THE SIMPLE KIND OF LIFE

Donabel,a former colleague at Jollibee, sent an email entitled:Cashing In,Opting Out. It was about former executives who decided to "retire" early from the rat race and get a life.

The common theme was that these people realized there was more to life than career,success and money. Family was important and most gave up lucrative jobs to be with the kids (the people who mattered.) One father used to have someone do the mowing of the lawn, but now he had fun doing it with the kids!

They also realized that their skills were still useful to other people and though they did not make as much money as before,they got a lot of fulfillment.

I recall the lyrics of John Denver's song: "Thank God I'm A country Boy!"

Well the simple kind of life never did me no harm
Of raisin me a family and working on the farm
My days are all filled with a simple kind of charm
Thank God I'm a Country boy

I wouldn't trade my life for diamonds and jewels
I never was one of them money-hungry fools
I'd rather have my fiddle, and my farm and tools
Thank God I'm a Country boy!

A REFLECTION: HUMAN BEING?HUMAN DOING?HUMAN BECOMING OR BEING/BECOMING HUMAN?

I've just had an activity-filled schedule these past two days.

Last Monday,I facilitated a strategic planning session with one of our Chowking stores that needed to turnaround, and yesterday I attended the Grand opening of our Pacific Star branch and attended FSC awarding ceremonies.

When I got home after each of these events I felt tired so I did some basic Yoga exercises to put myself at ease and help me relax.

This is my reflection:

I felt fulfilled I was able to put some hope in the members of the store that needed turning around. The franchisee was fired up about fighting it out in the market and if her spunk is an indicator,I'm optimistic they will succeed. After the session, I felt I had lived up to my title of "consultant."

My day was full yesterday with all the activities I had lined up. I also had a feeling of accomplishment though all I did was show up and give an inspirational talk or two.

But when I was also "doing" my Yoga exercises and feeling good from the stretching & relaxing, I also felt this was what living was all about. Life is also about just being still...we don't have to be doing something all the time!

My realization:

To be fully human...I have to do something.(There are talents,capabilities that were "gifted" to me...to be used for the service of my fellowmen)

To be fully human...I have to become the person I'm supposed to be.

To be fully human...I sometimes just have to stop and be still, and let life take its course.

YOU CAN'T CRASH COURSE GOLF

Yesterday I played golf with ex-seminary buddies at the Navy Golf Club. Since I hadn't played golf much less touched a club for over 3 years, I decided to hit some balls on the driving range before we teed off.

As expected I felt like a beginner on my first few shots but once I got my timing and rhythm I was starting to strike some balls cleanly. But it was what happened after practice that shocked me.

I started feeling aches and pains all over my body... my back ached,my arms ached, my legs felt like they were undergoing a cramps attack. It was as if there were muscles in my body that were awakened from their deep slumber and were now in a state of shock!

So going into our golf game I was already handicapped physically. To compound it all, I was starting to get a lot of exercise hitting balls from under trees, from the rough, from the sand so both my mind and body were getting tired though my spirit was still there. As I told my golfing partners, my mind was giving instructions on how to swing at the ball but my body just didn't seem to obey the instructions.

Lucky for me, my pitching around the greens and putting were OK, so I saved several strokes. Then after about 9 holes my game got going until about four or five holes. I drove the ball long, I picked the ball clean and did everything right until I got tired again!

So the moral lesson: Golf is a game that depends on muscle memory. If the muscles have los their memory...don't think you can shock them into remembering by subjecting them to a crash course...because in the end that's what you'll get... a crash! :-)

O YE OF LITTLE FAITH

James had been battling with fever yesterday and because of the ongoing dengue scare I couldn't help be concerned that he just might have gotten it!

When I checked his temperature this morning (I put my hand on his brow and felt his body) it was still a bit hot so I decided it would be better to bring him to the hospital and have him checked. At least if we knew he had it then we knew what we had to do.

In spite of my resolve though I could not help but feel worried so I prayed that James get well and hopefully did not have dengue. I was confident he had an edge because of his constitution but still it was better I play it safe.

It was a real struggle to be positive about the situation but somehow I managed to see this as a test of faith. I found out that if I let go fo my worries it was easier to trust God to do His job.

Fortunately, my doctor brother-in-law was around and when he took a look at James he said it was the flu. He prescribed some meds and said he'd check up on James later since he would be home during the day.

TOO MUCH FOCUS ON WHAT'S GOING WRONG THAN ON WHAT'S GOING RIGHT

This is in keeping with my effort to look at the bright side of life and develping a thankful attitude...

Last night, I read a piece on National writer F. Sionil Jose (dad of one of our ex-Juvenists, Eddie Boy Jose.) He said that he hopes for a revolution so that the Philippines can have the much needed change it needs. All our leaders up to now (with the exception of Magsaysay it seems) have just been looking after their own needs and maintaining the oligarchy at the expense of the poor.

Somehow my thoughts started turning towards negative scenarios... what if nothing really good came out of all the mess that's happening in the country today? I realized after this futile exercise in useless worrying that we live in a world where the focus is on what's going wrong,rather than what's going right.

I just read an article about self-proclaimed virgins in Hollywood and how these people are regarded as an oddity...and so are looked at with interest much like a specimen in a lab!

What if the media focused more on what's going right with the world?

What if the news was equated with "things that are going right?"

Maybe newspapers would not sell...but we would probably have a world with a better, more positive mindset.

THE SIMPLE JOYS OF LIFE

I watched "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with my wife and kids yesterday. It was a delightful movie. I particularly liked the song intermissions by the Looba-loobas each time one of the obnoxious kids got eliminated through their own doing.

Then this morning, for the first time in so many weeks the sun was shining brightly and rain clouds were nowhere in sight.

I almost missed enjoying these simple gifts of life because my mind was wandering about...thinking of what I was supposed to do today, and the "busy stuff" I was supposed to attend to.

We don't really need to look very far to find happiness...it's all around us if only we look with a different eye!

August 15 is a significant day because this was the day ( 6 years ago) that I left Jollibee and found a life! :-)

THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON MY PAINTING & A REFLECTION ON FATHERING

I'm almost done with the pastel painting of the Madonna and Child (Theotokos Ikon) that I started about a month ago.As in past projects, I find myself instinctively slowing down at the last stages because once I'm done with a project I'll have nothing to do again.

I noticed too that when I do my paintings I don't really follow any rules as to what will make the painting look great. It's as if my hands and eyes (and experience) take over and tell my brain which color to apply and how light or dark a tone must be for a specific area.

And because I'm working too close to the painting most of the time I do not see the overall effect of the detailing I do until I step back and see the painting as a whole.

I'm going to post a photo of my masterpiece soon as I'm done. Right now it's looking just great, if I may say so.

This morning I caught a feature in Discovery channel where the male species was being talked about. The portion I saw talked about how fathers spent time with their sons watching sports (football/baseball) as a means of bonding. Also, it sort of taught the sons what being masculine was all about.

It just struck me that I have not really taken my sons out to watch ball games or sports competitions. Most of my bonding has been watching movies, malling,browsing thru bookstores,jamming with them and even having a cookfest with them. But, that (hopefully) does not mean I'm not being a good male role model.

Maybe, I ought to check.Hmmmm.

LESSONS FROM A LATE LIFER

I chanced upon a blog on MSN Spaces entitled Late Life Crisis in which Prescott, an 83 year old blogger shares his experience as a "late lifer." His basic thought is that the so-called mid-life crisis is nothing compared to what he's experiencing late in life.

I read through some of his entries and it just struck me that there were lessons to be learned from what he shared. One clear lesson was that if I still want to be around for the long haul,I have to train myself or maybe program myself to be active mentally and physically when I'm old and grey.

So I thought to myself, maybe I ought to keep up with my weightlifting program,Yoga exercises,guitar playing, gardening, painting and papercraft as a way of maintaining my mental health. And maybe too,keeping my outlook young (and my sex drive in high gear!) ought to tide me over I'm in my 90's! :-)

INTO YOGA

Jaja and I tried out Yoga last night. We had bought this video on Yoga last Saturday and we thought we'd finally try out the exercises.

Overall, the experience was relaxing. We only did the Beginner's course and after about three standing poses we were sweating! While I was doing the Triangle pose and the Forward Bends I could feel some bones on my spine and shoulders "creaking," as if they were being stretched for the first time.

To top it all, I had a good, restful sleep last night.

Since Yoga promises benefits to all facets of one's life including one's sexual prowess,I'm curious to see if it really does work. So far, I've had a good start!

HOW TIME FLIES!

Yesterday, we brought our second son James to UP for his UPCAT exams. We underestimated the traffic so even though we were just outside the walls of the campus by 6 AM,we were crawling at snail's pace we feared James would not make it on time.

We decided that he and Jaja should walk to the exam venue, and it was good we did, because it took me another thirty minutes just to get inside!

Later, Jaja and I had breakfast at Craving's in Katipunan and while we were eating, we got to reminiscing about how it seemed like only yesterday when I was bringing James to nursery school at the Center for Talent and Education Center (CTEC) at Greenhills. I recalled how he was all smiles and didn't seem scared about being left alone with his teachers. I also recounted how behaved he was when I left him in class during his first day at Lourdes School.

Soon he would be in College (assuming he does pass his entrance tests,) and pretty soon, Tasha, our youngest will be going through the same rites of transition.

I can't but help recall the words from the "Fiddler On the Roof" song which goes:

Sunrise, Sunset
Sunrise, Sunset
Swiftly fly the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

So far so good...when I look at how our kids have blossomed, I can say we've not done too bad as parents.

I wonder how it will be when we're grandparents! Only time will tell. :-)

THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR

Yesterday I pulled out our car from the repair shop and paid a total of P 19,400.00 for major repairs to problems which were not supposed to be there in the first place.

I brought the car in last Wednesday because it was overheating. I suspected there was a leak somewhere because I had just filled up the reservoir with coolant last Sunday,but that morning when the car overheated and I checked under the hood, the reservoir was empty! Then when I was finally able to open the radiator there was no water visible, and I had to fill it up with about two liters of water.

When the mechanics checked,they said the water pump needed replacement. (P 3,900) After a little while,they called up again and said they needed to replace some bearings because it was making a humming sound.(P3,600) Then much later, the supervisor informed me they discovered another major problem: the CV joints needed replacement and it was for our safety that this had to be done (P 5,000)

This was one of those unexpected expenses, and it couldn't have come at a very bad time. I was saving up money because I have to pay over P34,000 worth of taxes this August!

It was difficult looking for something to be thankful for under the circumstances. But I found out that if you really want to think positive...you'll be able to find something good even in a bad situation.

My positive thought was this: "I should still be thankful the problems of the car were found out. What if I had met an accident because the repairs hadn't been done. I would probably been in a worse way, and our expenses would have been much bigger than P 19,400."

With that thought in mind I was able to bounce back from the initially frustrating situation and enjoy the rest of the day dating my wife!

THE THRILL OF SMALL DAILY VICTORIES

In keeping with my goal of improving myself a little each day,last night I finally finished the automata (mechanical paper model) of the "Agreeable Sheep," which I had printed last week on cardboard but never got to work on.

Tasha, who was watching me cutting out the cardboard parts and assembling the model, waited till about past ten to see me complete the project. At one point she even volunteered to help me glue the tiny parts when she saw me struggling a bit. ("Do you need a smaller finger?")

"How cute!" Tasha exclaimed when she saw me turn the handcrank that made the sheep's head bob up and down.

Now that I have assembled my first automata, I feel like moving on to more complex models. And since I now know how these things work basically and I also believe I can start designing my own simple models.

What a big difference a small accomplishment makes!

JUST SOME THOUGHTS ON GETTING THRU THE "AVERAGE" DAY

I've been checking out this blog"Girl In Progress,"and Christa (the girl in progress) who's been writing about how she's getting over a recent divorce, wrote the other day that she's just in the average groove and really had nothing exciting to write about.

For most of us mere mortals, I guess that's just the way things are. We don't go through life everyday as if we were in an action movie,romantic drama or suspense thriller flick. Most of the time, it's just an ordinary day of going through the daily grind. Nothing much to get real excited about...or blog about!

But this is where our challenge lies. How to make the ordinary day extraordinary!

It can be done by doing the daily routine a little bit better or a little bit more perfectly. Or we can do things a little bit differently and creatively.

The excitement need not be forced upon us by circumstances outside of us.

We have the power within us to create the excitement!

OF CHAOS AND CREATION

I was finally able to finish the caricature of a former Bedan batchmate of mine,and sent the illustration to him last night. It just felt good getting something done!

The only problem with completing projects like these is that I'm now "idle" again and looking for something to do... to get creative again!

Hmmmm...That's probably what God must feel whenever He gets something created...He probably starts feeling the urge to get chaotic so that He can once again put order.

The story of our life...the story of the universe.