Ja, keep your chin up! Hang in there… things will get better soon.
Don't let today's troubles
bring you down,
or allow you to question
your ability.
Don't let life's little obstacles
keep you from trying,
or become the reason
for defeat.
Don't let your fears
keep you from dreaming,
or from chasing
your dream.
Don't give up for any reason.
Believe in yourself,
and in yourself,
you'll find strength.
Just hold on, I know you can do it!
It is never easy to overcome a serious Internet addiction, or a hard-core computer gaming habit, but here are some easy steps to recovery!
Difficulty Level: Hard
Time Required: Years
Here is how:
It's not goodbye for good... it is just a little so long for now.
Elinore Perez-Currington, my blockmate from UP College of Baguio way back 1992 and my “anak” in the Big Family, arrived from the United Kingdom last week for a month long holiday. She is married to a half Pinoy-half Brit based in Derbyshire and has been going home once a year in Manila.
This time around, before she left for Manila, we planned a get together with our blockmates and the members of the Big Family. I immediately sent an email and SMS to all and everyone was excited.
We really wanted to see each other because it has been awhile since our group last met. I cannot even remember the last time I saw Nhore personally. However, we continue to chat and exchange emails, I still long for the human factor of meeting up.
It was sad that she could only make it on a Sunday night and at the start of the Holy Week. A number of our blockmates wanted to go but since most of them are already married and have kids, they had a hard time going out on weekends.
We had dinner at Saisaki Glorietta 3 and drinks at Pier One at The Fort. Dinner was great and even the drinks went okay. Most of us haven’t seen each other in a long time and yet it was like we never really parted. We could still remember our Freshman Days, our first professors, the original love teams and the tons of laughter we all shared that year at UP College of Baguio.
Though most of us (Oli, Joseph, Peter and Moi) left UPCB and transferred to Diliman after a year, we still have the bond that certainly tied us for good.
I had a blast with the conversations and the laughter and reminiscing the carefree days. How I wish that we were still Freshmen and still competing for the Freshmen Night. It would be a blast if we could perform once again and compete with the rest of the Freshman Blocks. I can still hear Kuya Aldrin telling us what to do and what not to do. So much fun!
Nhore is still childless; however, she is busy with her career in UK and now sporting long locks. One of us has gotten his marriage annulled and now on with his third wife; yet he is successful with his own business. One has created a mark in the advertising world and is still sweet as ever. One is busy with corporate matters at a Vet Med firm and will forever be the “kilabot” of the block. One is busy with managing a Chinese restaurant in Binondo and very much good looking as before. One is still the Big Sister for everyone and still reminds me of the girl version of Erap. One is still the ever-quiet person but when he talks he could turn the house down and I know they still have the magic with my “anak”.
A number of our blockmates and Big Family members are still based in Baguio City. We wanted to meet with them but due to our own hectic schedules, we cannot afford to go back to Baguio. I wish that one day; we could all see each other again and enjoy the good company.
Given the span of years of not seeing each other and just having a few emails/chats over the years, I am very much delighted that we still have the ties that bind us together. The friendship that we’ve created in 1992 still lingers and will continue wherever we are.
Pocs and Nhore
Oli, Jojo, Jane, Nhore, Rallsh, Joseph and PeterSometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."
"Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers. "Yuck" says her daughter.
"How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!"
"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!
God works the same way. Many times, we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But He knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful! Whenever you want to talk, He will listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here, we might as well dance.
Send me your favorite recipes... recipes for life that is!
One day Socrates was among the people teaching his wisdom when a young man walked up to him and requested that Socrates teach him. The great philosopher pondered for a moment, then agreed. "Meet me by the ocean tomorrow morning," he told his new pupil.
The next day, Socrates and the young man walked out into the ocean until they were chest deep. Socrates turned to the young man and pulled him underneath the water until he passed out.
Socrates dragged him to shore and waited until he regained consciousness. When the young man woke up, he asked Socrates why he had almost let him drown.
"Boy, when you were underwater, what did you want more than anything?"
"Well, I wanted air!"
"Boy, until you crave wisdom and knowledge as badly as you craved that air, it will never come to you."
Even the greatest thinkers and scholars had to work very hard to even obtain their gifts, yet alone develop them; so start craving.
It was Julia Louise L. Foronda’s Christening Day last April 2, 2006 at the Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish Marikina.
May the baptism be just the start of a life filled with blessings! Welcome Child of God!
Julia is Leevhi and Jomar Foronda’s first child!
