How to Stay Young!

While leafing through tons of old paper yesterday, was trying to locate something of importance, i got hold of an old letter from a dear friend and am sharing it here for the simple reason that for people like my age may find significant...

10 Tips on How To Stay Young!

1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, wealth and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you are paying him/her.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening and whatever. Never let the brain idle. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop, and the devil’s name is ALZHEIMER’S.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourselves. Be alive while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants and hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: if it is good, preserve it; if it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next province, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away! STAY YOUNG!

Only Hope for the Philippines

i got this email from a pastor friend of mine and speaks of probably the only way that can bring our beloved country out of its present state. it was written by the Jesuit priest, Fr. James Reuter, SJ. i am sharing this to all of you and please feel free to copy this and pass it around to our fellow Pinoys out here in the blogosphere:

THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE PHILIPPINES

by Father James Reuter, S.J.

By her own admission, GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) rightfully assessed that over the last decades our republic has become one of the weakest, steadily left behind by its more progressive neighbors. Forty years ago, we were only second to Japan in economic stature, and way ahead of Singapore , Hong Kong , Malaysia, and Thailand . Today, at our present growth rate, it will take us 30 years toget to where Thailand is. Our national debt was US$28B when Marcos fled and is US$53B today. We will be competing, not against Thailand or even Vietnam , but against Bangladesh; and we will be the most corrupt nation in Asia , if not in the world (we're already ranked 11th most corrupt nation by Transparency International). The signs are clear. Our nation is headed towards an irreversible path of economic decline and moral decadence. It is not for lack of effort. We've seen many men and women of integrity in and out of government, NGOs, churchgroups & people's organization devote themselves to the task of nation-building, often times against insurmountable odds. But not even two people's revolutions, bloodless as they may be, have made a dent in reversing this trend. At best, we have moved one step forward, but three steps backward. We need a force far greater than our collective efforts, as a people, can ever hope to muster. It is time to move the battle to the spiritual realm. It's time to claim GOD's promise of healing of the land for His people. It's time to gather GOD's people on its knees to pray for the economic recovery and moral reformation of our nation. Is prayer really the answer? Before you dismiss this as just another rambling of a religious fanatic, I'd like you to consider some lessons we can glean from history. England 's ascendancy to world power was preceded by the Reformation, a spiritual revival fueled by intense prayers. The early American settlers built the foundation that would make it the most powerful nation today- a strong faith in GOD and a disciplined prayer life. Throughout its history, and especially at its major turning points, waves of revival and prayer movement swept across the land. In recent times, we see Korea as a nation experiencing revival and in the process producing the largest Christian church in the world today, led by Rev. Paul Yongi Cho. No wonder it has emerged as a strong nation when other economies around it are faltering. Even from a purely secular viewpoint, it makes a lot of sense. For here there is genuine humbling & seeking of GOD through prayer, moral reformation necessarily follows. And this, in turn,will lead to general prosperity. YES, we believe prayer can make a difference. It's our only hope. Today, we launch this email brigade, to inform Filipinos from all over the world to pray, as a people, for the economic recovery and moral reformation ofour nation. We do not ask for much. We only ask for 5 minutes of your time in a day, to fwd this message to your close friends and relatives. This is the kind of unity which can make a big difference. Of course, if you feel strongly, as I do,about the power of prayer, you can be more involved by starting your own prayer group or prayer center. We have tried people power twice; in both cases, it fell short. Maybe it's time to try prayer power. GOD never fails. Is there hope? YES! We can rely on God's promise, but we have to do our part. If we humble ourselves and pray as a people, GOD will heal our land. By GOD's grace, we may yet see a better future for our children. "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Award!

hey y'all! Somebody's given me an award. Wow! Much love and thanks to Bogie of BOGIE's WONDERLAND for this award. truly appreciate this.

Links:

Amiable Amy, Cookie's Corner, Bogie's Wonderland, Excess Baggage, (your blog/url here)

I would love to give this award away to my blogger friends according to the following rules:

1. The winner may put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees

My nominated blogs are :
1. Juliana - Pinay WAHM
2. Eugene - BOLD TALK
3. Iceah - Chicken Heart
4. Ms. Elle - The Noble and the Nonsense
5. Ilocana - Pinay Thoughts n Words

My message to these people:

The Blogworld has given us a lot of things to be thankful for and is so full of practically everything; an outlet for our creativity, in writing, in photography, in research, the best for me is to have the found the friendship of these 5 people... and i have found you people as real as possible and not just virtual friends. May the blogosphere be saturated by people like you!

And to Bogie, thanks for introducing me to blogging. May our good Lord bless you and keep you. Gbu!

Flu AGAIN!

I'm sick again! down with the flu... feels like it was only yesterday that i posted something about me getting sick and lo! its here again! i'm definitely going to see my doctor about this. this is so irregular! having flu twice in a span of about a month! maybe my systems breaking down, for what reason, i don't know yet and i'm definitely going to find out. gotta go for now, my two young doctor's told me to stay away from our pc for the time being. well... i hear sound advice coming from two doctor's to be. lol! will be back shortly and steal time at the pc when they go to school. hahaha!

10 Internet Safety Tips for Families by: Ian MacKenzie

While blog hopping today, I came across this post written by Ian MacKenzie of Edmonton, Canada and so relevant nowadays and pertains to the activities our children do while on the “net”.

Here are 10 safety precautions to get our kids out of harms way:

1. Encourage your kids to share their Internet experiences with you.

2. Teach your kids to trust their instincts. If they feel nervous about anything they see or hear online, they should tell you about it.

3. If your kids visit chat rooms, use Instant Messaging (IM) programs, online video games or other activities on the Internet that require logging in by name to identify themselves, help them choose a login name and make sure it doesn’t reveal any personal information about them.

4. Insist that your kids never give out your family’s address, phone number or any personal information, including where they go to school.

5. Teach your kids that the difference between right and wrong is the same on the Internet as it is in real life.

6. Teach your kids how to respect others online. Make it clear that rules for good behavior don’t change just because they’re on a computer.

7. Insist that your kids respect the property of others online. Explain that making illegal copies of other people’s work — music, video games or other programs — is a form of theft, plain and simple.

8. Tell your kids to never meet online “friends” in person. Those “friends” may not be who they say they claim to be.

9. Teach your kids that not everything they read or see online is true.

10. Encourage them to ask you if they’re not sure about something they see or hear. Control your children’s online activity using advanced Internet software. Parental controls can help you filter out harmful content, monitor the sites your child visits and find out what they do there.

Bedspace

I was awakened in the middle of the night (at 2:00 am) the other day by my two boys. Turned out the eldest chopped, as in, karate chopped the second one's leg just because of bed space. You see, my second one sleeps like a worm and feels like a whole room is his entire bed while the eldest sleeps like a log. It happened that the second one encroached on the eldest one's side of the bed and was irritated no end by the second one's foot hanging everywhere. (i had them share a bed just so the second one will learn how to sleep "quietly"). In retaliation, the second one pushed the eldest and shouted and in the process almost awakened the entire house with his indiscriminate shouting. I scolded the eldest one by the manner by which he woke up his younger brother and sent him to another room in the house to sleep. The following morning before going to school, I told him that we'll be having a talk after lunch. During our conversation, I taught him a thing about respect. It has been a rule in our house not to do unto others, what you don't like others to do unto you (did i get that right?). so i told him to never wake up a person, moreso his brother, that way again. That he should respect anyone who is sleeping even if that person snores, kicks, sleepwalks, talks, etc. I likewise told him that if it were the other way around, I bet he would have done something more drastic. In situations like this, I always make it a point to have them view things the other way around so they can get a feel of hows it like to be on the other end of a situation. He understood what I was saying and later on apologized to his younger brother.

Children do have different personalities and attitudes, we parents sometimes are at a loss on how to handle them. I just wish things are a lot easier to explain to our kids about certain things but sometimes i find it too hard and complicated to simplify things to them especially for questions that even an adult would find hard to answer. Parenting nowadays is really a struggle... a struggle to find the answers to our kids never ending questions, struggle to correct their bad behavior and struggle to keep our nerves at the end of a very tiring day. Yet, on the other hand, these little angels would sometimes, if not most of the time, light up our dark days, would welcome you home at the end of a horrible day and would still love you even if you are the meanest, grouchiest parent in the world. Haaaaaaaaay naku! I think i will have to put them on seperate beds from now on. HAPPY PARENTING TO ALL.

Friends

a good friend sent this and i would like to share this with all of you.

As we walk our path of life,
We meet people everyday.
Most are simply met by chance.
But, some are sent our way.

These become special friends
Whose bond we can't explain;
The ones who understand us
And share our joy and pain.

Their love contains no boundaries.
So, even when apart.
Their presence enhances us
With a warmth felt in the heart.

This love becomes a passageway,
When even the miles disappear.
And so, these friends, God sends our way,
Remain forever near! .

'We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.'
-Tim McGraw