The saddest rain...

The saddest rain is the one that cannot outflow your tears.

- Coco Jam

Please don't let him know the difference between my teardrops and the raindrops when he sees me crying in the rain. I'd rather drown in my own tears than to know that he can tell the difference and yet he does nothing to wipe them off my face.

- Random Thoughts

The Bible says...

Do not be a worrywart. There is an old saying, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift that's why it is called present."

11-11-11

Today is a special day for the superstitious. It so happens that today is November 11, 2011 or 11-11-11. 

As I write this post, I received a text message that reads like this:

"Today is 11-11-11. I wish you 11 things: love, smile, health, wealth, success, beauty, luck, dream, dream come true, lover, and happiness. Please forward this to 11 people and you will have these eleven wishes forever. Hurry up! You only have 11 minutes to send."

People can be so obsessed with whatever symbolism peculiar dates have if there is any. Why can they wish me those things in any given day? And if I break the chain I will receive bad luck for the rest of my life? Isn't that cruel?

I don't know what the six number 1s will bring me before the day ends but I do hope it is something good.

Oh, and I will break the chain like what I always do. I think I have broken a hundred already and yet I am here, living happy.

The ABC of Superlative Leadership

I just have to re-post this article from Read Bud because I find it useful for business or to anyone who just wants to be at the top of their game.

If you want to make the move from managing to leading, from being a professional to being an inspirer, from being one of the team to being a leader of the team, you need to know the ABC of Superlative Leadership.

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A is for Appreciative Cultures, the end result of a leader's work, when the culture he or she fosters becomes an appreciative value of the company.


B is for rock-solid Belief that your team can move mountains.


C is for Culture, which is the way people behave when you're not looking.


D is for the Drive for Power that makes you want to lead.


E is for Encouragement, like sun after the rain.


F is for Fun, an indication that the right work is happening.


G is for Growing your people. Like Sir Colin Marshall, head of British Airways, who personally attended every one of his customer care programmes, "Putting People First".


H is for Helicopter vision, because you need to see in three time zones: the near, the middle and the far.


I is for leader Identity, the ability to be comfortable in your own shoes.


J is for Joy because leaders rejoice in their own blessings as well as the successes of their team.

K is for Knowing your people, not just by name and number, but by strength and weakness, character and spirit, skills and potential, what makes them sigh and what makes them soar.

L is for Learning, because learning is change and learning is growth.

M is for Mission which leaders live as well as write. Like Bill Gates insisting that his staff at Microsoft, Germany, use the familiar "Du" instead of the formal "Sie".

N is for the Nobel complex, the belief that everything your people do is worthy of a Nobel prize.

 

O is for Opportunity. Like Edmund McIlhenny who returned from the American Civil War to find his sugar plantation and salt works in ruins except for a few hot Mexican peppers that had sown themselves. He used them to produce a sauce that is now known as Tabasco and sold around the world.

P is for Plain-talking because leaders need to be understood.

Q is for Questions, such as "What do you need me to do?" and "How can I help you work better?" and "What should I be doing?"

R is for Respect, the touchstone of every relationship a leader has.

S is for Symbols, the language of leadership. Like the CEO of a candy factory facing financial ruin, whose first symbolic act was to shorten the tails on the sugar mice.

T is for the Traits of courage and determination, patience and perseverance.

U is for Unleashing what's there. Like 3M, who allow their scientists to spend 15% of their time working on projects that interest them.

V is for Values, the guiding principles of the team, or "the Walkmans of the mind".

W is for the Way, the Chinese "tao", the route that leaders take and others follow.

X is for Xtraordinary because leaders get ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Y is for Yes, because there is always a plus to be found even in the worst situation and the toughest setback.

Z is for Zero tolerance of failure, sub-performance and giving up.

 

Learn these simple principles, and there are no limits to where you can lead your team.



Today's Life Quote

My New Year's Resolutions

Photo from here.

I don't normally do New Year's resolutions because I believe that changing for the better can start any day even without an occasion, but, for the sake of the spirit of New Year, I will give you my resolutions.  I only have a few but realistic and achievable resolutions.  I don't want to list more than what I can keep.

1.  I will not go on a diet but instead I will choose to eat healthier foods.

2.  I will not exercise but will make more steps a day than what I used to have.  And instead of taking the elevator or escalator, I will choose to use the stairs.

3.  I would still buy shoes (my only luxury) but I will only buy at most 4 in a year. This year, I bought seven and I am starting to feel guilty.

4.  I will maintain a year of no enemies.

5.  I will automatically deposit my freelancing income and 10% of my regular salary to my savings account.

These are the resolutions that I can keep.

Do you have resolutions?

How did you spend Christmas?

How did you spend your Christmas?

It was a tiring day for me but I had fun.  We went to Tagaytay City to unwind a bit and eat halo-halo at Razon's. A cold dessert in a cold place... yeah, that's how we do it.  After halo-halo, my nieces decided to buy cold drinks at Starbucks... and they are already freezing cold.  While my nieces are enjoying their strawberry milkshake, my son and I had a little running around Robinsons.  No, it wasn't our intention to burn fats... my son is just running the whole time going to the arcade, the toy shop and back.

Good thing I wore my flats.

The Irony of Life

Photo from here.

You decided to travel the straight road, change for the better, but then when you get there, here comes a vehicle that leaves you no choice but to move on the side...You wanted to slow down a bit or pullover on the curbs... You saw a sign that confirms everything will turn out fine when you stop but then you see crocodiles slowly coming out of the water.  You are now caught between being hit by a vehicle and being eaten alive by hungry crocodiles.  Which one will you choose?

The irony of life.

Shifting Gears

My mom said I can go wherever I wanted to go, I am the driver of my life anyway.  But there are some things she wants me to remember while driving--to pull over and check the map from time to time, to always focus on the road, to be alert at all times so that I can hit the break the right moment and to shift gears when necessary.

I am now shifting gears.

This Is Just One of Those Days

I'm so sad and I feel blue,

I don't know what I should do,

This just hasn't been my day.

I just wish someone would care,

Anyone from anywhere,

And chase my blues away.

That is not my composition, it was sung by BJ when Barney and the other kids forgot to draw him and said it was a picture of all their friends playing baseball.  Obviously, BJ was hurt and walked out of the Kabooz.

This is just one of those days.  I had expected a lot of happy things to happen today but, well, none of those things happened. 

Colorful Mess

This is what I have to deal with after every playtime.  This colorful mess is from my son's favorite toys--Bob the Builder characters, Thomas the Tank Engine and friends, motorcycles and all sorts of animals.  I tried to get rid of some railways but my son notices he's losing some of them.

This is what he does during playtime--he lines up all the vehicles and pretend they are racing.

Flood

Our house was flooded yesterday because of heavy rains.  Thank goodness the water went up only until half of the living room.  Apparently, the drainage at the far end of the neighborhood is clogged and because our house is lower than the road at the level of the drainage system, we were flooded.  Nothing inside our house was damaged, I was just too exhausted to mop and dry the living room even though I got some help from Lance's dad who happened to be there when it happened. That signals me to another home improvement project.  Argh!

Dream Interpretation: Broken Doorknob and Peeping Toms

I could not remember exactly what my dream was, all I could remember was the broken doorknob of my bedroom.  I take a look and I saw unfamiliar faces peeping through a hole.

"Being locked in a room and the doorknob is missing or broken can mean you're feeling trapped, at a dead end, or unempowered in your life somehow."  - As interpreted by The Curious Dreamer

"To dream that you are being watched, suggests that you are feeling confined in your work environment or personal relationship.  You feel you are lacking a sense of privacy." - As interpreted by Dream Moods

Almost TGIF

TGIF!  Not really, I still have work tomorrow and every Saturday thereafter, excluding Saturdays for my sideline--meaning, all my Saturdays will be a working day.  I hope there'll be eight days a week.  Although I said to my boss that it is alright for me to report on Saturday, I still have this sad feeling deep inside me because that means now, I can never do the things that I do on a Saturday... lounging most of the time while Lance is busy lining up his toys if I don't have household chores to do.  Yesterday, before my boss detonated the bomb on my face, I was thinking of watching a movie--Salt in particular, because Sunday is my self-declared "home only" day.

To Date or Not To Date?

How long have I been unattached?  One year.

Ever since Lance's dad left us about a year ago, my perspective about life and relationships has changed drastically.  I completely closed my doors to everything about love and relationships--even dating didn't happen.  I just felt really tired and had to take some timeout after getting out of a six-year relationship.  I was badly hurt that it made me numb.  After a year of being away in the dating scene and after realizing that I have not completely moved on with my first love... do you think it is about time for me to get back to accepting male species in my life?

The Gay World

I have many gay friends and time with them is one of the happiest moments of my life.  I really admire them for being strong and their positivity is just amazing.  I heard many triumphant stories of them being accepted by their families and friends, I am happy that they are accepted because I really don't see them as different.  There are still many gays out there who are afraid of coming out but let us not judge them and pray that they may find the right time to show who they really are and hope that people around them will not treat them differently.

I am glad that there are sites and gay blogs that somehow help them release their emotions, discover who they really are and what they want, the happy and sad truth about their chosen path and just about everything they need to know about being gay.  These sites are a great way to make people understand the 'mysteries' behind what they call third sex.  

Typhoon Basyang

It has been almost a week since Typhoon Basyang made her unwelcomed visit to the Philippines.  I have never anticipated that she'll be as destructive as Typhoon Pepeng.  A week has passed and still I haven't recovered.  Our electricity is back after less than 24 hours but I do not have an internet connection.  I can't believe that my neighbors are already back in the net and I am not.  I called my provider and they politely asked me to monitor my connection for 24 hours.  Nothing has changed after 24 hours so I called again their hotline to follow up my complaint but they asked me again to monitor for another 24 hours.  So here I am now, renting a computer with internet connection because probably I would still have to wait for another 24 hours for them to repair my internet connection.  Why oh why?!

Jealous

I am jealous.  I saw a picture of an ex with his current girlfriend and they looked really happy.  I felt my ears burn, my cheeks flushed and my heart felt a throb.  I am jealous.

I am friends with this guy even after our break up a long long time ago.  He would even ask me advices of his troubled relationship.  I knew right then that I've moved on.  Our relationship wasn't the perfect one, we seldom see each other because he lives in the city and I am in the province.  Despite the distance, we never lost communication and when the time comes that he'd visit me, it was like falling in love with him all over again.  I think he's my first love although he wasn't my first boyfriend.  I met him through a friend when I was in college, we exchanged numbers and we'd talk for hours over the phone.  He'd visit me as soon as his schedule and budget permits, he's a college student too.  Courtship didn't take long.  Our relationship lasted for three years.  I ended it because I could not bear anymore the distance, it was not enough for me to just hear his voice or see him twice a month... I need his presence.

Seeing his picture with his current love brought too many happy memories and the things that could have been between us.  When I heard that he has a new girlfriend a year after our break up, I did not feel a bit of jealousy, I have moved on.  I don't know why  I am feeling jealous right now after seven years of breaking up with him.  I have never moved on, is that it?    

It breaks my heart to wish them well.  I just couldn't. Uttering the words "I am happy for you" is like stabbing myself.  I hate this feeling.  I need some divine intervention.

Losing Someone

I received a bad news today and it has something to do with losing someone you nurtured and cared for inside your womb.

We all got excited of the news that our friend is expecting her second child.  We are more than ecstatic to know that she is expecting a girl.  She would post on her Facebook account the would-be name of her little princess and we would joke about her punishing her child if she will give her a really long name.  She is not married but lives with her boyfriend together with their three year-old son.  It wasn't a conventional and happy set-up because she would miss reporting to the office because of obvious bruises all over her body.  Yes, she is in an abusive relationship but she chose to stay with the man for hopes of change... nothing has changed, though.  Our friend is expecting her child on July but we were surprised that she had a CS four weeks earlier.  She was discharged from the hospital three days after but her baby remained inside the NICU.  We receive news about the baby's condition from time to time and each and every update, the child's condition becomes worse and just this day a friend confirmed that the baby didn't make it.

My friend have had preterm labors weeks before the baby came out and she would said  that it is due to stress.  We later found out that the cause of her stress is her boyfriend.  They had a huge fight in the morning  before she had an emergency CS.  She asked her neighbor to take her to the hospital because she feels that the baby would come out any time soon.  Her boyfriend is drinking in bouts outside their house. 

I felt hate to the man that my friend chose to love.  There is just no excuse for abuse.

Her little angel is now gone.  She was not given a chance to write her very long name... maybe because He knew that if she will live long enough, she will just witness her mom being abused by her dad.

I know that many women around the world have had an abusive relationship and many more women are struggling to get out of the situation.  Fear is the only emotion that would let the victim stay--fear of her own life and fear for the life of her children, but if she knows that there are people out there who will help her, she'll realize that it isn't late to gather up strength and courage to set herself free.

For tips on how to escape an abusive relationship, click here and you will be directed to Dr. Phil's official website.

No Internet

No internet for five days... hell!

No internet for five days would be okay if:

1. I don't have a farm to tend... I don't want my plants to wither!

2. I don't have a restaurant to manage... thank goodness Restaurant City has improved their settings.  I opened my restaurant for 24 hours.

3. I don't have fishes to feed... I am now forced to harvest them all.

4. I don't have a pet to look after... Jimmy would be hungry... and his pet Swiper too!

5. I don't have a blog... err blogs to update... I have five for Pete's sake!

6. I don't have an online boss... I am a Virtual Assistant by night.

I still have a lot to enumerate but these six things are more important.  Generally, my life evolves into facing the computer and click until my hands get tired... numbers 5 and 6 helps me earn moolah.  I guess I have given enough good reasons to panic a bit.

Good luck to me on those five days!