It Wasn't...

It wasn' easy and it wasn't hard... What do i exactly mean by that?

It wasn't easy living everyday with unsolved problems, anxieties, unanswered prayers, and all that stuff but come to think of it, it wasn't hard either to be still and ask for God's grace.

Maybe it is our pride sometimes that we find it hard to ask for God's help; to plea everytime; to beg for miracles to come. Maybe it is not really all those factors mentioned above that make life hard; maybe the attitude that is.

Personally, there are no help that God failed to provide me with and all I did was just to ask for it. And I guess if we never get tired of praying over and over again for a certain request then God will never get tired of granting our appeal- all in His own time and will.

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. (Proverbs 17:28 KJV)

Hardened Not

I received a bad news...a really bad news. Every one who will receive such thing will really be crying his heart out! The problem is I didn't.

I asked myself, Am I bad? Am I hardened? These questions were stuck in my head because that's how I really felt about myself.

Why couldn't I feel anything? I need to cry and it just won't come out.

Then all of the sudden these words came into head as if an angel whispered every word to my ears...

"If I can't take the big blows, then I am not ready to take the BIG LEAP of my life."

Yes... I am well shaped by all the trials I had been through all these years. Not that I am hardened or I don't have feelings anymore or I don't care at all. It is just I am very confident that God is with me and I am sure that He will never give me anything that I cannot bear.

I am stronger NOT hardened. I am more open to life's challenges and I am more trusting to God.

And you know what? Just as we taught God leaves or abandons us, He didn't... He is giving the best cheers that encourage us to move on...life goes on and there's no turning back. We may give up on Him for times we are tested but He never did... Not now, not ever!


God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. - Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

Rest In You

In my humble relfection, I realized how restless our hearts can be. We have so many worries, anxieties and doubts despite being called as children of God. Until these words came inside my heart... "Find and appreciate the little joys in every day life and wait for greater joys in God's own sweet, perfect time." It is like a small voice that whispered to me. It gave me a sense of relief and a more profound trust.

So everytime I feel the daily rush, I sit and relax my mind and begin to think of our gentle God. Just as St. Augustine prayed "We are made for you, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You!"

"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." - Lamentations 3:26

Choose Happiness

ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY...

Compassion - How Much Does It Matter

Compassion is a gift a person can possess as one experiences God’s love and be able to share that gift with others.

Compassion is the ability to reveal one’s feelings for what they perceive others are feeling. To show compassion is the essence and apex of our humanness. A compassionate person is sensitive to the feelings of other’s pain, joy, disappointment, fear. A compassionate person can sense what people feel and express and reflect these feelings back to them.

I remember and I acknowledge my sense of being compassionate to my mother. She created to us an atmosphere of a “feeling family”. She taught me to be considerate and sensitive with how others feel. Maybe she’s too sensitive before that she would point out and revealed her feelings openly every time she’s hurt or offended. She would say “I was hurt” or “I feel angry about your terrible attitude”. I realized she didn’t intend to place guilt trips on me, but a way of attempting and cultivating me to become sensitive. Her character has shaped me a lot into becoming a “feeling person” as I grew older.

It is important to realize the strengths and positive outcomes of being compassionate by asking ourselves- do we want to become more human?

In our times, we experience people who would say “this is what I feel and I don’t care what others feel or say about me” – this does not convey feelings of compassion.

To be a compassionate person also means to have a sense of SIN. Sin most often involves hurting another and depriving another of the expression of our feelings can be very hurtful. It is better to acknowledge those hidden feelings than to be silent about them. Being silent or indifferent is more hurting and abusive than any physical hurts.

“He never made any comment on how hurt I was”… to be conscious of our depriving, hurtful behavior is the beginning of becoming a sensitive person. The more sensitive we are to another’s pain and more responsive we are to it by seeking forgiveness and making improvements, the more we qualify as healing and compassionate persons.

INSENSITIVE people, however, plow under or bruise people without any realization of what they are doing. Such persons are irresponsible, uncaring, and self-centered. They live inside their own world apart and isolated from the reality of others. They lose their sense of sin and thought they have no business with other’s feelings!

The more you are connected with your inner-self, the more sensitive and compassionate you become – you can relate and communicate that feeling with others and can see right through them!

We can never be compassionate if we lack sense of self! We must first in touch with our inner world – our pain, anxieties, anger, hurt, confusion, conflict, doubt, fears. Until we experience these feelings in ourselves, sensitivity and compassion towards other will never be attained!

Most people lacking compassion and sensitivity are usually not in touch with their own feelings and when they are, they are uncomfortable with them!

Remember that when you are compassionate and sensitive to your own self and to others, you truly experience God within yourself.

A compassionate person also must have so much feeling for others that he or she is willing to confront them.

Revealing your feelings of being hurt to the person who adversely hurt you is one way of expressing compassion. This may take form of anger, discipline, challenge, pleading, or even screaming – any way we can reach them, whom we say love! Direct confrontation is equally necessary to dislodge or unlock the situation. It was risky, but it worked!

I know a lot of compassionate people. Being on top is my mom, who unconditionally loves me and my kuya; Lhoraine, who fearlessly confronted me about my shortcomings so I may realize my mistakes and be sorry about them; my friends, Laurence, Lhoraine, Jackie, Rachel who are so enabled helping others, especially me during my hours of darkness. These people don’t act for me nor make decisions for me; neither solve my problems. They helped me reach inside myself to get in touch with my untapped and unrecognized potentials.

So, how much does it matter to be compassionate? - A LOT!

When LOVE is Impossible

If there’s one that I learned about life and love is to always express your love for someone even in the hardest way. Expressing your love doesn’t only mean being verbal about it; sometimes and most of the times, effort counts a lot. The problem is when we face disagreement with someone close to us and we just end up doing nothing and are silent about our feelings. That in turn, makes us indifferent and just accepts the fact that the relationship has ended.

"Relationship often dies because of silence and not in violence."

Proper expression of feelings is very important. It makes us healthy almost in all aspects; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It creates a good atmosphere not just within our self but with others, as well.

Lately, I faced a lot of stressful occasions and really it made me feel so low and dispirited. It encompassed not only my personal relationship but also my work and my relationship with a very close friend of mine. I told God that I could no longer handle anything else. I wondered maybe God taught of me as a very strong person, when in fact I am not. People would often see me that way not knowing that I am actually hurting inside. For the past months, I’ve been crying about my relationship with Bein followed by a sudden transfer of assignment given to me by the company I am working with. And just recently, a very close friend of mine expressed her disappointment to me. I was really frustrated and questioned why I am being hurt by the people I loved most? As I speculate on the things that are happening to me, I realized that I cannot handle all of them and that I need to trust God as I face all those challenges.

But if there’s one thing very good about all those happenings, I learned to express my feelings. I learned to accept humility as part of my well-being. I began to tell myself that I am hurt but not destroyed; that I can be better and that there is a chance to rise above the challenges. Challenges might be very hurting but they should never stop us from loving. They can even be a supportive tool that helps us to be stronger and more loving and sympathetic with others. We began to see that we are not alone in facing the tests of life because of the people who surround us with hope and love. I took every moment I have to communicate my feelings with them. Sometimes, it disheartens me when I don’t get a response but nevertheless, what’s more important is I have told them how much I value and love them.

Everyday, we are given the chance to make other’s feel that they are loved and that includes ourselves. Self-love is equally important in sharing our love with others and self-love requires self-preservation, self-respect, and self-trust. Absolutely, Self-love is much different from being Selfish. Self-love is necessary in order to love and touch other’s lives. And besides, nobody knows when our time is over so might as well do the best we can to impart love and inspiration to others. That is the very essence of our lives and that is what we are being called for – loving despite of hurting!

Always tell someone that you love them because you never know what day will be their last, or your own.

Always seek to resolve your problems or disagreements with loved ones because if either of you should pass on before, the one who is left alive will have the rest of their life to ponder those unresolved feelings but will never find closure. And closure usually brings Peace...

Everything in Between

It is a common knowledge that everything started and was created by God. We also know that our ultimate destination is also with Him. He is our beginning as well as our end! He is the Alpha and the Omega! But what we hardly recognize is what comes in between the start and the end.

Our lives here on earth are spent more in between these periods and what we do during this lifetime are the things that make up our lives and shape our characters! The things that we do today make us experience the fullness of life and prepare us for our final goal of one day spending an eternal life with God.

We are now in this “between” period of our lives. We are dealing with this journey given the gifts of perseverance and fortitude. There are times when we are greatly tested and it is very comforting to know that during this “between” period, we are given hope and a multitude of chances to make up with our shortcomings; not only to ourselves but with the people around us. We have the spirit of humility to accept that we are humans and as such, we have strengths and weaknesses. And as we grow and mature, we learn to accept and acknowledge our weaknesses and able to improve ourselves out of our own breakdowns and failures. And one way of knowing that we have accepted ourselves as a whole is when we view the sunsets of our lives with a smile on our face with a feeling of contentment for passing through another day and looking forward for the next one.

Personally, I find myself in this ‘between’ period of my life. I felt being the hardest of all periods but still the most rewarding. I learned the values of patience, humility and perseverance. All the more, this period of my life has strengthened my faith and shaped my confidence to God. I learned that nothing is too impossible to carry if only we recognize Him in all areas of our lives. He is the beginning and the end and everything in between!

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain."

"Every sacrifice has a fruitful reward. Every failure has a second chance. We only have to be strong thru God's grace and persevere in life's many tests!"