Happy to be This Happy!

This is the first time I am feeling this kind of happiness. I never felt this way before, not even in my wildest dreams.

I couldn’t contain my happiness that I was laughing and crying and hugging and kissing my favorite son all at the same time!

We just received a notification from the UP College Of Music Secretary that Gio is graduating as Cum Laude for Bachelor in Music, Major in Piano!

The happiness I am experiencing now is beyond compare. I couldn’t find the right words to express it. 

Thank you Lord for this blessing!

And thanks to all my friends who have been constantly praying for me and my family.

God bless us all!

Platonic Love

After what seems like forever, I met again 2 friends whom I greatly admire. The 3 of us are generations apart but when we’re together, one would think that we shared the same womb at the same time. We turned the places upside down with our nerve-wrecking stories and roaring laughter.

We came from different origins, hence we delight in each other’s unique journey. The first one was a dedicated teacher, now an awesome painter/artist. She advocates eating everything in moderation.The second one is a fashion designer who plans to diversify into professional aesthetics. She is sporting No-Carbs Diet with fasting which in our opinion is no longer needed because she is already perfectly slim. And the last one is yet to explore her true calling, given her recklessness and wandering mind. She loves to eat most especially sweets yet dreams of a 38-28-38 figure.

The teacher was once blessed with a true and passionate love. She is now a widow. The designer haven’t got the slightest clue what it meant to be magically transported to heaven and back, for she never reached that peak in love. And the wanderer did experience bliss albeit very short-lived.

We urge the youngest in the group to be open to dating so she could find a boyfriend and settle down. She boldly confessed that she has zero desire for romance, so she doesn’t need a husband nor a lover in her life. She went on saying that she’s quite contented and happy talking with her matured male friends. They are not romantically linked to each other but their close relationships help her grow spiritually and intellectually.

Indeed, platonic love is a joy in itself. Though many find it hard to believe that such kind of love could exist between a man and a woman, it does happen in very rare occasions. Like in the case of my friend’s.

In my case however, I am so easy to fall in love. It would be safe if I don’t get intimate with a male friend. I unsuspectingly opened my heart to someone before and it was brutally ripped to a thousand pieces. When you lose your boyfriend who is also your best friend, the pain is so deep that healing takes longer than you can ever imagine.

How about you? Do you prefer platonic love? Or would you rather enjoy an erotic one instead hahahah ...

This Time Could Be Sweeter

This coming Feb. 26,2023, I will again try my luck to run from Km 0 in Luneta, Manila all the way to Palace in the Sky, Tagaytay. Crazy, yes—but this will serve as my LSD (Long Slow Distance) prior to my 100k Ultramarathon goal next year.

Hopefully this time, I will be spared of any injury at Km 7 and it won’t rain cats and dogs at Km 40. I also wish that someone charming will keep me company from Start to Finish.

Well, I guess some of our wishes might just come true! My running buddy is quite determined to run 60k with me. I am ecstatic yes, but having nagging reservations. She has yet to finish a Full Marathon but already eager to run an Ultra. Normally, it would take 6 months for a first-time ultramarathoner to train for 50k. We only have 4 months left. And we are aiming for 60k. 

So at the moment, my mind is about to crack trying to make the perfect training plan for her. If this works out, then this second attempt will definitely be sweeter.

Care to join us? The more, the merrier!

Should You Hold On Or Let Go?

Sometime before they celebrated their Silver Wedding Anniversary, a very dear friend signified her strong desire to separate from her husband. That shocked me and for a brief moment, my brain cells just froze. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe! 

In between sobs, she narrated that her husband was having an affair and this wasn’t the first time. Then she asked me: “How many times should I forgive him?”

Let’s call my friend G and her husband B. 

When my breathing went back to normal, that’s when I began to express my temporarily suspended thoughts. I told her: “I know how much you loved each other deeply before you got married. You were best buddies and sweethearts since God knows when. Did B tell you that he doesn’t love you anymore and that he chooses his mistress over you and your family? OR did he ask for forgiveness and promised not to go astray again?”

As I have predicted, B did beg for forgiveness and swore not to do it ever again. But my friend G refused to believe him. She desperately wanted him out of her life. For good.

When I firmly told her that she should not give up on him, she couldn’t understand why I would advise her to do that when I, myself, left my husband. Duh? She somewhat implied that I could be suffering from selective amnesia.

I pointed out to her that my marriage was entirely different from hers.

For starters, G and B truly loved each other when they got married. I married my EX because I loved him and he married me for various reasons except true love. For the record, his womanizing was the least of my worries. My personal 101-page Judicial Affidavit submitted to Family Court can fully attest to that. In meticulous detail. My Petition for Marriage Annulment was granted not because of his recurring multiple extramarital affairs.

After careful discernment, God gave my friend the grace to forgive her husband. Their unselfish love for each other was put to the ultimate test and they emerged triumphant. True love after all, conquers all!

I just love happy endings!

Is Your Marriage God’s Will?

Bishop Gaa made a bold statement last night that if you consider marriage as God’s will, breaching it means you are going against the will of God. He went on saying that marriage is a union of the couple with Christ in the center. So the real meaning of marriage is inviting Christ into your partnership with your spouse.

How do you know if it is indeed the will of God?

You need to discern God’s will and there are 3 Preconditions of DISCERNMENT: 1) Complete humility before God, acknowledging your human frailty and weakness.  2) Sincere desire to search for the will of God and 3) Desire to perfect your response in following God’s will.

It was one glorious day in March,1996 when my ‘Knight in Shining Armour’ eventually returned from working abroad. After we dined to celebrate his 26th birthday, he gently slipped an 18 karat gold ring into my finger and excitedly proposed for us to get married. With the lovely stars across the sky as witnesses, I told him that I needed to DISCERN God’s will first before I give him my answer. 

He was quite flabbergasted that I didn’t say YES right away but assured me that he would wait. Patiently.  However after 6 months, he asked me again and nagged me everyday after that. He openly expressed his deepest fear that if we delay our marriage, we might lose the chance of having a happy family because of my age. I was 38 then. 

Understanding the predicament we’re in, I spent countless hours in the Adoration Chapel praying for discernment ever since he asked me to become his wife. For the nth time, I begged for guidance and God finally ‘whispered’ to me that I should not be afraid to get married.

We both said “I DO” in January, 1997. 

After 5 years, I left my husband with our 2 children in tow. Filed a Petition for Marriage Annulment and I was single again after 5 years.

Did I go against the will of God for giving up my marriage?

Tip # 7: From Jogger to Runner

Seriously, I don’t really mind when people ask me if I am jogging. But there are some runners who are offended and quick to correct that they run, not jog.

What’s the difference anyway?

For me, you are a runner if you think you are. Sadly, most people differentiate runners from joggers with speed. They say you’re a runner if you finish 5k in 30 minutes. Beyond that time, you’re simply jogging. I find it even funny if not ridiculous when others bluntly state that a runner shouldn’t wear jogging pants! 

A typical High Intensity Interval Training looks something like this:

Jog for 5-10 minutes to Warm-Up. Sprint for 30 sec. then walk for 30 sec. Repeat 10X. Jog 5-10 minutes to recover. Run 1 minute then walk for 1 minute. Repeat 10X. Then jog for 5-10 minutes to Cool-Down.

In the above example, it is clear that a runner jogs, sprints, runs and walks. So when someone asks me if I am walking, I have no qualms answering him that I am. Of course I walk and I also run.

What if in your mind you brand yourself a jogger and deep in your heart, you passionately want to become a serious runner? What should you do?

If you believe that joining a race will qualify you to be called a runner, then do it. How do you choose the right one? Here are some tips:

1. The schedule of the race: Do you have enough time to prepare for it? I was 49 when I started training. I was so unfit that it took me 9 months to run 5k without stopping. At 50, I achieved my dream of running my first 5k race.

2. Who will be the beneficiary of the Race? If the recipient of the proceeds of the race is close to your heart or if the purpose of the Race is something you believe in, choose that particular race.

3. The race route: It would be ideal for your first race to be on a flat surface without any uphills. Unless you incorporated hills training in your WorkOut.

4. The Starting Line and Time:  Is the venue of the Starting Line accessible for you? Will you be there on time for the GunOff?

5.  Finishing Time: For Milo and probably all other races, finishing time for a 5k race is 1 hour. So please don’t join yet if you cannot run at an average pace of 12 mins./km for your first 5k race.

Good luck!

Diet Tips From Readers

Below are the suggestions I received after posting the result of my 6-Day Intermittent Fasting. I am hoping that some of these tips will benefit other readers who also desire to lose weight.

1. Keto Diet with Intermittent Fasting

2. Low Carbs Diet with Intermittent Fasting (LCF popularized by Dra. Josephine Grace Rojo Tan)

3. OMAD (One Meal A Day) Diet

4. Replace 2 meals with Herbalife Shake, the other meal should be fish or skinless chicken breast and 1 cup veggies. Snacks must be limited to 1 boiled egg or 1 banana or 1apple or Herbalife Shake as well.

5. No food after 4 PM. Next meal is 8 AM the following day. (This is similar to 16:8 Intermittent Fasting)

6. Take 6 small meals a day, only 100 to 150 calories per meal

7. Alternate 24-hour fasting and 24-hour normal eating

8. The 5:2 Diet. Eat normally for 5 days, restrict intake to 500 - 600 calories per day for 2 days

9. Eat only fruits and raw vegetables during the day and 1 full meal at night

10. The 23:1 Diet: Fasting for 23 hours, eat whatever you like within the 1 hour window. I find this interesting. Squeezing your breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a span of 1 hour. If ever I’m gonna do this someday, my 1 hour window would definitely be after my run. 

Thank you so much my dear readers! I would love to try them all but for now, I will have to take a break from dieting and focus on my training. It’s gonna be a long, rough, and difficult journey towards my 100k Ultramarathon goal next year. If you’re interested to run with me, please  email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger.

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. Stay safe everyone!)

Possible Reasons Why I Didn’t Lose A Single Pound From Intermittent Fasting

 Okay. Let’s tackle these one by one:

1. Herbalife Shake is liquid in form. That’s what I normally take for breakfast. So it’s probably synonymous to not having breakfast at all. So my fasting in the morning may not have that much effect anymore. The result would have been significant if I used to eat tapsilog or bacon with egss for breakfast. Or any solid food in the morning.

2. I normally don’t eat anything anymore after dinner so fasting after 8pm did not have significant effect either. It was what I have been doing already. 

3. I gave up rice 6 years ago but for the past 6 days, I included rice on my plate because I was really hungry by 12 noon. Unlike Herbalife Shake which keeps me full until lunchtime.

So there. These could be the reasons why I didn’t lose a single lb. with Intermittent Fasting. But my friend asked me yesterday “how about the non-scale effects? Surely, there must be some internal benefits you feel in your body even though you didn’t lose weight.”

Hmmmm . . . Let’s see. There is indeed 1 striking improvement. Before Intermittent Fasting, I attempted to run 10k and I struggled to finish, almost crawling in getting home. I again attempted to run 10k the other day and I did not struggle anymore. When I looked at my watch before entering our gate, my time was 20 minutes earlier. That meant I was able to run faster by 2 minutes per kilometer compared to my previous pace. Awesome!

My friend then suggested that I should continue with Intermittent Fasting.

Should I? What do you think?

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I Did Intermittent Fasting For 6 Consecutive Days And This Is What Happened

I wrote last Sept. 17 that I would try Intermittent Fasting every Sunday. Here’s what actually transpired:

Sept. 18: last meal was 7:30 PM

Sept.19: Today was my son’s 25th birthday. Did not have breakfast. We had paella and Crabs & Pork Adobo for lunch. Did not eat anything after 1 PM.

Sept. 20: Did not have breakfast. Ate with friends at Sambokojin Buffet Restaurant @ 12 noon, after fasting for 23 hours. Finished eating @3:00 PM. Did not have anything for the rest of the day.

Sept. 21: Did not have breakfast. First meal at 12 noon, after fasting for 21 hours.

Kinda discouraged that the weighing scale did not budge a bit. So I took a break from Intermittent Fasting.

Then thought of giving IF another try. This time, will do it for 6 consecutive days, strictly following the 16:8 Intermittent Fasting. This means only water for 16 hours, then eating within the 8 hours window after that.

Started Saturday, Oct. 8: Last meal at 8 PM, first meal @ 12 noon the following day. Did this for 6 consecutive days.

Ended yesterday, Oct. 14: Can’t wait to weigh myself this morning and what do you think happened?

Believe it or not I lost nothing. Zero. Nada. Zip.

When I mentioned before that Intermittent Fasting is not for everybody, I did not realize it would be including me! I did everything to the letter: Last meal at 8 PM, next meal at 12 noon the following day. I honestly don’t know why I did not even lose 1 lb. (Back in 2012, I stayed 6 days in Marbel and I gained 6 lbs. Life is just not fair huhuhu...)

During dinner last night, Gio couldn’t finish his pasta so he asked me to finish it for him. I was about to decline when he told me “it’s OK Mama. You fasted for 6 days anyway.” 

Let’s dig in!

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. If you have any ideas how I could lose 10 lbs., please email me at ndelr2003@yahoo.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

I DO.

Three little letters, two little words.  It’s the simplest part of the Wedding Ceremony. But there’s nothing simple about the things that will remain unsaid.

‘I DO’ means, “I DO know I could be hurt, but I’m ready to be healed with you.”

It means, “I DO want to try, even when the fear of failure holds me back.”

And, “I DO not know the future, but I’m ready to be surprised along the way.”

And ‘I DO’ means “I DO want your love and I do give you mine, and nothing we do will ever be the same because you and I will be doing it all together.”

The above excerpt is not my original heheheh . . . It was taken from one episode of the TV Series “Good Witch”.

I also said ‘I DO’ last Jan. 25,1997 to signify my intention of being married to the person I loved, to be faithful to him in good times and bad times, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and honor him, until death do us part.

My EX also said ‘I DO’ without acknowledging the real meaning behind these 2 simple words. He was aghast when I reminded him that he is to love only me and I, only him. That as husband and wife, we are exclusive for each other. He blurted out that being married will not stop him from dating other women.

Next time I get married (again), I will make sure that my future husband and I share the same meaning of the eternal vow ‘I DO’.

(Thanks for stopping by. You may send your comments/reactions to ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

What is LOVE?

 In one episode of the TV Series Extraordinary Atty. Woo, the public prosecutor asked the witness with intellectual disability the question ”What is love?”

My initial reaction was “Really? You’re asking her that?”

I wasn’t surprised when Atty. Woo’s colleague immediately objected saying “What kind of question is that? It’s hard for anyone to answer such a vague and abstract question.” My thoughts, exactly.

In one scene where Atty. Woo’s boyfriend and his buddies were on a drinking spree, one of them pointed to Jun-Ho that what he feels for his girlfriend is not love but sympathy. “That is just your feeling from dating a pitiful girl you want to help.” As expected, our lead actor lost his cool and punched his friend.

That scene brought me back in time when my EX confessed that he married me not because he truly loved me but felt mere pity for me. Refreshing his memory, I told him that I had everything I wanted back then. I could do anything I want, I could go anywhere I want to go. I was living my life to the fullest. Why in God’s name, should he pity me? I wanted to be grateful for his sympathy but he just didn’t deserve it.

Atty. Woo has autism but a genius who graduated top in Law School. Still, her father  couldn’t believe that someone else other than him could possibly love his precious daughter so he asked Jun-Ho why he loved Young-woo. His answer was simple. “Atty. Woo is like me.”

If the person you love is like you, then that means you and that person are one and the same. So that is why a married couple should regard themselves as ONE, so to speak. If the other person is like you, you wouldn’t do anything that will hurt that person because it means you will be hurting yourself. You will do everything that will make that person happy because happiness is what you’ve been yearning for in life.

So that, my dear readers, is love. True love that is. 

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Would You Choose The Person You Love Or The Person Who’s Madly In Love With You?

Yes, my dear readers. There are times that life can be shamelessly cruel. You cannot reciprocate the love of the person who waited for you for fourteen years, yet you fall in love with the person you just met for the very first time.

Blinded by the illusion that “Love at First Sight” is indeed true love, you overlook the signs written on the wall. When you set a date, he always comes late or never show up at all. When you walk side by side in the mall, he disappears in a flash when he spots a pretty woman a mile away. He disregards your preferences and stubbornly decides on what he wants. He doesn’t shower you with flowers or any gift on special occasions like birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and anniversary. He forbids you to join him in a queue to hide the fact that he’s already taken. He doesn’t hold your hand when you go out nor wants you clinging to him. You are together but publicly appear like strangers. You ignore all these obvious signs and marry him anyway, hoping against hope that your passionate unconditional love will change him. After the wedding, the situation gets worse. He is supposed to be home at 5 PM from work but he arrives around midnight without having the decency to inform you beforehand. Then he quits his regular job to supposedly manage your business so you could just take care of the family. The situation becomes worst. Now he comes home just as your father gets out of the house for his morning walk. You check his brief case and there you find exactly his briefs, shirt and towel. Later you find out that he’s been quite an expert in managing the young, entertaining girls employed in your business. During those very rare days that he comes home early, he would sneak out of the house at midnight and return at dawn.

Why do people fall in love with the wrong person? Why can’t they teach their hearts to love the person who truly cares for them?

I honestly don’t know the reason for this absurdity but I do know that if only spouses commit to love the person they married, broken families will cease to exist. And we will all live happily everafter.

(Thanks for stopping by. For comments/reactions, email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 6: What to Do When It Rains

Eia: Are you running Mama?

Me: It is raining. I cannot go running.

Eia: YOU RUN INSIDE THE BASKETBALL COURT. GO NOW!

Me: (with mouth wide open) OK. I’ll get ready.

If you don’t have a covered Basketball Court, a covered Tennis Court or Volleyball Court inside your subdivision, what can you do when it rains?

Simple. Make it your Cross Training Day. You may try 1) climbing up and down the stairs  2) Strength Training using crunch ball/resistance band/weights  3) aerobics or zumba via YouTube  4) jumping rope  5) hulahoop  6) yoga  7) Tai-Chi  8) Pilates  9) boxing  and 10) any other physical activity you will enjoy doing.

In actual races, we cannot avoid running under the rain. But in training, I try my best to avoid it for the preservation of my shoes. Their wear and tear are compromised more rapidly when they get wet.

(Thanks for dropping by. For comments/reactions, email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 5: Have a Walking/Running Buddy

 When my dear father was still alive, he would wake up at 3 AM and get dressed for his morning ritual. Every morning except Sundays, he and his 5 friends would trek along the perimeters of Philamlife Village while exchanging each other’s childhood stories and sharing each other’s thoughts on whatever comes to mind. This routine made my father fully alive. He would greet each new day with great excitement and anticipation, knowing that he would be together with his walking buddies.

My running partner is a charming policewoman who dreams to run a marathon. We were set to run 21k, 32k and 42k in RunRio’s Trilogy last 2020 but everything crushed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hopefully, she can achieve her goal next year. Then by God’s grace, we will both run the 100k Ultramarathon.

Knowing that someone would be waiting for you somewhere will ignite your passion to jump out of bed in the morning. Your walks/runs would be fun because you won’t run out of stories to share. You will be enjoying yourself so much that you wouldn’t even realize you were exercising. Go ahead. Pair with your buddy now!

(Thanks for stopping by my blog. For further questions, you may email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 4: How Do You Spice Up Your Walking Routine?

 You have been walking leisurely for ages now. You are no longer out of breath, and everything seemed comfortable. You realize that it’s kinda been boring lately. The weighing scale has been pretty stable too. No significant change to-date. Yes, you are now in a plateau and you desperately want to get out of it.

Yet you cannot follow my previous advice to inject running steps in between your walks. You honestly believe that you’re simply not cut out for running. Well, I happen to agree with you. Not every body is born to run, contrary to what others say.

Here’s what you can do: You can challenge yourself with a High-Intensity Interval Training.

How? Let me first describe the following Levels of Walking:

#1–your Normal Pace.   #2–slightly faster than your Normal Pace.  #3–Fast Walk but you can still carry a conversation with your walking buddy.  #4– Very Fast Walk that a normal conversation is now difficult and #5–Equivalent to Sprint in running. This is your fastest walk possible.

With these levels in mind, do the following:

5-10 minutes of Level 1-2 for Warm-Up. Then 30 seconds of Level 5, followed by 30 seconds of Level 3. Repeat 5 to 10 times. Then 5-10 minutes of Level 2-3. Then 1 minute of Level 4, followed by 1 minute of Level 2. Repeat 5-10 times. Then 5-10 minutes of Level 1-2 to Cool Down.

So there. One way of spicing up your regular walking routine.

Enjoy!

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. Email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger for questions or reactions and comments. Stay safe everyone!

Tip # 3: How to Prevent Injury

 Assuming that you decided to incorporate running in your walking routine, what is the first thing that you should do?

Buy the right running shoes for your type of feet. Go to any Running Specialty Store, step on the machine that assess your type of feet and the right running shoes will be recommended for you. If the store doesn’t have the specialized machine, you can just show the soles of your training shoes and the assessment will be based from the appearance of the soles. Not having the right running shoes will lead to injuries you don’t need to endure.

Have several dynamic stretches before your workout and static stretches after. In that particular order. Do not interchange the two.

Land on your midfoot. This will be difficult at first but the more you condition your mind to do it, it will eventually be spontaneous.

Ice compress your thighs, knees, legs and feet in the first few days of your walk/run intervals. Even if you don’t experience any pain, ice compress anyway.

Have a training log. Do not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%.

Carry water with you. If you don’t have a hydration belt, stash a water bottle somewhere along your route. You don’t want to collapse due to dehydration.

And of course, wear the proper running clothes and undies to prevent chafing. Severe chafing could be bloody.

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. You may get in touch with me via Messenger or at ndelr62@gmail.com. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 2: How to Evolve from Walking to Running

 If you’re already walking comfortably for 30 minutes and seemed bored with the regularity of the routine, you might want to spice it up by adding a few running steps in between. The length should be very short to just excite your heart a little. When your breathing returns to normal again, try another set of running but longer this time. But not long enough to significantly disrupt your breathing. Repeat the process until you complete your 30-minute walk.

After doing this for sometime, you maight want to try the 1:1 Interval. Run slow for 1 minute, then walk fast for the next minute. If you think you can run longer, try 2:1. Then 3:1 and so on. Pick the right Interval for you.

In my case, I ran my first 5k race without stopping. I also ran my first 10k race without stopping. As for my first 21k race, I only stopped at water stations to hydrate. I was too proud to incorporate walking into my routine. That was then. Now? Even if its only 2k, I would still apply the 1:1 Interval hahahah . . .

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. For further questions, you may email me at nder62@gmail.com or chat with me via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 1: Run Leisurely, Walk Purposely

 There are only 2 people I know who can walk faster than me: my EX and my favorite son.

People who trained with me couldn’t catch up with my walking pace. So I deliberately slow down for us to be synchronized with each other. 

As you know, I apply the 1:1 Interval where I run for 1 minute followed by 1 minute of walking. It varies with every runner. Find one you’re comfortable with.

When I walk, I take very fast, maximum strides. In one of my previous races, a runner attempted to join me and commented that my walk was even faster than his run heheheh . . .

When I run, I take short, Chinese steps. With hands loosely on the side, I take effortless strides. When you lean forward, you let the wind push you so you don’t make any effort at all. You run light, just enjoying the beauty of nature around you. Inhale and exhale as normal as possible.

So there. Run leisurely, walk purposely. Do this in the Interval you have chosen to follow.

Good luck!

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Different Folks, Different Strokes

Put me in the kitchen and in less than 30 seconds, I will get injured. With my precious life in danger, I chose not to cook anymore. But my passion was, is, and will always be F-O-O-D!

It naturally follows that I don’t bake as well but I just love cakes and pies! Thank God I am blessed with a running buddy whose blueberry cheesecake makes you swear you’re in heaven.

Gardening is just not my thing but I love fruits, vegetables and flowers. Back in Marbel, we were required to plant and I remember that alugbati, camote, and pechay were the only ones that survive from my hands but the rest met its untimely demise because of my wrath.

How I wish I could be the typical woman who cooks, bakes, and plants. I have close friends who could do all these and I truly admire them for that. Envious even. At some point I have learned to accept the old adage “different folks, different strokes.”

Embrace who you are. Focus on your strengths. Be kinder to yourself. Stop beating yourself to death to be the best. Just be better today than yesterday. And tomorrow better than today.

Each one of us has something to give to make a difference in other people’s lives. Nobody in this world is quite like you. So don’t imitate someone else’s purpose in life and struggle to make it your own. Don’t dwell too much in your future plans that you neglect to enjoy the joys of the present moment. Take time to breathe. And breathe again. Here. Now.

(Thank you so much for dropping by my blog. You may email me at ndelr62@gmail.com for comments/reactions or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)