hahabol sa katawan ni ms. nimfa, si ms. nimfa eh nahabol sa katawan ni ralline.. si ralline hahabol sa katawan ni aileen?

lahat kami sa Taxation ay masarap kumain, yan ang aming libangan. kahit ano pa ang food at kahit saan eh laging good food with good company!

Birthday Blowout from my PSPC Family

Taxation Deparment's Birthday Blowout

Executive Dining Room

SHELL House Makati

4pm - 6pm

Atty. Nimfa Farida Guyala-Dimailig with the Birthday Girl

Redentor "Gabby" Gabinete, Arvin Daquioag, Farley Areola, Ms. Nimfa and Ralline

Left to Right: Tito Farley, Sir Maeng, Sir Gabby, Manay Trel, Tito Nick, Albin, Ms. Nimfa, Ralline and Arvin

Taxation Department of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation... oops, maternity leave pa si Seksi (a.k.a. Aileen Espinosa-Magrimbao)

A Story of Love

It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman, in his 80's, presented to have sutures (stitches) removed from his thumb.

He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation.

I asked him if he had a doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry.

The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease.

As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she would be worried if he was a bit late.

He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him. "And you are still going every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said...

"She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

-- author unknown

Laws of Life

Murphy's First Law for Wives: If you ask your husband to pick up five items atthe store and then you add one more as an afterthought, he will forget two ofthe first five.

Kauffman's Paradox of the Corporation: The less important you are to thecorporation, the more your tardiness or absence is noticed.

The Salary Axiom: The pay raise is just large enough to increase your taxes andjust small enough to have no effect on your take-home pay.

Miller's Law of Insurance: Insurance covers everything except what happens.

First Law of Living: As soon as you start doing what you always wanted to bedoing, you'll want to be doing something else.

Weiner's Law of Libraries: There are no answers, only cross-references.

Isaac's Strange Rule of Staleness: Any food that starts out hard will softenwhen stale. Any food that starts out soft will harden when stale.

The Grocery Bag Law: The candy bar you planned to eat on the way home from the market is hidden at the bottom of the grocery bag.

Lampner's Law of Employment: When leaving work late, you will go unnoticed.When you leave work early, you will meet the boss in the parking lot.

Baby Shower

Aileen Espinos-Magrimbao's Baby Shower

EDR, SHELL House Makati

March 2004

Standing (left to right): Arvin, Tito Farley, Ralline, Sir Gabby and Albin
Seated (left to right): Ms. Nimfa, Aileen and Tito Nick