Gratitude to the Unknown Stranger

I just read in a friend's blog yesterday about gratitude because a stranger has helped her get a cab from a wrong spot to the correct place. All without expecting anything in return! Today, i just experienced likewise. Well, not totally the same...

Here's the story, me and my family went shopping at the Landmark. And since signal is very awful in that area, specially for the Sun subscribers, i decided to put my cellphone in my shallow pocketed pants. All was uneventful, that is, until we were already leaving the place. I felt something drop out of my pants and make clonk clonk sounds. But as i reached for my pockets, i didnt' remember putting anything in them, thus i went on walking. A guy suddenly approached me and handed me my phone. Bless his soul!! If he didn't return it, i would've lost my beloved 6230i... Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!! Eventhough I was a trifle shy and just uttered a few thank you's and you hurriedly ran back to your gf's side, I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart and wish all the best of you and your relationship. I pray that God will bless you and all the fruit of your labors. ^^;

signing off
Pamie

The Acomodador

The acomodador or giving-up point: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress: a trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, a disappointment in love, even a victory that we did not quite understand, can make cowards of us and prevent us from moving on. As part of the process of increasing his hidden powers, the shaman must first freee himself from that giving-up point and, to do so, he must review his whole life and find out where it occurred.

There were a lot of things that became my acomodador during the last year, thus disabling me from progressing. Let's take for example, I was rapidly progressing in my diet routine. Nothing could take me from it. But when i learned something distressing, i just lost all sense of doing it. And then there's this never ending program i am currently writing.. When I started, it was really fast paced. Then when the progress started building, and then i learned of the news, all sense of finishing it just went up to the air. Now i just touch it when i "have time" and then procastinate again. Like going to the net and doing nothing in particular. I guess some of you might have a hunch of what the news is, so whatever you're thinking of, then the chances are, you're right. =D

The Turnabout:
To identify the acomodador that is causing me from progressing, to heal from it, and then to move forward. Even if it is slow paced. I had been meaning to blog this for a long time now, but i guess i'm too chicken to do it until now.... I hope i can progress soon, or i'm just wasting my precious time here.. ^^

On Happiness

A friend once asked me if i was happy with my current situation. See, i'm now well nested within family walls and day in and day out i routinary go to work, home, work, and the endless cycle goes on. None of the carefree life i once had in college wherein there's cute profs and we gals gush over 'em endlessly and the thesis days wherein we'd sleep in late and go to friends' places for overnight. Of course there are also those wild rendevouz that may seem "wild" to me coz i was raised traditionally. There were times when i lived in suspense, because of my rebelliousness, i feared for the outcome of my actions. Thankfully I managed through all those headaches. ^^ Yea i had fun. IF that was the case. But it was all temporary. I grew distant from my family and thought if only i had someone to snatch me out of my 4-walled house then i would indeed be happy. But life isn't that easy. One has to deal with the problems and realities in life. Not escape them. So in essence, the famous saying "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" is applicable to me now. Instead of doing it my way, i learned to embrace my present situation. To accept that this is my lot and make the most out of the opportunity presented to me. That is why my signature in a particular forum goes: "Live to the Hilt every situation you believe to be the Will of God ~ J. Elliot". Thus i have started anew and thankfully learned a lot during my rebellious years. There's a lesson waiting for us to learn at every nook and cranny of this school we call life.

Right now, i can answer that i am indeed happy. Content in singleness. Happy and loved by family. A simple life with simple expectations. ^^

Meet Ming Dao

Met him while watching "Frog Prince". Maybe u guys are wonderin why i wasn't blogging the past few days.. well i was burning my couch with my eyes glued to this guy.. hehehe!! for 3 straight days! i only slept for 4hrs!! hahahha!! now to confirm my fanaticism.. i've downloaded all their songs and have put them in my trusty fone.. good thing my bros aren't deaf yet with my constant playback of their themesong.. hahaha!! ^^

Have you ever seen a drooling donkey? Basag na monitor ko.. ^^

Coffee anyone?

The good and bad of coffee

The history: I became a coffee junkie during my Brazil days (their coffee i swear tastes sooo great!!) but forced myself to stop due to unwanted side effects.. (things like heightened concentration - even for the tini-mini things i'll remember those.. then will get a whirling headache in the as my withdrawal symptom) blargh!!!

Reason why i hate to drink coffee even though it tastes soo good...
This is what coffee makes me do...
1. I can't sleep at night!! grrrr... but the coffee tastes sooo good!!!
2. Finish at least something in the middle of the night. ^^
3. Will have large eyebags tomorrow morning... and a biggie headache... darn.. so i'll completely in a state of unknown tomorrow...

Hail to the Siraniko!!

Incidentally, linkx asked me yesterday if i would like to invent sumthing for the web. But I'm not for it yet. And today, lo and behold! My printer just got busted today. My bro wanted it to be replaced. And the siraniko in me.. yea, i actually managed to blow up a wireless headphone before (worth 5000php!) thus i was then branded as the siraniko of the family.. hehee!! ^^

Now for the printer thingy: my bro wanted to print out his thesis using our cheapeapay printer epson c45 (which is totally "sulit") for us since the ink is just 290 (refillable up to 3x!) and stores inks 4x its counterparts! Our good ole' printer decided to die out on us today by saying that it needs service and that some parts are already due for maintenance. I was actually like: "Whoa!! how did the damn thing know about us using fake inks?" But of course since it won't be on warranty anymore since we constantly used fakes throughout its lifetime, i decided to embark on the net to find out answers.

The answer? The waste pad is full and we need to reset the counter of the wastepad.

The software was freely available and...

we needed to makeshift the wastepad so that the printer will spill the ink elsewhere (to a bottle!!). After much tinkering and breaking of the printer parts (I found out that the printer doesn't have any screws in it!) only fastened by plastics?!!? (which we eventually broke but its still in one piece) ^^ This is now the pictursque ending of our printer. Its a little ugly but it works!! (its a good thing that i've managed to keep some mira e bottles that came in handy!)

The Zahir

According to the writer Jorge Luis Borges, the idea of the Zahir comes from Islamic tradition and is thought to have arisen at some point in the 18th century.

Zahir, in Arabic, means visible, present, incapable of going unnoticed. It is someone or something which, once we have come into contact with them or it, gradually occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else. This can be considered either a state of holiness or of madness
Faubourg Saint-Peres

I believe we all have the Zahir in our lives. But in one point or another, when we cannot fight the forces of nature from ever attaining the Zahir of our lives, we then sigh with resignation and accept defeat: more on the fact that life must go on. Life must have more to offer than the Zahir. Then the Zahir gradually fades in its power. From madness it becomes a memory, to a faint image, a bittersweet memory. We may remember it in time but prolonged absense makes it loose its power on us. Right now I have a particular Zahir that is just beginning to loose its hold. What I cannot understand is that why it still chooses to retain contact, even when all is a loss cause. Maybe God has other plans for me. But the times are not for me to know. I just have to live life one step at a time. And give myself fully to the present need.

Still more of Paulo Coelho

Let's suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterward, when they emerge and go over to a sea, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man's face is completely clean. Which of the two will wash his face?

Most of us would think: "That's a silly question. The one with the dirty face, of course."

No, the one with the dirty face will look at the other man and assume that he looks like him. And, vice versa, the man with the clean face will see his colleague covered in grime and say to hmself: I must be dirty too. I'd better have a wash.

I came to realize that I was always looking for myself in the women I loved. I looked at their lovely, clean faces and saw myself reflected in them. They, on the other hand, looked at me and saw the dirt on my face and, however intelligent or self-confident they were, they ended up seeing themselves reflected in me and thinking that they were worse than they were. Please, don't let that happen to you. - Paulo Coelho (Zahir)

Are relationships built this way? When we're single, we're given a chance to know who we are individually. We always look at ourselves and ask ourselves if what we did is alright already. But once we get into a relationship, we always ask our partner, do we look alright? Are our clothes ok? Is my makeup alright? We thrive so much of other people's opinion. We wanted so much to please the other person. And what of opinions of ourselves? When the other person degrades us, then we see the world in their eyes. We loose our self respect. We loose our ability to reason that what he may be saying is wrong. Instead, we trust that voice that belittles us. But on the other hand, if the voice is of an encouraging one, we gain strength from it. Thus, i can conclude that the one with the dirty face is better off coz he sees the world thinking that he has a clean face. He faces the world with more courage and is able to take on tasks that seem magnanimous.