The gift of friends

This week has taught me so much about showing up and honouring life and this time, the lesson came through the life of my friends.

I have an 80-year old friend named Ichi. I met him way back in 2003, he is a businessman who believe that

the world can be changed one person at a time. He is one of the foreigners who believe that Maguindanao, a land known for being war-torn will be a place of prosperity that will provide economic freedom for the Muslim people.

His personal impact in my life though is very subtle but deep. On occasions, we would meet up for lunch or coffee and he would tell stories and he would share his wisdom about life. He prides himself for belonging to the Samurai clan. There were those times when I never really believed that I am great. He would tell me that I am and that I’ll be able to do great things and at the back of my mind, I would say, ‘Yeah, right.’

As years passed, I understood what he has been trying to tell me. Yes, I am great.

But last week, I got a call from his daughter who told me that his health is not in good condition and that I might want to see him. When I went to the hospital, I saw how he struggles. I could not help but cry. That night, I wept. I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for having a friend like him – and then it struck me: What have I been doing with my life? I have not been honouring those people like Sir Ichi who believe in my greatness. I have been allowing my excuses to get the best of me.

That night was totally life changing for me because I was able to realize that my life should be in lived honour of my greatness and of the people who have been there all along – believing that I am enough, that I am hope, that I am of great potential.

Thank you God, Goddess, Universe for the gift of friends.

Yesterday, I learned that my long-time friend Alex, only 31, died of Acute Meningitis. Our group of friends were the few, real ones that I got. We’ve been together for 13 years and although we do not meet frequently, we always fire up when we do. He’s the irreverent kind that when you try to act serious, he’s always the one who would whisper something in your ear to ruin your concentration.

We have been putting off our get-together for so long, believing that we have until this whole lifetime and that each day is the same. Apparently, each of us has a different length of lifetime, depending on Who-knows-what. ;)

Suddenly, Alex left and all of us feel really bad because we didn’t even know that he was going through something. We have not shown up. I realize that life is so fleeting and showing up is really important because we don’t know how or when our time will end. The lesson about being there came costly for me; it came with a life of a friend.  

Still, I thank you God, Goddess, Universe for the gift of friends. Rest in Peace, Alex.

Lessons on jumping in

Once upon a time, there was a young man who left the comforts of his own home in search of a magus who was said to hold the secrets of success.  The young man reached a heavily forested area in pursuit of that knowledge. There, he met the magus. The young man did not hesitate to tell the magus what he was searching for and the magus made him go through steep treks that made him doubt if it his decision to pursue the magus was right. Finally, they reached the peak of the hill and there, a lake rests peacefully. The magus told the young man, "The success you're looking for is in that lake."  The young man hastened toward the lake. He saw that the lake was so clear that it mirrors his tired but hopeful face. Suddenly, the magus pushed the young man's face deep into the water. The young man struggled for breath as he was close to drowning.  The magus, pulled up the young man's face as he choked for breath and asks in a powerful voice, "Do you want success?"  "YES!" The magus pushed the young man's face into the lake two times more. Each push grows more forceful than the previous attack. As the young man felt like giving up, the magus let go of the young man's head and the young man struggled to breathe. "If you want success as much as you want to breathe, you will succeed," the magus told the young man.                                                                            *** Last weekend, I made a quick decision to travel to Manila and volunteer myself to support Ike Pono and the facilitator Bruce Conching. I flew in with help from friends and with very little money. What I noticed when I decided was that everything fell into place. Things just flowed and I experienced things I never thought I'd do on that trip. The trip was so great, it was almost magical. I stayed with a young, powerful woman named Glaze. She was a classmate of my friend Carol in Ike Pono Manila. Glaze is highly successful in her late 20's although she came from humble beginnings; her network marketing business is driven to help others succeed too. Her posh condo unit costs PhP8 million and she plans to retire before she reaches 35. We talked for one night about what she did to become financially free. She shared that the most important question that needs to be addressed when reaching a goal is to the 'why' and not the 'how'. The how, she says, will follow once you have decided on the why. I figured that the 'why' serve as the motivation to achieve goals and dreams. Glaze told me the anecdote about the young man and the magus I shared above! During my stay there, I also got together with a young entrepreneur and engineer named Alan. He is full of zeal with a very big heart. His venture in Manila started in 2007. He left his small town in Bantayan Island with only PhP200 in his pocket. When he reached Manila, he would call up companies that place advertisements in classified ads, looking for carpenters or laborers. He would volunteer himself to do some engineering jobs for free under the condition that if they like his work, they'll get him in the next projects. In time, Alan's networks grew and now, he went from being broke to financial free. He was able to send his five siblings to school and now, four of them hold a degree, one is still in school. His success made him send scholars to school. One common denominator with Glaze and Alan is the desire and the decision. Their 'whys' pushed them to jump into their greatness. And their success rippled and touched so many other lives. I left Manila with so much gratitude for everything that has taken place. I felt so blessed. It's like the Universe is telling me that it's time to jump into my greatness and that the things I want so much in life are running out to meet me. Meeting them and knowing their stories caused me to become more aware of the decisions that I made. I made a vow to myself that I am growing, no matter how painstaking it might take and how much change it requires. How about you? What experiences you had the past few weeks that made you change your outlook in life? Photo courtesy of wewanderandwonder.com

Getting out of my own way

In the Mermaids and Dolphins Cards by Doreen Virtue,  one card says Accept Heaven's Help. They say that every time we call to Heavens, our prayers are always being answered. However, in many cases they come in various unexpected forms and very different from the way we perceive those answers.

Lately, I have been going through difficult challenges and it seems that everyone else is. In many nights, my friends and I would wind up talking about the difficulties and reminding each other that things are going to be all right. One thing that I notice during those discussions is the feeling that help is there but always being resisted. For countless chats, I have witnessed how people dismiss help for pre-judgments. It's sad but as my Teacher said, "No one can walk the path for you."

This means that however good the pieces of advice are given by the people around, everything boils down to me. And my friends cannot give that I-told-you-so look even though they are almost licensed to do so when the moment comes. Because it is my choice.

There are times when I wish I could just get out of my own way to accept Heaven's help. I have been refusing opportunities because of my perceived injuries, making an infinite list of excuses. But most of the time, I'm not even aware that I'm in my own way.

Being in my own way means allowing excuses, blames, guilt, and, most importantly, my ego to block my progress. Sure, I always say I'm ok because I always feel the need to be right. How about not bothering to be right all the time? How about accepting that I've had misgivings and I'm willing to face it. Maybe that will be the time I'd be able to get out of my own way too.

Destiny

Believing in your dreams is probably the best antidote to depression. These days, we are so addicted to drama as we are reinforced with soaps that make us use our imagination to visualize about negative things. And it is in these encounters that we are hindered from our true destiny. I have always believed in destiny. No, not the thing that a lot if us believe it to be so. In many cases, people believe that there is no way to direct our future and so we resign to the the idea that we are only being tossed around by fate. The truth is this: each of us is destined for greatness. The question is how ready are we to live up to it? I have personally observed the difference between people who believe in their dreams and the people who don't. The ones who do maintain a cheerful disposition in life. Those who don't spend too much time on TV believing that their lives are rightly portrayed in the boob tube - and end up feeling more depressed than they're supposed to be. This relates to the last time I uploaded something in this blog. A well-meaning person told me that I ought to be writing something more interesting and that I should cut these heart blogs - and I heeded. This explains my hiatus. It was only last week when a friend who just came home asked me what happened to my blog. She told me that my works helped her through difficult times and that i should continue doing it because who knows who else I have helped. I learned that you cannot keep on believing to what others tell you what to do or what not to. Our dreams, ideas, and inspiration are not being planted inside our minds for no reason. There must be something to it and the bravest thing we can do is listen to and act upon it. So, let's go get busy with our dreams and turn off that TV.

Ready to meet your Angels?

 When I was seven years old, my Mama brought me along to her friend’s place. They were busy talking when I went out of the house and wandered along the unfamiliar slum community. After about 15 minutes of wandering, I found that I have lost my way. I tried really hard to find my path but all to no avail. I ended up crying.

Out of nowhere, someone came to me and asked my name. When I told her my name, she held my hand and brought me to the place of my Mama’s friend. She sent me inside the house and I got so preoccupied about seeing my mother. When my mother turned to thank her, she’s nowhere to be found.

Since then, my belief about angels and guardian angels have always been strong. That incident may be purely human but I know that working behind the incident were angels sent by the Divine.

***

A first Meet your Angels Workshop in Davao is happening on April 5 to 6 at the Lispher Inn Hotel with Dorothy Llariza-Tome, an Angel Card Reader certified by Doreen Virtue and Radleigh Valentine. The workshop is a step-up activity of I (Heart) Events by Princess Evelyn Buendia and Imagine Life a Workmanship of the Divine (I.L.A.W.O.D.) lead by Atho dela Cruz.

“The concept of angels has been present all over the world since ancient civilization,” say Buendia. “To some, the encounter with angels are associated with religious affiliations or spiritual encounters. While for those who are sceptics, angels reveal themselves through psychological or scientific appearances.”

According to Buendia, the labelling of angels is not really a problem. She says that many individuals have experienced something that cannot be explained by logical reasoning. “And it is with this occurrences or help that we find reference to a higher power. For many of us, we call them angels.”

“The word ‘angel’ means messenger which comes from the ancient Greek word ‘angelos,” says Atho dela Cruz. “In many references to the bible, we noticed how the angels reveal so many insights to the Biblical characters; when Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she is conceiving a baby who will be the son of God. Another instance was when the angels told Noah to build an ark, and even to Joseph the Dreamer.”

Dela Cruz furthered that even in this modern times, connecting with angels will prove to be very helpful to strive for balance in life. He said that while these days, people seem to be so preoccupied with the material aspect, the help of the angels will bring clarity as to what is truly important and what are the things that should be let go in the journey of life.

“A lot of us wonder how do we really connect with our angels,” says Dela Cruz, “Actually, we know how to connect with them. Only, our minds have been much clouded with skepticism and material concerns that we refuse to acknowledge that inner knowing deep within.” The workshop, he says, will help the students remember that capacity to reconnect with angel guides. “And they can even meet their guardian angels – as we personally have our angels who are assigned to us the moment we came to this world.”

The Meet Your Angels workshop is open to limited slots. In the upcoming days, the workshop is geared to tour across the archipelago. For questions and clarifications, you can call or text Princess Evelyn Buendia at +63925 508 0555.

Keep charging on!

All right, let's admit it. There are just days when we do our best to be on our toes but life just sometimes gets the better of our thoughts.

In my case, the past few days had me wanting to sleep and just lie in bed... go to sleep... wake up, lie in bed, and go back to sleep. I did not want to pursue all the things that I had lined up for me. In one of those moments, I would ask myself what happened. I didn't know until a couple of days when I found out that I was actually experiencing pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS).

Reading over some posts of my friends (who were usually up and about and encouraging) in Facebook, it seemed to me that the energy has taken a slight turn and I have noticed that almost everyone is in the level of introspection.

As I watched the angelic messages of Doreen Virtue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38G5GULijHY), I understood why our energies had slowed down: there is an intense Mercury retrogade. You might want to check too.

As for now, the advise is to keep charging ahead and keep the faith. Trust that as we communicate our feelings honestly and view things with compassion, everything will fall into place.

Photo credit: Angel Card by Doreen Virtue

BE-DO-HAVE

When I took a self-development seminar called Ike Pono in August 2013, one most notable concept that was discussed was the BE-DO-HAVE paradigm. The concept is this: first, you define who you really are, then you do the things you ought to do, then you have what you ought to have. As opposed to the DO-HAVE-BE paradigm, you do the things you ought to do, if, for some reasons, you do not have what you ought to have, you question now who you are.

Ex. I aim to be a good mother. With BE-DO-HAVE paradigm, I know that I already am. But sometimes, the things I do are not aligned with Who I Am, so I just change the methods, and then I see results - I see a child who is nourished from physical to the soul level.

In the DO-HAVE-BE paradigm, if I do the requirements to become a good mother, then I see results, and I would feel secure with Who I Am. But if I fail to do the things that a good mother does, then I won't see results, and I would end up questioning Who I really Am.

While this helped me a lot in my journey, it seems that I am being tested with my understanding of this principle these days. In a seminar team where I am involved, everyone was discussing about how to produce the desired results. Our team wanted many participants for the upcoming seminar that it reached to a point where everyone believes that the members of the team had to be pounced with responsibility and have-to-do(s) in order to have.

Until I discussed it with a good friend last night. She told me that if a team pounds on each other with what to do in order to have, then it is not anymore a BE-DO-HAVE. BE-DO-HAVE comes from a place of "I want to" not "I have to." Everything in BE-DO-HAVE is accomplished because of Who We Are - and because I am inspired and I want to do the things required - then I see results. The BE-DO-HAVE paradigm embodies the Spiritual Law of Least Effort.

Now, I understand why I have a lot of questions about the things that are happening. Because I forgot about BE-DO-HAVE - and so does my team, in my opinion.

This is indeed a life-long learning. I am just grateful for the lessons.

Photos courtesy of:
Top photo - selfhypnosisresource.blogspot.com
In-between photo - omegans.com