Treasure Your Life By Spending It Wisely

          Whenever I have the opportunity to look back on my life, I could not help but be amused and delighted upon knowing that everyday that I spend on earth adds to the colourful chapter of my life. Then slowly, I also reflect on how others make waste out of their own lives by not taking care of it. We should always realise that each day that comes into our life, another window of opportunity is opened and it is for us whether to accept it or reject it. 

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          We need to know the greatness of this life- that our everyday learnings are beyond any limit. And we need to provide commitments as we participate consistently on this race. One way of spending our life wisely is by nurturing our various giftedness- we should not stop learning for any opportunity to interact with others, with something and with any situation, it also extends to us possibilities of growth. 

          And every growth that happens to us needs to be shared with others. Generosity begets generosity. If we share with each other and with others positive things, then as its consequence, we will also reap positive energies from them. Thus, let us constantly remember to express gratefulness to life's author and to share with others this very own giftedness- this thing called LIFE.

                                                  

Dealing with Daily Struggles

          In our day to day experience and journey, we come to terms with situations that will gauge our goals and dreams in life. One of those is when we are struck with illness on some varying degrees. How then do we cope in such conditions? From my own experience, I'm totally aware that facing those struggling moments is not easy. 

          And from one person to the other, each one has his own approach in dealing with them. One can resort to submission and another person could be that strong to just face it fair and square. Yet no matter how we deal with them, what comes out as noteworthy at the end of the struggle is the amount of perseverance and strength that we attribute while we are on its midst.

 

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          Moreover, the way that we cope with those trying moments is at times dependent on those people surrounding us. Lucky we are if we have sufficient resources of contributory factors that could alleviate our predicaments. 

          However if we are living in an environment which is not that helpful and positive to us then most probably, the amount of struggle will become worse. Thus, it is always a constant blessing for all of us if we stay in such a healthy environment whether it is in our home or in a place of shelter. Consequently, the struggles brought along by negative situations like illness, problems could become lighter and source of growth.

                                          

Another Beautiful Day to Cherish

          As I receive each day, it always dawns on me the image of a gift. Indeed that's exactly how I perceive every single day that comes to me. Look at this day, everything appeared as a gift  like when the time that I woke up during the day, the moments I shared with my family this day, and even with the other activities which I got involved today, they concretised a gift which for me is something that I need to also share with others. 

          Basing on my personal experiences, all those whom I interact everyday and the list of activities that I perform each day engage me into a positive vibrations about life. Consequently, tasks and relationships become light. On the other hand, I also believe that whenever we radiate positive vibrations to others, we will also welcome similar positive vibes in return. Moreover, I know that by having such positive outlook in life, it will also assist me to perform in a successful means my endeavours of the day. However, life would tell us that being constantly focus in everything we do is not an easy thing.  It entails a rich patience and stability. 

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          Patience in the sense that being humans, we tend to overdo other activities in a day resulting to us being so tired and stressed at the end of the day. I don't mean that it is completely wrong neither that it is not possible since many gifted and trained individuals are capable to accomplish such task however a large number of us are at times lost in this focusing world. Can you remember any incident in your life wherein you are trying so hard to perform a specific task when suddenly a separate and unrelated thing popped up? Or it seems that you are on the verge of making it to the last of the finish line when suddenly your mind wanders far away from you? After all, these could be so frustrating on your part.

           Thus it is with such humility and gratitude that I salute my God for allowing me to stay focus on my tasks and relationships.  And may this be my constant prayer that I will continue to be focused on one thing at a time so that I can also achieve quality in my relationships and tasks. 

     

                                                 

To Live Life to the Fullest

           How do older people spend their time nowadays? It has been observed that more and more older people would like to spend their time alone rather than having so many people around them. If we try to look at the reality of life, it seems that those who can be considered as loner people especially the older ones are much inclined to live by themselves than staying with others. However, the risk of this kind of set up is when he tends to succumb to life's pressures while being alone thus allowing oneself to be drawn to the world and reality of depression. 

          Apparently this kind of scenery could have been avoided if they stay with someone who can regularly check their disposition and health conditions. It could have been to their advantage if they seek comfort in the presence of other people. On the other hand, what could be an advantage here is when introverted and older people though think critically and creatively when left on their lonesome.  Somehow, they feel uncomfortable and intimidated with the presence of others thus they rather stay just by themselves than being with others.

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   And in many cases, they emerge as productive members of the society through their contributions since even though they are living alone but their works using their minds such as analysis to life situations, skilful interpretations to various life and other phases could matter most, not just to them but to the whole of society.

          Thus, every person, either young or old, has his own preference of living on this world whether with others or just by himself and what counts most is his positive contributions to the society and to himself. 

Contributing writer: Myra Flor Jugan


                                        

Sharing Our Blessings to the Needy

¹ "(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 

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When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites ² do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 

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But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 

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so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (Source)

           What I personally like with this biblical point from St. Matthew is that it subjectively tells us how to do the right thing when we share our gifts to the needy.  Basically there are two kinds of giver on this world: the authentic ones and the bent arrow helpers. 

          As what has been laid out above, the real sense of giving is one that is given without expecting something in return. I salute all those people who have shared their resources like money, time, effort, possessions etc. with others especially in those moments of calamity. As St. Matthew was reminding us above, let us always be careful in making deeds of generosity for we don't know that we are performing them not out of our hearts' generosity but out of a desire that is self serving.

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          On the other hand, although many are helped also by those donors and donations with self bested interests most notably coming from people in politics and other forms of service but in so many instances, it is disheartening to realise that the poor are make poorer by this wronged act. Moreover, others do the act in such a way that its attributes are just to boost one's ego and popularity. And sometimes, what makes it worse is when the needy are sort of being taken advantage of their misery. 

          Thus, when we have the desire to assist others to free them from their sufferings, let us do it with a pure intention and in a way that will help them get up then continue with their life. After all, life is such a special gift that ought to be shared with others.

                                 

How Can You Find Blessings through Life's Struggles and Adversities?

imagecredit: Ingrid Alferez/ Mikel Magdadaro

          Life journey.....where are you in your present life journey? Can you trace back the paths that you have chosen so far? To each his own..do you believe in that saying? Somehow that's what makes life more interesting to live on. Having in mind the formation of a web, life is so full of complexities that at times, you arrive in a crossroad and it gives you an impression what pathway will become your personal choice? Is it the one leading to the left of the other way around?

          Somehow, along this web comes the reality that life is a very colourful and exciting journey especially those moment of struggles and adversities. What is your attitude when confronted with such stages? Are you confrontative or one who distances himself and rather stay on the sideline?  That's how paradoxes at times play in a  very significant way in life that even struggles and adversities become sources of blessings instead of them becoming reasons of one's downfall. 

          How on this earth can you consider them as such? Perhaps at this time upon reading these queries, plenty of things pop up in your mind and one of them states that a person's attitude towards those two (struggles and adversities) will either make or break him. Negative as they could be, they could initially result to stresses, desolations, disappointments, etc. however when one could lift up his head and stay strong on his faith and on his self esteem, he will soon or later comes out as triumphant over them. 

          Consequently, these struggles and adversities could lead him to live in a firmer foundation- one that could face squarely life's varying chapters and colours. Hence, consistently stay firm and focus so as to be able to emerge victorious over those negative events thus receiving further more blessings in life. 

                                        

The Triumph of Good Over Evil

          Just last night, I watched a film entitled " A Lonely Place To Die" and I enjoyed the film from the very beginning until the end. Sharing with you a short summary of the movie, it tells about a group of climbers who made a climb in a mountain somewhere in Scottish Highlands. While on their journey, they uncovered a buried girl who was kidnapped by the bad guys. 

          Anyway the movie tells us the struggle between good over evil. While the story continued to develop, there is always that element of surprises when it comes to the tug of war between these two opposing elements. Although some scenes of the movie can be considered "surprising" like when the main character Allison was hit by a rock on the face and fell hard to the ground, I was expecting her to be gravely wounded or immobilised due to the extreme height plus her being a woman however, there you can find her standing, swimming and running as if nothing serious happened to her. 

imagecredit: Loliet Mata

          Anyway, I leave that to the critical eyes of the other viewers of the film and somehow, I will focus on the triumph of good over evil. Yes it is very true that these two are constantly present in our world and even in ourselves. What holds us to be stronger in the face of life's evils is the faith that we have in ourselves and in others. On the other hand, I believe that it is innate in us to be good. Devoid of any excuses, yes it is true that we could never be perfect everyday and we continue to succumb to the demands of our flesh and of our wants but somehow due to our higher capacity most notably our intelligence, we are able then to triumph over the sins and evils of this world. 

          May we continue then to allow ourselves to be bringers of "good" to others. Let our light shine on ourselves and on others.

                                       

Today's Modern Age: Is it a Help in Self- Growth or Not?

          As I witness everyday's unfolding, the more that I come to think about life as becoming more complicated nowadays. And aside from that, this also tends to become more damaging to human relationships as others would think of. 

          However as I reflect on my own environment, I could sense that it's either positive or negative and it relies much on each person on how then he/she welcomes all these latest developments. Like for example, the various forms of social media networks that come out nowadays first and foremost the worldwide popular facebook. Consequently, the world tends to become a global village. The problem before of loved ones being far from one another is now answered by these social plaforms. 

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          On the other hand, the risk of being over exposed to these modern social media platforms is also very alarming. If one will not be careful in dealing with them, the risk of losing human touch connections with the other loved ones nearby would be sacrificed. I would say that people need to mutually help one another so as to grow in self fulfilment and learn to avoid the negative complications  that could possibly come out in the use of these modern age networks.