... the hardest to learn was the least complicated.
Talent helps, but it won’t take you as far as ambition.
Everybody wants to be good, but not many are as prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great.
Most people are looking for a solution, a way to become good. There is no instant solution, the only way to learn is through experience and mistakes.
--- Paul Arden
Im down to my last few quotes from "whatever you think, think the opposite".
NO ONE BUT NO.1
It is fashionable for so-called thinking people to try to lose their ego.
Well, they should think a bit harder. Presumably we were given egos for a reason.
Great people have great egos; maybe that’s what makes them great.
So let us put it to good use rather than try to deny it.
--- Paul Arden
people with severe control issues, or OCD are going to have a hard time with this one. haha. though my control issues aren't severe, i still find immense comfort knowing that i know what im getting myself into and im prepared for it --- plan B, C and D ready. generally speaking of course.
DO IT THEN FIX IT AS YOU GO
Too many people spend too much time trying to perfect something before they actually do it.
Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you’ve got, and fix it as you go.
--- Paul Arden
THE CASE FOR BEING RECKLESS
When we were young we jump into the pool whether we can swim or not.
We have no fear. Either we swim or we drown.
Before we turn thirty, important things happen to us which shape the rest of our lives.
The first is:
We become aware of ourselves and our own thinking. We reach the age of reason.
The second is:
In a new-found maturity we begin to think in a more adult way.
We become grown up.
Recklessness and risk are not compatible with age.
Risk becomes something which must be carefully considered.
--- Paul Arden
food for thought for the day... seems appropriate since mel said something about wrong decisions and regret...
DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS.
When you look back there will be things you will regret.
You made the wrong decision.
Wrong.
You made the right decision.
Life is about right decisions. Whatever decision you make is the only one you could make. Otherwise you would make a different one.
Everything we do, we choose. So what is there to regret?
You are the person you choose to be.
--- Paul Arden (whatever you think think the opposite)
I WISH
I wish means: wouldn’t it be nice if…
If you always make the right decision, the safe decision, the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else.
Always wishing life was different.
I WANT
I want means: if I want it enough I will get it.
Getting what you want means making the decisions you need to make to get what you want. Not the decisions those around you think you should make.
Making the safe decision is dull, predictable and leads to nowhere new.
The unsafe decision causes you to think and respond in a way you hadn’t thought of. And that thought would lead to other thoughts which would help you achieve what you want.
Start taking bad decisions and it will take you to a place where only others dream of being.
--- Paul Arden
when i bought his books at page one in HK, i didnt realize what gems they were. so i was really pleased at how they tickle my brain when i read through them... my next few entries will probably be quotes from his books.
TRAPPED
It’s not because you’re making the wrong decisions, it’s because you are making the right ones.
We try to make sensible decisions based on the facts in front of us.
The problem with making sensible decisions is that so is everyone else.
---- Paul Arden (Whatever you Think, Think the Opposite)
i have a long list of things to do before i leave. as much as possible, i really dont want to leave much work behind coz ill tend to think about it when im on vacay. :p BUT! ive been meaning to write a few things for some time now and i dont want to forget. haha.
1. binondo food tour - lily, cha and i went on the binondo food tour weeks and weeks ago (yes, ive been puuting this off for THAT long.. lumang balita na talaga.) it was fun... and masarap to say the least. ivan was a great guide. he really knew a lot about the place and all the interesting tidbits about it. he asked us though not to blog about the actual food places we went to, but im going to say this much.. come with a really empty stomach. the food was worth the hunger and by the last food stop, di na namin kaya kumain. hahahaha. maybe next time ill go back with my mom... at least i have an idea where i can take her. yum!
2. cubao - long weekend for bataan day, but lily and i literally didnt make any attempt to make plans to go out of town. el cheapos kami to raise our pocket money for the trip. hahaha. but i had a short list of things i needed for HK anyway. number one of which is walking shoes, aka comfy flats. so anyway, lily and i went to cubao and anonas for some really cheap shopping. :p
cant wait... 4 days left.
over the weekend i realized our HK trip is just around the corner. 14 days from today to be exact. its going to be the longest out of the country trip so far and im stoked!
what can i say? iba kami ni lily mangarir ng trip. i got a bit carried away with bohol.. what with my excel file of facts prior to the trip and my detailed account of the trip when we got back --- complete with time approximations of the countryside tour. hahaha. this time, lily seems to be on the OC side. i was surprised i got a text message from her on our itinerary. haha. well, assignment of what areas to go to on what day pa lang naman. but then she mentioned something about writing down the routes per day already. hehehe. susulitin talaga namin yung 6 days... hahahaha. YAY.
i think ill be work braindead ont he 14th and 15th... assuming that my business trip doesnt fall through. if it does... haha. goodluck na lang to me.
Marty Barasco: Love is not a feeling, Mr. Burns. It's an ability.
Dan Burns: Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.
Dan Burns: There's rightness in our wrongness.
Dan Burns: What don't I understand, Cara? Please, help me out. What is it? Is it frustrating that you can't be with this person? That there's something keeping you apart? That there's something about this person that you can connect with? And whenever you're near this person, you don't know what to say, and you say everything that's in your mind and in your heart, and you know that if you could just be together, that this person would help you become the best possible version of yourself?
i dont know what i was thinking when i expected this to be a comedy. hahahaha. si i ended up tearing up a couple of times. hahaha. sigh...
i remember having this insanely malas day last year when i attempted to watch a movie alone for the first time and i found out when i was at the mall already that i left my wallet at the office. alone at the mall, no wallet, no atm, and no credit card. it was raining pa. malas.
well, ive had the same string of misfortune this past week.
1. ash wednesday - long story short, i fell down the stairs of the building and sprained my right ankle. im still cane-ridden. pero minsan pasaway i dont use it and opt to limp around na lang... bad girl.
2. yesterday's incident 1 - pilay na nga right foot ko, my left sandal broke pa here at the office. how the heck was i supposed to move around??? buti na lang sheila had slippers here sa office.
3. yesterday's incident 2 - i was fuming mad at this person and was having a less than fabulous afternoon (post sandal malfunction) and it was my first time to commute going home since i sprained my ankle. so as i was walking to valero to catch the shuttle there (in sheila's slippers), i sms-ed the dispatcher to let him know im on my way and if he could wait for me. his reply literally brought me to tears: "walang sasakyan dito". fart. as in bad trip talaga. i thought id have to stand in line sa SM for a long time since thats the only place else na may shuttle pauwi. hay. buti na lang mahaba lang daw pila and i caught the last van on my way home.
AY GRABE TALAGA. pag kinan*toot* ka nga naman ng malas! if things come in three's.. i hope my list ends there. tama na please. quota na ako.
is someone trying to tell me to slow down? hmmmm....
Girls, we should really learn a thing or two (or more) from this... OUCH!
* If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.
* Stop making excuses for a man and his behaviour.
* Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache.
* Stop trying to change yourself for a relationship that's not meant to be.
* Slower is better.
* Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy.
* If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can't "be friends".
* A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend.
* Don't settle. If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is.
* Don't stay because you think "it will get better." You'll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better.
* The only person you can control in a relationship is you.
* Avoid men who've got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women. He didn't marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently?
* Always have your own set of friends separate from his.
* Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you.
* If something bothers you, speak up.
* Never let a man know everything. He will use it against you later.
* You cannot change a man's behaviour. Change comes from within.
* Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are... even if he has more education or in a better job.
* Do not make him into a quasi-god. He is a man, nothing more nothing less.
* Never let a man define who you are.
* Never borrow someone else's man. If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you.
* A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you.
* All men are NOT dogs.
* You should not be the one doing all the bending... compromise is two way street.
* You need time to heal between relationships...
* There is nothing cute about baggage... deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship.
* You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you... a relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals... look for someone complimentary... not supplementary.
* Dating is fun... even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right.
* Make him miss you sometimes... when a man always know where you are, and you're always readily available to him – he takes it for granted.
* Never move into his mother's house.
* Never co-sign for a man.
* Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need.
* Keep him in your radar but get to know others.
just when i managed to get out of bed earlier than my usual "late", the world conspires against me. i think i can get past the part where i stood in line for the shuttle for almost 30mins, but what really pissed me off was that wise-assed cab driver.
i usually get off amorsolo when im running late so i can take a cab straight to the office instead of going around makati in the shuttle. and thats exactly what i did this morning. i told the cab where i was going and said he can pass either buendia or cross ayala through makati med --- both routes i regularly take. manong said ihe just came from buendia and traffic was bad there, so i assumed we'd take the makati med route. BUT NO! he took me to ayala, then to makati ave pa! we had to pass through so many stoplights! i was so pissed (because i was late already and he chose a longer way) that i told him im not going to pay him more than what i usually pay for when i catch a cab from amorsolo. BWISET TALAGA.
i was surprised to realize im starting to get my wish... work is steadily pouring in... it feels great to be more useful again. haha. parang na-miss ko ang work-stress. pahinga naman sa life-stress. hahahaha. so far, i welcome this. let's see how long it will stay that way. :p
----
here come the random babbles...
mukha daw akong "good girl"... good girl nga ba ako? i guess it depends on your definition of a "good girl".
i feel like i have so much hair on my head... its been feeling "heavy" the past few days. maybe ill get a short haircut next. :p
"To see a basketball in your dream, suggests that you need to make the first move. You also need to concentrate and be more focused on your goals."
ive been having trouble sleeping and i know why. coz the thing that i prevent myself from thinking of during the day by distracting myself with work, comes crawling back into my head to haunt me all night. hay. ive tried those calming teas... still awake. sleeping aids... takes a while to fall asleep still. tring to relax my mind... EFFORT talaga.
well, tonight is another night. i hope i fall asleep early. i cant be coming to work late anymore.
early morning january 1 while i was familiarizing myself with the new channel assignments on sky cable, i happily discovered we had discovery travel and living!!!
too bad its on preview only until january 8. hay. it sucks pa that our house isnt covered by the digital service of sky... so even if im willing to pay for the upgrade, we cant get it.
ironic that the first song i hear on my ipod for 2008 was this one from rent... made me think how i would measure my year... how was my 2007?
in retrospect....
- a lot of travelling... batangas, bangkok, baguio, bohol, vigan-baguio, etc. mabuhay ang mga tao with "itchy feet". hahahaha.
- definitely exciting as far as my personal life is concerned. haha. quarterly cycles are a definite improvement. ang bilis ko na maka-get over ha... in fairness!
- a LOT of sleepless nights... mga pahamak kasi e. hahaha.
- work-wise it was okay. it was a really fast year for us at the office... which is good!
- ive been substantially happier this year for several great reasons. all of which i remain thankful for.
- got seriously sick a couple of times.. around feb i got a respiratory track infection, fainted inexplicably around march, and a few dizzy and vomiting spells in june and october. hahaha.
- i shouldnt forget my client-arranged blind date. hahaha. in hind sight, that was a fun few dates. i took another one for the team!
- got in touch with a lot of old and fond friends throughout the year. fun, fun, fun.
- i got to know myself a lot more this year. a lot of time spent by myself, and thinking. :) especially during my major life decision moments.
- OH! i must not forget my glorietta 2 experience. how can i forget that day?
dont get me wrong, i ran into bumps and crater-sized potholes throughout the year.. really tough times, but even as i think about them now and recall how hard those times were, i can still smile and say i had a good 2007. not quite great, but still really good.
a lot of talk of vicious cycles, of addictions, of the endless pursuit of happiness, of pain and getting hurt, or hoping endlessly, etc... and it seems appropriate that im particularly fond of this the past few weeks (as in national anthem)
MORE TO LIFE (Stacie Orrico)
I've got it all, but I feel so deprived
I go up, I come down and I'm emptier inside
Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing
And why can't I let it go
CHORUS:
There's gotta be more to life...
Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me
Cause the more that I'm...
Trippin' out thinkin' there must be more to life
Well it's life, but I'm sure... There's gotta be more
(Than wanting more)
I've got the time and I'm wasting it slowly
Here in this moment I'm half-way out the door
Onto the next thing, I'm searching for something that's missing
CHORUS
I'm wanting more
I'm always waiting on something other than this
Why am I feelin' like there's something I missed....
Always... Always...
CHORUS - repeat twice
More to life
There's gotta be more to life (more to life)
There's gotta be more to life (more)
More to my life
some are just good quotes.. some hit too close to home. haha.
The Holiday
Iris: Because you're hoping you're wrong. And every time she does something that tells you she's no good, you ignore it. And every time she comes through and suprises you, she wins you over, and you lose that argument with yourself, that she's not for you.
Arthur: Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.
Iris: You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god's sake! Arthur, I've been going to a therapist for three years, and she's never explained things to me that well. That was brilliant. Brutal, but brilliant.
Iris: Shush. You broke my heart. And you acted like somehow it was my fault, my misunderstanding, and I was too in love with you to ever be mad at you, so I just punished myself!
Iris (narrating): I've found almost everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare had.
I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for the night.
And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost kills its victims. Its called unrequited love. Of that I am an expert. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space!
Yes, you are looking at one such individual. And I have willingly loved that man for over three miserable years! The absolute worst years of my life! The worst Christmas', the worst Birthday's, New Years Eve's brought in by tears and valium. These years that I have been in love have been the darkest days of my life. All because I've been cursed by being in love with a man who does not and will not love me back. Oh god, just the sight of him! Heart pounding! Throat thickening! Absolutely can't swallow! All the usual symptoms.
Iris: I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade.
Amanda: Sex makes everything more complicated. Even not having it, because the not having it... makes it complicated.
Graham: That's why it's better to have it... some say.
Graham: I have another scenario for you - I'm in love with you. I apologize for the blunt delivery, but as problematic as this fact may be, I'm in love... with YOU. I'm not feeling this because you're leaving, and not because it feels good to feel this way... which, by the way, it does, or did before you went off like that.
I can't figure out the mathematics of this, I just know I love you. I can't believe how many times I'm saying it! And I never thought I'd feel this way again, so that's pretty phenomenal. And I realize that I come as a package deal: 3 for the price of 1. I know my package, perhaps in the light of day, isn't all that wonderful, but I finally know what I want and that, in itself, is a miracle. And what I want is YOU.
Greys Anatomy
Meredith (narrating): In the hospital, we see addiction every day. It's shocking how many kinds of addiction exist. It would be too easy if it were just drugs and booze and cigarettes. I think the hardest part of kicking a habit is wanting to kick it. I mean, we get addicted for a reason, right? Often, too often, things that start out as just a normal part of your life at some point cross the line to obsessive, compulsive, out of control. It's the high we're chasing, the high that makes everything else fade away.
Meredith (narrating): Still, they say you don’t kick the habit until you hit rock bottom, but how do you know when you’re there? Because no matter how badly a thing is hurting us, sometimes letting it go hurts even worse.
hay. i just finished posting pictures from the trip. i cant believe we took so many photos... three people, four cameras, four to five days. hahaha.
bohol was a great idea. thanks to lily for taking advantage of my being kaladkarin. its very different from boracay. the feel is different. the crowd is different. but there's no picking one over the other. hahahaha. food was okay --- seafood galore pero somehow parang bitin kasi may kulang. i think lily and anna will agree there should be a more decent fruit shake place there.. ala jona's of boracay.
my highlights all involve animals haha:
after balicasag, after seeing all those fish, and after ko mabitin sa reef cliff, im even more determined i really want to learn to dive. ang tapang ko lumangoy kasi naka-hawak ako sa guide. hahaha. ill definitely look into that in the near future.
i got to hold a tarsier! i know its not really allowed, but im glad i got to. kahit na kuya fed it a cricket while i was holding it. muntikan ko nang mahagis. hahaha.
i got my dolphins. a lot of them. pero dahil brat ako, kulang pa rin. hahaha. babalikan ko sila. and i hope to see even more. im still working on chopping up the videos and take out the audio. maybe in a day or two, ill be able to upload that.
lils, anna!!! san tayo next? hehehehe.
