Achieving Happiness Everyday

My Life Story

2010-10-05T22:38:00.002-04:00

I am a happily married man for 12 years and blessed with 2 daughters (and another one on the way).

When I think about my life story, I can hardly recall a single moment that defines me. There isn’t a single incident or situation that turned my life around. My current life is composed of many small good stories. And those stories are in phases.

From my childhood days (phase 1), to my academic years (phase 2), to my ongoing corporate years (phase 3a) and to my wonderful and ever improving married life (phase 3b).

Phase 1: My childhood days were great. We were not rich but my parents provided me with the things I needed and I have 2 supportive brothers. I had a normal and happy childhood.

Phase 2: I was blessed with a good educational (academic) life. I never had difficulty in my studies and got some academic recognitions/awards

Phase 3a: I never had a hard time finding job after graduating from college. And I often get recognition from my superiors in whatever shapes or forms on the job that I do. I am also in the process of exploring more areas to grow professionally and financially.

Phase 3b: I am very blessed to have been married to a smart, beautiful, understanding and supportive woman. She is my best friend, the best I ever had. And she gave me 2 life trophies who bring more laughter, color and happiness into my life.

Oh yeah, I did experience problems. I got into fights with some boys, I got some spankings from my parents, I received failing marks in school, I had to resign from a job and look for another one, I experienced being dumped by a girl and so on and so forth.

But all those, to me, are just temporary setbacks intended to make me smarter, stronger and more prepared for the others more to come. And these future setbacks are just like the ones before them, temporary and things that’ll give me a good life workout.

I guess if there is any reason for this attitude, it is more of the belief & faith (in oneself & God) that I am going to succeed in whatever I do. It is that belief that fires up my passion in anything I do. This yields me good results and turns my belief into conviction.

I also believe in having a personal relationship with the Supreme Being from whom all things come from. It keeps me hopeful & confident yet grounded, enthusiastic and passionate yet not careless, happy and assured yet more open to other possibilities.

And I believe that it is my duty to pass on my knowledge and share my blessings to other people. It is by sharing yourself that you will become whole.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."~ Author Unknown

What's the story of your life?

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This was originally posted on: http://www.amazon888.com/2010/04/27/ramil-marcelino-my-life-story/.

Tale of a Kingdom

2010-08-12T04:41:00.005-04:00

There was once a king who wants to expand his kingdom so badly. And he focused his attention to his neighboring kingdoms. So, he summoned his greatest generals to seek advice. He sent his son to other places to pick up war strategies and other valuable information. He sent scouts to the nearby kingdoms to study their strengths and weaknesses.

After a few years, he was able to devise a perfect plan. But in order to execute the plan, he has to find the right place to wage the war, he has to have the right army size composed of skillful and courageous warriors, he has to have the right weapons & horses and the weather has to be ideal.

He wasted no time in building his army - recruiting and training warriors. He spent a fortune in manufacturing the weapons and breeding the best horses. He sent some of his men to study the weather to be able to predict a favorable time to wage war.

After some time, his men can predict the weather just fine. But he found out that his army shrunk in numbers. Some of his trained warriors died or unfit for combat. He invested again in training additional warriors to replace the ones he'd lost. He also provided more privileges to his warriors making sure that they will be healthier & stronger for battle.

He is so obsessed with his plan that he failed to take good care of his own kingdom. He has not improved the infrastructure and failed to listen to the farmers' concerns about pests, poor road conditions and criminals preying on them.

After a few more months, people in his kingdom are getting sick. It must have something to do with the pests that the farmers were complaining about. Food is also scarce due to low harvest output. The animals too are dying. But the great king doesn't see these. He is so focused on his war and he believes that taking his eye away from it will be detrimental to his victory.

Until the sickness is so widespread in his kingdom that it has affected even his own army and trusted people. He also doesn't have much wealth left due to incessant spending on his "war." He doesn't know what to do!

I am going to stop the story here. I will let you come up with your own version of how it ends. Why? Aside from making this blog longer, I believe that we can already pick up very important messages at this point.

Analysis Paralysis. It is good to plan before embarking on an important task. But too much planning also provides disadvantages. Sometimes we want to be too careful that the plan actually never gets carried out.

"Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned." ~ Peter Marshall

Taking care of our kingdom. What is our kingdom? It could be our family, our relationship with God, or our own body. Sometimes there are things that take us away from our kingdom. Sometimes we spend so much time accumulating wealth or trying to accumulate wealth to the point that we are neglecting our loved ones and our physical wellness which, I would say, are our true wealth.

"The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships." ~ Anthony Robbins

We can never be happy if we are moving away from the very source of our being. We have to strengthen our core, our own kingdom, our own wealth. And we can face anything, anytime with more power and happiness.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." ~ Matthew 6:33

Are you taking care of your true wealth?

Your Boat's True North

2010-05-07T00:42:00.006-04:00

For a moment, envision yourself on a boat. The size and type will depend on your achievements in life. Let's say you think that at the moment, you are at the top of your game and have reached the pinnacle of your success, you might want to think of your boat as a luxury passenger liner like the Titanic (without the iceberg).

If you think that you are a mess, nothing is going right and you see yourself as a total failure, maybe your boat could be a small raft or a life boat (a life vest would be too harsh and technically it is not a vessel).

If you are somewhere in the middle, your boat could be a sailboat, a motorboat or even a yacht.

And yes, you guessed it right, you are the captain of your boat. There are several factors that could affect the direction of your boat, the waves, the weather, the wind. But the real determining factor that affects the everyday direction of your boat is YOU.

Now, the question is do you know where you are going to? Do you have a compass pointing to True North?

Are there a lot times that you tend to wander in the vastness of the ocean? No real direction and just going where the waves or the wind will take you. If this is the case, chances are, you have a small boat. And you always tell yourself that there is no way you can go against the wind or the waves unlike the big boats. And how you wish you have a big boat that doesn't get rocked easily by the movement of the seas nor the threat of a bad weather.

And when you look around, you are in the company of a lot of small boats and almost each one is voicing out the same sentiments. That's why the waves and the winds brought you all together.

There are times that you come across either an abandoned or a new boat. Either way, both are much bigger and beautiful than yours. They are just there, floating and waiting for a new captain. But you like your boat. It might be small but you grew fond of it. You like the scent of the material that it is made of. You know every detail of it. It feels that you are one with it.

And jumping into that new ship might mean you having to do it all by yourself. Because, you will leave behind your countless companies who have been sailing with you aimlessly for years. You are afraid of what is out there. What if there is nothing out there? What if I have an accident and there is no one to help me? What if I am heading the wrong direction? What if's here, what if's there.

You tend to always give your apprehensions the justification they need to refrain yourself from changing your course and eventually your boat. Although there is enough proof around you that the captains of the bigger boats don't just travel faster and safer, they also get to more places, have more meaningful life experiences, conquer a lot more areas. They look happier than you or your friends. They speak with confidence and look knowledgeable of where they are heading. Seems that they are aware of where True North is!

Sometimes you think that they can't probably know where True North is. Because not all of them are going to the same direction. Just like you and your friends, they sail all over the place. But still, your general observation remains the same. The captains of the bigger boats have more and they can offer more. Sometimes they pull other stranded smaller boats even inviting the stranded captains over.

Well, if you, my friend are also asking "Where is life's True North?" I have a good news for you. There is no real and absolute True North. Everyone has his own True North. Your True North is not the same as mine or anybody else's. It is yours and yours alone. It could be in the same general direction as the other boats, but it is specifically yours. It might be farther or nearer than others. The path to your True North could be more treacherous or more serene than others.

But believe me, when you know where it is, that's the start of your real journey. That's where everything seems to make sense. And if you focus on your True North, and keep the course, strong opposing winds and gigantic waves won't threaten you as much as they used to. Maybe not at all. They may even fire up the passion in you to reach your destination.

I have always believed that each one's True North depends upon his own passion. I believe that God has given us that passion because that is the role that He wants us to play as one of the stewards of His creations.

It might take time to fully realize what exactly your passion is and where it leads to. But if you constantly look for it without fail, you will find it. And just follow it nevertheless with vigor and enthusiasm. And you will find yourself aboard your dream boat. And you will experience how insignificant the size of the waves and the strength of the winds are.

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” --Jimmy Dean

What is your boat? Where is your True North? Are you heading to your True North?

Have a blissful day!

Make Money Online - The Ultimate Guide For Beginners

2010-04-27T19:30:00.004-04:00

A colleague, James Parmis, has been helping other people use the internet to make extra bucks. More info on him below this blog.

Although money alone won't make you happy, people have very strong attachment to it. So, it is a very important part of a person's life especially in this age.

So I invite you to learn from James Parmis and read his advice below:

So you want to start making money online but don't know where to begin... that's okay since a lot of internet marketers and aspiring e-commerce businessmen and women go through this stage during the first few months of their career.

To be able to get a good head start, there are certain things that you need to understand when it comes to generating income through the World Wide Web.

First, earning money online has its similarities and differences with running a real shop or store at the mall. In terms of similarities, you need to spend at least a few hours or more monitoring one's online business in order to handle transactions, communicate with customers, and of course increasing one's traffic for more sales.

In terms of differences, you don't have to spend eight hours a day working at a store and you don't have to work for anybody in particular unlike when you're working as a cashier or salesperson for someone else's business.

When you want to make money online, you need to be able to make use of all your resources, and that includes tools and strategies used to gain more customers and earning more through highly interesting content and quality customer service.

So, to begin, here are the four most important tools and services that you need to establish when making money through the World Wide Web:

1. A website - a website serves as your storefront, the one place where your customers will be able to get a clear picture of what you are trying to sell to them online.

Whether you want to make money online by selling particular products or services online, you need to be able to run a website that is not only attractive but easy to use as well.

There are thousands of web hosting companies that can give you good deals for different web hosting packages so take the time to research and browse through the web.

2. A merchant account - this is important because it is where payments will go once an online transaction is complete. This is applicable if you plan on running an actual shop such as the stores in eBay or Amazon.com or if you are selling products or services as an independent seller and not an affiliate of any company.

3. Internet tools - this include knowledge and tools on search engine optimization, traffic counters, and other kinds of software that will enable you to generate more traffic and at the same time convert them into actual sales.

SEO is especially important because it not only adds quality and volume to the content of your website but it also boosts your website's rankings in the search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

4. An email address - particularly one that you would use for your business alone. It is important that you have an email address that is easy to remember so that in case your customers would like to sign up under your mailing list or would want to communicate with your for inquiries, you have an email address that is working and easy to remember.

James Parmis is a tycoon internet entrepreneur who loves helping people around the globe by sharing his knowledge on how people makes money online. Subscribe for FREE Internet Marketing Business Course with FREE 7 Best E-Books on Internet Marketing at http://www.MakeMoneyOnlineManila.com">http://www.MakeMoneyOnlineManila.com"

Stretch of Time

2010-04-24T00:28:00.004-04:00

The past few days, I experienced how slow and at the same time how fast time runs.

Well, did you read it right? Time runs slow but it runs fast at the same time?

Yeah, that's what I wrote.

Okay. How can that be possible? Two opposing descriptions of the same thing.

All right, let me try to explain the best way I could without losing you nor myself ("-).

My brother visited us last week together with his wife, daughter and pet dog. They drove around 800 miles to attend my youngest daughter's First Communion (well, the dog stayed in our house).

Eight hundred miles is a long drive just to attend a 1-hour ceremony. So, they stayed for 6 days. Needless to say, we had so much fun. Most of our time together was spent in our house, talking, laughing, reminiscing, eating and playing. Ben Franklin's quote about fish and visitors really doesn't apply in this case. Not at all!

My daughters really wanted to have a dog but we think we are not yet ready to have one due to various reasons. And having my brother's pet dog in our house for a few days really gave them a taste of how it feels to have one, even only for a short period of time. They walked the dog, fed it, played with it and yes, picked up the you know what.

Even my wife & I carried out and enjoyed what my kids did with the dog. Maybe not the picking up part so much (lol).

They (brother and family) visited my sis-in-law's cousin for a day and when they got back, they brought 3 live lobsters and 2 pre-cooked crabs. We had a seafood party the following day.

When it was time for them to leave, it was a mixture of sadness and excitement. It is sad to be away from them but with all the fun we had, you can't help but look forward and be excited about the next time they'll visit us or we'll visit them.

So, where's the time factor there?

Well, time flies when you are having fun. We all know that. And the opposite is also true. When you are doing something you don't really like or bores you to death, it feels like minutes are hours. And you can hear every second ticking away. And worse, it seems that the ticking comes from a clock with an almost dead battery.

But I also realized that you can make time slow down even during an enjoyable moment. Prolonging the moment so you can savor it more. Stretching it further so you can get more out of it.

Scheduling and planning your activities normally work. By doing so, you can be more productive and your day seems longer since you tend to accomplish more.

But that's not what I am talking about. In fact, there was little planning that happened during my brother's visit. Aside from my daughter's First Communion, a visit to my sister-in-law's cousin and to watch a concert that got canceled, nothing was really planned.

When you are in an enjoyable moment, instead of being totally engulfed by the happiness and excitement that moment brings, look at the details that make it all up.

When we were eating the luscious lobsters for lunch, I wasn't just munching away while conversing. I was noticing the dining room. How the sunlight comes through the glass door and windows illuminating the area. How the table was set up. How we are all seated. How the food was prepared. How each one enjoys the food and the company. Those little details that contribute to that happy moment.

When you are focused on one thing and so overwhelmed by it, sometimes you are just a mere spectator watching series of events unfolding before your eyes. And that's when things happen real fast.

When you break from that engulfment and decide to be an active contributor, that's when you start smelling the roses and feeling the air. You tend to stretch the moment a little bit more. Spicing it up with more flavors. And through this, you tend to remember it better and longer. Thereby prolonging it even more in your mind.

It even applies to raising our children. Remember how they were so cute, fragile and very cuddly not too long ago? And when you actively involve yourself more with your kids' life, in almost every aspect, you will know them more, have a more lasting memories of them and they of you. And you know that the time you spent with them are time well spent. Not as a mere spectator but as a loving, caring and concerned parent.

Is time getting ahead of you?

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that the stuff life is made of." -- Benjamin Franklin

Have a blissful day!

The Joy of Learning

2010-04-13T20:46:00.006-04:00

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width: 131px; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" align="left" frameborder="0"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=achievin-20&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;p=8&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;l=bpl&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;asins=044656740X&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;fc1=000000&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;IS2=1&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt1=_blank&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;m=amazon&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;bc1=000000&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;f=ifr" style="padding-top: 5px; width: 131px; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" align="left" frameborder="0"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>My work requires me to be updated on the latest telecommunications technologies. I need to learn the in's and out's of a certain technology and master it as much as I can. Otherwise, time will come that my knowledge and skills won't be enough to be of value to my employer anymore. I will be obsolete.

So, I make sure that I put enough time and effort to acquire the needed resources so I won't make myself obsolete.

At home, more learning is required. Hi-tech gadgets take time to master. There are many applications in my cell phone that up to now I still don't know exactly how they work. Same with my home theater, PS3 and even our washing machine and dryer (but I would pick washing and drying every time over folding).

Learning is not confined to hi-tech stuff or tools. It can also apply to a skill like doing household chores.

I've been constantly learning about cleaning the house more proactively and more effectively. Something I am struggling on and I am sure my wife will give me a failing mark for now. And can't she wait for me to be on the honor roll!

Learning how to cook is something I am having second thoughts about. I know a little here and there. Just enough to cook a food for a starving beggar. But maybe even a starving beggar might think twice ingesting what I offer him.

So, why am I having second thoughts about learning how to cook? My real fear is that my wife and children won't eat anything if it is not cooked by me. That would be too inconvenient, isn't it? (I can picture my wife's face when she reads this).

I am also learning about my daughters from my everyday encounter with them. Their attitudes and traits, their likes and dislikes, their reactions to certain stimulus, their strengths and weaknesses. This will give me ideas on how to be a better parent to them.

I've been learning about my wife and getting to know her more and more. We've been married for 12 years now and we spent most of those years together. But there is always something new to discover and appreciate about her. This keeps the friendship, the respect and the love for each other growing.

Lately, I have been putting a lot of time on financial education. I have always given myself a fairly good grade in this area but I realized how much space is still there to fill in. There is so much to learn on financial literacy and putting it off could mean a lot on your financial state down the road.

Thanks to my revived love for reading good books and to a great community, CA2020. I feel more and more confident in handling our finances.

I am also learning about God everyday. I believe my spirituality is a very important aspect of my being which needs constant development and improvement. And I thank my CFC-PA community for providing me the much needed spiritual guidance.

Learning is the process of acquiring anything that you still don't have. It could be new skill, new knowledge, new hobby or new mindset. As such, it is safe to say that learning is a never ending process. There is always something new to learn every single day.

There is this famous saying:

" The day you stop learning is the day you die." ~Unknown.

I realized that if this is the case, why don't I choose the things that I will learn? Why don't I invest my time wisely so I can grow into a better person? Why don't I stand up, pick up my mat, and make things happen?

Only in being a better you that you can be of more service to other people. The more knowledgeable you are, the better advices you can give. The more skillful you are, the better service you can provide. The richer you are, the more resources you can share.

Learning is fun. But sometimes, the process could be frustrating, disappointing, exhausting and to some extent devastating. But taking everything in strides, wearing the right attitude, surrounding yourself with trusted friends and having faith in yourself and in God will surely take you where you need to be. No excuses!

Whatever you are doing right now, you are in the process of learning something. So I suggest that instead of being a passive learner, be an active learner. Don't let others do the learning for you. Take charge and learn what you think will give you the most benefits. This way, you can be a blessing to others and you won't be obsolete.

And trust me, it feels so darn good!

So, what are you learning today?

"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." -- Jim Rohn

Have a blissful day!

The Power of 2

2010-04-06T21:20:00.007-04:00

After a brutal winter in our area, everyone is enjoying the sun and the warm weather. You can see lots of people outdoor in their tank tops and shorts. You can also hear more and more birds singing with increasing variety of tunes. Trees are slowly turning into colorful ornaments.

I and my wife decided it is a good time to give our cars the cleaning they deserve. So, yesterday early morning, I took them out of the garage and instead of taking them to the car wash, I took out the long-shelved water hose, car shampoo that I bought last year that had never been tried, and other cleaning paraphernalia.

I did the soaping, vacuuming of the interior and my wife did the rinsing and the cleaning of the floor mats. And we helped each other in drying the cars. We talked to each other while doing the chores. May it be for the purpose of discussing the task at hand or talking about future plans and family matters.

The cars were pretty dirty inside and out that it took us a few hours before we can finally put everything down and stare at the fruits of our labor.

How great it feels seeing your vehicles clean and shiny. But the best part of the whole exercise, in my opinion, is the teamwork that we put into it. I know it took us a while to complete the task but it would have taken us a lot longer with a lot more energy and stress if we didn't work together.

In almost every task in our life, having someone to share the load with always makes not just the work easier but the journey more enjoyable. It makes us accomplish more, eventually making us feel better.

Sometimes there are life experiences which are not to our liking. And having someone by our side can transform some disastrous incidents into manageable problems.

Do you like celebrating successes and grieving failures alone? Or would you rather share them with someone else?

"If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all will fail." -- Winston Churchill

Have a blissful day!

A lot of small things add up to a wonderful day!

2010-04-04T14:22:00.010-04:00

What did yesterday look like for you? Can you recall the happy moments that made it up?

You don't have to look for a single defining moment. Every segment of your whole day is made up of great memories.

Let me recount some that made up mine:

When I woke up in the morning and saw that my wife was beside me in bed. I felt the warmth of true love.

When the whole family sat around the table for every meal, I felt very blessed that we have food in front of us. I am appreciative that we had the opportunity to eat together as one family and that my wife always finds the time and energy to prepare the food for us.

When I played with my daughters, at my age, it was physically exhausting. But I felt the fun of being with them and seeing and hearing their giggles & laughter.

When I had to run to the grocery store to buy food & drinks for us and our visitor, how happy was I that I have the means to go there and get what we need. And got back home safe & sound.

When I and my wife spent some time together watching a movie at home. I felt very fortunate to have the resources to be able to watch a nice movie in the comforts of our humble home.

Some of these wonderful moments get repeated every day. And there are days that more get added up. So, how can't I look at each day with enthusiasm and joy?

My expectation of the next day is going to jump start my tomorrow. And normally, that expectation is based on the culmination of what happened today. If that's the gauge, I can't wait for the things to come day by day.

How does your tomorrow look like?

"Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don't collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don't really mean anything." - Norman Lear

Have a blissful day!

A cheap solution to an expensive problem :-)

2010-04-03T00:27:00.007-04:00

I have 2 daughters. The eldest, Argenysse, has just turned 12 and the youngest, Maxine, is turning 8 very soon. I can see that although they were raised by me & my wife (with some help from the grandparents), and they are exposed to the same surroundings, they are very different from one another in many aspects.

Argenysse is more refined, lady-like. She tends to do very well in school but has the tendency to procrastinate. And she adores meat a lot and abhors most fruits and vegetables. .

Maxine, meanwhile, is very energetic and a bit boyish. She likes to play physical with me and looks at me like I am a punching bag. She tries to finish her assigned tasks (homework) as soon as possible and she would rather eat vegetables and fruits than meat (she calls all kind of meat chicken).

But one thing they both like, as any other children their age do, is to ask their parents to buy them stuff. Stuff like toys, books, shoes, dress, etc. Whenever we go to a grocery store, mall or department store, they are so thrilled and start walking around like ardent hunters looking for a prey they can take with them home. But the real prey is dad's & mom's pocket.

So, to somewhat protect the prey from the looters, me and my wife decided that they can go on a shopping binge if they use their own money. And where do 2 students get their money from without pillaging the wallet and purse of their parents?

We have come up with the point system. For every task (household chore) done, depending on how easy or difficult the task is, points are given. And each point has a dollar equivalent. So, the advantages that we saw are:

1. The constant nagging of taking home a store victim has gone down considerably, although the youngest still practices her nagging ability from time to time, unfortunately, to some degree of success.
2. If they really want something, more household chores get done leaving the parents, especially my wife, extremely delighted.
3. They come to realize that you have to invest time, effort, talent & energy before you can really get an object of desire. Well, my youngest thinks that nagging requires time, effort, talent & energy just the same.
4. Sometimes they get competitive and they want to outscore one another, especially Argenysse. We put a piece of paper on the fridge door so they can easily see what each one's score is.
5. They take initiative and perform some chores that we don't even ask them to do.
6. We don't have to spend as much money as before satisfying our daughters' insatiable hunger for new stuff.

Doing this simple exercise has provided us a lot of good results. Maybe I will tell my youngest that I will give her points if she doesn't punch or kick me in a day.

We believe this will make our daughters more responsible especially in handling money. And all of these had made both me and my wife very very happy.

How about you? What practices have you put in place to curb your children's expensive urges?

I wish you all a blissful day!

What is Happiness

2010-04-02T02:48:00.007-04:00

What is happiness? Why is it every person's goal? If someone walks up to you and ask you to define happiness, how will you respond to the question?

According to wikipedia: "Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy."

Different religions have their own versions of happiness. Buddhism has "nirvana," and Catholicism has the "blessed happiness."

Numerous philosophers also came up with their own definition of the word.

The Muslim Sufi thinker Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) wrote the Alchemy of Happiness, a manual of spiritual instruction throughout the Muslim world and widely practiced even now.

The Greek Philosopher, Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), wrote about happiness in his work Nicomachean Ethics.

Science, of course, has its own versions. Psychology has positive psychology, the evolutionary biologist Bjørn Grinde presented it in his book, Darwinian Happiness.

I personally like one article written by Bo Sanchez about being happy. He mentioned that happiness and pleasure are two different things. He added that happiness is not the absence of problems nor happiness is an emotion. But rather, happiness is a way of life.

He came up with what he called the 7 tools of happiness which are as follows:

1. Happy people create their destiny

2. Happy people like themselves a lot

3. Happy people nurture connections

4. Happy people find delight everywhere

5. Happy people embrace change

6. Happy people trust deeply

7. Happy people work their purpose daily

I do agree with Bo Sanchez that there is no single ingredient for being happy. And happy people are people of strong characters.

In my own desire to be a happy person, I choose to follow a daily exercise where I will look into positive things that happen in my everyday life. I will be updating this website of the experiences, articles, movies, or anything that make me feel good. And it is also my hope that this exercise will develop into a good habit.

And as I embark on this journey, I am also hopeful that I can be able to help the readers to feel better by simply reading my blogs. So come and follow me.

I firmly believe that no matter how bad you think your day is, there is always something good and positive that you can get out of it. You just need to realize, recognize and acknowledge them.

Have a wonderful and blissful day!