Are You Striving To Be Good Because You Love God OR Because You Fear To Be Damned In Hell?

If heaven and hell don’t actually exist, will you still do the right thing or choose what is more beneficial at your end?

Will you still hold your tongue and not curse the driver who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and swept you out of your lane?

Will you not kill your husband who flaunts his womanizing conquests at your face?

Will you still flash an endearing smile to your Boss after he humiliated you in front of everyone?

Will you not lose your temper when your child screams at you and call you names not written in the dictionary?

Will you still pray and attend your religious gathering even when God doesn’t seem to listen?

Will you not strangle the person who refuses to settle his long-overdue debt?

Will you still give alms to the poor even when you yourself struggle to live day by day?

Will you still forgive your very close friend who is now living with your ex-husband?

Will you not seek revenge on your business partner who purposely cheated you?

Will you still show mercy and compassion to those people who offended you?

Love Hurts

The more we love, the greater the possibility that we will get hurt. Is it logical, then, to love a little less to avoid getting stabbed in the heart?

Some will say YES, some will say NO. How about you? What is your take on this?

I used to advise newlyweds NOT to pour all their love on their spouse and leave a significant space in their heart to love their own selves. This is to prepare themselves for the worst to come, if ever it will come. But now, I dare say “ Live and love to the fullest!”  If you get hurt by doing so, then bring it on! Don’t worry. Your heart will take it. You will get through the storm and eventually emerge a better person than before.

Misundertanding between friends is inevitable. It strikes even the best of buddies. Sometimes pride, envy, anger, greed and selfishness gets in the way. Nobody is perfect. Hence, there is no perfect relationship. Yet true friends will always find their way to reconnect— no matter what happens, no matter how long it will take.

But a mother’s love for her children is a totally different genre. Mothers will be hurt by their children’s arrogance, disrespect, indifference. Yet a good mother will always love her children. Unconditionally. She will suffer in silence and continue to love them more than anything else in this world. She will even swallow her pride and ask forgiveness from her erring children. She will move heaven and earth just to make her brood happy. Such is a mother’s love. Never afraid of being hurt. Never allowing her personal pain to dampen her love.

(Thanks for dropping by. Chat with me via Messenger or email at ndelr62@gmail.com. Stay safe everyone!)

On Being 65

No big deal really. You just move slower than before and think longer than before.

Like when you wake up in the morning. You used to jump out of bed as if your date is waiting for you in the receiving room and you can’t miss a second to see the love of your life. Now that you’re 65, you slowly get up and sit up first, linger for a while before finally lifting your body out of bed. Sometimes, you even have to drag your leg one at a time hahahah...

You used to dress up in a jiffy. Nowadays, you grab a chair to wear your pants. If not, you might lose your balance and fall flat on the floor. Wearing your socks while standing up was some form of stretching routine before. That was then. If you value your precious life, you need to sit down now inorder to properly wear  your socks and shoes.

Even if you only slept for 4-5 hours before,you still managed to go out before dawn for your morning run. Now, you and your bed are inseparable like glue. You’re so attached to your bed that you seem not to get enough of it, even though you already cuddled each other for 8-9 hours.

You still enjoy talking with your family and friends as before but expect stories to be interrupted because you fumble for the right words to say. Worse, there are times when your feeble mind just freeze and no matter how hard you try, no words escape your mouth. Yup. Brain fog is as real as it can get.

You used to eat non-stop from 11am to 3pm at your favorite Unlimited Buffet Lunch Restaurant and still craved for more! Now, you’re already full after tasting just a few servings of lechon, roast beef, sushi, maki, sashimi and tempura that you could no longer accommodate your previously loved desserts.

Horror films and suspense thrillers used to excite you. You even wished before if you could be a vampire or a witch. Now, you avoid watching them at night for fear that they might haunt your sleep.

Healing and recovery take much longer now. You felt invincible when you were at the peak of your prime. You played tennis twice a week, Tai-Chi once a week, ran and lift weights at the same day 3X a week. Whereas now, you need to accept the brutal fact that there should be a rest day in between your physical activities or suffer the painful consequences. Shoulder pain, back pain, knee pain, etc.

You used to throw a tantrum when friends fail to greet you on your birthday. Not anymore! You can totally relate and understand now. In general, you’re now more tolerant, less violent, more forgiving, less judgmental, more hopeful, less worrisome, more appreciative, less cynical, more prayerful, less pessimistic, more realistic, less daring, more loving, less antagonistic.

I still can’t believe that I am now 65. My eldest son is only 25. If there’s one lesson in life that I would like to share, it’s for you NOT to follow my footstep when settling down. Get married as soon as you can! Enjoy life to the fullest by doing things together with your children. Time spent with them is priceless.

(Thanks for dropping by. You may chat with me via Messenger or email at ndelr62@gmail.com. Stay safe everyone!)

FREE AT LAST!

Today is the last day of my 5-Day Isolation. Tomorrow, I’m gonna rush to the BIR Office to reprint my invoices. Otherwise, I will suffer penalties.

At last! Back to the real world. Chaotic as it may, I still missed it twists and turns, the non-stop drama unfolding right in front of my very eyes.

Embracing my son Gio and my daughter Eia are what I missed the most. But to ensure their safety, it would be wise to still postpone our GROUP HUG. 

Hearing my son playing the piano while I was meditating this morning brought tears to my eyes. I don’t know why. I was just thankful and grateful to God for everything. For keeping me alive, for keeping my family safe, for having faithful friends who were interceding for my immediate healing and recovery.

Finally! Freedom will be mine tomorrow. No longer will I be strictly confined within the 4 walls of my old small room. Nevertheless, I choose not to go swimming at Leisure Farms this May 27, not practice yoga this May 28 and not run this May 29. My OLD self would definitely not skip any of these but hey, this is the NEW me. I am NOT quitting. Just taking a break.

Thank you Lord! Thanks to all of you who prayed for me. God bless us all!

Stay safe everyone!

WHAT IS YOUR HEART’S DEEPEST DESIRE?

My favorite lay preacher, in one of his talks, answered one of the most sought-after questions—how do you know if what you’re doing is God’s will?

According to him, God’s will is the person’s deepest desire. This revelation completely jolted me out of my seat!

With all due respect for this remarkable person whom I greatly admire, I refused to believe his theory then. I still beg to disagree now.

God endowed us with the phenomenal gift of free will. We are always given the choice to do what is right or wrong. What if your deepest desire is that of a narcissist? Surely, that would never be God’s will.

Fr. Gerry, in one of his teachings intended for the parents of the Jr. Lectors, boldly stressed that parents should raise their children not giving them the choice of right or wrong. The bad should automatically be eliminated from the choices offered to the child. So the child will grow up choosing between what is GOOD and what is BETTER. So in essence, the child who becomes an adult will not dare, in his lifetime, choose evil. This is because he grew up totally disregarding what is wrong.

If children were raised according to Fr. Gerry’s ideal scenario, then I would agree that God’s will is your deepest desire because your desire could only be good, better or best. Since doing bad is totally out of the picture.

How about you? What is your heart’s deepest desire? Can you feel it in your bones that it is indeed God’s will? Good for you!

From Cloud 9 to Hell

Friends asked me yesterday if I was feeling better. I couldn’t say yes because yesterday was worse.

My fever was still on and off but eventually subsided late afternoon. At sundown, I began my agonizing trips to the toilet which lasted until 9PM.

The fiery lump in my throat refused to leave even with the joint forces of Difflam losenges and Bactidol throat spray. 

Just last week, I was in Cloud 9 after my sharing in the Handmaids International Conference. My Sisters were proclaiming that I was empowered by the Holy Spirit when I delivered my talk. 

Now, I am in hell. Well, sort-of.

My life has been like this: A series of happiness and sadness. I used to hold back on my happiness thinking that the more I become happier, the sadder I will be afterwards. 

Have you experienced this in your life? Restraining yourself to be fully happy because at the back of your head, you expect something tragic to follow in similar dosage?

Yes, this absurd theory could be true. But don’t let it prevent you from being truly happy. Keep on living your precious life to the fullest. Tragedies will come and go but by God’s grace, you will face them all head-on. Don’t ever underestimate yourself. You will rise from every fall. 

On Being Sick (My 2nd Day in Isolation)

Dr. Willie Ong, if I recall right—pointed out that sickness is a result of something lacking in your body or something in excess in your body. Could it really be this simple?

Other doctors quickly accuse stress as the perennial culprit to all diseases. Well, I somehow agree. On a case-to-case basis at least.

Mostly believe that “Laughter is the Best Medicine”. I totally disagree on this. On the ground that I lost very dear friends at a young age who thought they were invincible because they always laugh at their hearts content. 

For so many years that I didn’t get sick, I have come to embrace the “Superwoman” tag on me by people who thought I could tackle anything that life throws at me. Well, not anymore. I DO GET SICK!

When people ask my dear mother her secret to a long life without any maintenance, she would readily answer “enough food, enough sleep, enough exercise, enough rest, enough stress, and enough money to last you a lifetime.”

Sound so simple but impossible (for me) to follow!