In everything give thanks; for t his is the will of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Several years ago, some friends of mine drove out East to spend Thanksgiving Day with their relatives. On the way, their car began giving them trouble. Fortunately, they found a gas station open where a mechanic was on duty. But he didn’t have the parts to make the necessary repairs, so they were delayed until he could locate them.

They finally arrived late at night at the home where their loved ones were waiting anxiously. But their troubles weren’t over. By morning, most of them had the flu! When the time came to return to Grand Rapids, they still weren’t feeling well. To make matters worse, about halfway home the baby also became ill.

Worn out and discouraged, they continued on in silence. Then one of the little tykes in the back seat piped up, “What ever happened to Thanksgiving?”

That’s the way we sometimes react to adversities. When all’s well and things are going our way, it’s easy to praise the Lord. But when our plans are disrupted, bills pile up, our health fails, or disappointments come, thankfulness seems to disappear. Yet the Bible tells us to give thanks in everything! When we do, we won’t ask, “What ever happened to Thanksgiving?” Every day will be thanksgiving!

I am ashamed! I realize now that Thanksgiving’s here. God daily gives His gifts to me; I give thanks once a year. —heine

A good attitude toward life begins gratitude towards God.

As you may have imagined, the Skyrim Saga did not end with my previous post. After having resigned to the notion that I would not be having the game on its release day, I tried to resume my Life as normally as I could. I wrote, I read, I watched a couple of films, and was going about my usual business when a friend tipped me, on Saturday afternoon, that the game had arrived at the store where I had been on Friday morning. First thoughts: “Awesome!“. Second thoughts: “Must get dressed and go out“.

And so I did. As I got out of the house, my mind began to wonder: if the game had arrived at the store where I had been on Friday morning, it was possible that it had also arrived at the store where I went on Friday afternoon, which is considerably closer to where I live. I walked there and enquired of the game. The same rude-ish guy that was there on Friday let me know that the PC version hadn’t arrived there yet.

At this point, someone normal would have come back home and gone to the other store some other day. Someone slightly less normal would have taken the subway to the store to get the game. Me? I turned on my mp3 player and began a forty-five minute walk there, my legs on turbo mode.

Fueled by Hadouken! and by an unexplicable hunger for Skyrim, it took me an odd thirty minutes to get to the store. My eyes bloodshot, my pulse quickened, my ability to reason way out there, I headed over to the gaming section and looked for the promised Grail of 2011′s Gaming. And indeed, there it was.

On the Game-shelf I found one case that read Skyrim. I picked it up carefully, with respect, as if holding something religious, something sacred. I knew that a friend of mine (the one who tipped me) was also looking for a copy, so I asked the clerk if there were any more. His answer: only two copies had come through, the one I held, and another that was being held back due to a reservation. I assumed (correctly so) that it was my friend who had made a reservation.

Now truly happier than a bird with a french fry, I went to the cashiers, holding the game against me as I would hold a newborn child, and thinking of how lucky I was that I got ONE of the only TWO versions that had come through. At the register was a cool bloke who started up a conversation about the game — he commented on how epic it promised to be, and how he was going to get a copy for the xbox.

Needless to explain to you how fast I got home. I ran through my house door another thirty minutes later, and switched the computer on as I tore the wrapping plastic on the game apart, and took a look at the booklet and awesome map that came with it. At this point I was pretty much laughing maniacally and clapping like a retarded seal. The cat went into hiding, possibly because of that.

I installed the game. Or, I tried to. As the installation of the Steam platform loaded, something crashed and the installation was cancelled. “Wtf.” I thought to myself. I tried again. And again, the installation crashed.

“In the name of Kynareth, what the bloody hell is going on here?!” I called out, loud enough to be heard by the neighbours.

An error kept coming up that did not allow the installation to go through. First steps: look for a solution online. I was led to several different forums (including the Vale/Steam support ones) where I found quite an expended topic on the subject. As it turns out, it is a reasonably “common” error that a lot of people were getting, and for which there seemed to be plenty of solutions.

“Phew.” I phewd, hope and sanity slowly returning to my body.

I tried the presented solutions. All of them. One by fucking one. And need I say it? — none of them worked.

I started to despair, ever so slightly. “No,” I kept thinking to myself “Fate cannot be so cruel, it cannot hate me to this point.” I kept trying different solutions, pretty much all that I found on the Internet, and some at the top of my head that I thought might be crazy enough to work. But none were. All that was left was to send an e-mail to Steam support, requesting their help. Which I did. By then, I wasn’t sure what was pissing me off more: the fact that I had spent 50€ on a game that wasn’t installing for whatever reason, or the fact that I was not getting the play the game I waited for for so long. Even after the quest it was to actually purchase it and get it home.

Even more destroyed than on Friday, I curled into a ball on the floor and sobbed for hours, until I passed out and fell asleep. This was day two of my Saga.

Day three came unsuspectingly. I had breakfast, I saw a film, and just as I was about to throw myself into my NaNoWriMo novel, I found myself randomly clicking the Steam update icon. And what do you know: it worked!

“Motherfucker…” I whispered. Long, tormenting moments of waiting followed, as the game installed in what seemed to be an eternity (but was actually only around twenty minutes).

This was pretty much me on the outside. The inside boiled with expectation, fear, and contained hysteria. Finally, the game was installed. And now, the true Saga of Skyrim begins.

I have chosen to go with a (male) Imperial and am now on level two (go me!). My first impressions of the game is that it is vast, in a way that far exceeds Oblivion (and I daresay, Morrowind). The level of detail, not just graphic but conceptual, is outstanding, and the gameplay is every bit as exciting as it is beautiful. I am still trying to get used to the different controls, as I roam peacefully around Whiterun. Two motherfucking vampires almost killed me on the way there, but a few potions (and the awesome two-handed wield system) saved my character’s Life.

Let it never be said that I did not suffer sweat and blood for this game. Now, I bid a farewell to everything in my Life that is not breathing, food, and Skyrim. I might be back someday. Or not. It’s hard to say at this point.

Skyrim <3

When Rick Warren was asked on a talk show how he could explain his wife’s cancer, he responded that he once thought life was a series of mountaintops and valleys, but his experience of life has brought him to the place where he now uses a different metaphor.  He is now convinced that life is like a railroad track. The left rail represents this hard reality: there are always adversities in our life because God is more interested in our character than He is in our comfort.  The right rail represents the glorious reality that something good is always happening in our life because God is good and He shows us that by the good things He’s consistently doing in our life.

The wisest man who ever lived wrote that when we are experiencing prosperity we should not feel guilty.  We should rejoice!  But when we experience adversity we should realize that God has appointed them both.  To test the philosophy of Rick Warren, think of a scale like the scale of justice.  Imagine placing all your problems on the left side of that scale.  Then imagine placing all your blessings on the right side of that scale.  Don’t be surprised if the scales at least balance, or that the blessings on the right side of the scale far outweigh the problems on the other side.

When problems happen, ask yourself what part of your character God is building in your life through those problems.  Then ask God how you can receive the grace to glorify Him through the way you respond to those problems.

Life is like photography
in the same way

That from the negatives
we’re developed every day

The adversities of life
our character does form

How we handle pressures
out of the norm

If life’s too easy
what would be earned

Without the scars of
the hard lessons learned?

Strength can’t be built
without the workout needed

Nobody that I know
free of hardship succeeded

It may not seem
like that’s very right

But how do boxers
ever learn to fight?

God allows us all
to suffer a little pain

That some good muscle
in this life we gain!

Teresa Marie  10/8/11

Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow, with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and its poor performance; Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

Tomorrow’s sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today. Any person can fight the battle of just one day. It is when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities, Yesterday and Tomorrow, that we break down.

It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad, it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, Live but one day at a time.

The fish were not fresh and the Japanese did not like the taste. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen fish. And they did not like the taste of frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So, fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little hashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive.

Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. The fishing industry faced an impending crisis!

But today, it has got over that crisis and has emerged as one of the most important trades in that country!

How did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem?

How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?

To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks but now they added a small shark to each tank. The shark eats few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move. And they survive and arrive in a healthy state! They command a higher price and are most sought-after. The challenge they face keeps them fresh!

Humans are no different. Man thrives only in the presence of a challenging environment, in fact challenges keep us on our toes, alert & alive, they make us thoughtful & tough too. Someone has said: “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”

Some time back, when I logged into my yahoo account, I found an interesting plug about a young woman tailoring old-fashioned clothes and giving them a new fashionable look. To read the article and to know more about her project, click here.

I was really impressed by her creativity and was curious to know more about her. I visited her blog at www.newdressaday.wordpress.com and saw umpteen number of tailored dresses. It was amazing but what was even more amazing was that she had started this project in November 2008! What was so special about that time? Well, the U.S economy was going through a rough time with millions of people being laid off. Fortunately or unfortunately, this young woman was also laid off (as written in the ‘About’ section of her blog). Instead of getting depressed and losing hope, she decided to use her time and energy in a creative way. Lo and behold! Now she is not only enjoying her hobby but also has garnered the attention of several fans.

Contrary to her story, several people curse their circumstances when faced with hardships. They don’t realize that in such adversities lie immense opportunities. One needs the will and courage to stare right into the face of adversities and find opportunities. Is that hard? Probably yes but it is definitely better than brooding and complaining! Wouldn’t you agree?

Another important thing to remember here is that living life with passion is so very important for ones happiness and overall well-being. I am still trying to find out my true passion and I believe that one day I will succeed in doing so but I think people who aren’t passionate about their work or those who don’t even bother about finding it are missing something very important! Referring back to the young woman, it’s evident that she is passionate about her work now and is thoroughly enjoying it!

If you ever face adversity, remember the following wise words by John Heywood.

“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be”

 
Getting our marriage license in China drove us nuts for nearly the whole year of 2009. It is during those times that our relationship was on the verge of crumbling down due to a complex process of getting this so called license.

The complexities started with me getting my needed requirements and that took me several trips to the chinese consulate in Cebu and the chinese embassy in Manila. It cost a lot too. Most of them do not really have the slightest idea on what I needed.

For those having trouble getting their requirements for a Chinese marriage, here are the requirements:

1. an NSO birth certificate authenticated (red ribbon) by the DFA and the chinese embassy which included a sticker at the back saying I was single in my home country (written in Chinese). You also need your CENOMAR.

2. copies of our passport

3. hubby’s hukou or residence permit, chinese identification card.

Now you might be wondering 2 and 3 are just so easy to get. YUp, that’s right. But number one passed thru different areas of the government. Plus I had to go to Beijing to have it authenticated again by the Philippine embassy. Beijing is by the way around northern China while we were living in southern China. It would be a 3 hour flight journey or let us just say around 24-hour train ride.

After having all of those documents translated to Chinese (which by the way only the offical translation office can do..ask your marriage officer) we only stayed for less than thirty minutes in the marriage office in Zhengzhou (central China) to get our red book… the marriage book. A 3-page booklet that is the shape of a passport. For all the trouble we went to, it was both a relief and a surprised feeling.

While heading home after that tiring journey. I asked my husband: If we were to go all thru that in the next life, will you still do it?. Bao2: This what makes our relationship fun and exciting. The complexities of it all makes us who and what we are. So yes, I would still do it.:)

With purpose unknown to many who oversee your existence; so carefree you blossom under the harshest conditions.

Pressing your way in the unusual circumstances, proving the weight you carry in your fragile form; displaying the purest of beauty where it once was forgotten.

With mighty grace your message cannot be clearer through the thickest barriers; your survival cannot go unnoticed.

Beneath our worn feet, the horizontal floor of cement; your delicate existence will continue on.

You are symbol of true being, fighting to prove nothing more than the struggle to survive in such natural conditions with unnatural laws of pride and rules.

Your life is a symbol of injustice to true spirit and natural laws.

We are a part of you, as you are to us.

Yet, we call it progression, through dominance, I suppose.

As years passed by I completed my studies, grew older and wiser. My mother is somebody I have always looked up to. Guess everybody loves their mother. But then again this is just one of my many generalizations about life. She was always a pillar of support and someone who never gave up, come hail or storm. She was a fighter. Now that I look back I just watched her fight all odds to make life worth living. Now that I am older, I realize that it was not the fight that gave us what we wanted from life; it was her undying faith in a better tomorrow. I spent all my life thinking that I need to struggle, work hard and fight to get what I want. To make my life more abundant. Abundant with love, happiness and money. But all I needed to have is some real faith in me and the entire universe, to appreciate the life that I have, to acknowledge that most battles in life are won by the mind. Silly me, I was trying to work 14 hour days to get a promotion, toil endlessly at home placing my happiness aside to get appreciated and sometimes accepted and find my happiness everywhere but within me. I forgot that though my mom worked hard, she spent so much time with us helping us with our studies, making good food, giving us a positive existence and upbringing, supporting my father in every possible way and never crying or being unhappy. She never let the tough times dictate what she really had to feel about life. I realized how difficult it is to be like her after I became a mom myself. Staying positive and not letting little things not get to you. Placing yourself on the top of the list, because if you are not happy, you most definitely cannot keep your family happy. Investing in your family, emotionally and whole heartedly. Not letting bad in life take away all the good that there is. Not feeling sorry for yourself but keeping the faith that all good is on its way.  After all these years I realized that she kept the faith in the most adverse times. In her darkest hour she taught us that Life is still a celebration.

Oh well, for those of you who are asking why is it too early for Flips to look forward to Christmas, well folks, we do not observe Treat or Trick back home.. Don’t get us wrong, we celebrate Hallow’s Eve (Halloween) but unlike Westerners, we do not humiliate our innocence by dressing like a stupid zoombie or a superhero just to go house to house for candies and goodies.. Nah.. Again, I don’t judge the Western costums but my point is, Flips are very conservative people, oh well, most of us (I guess), that we’ve been too tied with Catholic fanaticism, making a big percentage of our population much blinder than the Three Blind Mice.. My point? We are very laid back as far as costumaries and beliefs are concerned.. A simpler analogy would be, for a Christian, a dominantly Catholic nation at that to dress up like dead men and celebrate it with booze, candies and lollipops is like worshipping the dark side, oh snap it fellaz, I am not talking about Darth Vader and his equally evil prodiges, I’m talking about the Lord of all evils; nah, not me, Lucifer or Satan in much known name.. Yeah, the fallen angel..

Anyway, so much for the Halloween.. Back to the topic, September.. It’s the last Trimester of 2010.. It commences the months of higher expenditures not only because of many occassions but also for utility expenses.. C’mon people, it’s gonna be winter time soon, and this is the time of the year when our heating systems at home is running 24/7.. Okay, maybe I am a li’l bit over reacting but still, this is the part of the year when we usually incur higher spending figures, period..

On a personal note, September is a bittersweet month for the family.. Four years ago, on the 5th, my Aunt Glenda gave birth to her youngest and only girl, Kaezelle.. On the 7th though, two days after giving birth to her third, she passed away due to post-natal complications that turned to be the physician’s fault.. No amount of comfort during that year can stop our family from grieving, needless to say that few days before Christmas, my grandmother, (my mom’s and my late Aunt Glenda’s mom) succumbed to multiple organ failure.. Now, Kaezelle’s gonna be 4 on the 5th and with her two brothers, they’ll happily taken cared of by no less than my Aunt Dinah who eventually married their dad in 2009.. Yes, people.. It’s weird but Aunt Dinah is my late Aunt Glenda’s younger sister.. Hey, you’re learning too much about my family..

September has always been a not pretty good month to me (personally), with the exemption that my daughter was born on the 4th, but still, with too much family drama attached to the whole story.. It is always the worse month of the entire calendar that I have to go through struggles, which most of the times, I really fall short and yeah, I fail big time.. In 2005, I went through a major decision of leaving my job because of not-so good boss-staff relationship.. Needless to say what happened on the same month the following year.. In 2007, a year after I got a job in Quality Assurance, which was way off my University education, I struggled to understand my role because of office politics and colleague pressure but eventually learned, liked and loved the job.. It was also in September 2007 that I’ve passed the rigid qualifications of Voluntary Service Overseas-UK through its VSO-Bahaginan Recruitment Base in the Philippines.. I’ve fdne through the first stages of the Pre-Departure trainings, until the long wait for job offer/placement prolonged my agony over a year.. In September 2008, Upon learning that I still don’t have an offer for volunteer work, I prepped myself for Graduate School but a deceiving job offer from an Oil and Gas company in Alberta, Canada made me decide to give North America a shot.. After four months of another “control-freak-power-tripping-fat-assed boss”, I was fired out to be blunt, but to be more politically correct, I got laid-off.. So that makes me jobless in September 2009..

It’s September 2010.. What lies ahead within the next 30 days is as dark as the night, but I am praying for the exact opposite.. Who doesn’t wanna see a clear blue sky? Maybe, this year will be entirely different from the past four years.. I am not optimistic but I am hoping though I am literally indisposed.. c”,)
IT’S SHOUTOUT TIME
Just wanted to do this real quick.. Happy Birthday to Kuya Mike Bugaoisan (Hawaii), and to the cutest live doll in the family, Kaezelle (Picture below), happy 4th birthday sweetheart..

A very special greeting goes to my daughter, Frances on her 5th birthday on Sept 04.. Firstly, I would like to apologize to my readers for not posting a picture of my precious angel.. It has been mutually agreed by her mom and I to protect the private life of the kid.. When everything will be well and settled, we’ll surely go public.. Just the same, we love our daughter..

Ideas really come unexpectedly. I was thinking for sometime now what topic I must write in my next blog post. I have not written for quite sometime and I want my post to be good. Anyway, no pressure so I just let it be..

For dinner tonight, I cooked “Tinolang Manok”, a tasty chicken soup with green papaya and chilli leaves (unfortunately despite chilli being a staple ingredient of Thai cookery, I cannot find any chilli leaves being sold in the market). I served dinner for myself around 8pm.

I have not eaten Tinola for quite sometime now so I was actually craving for it that’s why I decided to cook it. I was so hungry and the soup is still very hot as I just removed it from fire. First few bites, I tried using spoon and fork to eat.

However, being a Filipino wherein when at home the best way to eat your favorite dish is to use your bare hands I tried hard to eat the food in my plate at all cost.  The more I tried to grab a piece of chicken or papaya the more I feel a somewhat burning sensation.

Then I realized, life is like eating the hot Tinola Soup. The chicken parts or papaya are like us humans. It is put on fire to cook. We are also put into fire (problems or adversities) so we can be better individuals. Soup are seasoned to suit the diner’s taste buds. The cook keeps on adding fish sauce, water or other seasoning to make it perfect.  In life, we also experienced something that makes it more memorable- from being in love, to being promoted at work, winning the lottery or just finding the right pair of shoes that’s on sale.

Once the soup is cooked, we remove it from the fire and serve it on the table. I compare it as our preparation for building our own lives such as studying hard, molding our character through our family, friends and loved ones. Once we are ready to face the world, we take the leap of life and let others know what we are made of.

If we sip the soup while it is hot, our tongue will be scalded. Same thing for life, if we are not yet ready, many will seize the opportunity to pull us down or bring us close to danger or worse become the instrument for our failure.

But if we wait a bit and make the soup’s temperature just perfect, we can enjoy a good meal. As for life, if we wait for the right opportunity, then we reap the rewards of life.

I really hope life is as easy as preparing Tinola and eating it to our heart’s content. As they say, well…that’s life.

]]> http://gailsserenity.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/things-ive-learned/ Tue, 04 May 2010 20:19:06 +0000 gailsserenity http://gailsserenity.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/things-ive-learned/ Blessings

The greatest blessings in my life have come from what I thought at the time were the greatest adversities in my life. From the life threatening illness and year-long recovery of my daughter at ten years old, two disappointing marriages, and my youngest grandson who had to go through open heart surgery at the tender age of 4 months – I grew in wisdom and strength.         

My life, like everyone else’s has been a series of chapters so different that they seem like several different lives. What I have gained from it all was worth all the trauma I walked through. I’ve grown in wisdom, strength, power and  spiritually.         

I never could have seen myself as the person I’ve become. Like most women of my time, I expected to be married once and for it to last until “death do us part.” That isn’t the way it turned out. But it did turn out for the best. What I gained from these experiences is something I would never change or give up.         

Because of  above circumstances, I found a spiritual philosophy of life that transcends all that’s happened. I continue to learn and grow. I never would have pictured myself as a writer. I didn’t even know what a Licensed Practitioner was or what one had to do to become one. At the time of this writing I’ve been a Licensed Practitioner for 14 years. I serve at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas, California.   http://www.seasidecenter.com/    

 I’ve found this path is a beautiful way to live. It is one of the major blessings of my life. I’ve met and married a wonderful man and together we’ve made our life a paradise.         

Blessings abound in my life. Please share your story of the blessings in your life.         

First Book-Signing 4-21-2009

Gail Manishor, RScP,
Author of
From Here to Serenity,
A Spiritual Guide to Transform Your Life   

http://www.seasidecenter.com/    

]]> http://anxietyandmore.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/on-adversities/ Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:11:31 +0000 anxiety & more http://anxietyandmore.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/on-adversities/ The common belief is that anything that is easy and gives us pleasure is good, and of course anything that is difficult or painful is simply bad. Actually, more than bad, it is usually considered something that should not be happening at all, at least not to us.

I do understand those who feel this way and when I was younger I felt this way too.

Through the years, at my workshops, I have encountered people who have had a difficult life; some have gone through some very difficult times. I do certainly feel for those who suffer and have suffered, and one thing is certain that neither I nor you will cheer when something painful or difficult comes our way. Still, from my own experience I try to open people’s eyes to the fact that often the easy life leads to stagnation and restricted view of life, whereas difficulties force us from our status quo into a learning phase. Looking back, the people I have met in my life that have understanding and compassion usually have gone through some difficult things in their lives at one point or another. The truth is that when difficulties hit us, which can occur in many forms – accidents, sickness, death, bankruptcy, the list is endless – then all our values and views are challenged and sometimes this becomes a birth of a spiritual way of thinking.

However, people react to adversities in different ways. I am not speaking of initially when something difficult comes along because almost everybody’s first reaction is this should not be happening to me. No, I am talking about when people are after a while faced with perhaps the fact that changes have occurred and nothing will be the same as before.

At my workshops I have frequently met people who are very angry and feel that life has treated them unjustly. It is easy to allow your pain and suffering to evolve into anger and victim consciousness. It is even normal and understandable for a while. But I always try to get people to let go of this and understand that even in pain and adversities there can be a purpose and a blessing even if for now your heart is broken.

Many times I have been challenged because of those very words. To give an example a man said: “Are you really trying to tell me that suffering has a purpose, my wife’s cancer has a purpose?” I do not want to sound harsh but I give in. Your suffering, your wife’s suffering, and probably the suffering of a lot of other people who know you has absolutely no purpose whatsoever. Satisfied?

I say that is unthinkable.

Asi Gunnlaugsson