From my boss
In life God doesn’t give you the people you want, instead He gives you the people you need. To teach you, to hurt you, to love you, and make you exactly the way you should be.
Aside from the dance music streaming from my co-worker’s speakers (volume was down but audible enough to make me start dancing – inside my head that is, and looping to the same set over and over that I’m starting to choreograph my own moves it’s beginning to be a full length entertainment show), the rest of my Monday is rocking as ever.
The past days had been great and fruitful too. Isn’t it amazing that when we identify all the good things and review them in our minds, it makes us even more grateful than we already are? The “feel good” points multiply in exponential proportions and we don’t even have to exert an effort.
Here are a few things I want to keep in my joy bank (for future “withdrawal” aka reminiscing should the need arise):
My web guest bearing the footprint from San Jose, CA in my Feedjit tracker – who appears to be frequenting my websites lately. Hi! Hello! Who are you? Nice to meet you. I hope you leave a message and let me know who you are, but if you want to stay anonymous, I’m okay with that too. I just hope that each time you leave, you are feeling better than when you arrived.
The GIANTS winning the World Series.
I like how unbeknownst to the whole nation, everyone in the USA following baseball (which is the entire country, I guess) has gathered in regular united prayer during the 7th inning stretches by singing “God Bless America”. What a beautiful moment I always looked forward to in the games!!! So many times God and prayers have been kicked out of the country – in schools, offices, households and public places… I’m glad that America has not completely forgotten… (“Let us all be grateful for a land so fair”). Come to think of it, we probably have said altogether the exact prayer that we so need as a nation!
The extra hour because of Daylight Saving Time. How did you use that extra one hour in your life, which, albeit only technical, still gave us 60 minutes to spare as we pleased?
An old friend from Student Catholic Action, Olibs, who responded to my FB shoutout for a potential outreach program in the Philippines while I’m there. With all the blessings I’ve been showered with, there is this tiny achy kind of desire pinching deep in my heart to be able to pay it forward, to fellow Filipinos most especially. I really don’t have that much and my resources are limited with a steep plane fare putting a dent in my wallet. But who knows? I really hope to pursue the possibility with the organization she recommended.
(Happening a day after #5…) A happy phone conversation with my mom (and dad too) and a surprise good news from my mom that we might be able to plan out a possible book donation charity project while I’m there for a visit this Christmas. Bless the hearts of those who donated and the channels that were instrumental!!! Perfect timing, isn’t it? Too much of a coincidence, you think?
For #6, the donated books seemed to “fall” on our laps at the right time. It happened on the exact same day I made a shoutout on FB for #5 . I found out about it the day after. Oh, I’ve been wanting to do this since a decade ago but I just didn’t know where to start! I’m tickled silly as always. And too excited for the endless possibilities. A multiplication of smiles to start with…
So…
To quote my friend, Olibs, in her response to me, “Anything is possible. Sometimes, the resources, strength and all things naturally come when the heart is into it. Since you have the heart, God will definitely bless your efforts.”
HOW TRUE. (In street lingo I don’t really use, I might just say, “How freaking/friggin’/effin’ true”. LOL)
I look forward to it. I look forward to more.
You know you’d want that too, right?
Please?
dEaR gOd, tHaNk yOu 4 D eXtRa hOuR tHiS wEeKeNd! It’s really doing wonders up to this very moment! (and I hate typing like that but thought the extra effort will show You how GrAtEfuL I am for this..but yes, I still can’t type that way).
Church, check! And then my once a week decaf treat I’m thankful for so many times over. The cup’s smiling and waiting to kiss me, LOL.
TGIF! Even if truthfully we have everyday to thank God for. I’m eating as I write this. Yes, this wonderful breakfast bagel from my co-worker who might as well be Mayor of Awesometown. She is one those souls whose purpose in life is to make Friday mornings even more delightful by giving out goodies for free! I’m not exactly a bad person yet a commitment like that is something that will be hard for me to pull off!
Anyhoo….last weekend, my once-a-week decaf coffee lid seemed to smile back at me. Now, the bagel is sticking its tongue out. LOL. Perhaps to say, there goes my diet. But I’ll hop right back on tomorrow. I promise. Meanwhile, I will enjoy my blessings.
My many blessings!
-The bagel and the bagel co-worker harhar -Saturday night Giants game party at Ate Shell’s, with the wonderful Paella!!! -seeing Alyssa and family even for a short time last Sunday -Ate Shell sharing her Netflix account for our PS3 -Thursday night pho dinner with the hubs and Lauren -Lauren helping us set up our PS3 for netflix -The plant guy who waters our office plants weekly saying that we’re so lucky to be intact and happy in our jobs. He makes rounds to different offices taking care of plants and he would always find new deserted areas and cubicles due to recession.
All these…
And the prospect of a good relaxing rainy day bedroom weather weekend up ahead…
Have a grand one y’all! And don’t forget to be grateful!
Sweet halloween cookie from a sweet friend at work. Thanks, Moe! I don’t want to eat it because it’s perfect for my lil Halloween corner in my cube!
My once a week decaf “treat” (can’t have coffee due to some health issues) which makes me think the cup is happy for me and even smiling back at me. LOOK!
“Misión Cumplida”
This week is a good week, plus TGIF in two hours as I write this. There has been a lot of things to be grateful for this week. The beautiful, beautiful sky this morning, the breakfast plate my co-worker made for me, the ripe calamansi fruits that another co-worker gave me. And yes, the shipment I received from Balenciaga.
But the week unfolded as if to reiterate what Rick Warren (of Purpose-Driven Life) has said,
“…and God says the most valuable things in life are not things!”
TRUE.
No amount of material things can surpass the joy that the whole world felt when all the 33 miners in Chile were finally pulled out to see the light and breathe the air again, to see their loved ones, and just “LIVE” again, in every sense of the word. I never prayed this hard for strangers I’ve never met before until I saw their video in yahoo a little more than a month ago. Such deplorable fate they got caught in.
But yesterday, all the 33 men were pulled out one by one. The whole world received 33 consecutive GOOD NEWS stories broadcasted worldwide, all in one day, for a change. Thirty-three good news stories in one day. It’s really a breath of fresh air.
Did you notice what they had in common? That we found most of them kneeling and praying, or making the sign of the cross in gratitude upon getting out of the rescue capsule? They stayed alive for 17 days without contact to the outside world (a first, I believe), they were able to hang on until rescue came two months later. Surely, it’s not a coincidence. Now, do you realize WHO really saved them and kept them alive? ALL OF THEM?
ANGELS ABOUND
Hurray!
All my significant memoirs (even the not-so) are finally UNDER ONE ROOF.
I’ve longed to see them become a major part of the site but never had a chance to realize it sooner because of my always-out-of-whack schedule. (plus I guess I’m more technically-challenged than I dare admit, harhar).
But thanks so much to an angel named Kaye of http://wahmaholic.com who did it for me. She was the one who converted them to XML codes and was painstakingly importing the posts in batches (maximum allowable per day, on a strict schedule), making sure photos were successfully turned over, and sifting through comments and ensuring they were posted as well (while I lived my normal crazy life).
I’m in the process of purging my online networking sites and my first blog happened to be co-terminus with Friendster, unfortunately the next in line to be axed. So before that happens, I wanted to make sure the 5 years worth of memories/blog posts at “Thoughts at 3am” aka “Til the Crack of Dawn” don’t die with it.
So yippy, the exodus is done. They precede my January 2010 first Sublime Spirit post. (http://www.missclarisse.com)
And special thanks really go out to Kaye for doing it all for me! I can’t thank her enough. REALLY!!! You might wonder why it’s that big a deal for me. Well, it is that big a deal. I’m sentimental and waxing nostalgic just being reminded of my journey. And it helps put my thoughts and feelings in perspective.
WHAT A JOURNEY IT HAS BEEN!
ANGELS are strangers/friends who are always willing to lend a helping hand. They are right there in your moment of need. To the rescue!!!
Thank God for real-life angels.
Maybe that’s what angels really are anyway. You, me, him, her… we can all be one for somebody! We just need to be on the lookout for that one perfect opportunity. Or many.
MY SURVIVAL TOOL I’m quite tech savvy alright. I blog, I tweak my sites’ HTML & CSS codes here and there a lot, I own 2 laptops (big & small), an iPhone…can’t live without my Kindle yadadada. BUT GUESS WHAT, I will not survive without the trusty old-school planner/organizer (and a multi-colored ballpoint pen — I always had 1 or 2 in my purse for more than 10 years now) Thank you, big chunky planner, thank you Franklin Covey — my newest! (http://franklincovey.com)! I tried to exchange you over the years for PDAs and cellphones and now an iPhone…yet I keep going back. Nothing beats organizing and capturing thoughts and ideas with real ink on paper, a little doodle on the sides, some real photos and stickers, sticky notes, and real non-virtual sleeves and pockets for receipts and business cards. I feel like I’m still in college and it makes hurdling tasks and schedules easier, happier….”funner” (yes, there is no such word!).
I held a tiny fragment of a dinosaur bone today c/o my co-worker who just came back from a mining trip in Utah. Mesozoic? Cretaceous? Jurassic? Or a lost dog from the 50s. Just kidding, I’m giddy as hell. It’s going to be a good week for all of us (because I said so LOL).
I SEE SKIES SO BLUE
For the first time in months, maybe a couple of years, I took a walk during lunch break sans any electronic device attached to me. No music plugged into my ears – thanks to the iPhone battery which went kaput on me right before I finished shoving my tootsies into my tennis shoes. No Kindle on my hands either because I had forgotten to charge it yesterday.
I don’t quite remember how it feels like to be actually exposed to the real sounds and scenes of my fresh surroundings anymore, considering that my workplace is right by the water, where trees, birds, squirrels and jackrabbits abound! I would always be either shuffling and listening through nice YouTube videos, or letting Pandora surprise me with songs to my liking, or walking with my head down while hoping not to stumble as I caught up on my latest Kindle read (yes, you don’t get glare with a Kindle…because “it is a Kindle” – have you seen that ad? LOL).
But thanks to powers going out, it reacquainted my senses to the wonderful things right under my nose: …The clear blue sky…oh I walked a few steps just staring up for a change… …The cool gentle breeze kissing my face, it’s such a nice day today! …The soothing rustle of leaves which are starting to fall …The clear view of the city across the bay…beautiful bay bridge! …The sound of very tiny waves slapping against the rocks …The ducks paddling far down on the water…or are those pelicans? …The unique smell of the bushes around the corner that reminds me of my grandmother’s antique closet (weird, I know) …The sweet smell of magnolias by the adjacent building’s patio …The loud but non-imposing roar of airplanes passing overhead …The steady drone of a machinery somewhere close by …The sound of tires against the asphalt of occasional cars passing by…that little cracking sound they make against the gravel …The rhythmic thud of tennis shoes on concrete and some panting from the runner across the street …Sounds of distant laughter, and I thought I even heard a dog bark
I drank them all, I drank them all. And I have no electronic picture snapped for show-and-tell so you’re going to have to trust me on this. But they are all in my heart!
It feels so good to be alive!
I’m going to do this again next week.
Why do some people question kindness?
Instead, thank God that it exists…
Here’s the link, enter at your own risk LOL: http://bit.ly/9wHqbM
