Love Never Fails

A sigh for every bit of this song. The voice, the melody, the lyrics... I do feel the LOVE. 😘

My Lessons After College

I think the 20s is, symbolically, the groundbreaking of anyone’s adult life. Yes, we all learn a lot of things while we are students but, I believe, no amount of theoretical studies could fully prepare us for life as an adult. As students we accumulate a lot of skills to use for our future “dream” jobs but our jobs is only a part, if not a small part, of our lives. Life, as it has reminded me over and over again, is much more than the mundane.

Now, I am not an expert in the topic of things-you-will-learn-during-your-20s. As a disclaimer, this is not a Tuesdays-with-Morrie-ish kind of article. I am not about to give you the secrets to a happy third decade of your life. What I am about to share are a few things I learned during that time, things that makes me who I am now.

The power to decide is about as fearsome as it is exciting. For as long as we can remember, we have been making decisions. When you were a kid and someone gave you a candy, what you did with it – ate it right away, pocketed it for a later time or gave it to someone else - was a decision. Decisions were not exactly new during my 20s but decisions with lifelong consequences was a different story.

I remember the first time I realized how being an “adult” was. There was freedom. Freedom from the pressures given by an institution that dictates who I will be 4 or 5 years from a certain time, who I currently am thru a series of prerequisites taken and not taken and whether I was good enough thru a system of feedback majorly dependent on examinations. I loved it for the sheer possibility of being able to solely decide and dictate who I will be a day, a month or a year from a certain time.  But after getting used to this freedom and finding myself having disjoint pieces of plans and some blurred vision of a future 3 years after graduating, I started longing for the same things I loathed – the curriculum, the program, the tests.

Life as an “adult” was a life run by decisions. You decide where you want to go and you decide how you’ll get there. Your friends and family could tell you what they think is right or wrong but ultimately, what you, yourself, will take as right or wrong will also be your decision. No one can directly tell you if you’re on the right track to your dreams but what you will use as your gauge will also be yours to decide.

What is essential is invisible to the eye. I’ve heard somewhere that traveling is good for the soul. Maybe it’s because you’re out of your comfort zone or because you gain a different perspective as you try to get to know a new culture or because of the simple fact you get to see a new place that is not part of your everyday world. Whatever it is, I firmly believe that traveling transforms people, especially traveling abroad.

The last time I was out of the country due to work was when I was 25. Out of all my out-of-the-country experiences, this was the “grandest” as this was the farthest and the longest I have been away from home. I traveled to Germany alone on an almost 14-hour trip inclusive of the connecting flights, waiting time, getting lost and catching trains.

I remember as I was leaving the country, I had no qualms. I was just excited, confident on my “traveling” abilities. However, the moment I reached the place I was going to stay in for 2 months, I suddenly found myself crying. Without any means to contact my non-techie parents - no load, no skype, no YMs - and without a friend physically present to talk to, the thought of being miles away from home with a 6-hour time difference and lots of oceans in between that I wouldn’t be able to cross even if I wanted to, I wanted to go home.

I may have not consciously realized it back then but I knew this was a defining moment in my life. This was the time I realized that no amount of money could compensate for the loss of not being able to spend quality time with your loved ones. Time, particularly time spent with people who matter in my life, was more essential than any material thing.

Love is the fuel that will make us go on. At the risk of sounding negative, let me say, life is a series of routines. We wake up, take a bath, commute to work, go to work, work for - give and take - 8 hours, commute from work, get ready to sleep and then, wake up again the next day. This happens for majority of our days, 5 to 6 days a week for 52 weeks in a year. I’m not really the suicidal type but if we just look at what happens in our days and realize that this is what majorly composes what we do with our life, what is the point of living then? These were the thoughts I had when I was in my late 20s. Initially, I viewed the question as a rhetorical one, but eventually, I had my answer.

If we are going to look at life as the series of events we do day in and day out, then, there is really no point in living. But, this is not why we live. We live because of the love that surrounds us – the love that we receive and the love that we give. Without love, everything is pointless. We don’t work because of working per se, we work because we love to provide to the people we love. We don’t wake up for the sole purpose of waking up, we wake up and stand up from our beds because we know that what we will do is something that will benefit our loved ones, directly or indirectly. Love is what propels us to move. It is the reason why we continue to live – the physical breathe-in-the-air kind of living as well as the earning-money kind of living. 

Its been10 years since I graduated from college and transitioned over to the “real world”. In that decade, and at one point during that time, I started to wear a lot of hats - a taxpayer, a commuter, a driver, a Frisbee enthusiast, a breadwinner, a wife, a tita, a cook, a student, an engineer, a developer, a jetsetter, a Japanese culture addict, etc. I suddenly found myself needing to fulfill a number of responsibilities that it wasn’t exactly hard to loose myself.

Now, it is not my goal for you to adapt the things I learned and take it as your own truth. My simple desire in writing this is to challenge you to look at the things life is teaching you and use it to define who you are. We will be a lot of things in our life – some, at one point after another and some, all at once – but these “things” is not who you are. Do not let life define you. Instead, define what your life is going to be. Get to know who you really are by knowing the principles you believe in and the things you hold firm in your heart. 

Celebrating Valentines

Credits to whoever owns this :D

I don’t. Celebrate, that is. If by Valentine’s, we define it as the bouquet giving, chocolate exchanging, date place reserving stress of a holiday, then yes, I am absolutely sure that I don’t celebrate that. Now, for those who do, don’t be offended, I’m not criticizing. We just see things differently  - what you see as a celebration, I see as a stressful situation.

Yesterday, I was asked this question (out of the blue), “Do you celebrate valentine’s as a Christian?”. Surprised, I ended up saying after shrugging, “Huh? Okay lang naman.” without any additional explanation. Thinking back, I was a bit disappointed with the way I answered but I guess, that’s all the situation asked for. Honestly, I never thought my being a Christian would dictate if I celebrate valentine’s (or not), pwede pa siguro ung pagiging kuripot ko o ung sakit ng ulo ng nakukuha ko kapag sooobrang dami kong tao na nakita sa isang lugar – but my being a Christian?

I understand the question meant to probe me on my beliefs. Valentine’s day is of pagan origin (so they say… haven’t really done my research about that ) and being that I should not be celebrating pagan rituals – am I or am I not celebrating valentine’s? Well, in things like these (celebrations springing up from pagan rituals), this is where I stand: it’s all in the state of the heart. You see, we are surrounded by a lot of things that are of pagan origin and if we bother ourselves trying to identify each and every thing that is of pagan origin, I think, besides becoming a history buff, we would also be wasting a precious amount of our days. But, if we do something or use something that is of pagan origin and consecrate it to God, He will be able to redeem those things and use it for His glory. In the Bible, Jesus said “It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; your are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth” (Matt. 15:11). This is what I believe He is trying to say: the outward things do not have power to make us unworthy but rather, the things inside our hearts – love vs. anger, compassion vs. hatred, respect vs. slander.

So, about the celebration that started this article – Valentine’s, this is what God showed me for today’s reading time:

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” – 1 John 4:16b-18.

If you ask me if I will celebrate valentine’s after this, I will still say no – mainly due to the stress. But, for those who will, my hope is that when you celebrate, you celebrate by enjoying your time together with your loved one/s as well as remembering the One who blessed you with the capability to love, taught you how to love and showed you the perfect kind of love.

Happy valentine’s day everyone ;)

GV Friday

Iʼve gotta let You know that Iʼm so thankful

For everything You have done
The way You lifted me, and turned my life around
Now in You I am found

PRE CHORUS:
So put your hands up, everybody give Him glory
Hands up

CHORUS:
Everybody shout your praise aloud
And sing with everything
Give Him all the glory, for our God is worthy
Whoa

BRIDGE:
If you love Him donʼt stop praising, put your hands up
If you love Him donʼt stop praising, put your hands up
Everybody give Him glory, put your hands up
Put your hands up
Put your hands up

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Put Your Hands Up by Planetshakers

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Lakas maka-good vibes! :) Kung wala lang ako sa office, malamang sumasayaw na ako sa saliw ng awiting ito. :D

Waiting

It wastes a lot – time, effort, hope and there’s nothing you can do. You realize you’re stuck where you are and you strain yourself trying to catch a glimpse of whatever ‘that’ is. You try to move in your own little space, trying to dispense that energy building up inside you. But, you’re mind is still focused on ‘that’ and you know, disappointingly, that you are where you are – not where you want.

The thought of where you are supposed to be somehow bothers you. Yet, you accept the fate that is before you – there’s no point in resisting. You stop looking ahead and stare at what’s around. You look at what’s in front of you, it’s beautiful. You soak in the details of every nook and cranny. Where you are is not so bad after all. Then you’re mind wanders to things past and suddenly, you’re jolted about stuff - a thing to do, a lesson forgotten, a moment enjoyed.

Waiting.

It’s really all just about perspective. The season of waiting is something that can either break us or make us. For a time where there is not much happening, we can always choose to focus on the thing we are waiting for and grow frustrated OR on what’s around you at the moment and realize things to the point of gratefulness. What’s yours?

Gloat or growth?