Courage

"COURAGE is not the absence of FEAR, but rather the JUDGEMENT, that something else is more important, than FEAR." - The Princess Diaries

Over the years that I have watched the movie "The Princess Diaries", and have heard this quote a couple of times, it was only until recently that I was able to fully grasp the true meaning behind these words. I never thought how valuable this line would mean to me when I was finally able to understand it, until I have come to a certain point where I have to do something I am counted responsible for, and this time, FEAR is not an option.

I have always thought that fear is inevitable. Experiencing fear, Means that we are aware of our own weaknesses. And through those kinds of weaknesses we have given ourselves a wonderful opportunity to make a choice-that is, to accept fear and be afraid, or face it upfront and be courageous. But what does it take to have courage? What does it take for a man to be BRAVE?

True COURAGE, is not about having no fears. Like I said, fear is inevitable. Having fear only shows that we are still human. But true courage comes out when someone realizes that fear is the only thing that blocks you away from accomplishing something, from doing something that is more important than being afraid. To be courageous, means to FACE a RESPONSIBILITY no matter how terrified you are. It is doing what is right, no matter how much temptation entices you to do wrong. It is to go against the flow of the crowd, and believing and standing firm in your decision.

Courage from a person does not come out that easily. It's okay to take things step-by-step. Do not be disappointed at yourself just because you feel afraid, or you feel weak. By falling down we learn to be stronger. Through the mistakes that comes from our experiences, we are able to learn. Likewise, by knowing what fear is like we can also know how to be courageous. Know in your heart that THERE IS something else more important than fear and that is the thing that you must focus your mind on, not fear itself.

"FAMILY"

I just realized today how blessed I am by God for giving me such wonderful people I call my family. :) Even though we argue a lot sometimes, and have so many disagreements on a lot of things, still, I love them very much and am very proud to have them in my life. They have given me LOVE more than I could ever ask for, even when sometimes I think I do not deserve it. They have always shown me kindness and warmth, even though most of the time I fail to give those back to them. They may be small, and of course, imperfect, I love these people very much and they are just one of the BEST things that God has ever given to me.

"O-Hana means 'family'. Family means, ' nobody gets left behind-or forgotten." -Lilo (Lilo and Stitch)

I have always believed in my family that no matter what happens, they will never throw me away or treat me as just another person. Families don't do that to each other, right? haha. Well, I have only proven that statement to myself until the unexpected events that happened today.

2 days ago, I've had a huge fight with my parents and haven't talked to either one of them for the rest of the day. I knew that they are infuriated with me, and so I decided to just remain silent in order to avoid any more mess that I might create that may just aggravate their wrath for me even more. I spent the entire afternoon thinking how upset they are to me, and how disappointed they are to themselves for having such a snobbish, self-centered, disrespectful child like me. (I am sometimes a pessimistic person, so thoughts like that will just pop into my head whenever something worries me.) I thought, they never wanted me in their lives anymore. But, in the end, I was proven wrong. Their great love has always outweighed all the sins I have committed against them. No matter what happens, they will still embrace me with open arms and forgive me for all my mistakes. That's just how loving and compassionate they are.

"Nothing you confess, could make me love you less." ( I'll Stand By You)

It's definitely true that there would be nothing too great to stop a parent from loving his child unconditionally. I do believe that the role of being a parent is just highly exhausting,yet it is also the most rewarding of all. For there is nothing better in this world than to have a family you could call as your own, and would always love you, regardless of who you are, or what you have done wrong.

It is quite disappointing to think how most of us forget the value of having a family. But, I am glad that I am finally able to grasp this simple truth of how blessed I am for walking on this world with these very special people beside me. I guess we all need to contemplate on our minds sometimes and reflect on how we currently view our lives, and see how sometimes the things that matter the most are the things we mostly neglect all the time. Actually, when I realized this fact, I cannot help the tears from falling down my eyes. I was focusing on the love that I have been longing from my friends when I have already been receiving tremendous efforts of love by my family. What I have been looking for has already been in front of my eyes all this time. I was just paying my attention to something else, which is why I don't see it.

Darating ang panahon na maski mga kaibigan mo tatalikuran ka, malilimutan ka, o iiwanan ka. Yung dati nandyan sila palagi para sayo, pero darating din ang oras na bigla na lang sila mawawala. Pero ang PAMILYA, kahit kailan, di ka iiwanan niyan. Sa huli, sila rin ang iyong magiging kanlungan. Sa kanila ka pa rin tatakbo pag pati buong mundo tinalikuran ka na. Kaya, dapat lang na habang nandyan pa sila, pahalagahan mo na. Mahalin mo. Ingatan mo. 


Thank you Lord, kasi minulat mo ang mga mata ko sa katotohanang gaano ako kamahal ng pamilya ko. You really are magnificent. You are more than enough for me. :)

"I Want To Be a Somebody!"

A blessed Lord's Day!

 I just got home from church service this morning, and since the pastor's sermon was very inspiring to me, I decided to share some of it in my blog. Though honestly, there were some moments that I did not pay attention, and my mind was drifting off somewhere ( I truly apologize to God for that -__-") still, the message was a good one and worthy to be remembered and applied.

A Step to Significance. 

Each one of us reaches to a point where we want to be recognized in this world, to be a somebody. We want to be noted for our tremendous efforts, and our names engraved in books and in the minds of people forever. We want to be SIGNIFICANT. But, luckily for us, the children of God, we are already destined on this path to GREATNESS. Every child of God is already meant to succeed and to live excellently for the glory and honor of the Lord. It is His will for us to be amazing. We are destined to rise among others, to be LEADERS of our nation, to be the LIGHT of the world. We are more than CONQUERORS. 

Believe it or not, we are already significant in the eyes of God. But, still, there is nothing wrong with leaving a mark in this world of your existence. As a matter of fact, it would be a life worth living if we do absolutely make it into this world. As long as our success is in accordance to His plan in our lives, then we ALL are worthy to be SOMEBODY in this world. Do I make sense?? :)) I sure hope I do. 

Now, to be a somebody comes with two big questions: “WHY” and “HOW”

Why? Simple. Because our God is an awesome God. He is Lord of all. As His children, we should grow in His likeness. If our God is great, then so should His children be. That is what it takes to be Christ-like.

How? There are three simple principles to become significant.

First of all, we need to have an aim or goal. Think of yourself, and what you want to achieve in this world. How can you be significant if you yourself don’t even know what you want? Search yourself. Find a dream and make it a reality.

Second: Have a servant-minded leadership.

To become the greatest, you must first learn how to become the least. In other words, a true leader, acts like a leader, but has the heart of a servant. You must give your life to serve others as much as others follow your steps. Do not be boastful of your highly attained status or position. Let God be your example. Despite being the Son of the Almighty God, still He is willing to step down and become human to live with His people and serve them the best way possible. Humble yourself first, and the Lord will lift you up.

Third: Be faithful

Faithfulness outweighs skills, talents, or even virtues. People may acknowledge your knowledge, or abilities, but they will respect and value those who remain true to their words and are loyal to his subjects.

Having the mindset of a leader, I was truly blessed from what I heard this morning. Indeed, God’s Word is meant for all of us to read and learn from it. And I surely gained a lot from this wonderful church service this morning.  J

"ENOUGH"

There are times like these when you have just thought in your mind and say that you already have had ENOUGH of everything that you have been through. You say, " I can't do this anymore." You had too much. You are no longer happy with what you are doing.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH." 

As I have said before, we can NEVER be strong all the time. Sometimes, we just have to say to ourselves that it's time to give it a rest. Let go of the suffering that you have been going through. Learn to say NO and to STOP. 

PAIN is an inevitable part of life that comes to straighten our ways and to make us stronger. When we experience pain, be happy afterwards for you know that you'll come out stronger and wiser the next time you encounter those kinds of problems. Life, as we know it, was never meant to be easy and so we sometimes say to ourselves that it is already enough. 

But God is a loving God. He would never want His children to suffer too much from all the pain that they have been going through. Which is why, in the midst of our restlessness, He is our source of comfort. He will give you rest. He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

And I have learned my lesson. I've had enough of this unbearable pain that I have been going through for such a long time. I guess it is already time for me to MOVE ON with this pain, and live life with a newly renewed self. It's time to surrender this pain to GOD and start to look on the brighter side of life. :)

God bless. Just took the time to write something since it relaxes me. And, also to release this heavy burden inside of me that I have been keeping for quite a while. 

#signing off

"VULNERABILITIES- fears and weaknesses behind that strong armor"

Open, Exposed, Weak, Fragile - VULNERABLE. Such a common word for most people to say who never want to leave their hearts exposed to others. To show FEAR is to show WEAKNESS. To be weak is to embark on a depressing adventure to failure. A state of vulnerability, even for a second, can allow an enemy in battle to plunge in right through your heart and stab it with all his might. Simple as that. Fear is the cause of downfall. Nobody wants to be seen in his weak state. It is a symbol of pain, loss, of defeat. 

You do not get by in this world if you continue to live with your worries and insecurities. You can only live if you learn to overcome them. You cannot face the world if you do not learn to face your fears. Though a little fear is also good. Why? Because although fear may bring lots of horrible things, it also proves in each and every one of us that we are still human. We have imperfections, which is why we have weaknesses. We develop insecurities amongst other people who are better than us. We control our emotions because we hate to be vulnerable. We have problems which is why we fear. 

Nobody wants to show his vulnerabilities because we do not want to seem weak to other people. But fear is not always evil. Having fears will only reveal your weaknesses. In that way, you will soon learn to overcome them and face them someday. There is nothing weak at showing one's true emotions; as a matter of fact, to be able to confess those true feelings is a sign of strength. There is nothing wrong at being honest with yourself about what you feel. It's okay to be vulnerable about yourself sometimes.

 We can never, ever remain strong all the time. At some point, we also have to remove our armor within us and just be free. 

What I'm trying to say is, it's okay to be afraid sometimes. It's okay to have vulnerabilities. The reason why is because they are like blessings in disguise by the Lord. Were it not for these kinds of flaws, we would never depend ourselves on God. We would never learn to be strong. We would never learn our true identities. We would never find ourselves. Recognize your vulnerabilities but do not embrace it. Turn over those weaknesses to God, and they would be God's strength. That is the best way to handle them. :)

 

"A Step Back To the Past"

How would you like to go back a few centuries to the past? Not just a few days, or months, but rather, a glance of hundreds of years back to your own roots? Wouldn't it be a bit interesting to you if you were given like a chance to see your history? :)

I would take that opportunity if that chance WOULD really be possible; and in my case, it really DID. But, how? 

Okay, so I certainly am not talking nonsense here. My mind is not going off to somewhere else, but I am just going to share to you what happened to me last March 27-28, 2013. 

It was the start of Holy Week in my country. It's a very religious custom for roman catholics here in the Philippines,and so it was always declared a holiday by the president. It's usually a 3-day holiday for all citizens, I think. Oh well, we usually go out of town during this short vacation, and this year, our family decided to go into a resort in Bataan. It's called "Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar". Located somewhere in Bagac, it's a 3-hour drive from Lagro, minus the traffic. What made my family choose this resort for our vacation is that this place is quite different from all the resorts that we have been through. It has a touch of Philippine History to it. The rooms were purely antique from the outside, you would feel like you have just travelled back into time. But it's not only that. The sites are the things that would really take you into a historical adventure. If you would just join the guide there dressed like in a native Filipiniana costume, she will tour you to the different structures and houses that go way back into Spanish Era. She'll tell you different stories of some of our heroes, along with the facts that she is going to share. Allow me to share you some of the cool sites that we saw there: 

Historical Houses again

Just some of the rooms- they're called "casas"by the way

Antique Radio 

Old Philippine Cannon (just a small model)

Historical wall bridge

Mga "Iskolar ng Bayan"- The original first seal of University of the Philippines

Houses were still made of wood and stone back then. There were also no appliances before! Haha. There are just a lot to see there, but I don't want to fill my blog with all of those stories. It would just be too long. :P

To complete this historical adventure, we decided to "pretend" to be a part of it- by wearing old native Fiilipino costumes. HAHA! see this:

My costume. (still appears a little too modern, though)

Sepia Type 

My Family

This wonderful journey has been amazing. Spending time with my family and relatives is what made this moment memorable. I am so blessed that I get to experience this with the ones I love, and we all get to share this kind of happiness even for just a short while.  ^____^

First Day of Summer Vacation :)

Whew! It was blazing hot today, despite the fact that I just stayed at home the whole day. Well, I guess INTENSE heat from the sun is a sign that summer here in the Philippines is fast approaching. Ugh. This place will once again turn into a giant oven, trapping all heat inside and just baking us all. HAHA. Kidding. But, more heat just means that we would have the more urge to plunge in deep waters, and going out of town for family bonding time, excursion trips and of course, swimming in beaches and classy resorts. :D

I want to feel and experience SUMMER already! Not just the heat, but I want some adventure. I hate staying at home and just being lazy all the time. I want these months to be fecund and productive. If possible, I really want to find a summer job. But, here in the Philippines, I guess that is a hard thing to find. I am still under aged, and there are a LOT of requirements to fulfill if you want to get accepted. But, in case any of my friends are able to find some, I am planning to join them. I think that would be an amazing experience.

I am also planning to enhance my skills in playing the piano. I only know the basics, and so, I want to improve myself in that particular instrument. I love music. I love creating melodies through the piano. I want to use my talent to give praise and worship God. Which is why, this summer, I am also planning on taking new and advanced lessons so that I could get better at playing my favorite instrument.

As much as I want to have a fun, and exciting vacation, I also want to make use of this time to relax and take a break from all the hustle and bustle that I have been through for the past 10 months. I want-no, I am WILLING to once again get back on a proper relationship with God. I have decided to finally grow and mature fully as a Christian. No more immaturity, no more selfishness. It is time to have a proper fellowship and commitment to my church ministry. At least- before I leave sooner- I am fully ready and armored with God's Word, and standing firm and faithful to His ministry. You have no idea how amazing it is to be a Christian. And, I am blessed that I am one. I just hope that I won't let go of this kind of commitment ever again.

Oh, well. I just noticed that I am getting views on my page which is why I decided to make another entry. HAHA! Even if it is a veeeery small number, I kinda appreciate it. Well, if YOU are viewing this now, THANK YOU! I hope you don't consider my life boring. XD But, I do would appreciate it if someone would leave a comment and let me know what he thinks of my writing. Well, see you soon for another entry! Goodbye and God Bless! :)