Love Letters

To the man I love,

            Sorry for I always hurt you.

            Those myriad arguments I ignited merely reflect my frustration to express myself. Those tears I often shed spoke the pails of words I failed to say.

            Stupid. That I was.

            Our past is ridiculous. Or should I say this impulsive hard-headed girl made the past ridiculous?

            All you have made is to protect me. All you have persisted to do is to guide me.

            Young as I was, I failed to realize those.

            All I have done is to fight with you whenever you try to start giving me directions and advices. I uttered you painful words. But, you just let me talk. I heard nothing from you. Then after my desperately anguish monologue, I cry. I cry after realizing that again, I hurt you.

            I was an immature trying hardly to be mature.

            Nonetheless, thank you for the lesson you have taught me in your silence. Thank you for the freedom from your silence for I was able to see and live the world. Thank you for the freedom from your silence for I was able to go in those strange trips where I have learned the things I have might not known inside my comfort zone. Thank you for the freedom from your silence for I was able to grow and be more mature than I was.

            Thank you for the freedom from your silence for I have learned the way on how to be at peace with the world.

            Your rebellious girl has already learned her lesson.

To the woman I love,

            You never fail to amaze me. You are always as “woman” as ever before.

            I can’t imagine what my life would be without you. I can’t think of how to appreciate things in this world not having you as my standard.

            You are my woman. You always have that strength to let me live.

            You are my woman. You always have that power to lighten my road in my journey.

            You are my woman. You always have that sweet smile to welcome and charge me with new energy from my tiring day.

            You are my woman. You always have those serene eyes to see those problems I hide within me.

            You are my woman. You always have those arms to embrace me whenever I feel down. You always have those hands to lend me when I feel so weak to stand from my mistakes.

            Only you know what my weaknesses are for you are my only woman.

            I wish I could also be like you, a strong, powerful, sweet, caring and loving woman.

            I am indeed thankful for having you as the gift of my life.

            Thank you for letting me live this wonderful world. Thank you for teaching me the art of life.

            The days continue to pass making you almost tired of being a superwoman.

            May you give me this time the chance to stand from the comfortable seat you had given me and allow yourself to experience that comfort you have worked hard for so many years?

To the man and woman I love,

The bud has blossomed

through the blessing of the sun

through the touch of the rain

The bud has blossomed

to give happiness

to share wonders

The bud has blossomed

and will live its Personal Legend

of painting the art of life

called LOVE.

To the man and woman I love,

thank you.

Lovingly,

Your child

* Advanced graduation gift for my parents :)

TOTAL BREAKDOWN: THE VIOLENCE OF HISTORY

         With the most foul, gross, and utterly repugnant act of savagery that has written one of the blackest pages in the history of the world’s press, Philippines has been tagged as the world’s top dangerous place for journalists and the world’s poster child of impunity ranking sixth in the global impunity index rating.

            That grave political barbarism transgressing the human rights of those innocent civilians is just one of the myriad tragic proofs of the Philippines as a failed state - one where laws and rules are not enforced causing the death of our fellow Filipinos.

            The government’s failure to serve justice, security and peace to the people merely reflects the total breakdown of Philippine democracy.

The Incomprehensible Bloodbath

            Atrocities of the 23^rd day of November 2009, when 60 civilians, 34 of which are journalists, were brutally killed en masse in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao marked the darkest era in the world press. Moreover, this horrific tragedy magnified the severity of the state of political dynasty in the local government and exposed how nasty Philippine politics is to the globe.

            The victims, 21 of which are women, were composed of Mangudadatu’s wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. They were about to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluantown. Mangudadatu was challenging Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr., son of the incumbent Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr., in the forthcoming Maguindanao gubernatorial election.

            The Ampatuans hold the gubernatorial seat for almost ten years now and were able to build and strengthen a series of positions in the local government of Maguindanao – a smooth step by step construction of political dynasty by the Ampatuans.

            Political families or dynasties, with their warlords and private armies, rule the Philippine political landscape, especially in the provinces. With land-owning Filipino families forming their own dynasties, building their own private armies and running for public office to protect their interests, political dynasty persisted up to this time. According to the Center for People Empowerment in Governance, a Manila think tank, there are an estimated 250 political dynasties in the Philippines. Of the 265 members of Congress in 2007, 160 of them belonged to these powerful families.

            Warlordism is one of the factors that maintained political dynasty in the Philippines. Political dynasty got wealth and power. That power would not be completed without arms.

            Executive Order 546 authorizes the creation of private armed groups such as Civilian Volunteer Organizations or CVOs and Special Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary (SCAAs). CVOs and CAFGUs were utilized by the government in its anti-insurgency program such as OPLAN BANTAY LAYA II. This order has been blamed for allowing local politicians to convert their private militias into legal security forces.
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New Words to Live By

        I am at the process of regaining myself from my past. And I’m happier now. The dawn is now nearer to its end and I’m excited for the sunrise

        I’ll keep moving forward no matter what. Now, I’m loving all things. I realized loving is a struggle. These words I will hold forever.

“Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

Look at the sunny side of everything and make your
optimism come true.

Think only of the best,
work only for the best,
and expect only the best.

Forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

Give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.

PauLO cOeHlOiSm

      I aM sUpPoSeD tO mAke aN aRTIcle ABoUt MagUinDanAO mASSaCrE. bUt i OpENed The InTERnet FirST tHAN MiCroSOFt WOrd. sO aGaiN, I LOst mY SeLf aMiDST the WeB WiDe WoRlD. sAD

      iNSTeAD oF pOStInG mY SuPPoSeD FiNiSHeD sOCiALLY rELeVAnt ArTicle, I’m PrESENtING tHE pRODUCT oF My noT So dIsCiPliNeD uSe oF My tImE…

      mY tOp twENty QuOtAbLe qUoTeS FrOm mY FaVoRiTe aUthOr, No oTHeR thAn PAULO COELHO. 1,2,3… cLaP,cLaP, clAp

1.There are no answers to the meaning of life. So enjoy living your questions! He who avoids risks in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future

2.An interesting life is full of questions. A boring life is full of answers

 3. to enjoy the rainbow, first enjoy the rain

 4. You need to wake up if you want to dream

 5.The bus always arrive for those who know where the bus stop is…

6. The wise are wise because they love. Fools are fools because they are convinced they can understand love

7.Love your enemy. But don’t forget he is not your friend

8.An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.

9.You can choose either to be “a victim of this unfair system we live in” or “an adventurer who faces challenges”. It’s up to you

10.A life without cause is a life without effect.

11. “Impossible” is just an opinion, not a fact

12.Disobedience can be a virtue, when you know how to use it

        - ThIs i aLwAyS FoLlOw HaHAha! APIR!

13.Be like a river, smooth on the surface, swirling beneath!

14.Accept joy, even though you’re afraid it might end one day

15.Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom

16.Joy is contagious

17.A great pleasure in life is to do what they say you can’t

18.Our scars are our medals

19.The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself

20.Change means movement. Movement means friction. Get used…

LoVe iT

jUST fOunD a  NeW hANg-Out aND waNt To ShaRe it wItH yOU.

http://paulocoelhoblog.com/

BeTTer INclUdE ThE LiNk oN My bLoG aRcHiVe iN Case i’LL hAvE aLZhEimEr’s iN ThE FuTuRe 

How The Path was Forged

     At this point in time, I am thinking, the guy up in the sky: is he alone or in peace with the Universe?

     Again, I am at the middle of my self-doubt, of the struggle of faith, of the miracles of superstitions. Sigh.

       I am to share a story to you. I hope you’ll also be able to interpret the messages between the lines. Be free to leave your comment. Maybe, your thought could help and save mine.

How the Path was Forged

by Paulo Coelho

      One day, a calf needed to cross a virgin forest in order to return to its pasture. Being an irrational animal, it forged out a tortuous path full of bends, up and down hills.

      The next day, a dog came by and used the same path to cross the forest. Next it was a sheep’s turn, the head of a flock which, upon finding the opening, led its companions through it.
Later, men began using the path: they entered and left, turned to the right, to the left, bent down, deviating obstacles, complaining and cursing – and quite rightly so. But they did nothing to create a different alternative.
After so much use, in the end, the path became a trail along which poor animals toiled under heavy loads, being forced to go three hours to cover a distance which would normally take thirty minutes, had no one chosen to follow the route opened up by the calf.

      Many years passed and the trail became the main road of a village, and later the main avenue of a town. Everyone complained about the traffic, because the route it took was the worst possible one.

     Meanwhile, the old and wise forest laughed, at seeing how men tend to blindly follow the way already open, without ever asking whether it really is the best choice.

.(based in traditional Portuguese story)

Planning

The Personal Legend may be abandoned for a certain time, provided one does not forget it and returns as soon as possible.

-pAuLO CoeHlO

7 Habits of Highly Effective People: A Book Review

                Change starts from within.

                Stephen Covey’s Book entitled “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” has divulged and articulated the epistemology of Personal Development. He has even said that highly successful people seem to have naturally developed them.

                7 Habits move us through the paradigm of inter-related and synergistic principles of effectiveness, each one powerful and worthy of adopting and following in its own right.

                First paradigm directs us from Dependence, the era in our life when we need to rely on others to care for us, to Independence, the period when we are already capable to make our own decisions and take care of ourselves. Dependence to Independence Paradigm contains the first three habits namely, Be Proactive, Begin With the End in Mind and Put First Things First, respectively.

                Through our imagination we could understand the first habit, “Be Proactive”, with the use of one small circle surrounded by a bigger circle. The small circle is our circle of influence. The bigger circle is our circle of concerns. We have myriad concerns in life but only a few of them do we have control. This is the explanation behind why the circle of concern is bigger than the circle of our influence. Proactive people focus their efforts on the things over which they have influence, and in the process often expand their area of influence up to the time of seizing the area of concern. Proactive people master the principle of personal choice and take responsibility of their life. They have the habit of focusing effort to areas in life where they have means of control and influence. Worries that disrupt their activities of daily living and stresses in life is lessened thus, providing them the momentum to go forward into the challenges of the race called successful life.  Meanwhile, reactive people often focus their efforts on areas of concern over which they have no control. Their complaining and negative energy tend to shrink their circle of influence. In easy words, being proactive is the ability to control the environment, rather than have it control you. Being able to control the environment through the use of one’s self awareness, imagination, conscience and independent will gives one the power to produce the result he desires, the principle we call effectiveness. We cannot move into the next habit without working first on our basic character by becoming proactive.

 
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