just like that, I made it!
Yesterday, me and @carisdaneym2 planned to meetup for lunch then proceed to the university library to do our requirement due today. But on Wednesday, one of my orgmates asked of she could spend the night here at home and I said yes so I wasn't able to leave early yesterday and the supposed plan wasn't followed.
We went to the library at past 12 noon, quickly connected our laptops to the university free wifi hoping to start our tasks immediately and be productive that day but me and Car ended up talking about lots of things. The only thing I was able to do that time is to disseminate tasks to my groupmates for the due we have today and to assigned the tasks too on our another activity due on the 2nd of December.
The initial plan was to study and finish even a simple task but after talking for less than two hours, and after our another blockmate arrived, we decided to go out already to eat lunch since we're kind of hungry already. It was nearly 2pm that time already.
At that time, there was four of us together. It's me, Car, our other blockmate, and my orgmate who's still on her 3rd year. We head out from the library and decided to have unli samgyupsal for lunch. Unfortunately, the place we're supposed to eat was closed but thankfully, there's another unli samgupsal place just across the street so we ate there instead.
The price of the food there was quite cheap compared to other places. Unli samgy costs only 199 pesos, the pork, side dishes, and even the juice drink is also unlimited. We ate for more than two hours I guess, and that was actually the first time I ate samgyupsal without forcing myself to finish it all because we have to pay a penalty for the leftovers. LOL. Well, luckily, we ordered just enough for us that time.
It was around 4:30pm when we finally left the place. My orgmate decided to go home already since she's from Pangasinan and it was quite far from us. My other blockmate decided to go home too but me and Car decided to do groceries first and run some errand for her mother.
At 5pm, I'm already back home and the mountain of clothes to be fold welcomed me. For reference on how much clothes that is, see it from here. https://read.cash/@immaryandmerry/what-a-day-fb5a650b
I decided to do some cleaning first, then fold some clothes, we had dinner, our daily prayer meeting, and finally, free time for me. I was supposed to finish a requirement at that time but decided that I'll just do it today. Instead, I folded some more clothes until I finally call it a day at 1am.
Today, my sister and her husband attended a company meeting and so I was asked to work on our store today. Additionally, my nephew also had his class today so I was also told to take care of him. And I had two group activities due today so I was kind of worried that I won't be able to do it on time.
It was around 7am when we head out to the store. And after a long day at work, even when I had some free time, I was not able to do my task there because the environment is distracting and I can't focus at all.
At around past 6pm, we finally arrived back home so I took a bath immediately to freshen up and to renew my mind then started doing my tasks right away. Apparently, my groupmates was so cooperative sending their parts early so I just did my part on our paperwork, check their parts, edited it a bit, attached it on our paper and just after two hours, I was able to finish our paper with the cooperation of everyone, of course.
Fortunately, I wasn't the leader on our other group activity. We just did our part there and at around 8pm too, we were told that our task was already submitted and the only thing we have to do is to mark it as done and add a private comment about our contribution on our activity.
I then prepared the deck for our daily prayer meeting at 9pm, then I feed the dogs, then we had our prayer meeting and I decided to write this right away after that before I lost the will to type all this.
Anyhow, my stomach is how grumbling, begging for me to eat dinner already. And after dinner, I still have a lot of clothes to fold and I'll do it while watching Kdrama. Then tomorrow, I still have to work on our store again since it's Saturday.
What a life! LOL. But that's how it is. At first glance, all those tasks with acads, org, business and at home might be a lot but one step at a time, I got this.
Thanks for reaching this far. Have a good night sleep!
:))
kudos, student leaders!
I have never appreciate student leaders that much until I became one. And now, there are times that I don't even understand myself on how I am tiring myself out for this.
Student leaders sacrificed a lot just so they could lead. We sacrifice our time, we almost don't sleep whenever we have to prepare for our events. We give our talents for free, and we represent and serve our co-students at the same time. We don't even earn from joining an org, actually, we're the one spending our own money since we don't even receive financial support from the university.
But with a message like this, all that we have to sacrifice are indeed worth it. Anyway, we just had our last event for this semester and allow me to share about this specific event we had just to give you an idea about what we do on our organization.
As early as August, before classes has began, we already had our planning for the activities which we will conduct for the academic year 2022-2023. As part of the planning, each of the members are required to prose an activity then we sort all of it and see what activities are feasible for us to conduct.
And one of those activities we agreed to conduct is our first-ever "bootcamp 2022".
Even before we became officers, we have been planning to conduct a bootcamp to enrich the skills of our members. But who would have thought that this supposed to be organizational event will be conducted nationally with our eleven partner school organizations all over the Philippines.
So, the official title of this bootcamp is **"Voyagers of Excellent: Navigate from Mystery to Mastery"**. We got a lot of good suggestions so we decided to conduct it as one event through this one. This is a month-long event, divided into four *minisodes* with various topics entitled: **(1) The Future of Content Marketing, (2) The Art of Dubbing and Narration, (3) Get a Grip: End the Stigma** and lastly, **(4) Speechless to Limitless.**
We conducted this event during Saturdays which started on October 29 and the last *minisode* was conducted earlier today, November 19 and all I can say is that I am just so relieved that it's finally done after one long tiring month.
Actually, I am not directly involved with this event for I am not the activity head nor one of the activity coordinators on this event. But as the technical department head on our organization, I have become involved to the implementation of this event. I am heading our income generating project because as I have said we don't receive financial support so we have to make it ourselves but I will talk about it later on once we're done with all our tasks with regard to our IGP.
Going back, let me walk you through on each of our *minisodes* as well as the problems we encountered on the implementation of our event for the past four weeks.
The Future with Content Marketing
As marketing students, we also offered something related to our field. This is mostly about the digital transformation of marketing and the future well have with it. For this event, we had Ms. Ellen Velasco, a social media strategist at Peridot Manila and also an alumna from our university as one of our speakers. We were also able to have Mr. Alec Cuenca, a content creator with over a million follower on TikTok and a Keynote Speaker to be with us on this said event. https://www.facebook.com/ellenmay.velasco https://www.tiktok.com/@aleccuenca?lang=en
One of the problems we encountered in this event is that we had Typhoon Paeng that day. Our guest host in this *minisode* is from Bicol and the typhoon there is quite heavy so the Chief Executive Officer of our org who is also the project head for Bootcamp 2022 has to takeover with the hosting. But just as we resolve one problem, here comes another problem when our new host lost their internet connection on the same day of our event. Their neighbors lost their internet connection too so she has to travel to a nearby barangay to have internet connection.
The engagement for the activity was also quite poor that day but still, at the end of the day, we were able to conduct a successful activity despite all the problems we encountered.
The Art of Dubbing and Narration
The following week was about the mysteries of voices we just usually heard on screen. In here, we were able to invite Mr. Bryan Dave Perez and Ms. Camille Palma who are both professional voice artists as our guest speakers. https://ph.linkedin.com/in/bryan-dave-perez-5503591a7 https://www.thecamillepalma.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CLSUJMA/posts/pfbid0EbsomHDxNKf5HmGTXLEkqa5uzFedFme7DJypey9eNKrSpmnxZv7Eap57JpaecboCl
We didn't encounter a lot of problems with this event aside from the normal tech difficulties that we can easily deal with. The only downside here is that we weren't able to have the engagement we were aiming for.
Get a Grip: End the Stigma
Third *minisode* was about mental health. This has brought us deeper understanding about mental health through our speaker, Ms. Ronieth Dayao who is a content creator and a mental health advocate. Also, I deliver the closing remarks for this activity. https://www.tiktok.com/@ronieth.dayao?lang=en
As ironic as it is, the topic was about mental health but this was the most stressful *minisode* for us for one of our speakers didn't show up and didn't give us a single explanation until now. The day before the event, she have confirmed her attendance but on the day of our event, we tried all means of reaching her our through chats, calls and email but no word from her until now. To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she had an emergency that day, or anything she has to attend to, but I still think not informing us about, not explaining about it and not even giving us a simple apology for it is just so unprofessional of her. Still wishing her the best though.
Another problem here is that we experienced a copyright strike due to the dance intermission number we played. There seems to be a copyright problem with the music that has been used. All the viewers on our livestream were gone so we had to stop streaming and start a new stream again.
There are a lot more problems we encountered this day and that will take me a long time to share them all. But what matters here is that we somehow managed to turn this event into a successful one despite all the hassle.
Speechless to Limitless
Finally, down to our last episode. Earlier event was about public speaking and both our speakers were really great. One of the speakers is Mr. Karl Fajardo, a national public speaking champion and an international awardee. I was really impressed by his presentation and his discipline with regard to time because he followed the 15 minutes time that we gave him. One of my favorites so far! And the other speaker was Ms. Gen Lee, a certified professional speaker. She had a very interactive discussion and I admire her dedication for still doing the talk even though she was on an expo at Singapore. We can literally hear the background noise from her talk earlier but it's fine, at least, she showed up and showed us her commitment on this event. https://www.karlfajardo.com/ https://www.genleeevents.com/
The only problem for this event are some tech problems wherein we were able to resolve despite the time constraint. All I can say is that I am just so proud for my tech team for being able to work under pressure during our every events. We are really getting better at this on our every events.
This bootcamp really drained our energy and the one week preparation for every *minisode* is crazy. But it always amazes me how we were able to do all this work just to serve other students. This is also me lowkey flexing our amazing publication materials made our very own talented members from the creatives department. And we are also very grateful for our resource speakers who are all professionals but still committed their time and shared their knowledge for FREE! Most of those speakers are being paid for doing promotions and here they are, doing free talk for us. That also made me appreciate the capabilities of our activity coordinators for outsourcing all those speakers. I don't even have any idea where did they find those people.
Anyway, this has been long already. Thank you so much for reading this far! This means a lot for I was able to share my passion for our org and as a student leader through writing this one.
And oh, we're using StreamYard in live streaming our videos on Facebook. If there's anyone here who are planning to use the platform, I can definitely walk you through it.
Again, thanks for reaching this far. Have a great day ahead!
:))
All photos/publication materials posted here are from our Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/CLSUJMA
what a day!
In our home, we have a schedule on who is going to cook breakfast and apparently, it was my schedule earlier today (Thursday). Unfortunately, I kind of overslept and wasn't able to get up but thankfully, my sister woke up early so she cooked breakfast instead and the kids who are going to school was able to eat their breakfast. *And that is how my day started.*
I woke up around past 7am with my brother in law's nagging because I wasn't able to cook breakfast. But since I am already used to his loud voice, it was easy for me to ignore him and just go directly to the kitchen to prepare food for our dogs because we will be working at the store the whole day.
This week was given to us by our university as our mental health break after we just had our bloody midterm exams last week and since Monday, I have been working because the whole family knows that I won't have classes for the whole week. I guess, break isn't really for me. LOL
Going back, soon after feeding the dogs, we finally left home to go to our store and the real work has started! It was quite tiring, working at the store and doing org tasks at the same time whenever there are no customers instead of just doing nothing at home to fully enjoy our mental health break. But it's okay since it's not everyday that I got to help out our family on our business.
Morning ended up so fast and I almost forgot that we have a leader's summit *(webinar about leadership)* at 1pm which I have to attend as a block president and as an org officer. Good thing, our org president reminded me about it so I was able to enter at the zoom meeting on time.
I have been our block president for four years now and this was the third time that I have attended this kind of webinar and I can really say that I've been learning a lot as a leader. However, it was kind of hectic for me to listen and to entertain customers at the same time. This also consume most of my time in the afternoon since it ended at 4:30pm already.
But as I've said, I learned a lot today and with that, the time I consumed on this webinar is indeed a time well spent.
Right after the webinar, I helped out my sister on preparing our simple gifts for our valued dealers/customers since Christmas is nearing already. It has become our practice for decades now to give gifts yearly in appreciation for their selling efforts. After all, business won't be doing good without them. Also, it's a good thing that we will be able to finally conduct a Christmas party again after three years so as early as *ber* months, we have been preparing for this upcoming event to be held on the 15th of December.
We weren't able to finish naming the gifts earlier since it was time to go home already. But today, going home doesn't sound appealing to me because we had our clothes washed earlier this morning and I know for sure that a *mountain* of clean laundry to be fold awaits for me at home.
And I wasn't wrong! I first removed all the clothes from the hangers for me to fold it without interruption later on. But before digging in to that mountain, I cleaned up myself first, took a rest for a while, ate dinner, feed the dogs, edit the deck for our daily prayer meeting, then at exactly 9pm, we had the day 31 of our daily prayer meeting. We ended up at a little bit past 9:30pm, then I already edited the deck for tomorrow.
I also visited the progress to the tasks I have given to my activity coordinators for our income generating project and lastly, I decided to write this first then I'll finally start folding clothes once I'm done with this one.
And since I like multitasking, I'll grab this opportunity to fold our clothes and to watch Kdrama at the same time. I wasn't able to watch *Backstreet Rookie* before but I feel like watching it now already. Actually, I started watching it last Monday and I am now halfway done on watching Episode 6.
I guess, this is it for now. I'll probably finally end this day once I feel like I don't have energy left anymore. Bye for now, I still have a lot of clothes to fold. huhu
Thanks for reading how my day went. Hope you had a great day today!
:))
u are younique, you are valid!
Last Saturday, our org conducted a virtual event about mental health entitled **"Get a Grip: End the Stigma"**. I won't really talk about it but let me tell you this line which one of our speakers has said.
*"Just be shy, but still type anyway."*
For the context, she started her talk by asking the audience what they know about mental health. And while waiting for comments, she kind of say the phrase "*don't be shy*" but immediately take it back and said the words which I mentioned above.
I don't know if it is just me but as soon as I heard her say it, she completely caught my attention because those simple statements that she said just feels so **validating** and **encouraging** at the same time.
I mean, nowadays, people are becoming more and more insensitive making others feel invalidated without them knowing it. You see, there are people who are naturally shy and they lack confidence, and there are people who will try to encourage them by saying *don't be shy* as if shyness would easily go away the moment they said it. Don't get me wrong, I know most of the people who are saying those phrases meant well but I just realized recently how invalidating that statement can be. It's as if that someone who is feeling shy doesn't have the right to feel that way.
Of course, that was not the only time wherein we could accidentally make someone feel invalidated. I remember us arguing one time over *tortang talong* just because I prefer mine toasted while someone at home prefer hers just slightly cooked. She said that whenever I cooked *tortang talong*, it's always burnt. This might be petty but that statement could be invalidating too. Just because we have different preference, mine felt like wrong and she is right. (*This is just an example. Promise, I've already moved on from this scenario. LOL*)
Additionally, I often hear some invalidating statements from students on different grade or year levels. Common scenario is like this:
**Failed exam.**
*Senior high school* student crying over it while ranting how hard the topic is.
*College student* side comment: wait till you get in college! Failed exam will already be normal. *(And other side comments completely not acknowledging what the senior high school student has been feeling at that moment)*
I'm actually also guilty with that sample I made but I have already learned my lesson. **It's high time that we accept differences**. That's how they feel at that moment, and that is valid. We can't always force people to be on our shoes just so we could prove our point. We don't have to complicate things and argue who is right and wrong because when it comes to feelings, preferences, and the likes, we are all different. No one is right and wrong, and everyone's own self is valid.
**It's okay.**
I haven't realize how invalidating this statement could be until recently. We keep saying it's okay even though it's not really okay. We keep obsessing for things to be all okay when it is clearly not. It took us a long time before accepting that it is okay not being okay.
We thought saying that word is comforting without knowing that we are invalidating someone's feeling by insisting that it's okay when that someone is not okay. We keep repeating it over and over again instead of resorting to other statements like: "*I am here for you*." or saying the truth that "*it's not okay for now but it will be okay soon, it will just take time, but everything will be okay at the right time*". Or something that will not sound like we're forcing that someone to be okay.
**Active listening.**
So, here's a way on how we can be more sensitive not to make others feel invalidated. And that is the practice of **active listening**.
As I have said, most of the time, we were saying invalidating words unconsciously and I think, that is because we always feel the need to say something which we think is encouraging at the moment. But what we are forgetting is that words are not the only thing we can use to let others feel our presence. It's not all words because there are those people who just wanted to be heard. There are people who just wanted to let their emotions out without anyone judging them or without anyone telling them that what they feel is wrong.
And may that be a lesson to everyone of us not to say words hastily. We must listen first, assess the situation, and don't make any statement that is contradicting to what they have said. I mean, if they are really wrong and needs some correction, then go on. But when it comes to what they feel, we should always acknowledge how they feel and not be affected by our own take on that matter. Because that's how they feel, and it is valid.
To you who is reading this, whatever you are feeling right now, know that you are entitled for that. You might not be okay right now but that's alright. You won't get okay instantly but that feeling will surely not remain forever.
Also, may this be a reminder for you to always be sensitive to what others feel, and to be always careful with your words.
And remember that **you are your own you**. You are unique. You have your own voice and you can use that for you to be heard. Lastly, let me just say this again one more time. "**You are valid!**"
:))
what changed?
Most people, especially the youth wanted to grow up so fast. Well, not all, but there are really a lot of people who wants that without thinking how hard adulting can be. As for me, I never really wanted to grow up. Actually, if possible, I would gladly remain young forever. A youth full of energy and positivity. A youth who is carefree and without any worries. It might be nice to be like that, yeah?
*But I guess, growth is something that we cannot stop and it's just like an unwanted visitor who will come uninvited without you knowing or realizing it.*
For quite a while now, I have been trying to go back at writing and I can't seem to know how or where to start. Writing is something that was so easy for me before since this has become my outlet to clear my head by letting go of my overflowing thoughts but I am really having a hard time right now to let all these thoughts go. S*o I wonder what changed?*
To get some inspirations on how I can write again, I tried re-reading all my previous works wherein I think I did a great job delivering the message which I wanted to tell and that just feels so nostalgic and at the same time, that made me question too what really has changed.
Going back to my old posts, it reminded me of how positive of a person I am and how creative my mind is for being able to relate simple things or situations into something that can be encouraging.
Meant to make mistakes was something I wrote after I accidentally wrote a wrong word on my reviewer. Imagine, I was just trying to review, then I wrote one word wrong, and then thoughts suddenly flows like a river about how we are meant to make mistakes, how we can learn from our mistakes, and how we should avoid making mistakes that we will regret in the long run. https://read.cash/@immaryandmerry/meant-to-make-mistakes-7b31cfc2
The Last Piece Syndrome was something I was able to write after regretting why I didn't eat the last piece of pizza. I can't even imagine how I was able to relate that last piece of pizza into opportunities which we should grab. https://read.cash/@immaryandmerry/the-last-piece-syndrome-07708ed2
And remember the Kdrama series Squid Game? I was also able to turn the desperation of the players in there into something motivational! Once again, where's that old self now? https://read.cash/@immaryandmerry/desperation-8b45825c
I've been asking myself over and over again what changed and I have no other answer, theories rather, about what have changed aside from it is probably growth, adulting perhaps. Or that's just what I wanted to think? LOL. But deep inside, I know that my own laziness was partly responsible for making me stop writing for a while.
On my defense, I really think it's growth too. Because as we grow older, our responsibilities grow too and managing your time well over juggling all the stuffs you have to do would not be easy as we wanted it to be.
But then, after reading few motivational writings of mine, that somehow helped me too and without me knowing it, my own works became my own motivation. And if there's one thing that I realized after reflecting on my own words is that I don't have to rush everything. And just like before, I will write again to not let myself get drowned by these flooding thoughts of mine.
Just like how ideas naturally flow before, I will not force myself anymore to write something which my mind couldn't think of at the moment. When the time came wherein I will be able to relate a simple situation as something more again, then I won't let that opportunity go and I will write it out immediately.
For my final thoughts, I can't really answer myself exactly what changed for I don't know the answer for it either. But what I realized is that I don't need to know what it is, I guess, I just have to go with it because as I've said, change is inevitable. It is something that we cannot stop. I won't even try stopping it. What I will do is to go with it, embrace it, and see where this change will bring me.
For the record, I still really think that it is still me. My always positive self. The only difference is that I wasn't able to share it to others through writing just like before. Hopefully, may this be another start of being able to write something out of simple things again.
If you are still reading this up to this moment, welcome to my flooded thoughts! And thank you for even trying to understand this one even if I cannot understand it myself.
Consider this one a warm up before I can finally go back. This is just me letting my mind and my fingers work together and to be honest, letting all these thoughts out was really comforting.
**I will definitely be back with a better content than this!**
One last thing, this is not really related but since I am just letting my thoughts out, allow me to share this one. Did you know, before I started writing here, probably more or less than two years ago, I really don't have confidence and I feel like I am not talented. But this platform allows me to discover that I am not what I think I am. That just because I am not good at singing nor dancing doesn't mean that I am not talented. There are more talents than just singing or dancing and on my case, I believe I do have a gift in writing. So let's see on the following days on how I am going to use this gift.
I will be forever thankful and grateful for this platform.
Anyway, it's good to be back! Thanks for reaching this far. Let's all catch up on the comment section!
:))
ain't kids anymore
I grew up in a large family. I have 6 siblings and honestly, I was an unexpected baby, a menopause baby as they call it. Compared to my other siblings, they only have 1-2 years of age gap, but as for me and my older brother, we have less than 7 years of age gap so no one really expected that I'll just show up and came in the family picture. Lol.
For that very reason, I had quite a huge age gap with my siblings. I just started schooling when I had my first nephew, followed by a niece, another niece, another nephew, there comes another niece, a niece again, a nephew, and so on. The age gap between me and my eldest sibling is 19 years while the age gap between me and my eldest nephew is only 5 years. This just means that my age is much closer to my nephews and nieces than to my siblings.
So yeah, that's kind of the background why I became a certified "*titang ina"* . I practically grew up with the kids and I have been taking care of them since then. And I just realized recently that they have been growing up already, just like me.
Graduation and Moving Up
Since my older siblings doesn't have a huge age gap, that made their kids to almost have the same age too. It might even seem that my siblings planned this since my nephews and nieces ended up being batchmates.
Just recently, my niece and nephew finished day care and they are now both Kinder 2. Then I also have a niece and a nephew who both graduated from Elementary and of course, they are now both in their 7th grade. And lastly, I also have 2 nephews and 2 nieces who finished Grade all at the same time and the four of them are now on their 11th Grade.
Planned or unplanned, it's just so nice how they were able to maintain their closeness even though they are enrolled to different schools and only see each other occasionally.
Anyway, let me just share how proud of a *tita* I am to them. The mere fact that they finished another year of education in their lives is already a huge achievement but we even got a bonus since most of them finished the year with honors.
And another bonus since both my niece and nephew who are grade 7 right now took an entrance examination to enter the special program at their schools and both of them passed. The other one even hit the rank 5 among over a hundred examiners.
The two grade 11 students took an entrance examination too to enter the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Strand and both of them passed too with the other one ranked 2nd against less than 200 examiners.
1 Year Up
Now that I realized it, 4 of them are already in Senior High School, in 2 years time they will be in college. 3 of them are already in Junior High School, 3 of them are still in Elementary, 2 are in Kinder 2, 1 is on day care and the youngest is a 1 year old baby.
They are indeed growing up so fast. With a blink of an eye, half of them are not kids anymore, they are already teenagers and they are starting to make decisions on their own. They can now travel on their own and they feel like they are adult already.
But what I am most delighted about is the fact that even though all of us are growing older, the tight bond remains and we're even becoming closer to each other as times passed by.
Back to face to face classes
At last, for this school year, face to face classes was finally back. At least, for DepEd students and most of the CHED students.
I am currently living with my sister and her family. She have 3 kids and my other niece is here too so I have here 2 nephews and 2 nieces. 2 of them are in Senior High School, 1 in Junior High School and the youngest is on Kinder 2 and all of them are now having theri face to face classes.
On the other hand, me, who's already a 4th year college student, is still on online classes. Switch roles, eh? LOL. Anyway, what I just want to share with this one is my happiness now that the kids are now finally having face to face classes. They now get to enjoy and make the most of their high school life with friends that they can see physically.
I'm just so glad about it especially for my Grade 11 nephew. That kid is really an introvert when we're only at home. For the past years even since the pandemic, I rarely feel is presence on the house, I rarely hear his voice and most of the time, he just stays on his room.
Modular and online classes came and he wasn't even doing good with his studies since he doesn't study at all. He doesn't want to attend classes and he's not doing his requirements on time. I don't know why but maybe that is how pandemic hits him so I was really concerned about him. But now that face to face classes is back, I can see how much he is enjoying it because originally, he isn't really an introvert when it comes to school, actually, he's even considered as one of the noisiest among the class and I'm just so glad that his noisy self is back.
He's also started opening up to us again. Sometimes, I'll just be surprised when he'll share something with me out of nowhere. And I can now see him doing his assignments every night without us bugging him to do it.
So far, the comeback of face to face classes seems to have good effects on my nephews and nieces and hopefully, the implementation of this will be successful without compromising the health of both the students, teachers and all the school staffs.
My Roomies!
As the new academic year started, I also decided to move in to another room here at home for a better study area. I haven't been productive academically last year so I just want a fresh start now.
Actually, I have already been thinking for a long time now whether to move rooms or not since my previous room was downstairs and the bathroom and kitchen is more accessible in there compared to my room upstairs now but I finally decided to move here.
Well, I now have a better study area but here comes my roomies who decided to move in to the room with me. I have my Grade 11 niece and Grade 7 niece as my roomies. The room is quite huge so we're fine in here. I was even able to put 2 study table for us so we can all study peacefully.
But here comes my Grade 11 nephew too joining the bandwagon! LOL.
As I have said, he became more active now that the face to face classes has come back and so most of the days, he likes sleeping on our room too. He and my other niece are in the same class so they do their assignments at the same time, and they just become inseparable.
That left me with no bed since he's occupyung my space so whenever he's sleeping on our room, I always sleep on the folding bed which is luckily comfortable enough for me. But I have no complaints or whatsoever with my nephew sleeping with us, actually, I am even glad about it since he's starting to open up with us and he's not isolating himself on his room anymore.
To sum this all up, I moved in to another room, my nieces moved in with me, and here comes my nephew who enjoys our company too. But this just feels so great being able to just fool around with them.
It's not bothersome too since during day time, I am the only one at the house since all of them have face to face classes and the adults got work so that's the time where I got some peace and quiet time and the moment they go home, that's when the havoc will begin. Hehe.
I don't know what's the sense of all these which I wrote but the kids are really growing up so fast, and I am just so glad that despite them entering their teenage years, they are still sharing things with me and that I would always be their *"titang ina"* who will take care of them no matter how old they get.
Cheers to all *titang ina* or *titong ama* out there!
:))
surprisingly productive
Last night, I was just supposed to rest after dinner when unknowingly, I drifted off to sleep causing me to have a lot of unfinished tasks. Good thing is that I was able to sleep early and had a complete sleep but the only downside is that I wasn't able to accomplish the tasks that I set to do yesterday.
Earlier today, though I woke up early, I still chose to sleep more since it's too early for me to get up. I started this day lazily, I had my breakfast, used my phone until the battery becomes low, and finally, I was able to officially start my day by feeding all our four dogs.
As soon as I feed them, I then faced the dirty dishes on the sink. Quite a lot since there are pans and casseroles which I think they used for cooking breakfast. But who am I to complain when all I have to do is wake up and eat the food that is already available in the kitchen. Not a cookerist but definitely a certified plate attendant. Lol.
Anyway, after washing the dishes, I remember what my brother told me last night and that is to clean the gas stove if I'm not to busy with my studies. But I know that he really wants me to clean it so I just squeeze it on my daily tasks, after all, I will have to clean it eventually.
And seem like I did enjoy the cleaning since I cleaned the whole kitchen counter too. I even washed it thoroughly to the point that you can use the tiles as a mirror. LOL. (*sinipag yarn?*)
After doing the cleaning, I decided to clean the cages of our dogs and since I have already started with their cages, I decided to bathe all four of them too. While cleaning their cages, I let them roam around our yard so that they can have their exercise but one of the dogs was able to go out of our yard through the gap on the fence so I had no choice but to go outside and get the dog. Geez. She went a bit far and it was so hot earlier, our dog might want me to exercise too huh.
Just after bringing back our dog, she was able to go out again. Argh. So, after covering the gap on the fence, I once again go out to fetch our dog but while doing so, another dog was able to go out since I wasn't able to close the gate properly. Geez. The only plan is to clean the cages and bathe them, running isn't included. *sigh. Though tiring, it was surprisingly fun since I was able to take a walk outside. Hehe.
It was just around 1pm when I started dealing with the dogs. After I'm done dealing with them, it was already 3:30pm. Ugh, where did the time go? Why is it so fast?
Enough with the time. Since I already can't understand how I smell at that time, not to mention, I'm also dripping wet since one of my dogs was hugging me the whole time I was bathing him, I then go to the shower and took all my time until I felt clean again. LOL.
It was already past 4pm at that time and I realized that I haven't had lunch yet so I eat the remaining food that was left in there. Since it wasn't a lot, I ate a slice of egg pie that I found on the fridge and then have a cup of coffee. I ate all that while watching Extraordinary Attorney Woo on TV.
By the time I finished eating, the episode I'm watching ends too. So I just played some music on TV and then did some sweeping on the whole house and changed the cover of the sofa too.
After doing all those tasks, I realized how kind of tiring it was and I also realized that it's only Tuesday and I wasn't even able to do anything academics or org related. So I didn't even know if today was productive or not since once again, I wasn't able to do all the tasks that I wasn't able to finish yesterday.
After dinner, I was thinking of already taking a rest but good thing, I resist the urge to already lie down in bed. Instead, I go directly to my study table, open my laptop, and catch up to where I left off yesterday. This is just so literal since I wasn't even able to shut down my laptop yesterday so the moment it today, it shows me what I was doing yesterday.
I started with easy tasks and just doing what I think I can do tonight, and surprisingly, though I wasn't able to finish it all, it is kind of satisfying to see my "almost accomplished to-do list".
As it was written, we can only do so much in a day, let tomorrow worry on its own. Still glad how a lazy day started but surprisingly, it turned out to be productive. This only reminds me that whatever we are experiencing right now, especially those who are going through a tough time in their lives, know that it is only temporary.
It might be bad for now, but we can still do something for it to somehow, turned out to be good. Just don't lose hope, don't lose faith, and remember that there will always be a rainbow after the rain.
Woah. I only planned on telling my day but look how this ends. Thank you for reading this far. It was nice sharing my day to you and I hope you had a good day too.
:))
Crossing out one of my bucket list
Time flies so fast and I didn't even noticed how I was inactive here for a few months now. A lot of things are happening on my personal life and though I am still a student, I just feels like I'm being busier day by day. This made me remember what I ought to do before I enter college, and that is to be a normal student who is not too grade conscious and just contented with going to class and have a passing grade.
But things go wayward when I was elected as **block president**, join our **major council** and also became part of the **freshmen council**. Well, the original plan was not really that disregarded since I am really not grade conscious and I'm just an average when it comes to academics but still, I think I'm far from being a normal student right now because of my affiliations with **student organizations** and **council.**
Anyway, speaking of organization, here's some of my previous experiences on both my personal and org life which were able to made me cross out one of my bucket list. Ever since, I have always enjoyed the privilege of riding our own vehicle on most of our travel. And most of those travels are with my family. Now that I have grown up and still growing up, maybe it is the sense of independence so I was really meaning to *travel to an unfamiliar place for me using only a public transportation*, either alone or with friends.
Last July, our student organization was invited on the **9th Marketista Award**, hosted by our national organization to recognize the outstanding marketing students and organizations across the country who is affiliated with the **Philippine Junior Marketing Association.**
It was only a one day event but me and my other three friends and orgmates took that opportunity to have a 3 day staycation as we attend the event. We live in the province, around Central Luzon only and the event was held at Pasay City. Well, it's not too far nor too near but we are unfamiliar with the place and we actually didn't know how to get there but somehow, we managed to do so, and we also made the most out of our 3 days vacation.
The only thing we are certain on our travel is from Point A (our place) to Point B (Cubao). We're not really sure how to go from Cubao to Pasay, but we initially plan to either book grab or go to the MRT station and we did the latter. Through google maps, we saw that the MRT Station is just near the Bus Station so by following the maps and asking people around, we managed to find the MRT station and that help us save a lot of money since the ride from Araneta Center to Taft Avenue costs only 24 pesos each.
After arriving at Taft Avenue Station, we just booked a grab to finally able the accomodation that we managed to book beforehand.
We stayed around Newport City for 3 days. After checking in to our accomodation, we want to maximize our time so we tried looking at the google maps for places that are near our location and since Mall of Asia is just near us, we decided to go there first. Originally, we are already booking a grab since we're not familiar with public transportation in there yet, but just when we're about to book a ride, we saw a jeepney, the airconditioned one, and it has a sign in the from saying MOA, so we went there, asked the driver for his route and turns out, it is really going to MOA and the fare is only 20 pesos each so we were able to save a few sum again since grab ride costs more than 300+.
We first went to the seaside the moment we reached MOA but sadly, just after a few minutes stroll, heavy rain pour out so we weren't really able to took any photos. We just strolled around the mall, had our dinner there, strolled for a bit more before we decided to go back to our place. It was already around 10pm that time and before going to our room, we went to a nearby convenience store first to but coffee, water and some snacks. And that concludes the day 1 of our staycation.
On our second day, it was also the day of the event which is our main agenda in going there. We had a lazy morning before we finally decided to get up and go out for breakfast. We ate at McDonald's just around the neighborhood and then we didn't waste any more time and started preparing for the event already. The event is at 1PM so we rushed on preparing ourselves for the event since we still have to travel for a few minutes to go there. Speaking of travel, luckily, on our first day, we saw that the jeepney where we rode from our place to MOA is also the same route as our event's place so we once again saved a few sum by just riding the jeep instead of booking a ride at grab.
Photos above are from the event. It ends at past 5pm already so we just booked a ride to go back to our place. But before going to our room, we first had snacks at S&R just to past time. We then go back to our room, take turns in taking a shower, had some rest, before we went out again for dinner. On that night, since we're still kind of full, we just decided to stroll around the area first since it was really peaceful in there then we had our dinner at Subway.
That night was also our last night in there so we brought some drinks at a convenience store and decided to chill on our room before finally calling it a night. And that concludes are second day.
For our third and last day, we are actually contemplating to extend our stay there since we feel like we weren't able to make the most of our trip yet but once of us declined so we don't have a choice but to go home that day. But before going home, we decided to visit at least once place that is just around near us.
We then pack our things, took a bath, get ready, and checkout out on our accomodation. Then we go to the bus station wherein there is a destination towards our province. Actually, we just luckily saw that station too on our first day and we rode the jeepney again to go there to asked first what time is the last trip to make sure that we will be able to go home that day before we enjoyed ourselves on a trip nearby.
The driver said that the last trip is until 10pm so we confidently booked a ride knowing that we still have plenty of time. For our final destination, we decided to go Venice Grand Canal Mall at Taguig City since it's just near the bus station too.
We also had our lunch there before we go around to look for a spot to take photos. Look how beautiful the place is, making our trip really worth our while. After we're already contented with our photos, we had coffee at Starbucks first before booking another ride to go back to the bus station. At last, time to go home!
And that concludes our 3 days trip and that really is one of my highlights this year because of the good memories, with good people, trying lots of firsts together.
Thanks for reaching this far and for having interest in reading this 3 days worth of stories of mine. It was nice sharing our experiences and I hope you also had a great time through reading our adventure.
:))
Senior, graduating, internship, pressure.
It has been a while since I last visit here for the very reason that is stated on the title.
It's been 2 weeks since the academic year started and I am already on my senior year. Most people I know are so excited for this year to come, some can't wait to graduate, while me, on the other hand, was left in agony.
I know it's not just me. Maybe there's even someone out there who is experiencing the same pressure that I am feeling right now. I don't know. I just don't know where all this is going.
I don't know what to do after graduation, I don't even know where am I going to apply for internship. I just realized that I don't have any future plans. I'm just so used to being so carefree, to being so young that I didn't realized that I am growing up day by day.
The people around me are so happy that I'll finally soon to graduate and I just usually smile with their remarks. This is actually the first time that somehow, I'll be able to voice out all these thoughts in my head without filter or any pretentions.
I am kind of a spontaneous person, I don't mind doing things unplanned but this feels like this area of my life should be planned well and what's adding to my pressure is me being unable to create any plans. Seriously, I just don't know where this is going.
On second thought, should I still go with the flow this time? Lol
Now, this feels so dramatic. Ugh pressure.
Anyway, enough with those thoughts, I so missed writing here. Apologies cuz it's just my raw thoughts for now. Hehe
On a positive note, though I am feeling an intense pressure for this year, I am having a great, though busy semester so far.
Actually, I only have 15 units this semester but what's occupying most of my time are the student organizations which I am part of. Specifically, I am most busy on the college-based organization that is related to my course but I am really enjoying the work there even though it is stressful most of the time.
What's making me enjoy it even more is the change we brought to the organization wherein we were able to see its flaws internally last year so we made a way to fix it for this semester and our ways seems to be working so far.
Less rest for me but this is one of the things which I'm passionate about and that's what also keeps me motivated on what I do.
So excited to share some of the things which is happening to me right now and some of the things that happened before. Hopefully, I'll be able to find time to write those stories on the following days.
Glad for my uncertainties for I was able to write here today. Lol. My head is all clear now. I guess, I can now sleep peacefully. Hehe
#random
Just wanna share something before I end this. This is what I did this Sunday afternoon. Been craving for "kwek-kwek" for a while now, TikTok is to blame for this. And finally, I was able to find time to buy the ingredients and finally do it.
So yeah, cravings satisfied! The whole family enjoyed it too. It's just a little fail though since I wasn't able to achieve the circle shape but all in all, had a fun time making this and I was really satisfied with what I was able to make.
Aside from this, the kids requested me to buy fries earlier so I bought 1 kilogram of it, then I just air fried it tonight and we ate it while having our movie night. We watched 'Unforgettable' starring Sarah Geronimo and the movie was indeed worth the watch. A must watch if you still haven't do so.
Aside from the food trip, I was also able to bathe 3 of our dogs. That surely took me hours too but it's relaxing at the same time.
It's just so satisfying how I was able to rest, have some fun and be productive today.
Thanks for reading this even though I feel like it doesn't make sense. Hope y'all are doing great. :))
try, trying, tried, tired
**hey!**
After more than a month of inactivity, the best I can say is 'hey', LOL. Somehow, writing this gives me both a familiar and unfamiliar feeling. It's just that it feels like it has been too long since the last time I tried to write and here am I again trying to write something that could probably make some sense.
My friends here know that I am always busy but the past months made me extra busy and so, let me just share what are those things that left me tired.
Sem-ender
Is it just me or every end of the semester is just really the time where students are busiest? Final examinations are waving, final quizzes, final requirements, term papers, and other requirements that our ever so 'hardworking' professors could think of.
I've already finished six semesters in college and among all those, the sixth was really the hardest. I have always been a procrastinator but never did I felt the amount of stress I got this past semester. I don't know what's with the second semester of third year, it was just so hard for me and I even doubted myself if I will be able to finish all my requirements on time.
But thankfully, with the grace of God, I was able to comply all the required outputs on time. And since I really had a hard time for the past semester, I wasn't actually expecting a high grade. I know that almost all of my outputs are rush works and I wasn't really on my best self as I do that so I was really surprised to see that I got good grades on our student portal.
Well, this is not really that high but this is higher than my previous grades. Posting this here gives me second thoughts since I never really tried posting my grades online but whatever, most of you guys don't know me anyway. Hehe
Student Organization
Next on the list is the student organization which I am part of. You see, academically, I am not really competitive, I procrastinate a lot and a passing grade is enough. But I am really active as a student, joining this and that. I started this org journey when I was on my second year and on my third year, I feel like the organization has really made use of me. *chour*
Got a lot of stress on the org since I really did became useful. I was almost the main technical on all of our activities, I edited some publication materials, did the paper works, and I even became a video editor. LOL
**Income Generating Project**
I was also in charge on our org's income generating project which is one of the greatest contributor of my stress but still, no matter how many times I mentioned the word 'stress', these org works gave me such kind of fulfillment and I also did gained a lot of skills through our organization.
For our IGP, we decided to sell our own org merchandise where we offered two different designs of shirts and tote bags, available in black and white. And though this really gives me a lot of stress, I'm still glad that we were able to sell merch, double of our quota which gives us income that we will be using to fund our upcoming activities on the next semester.
**Annual Marketing Competition**
I thought my busy days will be over once the semester is done but I was wrong. But this is my own doing. So, me and my friend who is also my orgmate decided to join the annual marketing competition hosted by the Philippine Junior Marketing Association (PJMA) which we are associated.
We are required to make a marketing plan for the given case to us and a promotional video for that company. This seems easy but this is a real-life solution to a real company, all information are real and this is really different on our school works so this is really giving us a hard time. We still don't have any progress on the paper and our deadline will be on July 2. Seems like we'll be doing another rush work.
Another reason why we joined in here despite the stress is the cash prize. LOL.
**Marketista Award**
This is another activity of the PJMA and I was assigned by our org's CEO to be the in-charge person on joining this activity. I'll be entering on 5 categories of major awards so this is another work for me. :) Good thing, I still have until July 10 to make our paper for this one so I can focus on the Annual Marketing Competition for now.
Aside from my university stuffs, I am also busy this vacation since I am helping out on our business. *sigh.
There you go! I feel like this is too much of an update but this is just me trying to write again. Hopefully, I'll be able to write regularly because I already have a bunch of ideas here about what to write. I so missed writing like this!
Anyway, how are you all? I hope you're doing good. Catch up soon!
Before I end this, I just want to thanks these two folks I have here. Despite my inactivity, their sponsorship remained, big thanks @Momentswithmatti and @Kendy42! I'll really try to be worth of your sponsorship this time. :)
Lastly, Ate @Ruffa, I'm back! Finally! Haha. Thanks sa pagpasa ng kasipagan. :)))))
*Will be back with a really meaningful write-up on my next published. Hehe*
**Lead image from Pexels. Will edit my own next time.*
This is just a phase.
`Just a dump.`
2 weeks before the end of classes yet I don't feel any excitement. Well, I do like the idea that classes are about to end but if I were to think about the amount of requirements that we still have to do and the amount of time that is left for us to do it is really killing my excitement.
It's already a problem that we don't have much time but my whole being is adding up to that problem. It's just that I can't find the motivation to actually move, I can't move at all. I just don't want to do anything anymore.
I know I already reached this far but I feel like I have been like this for the whole semester, I can't remember any learning at all, I just want all this to be done and gone.
Apologies for this dump but these thoughts of mine just have to be said somewhat hoping that after I have written it all out, I'll be able to find even a tinge of motivation to actually move and do my tasks.
I feel like this learning setting is really taking a toll on me. I just can't study at home. My procrastination is getting worser and I don't know, though I can still be productive, those are just out of responsibility. Well, I think it is somehow positive that I still take responsibility seriously but that is only when someone is relying on me. Because personally, if I am the only one involved, I won't even move a bit.
I'm also kind of disappointed with myself these days for submitting late activities. Actually, I still have two activities left on the "missing" section of my google classroom right now. The deadlines of those activities are on May 6, and 10 and until now, I still haven't done it. What's worst is that it is a group activity and so, because of not paying attention to it earlier, my groupmates are affected with the late output. I'm just so lucky that they are understanding and no one actually blame me for that late activity.
I don't know what's really happening but right now, I feel like I'm on a phase where I don't want to study anymore. I just don't want to deal with requirements anymore. I just want to do nothing and think of nothing.
Maybe this is exhaustion talking because for the past months, my schedule was so packed that I am up until dawn because of org-related activities. I don't really know. I can't distinguish the difference between laziness, procrastination and tiredness anymore because I fell like I'm feeling everything all at once. LOL
Another thing that might have led me to this pace was the result of the election. Though I'm already done with the acceptance part, I can't really deny that it has affected my life. I'm not really this involved before but VP Leni's words saying "*Ang namulat, hindi na muling pipikit*" was just so true. I think I'll just forever be involved with all these stuffs happening in our country.
But anyway, those are not enough reasons for me not to do my tasks. Though my feelings are valid, I just can't afford to not do anything anymore given the little time that I have left.
It's time to move and it's time to pull myself out even if I have to do it forcefully. Otherwise, I won't be able to get up instantly if I won't do it by force. This is just a phase and I have to overcome this. I will overcome this!
Two more weeks. I just have to bear with it for two more weeks, I just have to work on and catch up on our requirements for two more weeks. Just two more weeks. I got to do this. I will do this. God, help me do this.
Two more weeks and I'm done with all these.
I already wasted my time today, and most of my time last week. No more wasting of time, no more giving in to myself. More like, I don't have any more time to waste.
**This is just a phase. I will get through this phase.**
*To everyone that is experiencing this phase too, we got this. This is just a phase and I know, we'll get through it.*
*Fighting!*
Rate Responsibly!
The market for online selling has already present before but it became more rampant during the heights of the pandemic until today. Online shopping gives convenience to people and aside from that, shoppers can compare prices from different shops and finally make their purchase when they are finally satisfied with the price or quality of the products that they are buying.
There are so many benefits with online shopping but we cannot deny that it is also associated with risk especially that we cannot see the physical product and we don't know what can happen with the sipping of our orders. And so, it is very common for us to look for reviews of the products that we are eyeing so that it can help us with our purchase. Personally, I am very much reliant with reviews before making any purchase.
Review's a great help both for the seller and shopper, especially if the rating are high since it can boost the reputation of the shop or the seller and it can help the shopper in deciding whether to checkout that product or not but most of the time, there are just reviews that aren't helpful at all because of people leaving unrelated reviews just for the sake of earning a few coins. This is very common specifically in Shopee and Lazada.
I usually look for reviews with attached photos but there are people who leaves photos of random things just because of the extra points when there is a photo attached and that's just not very helpful at all. To be honest, those reviews are annoying especially if you are seriously looking for a good review that can help you.
There are also reviews that are related but are not sincere, there are also those reviews that are unjustifiable like blaming the seller for a low quality of the product but when I checked, the product was so cheap so low quality should not be an issue.
There are also reviews that were made as soon as they received the product. Shoppers were so happy with their purchase after testing it and seeing that it works so they'll give a very high rating but after a few days, weeks or months, the product can be easily broken but there is no way for the shopper to take back his review and that I think can also give misinformation to other shoppers.
Anyway, the reason why I'm writing this one is for us, online shoppers, to be reminded to rate responsibly. As I have said, I am very much reliant to reviews and I know, somehow, that you are too so I encourage you that whenever you make a purchase online, you must leave a review too so that you can help the next buyer decide.
**Below are the do's and don'ts for rating the products and giving a review:**
**Do not give nonsensical review for the sake of some extra points.**
**Do not attached unrelated photos on your review.** If you weren't able to take photos of your purchase, then don't attached any photo at all. I am also discouraging the attachment of the screenshot of the same products you purchased. It's not necessary, we have already seen that. What we want is the actual product that you bought.
**Do not give review right away after receiving the product and seeing that it works**. Give it time, giving review is a no rush. Try it for a few days to see if everything works perfectly or if there are deficiencies with your order so that you can give an accurate review.
**Manage your expectations.** We cannot have a very high expectation for the products that are really cheap. For instance, you bought an earphones worth 35Php only and yet you expect it to have a good quality of audio as well as its mic and so when that expectation failed you, you blame it on the product. Of course, there is no original earphones worth like that and if the earphones works fine, like a fine audio, not so loud but you can still hear and a fine mic, that would be fine, I guess.
Before you add it to your cart and checking it out, always consider its affordability, quality and of course, check for reviews. You can also compare products from different shops so that you can look for the best find.
**And lastly, a final tip on giving a review.** -- See if the product matches its description and if it meets your expectation. You can also tell how satisfied you were with your purchase. You can describe its quality and remember to just be honest and true with your words.
*One last thing, just a last minute realization...*
Who says online shopping can help us save time? It's a big no, at least for me it's a no since it always took me like forever whenever I am comparing prices while looking for good reviews.
It's just like that when you don't want to go wrong with your purchase and so far, though it is time consuming, it has been very effective for me since I've been getting good purchase that are satisfactory.
Happy shopping and always rate responsibly!
It's not over until it's over.
I made an article last night and it was obviously driven by emotion with the partial and unofficial result of the election. It was really disheartening because I feel the we have failed but now that I came back to my senses, I realized that regardless of what the results will be, we still won by heart, our votes didn't go to waste and that I will be forever proud that I stand for our country.
****Loud and proud, I will stand!**** https://read.cash/@immaryandmerry/loud-and-proud-i-will-stand-12aae9eb
Before I proceed in writing this, let me just clarify that the purpose of this write-up is not to stir up misunderstanding, fight or any negative things. Writing this is just my way of processing all that are happening right now.
Let me begin this with why I chose VP Leni to be my president.
I know, you must have been fed up already with her credentials and track record so let's put it aside. More to those reasons that I can give is her character and how genuine she is in serving the public. With or without power, with or without position, I know that she will always use her platform in serving the people because that is how she is, even before she entered politics.
I was undecided for a long time and another reason why she got my vote is because of how she influence the people when it comes to volunteerism. I also admire how she became lead by example which her supporters followed eventually. And before you start saying something with this statement, it is not all her supporters because there are those who engage to online fights but at least, the majority was still influenced by VP Leni's kind of leadership and it is very evident on her rallies.
All throughout this election period, starting from filing of candidacy to the campaign period and even until now, we have known that we are at a disadvantage but it was not a losing fight, we have high hopes and we won't lose it until the last moment.
I have been reflecting on how I have been with the election this past months. I was not like this before, I was never this affected and active before but looking back, it just feels nice to let your voice out and to take a stand with what you believe. It was hard, it was tiring, I stand against my family, I got criticized by my own family, but it is still worth it. We have reached this far and now's not the time to give up and lose hope because as this title implies, "**it is not over until it is over**".
This is not bitterness talking, this is not because I am in denial, this is because it's not really over yet. I have already accepted the partial and unofficial result but we are still waiting for the result from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). If it turns out to have the same result with what was shown from the COMELEC, then it was a clean fight and I would peacefully accept the result of the election because the majority elected them and that is how democracy works.
But if the allegations are true and that there really is a fault with this election, I believe that anomalies will show, we will have a manual recount and that COMELEC should be help accountable.
Again, I am already calm with this matter it's just that this really isn't finish yet so I hope that others should just celebrate if they feel like celebrating but do not stop us from still hoping when it's not over yet.
I am currently watching the livestream of Leni-Kiko Volunteers' Night and the comment section is just so chaotic, full of bashing from the other team when the event is not for them at all. That is just so disappointing and can't they just give this night to the volunteers who fought hard and is still fighting for what they believe. Anyway, if a volunteer happens to read this, or even anyone who took a stand, accept my heartfelt gratitude to you all. *Maraming-maraming salamat sa pagtindig at paninindigan!*
Going back, as I've said, if it is a clean win, I will accept it with no buts and no complain and I will honestly pray for us to be wrong on what we think about Marcos Jr. and that he must be able to make our country to rise up and be prosperous. I pray that he may be able to stick with his promises and make our country better in the end.
Let us all continue to pray for a clean result from the election. Pray for our country and let us continue to open our minds with that really is right. Let us be more vigilant, even after this election, even with regard to other issues. Make fact-checking as a habit and only trust credible sources. Take note: this is in general. Do not let yourselves be a victim of fake news and misinformation.
*All things happen for a reason. We might not see it now but He definitely have a purpose for everything.*
Loud and proud, I will stand!
Time indeed flies so fast. A lot have happened on the past months and just today, one of the most historical election in the Philippines have happened.
At the beginning of this all, I remember myself being one of the many who's ignorant about what is true. I am not embarrassed to admit that I was once blinded with fake news and misinformation.
When the election season starts, when politicians started filing their certificate of candidacy, and when the campaign has officially started, I didn't actually made a choice immediately. I said to myself that I only have one vote and I don't want to waste it. And that's when I started to do research, to open my mind especially to facts that are valid and with credible sources.
At first, it was hard. It was hard to accept that what was planted to me since I was young and what those people around me believed was wrong. At first, I couldn't get it why these certain group of people are passionately defending this candidate and why relationship has to be broken just because of politics but as I delve deeper into this matter, I was finally able to relate to those group of people also known as '*kakampinks*'.
I realized that this is not just 'politics'. What they were fighting for isn't themselves, it's not just their family, it's for everyone, and it is for our country. Having a different views with my family, it was really hard to stand and it honestly took me a long time before I decided to be vocal in taking my stand.
I have been criticized by my family and it was really harder than you think to stand against them. It requires a lot of courage, it requires emotional strength and it broke me down for a lot of times. But in the end, I will still stand proudly and will forever take pride of the decision that I have made.
The counting of votes is currently on-going and I am really am in an emotional-wreck right now. The only thing that is holding me together is the fact that I made the right choice and that I won't lose hope up until the last moment.
Whoever wins, I will forever remember this moment and this very feeling that I took part on fighting for what we believe until the very last moment. It's not a finish fight yet and I will hold on even to last tinge of hope that I can see.
If BBM wins, I hope that he will prove us wrong because if yes, I will be more than delighted to know that. I won't hold any pride and will accept that I was wrong. And will be even happy that he won instead of the one I voted for.
Whatever the result is, those of us who stand didn't actually lose. We were brave and I am just so proud to all those who decided to stand and to fight until the end. We did so great, folks!
It must have been tough these past months, it must have been tiring, but the fact that we decided to take a stand was already a huge achievement. Many were encouraged, the spirit of volunteerism has been modeled and the memories we have for this past months are memories that we could treasure forever.
**Loud and proud, I will always stand.**
*Pilipinas, patuloy kitang ipaglalaban.*
But those are just my thoughts and my own voice. In the end, I will always rely on God and I trust that He will be the one to appoint a leader according to His will. I might not comprehend to His reasons, and I do not have the right to question it but I am sure that all these things happen with a purpose.
As Jesus have said, "***Let Your will be done***."
Glory all to God!
Chill day, Sunday!
One of the key to a happy and strong relationship within family is quality time. Or family time, as we call it. Having family time helps family to create a stronger and tighter bond making them more connected, open and closer to each other.
These days, I know a lot of families who couldn't even make time to eat together. To gather together and to just talk to each other. And even if they are together, they have gadgets that are bringing them to another world instead of spending some precious time with their family.
Before, I hate that we have rules like whatever we are doing or no matter how tired we are, we have to get up and show up on our dining table for dinner. There is also no phone or any gadgets allowed on our home while eating and was not really fond of it before but now, I already realized how great is that practice that was implied to me since I was young.
We are also busy people in the family and we barely eat breakfast and lunch together. But dinner is non-negotiable. Since at night, everyone is already at home so as I have mentioned, whatever remaining tasks that we have to do, we have to forget that for a while to eat dinner together as family. And because of that, we were always able to talk and somehow catch up with each other as we have our casual and usual conversation over dinner. Through that practice, we were able to manage open communication within our home.
Aside from dinner as family time, of course there are also special days wherein we will cook special foods, dine out on a restaurant, and sometimes, go out of town. It doesn't happen very often but still, we make sure to do it and insert it on our busy schedule because family time is non-negotiable, it is required in a family, at least on our family, it is.
Anyway, too much for an introduction, this is just about me sharing this chill day we had earlier. It was such a simple day going to the mall, playing at the arcade, and eating together. Simple activities with the most precious people, indeed, it was such a time well spent.
Last Saturday night, I was informed by my brother that we will be going to the mall the next day so that the kids can play at the arcade. Late notice yeah? Well, it's usually like that with us. Not much planning needed, when we say we'll go, then we'll go.
I was quite excited of course since it has been a long time since I went to the mall. And look at that, it's just fine going since it is not really that crowded so there are lesser interaction with other people.
As I have said, the goal is to really go to the arcade so we go there directly as soon as we go to the mall. Kuya bought the tokens and of course, we played. The first arcade that we went to was quite small so after a while, Kuya told us to use all our remaining tokens since he saw a bigger arcade where we could play.
Moving on to the next location, we found an arcade more than 2 times bigger than the first one we went to. And next to that arcade is a playing area for kids where they can pay for a rent and stay there for a minimum of 1hr. It was Php220 per hour I think, if I remember it correctly. The area was wide and there were a lot of attractions so I think, it is worth its price and my nephew really did enjoy too so indeed, it was worth it.
Meanwhile, as my 5 year old nephew enjoyed himself on the playing area, me, my 16 year old nephew and 12 year old niece enjoyed ourselves on the arcade beside it. Tokens are still sponsored by their dad, of course. So we tried almost all the game in the arcade that interests us until we run out of token. We did try our best to win tokens too in exchange with some prizes and after playing there for an hour, we got 1958 tickets in total. Too bad, it isn't enough to win major prizes since we were only there for a short period of time but good news! The tickets are enough to get us foods for our snacks. We got 4 soda in can, 4 biscuits, chips, and candies. That's already more than enough too since we were just really aiming for the soda. LOL
And here comes the exciting part. This is our dinner for today's video. LOL
We dine out at Shakey's and ordered pizza, of course. We also got chicken, mojos and 2 platter of pasta. We are only 7 so these foods are more than enough. We had the remaining foods to go so I got some snacks here as I write this one. Hehe
Lastly, here's a photo dump of myself 'coz I feel like sharing it. LOL
For the first photo, I didn't know my 5 year old nephew captured it. I just saw it on my gallery as we went home.
The second one is the mandatory mirror selfie at the comfort room. LOL. Hello to those who also sometimes take mirror selfies on comfort rooms!
The last one is the look of someone who is awake for 20-21 hours a day and is only sleeping for 3-4 hours a day. Geez. Been too busy these past weeks and I am really sleep deprived. Eye bags is real. LOL
All in all, I had such fun time with the family. It was just a simple day doing simple activities but it became extra special because of the people I am with and the bond I created with them.
To all families out there, I hope that you will also able to practice family time and for those who doesn't have that really good relationship with their family, I hope and pray for your reconciliation.
Thank you so much for reading this far. God bless your whole family!
And here's a reminder for y'all:
Look around you!
TikTok has been consuming my time recently and I must say that the time I spent in there are not totally worthless. TikTok is a great avenue for learning, there were a lot of educators in there sharing information through a short, creative and interactive way and for me, those are really effective.
And if you also watch TikTok videos on a daily basis, we might follow different users, we might have different interests, and we might have different types of contents that we see on our FYP or for you page, I think there's a high chance that you're also seeing the current issues right now. And no, I am not pertaining to the gossips TikTok has right now but about the things which I think matters.
There are three important things, or current issues that are bothering me right now and those are the incoming May 2022 election, history, and lastly and most importantly, our environment.
May 2022 Election
Before, I honestly do not pay attention that much on this matter. I do not make my own research and my perspective was solely based on my family's view. Partly, maybe it was because that I am still not a registered voter before and with the thinking that at the end of the day, whoever that is meant to win will win and what I can only do is to accept that and respect that candidate.
But this incoming election has truly made a huge impact for me. This will be the first time that I am voting and I became more aware of what my one vote can hold so much power. This is the first time that I will be voting and I am craving for a change, for a progress, and I know that my vote, even if it is only one will make a difference and I do not want it to go to waste. I do not want to cast a vote on the wrong person, I do not want to improperly use this privilege therefore I did what I could do. I did research, I based on facts, and now, I know that whoever I am going to vote is worthy of it.
I also just want to use this opportunity to tell everyone to start caring about it. Yes, it is true that at the end of the day, at the end of this election, there has to be a winner and we have to respect that. But do not give up until it actually happens. We still have time. Know the worth of your vote, know how much power it holds and please, use it wisely. If you can do DYOR on crypto, also do that on checking on the candidates whom you will entrust our country for six years. Always do fact check, open your minds for the truth and never let yourself be a victim of misinformation.
Its high time that we should care. Be hungry for change! We deserve a change so please, be wise in choosing who are you going to vote. Do not settle for less and may you have an enough basis why you are voting for that specific candidate.
Vote wisely!
History
This one is none other than about the PBB History Quiz Bee that happened recently. This is so hype up on TikTok right now and I do agree that this is kind of alarming.
**Here are some of the questions on the said quiz bee:**
****Summer capital of the Philippines***
Their answer: Intramuros
Right answer: **Baguio City**
****Nickname of Dr. Jose Rizal***
Their answer: JRizal
Right answer: **Pepe**
****The three Filipino Catholic priests***
Their answer: MaJoHa
Right answer: **Gomburza**
****Longest bridge in the Philippines***
Their answer: SLEX
Right answer: **San Juanico Bridge**
****Nickname of Melchora Aquino***
Their answer: Ninoy Aquino
Right answer: **Tandang Sora**
****Nickname of Gregorio del Pilar***
Their answer: -----
Right answer: **Goyo**
That quiz bee is part of the history taught even on elementary schools and it is just saddening how they didn't know any of it.
That quiz bee became trending on TikTok causing many users in asking those questions too on their siblings, cousins and other family members and again, it is really saddening that most of them didn't get the correct answer either. On the other hand, that also caused other content creator to spread information about history, specifically, about the history of all the questions that were asked on the quiz bee.
We cannot deny that history made a huge contribution on what we are and who we are on the present. I don't even know who's at fault here. It is our education system or the generations of today? Either way, I hope that it must be implied to students, as early as possible, about how important history is.
We must never forget history and may the happenings of the past be a lesson and a guide to all of us to be better on the present and until the future.
#LetTheEarthBreathe
As far as I know, this is a recent issue and I only became are to this tonight. I watched a video of some scientists being arrested for protesting about climate change.
Most on my FYP right now are different influencers advocating and standing with those scientists. Current trend right now is that very hashtag saying that we should let the earth rest.
Again, it is high time to care and to look around you. Start caring for the environment. Know that your small action counts. One thing that you could do is to get rid of those unwanted emails. Before I type this, I just spent few minutes deleting thousands of emails on all of my accounts and maybe, you could start from there too.
I don't know what awaits us in the future. Nothing is certain when it comes to future happenings. But focus on now. Focus on today. Do what you can do and know that it could make a difference.
Let us start caring for everything around us. Maybe we think that it doesn't affect us that's why we shouldn't concern ourselves about it but no, you're wrong. It may be indirectly but still, it affects us.
So please, look around you! Show that you care and do your part as citizens of this country and of this world.
:)
Hard Hit from Anime
As a kid, I remember myself liking Anime that are already dubbed in Filipino and is being aired at Philippine television. I always watch with my brothers and we always look forward for every episodes. Some of those anime that I remember are *Detective Conan, Ghost Fighter, Hunter X Hunter, Inuyasha, Fairy Tail, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, Pokemon, Slam Dunk* and *One Piece.*
My favorite among those I mentioned are **Detective Conan** and **Ghost Fighter.** However, as I grow older, I there were no anime being aired on TV anymore and I do not have access to the original version with English subtitles. Also, it must be that my interest on anime isn't really that strong.
My attention was drawn to Kdrama and American Series but few months ago, I suddenly became interested to anime and I just found myself started watching it. I saw a conversation on our Telegram group chat and I somehow saw **Jujutsu Kaisen** as their topic, I became curious and so I looked for it, I watched an episode and it completely caught my interest. So I watched another episode, and them another, and another, until I finished all 24 episodes of it.
Little did I know that Jujutsu Kaisen will be just a warm up because I feel like that was the start of me watching anime nonstop. Next on my watchlist is **Demon Slayer**, followed by **Haikyuu**, and right after that I watched **Attack on Titans** starting from the first season and now, I am just waiting for the updates on final season. Bored from waiting for the updates of AOT and Demon Slayer, I decided to watch **Hunter** **X Hunter** and I just finished all 6 seasons of it.
And here's another challenge I got, I just started **One Piece** last night and so far, I am on the 12th episode. So yeah, good luck to me on watching all the 1000+ episodes of it.
I didn't know that anime will hit me this hard. Not really a super big fan but fan enough to make me buy merch. LOL. Too much for an introduction when in fact, I just want to share my *budols* from the Lazada birthday sale last month.
I have been eyeing few items from Oxgn for months now and when the sale happened, with a strong push from Ate @Ruffa, I finally add those items on my cart and immediately checked it out.
Haikyuu
First from Haikyuu is this slides which I still haven't wear by now coz I don't feel like wearing it. LOL. I do like slides and I am really planning to buy this even before but I can't since it is expensive for me. But then, lazbirthdaysale happened and I saw this for only 299, plus additional discount from Lazada bonus and shop voucher and yeah, I was able to buy this for a really cheap price.
Still from Haikyuu, next is this shirt, with Hinata's character on it, and it also has a number 10 print at the back which is Hinata's jersey number. This is for 581Php and I really like this one. I like that it is black and the orange lining of course, Karasuno represents. This is a good buy and I definitely like this one.
Attack on Titans
First from AOT is this dark green hoodie representing the scout regiment. Its sale price is 1044Php but I was able to bought this for 844Php. I really like this one but I ordered way bigger than my size. Well, I really want it to be oversized but it became even bigger than oversize LOL. Still, it's nice, I might wear this once I got the chance, not for now though since it is really hot these days.
I like black shirt so here comes another black shirt with Levi's print on it. This is for only 279Php. This is really nice for its price. It fits me well too, it is kind of oversized but not too big, just the exact size that I prefer.
Still Levi, but this time, it is a bucket hat. This was bought out of frustration. I already have a bucket hat but after using it for one time, I lost it. Geez. I was planning to buy another one, not really from Oxgn but I saw Levi and I bought it out of impulse. I still don't regret it though because for the nth time, I really like this one.
Last from AOT is this sling bag which they say is unisex but it looks like it's only for a guy in my eyes. Still, I like it, I still haven't used it though because I am still deciding weather I'll use it at all or I'll just give it to my nephew who's really an anime fan.
Hunter X Hunter
This is the last item for all my purchases and the only item from Hunter X Hunter. I wasn't supposed to buy this one but I happened to be claiming a discount voucher and it requires 999Php as minimum purchase. I saw this one so I added it to my cart just to be qualified to claim the 350Php discount voucher. But I really like this one too so no regrets.
So yeah, there you go. Don't 'sana all' me after reading this one because I am already broke as of the moment. I am now struggling to not be tempted again to shop online because I am still undeserving of it. LOL
I don't know what pushes me to buy all of these. Maybe, partly it's because of stress for the past weeks and my way of coping up is impulse buying. LOL. I am just consoling myself with the idea that I really do like all the items I bought. It is worth it. It has to be. Haha
Thanks for reading this far and if you're also eyeing items that you have been wanting to buy for a long time now, this is your sign to finally buy it!
:)
A Peek From My World: College Life Edition
I entered college with the intention of keeping my student life chill and simple. None of the things happening now are planned but I am still glad how things turned out to be.
*First year college*, I was kind of overwhelmed for the vast shift from being a normal and shy student to being a student leader. First was when I was elected as the class beadle of the block president and then one thing led to another. The next thing I knew, I was already part of the freshmen council on our college as well as our major council.
During the second term on of our second semester as freshmen students, 2 weeks of class suspension happened until lockdown was fully implemented. We didn't finished the rest of the semester but our university implemented mass promotion therefore we all passed our first year and our professors just used our activities, outputs, quizzes and exams during the first term of that semester as basis for our grades.
*Second year college*, we're finally back to classes but not face to face. Online classes has officially started yet I didn't feel it that much because our university is conducting an asynchronous classes meaning that we are not required to meet with our professors real time via online platforms. We only have google classroom where materials such as our books, modules, and pre-recorded discussion of our professors are uploaded and we can access that anytime. Synchronous meeting will be on the students' discretion since the university think that it will not be that effective to conduct synchronous classes because not all students have access to a stable internet connection.
And by the way, I was still the block president on our second year in college but since the mode of classes is way different from face to face, I thought about letting go of some responsibilities to manage my time more efficiently on this new mode of class setting and so I step down from the major council and of course, I'm not part of the freshmen council anymore that time.
For the first few months, I felt free, I was doing a good job as the block president while keeping a balance between my studies, chores at home, helping with the business and my guilty pleasures such as watching Kdrama, american series and reading Wattpad.
**But then, maybe I'm not really meant to have a normal student life. LOL**
On our second semester as second year student, an opportunity opened and it was the recruitment activity of one of the recognized college-based student organization on our university. And this organization happened to be in line and made specifically for our course and so I just found myself signing up to be one of the applicant on this organization.
My words and my plans of lessening my load of responsibilities only lasted for a while before I involved myself with an even more heavier responsibilities. LOL. The application process took a while, there were times when I was really demotivated to move or to push through with the process but I was glad my perseverance prevailed and now that I am already part of the organization, I can say that surviving the process was indeed worth it.
***Here comes miss technical...***
Before we became an official member of the organization, we were asked on which committee would we want to work with. We have four committees in total and those are activity permit, captions, arts, and technical committee. Having a background with paperworks in an organization, I volunteered to be part of the activity permit committee but for the reason that I don't know, I just found myself being added to the group chat of technical committee.
For the first few months, I wasn't being asked to be the main technical but there goes my time to shine, it happened last month and that was also the time when I started to be inactive in here. I was assigned to be the main technical for an event and what's even more challenging is the use of a platform that is new to me.
It was StreamYard, and though it isn't that complicated, there was still a certain level of difficulty since it doesn't have all the features that we are looking for. Moving on, since I was the one in charge with that event, I became the main technical again for our recent event last April 9 that once again occupied my time.
I have been busy the past weeks since I am also part of the preparation of the event. It was only today that I manage to breathe for a while before conducting another event at my other organization tomorrow.
***Speaking of other org...***
Let us rewind for a few weeks for a bit. As I have shared last time on my recent article, one of the ministry-based student organization on our university has announced that they are open for recruitment and so, me, who feels like can handle more responsibility, signed up for it once again and now, I am officially a member of two student organizations.
After breathing from our event last Saturday, I spent hours today with the preparation for our event tomorrow.
*By the way, I think I forgot to mention but I am on my 3rd year now. I have membership to two student organizations, I am once again an officer on our major council, and still, the block president.*
*To be honest, never did I imagined that my college life would be this hectic. It is so far to my plans of being a normal college student that only have academics as my worries. But still, even though this isn't what I imagined it to be, no matter how much stress I get or how sleep deprived I am whenever we have events, I must say that all of those are worth it and I can feel myself, especially my skills, growing and improving day by day.*
*I guess, that would be all for now. Thanks for reading this far! It was nice sharing my life as a student and I appreciate you reading till the end of it.*
Take care! :)
Called to Serve
For those who know me, it is quite obvious that I have been pretty these past weeks. I have been inactive both here, on noise.cash and even on our telegram group chat. I have been a mushroom these days, I suddenly disappear and will show up unexpectedly. LOL
But if there's one thing that I want to share to you, if there's a highlight on my life recently, this story that I will be telling you today would be it.
The Calling
Before the end of February, I was approached by one of our churchmates who also happened to be a student on our university. She's also part of the **ministry-based student organization** on our university and that was also the reason why she messaged me.
March is the recruitment month for all the organizations in our university and she asked me if I want to apply on their student organization. That same night, I already saw her message on the preview from the notifications but I didn't seen it yet because I don't know what to reply.
The next night, I told my sister, who is also my spiritual leader about it and turns out, she was supposed to say the same thing to me. I told her I'll give it some thought since I am already part of a college-based organization but she still encouraged me to join saying that other things are just the extra because after all, our main purpose is to be of service of the Lord.
The Response
With that, I finally replied to Ate Abi, our churchmate, that I will be applying to the organization. But it seems like she feels my hesitation so she told me to pray for it first, seek for a word before finally making a decision.
However, I wasn't able to find with the time she have given me so I asked God for a sign instead. Ate Abi messaged me about my decision and I wasn't able to respond but God answered my prayer through giving me a sign when Ate Abi added me to a group chat on messenger together with the other aspirants. Yes, that was the sign that I was looking for. I thought that since I was already added to the GC, then maybe, that was already it.
The Journey
*And the journey begins...*
Recruitment week or the recruitment schedule was on March 25-31, 2022 and before that, we had an orientation first about our schedule throughout the recruitment week as well as the rules and requirements in joining the organization.
I had no problem with the rules as well as the requirements but I had conflict with the schedule. Since even before I decided to apply to the org, we already had a scheduled outing on March 25-27.
But indeed, God is so good that despite the conflict on the schedule, I was able to still go to the outing and attend our meeting. We had an scheduled meet on 25 but it was cancelled so it was in favor of me. And then the next day, it was quite a struggle being interviewed while literally on the road because we were travelling that time but still, I was able to attend. And on the 27th, we were already home when we had another meeting.
After surpassing that struggle, I realized that it was just the beginning since after the 27th, we still have 4 days left to complete the process and I actually didn't expected that we will be struggling a lot with our schedule.
We are only 7 applicants in total yet we barely managed to be present at all times for the reason that 3 of my co-applicants are also applying to another organization, one of them was having her OJT and on my case, I am a member of another organization and I have a responsibility to that org.
We meet daily at 11am for our scripture reading and sharing, just a short fellowship, and the actual part of the recruitment process usually happens at night when most of us are already free. But honestly, I am not actually free that time since it has the same schedule on my other org but I sacrificed my other org so that I can focus on this one.
It was really harder than I thought. It was tiring, it was draining. I have another org, I have academics, I have council, and here comes another org. Conflict of schedule after another but through the grace of God, all 7 of us survived the process and we are now official members of the organization.
My takeaways (Lessons, Learnings, Realizations)
**Romans 12:3-8** - ***Gifts of Grace***
`3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,[a] and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,[b] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.`
Source: biblegateway.com https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012%3A3-8&version=ESV
As the recruitment process begins, we were informed about the real situation of the organization. Sadly, there are only 3 remaining active members of the organization but instead of feeling discouraged, we were actually inspired by them because they are only 3 yet they were able to do all the activities of the organization. And we were 7, we doubled their numbers so we can only imagine what more we can do if we all survived the process.
At first, we doubted ourselves about what we can do since most of us are just starting to develop our skills and talents but we were reminded about the gifts of grace through that passage above.
We were reminded that we are one body in Christ and that every members of the body have its own function. We may have different talent and capabilities but all of those will be useful for one another. I may not be able to do other things that they can do but so do I. I also have capabilities that they cannot do and being part of a one body, somebody can fill in on my shortcomings and so as I am to them.
As the Lord says on His word on 2 Corinthians 12:9 `But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.`
We may have weaknesses but God's grace is sufficient for us. What we can do now is to continue to work with one vision and one passion. And to use our God-given talents to be of service of Him.
What's important is that like Paul, the goal must be clear to us and that is to preach the good news and share the message of salvation to all the people that we can reach.
Gospel Sharing
On God's great commission on Matthew 28:18-20, we were tasked to make disciples of all nation and following God's command, that is also the mission and vision of our organization. "*A multitude of disciples committed to evangelism and disciple-making reaching the whole world for Christ.*"
This is also one of the highlight of my whole application process. Once again, after such a long time, praise God for I was able to share the gospel in public and in face to face. I was also able to share it to my friends online and I thank God for their lives for they also committed themselves to a regular bible study.
Now that we are already an official member of the organization, personally, I feel like this is God's calling for me to serve. After all, we were all called to serve, to use our God-given talents and the response depends to us.
You, you are called to serve and if you think you can't, know that God doesn't called the qualified, instead, He qualified the called. He qualified those who responded on His calling.
That was such an eventful yet meaningful application process. My faith is burning is to serve God and my only prayer right now is that may that fire continue to keep burning and may I, and my other co-members, be of use in service for the Lord.
**I bring back all the highest glory, honor and adoration to our Almighty God!**
Beat the Heat, 2022!
Day 1. A Welcoming Home
Few days ago, the saying that *what you did good will come back to you* was once again proven. Just for a short back story, last year, on the surge of the pandemic, we have some churchmates who wasn't able to go home to their respective provinces. It was during the lockdown, they don't have jobs and they can't go home. So, we took in two of our churchmates to live on our house for a few months before lockdown was lifted so that they can finally go home.
One of those two lives in **Subic, Zambales** and a month ago, when he found our that we're planning to have an outing, he gladly invited us to their place and offered us free foods, accommodation, and he's also the one who planned our itinerary.
It was already night time when we arrived on their home and our dinner was already prepared. We ate the fishes that they catch on their own and much more to that is their very welcoming home and family members. You know, the house isn't cozy at all but their warm welcome is more than enough to make us comfortable.
As the night progressed, we just had a catching up conversation over some drinks. And as you can see, there's a tent on the background since we were 39 in total and all 3 houses can't accommodate all of us so some of us slept on the tent.
We had a great night sleep after that and this is how peaceful their place looks like in the morning. The tent is giving us the backyard camping vibes and their surroundings just looks so appealing in my eyes. It just looks so fresh and peaceful with all the flowers and all the greens on their surroundings.
Day 2. An Exclusive Island
The next day, we didn't waste any time on the morning. I woke up at 6 am, we had breakfast and we immediately get ready for island hopping. Sadly though because at this point, half of us changed location and go to another beach resort at another province instead.
But we cannot let that ruin the fun so here it goes! That photo above was taken at the port where fishing boats are located. Our churchmate came from the family of fisherman and they have their boat here that we will be using to go to the island. This trip isn't fancy at all but it doesn't have to be expensive for us to enjoy.
It took us one hour of boat ride before we can reach the island and that one hour gave me such peace and relaxation. It is just so relaxing to look at the deep blue see while enjoying the humps and bumps of the waves on the boat. It was a sunny day but the wind was also fine and it just feels so good to feel it against my face while hearing the sound of the waves.
This is how the island looks like as we arrive there. Mr. Sun is already up and shiny but of course, we literally beat the heat! I am a bit regretful about not taking much photos because I feel like this didn't give justice to how beautiful the place is.
What I like about it is that there are only few people on the island and it feels like it was exclusive for ours. The white sand is nice and the water is so clear that you can literally see the fishes underneath.
I also enjoyed the part when we move the boat on the deeper part of the ocean so that we can enjoy swimming and diving more. It really feels so nice and I feel so free as I float in there. LOL
I also like this rocky area on the far side of the island. I wasn't able to take a photo of the whole area but the rock formation looks nice. Hehe. Lastly, here's a photo dump of myself before I proceed to day 3.
Day 3. Next Location
As I have mentioned above, half of us moved to another province and so for us to be together, after we went island hopping, we followed the others at **Morong, Bataan**. It was already night time when we arrived in there and in contrast to the exclusive island, this resort have a lot of guests and the night was so alive because there was a live band performing on the island. But what I enjoyed in there was the bonfire. I don't know, bonfire just really fits on the beach.
On that night, though we rented a few rooms on the resort where we can sleep, we thought it will be nice to wake up with the sound of the waves so we chose to set up our tents near the shore and sleep on it. And indeed, it really feels so nice to wake up with the relaxing sound of the waves.
Those are just random photos I took. I don't have that much pictures since I focused on enjoying the place than to capture really nice photos so there are just quick random shots.
Next is on that morning, the manager of the resort told us that there is a false nearby. So we went there and enjoyed the fresh and cold water from the mountains. After that, we went back to the resort and enjoyed swimming for the rest of the day before we finally go home.
Bonus. A Souvenir
**Tada! An injury. Haha**
As I have mentioned, we went swimming at the falls and that's where it happens. There was a broken bottle on the falls which I am not aware of, obviously. Since I cannot see what's underneath, unfortunately, I accidentally stepped on it. I am actually not aware of it until it stings.
When I saw my feet it was already bleeding and it wont stop. LOL. We waited for a few minutes more to stop the bleeding so that we can go back to the resort again. And there comes another struggle. The falls was on the lower area of the mountain and we have to hike to go back. Imagine hiking on the mountains with an injured feet. LOL. Good thing, it isn't that far and it was only a few minutes hike, and I was also holding on to my cousins as we climbed up the mountains.
Overall, those 3 days was really worth it. And it feels like we went to a lot of places in a short span of time. I may have go home with an injury but overall, it was such a fun and relaxing experience. All stress gone, no worries and that's the exact definition of unwinding.
I have been so stressed for the past weeks and I was glad that we were able to take a break.
Anyways, this would be all for now. Thanks for reading this far and I hope that you're all doing great. Have a good day!
:)
Bullying as Love Language
*First things first, do not judge this article solely based on its title, you will see the reason behind it as you progress on reading this article.*
We, people, are unique from each other that even our way of showing love can differ from one another. I don't know how it happens but I guess, the way we love comes naturally from us or that it was influenced by our environment.
The most common type of showing love that I know of are the **5 Languages of Love** or the **5 Different Ways to Show Love** which are:
**Words of Affirmation** - based on my own understanding, in this kind of love language, people show their love through words and I just think that these kind of people are vocal about their feelings. They can show love through giving compliments, assurance and encouragement and the recipients of it are the kind of people who want to hear that they are loved. Most probably, this is your love language if you love saying compliments, encouragement and of course, words of affirmation. And if you are the kind of person who wants to be loved that way, one of your characteristics is that you always seek reassurance that you are loved.
**Acts of Service** - this kind of love is when someone performs an action from the other. May it be simple tasks like cleaning, cooking, driving or even running an errand for your partner, friend or family. By doing this, one person shows love and the other person feels love and it could be vice versa. People in this category likes to do things for others because somehow, that made them feel wanted, needed and important.
**Receiving Gifts** - people in this category feels validated whenever someone made an effort to give them a gift. It doesn't have to be extravagant or expensive, these people appreciates it whenever someone remembered to give them simple gifts or tokens. After all, it's the thought that counts. If you always anxiously wait for birthday and Christmas gifts, maybe this is your love language.
**Quality Time** - as obvious as it is, these are people who enjoys spending time with their loved ones. They don't depend on material things, bonding, talking and catching up with each other is already enough with them. They have fun and enjoy with each other's presence and just being together really brings them happiness.
**Physical Touch** - touchy people, this is for you. These are people who shows their love through touch, of course. They are cuddly, the love hugs, or even simple putting their hand on someone's shoulder. They constantly crave to be to be close to the person they love and they are the people who are most likely to show public display of affection.
If I were to describe how I love and how I want to be loved based on these five things I mentioned above, maybe my love language is **acts of service** because I love doing things for the people who are close to me. Though it sometimes gives me stress and additional work, I won't deny that it somehow made me feel wanted and I love the fact that someone is relying on me. There's also a hint of **physical touch** in me because though I am not really touchy, I really do like hugs and it is kind of my habit to put my hand on my friend's shoulders. Hehe
On the other hand, I also feel loved through **words of affirmation**. Receiving complements embarrasses me and I really do think that it is not a big deal but still, I also can't deny that I still appreciate it when people are also appreciating me. In addition, I think I somehow show love too through this category since I often act as the encourager on my circle of friends or even on our family.
***How about you, where do you belong in all these 5 categories?***
Going back to the title of this article, aside from the 5 languages of love I mentioned above, I believe that love cannot be limited only on those categories. Therefore, I conclude that we all have our own unique ways on how we show our love. And as for me, it happened to be *bullying*.
Don't get me wrong and hear me out first, it is actually not literally bullying. I don't know, I just get that because my friends always tell me that I am a bully. On my defense, only to them, I am only like that to them.
As I was saying, it was not really bullying wherein I have a victim which I seek to harm. It is never like that, I never intended to harm someone. On my case, it is more like a joke since I just usually twist their words and use it against them. You know, those petty fooling around which I think is pretty common between people who are really close to each other.
Most of the time, I just try to annoy them by not agreeing to them and proving that I am right. Or sometimes, it is simple as when they asked if they are cute or pretty, I'll flatly say no. Or most of the time, I have quite a lot of friends whose height are 9'2 (*nahinto sa paglaki. LOL*) so I call them minions. Hehe
I also don't know how to explain this but rest assured that I only do all of those things for fun and that I am not causing harm to any of my friends. After all, they wouldn't remain as my friends if I am bad to them, right? Hmm
This made me remember our unofficial '*bullying club*' back when we were on junior high school. Again, that was just a joke and we just made that up. I even remember us printing a copy of our oath with all of the 'members' name on it and we even included our signature on. Such a good old days!
One last thing, I am also sensitive about the people whom I fool around with. I am well aware that there are really people who are sensitive and would take jokes seriously so I am also being careful not to speak words that could be offending to them.
I am lost for words on how will I explain this bullying but I hope that you get where I am coming from. And mind you, I am just all words, in the end, I am still the one getting hurt because when I joke around with them, they always retaliate with either a punch on my shoulders, or a hit on my head. LOL
To attest to all these things that I am saying, I am tagging these friends who knew me personally and also have first hand experience of this so-called '*bullying'* of mine. Heya @trulySarah, @carisdaneym2, and @dziefem. May you not sell me on the comment section. LOL
Thanks for reading this far! Feel free to share your thoughts about this article on the comment section below.
:)
three days worth of stories
11th of March - Booster Vaccination
It was just a normal lazy day at home. It was around 10 in the morning and I just woke up again for the second time that day when I heard our dogs getting antsy. They won't stop barking and that only means that there are people on the gate. So I finally get up and check who that is. Turns out, there are some people from the Rural Health Unit accompanied by Barangay Health Workers assigned in our area.
They were going house to house carrying vaccine with them asking people around if they are already vaccinated and if they want to get vaccinated that day. They are giving first dose, second dose and a booster shot. On my case, since I was already fully vaccinated, they asked me when was my last vaccination and when they confirmed that I am already eligible for booster shot, they asked me if I want it, right there and then.
Being a pro vaccine ever since, I instantly said yes without hesitation. I invite them to our home and after a quick interview like the process on usual vaccination site, I finally got the shot.
That day, I was observing myself if I will feel any usual side effects from the vaccine so that I'll know if I have to drink paracetamol or not but I felt nothing other than the soreness of the area where the vaccine was injected which is completely tolerable so I didn't drink any medicine and just drink a lot of water instead.
12th of March - Rest day!
Around 12 midnight, when I was already trying to sleep, I suddenly felt cold and my arm started to feel painful. On contrary to what I feel on my body earlier at 11th of March, it seems that my body has only been starting to receive the effect of the vaccine.
Throughout the night, I had chills and I had a hard time sleeping since I can't sleep flatly on my stomach, only sideways, but I can't turn the other side since my upper arm really hurts. What a long night it was!
Saturday morning, still on this day, I woke up with a terrible headache with aching left arm. I am too stubborn to drink medicine so I endured it for as long as I can but around 9-10am, I finally get up, forced myself to eat at least 3 spoons of rice so that I can drink a medicine.
After drinking the medicine, I gave my head a massage, took a rest, fall asleep, I woke up after an hour, and the headache was gone! Yay! So I eat a decent lunch, continued to rest for the entire day and on the afternoon, at 5:30pm, I was able to join the online evangelism activity of our ministry.
We also had our dinner at our neighbor's house since one of our cell members there had her birthday on the 10th of March and we told them that we'll bring some food and we'll have a late celebration together.
All in all, it was a great day. I can still feel a little bit of headache but it was tolerable so I didn't feel the need to drink medicine again. Just a right amount of rest can put that headache away.
13th of March - Reminiscing my childhood days
I still had a slight headache when I woke up but I didn't put much attention on it. I kind of woke up late, actually, they just woke me up for breakfast. Hehe. Then we watch the Sunday worship service after breakfast.
After that, I feed the dogs and accompanied my nephew to his Sunday school class. Proud tita here as I watch him being active and participative on the class. He's just four and we haven't taught him to read yet but he learned on his own. He even volunteered to read on the class and he was able to read it perfectly.
I then bathe my nephew and I also took a bath myself before we eat again for lunch. After lunch, I fed my nephew while watching a few episodes of Hunter x Hunter and then I took an afternoon nap after he's done eating....
But I wasn't really able to sleep since he was so noisy and won't stop jumping on my bed. LOL. So I gave up sleeping and just get up, go outside, and just continued watching. At around 4pm, I didn't know they have plans to go out and they happen to go to other town which is also my hometown so I didn't missed the chance to go home at last, even if it's just a few hours so I tag along to them.
The moment we reached our destination, I looked for my cousin which is also my childhood friend and my best friend and as usual, I bullied her first (*hehe*) and she hit me hard in return. LOL
I only have 100php with me and we used that to buy *ihaw-ihaw* and *softdrinks* for *merienda*. Then we just stayed at the side of the road and literally sit on the street as we talk about random things which are mostly nonsensical.
It was already getting dark that time but forget dinner, we just continued to chitchat about random things until we started reminiscing about our childhood days.
Since we were on the side of the street, the first thing I remembered is when I got **electrocuted** on one of the electrical wires hanging in there. I was in elementary back then, it was lunch time and like any other kid, that time is not only spent on eating lunch but also on playing. We were playing jackstone when my cousin throw the ball too strong that it went to their roof as it bounces back up. So we climbed up to the elf of my uncle parked in there to see where the ball is. What I didn't noticed is that I was already in the edge so when I was about to fall, my initial response is to look for something where I can hold on and the electric wire looks like a rope to me so I quickly grabbed it.
The moment I grabbed it, my cousins immediately jump our of the elf but this one cousin, my best friend, wasn't to quick to jump off since my feet touched her shoulders and then we convulsed together. After few seconds, the electric current pushed me off and then me and my cousin fell on the elf. Still not feeling shock that day, we still managed to go back to school for our afternoon class. LOL
That was actually a life and death situation and thank God, I wasn't able to hold the wire which contains the deadly electricity.
We reminisced about a lot of things like how I fell on my knees when I attempted to jump off on a running hand tractor. The scar on my knees always reminds me of this memory. We also remembered the time when we used to play street games like *patintero*, *tumbang preso* and *habulan* with our older cousins.
Such good old times and hours of talking isn't enough to talk about it all. But one good thing with us cousins is that even though we were apart, we are studying on different universities with different courses, and our older cousins have already their own family, we still managed to keep the bond intact and we still catch up everytime we get the chance.
So, I guess that was it. This is 3 days worth of stories. Hehe. Main reason why I am absent both here and on noise.cash. But in return, I got enough rest and it feels really nice.
Thanks for reading this far. Have a great week ahead!
2 Ways, 1 Choice. Which path should we take?
First things first, let us talk about choices and my perspective about it. Do you believe that we always have a choice? Because I do. We are always left with choices, there is no such thing as "*I have no choice that is why I did it*", there is no such thing as *dead end*.
In the end, we have a choice to do something or to do nothing. We hold the choice whether to do the right thing or not. For instance, it was your final exam, your grades are not that great and you have to pass it, otherwise, you will fail the subject. At that very moment, you weren't totally prepared for the exam when you saw an opportunity to cheat. The answer of your seatmate is open and you only have to look to your right and you will get the correct answer.
You see, there are 2 choices for it. *First*, it is to stand on your principles, hold on to your moral value and not cheat even though your grades is on the line. Or *second*, you might give in to the temptation and to avoid guilt, you will say that you didn't have a choice because you didn't want to fail.
I hope the thought is clear. I am not telling you to share the same perspective as me but that's what I thought. Most often, we will always face two or even more ways but we only have one choice and we hold the decision on which path should we take.
Life is a matter of choices and we are responsible for the decision we make. Imagine two closed doors in front on you. We don't know what both of the doors can offer to us but we have to enter a one of it so that we can continue on our journey.
The thought of entering into the unknown is terrifying. Deciding which door should we enter holds a lot of pressure. We don't know anything unless we go into it and the moment we enter it, there is also no assurance that we'll reach the other end of it.
But here's the deal. Whatever path we choose, we might not know what is waiting for us on our journey, what's important is that we stand on our decision, we take the courage to step forward, and we fight all the challenges that we'll face ahead of us. That is the only way we can reach our destination.
And if ever that the door we enter leads us to another closed door, just keep on choosing which door to enter and continue on your journey. As the quote said, "closed doors often leads us to the right one" so let us continue on our journey, no giving up, and soon enough, we'll reach the end of it.
And again, if ever that we feel like there is no other way, that we will face another dead end, then make a way for yourself. Create a way, begin another journey, continue with that journey until we succeed on reaching the end.
After all, success is a life-long journey. It never ends. We have to keep going, we have to create new ways, we have to open every doors until we succeed on finding the right one.
Before I end this, here are few reminders that all of us should always remember.
**You always have a choice.** Explore those choices and be careful to make the right call.
**Closed doors doesn't always mean failure, sometimes, it often leads us to the right one.**
**You are responsible for the choices you make**, so stand for it.
**Success is a life-long process** so continue to walk on your journey. Rest if you must but always find the will to continue even though you haven't seen the end of it yet.
**Be confident on the choices you make.**
**Lastly, remember that you are not alone in your journey.** There are people who loves you, there are people who supports you. Find motivation in them.
With that, allow me to leave this verse as parting words for this article.
**3 John 1:2 NIV** `Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.`
Hesitations
There was one time, we were on our way to our store, actually, we're just a turn away from our store since our building is located at a corner and there happens to be an intersection road in front of our store.
As I was saying, we were only one turn away when my brother who's driving that time has stopped for a while to give way to a guy who's struggling to cross the street. As I have also noticed, the guy has been struggling to cross the street for a few times then before we finally gave him way.
Not that I am judgmental but based on my judgment, or my observation rather, he must be someone who's not used on crossing the streets or he's just too scared to finally make a step forward and he just needs a little push or on that case, a go signal, before he actually moves forward. Either way, the hesitation can be seen on his action and at that very moment, I just realized a few things about what we are losing if we keep on hesitating about doing the things that we should be doing.
We lose opportunities
There are situations that requires immediate actions, or decisions, and hesitating is delaying us to make that action or decision and once we have made up our mind, the opportunity is already gone.
Like the guy on the road, he lose a lot of opportunities to cross the street because of hesitating. Well, I do understand his hesitations, in life, it is indeed scary to make a step without knowing what lies ahead of us.
First step is usually the hardest. There are countless of possibilities whether we can make it or nor, whether we can do it or not. Taking the first step is so crucial and it requires a lot of courage and sometimes, before actually making the first step, we tend to overthink things that is delaying us to move forward. And when the moment comes that we finally made up our mind, the opportunity is already gone.
It is a must that we know that even though we take a step on our own pace, we also have to be time wise with regards to making decisions. Opportunities will come but it won't stay forever. Opportunities will come but we have to grab it for us to be able to make use of it.
It prolongs out agony
There are things that are inevitable and we cannot do something about it. It will happen, it is meant to happen.
Do you believe that there is no secret that can be hidden forever? Because I do. It is such a burden to carry such secret. I remember, there was this one time, I have broken my brother's favorite mug but I am so afraid to tell him. Of course, I hide all the evidence but after a few days, he began looking for that mug and later on, I admitted that I broke it accidentally.
I was so anxious about what will be his reaction so I was really surprised when he said nothing else. He just let it slipped, he didn't scold me. And I realized that my nervousness is for nothing. I just prolonged the agony, I should've come clean the moment I broke it.
You see, there are things that we cannot stop from happening so let us not waste our time thinking about it. If you want to say something, just say it. This is also applicable to our tasks. Warning for procrastinators, if you don't want to be hit by this, be sure to go to your hiding spot.
Procrastinators keeps on delaying things that they have to do and tend to rush when the deadline is near. Well, people, we are just prolonging the agony. We relax now and cram later, which is definitely not a good habit but I myself is guilty of it so I won't say any more things about it.
Hesitating is understandable. Who doesn't experience to hesitate before making a decision first? I guess there is none. But what am I saying is that we should not hesitate too much. I mean, as I have said, we have to be time wise. At some point, we have to muster all our courage to finally make a step forward, to grab the opportunity in front of us, or to chase the opportunity if ever it already went past us.
Let us not waste any more opportunities because of overthinking, because we doubt ourselves, and because we lose the confidence that we can do it.
Trust in yourself, you can do it. If you want it, go for it. If you see an opportunity, an opening, grab it. Stop overthinking, would you? You got to take the risk. Take a step, move forward. I believe in you.
:)
By the way, let me just take this opportunity to thank all these awesome sponsors that I have. Especially my friend @Talecharm who recently took the first spot on the block. You guys rock!
sound, song, tone, tune, melody-- music.
4 days ago, the *professor* has given me this simple assignment which is to write an essay about music. As I have said, this one is really simple but it took me quite a while before I even began to write this since I don't know much about music and I just don't know where to start. Good thing, the professor didn't set a due date, what a considerate professor eh? Another good thing, this is free writing so I guess I'll just let all the thoughts flow as I write this one. Let's just see how it goes.
Music
The first thing that ring to my mind when I heard the word music are those in the title above. Sound, song, tone, tune, and melody. Those are the things that I can associate with music but the thing that I am familiar with the most is the song.
"*When you're happy you enjoy the music, but when you're sad you understand the lyrics*. -**Frank Ocean**". I've read this quote somewhere and this is just so true. Don't believe me though, I haven't experienced that yet but what I did experience is to mean every single lyrics whenever I was singing a worship song.
Jumping to another topic but still in relation to this, music is kind of one of the reasons why I have such a low self confidence back then sing and dance are the only talents that I know of. I don't have a good voice, I don't know how to play any instruments and I also can't dance. Somehow, that made me think that I am not talented at all. I still think that way until now but I am already well aware that talent isn't limited to singing or dancing. Hehe
Going back, I don't really have a confidence in singing but I can remember a few times, actually just 2 times wherein I managed to sing on a videoke. LOL. First was when I was still a kid singing my heart out as I sing "*Narda*" (Ding, ang bato!). Second time was on @carisdaneym2's 18th birthday wherein I kind of disturbed their neighborhood when I sang "*Total Eclipse of the Heart*". Geez. This is embarrassing. Haha
Another one is a requirement at school. I was still on Elementary back then and the use of google is still not rampant back then. So it was my older brother who wrote the lyrics of the song on a paper back then and he was also the one who taught me about its tone. And that was it. I really don't like singing and I just don't have the confident to do so. But later on, I was reminded that singing is part of praise and worship to God and it is not about our voice but our hearts so yeah, you might not hear me sing on a karaoke or something but if it is for worship, I'll sing my heart out with arms lifted high.
The musicians
I might not be good at music and I also don't have the ears for it but I really have huge admirations to musicians may it be singer, composer and those who plays musical instruments.
Those singers are just so good in the ears (*sana all*) and I love how composers tells us a story through the song that they wrote. I like how they are relying the message that they want others to hear through the lyrics, tone, and all the elements they need just to build that song.
Lastly, I just really think that those people who can play musical instruments are just so cool. I have a soft spot to those who play guitar and I really think that those who plays drums are really cool. That's also the instrument that I want to learn how to play. Hehe
Music as communication
Last point for this writing, I also think that music plays a great role in communication. Especially in communicating our hidden emotions that we can't express through words.
Music communicate our feelings, our thoughts, our beliefs, our stand. It speaks for what we cannot say and sometimes, songs can even became our company both on our great and dark times.
Music is always there. Music is everywhere. And I am loving music day by day. Music is a great companion. Music is something I can't live without. May you be able to use music to release the sound of your heart. (*ano connect? haha)*
**Music is beautiful, and so as you.**
Ending this with **Psalm 139:14** *"you are fearfully and wonderfully made."*
:)
hey prof @meitanteikudo, there you go. I just sing it. Hehe. You know, I'm still disoriented as I wrote this but I hope this will reach the passing grade. Hmm
By the way, this is actually a prompt and you guys are free to join too. All you have to do is to write an essay that has music as the main topic and then submit your article to the **#PromptFactory** community. https://read.cash/search?q=%23PromptFactory
Here is prof's article for this prompt: **Words and Music** https://read.cash/@meitanteikudo/words-and-music-021b0e16
Welcome aboard!
I have been writing on this platform for over a year now and throughout that time, I have made friendship with other users in this platform and we were able to bring that friendship into the real world through other virtual platforms.
Funny how we became so close without even knowing each other's real name, or even their faces. But it just happened. It's amazing how most of us became close friends without knowing the basic facts about each other and that is just one of many reasons about how much I love this platform.
But aside from virtual friends, I know that we also have real-life friends or even acquaintances whom we managed to bring in here and I know exactly how it feels to take part of spreading BCH awareness through sharing this platform and introducing BCH to the people close to our hearts.
The delight the moment they finally 'register' to the platform because they believed us and our effort in explaining everything to them paid off. And eventually, it is even more delightful when you see your friends make a name and grow in here.
On my first few months in here, I make it my goal to spread the word about how great this platform is. And by doing so, we are also contributing about spreading what Bitcoin Cash is. Sadly, most people we try to recruit here will only be after the earning they could make without even making an effort to interact and give the platform a chance to show how great it is.
There are also other people who are not open about the idea of cryptocurrency and there are other people who thinks online sites where we could earn is a scam. In a simple note, most people won't just believe and most of them also don't have the dedication to push when they don't receive tips from Rusty anymore.
If you tried sharing this platform to your friends, I know you understand what I am trying to say here. But most importantly, despite all those failed recruits, one person who will believe you and will persevere is definitely worth our efforts and it just feels so nice whenever you manage to have someone aboard in here.
Actually, the whole reason why I am writing all this drama is because I just got someone aboard in the platform. She's a close friend of mine since we were Junior High School. We somehow get in contact tonight, catch up a bit, until I mentioned this writing thingy.
I'm glad that she was more than willing to learn about the platform. No questions about how 'legit' is this, just questions about how this platform runs. And of course, I am also more than willing to guide her about all the basics.
With that, welcome aboard @trulySarah! Glad to see you here and I hope that you'll appreciate the platform the same way I did.
Before I end this, let me leave a **few tips** for my friend and for other newbies out there. I already shared this before but let me just say it again quickly in here.
**Interact with other users.** Writing, publishing, leaving and just wait for tips is a big NO. No, you don't do that here. Well, I am not judging others who somehow do that because most of us are busy these days. Actually, I am also guilty for I don't have a lot of interaction recently but at least, let us make an effort to interact with others. As we want our articles to be read by others, let us also became willing to read the work of others. Also, don't be shy in sharing your opinions on the comment section, that's another great way to interact in here.
**Build camaraderie.** This is something that can only be possible through interaction. After all, how can you became friends with others if you don't even talk to them, right? This is also important if you want your stay here to be worthwhile and memorable. It's just different and a lot way better with friends whom you can talk to constantly. Also, there is no such thing as competition here so let us practice supporting each other.
**Write your heart out.** I see this platform as an avenue for sharing your raw thoughts and emotions. It is a platform where we can improve so use that opportunity to find our niche and practice our craft. No one will judge us with our grammatical errors so do not be afraid to make mistake. What matters is that you write with your heart and that it is original.
**Never plagiarize.** As I have mentioned, be original. This platform doesn't tolerate plagiarize contents so it is much better to write something with errors than to write a perfect piece that you doesn't even own.
**Don't make earning as your only focus in here.** Take note, I said 'only focus'. I won't deny the fact that earning matters, I'll be a hypocrite if I do that. What I am just saying is that earning should not our only basis in staying here. There are other things where we can focus, and other things that we should appreciate. Like how writing in here can make us improve, all the learning we can learn from others, and all the friends that we could gain in the long run. Earning matters, it is a huge factor why we are here but that's not the only thing that matter. It should not be the only thing that matter because if you do so, the moment you're not earning the usual, it will be so easy for you to give up on the platform. I hope I made my point clear in here.
There you go. These tips are not new at all and I am sure other users have already mentioned this too. But I hope this could still be useful to other users who are kind of lost on the platform right now. May those simple tips serves as your guide so that you will continue to push through on the platform.
I guess, this is pretty much it. Again, welcome aboard, Sarah! Also, to you all, thanks for reading this far. See you around!
:)
Physical Health as a Spiritual Discipline
God cares about us and He wants to bless us. Not just on a certain area of our life but on every areas of our life.
**7 Key Areas in our Life**
~~Spiritual~~
**Physical**
Mental
Emotional
Relational
Financial
Vocational
As stated above, there are 7 key areas in our life and God wants to bless us in all of those areas. He promised it!
Last month, I shared the **7 Habits that will Improve our Spiritual Health****,** for this month, we're going to move on the second topic on this series which is our physical health. https://read.cash/@immaryandmerry/7-habits-that-will-improve-your-spiritual-health-31551437
**3 John 1:2 ESV** `Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.`
God wants us to be physically healthy as we are spiritually healthy. I know that somehow, we are all aware on how to be healthy. We have to eat right, we have to exercise, we have to have enough sleep, and we have to reduce our stress level. Being healthy is not a rocket science.
But in this topic, I want us to focus more on the motivation on why we should be healthy and stay healthy. And it is not about looking good or feeling good but being healthy has an internal implication.
The problem with many Christians is that God told them what He wants them to do with their lives, but they don't have the energy to do it. God wants us to take care of our body not just because that's where we live, but because that's where He live.
He lives in us and He works through us. And anything that He wants us to do, our physical body has to perform it.
*So for this topic, we will talk about the* ***importance of our health and body and how it became a spiritual discipline****. But before I start, let me just warn you that this topic could be offending to some which I do not intend to but I have to deliver this message as exactly as what God says on His words.*
Physical Health as a Spiritual Discipline
We will be focusing on God's words on **1 Corinthians 6:12-20** wherein God is telling us to honor Him with our body. We will talk about each of the verses on the following points that I will talk about.
WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT OUR BODY
**(1) Our body is God's** ****property.****
This point is really against what the world preach like the famous slogan 'my body, my choice' but no, it's not. We don't own our body. Everything is created by God and the creator owns it.
God owns it and he only loaned it to us.
**Psalm 139:13-14** `For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.`
Everything God makes has a purpose. You were made for a purpose so take care of your body that you may able to do your purpose.
**(2) God expects us to** ****manage**** **our body.**
As I have said, we don't own our body, but we are the manager for it. It is a gift from God that is loaned to us and one day, we are going to stand before God and we are going to give Him an account on how well we took care of our bodies.
**1 Corinthians 6:12** `“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.`
Paul says that we are responsible for the decisions we make about our health and body. As it was written, all things are lawful for us, but not all things are helpful. We can't blame anybody else for the decisions we make.
This life is a test. And one day, He will ask us about what did we do with what we gave us including what did we do with the body He gave us, with everything He gave us. He's watching us on how we manage the gifts He gave us.
**(3) Our body will be** ****resurrected**** **after we die.**
We're living now as the version 1.0 of ourselves, and one day, we will be resurrected as the v.2.0 of ourselves. Because when we go to heaven, we're still us, everybody we know will recognize us, everybody will know us.
Can you imagine, if there are great things in here, how much greater things that are in the heaven.
**1 Corinthians 6:14** `And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.`
We're not going to leave our body. God will resurrect it. But that time, it will be version 2.0
**(4) Our body is connected to the** ****body of Christ.****
**1 Corinthians 6:15** `Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!`
That is why God cares about how we treat our body. It is connected to His body. Jesus gave His body for us and He wants us to honor Him with our body.
How we treat our body is the reflection of the body of Christ. It is not about beauty products, physical workout and all that. It's not about vanity. It is simply about making the most of what we have been given, and honoring God with it. It is about being part of the body if Christ.
**(5) The Holy Spirit** ****lives in**** **our body.**
**1 Corinthians 6:19** `Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?`
His spirit is inside our body. God's temple is sacred and we are that temple. We are God's dwelling place.
**1 Corinthians 6:16-17** `Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.`
We are in one spirit with Him and if we are to think this on a daily basis, do you think we'll be able to treat our body differently?
Let's take vandalism of church as an example, it is maddening right? It's not right to vandalize something that is dedicated to the worship of God. But you know what? We also vandalize the temple of God every time we abuse our bodies, every time we deprive ourself with sleep, and every time we don't take care of it. We are vandalizing the temple of God which He wants us to take care of.
**(6) Jesus** ****bought our body**** **on the cross.**
**1 Corinthians 6:19-20** `You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.`
We are not our own. We were bought for a price therefore, we should honor God with our body.
Jesus loves us so much and we are valuable to Him. Jesus died in the cross for us, that is how much He loves us. He came from heaven to earth just to save us and what's He's just asking is to honor Him with our body.
But how so? How can we honor Him with our body?
**Romans 12:1** `I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.`
Just merely taking care of our body is an act of worship. Making sure that He can use us for His purposes and His glory.
Managing our physical health is a spiritual discipline and it is a habit that we need to develop.
God have a lot of promises in the bible about our physical health but there is always a premise, and we have to do it God's way.
I know that this message really sounds like counter culture but this is what the bible tells us.
For the challenge, let us think about a small step that we can take for a better physical health. I am not asking for a 360 degrees turn overnight. All I am saying is a one little step that we could take in order for us to be physically healthy.
It can be as simple as drinking the right amount of water daily, eating less junk foods, getting enough rest or having complete hours of sleep.
Let us start with those simple step until we were able to have a completely healthy living. Would you? Can you commit on taking a small step towards a healthier life? Again, it is your choice and you are accountable for all the choices you make.
Again, let me say it again. God wants us to be physically healthy as much as He wants us to be spiritually healthy because we cannot accomplish God's plan for us unless we have the energy to do it.
Let's start working with this second key area of our life... shall we?
:)
By the way, this message is still part of Pastor Rick Warren's series **#Transformed**. You can watch his actual message in here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4_vOGzcqC4
Unspoken Thoughts
I don't know how it happened. For someone who's talkative, I still have a lot of unspoken thoughts that I often keep to myself. Not because it's a secret or something, sometimes, I just don't have the voice to actually speak up for it.
Here we go again with these puppies, my apologies for bringing this up again for the nth time. It's just the separation anxiety, I guess. I am just so attached and it is really hard to let go knowing that we can keep at least one puppy but my brother won't just agree.
Among the puppies, there's this one whom I got attached the most for she got wounded and I have to take care of her for 2 whole weeks. I was telling my brother that we should keep her yet he doesn't want to, afraid that the pup will get pregnant eventually like what happened to her mom.
So I tried my chances. I told my brother again that we should keep the male pup instead. And he said the pup could get his mom pregnant when he grows up. And here goes my unspoken thoughts.
*Seriously? What is wrong with you? You said you didn't want a girl, this one is a male! Besides, we could castrate him.*
I never tried talking back to my brother. There are countless of times that I wanted so badly to defend myself, to explain myself, to make him understand but still, my respect for him prevails.
Sometimes, I just want to voice it out, to say it out loud, to actually say what's on my mind but I just can't. I won't. I don't want to.
What hurts even more is the feeling that they don't get me. They can say it's okay but no, it's not. I'm not.
*They do like the pups but it is easy for them to let go since they aren't actually the one who took care of them.*
*They're not the one to feed them.*
*They're not the one to bath them.*
*They're not the one who cleans up the cage.*
*They're not the one to play with them.*
*They're not the one who clean up the pups mess.*
*They're not the one who was with them.*
I was trying really hard to understand my brother and somehow, I do. I understand that if we keep a dog, we would need an additional dog house. We can't buy the ready-made one and it has to be a custom made since the puppy might grow bigger eventually.
Additional expenses for the vaccine, foods and vitamins. Also, it is really troublesome to think about who will take care of the dogs when we go on a trip.
But those problems can be solved. It's just that, we already have 3 dogs at home and he doesn't want to add one anymore.
Only one pup has left with us and that's the pup that I have been asking for him to keep. Last Sunday, he told me that he'll think about it but on Tuesday, I was just so surprised when he said that he already messaged the one who's adopting the pup. I just felt so betrayed. I had high hopes and he just dropped it carelessly.
Earlier, while we were having dinner, he told us that the new owner will get the pup tomorrow and I just can't hold back my tears anymore. For this past week, I have been crying every time I had to let go of another pup but I was alone on those moments. But this time, it was when everyone was on the dining table, in front of them, in front of the food.
It just really hurts and I can't hold back anymore. I got distracted earlier when we watched a Kdrama but just before I sleep, when I am alone again, like right now, I just can't help it but to think about it again. I don't want morning to come. I'm not yet ready to let go of the last pup.
I want to be stubborn. I still want to hold on. But I'm afraid it might only result to conflict. Partly, I have already accepted that it'll be given away because I don't have a voice against my brother. But still, I just can't stop myself from feeling this way, right?
It's already 1:20 am as of the moment, I was just in dazed for 2 hours before I started typing this hoping that when I let it all out I can finally fall asleep.
Again, sorry for this overly dramatic article. I know, I have been talking about this for so many times now and I also do hope that this will be the last time that I'll write something about this. That I'll write something that is full of negative energy.
I'm just glad that I was finally able to say it all out, even just through writing. Will be back with the positive me tomorrow. Hehe.
Thanks for reading. Just don't mind me. Pls.
:)
Org, another org, and the puppies
I thought I'll be really productive this month but I found myself being a mushroom again. I'll show up, I'll vanish, I'll show up again, I'll vanish again. It's becoming a cycle already. LOL
I counted the number of articles I wrote and so far, this is the 13th for this month. It's not bad at all, I guess. It's just that I was like on a winning streak for publishing for consecutive days 2 weeks ago and then just like that, the streak was broken. And here are the reasons why.
Student Organization
Well, it's not a secret that I am quite active when it comes to school activities. So, there's this student organization where I applied. I was an applicant for almost a year, that's just so crazy but that made me even more dedicated to the org.
Since we started another semester again, our org activities also started. Apparently, I am part of the technical team so I am part of almost all activities because I am in charge of controlling the zoom meetings where we held our activities. Actually, it is not that much but there's this orgmate who really tested my patience. LOL
If you were able to read my article "**how patient are you?**", she's the one that I am pertaining to. I am part of the technical team yet I did some works that should be for the art team in such a short notice. https://read.cash/@immaryandmerry/how-patient-are-you-72da7db6
Though the activity we recently had was a success, the preparation was a real mess and I am not the only one who has the same thoughts about it. We had a reflection meeting last week and all the mistakes was pointed out.
And that girl who tested my patience, happily received all the praises from the event but when all the mistakes are being pointed out, she tried putting the blame on us who just helped her and should not supposed to be part of the activity. The audacity! LOL
Still, I learned a lot on that reflection meeting. I know better than to get mad or whatever. We're in the same org, we're like family, if she ever do the same in the future, I'll make sure to tell it to her so that she can do something about it.
Moving on, we have another event coming and I'll be the main technical this time. The platform that we're going to use is streamyard, I am already familiar with it but I haven't tried being the main technical for it so it's another thing for me to study. Lol.
Another Organization
Really, I also cannot get myself for considering to apply to another organization. Is the workload from the first organization not enough? LOL
But this one is different since it is a ministry based organization. And more to that, it is a student organization from our very own church and my sister who is also my cell/spiritual leader has planted it on my mind to apply to that org before I even start college. LOL
And now that they are open for recruitment, she told me again to apply. I don't have the word yet (from my devotion) but I have her encouragement. The first organization process was really tough, I don't know how this one will go. I just found my name on the list of aspirants so let's just see whether I'll make it or not.
I really don't know what's waiting for me this time but this could be my ladder to step up and be more spiritually matured.
I don't think I'm ready yet but I guess, there's no perfect time for it other than right now. I just have to pray for it.
Puppies
And here's another reason for my inactivity.
I already shared it a lot of times but just for the quick version, here's a little back story. So, our dog gave birth unexpectedly to 4 cute puppies. We already have 3 dogs at home and taking care of them all would be too much so my brother already told us on advance that we'll have to put the puppies on adoption as soon as they can survive without their mother's milk. And that time has come.
Just this Monday, the first puppy was given away. Tuesday, I had to let go to another puppy. I was given a break on Wednesday but this Thursday, one puppy has to say goodbye again. Only one puppy remaining and I have been insisting to keep that one but my brother's word is final. A no is simply a no.
It's just so impossible to not get attached to them when you get to take care of them for almost 2 months. It's so heartbreaking to let go of them one by one and it's even more heartbreaking when you can't even keep at least one of them.
It's making me really sad and I have cried for 3 times this week, every time I have to let go of another puppy. But right now, I am slowly accepting it that I also have to let go of the remaining one.
My only way of comforting myself is by promising to myself to keep and take care of dogs, as many as I want, once I already have the means. Once I am already working and living on my own house, I can keep dogs as many as I want.
For now, I just hope that the new parents of our puppies will take care of them the same way I do. Or else, it'll be better if they'll just return the puppies.
So yeah, this is pretty much all for today. I hope to be on the winning streak again, starting with this article. Catch up with y'all soon! :)
The Inevitable Day
**January 2, 2022.** Around 4-5 PM when our dog gave birth unexpectedly. It was literally unexpected since we weren't even aware that she was pregnant. Well, on that morning, we suspected that she was pregnant, we called a veterinary doctor to confirm her pregnancy but even before the doc arrived, we just found a puppy outside our house. She just gave birth! What a surprise, isn't it?
The puppies are just so cute and we really adore them. But on that same day, my brother in law already gave us a heads up that once the puppies can survive without milk, they have to be adopted since we already have 3 dogs at home. He was so adamant with giving away everyone but all we want is to leave at least a puppy.
The Accident
Before they even turn a week old, they were just 5 days old back then to be exact when one of the puppies had a huge wound in the back. It was so heartbreaking seeing such a huge wound to a tiny puppy.
Since the wound was really big, we got her stitched as per the vet's advice but just a day after she got her stitched, it went off because momma dog kept on licking it. So the next day, I decided to separate her from her mum for the mean time. And since she was still a baby, we give her formula milk through a feeding bottle. Look just how cute she is when she eventually learned how to hold the feeding bottle on her own.
To be honest, I thought she won't be able to survive back then but thank God, after weeks of taking care of her, she was able to recover and now, her wound is fully healed and her fur is slowly growing back.
Random Moments with the Puppies
If you will notice the wound, yup, she's the one who got wounded. This was the time when the stitched got removed so the wound you're seeing isn't that big compared to the first wound she got.
Anyways, I just like how they sleep being close to each other. Maybe they were cold or something. They were in this tray because I was cleaning their cage for a moment.
This was before Sol, the wounded puppy got stitched. We still don't separate her with her mum and siblings back then so I have to put on a bandage so that momma dog won't be able to lick her wound. However, the next day, bandage no more. LOL. Somehow, they are always successful to remove it that is also why we have to separate her eventually.
This is Sol sleeping beside me. This was when I separated her from the others and kept her with me so that I can feed her on time.
All pups breast feeding from their mum. They are already getting bigger at this time and their teeth are becoming to be sharp so that must be the reason why momma dog always tries to get away with them. But the puppies won't stop crying so what I always do is to corner them at one place so that the puppies can finally drink their milk.
When they officially turned one month old, I finally bathe them. I used hot water of course but still, they were shivering. It was quite a handful bathing them all 4 together but it was also fun at the same time.
This was the first time that we got them dewormed. We actually made a mistake with this one. We don't know that they have to be dewormed when they were just 2 weeks old but they only had their first deworming when they were already one month old. Anyways, they just got their second deworming last Saturday. They will have anti-rabies vaccine once they turned 3 months old.
I always put them at our terrace everyday so that I could clean their cage and also for them to just play around freely on a much bigger space than their cage. I still do this even though they leave a mess afterwards with all their pee and poops so I have to mop the floor on a daily basis. LOL
This is one of the reason why I got so many scratches both from my arms and legs. 4 pups racing to go to me. LOL
Why give the puppies?
At first, I also want to keep the puppies as long as I can but later on, I got all the more reason to kind of agree in giving it away.
**Their mum already lost a log of weight and the puppies teeth are already sharp.** I don't want my dog to have a hard time anymore and I also hope she would regain her weight soon.
**3 dogs and 4 puppies are really a handful.** Since I am the one taking care of all of them, I find it really handful and time consuming. Cleaning their cage, feeing them, bathing them, it consumes most of my time.
**I'm honestly having a hard time already.**
The Inevitable Day
**The day has come!**
**2 months.** That was the time given by my brother before we give the puppies away. 2 months is still not over but it already happens. It happens earlier, 1 puppy has been given away already.
At first, I was fine with it. As I have said, I also kind of agree to giving them already. It was around 3:30pm when the puppy was taken and while I was washing the dishes after an hour, I just felt my tears flowing. I didn't even realize that I was crying.
Really, I was fine. I am fine. The puppy is with a trusted family friend and they just live on our neighboring barangay. I can still see her anytime but it just hits differently since the one that was taken away was Sol. The wounded puppy, the one which I take care of the most.
It's not a big deal to them but to me, it is. Yes I can still see her but it's different this time. They can't get me. They're not the one who cleaned up her wound, they're not the one who make her drink her antibiotic. They're not the one who wakes up in the middle of the night just to feed her on time.
They're not the one to feed and bathe the puppies. They're not the one who'll go outside in the middle of the night to out mattress for the puppies because they are feeling cold. Yes, they also play with the puppies but not as much as me.
There are still 3 puppies remaining here but all of them already have their owners. I can't even imagine letting go of them all. I have been insisting to keep at least one, Kuya said he'll give it a thought so let's just hope that he'll finally agree.
Gosh this is heartbreaking. I was never a crybaby but these pups are turning me into one. I just really hope that their new parents will take care of them like how I did. Also, crossed fingers that Kuya will let me have one puppy.
**Heartbreaking. This is heartbreaking.**
:(
@immaryandmerry
