Blessings in Disguise

Yesterday was one of the ordinary days at the office; my work already done at mid-afternoon, spending time to check mails, facebook updates and chats.

I left the office early, but I decided to walk around Glorietta for a few hours to avoid the rush hour at Edsa. Finally it was time to go home, rode that green bus, and felt happy because the road has unexpectedly light traffic! Wow, I will be arriving home early. Or so I thought!

Just about 1 km away from the exit, we ran flat. People would say that it was a good coincidence because we were around 300m away from Shell SLEX station; but I would rather call it as a blessing. And so, as the driver managed to drive and parked at Shell, I heard the usual rants and sighs and tsks of people around. "Malapit na eh, naflatan pa!" "Ano ba naman yan, ang malas naman"

A few minutes after, people started unloading the bus to transfer to jeepneys just so to get home soon. It was around 9pm, and good thing was, there were a lot of PUJs at the time. I went down too, thinking that I would just call my mom and ask them to pick me up.

I went down, with the rest of the passengers, and looked at the tire. It was not a flat tire at all. The tire actually exploded, and I couldn't help but say a little prayer of gratitude that nothing happened to us. We were probably at 80-100kph when that happened, and looking at the exploded tire, worse things could have happened.

And so, while waiting at the middle of Shell station, looking at that exploded tire, I realized that some bad things happen because we need to be saved from worse things. We are just to impatient, too stubborn and most of the time too arrogant to see the brighter side of things. We are quick to judge, and often times we forget that indeed, there is a Greater Being who is smarter than us. Smart enough to know what He is doing.

So, join me and let's stop ranting.

Live

We wake up. We eat. We bathe.

We work.

We commit mistakes. We admit. We get sad.

We blame them. Or anyone. Or ourselves.

We get up. We try again.

We learn. We struggle. And then we learn more.

And then we realize that it wasn't as difficult as it was.

We laugh. We cry. We cry alone. We cry with someone.

We laugh alone. We laugh at ourselves. We laugh with someone.

We breathe. And we continue breathing.

And then we see that it has been another day. And tomorrow will be another one.

Perhaps the same cycle, but in different form.

We learn different things. We meet different people.

The world blesses us. And we bless the world.

We live. And we sustain our living.

Because, no matter what we say, we have to admit that there is nothing better in the world

but to Live.

Post Christmas and New Year Blog

At last, my long overdue post.

Christmas and New Year of 2007, it was my first time to spend the holidays away from home. For me, Christmas has always, and will always be my most favorite season of the year -- even more than my birthday, and even if it brings bitter-sweet memories on some people; And I could still remember how difficult it was for me, after 25 years, to hear Christmas carols and see Christmas trees in Dubai, without my family beside me.

I believed in Santa Claus when I was a kid. I could remember hanging my most favorite sock at one of the little plastic branches of our christmas tree, and would eagerly jump out of bed the next morning, finding different varieties of candies inside it!

They said that Christmas is for kids. Maybe because they have pure joy and peace, and they could give out the purest love. Look into a child's eyes and you'll see how beautifully made the world is.

Growing up, I learned the real meaning of Christmas. It is more than the socks on that Christmas tree, more than Santa Claus, more than the chocnuts and the candies and the barbie dolls. Christmas is the greatest service of God to mankind; and with that, Christmas should be the season to remind us how to be real servants; to really give without asking anything in return and to love with the purest of intention -- with or without your family beside you. Christmas is not my birthday; or anyone else's for that matter. Christmas is the time of our Savior's birth -- and it is a timeless fact. A fact that should be enough to make anyone of us feel blessed.

Christmas of 2009, I knew that this would be my second Christmas away from home, and so I found a way to make it special. I went to Jakarta and spend it with Martin and Ron. There was one time that one muslim taxi driver greeted us, "Merry Christmas". I was touched by the humility and sincerity, and closed my eyes briefly to say a little prayer for him. Even if the world is divided by different religions, I have always been glad on how we all learned to respect each other's beliefs. More of it, I thought, and the world would surely be a better place.

I still have a few weeks left and I needed to go back to Vietnam for work. And so I spent my New Year here; nothing much, as I expected. Most people are chinese, and they will have their own celebration on chinese new year. Sadness hit me, I had to admit, because I was alone in our big and spacious apartment, but still I was grateful. There are more than a handful of blessings I received last 2009 - I was able to go back and work again in Brasil; had a 6 week project in Abu Dhabi, and now, here in Vietnam. I found Martin, who has been giving me more than the love I ever expected; I have my best friends with me, and eventhough we are not together physically, I am grateful for their love and purest friendship; I have Mommy and Apple, who loves me endlessly -- all of these, enough to make me smile at heavens and open my arms for an avalanche of blessings coming my way.

It has been a good year -- even with a little turbulence at the beginning; everything ended well
Cheers 2009, it has been a good journey. 2010, bring it on :)