Everyday Notes to Enjoy Life (15)

The mailman, newspaper boy, delivery man, plumber or anyone who would bring their service into your own backyard will be delighted if shown gratitude and well appreciated for their services. Even just an ice cold glass of water will suffice. Make your home their oasis during their rounds in the community.

Life is... - according to them

Life is a promise; fulfill it. -Mother Teresa, humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless.

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed. -Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it. -Christopher Morley, journalist, novelist, essayist and poet.

Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep. -Fran Lebowitz, American author.

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome. -Isaac Asimov, sci-fi writer.

Life is a long lesson in humility. -James M. Barrie, Scottish author and dramatist

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. -John Lennon, singer songwriter

Life is a zoo in a jungle. -Peter De Vries, editor and novelist

Life is an unbroken succession of false situations. -Thornton Wilder, playwright and novelist.

Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act. -Truman Capote, writer

Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you. -Wally 'Famous' Amos, actor and writer

Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all. -William Goldman, novelist, playwright and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter

Life is rather like a tin of sardines - we're all of us looking for the key. -Alan Bennett, author, actor, humorist and playwright.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. -Albert Einstein, physicist.

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed. -Corita Kent, artist and educator.

Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament. -George Santayana, philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist.

Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it. -Tom Lehrer, singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician.

Life is a magic vase filled to the brim; so made that you cannot dip into it nor draw from it; but it overflows into the hand that drops treasures into it-drop in malice and it overflows hate; drop in charity and it overflows love. -John Ruskin, British art critic and social thinker.

The purpose of life is a life of purpose. -Robert Byrne, author.

Life is about compromise. You must figure out a way to maximize your time with your family. By spending your money to buy affection, you may be putting their future in jeopardy and making the problem worse. -Dr.Phil, American television personality, author, and former psychologist

Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, philosopher, poet

Life is too short to be living somebody else's dream. -Hugh Hefner, magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.

Life is a series of commas, not periods. -Matthew Mcconaughey, actor

and to top it all....

Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you're alive, it isn't. -
Richard Bach, author.

Life is a Symphony

I saw this life inspiring message inside a popular gift shop, printed on one of their products...

"Life is a symphony of incredible music. It has its own soprano, tenor and bass. No matter how high or low the notes, keep in tune with God and you'll never go off the key in the beautiful music of life."

Everyday Notes to Enjoy Life (14)

This should be one of the best breaks from the usual sleep and lie down ritual we do in our rooms. You may wonder sometimes not to find some of your stuffs only to realize that they are just there lying dormant on one of the corners of your room. To rid yourself of the clutters and junks in your room, why not make it a hobby to clean and "de-organize" your once web-cluttered abode. You'll be surprised to find out what's hiding there. It could be a long-lost memorabilia, or a long-forgotten keepsake.

National Lotto Day

Today should be declared Philippine National Lotto day. Because this is the day where millions of Filipinos will troop to lotto outlets all over the country trying to win the biggest lottery pot in history - 320 million pesos at least (i.e. 6.8 million US dollars). We've already made our bets early in the morning making sure to avoid the longest lines of people in the afternoon. My wife thought of an ingenious way to have a better chance of winning. We call it group lotto. She and her officemates, I included, contributed three sets of numbers each that is worth 60 pesos bet and whichever number wins, the group will divide the pot equally. That increases each persons number of bets, which of couse increases his/her chances of winning. Well, good luck to us. May the best or should I say luckiest Filipino win.

UPDATE:(2/23/2009) 2 very lucky Filipinos today instantly became multi-millionaires after bagging the much coveted more than 300 million peso prize for yesterday's lotto draw. As for our group lotto, only one set picked a correct three-number combination which is equivalent to 100 peso prize. Well, we couldn't divide this amongst ourselves could we? We've just decided to place our money on the the next lottery.

Life is meant to be shared

Life in solitude is the saddest thing. Life is not meant to be spent in closed doors. Certainly not in an island where one is trapped by the boundless ocean.

The beauty of life can only be seen in the wonderful harmony of intertwined relationships - between yourself and your family, your friends, your neighbor, a stranger or anybody. Because life is meant to be shared. Those whose life feels incomplete needs to be complemented by others. Those who are in dire need need help. Those who are feeling alone and in despair need attention.

There are some ways to complement others' needs. Through compassion, the desire to help, and love for others are just some of them. The bad news is that, we are being held back by our fear and mistrust of others. Of thoughts that these people are just pretending and are not really worth our help.

True, there are people out there who in their desire for easier meal will take advantage on those who are warm-hearted. This should not hinder us. Those of us who are burdened by these limitations need only think of the story of the Good Samaritan, who in his selfless act of love gave new life to a total stranger. So don't be afraid to help, don't be scared to approach someone who asks for help. Reach out, open the doors of life and let those who are in need know that someone out there is ready to lend a helping hand.

Because life is really meant to be shared.

A very special Valentine poem

She said...

if you see me walking the road with someone else
it's not because i like his company
it's because you're not brave enough to walk beside me
if you hear me talking about him all the time
it's not because he pleases me
it's because you're too deaf to hear my heartbeat
if you feel me falling with someone new
it's not because i love him
it's because you're not there to catch me if i fall
if you feel lost, i too am nowhere
i too don't know where the road is going
are we gonna cross each other's path?
or just completely turn around?
will we just let go of what we had
or go to the place where love is bound
don't let me walk with him
its you i want to walk with
don't let me talk to him
its you i want to talk with
don't let me fall for him
its you i want to fall in love with.


He said ...

when you thought i wasn't brave enough to walk beside you
i was behind you every step of the way still filled with awe
because of the beauty that stands before me
when you thought i was too deaf to hear your heartbeat
i didn't want to assume anything
and i was afraid to lose our friendship
when you thought i wasn't there to catch you
it was because you never gave me the chance
you never reached the bottom, you've already grabbed a branch
if you feel like you are nowhere, i too am lost
i too don't know where the road is going
are we just going to turn around,
or are we gonna cross each other's path?
will we just let go of what we had
or go to the place where love is bound?
don't let me walk alone
i want to walk by your side
don't let me talk of something else
it's you i want to talk with
don't let me fall for someone else

A Psalm of Life

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
"Life is but an empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us further than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act -- act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.

As Longfellow firmly stated, in the world's broad field of battle, be somebody. Be someone who can realize his own dreams. Though often times hard, cumbersome and low, learn to persevere and learn to wait. Because dreams and aspiration can't be fullfilled in an instant. Life is a mixture of fortunes and misfortunes. So don't lay still and wait for your destiny to come. Curve your own path and leave something for others to follow.