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I was sitting on a beach one summer day, watching two children, a boy and a girl, playing in the sand. They were hard at work building an elaborate sandcastle by the water's edge, with gates and towers and moats and internal passages. Just when they had nearly finished their project, a big wave came along and knocked it down, reducing it to a heap of wet sand. I expected the children to burst into tears, devastated by what had happened to all their hard work. But they surprised me. Instead, they ran up the shore away from the water, laughing and holding hands, and sat down to build another castle. I realized that they had taught me an important lesson. All the things in our lives, all the complicated structures we spent so much time and energy creating, are built on sand. Only our relationships to other people endure. Sooner or later, the wave will come along and knock down what we have worked so hard to build up. When that happens, only the person who has somebody's hand to hold will be able to laugh. | | |
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Don't date because you are desperate.
Don't marry because you are miserable.
Don't have kids because you think your genes are superior.
Don't philander because you think you are irresistible.
Don't associate with people you can't trust.
Don't cheat. Don't lie. Don't pretend.
Don't dictate because you are smarter.
Don't demand because you are stronger.
Don't sleep around because you think you are old enough and know better.
Don't hurt your kids because loving them is harder.
Don't sell yourself, your family, or your ideals. Don't stagnate.!
Don't regress.
Don't live in the past. Time can't bring anything or anyone back.
Don't put your life on hold for possibly Mr/Mrs Right.
Don't throw your life away on absolutely Mr Wrong because your biological
clock is ticking.
Learn a new skill.
Find a new friend.
Start a new career.
Sometimes, there is no race to be won.
Only a price to be paid for some of life's more hasty decisions.
To terminate your loneliness, reach out to the homeless.
To feed your nurturing instincts, care for the needy.
To fulfill your parenting fantasies, get a puppy.
Don't bring another life into this world for all the wrong reasons.
To make yourself happy, pursue your passions and be the best of what you can be.
Simplify your life. Take away the clutter.
Get rid of destructive elements: abusive friends, nasty habits, and dangerous liaisons.
Don't abandon your responsibilities but don't overdose on duty.
Don't live life recklessly without thought and feeling for your family.
Be true to yourself.
Don't commit when you are not ready.
Don't keep others waiting needlessly.
Go on that trip. Don't postpone it.
Say those words. Don't let the moment pass.
Do what you have to, even at society's scorn.
Write poetry.
Love Deeply.
Walk barefoot.
Dance with wild abandon.
Cry at the movies.
Take care of yourself. Don't wait for someone to take care of you.
You light up your life.
You drive yourself to your destination.
No one completes you - except YOU.
It is true that life does not get easier with age.
It only gets more challenging.
Don't be afraid. Don't lose your capacity to love.
Pursue your passions.
Live your dreams.
Don't lose faith in your God.
Don't grow old. Just grow YOU!
When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life
that you'll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the
greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Relationships take time
and effort, and the best way to spell love is T-I-M-E because the essence
of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we
give of ourselves. - Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life | | |
|  For a few weeks already, you've seen it in stores. You pass right by it on your way through the door. Displays are set up at the entrance so there's no chance that you could possibly miss it. What am I talking about? Halloween goodies and costumes, of course! Trick or Treat is here!!
Yes, it's that time of year again when kids young and old dress up in their favorite costumes and for a few hours one evening, run from door to door, promising a trick when they don't get a treat. A popcorn ball here, a caramel apple there, the paper bags groaning under the strain of the kind of sweets that would make any dentist salvitate for your business. Most of all, it's a time for spending a few beautiful hours on a fantastic fall evening visiting with friends and neighbors while snapping a few pictures for the family album.
Most of you may not know the real history behind this Halloween tradition. Its origin is somewhat hazy and certainly not 100% factual, but I tend to think it is. Back during the time when the Celts practiced their pagan religion rite of summer's end and winter's beginning (called Samhain), they believed that it was a night where the thin veil that separates the living from the dead was lifted. Some thought that the spirits would roam the countryside at night in search of bodies and/or homes to possess for the next year. In an effort to spare their house and home, they began to leave food out on the doorsteps as an offering to help in their search thinking that the spirit would take pity.
 The next morning, villagers across the land would awake, many to find that the food had been taken from their doorstep. A few disbelievers here and there voiced that it must have been nocturnal animals that ate the food. Those that did believe would swear that they peeked from behind darkened curtains and saw with their own eyes the spirits "spiriting" away the food.
Finally, a few wised up and noticed that many of the children were not that hungry the next day. Seeing the sum of the equation, they exposed the children as the real bandits of the evening and stopped putting food on their doorstep. The children, in the "spirit" of playfulness, continued to dress up as ghouls, goblins, and ghost, running around the neighborhood pretending to be a spirit and begging for food. In return, they would offer up prayers for their dead relatives.
Over time, this custom has undergone several modifications, each generation adapting the practice to their own. The only constant throughout is the offering of food, which, in our modern time, has morphed into sweets rather than cakes and pies much to the excitement of the children. One such manifestation is our very own Trick or Treat at Philcom. It has been the practice of the company to throw a Halloween Party for the employee's dependents ages 1 to 10 years old. Hundreds of kids filled the spooky party room, all dressed up with their creepy halloween costumes. Lots of games and surprises await those little creatures.. including their nannies, hehe! Awards were given to the Most Scary Halloween Costume, Best in Fairy Tale Costume, and Best in Superhero Costume. Not to be outdone, the "trick-o'-treaters" had put on some scary outfits too! (and that includes me, awooo! hihihihihi!). To make the station more scary, the entire room was dimmed, candles were lit, pc's with horrifying screensavers were turned on, and creepy music were played on the background. Whew! I guess I heard not one, not two, but dozens of kids screaming and wailing in terror! Awooo! But.. ooops! There was no way those kids be frightened all over, 'coz the "treats" are coming in! Whew! Lots of toys, candies, chocolates, and all other goodies were handed to them as they presented their pumpkin baskets and trick bags. Nobody went home empty-handed then. It was all fun.. both for the kids and the adults as well!
Happy Halloween!! | | |
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“Hey peps! It's almost a year that I haven't updated my xanga blog site, and until now I still haven't posted even a single article or a short message, hehe! So for now, let me share to you instead our recent nature trekking adventure which was so full on fun and excitement. 
Just a few weeks ago, ten free-spirited yuppies (Cristy, Karen, Judith, Teresa, Chona, Arlan, Peggy, Rizza, Linnette, & yours truly) went nature trekking at the newly developed Macahambus Adventure Park. The first activity we went through was the canopy walk, wherein we were to cross the sky bridge 150 feet above the stream. With much adrenaline to start off the adventure, we crossed the hanging bridge all geared up, with a wry smile on our face. Every step forward provoked the narrow bridge into a rickety swing which roused a bit of tension among the group. But much to my amusement, I and Chona even managed to chant the melody of Regine’s song “I Can” everytime the bridge swings hehe! Such a cool way to ease up the strain.
Upon reaching the end of the sky bridge, we were to zip back on a cable that spans 120 meters, overlooking a gorge 150 feet below.  We were all first-timers then, and were a bit scared to start off the zip line challenge. But whew! Everything seemed to happen in just a wink of an eye ‘coz before I knew it, my harness was fastened on the cable ready to be slid across the mountains. I took a deep breath, whispered my two-word prayer ("Lord, help."), clutched the rope of my life – and slid! Whoossh!! It was like riding a cable car, only without a car, hehe! What I thought would stir up panic attacks turned out to be the most exhilarating slide I’ve ever had. It wasn’t scary after all! I just felt like I was flying in the air! Still fired up with adrenaline when I reached the end of the zip line and finished my ultimate “cable slide”, I couldn’t help but ask the trek guide “Pwedeng isa pa?” hahaha! I certainly would have wanted to do it the second time around but we were running out of time for the next activity, and I was running out of budget too, hehe!
Just a few minutes after the zip line challenge, the group headed for the next activity which was to get down to the bottom of the gorge, and enjoy the lush vegetation and the cold undergr ound stream. While half of the group opted to just trek on their way down to the bottom of the gorge, the other half (which includes me of course) decided to go down the stream the more adventurous way -- by means of rappelling. Just like the zip line, we have to go back crossing the sky bridge. But we only have to reach up to the middle part of the bridge, where the rappelling challenge should start taking place. We were about to begin the rappelling but.. oopps! Wait a minute! Where's Judith's digicam? It was left at the reception area of the park together with our bags and packed lunch! Uh-oh! There's no way we should start rappelling without the digicam! Being decisive as I was, I crossed the sky bridge (for the fourth time) just to get that precious camera (else, no rappelling pics from the top view would ever be captured and posted in the blog site, hehe!). Finally, I got the camera and we were all set to rappel. Whew! When I saw the deep gorge which looked like an eerie cliff, and the trekkers down below which seemed to look like the size of an ant, my heart started pounding loud! My golly! This was even more scary than the zip line! Thanks to my 60% guts which superseded my 40% fear, hehe! My enthusiasm to do the challenge outdid all my apprehensions. Strapped with a headgear and a harness, I moved my feet forward ready to step down the 90 degrees trail – the 150 feet trunk, with the harness as my lone support for getting my way down to the gorge. Doing the rappelling was pretty much exhausting. You would really savor the tiring experience of manipulating the harness and balancing your weight, not to mention the infuriating heat of the sun directly penetrating your skin! When I finally reached the bottom of the trail, I felt so thirsty and my stomach was craving for that sumptuous lunch already prepared by the other half of the group. The packed lunch of the rappellers then followed, which was brought to us by “free falling” from the sky bridge, haha!
After taki ng our lunch at the gorge, we proceeded with the cave exploration. We entered an unspoiled cavern that led to a stream with pristine water. The dark pathways brought us to another end of the cave leading to a passage overlooking the white water rafting site. For those who haven’t been there yet, you might as well try the adventure and you will really marvel nature at its best! Well, as for the rest of the group, everybody was just so inspired doing the adventure of the day. In fact, the group had initially planned for the next adventure to come up – the white water rafting! And hopefully, the Mapawa trek would also be pushed through, and so with the nature trek at Claveria. Whew! Such a lot of nature trek sked on the list, hehe!
Ooops! One last “hirit” before I end this article. In behalf of the rest of the group, I’d like to extend my thanks to our colleagues Xandi who was with us through the entire challenge (and ended up as our official  photographer, haha!) and Daryl who diligently drove us to the adventure site, and fetched us at the end of the day when the adventure was through (indeed he saved our day ‘coz it was raining so hard when we were through with the nature trek). Thanks also to the staff and crew of Macahambus Adventure Park who accommodated us (not to mention the discounts hehe!) and to the trek guides who were so thorough in giving up instructions, and so we’ve gone through the entire challenge unharmed and still in great shape. (Just for the record, our trek guide commended us for being the record holder of the month, being the first trekkers with only one guy in the trek team! Kudos to all my teammates!). | | |
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