Category: (Im)Personal

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Of Weddings and Pregnancies

Weddings and pregnancies are happy events that we welcome into our lives with open arms and grateful hearts. I have friends who are getting married soon (in fact, one of them is tying the knot tomorrow!) and I have friends who have gotten pregnant recently. To feel happy for them is just but natural to me.

I can still vividly remember our wedding day. It wasn’t perfect but it was the best for us. There were some minor problems but most of the guests, and even the hubby and I, didn’t notice it until somebody told us about it after the reception had ended. We would have wanted also to modify some details of the wedding but later on we realized it’s better left as unique and lovely as it was.

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On Healthcare and Medical Emergencies

UPDATE: My Tita Miyang finally went home from the hospital last Saturday afternoon. Praise the Lord, the king of all healers! 🙂

Last Monday, I received a sad news from my cousin about her mom (my aunt and my father’s sister) who’s based in Biñan City, Laguna. She said they rushed her to the hospital because she suffered from heart attack and had a seizure. After doing some tests on her, the doctor advised to send her mom to the ICU immediately for more tests and observation. We visited her at Alabang Medical Center yesterday and she had already been transferred to a private room. It seemed that she was on her way to recovery. Thank you, Lord!

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My Tita Miyang is 64 years old, has a senior citizen card but no PhilHealth membership (what we heard in the news isn’t fully implemented yet!). She doesn’t have health insurance/HMO card which leaves her family with no choice but to shoulder all her medical expenses. Imagine paying almost P20,000 per day for a stay in the ICU? That amount is already equivalent to a month’s salary of a public school teacher. My gosh, I don’t think I can afford that at this point should any of my parents get subjected to the same ordeal.

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On Generosity and Tithing

If I were to rate myself on my level of generosity (with 10 as the highest), I’d give myself a seven. Nope, never a perfect score because I’m not a saint. I’m just human and I can be selfish on occasions. While I tend to be generous to family and friends, I normally hesitate helping other people especially if I don’t know them too well. (I’m actually more helpful to people online than offline.)

In my quest for financial freedom, my generosity is constantly tested. Should I give money to charity on a regular basis or keep it to myself so I could achieve my financial goals faster? I guess the answer to that question should depend on how much I’m willing to give. Some say it should be 10% of one’s income and they have a term for it — tithe. Tithing is a practice, or more like a way of life, that a lot of Christians have adopted as part of their faith. And I admire them for that because let’s be honest here, not everybody can do it or is willing to do so.

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On Gratefulness

I have to admit there are times when I forget to be grateful for the blessed life I happen to have. This is especially true when good things keep coming into my life. I tend to get overwhelmed and preoccupied and eventually, feel a sense of guilt. Somehow, I feel that by forgetting to show gratitude, I am letting God down. For is it not from Him that everything I get to have in this life come from?

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Image Source: http://www.littlemiracles.com.au/blog/speaking-life/the-importance-of-gratitude

Is it just me or does this happen to you as well? That’s why I thought of saying thanks first thing in the morning and before closing my eyes at night. Sometimes, I feel that it’s insincere, though. Or pilit lang. Recently, I’ve decided to say thank you to God whenever I feel like it and wherever I may be. Aside from the basics (e.g. life, family, marriage, job, food, shelter, clothing, etc.), it could be for a simple task I finished, a surprise I received (like this one time when I got a cute little ring from my brother similar to those class rings from joyjewelers.com), a small favor I got from someone, a big blessing that came my way, a kind comment from a blog reader, or just about anything that has made me happy. I like how it’s spontaneous and genuine. No pretensions, no exaggerations. No routines, no timing.

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Life is a trade-off.

“To be able to accept fully, you must give up willingly.” ~Anonymous

If life has one great limitation aside from the fact that it has an end, it’s that it can never give you everything. It can give you one thing, but not the other. It cannot give you both. And when that rare time comes that you do get both, it means you’re just getting lucky and the chance that it could happen again is very slim.

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Image Source: http://altitudeacquisitions.co.uk/altitude-acquisitions-look-impact-trade-offs/

Yes, I do believe that life is a trade-off. It’s funny because this realization hit me after I watched an action movie last week. I’m not so sure, but I think it’s from the movie John Wick (which was highly-entertaining, by the way). The main antagonist there mentioned about it, how life is all about trade-offs and compromises. Indeed, you really can’t have all the things you wish for. I’ve known about this before, but its relevance today, in this fast-paced world we live in, makes it a subject worth discussing and reflecting on again.

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Papal Visit to the Philippines 2015

We have all witnessed the warm reception of the Filipino people (Catholics or otherwise) to the apostolic visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines. It’s impressive how good we behaved while he was here. It was such a lovely sight to behold, really.

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Pope Francis is such an inspiration. He’s so warm and genuine. The kind and comforting words he left us have definitely touched our lives in more ways than one. I had the chance to see him face to face and eye to eye at our workplace when he visited there last Friday. (He even blessed us as he was walking past us!) I couldn’t describe the mixed emotions I felt. Napatulala na lang talaga ako. Paano pa kaya pag si Jesus na ang makita ko?! Waaaaah!

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