You were the star then. Now that they are at their height, you remained resilient. Sitting quietly at the corner, until somebody remembers me, then your presence would be felt...And then I'd shake hands with you and put them next to my ear, "Hello!"
You've bridged a lot of lives.
You remind me of the little Natalie talking to her father from a distant desert; of the sixth-grader who discusses the homework with a classmate who was absent in class that day; of the days when we play around the numbers 0-9 to befriend a random stranger.
And now, I can count the times we'd hold hands. The time when I could put my lips near you.
“Not all those who wander are lost.” –J.R.R. Tolkien
These itching feet, the eagerness to experience something new, my deep affection for nature, my drive for learning and self-development, my extreme need of silence and solitude led me to my first solo travel. Not so far away from home, but at least a way to escape humdrum of the daily life.
Exactly a week after my 27th birthday, I packed my bag and headed my way to Brahma Kumaris in Tagaytay for an overnight weekend retreat.
The virtues. Got love, huh! :)
Brahma Kumaris Center for Spiritual Learning provides a good venue for any people from all walks of life to experience self-transformation and spiritual nourishment. It’s a non-governmental and non-profit organization. That was according to my internet research. My curiosity and my simple awe with the pictures really made me want to pursue the trip -- come what may!
I really thank heavens it did not rain. I believe it was a blessing, with the fact that it rained so hard the weekend and days before.
Located along the Magallanes Drive of the nature haven Tagaytay, it’s about 2 hrs ride from Pasay City, Manila. I was going only from West to South of Cavite (if my sense of direction serves me right). Although that was the case, I was surprised to have consumed a three-hour travel. Compared to someone who had to travel from Metro Manila, I would say it was pretty much the same as riding a bus from somewhere in Quezon City.
I rode the bus from SM Bacoor and got off it along the highway where Starbucks and Leslie’s are located. Fronting them is Magallanes Square. I saw a couple or more of tricycles piled up. I had the chance to ask the drivers where the location was. Time conscious, I had to ride the tricycle for a twenty-five peso special ride, when I really wanted to walk to the venue. I learned that it was actually a walking distance away.
The tricycle stopped in front of seemingly small house where the fountains welcomed me, and the words on the wall seemed to find a route to my eyes, to my mind, to my heart. The door was closed. From the glass walls on both sides of it, I can see people from inside.
There was a woman in white among all others, approaching to open the door. Yeah, it brought me a feeling that I was attending a cult of some sort, or entering a mental institution perhaps. Woah! Paranoid! For a moment, I had this little contemplation, “Should I get in or not?” But hey, I’ve researched too much about the place and what to expect. I knew they are the Brahma Sisters (and there are Brothers, too). These kinds of feelings really happen to me. The feeling of uncertainty instantly vanished, especially when I saw a group of youth lined up for registration. “This is it!”
Fixture on the wall.
There's a lot of this design all over the place. Find out why.
Since I went there by myself, I expected to have a stranger roommate. That was fine. I went to the room as advised by the lady in white. The stranger roommate gave me only three minutes to make myself comfortable with her. We shared bits of our life stories. She became my buddy for the whole weekend.
The “seemingly small house” is not really that small. The overall ambiance of the place is captivating. It fits someone like me who really loves silence. The architectures are simple but endearing. Babba’s room was even catchier—dome-like. We had the chance to get inside and take pictures of us there. I realized that the garden landscaping was not that spectacular, but it surely could make a stressed soul breathe in comfort. I observed there were lots of chairs – chairs of different kinds, probably a way to cater to the need of rest. Around every corner, even in the dine hall, you can see motivational words.
I believe their workshop- type retreats are unique in a way that there are no heavy moments that you have to cry your heart out. They focus on the positive approach, not having to imply something like “You have sinned. Repent!” Most of the time, they focus on the soul, as the main source of your being. I don’t feel the emphasis on any religion, though there may be. They also name the “highest being” as God”. Meditation is practiced every time an activity starts and ends. They teach the open- eye meditation. Moments of silence are strongly encouraged. You will realize that lots of things are yet to learn and realize, but you don’t have to agree with everything.
One of the best parts of my stay was the vegetarian diet. I’m never diet conscious, but I loved every meal there. Maybe because I am always a vegetable fan. Or maybe the amazement on the alternative ways of cooking and preparing food. Oh, I think they are vegans, to be specific. They do not consume any animal, its products and by-products. Well, that explains the eggless pandesal and other baked products that we ate, even the eggless leche flan.
On my way home, I brought the thought that: it is not about the culture, not the religion, nor any differences between us. What’s within us will drive us to our beings that would be very useful as we co-exist with the diverse world.
FURTHER INFORMATION YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW.
How to contact them:
Brahma Kumaris Retreat Center for Spiritual Learning
The website also shows a list of events, retreats, lectures and other programs they cater.
To know more about Brahma Kumaris as whole, visit their main website, Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, which will also give you the BK locations near you, other than Tagaytay.
Expected budget:
Not much budget is expected if you’re going to Tagaytay solely for that. Most likely, you’d be spending only on the transportation.
As a matter of fact, their programs are offered FREE. According to one of my retreat-mates (whatever you call that), they conduct one-day retreats free of charge, including the food. Ours was a two-day program, so we gave one thousand pesos “contribution” for the food and utility use. They don’t ask it the moment you come in. I actually had to remind them about before I leave. They gave me a little envelope, hand-made from a scratch paper and asked me to drop it on the contribution box.
What to bring:
Bring clothes that are “appropriate” for the event and the climate. Since the place is Tagaytay, bring clothes for cold weather. Since the event is a retreat, do not wear revealing clothes.
Bring bath towel and other toiletries, except for bathroom tissues -- I noticed they have lots of them. Bring mosquito repellant. Since they are surrounded with plants, you can find mosquitoes everywhere.
Be warned: This post you’re about to read is purely blabber. No post-editing. No organization of thoughts, just like water spilled out from the container, going to no particular direction.
I’m loving life for twenty-seven years. Anyone who could beat that is surely older than me. Give me more tricks!
The past few days have been so rainy for me – literally and the other way around. Pre-birthday crisis? Somehow. But surely, I don’t feel it for the sake of feeling it. As much as I wanted to escape drama, there came some concerns of what’s going inside and around me. No enumerations needed.
Twenty-seven
At the moment, twenty-seven is the number of years I’ve been alive. Twenty-seven is that day in August of every year where I think almost everything should be a big deal– what to do, what should have been done and accomplished, how things should go and should have gone. A tiring cycle. Pressure!
With really wanting to come up with a birthday blog (initially, that was my only plan…with less emotions attached), I tried googling for some successful people at age 27. It did not give me what I was searching for. What comes up is the “27 Club” – the musicians who died at age 27 including Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and just recently, Amy Winehouse (to name a few).
Ironic it may seem, I had to ponder on that seriously. For someone who is in the peak of quarter-life crisis (late bloomer, you think?) and the pre-birthday crisis (“birth month crisis” as I term it), this couldn’t be an apple in a box of oranges for me.
Obviously, I won’t be a member of that club. I am not a musician (Hey! That was me trying to be funny!). But there seems to be a voice that keeps reminding me that anything could happen anytime. Not assessing about their cause of death, it’s surely not debatable that they’ve at least left their marks in the world. “In the world” may be such a big word. But it is never impossible to do that in the small world that we made it to be.
Until now, I still don’t have a clear answer to the following questions:
·Rewind to 27 years ago: What could you advice to the yet-to-be born Lou Natalie?
·Fast Forward to 27 years later: How do you imagine your 54 year old self?
I've had lots of reflections and plans, but I was paralyzed by my own analyses.
The Bright Side
That Guy above never ever failed to supply me a doze of resilience though. That thing is enough to re-charge my drained battery, to re-fuel the engine that was about to stop. Remembering his presence makes me keep going. And the people He sends, are really exact justifications that He really exists. He blesses me much! Again, no enumerations needed.
I’m loving life for twenty-seven years. Anyone who could beat that is surely… is surely older than me. Give me more tricks!
Birthdays may be stormy or dry . What's important is that, a new hope should be born every time it comes.
Side-dish:
Look what I have found: I share the same birthday/anniversary with Mother Teresa, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, and The Guinness Book of Records. Cool, right?
One of the most difficult messages you could ever give to a friend (or anybody) is "Happy Birthday" and "Condolences" at the same time.
I had to do that thrice-- for friends/classmates Juvie, Eulah, and Jhay who lost a mom/dad just before their birthdays.
It was never easy.
Of course, I could always easily say it from the most comforting and sympathizing words to the most common "Be strong" and "Everything's gonna be okay". Then, I'd realize that it wouldn't be as easy as that, especially when I put myself inside their shoes.
How could we celebrate life when one of the people who became a reason for our birth had lost it?
Yes, that makes sense. But don't we think it sounds hopeless and pathetic? The more we feel that way, the more doomed we may get.
Things like these are life's ways of reminding us that it's not a perfect world, that beginnings and endings are born twins -- and we have to live in between. That the most that people in our lives could be with us is while there is life. The only way to make them stay after death is to put them in our hearts.
In the end, it's not about beginnings and endings. It is what we do and have in between.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
DISCLAIMER: Neither the video nor the transcript is owned by the blog owner. Posted for sharing purposes only.
If you saw someone today working on some Sales data, holds her aching head for a while and then recovers and smile, she may be listening to this. She could be me.
It's amazing that this black and white thing gavecolor to my day.
This is yet another pretty day when I reconnect to my childhood when the only pieces I can play was Happy Birthday; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; and some local songs.
Ask me how better I have become now. Well, it's only the Happy Birthday that I've remembered.
My computer table is just one of the smallest part of the world where I can sit down and see what's going on. Catching up with long lost friends and relatives, updating myself with the business trends and some entrep ideas, or simply feeling the sense of fulfillment within the day. This is my window to the world.
I am never the friendly type of person who smiles at everyone who I come across with, not even with acquaintances I had the chance to talk with once or twice. I don't even send much friend requests in Facebook (though I accept requests of anyone who adds me as a friend.) I've been to chatrooms, but I usually leave before the first minute, either because I used to get bored or I don't like what was happening in there (or what they were talking about).
This time, I tried staying a little longer. Well, for no reason at all!
I was trying to choose rooms which I think I could get good conversations from.
First stop. Career Improvement. Around 10 in the room. There were around 10 people. 2 having their own conversations. About 3 are doing their "inappropriate things" which others ignore. And the rest are lurkers, including me. Their conversation started from the job titles -- the one being a Marketing Expert and the other questioning his "expertise". Then it became a topic about Pakistan and Bin Laden... and so on... Then I got bored.
Second stop. The OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) Community. My heart is close to OFWs. Part of wherever I am right now is a product of my father's persistence and hardwork in Middle East for more than a decade. I do not like to mention that my ex-boyfriend, who happens to be the first and last (so far) was an OFW. (Ours is another story, which I prefer not to tell). I know the feeling where every moment with your loved ones is something you owe from the latest technology available.
This is their virtual hangout. And I am a dumb witness in this corner of the world.
Rainy Saturday Outside. I haven't accomplished anything but cleaning my room -- from the ceiling to the floor, then under my bed. One shoe box caught my attention. Well, it wasn't a shoe box, but a box that contained the flip flops I bought from Human (a local clothing store), months ago.
I had the chance to do some sort of "artwork," if I may call it that way. I grabbed some of my well-kept colored pens and a highlighter that I keep under my pillows everytime I read books before bedtime. I also sneaked towards my four-year-old niece's things to get her old crayons and other coloring materials. Alas!
Look at the 26-year-old-crappy art.
Nonetheless, this is wonderful feeling! Wow! How I wish I could go back to the days when there were no rules that confine us when doing something; when monsters turn into colorful creatures we can just make fun of, instead of becoming the creepy ones that cripple us.
It is so true that we create our own monsters. But isn't it time to shoo them away in a beautiful way?
Today, I created my own definition of art.
This is thinking outside the box...and out of the box. :)
"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air explode softly and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination." -Robert Fulghum
Friday, at work. Less than two hours before my weekend. Slouching on my seat while doing some of my work routines. Data was taking some minutes to download. I got hold of my phone as soon as I remembered about Gawad Kalinga.
It has always been my dream to donate to a cause or more, or to give back to the community. While I am working my way to fully establishing my financial security, I believe I can still hand in my poor man's share to help others.
Few minutes before midnight in one corner of a call center floor in a manufacturing company in Cavite, a humble P52 out of a P100-peso remaining prepaid load made its way to people who are in need of a decent shelter.
This is just a start of something I would surely repeat over and over. May God shower me more blessings so I can give more to others.
(Note: I've also thought of World Vision Philippines and WWF Philippines but GK has the easiest donation process for someone like me who occasionally acts on impulse.)
They say, "Do something good to others without telling anyone about it." I couldn't agree more. But sometimes sharing the experience would be the best way to encourage others to the same. And that's the reason for this post.
Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned. ~Peter Marshall
Wanting to experiment if any one would think differently, I tried post one of the most "worn-out" phrases wherever I go. This is supposed to be the most thoughtful phrase you could ever hear if you only focus on what it means. It turned out to be a conversation filler. Worse, a clutter.
It's funny that people would ask "How are you?" but wouldn't listen to the answer. (Hey, I am guilty at times.) On the other way around, no body would care to answer this question when asked. And that's what happened today.
A largely-populated Social Networking site called Facebook (more or less A BILLION, if my research served me right). Around 450 friends. Noontime, when a large percentage of Filipino friends are Facebooking either at home and at work. NOBODY answered.
As I write this, I remember my Nursery school days, when my mom used to teach me my first lessons in writing.
Anyone could have an idea on how a long name could be a burden to a child who is asked to fit it in a pad paper. During those times my 15-letter name (without middle initial and the spaces) was considered long.
I tried to somehow re-live it today. Since I am not left-handed, I consider my left hand a "beginner" in the matters of penmanship.
Experiences re-lived. Lessons re-learned...
- When we are provided spaces, learn to fit in.
- Things aren't always easy at first attempts. Repetition is the key.
- The best way to complete something is enjoying the process.
"My handwriting looks as if a swarm of ants, escaping from an ink bottle, had walked over a sheet of paper without wiping their legs.” -Sydney Smith (1771 – 1845) English clergyman and essayist
Lately, I’ve always been dreaming about my student self, worried about a homework missed. Suddenly, I would wake up, smile and suddenly tell myself, “Thank God it was just a dream!”In few minutes, reality would sink back in, “Huh! Oh yeah! I do not go to school anymore.”
It was 6 years ago when this lass came out to what others call “the real world” – a bigger learning ground.This is where competition is stricter than the Dean’s list. This is when “failing” means more pain than repeating a semester or a school year. This is where the bigger lessons are taught.
Unless you are someone I worked with, you wouldn’t probably know what I exactly do in front of my office computer (except from some Alt +Tabs in between).And it might not really be too interesting to you (some would not bother listening to other people’s daily grind when they have their own to tell.) But lessons are like blessings.They sometimes come in disguise.
June 14, 2005:I was officially employed as a Data Analyst.June 14, 2011:I’m a Data Analyst.Two good companies. Some changes in tasks and responsibilities. Some position title changes.Six challenging years. All of these boils down to one thing: I am an Analyst.
Without having to reminisce the student days when Integral Calculus, other Mathematics and programming subjects consume the limited neurons that I was left of; below are the lessons I learned from the bigger school called “workplace” which suits the biggest school of all -- LIFE.
Note about the pronouns after this paragraph:When I use “you” it’s also as good as saying as “we” or “us”.Sometimes, I talk TO MYSELF and ABOUT MYSELF too much that I mistake it to be a second or third person.
ANALYSIS LESSON #1: GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT
The quality of input determines the quality of output.If you want a good result, avoid putting in any mess.
ANALYSIS LESSON #2: DEFINING THE PROBLEM IS NOT ALWAYS THE FIRST STEP.
Acceptance is.
Don’t be in denial. Just because you feel comfortable of the current situation does not mean that you are okay.Go outside the box.
Diligence…Skepticism – these are the words.When out of no where, life hands you a piece of cake, do not bite right away.Be keen.Many things come sugar-coated --and...deceiving. Today, nothing and no one comes fool-proof.
ANALYSIS LESSON #3:REFLECT. REPENT AND RESTART.
“Chaos reigns.Reflect, repent and restart.Order shall return”
That was something that caught my attention while I was working on something that uses a macro in Alteryx ®.And I realized that makes a lot of sense in real life. The phrase says it all.
ANALYSIS LESSON #4:IT’S EITHER A PROCESS OR A PROJECT.
As Dictionary.com says it, “A project is something that is contemplated, devised or planned.”If you want something for your life, begin it short-term.If you loved the results and would want to consider for a habit, that would be a process then.
ANALYSIS LESSON #5: EVEN THE LITTLEST OF THINGS UNDERGOES “PHASES”
Here is an excerpt from my old blog telling stories about my previous work:
“A problem arises... ting! we call it NEW.Eeny mini miny moe...Assigning to Lou....and the status is OPEN.No improvements, hung for a period of time...then it is DEFERRED.Some solutions are done but not for good. TEMP FIX.Changes were made and I believe everything will be fine... Yipee! It is RESOLVED.But then, when I've thought that I've made all the efforts but those weren't enough to solve the problem.I have to face it...they're REJECTED.”
It is almost the same thing about my work right now…
NEW-NOT STARTED.Do not nourish the procrastinator in you.
GATHERING REQUIREMENTS.In a garden full flowers, pick the best ones that fit and look well with the vase. Then determine the ways to arrange it.Remember: Grass not included.
IN PROGRESS. “Keep goin’… Keep movin’”(This is not a chant but sounds like such to me every time I remember one of our foreign trainers from my first job. )
So are we on the same page when I say “Life is IN PROGRESS”?
COMPLETED . Nothing too much to say here, but…Yeeha! Just got rid of it.
ANALYSIS LESSON #6: IN ANYTHING, CONSIDER SEVERETIES AND PRIORITIES.
You could wish that life problems and responsibilities were tagged with severity and priority levels as they come.With that, you could know what to do first.
But reality says otherwise.It would just say “Go, figure out!”
ANALYSIS LESSON #7:PAST MISTAKES WILL REALLY HUNT (AND HAUNT) YOU.
That’s why I mentioned about the “Garbage In, Garbage out.”If from the very start you did not play well, you have two choices: Face it, or prepare to play hide and seek.The latter’s a tough one, because – if I may say – you would probably be dealing with a good player.
ANALYSIS LESSON #8:NO TWO PROBLEMS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME.IF THEY ARE, CONSIDER THE OTHER RESOLVED.
Do not complicate.Work on the existing and dump the other. Any duplicate of a problem is not worth wasting any effort and energy for.
ANALYSIS LESSON #9:THINGS ARE INTERCONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER.
As I write this, I can imagine the Join and Union tool in Alteryx ® and the data that they connect.And combining those would give us the output that we want.
In life, if you only knew your goal, then you could utilize all the lessons and experiences you’ve got from here and there. They are most of the time useful; you just sometimes don’t notice it.
ANALYSIS LESSON #10:MIMIC. THEN, RECREATE.
Learn the tricks of the trade from the experts. Then, create your own flavor out of that.Step up!
ANALYSIS LESSON #11:READ BETWEEN THE LINES.
I define the phrase as “understanding more than the words say”.Lots of books and people would say what Life (and the smallest particle of it) is.You could agree and disagree. But the there is more to life than what others say it is. Contemplate on the details and you will know the answers yourself.
ANALYSIS LESSON #12:ALWAYS ASK YOURSELF, “WHY AM I DOING THIS?”
That’s a good quote from my boss that could have a follow up question, “Will it do good to the business?”
Same as in life, you could ask…”Will it matter in the future?”
Once again, I am staring at my big multi-colored pen, embraced by a blue steno notebook. I am trying to grasp back the days when my ideas are full for writing...
A friend comes in two appearances: 1. Somebody who carries with him an umbrella and share it with you; 2. Or somebody who also has no umbrella to offer but is willing to endure the cold, just to sympathize with you.
“There are three basic steps to winning: First, live each day with a goal in mind. Second, do what you can do. Third, be happy doing it.”– something I just pondered
While most of the people made lists of RESOLUTIONS during the start of the year, I opted not to join them. It was actually the GOALS which I started drafting out before December of last year.
Wait… is it a late New Year blog? Not really.It’s just that I have high spirits about these goals lately.
If I have the reasons to win, then why wouldn’t I opt to?
Starting last Monday, those goals have been dancing around my mind, seems like a kid that keeps on reminding, “Hey, you promised…!”
Below is a really quick list of goals (from a very long one), which I kept on being reminded of:
PHYSICAL
Lose weight and stay in shape.
I’ve got a call from my cousin who’s going to be married on April.I was informed that I will be one of the bridesmaids.And of course, I’d need to have my measurement stats for the gown.And when I saw how it would look like, I said “Oh gosh!I can’t forgive myself when I wear this gown on a…well…macho figure like this.” Haha! Exaggerated much?
At this moment, I started to cut (unnecessary) meals. I also do sit-ups before and after bedtime.I hope that would help. Haha!
COMMUNITY and ENVIRONMENT
I’ve always felt fulfillment every time I take part to any outreach activities and community services.Believing that we live in this world with others reminds me that as much as I need “others” to live, those “others” need me, too. It’s always a two-way street.
There are bags of old clothes stuck on the corner that just adds up to the pile of clutter in our house.I am a silent advocate of taking care of the environment, and with that, throwing those stuffs was never an option.
Sound effects…“Ting!” Then there goes the light bulb!
A year ago, I have joined an online community called GR3ENCYCLE Philippines.I just dropped a note about my thought on offering it to anyone who plans to have an outreach activity.As of now, three individuals expressed their interests. See, that’s hitting two birds in a stone!
Oh…and actually I plan to bring stuffs to SM Recycle Market’s Trash to Cash. I’ve wanted to do it months ago but was not able to do it due to busy schedule.
FINANCIAL
I have promised myself that I gave to work on my self-discipline to achieve financial freedom.Self-discipline, I believe,starts in small things in my everyday life.
I started the year with a clear goal of not coming late to office. Doing great so far. Not until last Tuesday when I was one minute late because of the baby bus driver who had to chat with another driver. Ahhh... That was so disappointing. That tardiness costs me a P 25-special trike fare, the supposedly P 300 monthly perfect attendance incentive, and the 10 points in our KPI (performance metric), where the highest pointers will get a corresponding amount. Sigh! But that was life. Just accept it. Actually, I can also claim part of the blame. I should be a few minutes earlier. I just have to move forward to the next month.
SPIRITUAL
There came Joan’s text message inviting me to join the Singles for Christ in Rosario on late February. Now, I'm so excited. I've never joined in activities such as this before. While being busy with other things, I must always remember that there is one best friend up there that makes all those possible.
CREATIVE
This blogging thing is one of my goals this year. I hope I can rekindle the fire that was lost fromt his passion.
If a goal is a promise, then is it a resolution too?Perhaps.But there is more to it.
Yeah, I promised -- not to others but to my self.And that gives much of the gravity.I came to think of it…”If a broken promise to others hurts, then why should I do it to myself? Whether I fulfill it or not, the impact for sure would be doubled.
Definitely, I need to fulfill them all. Good thing is, I am happy.
Something I wrote years back. This is how I feel about myself everytime I approach a blank piece of paper (or an empty Word Document workspace), and the blank remains blank...the empty remains as such.
The Prodigal Writer
I stowed away for some time
Leaving the scribbles behind
Crumpled the papers
And left the pen in silence
Then I was treading back
Barefooted, empty-handed
Distressed from noisy confusion
Beaten up by my self-inflicted monsters
Hungry of thoughts
I am treading back home
In reading between the lines
In the world of ink and paper
The cradle of the conscious and the thinkers
Where the mind speaks out louder than the mouth does
I turned my back to you
But never burned the bridge behind
I implore...open your arms back
For this writer in me was dead and is alive again
... Was lost and is found.
Copyright 2007 Lou Natalie Pugay
All rights reserved.
No part of this poem may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission from the author.
Most of the times, my mind is more talkative than my mouth.
2012 07 11
Suddenly, I've learned not to categorize happiness into fake or genuine. The moment I feel happy, then I am. With it being a one-whole thing, there is no thin line in between. The choice is only between the temporary and the one that lasts a lifetime. And there, I have to choose carefully.
I've been speaking too much about happiness today, as if I am a happiness guru who'd know what would best make everyone happy. I am not. I am just proud to say: I am a firm believer of it for myself. That's what keeps me going.
2012 01 05
I do things to impress myself, not others. Though I love healthy competitions, I don't focus much on how much I outdo others, but on how I outdo myself.
2011 09 18
May bahagi ng isip na nagsasabing "Matulog ka na. Umaga na!" May bahagi naman na dumadaldal pa. Mabuti pa ang tyan, pag may nagrambulan sa loob, ilalabas mo lang. :)
2011 08 27
Life and Grammar taught me this, "'Love life' is an imperative statement you might want to consider if you can't afford to have it as a compound noun.
2011 08 25
People will forget what you said, but will always remember how they felt when you said it.
2011 08 22
Help me remember, Lord, that everytime Life tests me, I get the chance to test life. Then, I'd realize, it works! Love, Natalie.
2011 02 10
In life's game, you don't need an opponent just to be called a WINNER.
2011 02 02
What Sales thought me about life: More activities=More opportunities.
2011 01 28
Good things in life are not asked for; most of the times, they just come -- to those who are ready, able and willing.
2011 01 22
Love your neighbor when he leastdeserves it, because it is the time when he needs it most.
2010 10 22
Ever realized that "ignore" and "ignorant" share the same etymology? The world gives us lots of ways to learn. Yet, we don't pay attention. We disregard.
2009 07 30
If there is anything harder than "learning the hard way", I believe it would be "teaching the hard way".
I'd rather choose to argue with a fool than with an intelligent person. A fool would barely understand. An intelligent one would never want to.
My realizations are always useless until I believe them.
Blessed are the stupid, for they never realize they ever were.
Copyright 2011 Lou Natalie Pugay
All rights reserved.
No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission from the author.