I'll Stop Procrastinating...

I need to write something for this image… and how about later?......

That’s procrastination! sometimes a battle for me too. 

 Anyway, I’ve won and posted something today. I have also 
started  my first  Filipino (tagalog) blog, Kartun Netbuk.

 Here are some lessons we need to remember about procrastination.

The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up. ~author unknown 

You may delay, but time will not. ~Benjamin Franklin 

Don't fool yourself that important things can be put off till tomorrow; they can be put off forever, or not at all. ~Mignon McLaughlin 

A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times. ~Lord Acton 

The best way to get something done is to begin. ~author unknown

What's My Level Today?

How I wish there are elevators… 

However, according to Joe Girard, ‘The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time.’ Hmmm.. and reaching the top requires patience, hard work, discipline and positive attitude. It reminds me of the poem written by Walter D. Wintle. 

If you think you're beaten, you are, 

If you think you dare not, you don't. 

If you'd like to win, but think you can't, 

It's almost a cinch, you won't. 

If you think you're losing, you've lost. 

For out in the world we find - 

Success being with a fellow's will, 

It's all in the state of mind. 

If you think you're outclassed, you are, 

You've got to think high to rise. 

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize. 

Life's battles don't always go, 

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the one who thinks he can. 

~by Walter D. Wintle 

When Troubles Come...

For days filled with anxieties, here’s my wish for you…

Whenever troubles come, I would remind myself that things shall pass just like any season.  Sometimes I would utter the simple prayer posted below. It's the prayer  written in the breviary of St.Teresa of Avila. 

Let nothing disturb you, 

Let nothing frighten you, 

All things pass away: 

God never changes. 

Patience obtains all things. 

He who has God 

finds he lacks nothing; 

God alone suffices.

Why Complicate?

I stayed very late last night. I’ve studied linear equations, coefficients, square roots and stuffs like that. My nephews asked me to review and teach them for their upcoming exams. Whew!! as if I am a math wizard? (I don’t even care about such terms after college!) 

I have nothing against mathematicians or math teachers. I might be wrong but sometimes ‘genius’ people make learnings quite difficult for young minds, unless they were geniuses like them. As much as possible I don't like to complicate things in life. If I can handle things the simplest ways possible, then I will. If I can make things easier for people, then I will. If I can get rid of sketching the graph of the quadratic functions of x and y, then I will! 

Anyway, I find this message interesting. Let me share this one.  No, it’s not math related.

Why Complicate Life?

Missing somebody? ...Call

Wanna meet up?...Invite

Wanna be understood...Explain

Have questions?...Ask

Don’t like something?...Say it

Like something?...State it

Want something?...Ask for it

Love someone?...Tell it 

Nobody will know what's going in your mind. 

It's better to express rather than to expect. ~author unknown

A Good Life

One inspiring message I saw in my FB newsfeed.

There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. ~Annie Dillard 

There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why. ~William Barclay 

There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. ~French Proverb

Anyway...

Recently, I had a quite similar experience (to a new acquaintance).

What can I say? No matter what we do or how much we try to be nice to others, we can never please everyone (much more to a new acquaintance!). Anyway,  one uplifting poem comes to my mind. The poem written on the wall in Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta. I’d like to share it here. 

DO IT ANYWAY (by Mother Teresa)

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.
            If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.
            If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.
           If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.
            What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.
            If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  
Be happy anyway.
            The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  
Do good anyway.
         Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  
Give your best anyway.
         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

Bounce Back

The sun is up. The rain has stopped. And the water has subsided. 

No matter how much mud we got, we need to clean up and bounce back.

Just another set of quotations dedicated to some of our folks today. 

A good half of the art of living is resilience. ~Alain de Botton 

No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear. ~Greg Kincaid 

The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived. ~Robert Jordan 

No matter how far life pushes you down, no matter how much you hurt, you can always bounce back. ~Sheryl Swoopes 

Weeping may endure for a night. But joy comes in the morning. ~Psalm 30:5

Stormy Weather

“Rain, rain go away…Come again another day…”

If  I could only push away the dark clouds  with that song. The rain hasn’t stopped for several days now. The rivers, dikes and the pathways were already filled with water. The water level alert today has reached the red mark. Perhaps we need to keep our hopes high anyway, it is reassuring to know that it wouldn't rain forever.

“After the rain, the sun will reappear.
There is life. After the pain, the joy will still be here.”  ~Walt Disney Company

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. ~Gilbert K. Chesterton

Life's Buttons

We’re constantly viewing a movie inside our minds. Just like a DVD player we can always press a button and watch. However some people prefer to dwell on their favorite button.

Here are five basic ‘life's buttons’ similar to a DVD player: 

The Rewind Mode – When we choose to rewind the painful events in our lives and refuse to move forward. We become  ‘prisoners’ of the past and eventually end up living in misery. 

The Fast Forward Mode – When we tend to get so busy making a living but not making a ‘life’. We are always in a hurry trying to accomplish everything at one time. 

The Stop Mode - The time when we refuse to live. We try to run away from all concern and focus on vices or addictions just to relieve hurts or anxieties. We engage on self-gratifying activities without thinking the needs of other people. 

The Pause Mode – We need to pause for awhile and rest. We have to recount good memories and realize its lessons. However, we don’t have to stay that long on this mode because we have to consider the fifth mode. 

The Play Mode – When we try to savor life including all the joys and pains of living. We face every challenge that comes our way and enjoy the journey. This could be the happiest mode.

These buttons are available to us. It’s up to us to choose which mode fits us. 

A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. ~James Allen