A giant ship engine failed. The ship's owners tried
one expert after another, but none of them could
figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in
an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a
young.
He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he
arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the
engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this
man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking
things over, the old man reached into his bag and
pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something.
Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully
put his hammer away.
The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners
received a bill from the old man for ten thousand
dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did
anything!" So they wrote the old man a note saying,
"Please send us an itemized bill."
CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THE BREAKDOWN WAS?
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer. ............. . $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap..........$ 9,998.00
Effort is important, but knowing where to make an
effort in your life makes all the difference.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
An Excerpt from Maria's Diary..
Once Upon a time, there was a bird. He was adorned with two perfect wings and with glossy, colorful, marvelous feathers. In short, he was a creature made to fly about freely in the sky, bringing joy to everyone who saw him.
One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him. She watched his flight, her mouth wide in amazement, her heart pounding, her eyes shining with excitement. She invited the bird to fly with her, and the two traveled across the sky in perfect harmony. She admired and venerated the celebrated the bird.
But then, she thought: He might want to visit far off mountains! And she was afraid, afraid that she would never feel the same way about any other bird. And she felt envy, envy for the bird's ability to fly.
And she felt alone.
And she thought: "I'm going to set a trap. The next time the bird appears, he will never leave again."
The bird, who was also in love, returned the following day, fell into the trap and was put in a cage.
She looked at the bird every day. There he was, the object of her passion, and she showed him to her friends, who said: "Now you have everything you could possibly want." However, a strange transformation began to take place: now that she had the bird and no longer need to woo him, she began to lose interest. The bird, unable to fly and express the true meaning of his life, began to waste away and his feathers to lose their gloss: he grew ugly; and the woman no loner paid him any attention, except by feeding him and cleaning out his cage.
One day, the bird died. The woman felt terribly sad and spent all her time thinking about him. But she did not remember the cage, she thought only of the day when she had seen him for the first time, flying contentedly amongst the clouds.
If she had looked more deeply into herself, she would have realized that what had thrilled her about the bird was his freedom, the energy of his wings in motion, not his physical body.
Without the bird, her life too lost its meaning, and Death came knocking at her door. "Why have you come?" she asked Death. "So that you can fly once more with him across the sky,” Death replied. "If you had allowed him to come and go, you would have loved and admired him even more; alas, you now need me in order to find him again."
-Eleven Minutes by Paolo Coelho
One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him. She watched his flight, her mouth wide in amazement, her heart pounding, her eyes shining with excitement. She invited the bird to fly with her, and the two traveled across the sky in perfect harmony. She admired and venerated the celebrated the bird.
But then, she thought: He might want to visit far off mountains! And she was afraid, afraid that she would never feel the same way about any other bird. And she felt envy, envy for the bird's ability to fly.
And she felt alone.
And she thought: "I'm going to set a trap. The next time the bird appears, he will never leave again."
The bird, who was also in love, returned the following day, fell into the trap and was put in a cage.
She looked at the bird every day. There he was, the object of her passion, and she showed him to her friends, who said: "Now you have everything you could possibly want." However, a strange transformation began to take place: now that she had the bird and no longer need to woo him, she began to lose interest. The bird, unable to fly and express the true meaning of his life, began to waste away and his feathers to lose their gloss: he grew ugly; and the woman no loner paid him any attention, except by feeding him and cleaning out his cage.
One day, the bird died. The woman felt terribly sad and spent all her time thinking about him. But she did not remember the cage, she thought only of the day when she had seen him for the first time, flying contentedly amongst the clouds.
If she had looked more deeply into herself, she would have realized that what had thrilled her about the bird was his freedom, the energy of his wings in motion, not his physical body.
Without the bird, her life too lost its meaning, and Death came knocking at her door. "Why have you come?" she asked Death. "So that you can fly once more with him across the sky,” Death replied. "If you had allowed him to come and go, you would have loved and admired him even more; alas, you now need me in order to find him again."
-Eleven Minutes by Paolo Coelho
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Thoughts..
As I focus on how wrongfully I was treated, on the sweet promises that was broken, on the disappointments I had in spite of keeping ablaze the fire of hope, on the struggles and sacrifices I go through but was not given due recognition and importance and on the happiness he has gone through while I was miserably thinking of him; a surge of pain pulsates in my heart, making it beat faster..and faster until I am again taken back to the past, to those times. And again, I would go through pain.
However, it made me realize something. I am feeling the pain because I am focusing on it, because I am focusing on myself. It hurts because I am thinking that I was not treated the way I want to be treated. It hurts because I did not get in return what I expected to have. Indeed, the pain we feel are actually the expectations that failed, expectations that we build for ourselves. Perhaps our society shaped those expectations.
On the other hand, if I look at the situation in a bigger perspective, the pain loses its power over me. Yes I cried but alongside those moments are laughter and joys. Yes I was treated wrongly but there were also the times that I really felt loved and cared for, treated specially. There were broken promises but there were also the times that I admired him for really standing up for his promises in spite of the odds. I was disappointed but there were also the times that I was surprised with the wonders that life can offer. I struggled and sacrificed but it didn’t end up in vain. What I’ve been through made me realize that I also have the capacity to sacrifice in the name of love. In the end, it made me a wiser and stronger person. My misery while he was going through happiness can be blamed on no one but me. It was my own reaction. It was my choice. I could have been happy by myself, and personally choose to be happy even without him but I choose to go through misery. So why put the blame on him for not using my will rightly?
So as of now, if those painful thoughts recur, which I know will really happen from time to time, the best thing that I can do is to shun away from those painful moments and instead focus on the happy ones and on the discoveries and lessons I had about love, life and my existence. What I’ve been through helped me to discover who I really am. And you know what? I discovered that I am still not that capable of giving true and selfless love. I thought I was really loving, but no. Lined up before me are conditions and terms. Real love flows freely. But what is real love anyway? I actually do not know but what I’ve been through taught me one thing: It’s not easy to love. It’s so easy to say you are in love or made yourself believe that you are in love. Or even push yourself to fall in love. But mind you, it’s not as easy as you think. Meanwhile, I am nursing my wounded heart. I felt pain, but I can say it’s all worth it. I know I can get through these. If the love I felt is real, it will conquer these pains and it will survive. If not, perhaps that’s not love at all. Anyway, what is real has its own way of expressing itself.
Love moves in mysterious ways. Love always finds its own way.
However, it made me realize something. I am feeling the pain because I am focusing on it, because I am focusing on myself. It hurts because I am thinking that I was not treated the way I want to be treated. It hurts because I did not get in return what I expected to have. Indeed, the pain we feel are actually the expectations that failed, expectations that we build for ourselves. Perhaps our society shaped those expectations.
On the other hand, if I look at the situation in a bigger perspective, the pain loses its power over me. Yes I cried but alongside those moments are laughter and joys. Yes I was treated wrongly but there were also the times that I really felt loved and cared for, treated specially. There were broken promises but there were also the times that I admired him for really standing up for his promises in spite of the odds. I was disappointed but there were also the times that I was surprised with the wonders that life can offer. I struggled and sacrificed but it didn’t end up in vain. What I’ve been through made me realize that I also have the capacity to sacrifice in the name of love. In the end, it made me a wiser and stronger person. My misery while he was going through happiness can be blamed on no one but me. It was my own reaction. It was my choice. I could have been happy by myself, and personally choose to be happy even without him but I choose to go through misery. So why put the blame on him for not using my will rightly?
So as of now, if those painful thoughts recur, which I know will really happen from time to time, the best thing that I can do is to shun away from those painful moments and instead focus on the happy ones and on the discoveries and lessons I had about love, life and my existence. What I’ve been through helped me to discover who I really am. And you know what? I discovered that I am still not that capable of giving true and selfless love. I thought I was really loving, but no. Lined up before me are conditions and terms. Real love flows freely. But what is real love anyway? I actually do not know but what I’ve been through taught me one thing: It’s not easy to love. It’s so easy to say you are in love or made yourself believe that you are in love. Or even push yourself to fall in love. But mind you, it’s not as easy as you think. Meanwhile, I am nursing my wounded heart. I felt pain, but I can say it’s all worth it. I know I can get through these. If the love I felt is real, it will conquer these pains and it will survive. If not, perhaps that’s not love at all. Anyway, what is real has its own way of expressing itself.
Love moves in mysterious ways. Love always finds its own way.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Stop Worrying
Playing the role of someone we are really not can be too tiring and exhausting. The same is also true when we start to take the role of a God, of someone who wants to be in control of everything. We make ourselves the standard, expecting others to be like us or to agree and follow whatever we will. Such attitude can be one of the root causes of worry. We want everything to be in line with what we want but well, it’s a hard core reality that we can’t control everything. Yes we have a certain degree of control over what happens in our lives especially in our reaction towards some unexpected situations but we have to face up the reality that we are not God. There is a God, and you’re not him.
It is said that modern life can be summed up in three words: Hurry, Worry and Bury. It cannot be denied that almost all of us are always in a hurry, troubled up with lots of worries partly because of factors that we can’t control but we want to control, and so eventually or let’s say gradually, we speed up our days and end up in the cemetery. Instead of HWB, why don’t we change it to the 3R’s: Relax, Reflect and Renew. And also, KISS( Keep it Simple, Stupid!) Yes, at times we act so stupidly by complicating simple matters.
As for me, the very core of our worries is our doubt and lack of trust that our Father can give us what is best for us. We want to be in control of our own lives because we think that the “One Up There” is not that capable in filling up our needs and aspirations. Thus, we trod the path of pride and self righteousness, complicate matters and act as God thinking that we can have full control of our own lives but mind you, that is just a mere fantasy. The day will come and that bubble of fantasy will simply explode. Take note, we are living in reality. There is a God and you’re not Him. All I can say is, we are His creatures and He knows every corner and details of our hearts. He knows our needs, our desires and aspirations. He knows us through and through. He wants us to be happy and he intends the ultimate best for us. All we have to so is stop worrying, stop doubting, stop playing God and finally, trust Him and live simply.
It is said that modern life can be summed up in three words: Hurry, Worry and Bury. It cannot be denied that almost all of us are always in a hurry, troubled up with lots of worries partly because of factors that we can’t control but we want to control, and so eventually or let’s say gradually, we speed up our days and end up in the cemetery. Instead of HWB, why don’t we change it to the 3R’s: Relax, Reflect and Renew. And also, KISS( Keep it Simple, Stupid!) Yes, at times we act so stupidly by complicating simple matters.
As for me, the very core of our worries is our doubt and lack of trust that our Father can give us what is best for us. We want to be in control of our own lives because we think that the “One Up There” is not that capable in filling up our needs and aspirations. Thus, we trod the path of pride and self righteousness, complicate matters and act as God thinking that we can have full control of our own lives but mind you, that is just a mere fantasy. The day will come and that bubble of fantasy will simply explode. Take note, we are living in reality. There is a God and you’re not Him. All I can say is, we are His creatures and He knows every corner and details of our hearts. He knows our needs, our desires and aspirations. He knows us through and through. He wants us to be happy and he intends the ultimate best for us. All we have to so is stop worrying, stop doubting, stop playing God and finally, trust Him and live simply.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Thoughts on Letting Go..
Letting go of the things that we used to hold on, as if its the most valuable possesion we have, can truly be one of the scariest and painful experiences in our life. Yet, it is only by emptying ourselves and leaving some things behind, especially if it is becoming more of a burden, can we truly open up ourselves to the wonders that life can offer. Taking a leap into the unknown and trusting in HIS great plan for us can we only discover what we are truly capable of becoming. Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.
There are times that letting go is much better instead of fighting and holding on. Just picture the trees in the storm. The trees that stand erect and tall are usually the ones that break. Some trees however allow themselves to bend and be blown over. They understand that it's not the time to resist but to let go and move with the wind.
And now is not the time for me to stand tall and firm..or else..I will break. Let go and let God.
There are times that letting go is much better instead of fighting and holding on. Just picture the trees in the storm. The trees that stand erect and tall are usually the ones that break. Some trees however allow themselves to bend and be blown over. They understand that it's not the time to resist but to let go and move with the wind.
And now is not the time for me to stand tall and firm..or else..I will break. Let go and let God.
Friday, September 07, 2007
September 7, 2007
hmm..it seems that my past posts are way too serious and dramatic..hehe..Actually that was what I felt in the past weeks and months but this time, I can say that I'm finally taking my steps towards letting go and moving on. Yes there is the pain of losing but know what? I'm doing it with deeper purpose and reason. I'll disclose it later..hehe..meantime..it feels nice to unload the burden that I have been carrying all along. And by the way..its nice to be free and do things on my own again.
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