What's It Worth?

Style Your Life

2010-11-17T02:24:00.000-08:00

We have a lot of interesting articles this week on naturalhealth.ph including some very interesting things by Dr. Cynthia Quismundo on how to teach your children to brush their teeth, Dr. John Cuay’s Total Transformation, and free Jurlique facials on beauty.naturalhealth.ph. Be sure to visit the different categories. We also have new products such as the Agnes Blue Candles, AMU’IN Essential Oils, and our new Naturalhealth.ph line of healthy whole foods.

Read the whole article on naturalhealth.ph

Brothers Bonifacio - The Beautiful End

2010-11-10T23:37:00.000-08:00

Things Change
Change is the process of becoming different. And life has changed for the Brothers Bonifacio, incredibly so the past few years. Gone are the care-free and care-less days of a wonderful childhood that had the stability of great parents in love, the entertainment of being in between a sarcastic genius older brother and an insane yet prophetic younger one, the convenience of having your best friends around you and next door, and the simplicity of not wanting anything more than time to play GI Joes and LEGO.

But, as I said, things changed.

My parents are still very much in love, but the stability of mine and my brothers’ lives will depend more on our own actions and decisions now as we grow into independence.
This is most obvious to me when I go out to eat.

When I was younger, without looking at prices, I always managed to choose the most expensive thing available. I can’t explain how. It was pure talent. I would walk into a cloth shop, know nothing about cloth, choose a pattern I like, and lo and behold, the heaviest price tag. We would walk into art shops and my parents would marvel at how everything I liked was way way way beyond our budget – our budget for several years. And this talent was most often displayed in restaurants.

These days the figures to the right have more of a say on what I order, simply because this time I’m paying and can’t afford to ignore the math.

Fair Females and Un-Fair Expectations
Another sign of the changing times is how we’ve complicated our lives with females.
While my brothers never really sought membership in my “female-haters” club, they weren’t exactly the biggest fans of the gentler gender. But even at a young age my dad tried to teach us the importance of choosing the right partner:

Pop: Guys. We have something important to talk about. Someday, when you get married, half of everything you own will belong to your wife. Meaning, half your GI JOEs, half your LEGO, and half of all your toys.

And the answers were telling:

Joe: I’ll just make sure that I marry someone I really really love, that way I won’t mind sharing everything with her.

Joseph was ridiculously good sometimes. We were kids when he said this. Imagine. Josh and I had to grow up next to the crown prince of virtue. I didn’t even like the thought of females touching my GI JOEs. There was this one time when the daughter of a family friend came over to play. I gave her Jinx, the female ninja GI JOE to play with. (I didn’t like Jinx anyway.) Then, as can be expected when a female gets involved, things got complex:

Ina: David, before your GI JOEs fight, we have to get married.
Me: What??? Are you nuts??? GI JOEs don’t get married.
Ina: Of course they do. Everyone gets married.
Me: NO!!! You’re a weirdo!
Ina: If you won’t marry me then give me another GI JOE I can marry.
Me: No way!!! None of my guys want to marry you!
Ina: How am I supposed to get married when you won’t give me anyone to marry?

I wouldn’t budge. I was the leader of my JOEs and I wasn’t about to sacrifice any of them on the marriage alter. But neither would she. She HAD to get married. Finally, we settled on Jinx marrying a purple Koosh Ball. And it all worked out well in the end. They lived happily ever after playing in their corner, while I went on to save the world with Hawk and Flint. I’m pretty sure Jinx and the Koosh would have had ugly kids.

I loved my GI JOEs, and that’s why when answering my dad’s little talk on marriage I said, “Forget it. I’m not getting married.”

But the best answer came from Joshua, “You won’t? I’m going to marry a billionaire.” He always was a smart guy.

My brothers have since found best friends from the enemy camp. I’m sticking to my limited treaties.

Yesterday my dad asked me before church, “David, of all your girl-friends, which one do you think would make the best wife for you?” I told him it was something I didn’t really think about, and that when I did think about it, there wasn’t really a problem with the females, it’s really more me that has work to do. He replied, “I’m asking you a simple hypothetical question and you’re not answering it. So who?”

And this section stops here.

The Beautiful End
I can’t tell you when exactly things changed, when our childhood ended and my brothers and I were required to become men. Like my dad’s favorite, Mr. Darcy said, “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew I had begun.” But I can tell you this:

God blesses us with beautiful surprises from the most normal and unexpected of places. And sometimes He does the opposite, taking away and bringing things to a close. But I’ve realized that the beginning and the end are two parts of the same blessing: one part to usher in the joy, and the other, to teach us to value what was.

I guess like the law of conservation of matter and of energy, things don’t really disappear, they just change to something else, dissipating to other things, hopefully better things. When you see endings this way, you realize that the end is never really game over, but the start of something new. Like the death of a seed is necessary for a plant to bloom, the end opens up new things, new opportunities, and new experiences.

And what turns every end, every close, every heartbreak, every loss, and every finish beautiful? The love, forgiveness, and redemption, and hope found in grace – God’s grace that turns any experience into a catapult to bring you to where He wants to take you.

And so this post, and the Bonifacio Brothers series, ends the only way it ever could – with a new beginning.

With a Little Help from My Friends

2010-11-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

My latest post on naturalhealth.ph: With a Little Help from My Friends

4 Turnaround Lessons

2010-11-03T03:46:00.000-07:00

I've spent most of the day looking at financial statements. One of the things I'm doing now is working on the turnaround of Issho Genki Interntional, the producers and distributors of the most trusted brand of Squalene (which is currently a small yet growing category). We're not completely out of the woods yet, but this last quarter is looking very positive for Issho Genki. We have improved enough to make me a little more comfortable with writing about the lessons we have learned from our mistakes. There are actually a lot of lessons I would like to share but I'll start with these four.

What Do You Love?
Squalene is a natural antioxidant which protects and enhances the body's cells. I've been taking the thing for about 15 years now and love the stuff. So aside from the challenge and necessity, loving the product was an attraction to me. I'm not really a salesman. I can't sell anyone anything. What I am is a highly contagious sick man. When I fall sick in love with something I'm going to infect you with it if you hang around me long enough.

Turn Around Lesson #1: Work on something you're passionate about. Turnarounds have a lot of baggage that can distract and discourage you. Working on something you're passionate about helps keep you motivated. While need is a great motivator, never underestimate someone who is madly in love.

Go Treasure Hunting
Issho Genki used to be a very popular supplement brand but dropped out of people's consciousness when management was not able to transition well into retail outlets. It's a classic case of a business that did well, overspent, didn't change relevantly, and descended. The good part though is there was a lot to work with such as the brand recall due to its, at the time I took over, 13 year existence, historically large distributor base, high-quality manufacturing base in Japan, and existing distribution relationships with Mercury Drug, Watsons, Dyna, and other retailers and customers. The most important thing the company had though was some really trustworthy and hardworking people that made the chance of a turnaround possible.

Turn Around Lesson #2: Look for the pieces of value. These are things you'll be able to work with and build on. What are the assets? (Of course depreciate accurately!) How much cash? (This is your blood. Even if people owe you, you run out of cash, you're dead.) Can you use your assets to generate cash? (Either through sales or as collateral) In our case, we didn't have any hard assets aside from a very nebulous concept of brand goodwill. We had no way of accurately measuring this so working with that was a step of faith. We also didn't have a lot of cash. We had a third of what we needed to survive month 1. (That month was very stressful for me!) But what we did have other than the brand were good people who made the sales happen and extended payables and stretched and stretched. Good people are always a great asset.

Cut the Fat
When I walked into my corner office on the 25th floor of a nice commercial building in one of Metro Manila's business districts I had the following thoughts in sequence:

1. Wow. This is cool.
2. This is really big. Too big.
3. This must be expensive.
4. This has to go.

One problem businesses have as they go along is that they take on too much fat. That's actually like us humans. Hehe. We take on so much unwanted baggage that weigh and slow us down, or worse, choke our organs which kills us. We had to do a lot of cost cutting in Issho Genki, more than a third of our operating expenses. This also meant there were contracts we could not renew, people we could not hire, perks we could not enjoy, and rewards that had to be differed. Of course not everyone was happy - including me. But you have to do what you have to do.

Turn Around Lesson #3: Cut the fat. Look in the mirror and see where everything is starting to sag and cut those parts out. (I'm in no way suggesting liposuction. I'm talking figuratively.) While Lesson #1 is to work on something you're passionate about, don't mistake the fat for the purpose. Fat are the unnecessary things or parts or even functions we've accumulated that no longer effectively contribute to your purpose or bottom-line. So to cut the fat you should have a well-defined purpose for your organization. I see this so many times in business and even non-profits where everyone wants to do everything, so there are so many people accumulating fat, and no one can recognize what's fat anymore because there is no clearly defined purpose. So define the purpose based on what's important to you (values) and what doesn't fit is fat. Cut that. Some people can afford to go on a diet. We couldn't. We had to have surgery. So we did just that.

Who's Your Daddy?

I was 23 years old when I took over a company that was closing down. When I look back I really had no idea what I was doing. They say that sometimes not knowing is actually better so that you don't know what to be afraid of. I don't know if that's true. I didn't know what I was doing, but I was really scared. More people would have seen it if my repertoire of facial expressions was more than just a smirk, but in my gut I was really really scared. I was scared because I knew that I didn't have what it takes to make this work, and this is what led me to what I consider my life's greatest lesson: Run to God.

Turn Around Lesson #4: This isn't from the business books, but it's really from my life manual: run to God and wait on Him. There were days when I would go to the office at 6am just to pray for a miracle. That somehow something would happen that day and we would live to fight another day. I would walk around our empty office and say "Father, please help Beth with the finances. Please help Guada with administration. Help Lolit with logisitcs." I would pray for everyone and everything, and guess what? Most of what I prayed for didn't happen. Hehe. But better things came along. Life lessons instead of quick profits. Humility instead of promotions. Contentment instead of abundance. Peace beyond understanding. These, along with the knowledge that my Father is watching over me, fixing my mistakes, redeeming my wrongs, forgiving my sins, and surely preparing a place for me, these are my profits.

Money is useful, but these experiences, they're priceless.

And life is not being able to afford the numbers on the price tags. Life is about enjoying the priceless things.

...By the way, sales are up and expenses are down. That's always a good sign.

Mercy

2010-11-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

While reading the Bible today on Bible Gateway, they have useful reading plans. I kept hearing the word "mercy" ringing in my head. "Mercy, mercy, mercy". Mercy is an important concept. Without it we would all get what we deserve, and if you're like me, full of thoughts and actions that deserve punishment, then we wouldn't last very long. But with mercy we're all still here, and more, with mercy we can still participate and experience the fullness of life.

So I looked the word up on my favorite etymology dictionary and saw this: "God's forgiveness of His creatures'offenses."

I think it's incredible to have a word so important to our existence so closely knit to God's character. Forgiveness is another powerful term. To forgive is to "give up the desire or power to punish". Why an all-knowing God will give up His desire to punish and why an all-powerful God will lay down his ability to do the same is beyond me.

I'm just very very grateful.

Scariest Halloween Ever!

2010-11-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Opened Facebook to see this on the news feed...

Look who's in a relationship...

Be Healthier By Doing Nothing

2010-11-01T01:29:00.000-07:00

I can’t say I’m a big fan of holidays, and the reason is, while I enjoy the breaks, it seems to ruin my momentum since everything stops. I have enjoyed having last Monday and today to rest because my workdays have really gotten very very busy and tiring. The culmination of all this work, with very little rest, and too much running and TRX work (yes, it is possible to over-train), was a week sick, and a red blot on my eye that seems to have been caused by high-blood pressure. 7-8 hours is the recommended amount. This is something I have to admit I fall way short of, and I’m learning now of the dangers of a weak immune system caused by having too little or no rest.

Read more at naturalhealth.ph

Brothers Bonifacio - Now Showing

2010-10-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

This is part of my ongoing series entitled Brothers Bonifacio. You can read more under Creative on my old site at davidbonifacio.com

Somewhere in Time
There is a dumb movie everyone seems to like called Somewhere in Time. I used to think Christopher Reeve was cool as Superman, but this movie killed it. I won’t ruin the story for you, go watch it, you might just like it. This is actually considered a classic and is the mother of all time-traveling romances (though one of the most implausible). I remembered it because I heard the main theme recently in a restaurant. Somewhere in Time by John Barry was one of my favorite pieces, and hearing it really made me miss having a piano at home. There’s already an empty room in my apartment where my piano will reside once I can afford one. If you don’t know what piece I’m talking about listen to it here.

I’m not really the type of person that misses things or people (though there are exceptions), but I do like to look back at great memories and remember the people that made these special moments. Memory is a powerful thing, it allows us to travel back in time and enjoy once more the beautiful things of the past. One of my favorite quotes is from J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, which goes, “God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.” That’s what I’m doing now as I lie on my couch typing this. I’m enjoying once more the warmth of our full home that fittingly is located on 28 Rosas Street.

I just noticed I used two Barries in one section. It doesn’t matter. I just noticed.

Anyway…

The Notebook
One of my favorite movies, and I don't know if I should say this, but I will anyway, is The Notebook. It's not my absolute favorite movie. Let's be clear about that. That would be Legends of the Fall. (Three loyal brothers, good-looking middle son, long hair… What's not to like?)

Despite it being written by the guy most responsible for making husbandry (not to be confused with farming) insanely difficult by planting all these rose-colored ideas in female brains, Nicholas Sparks, I like The Notebook because it's the story of two crazy people, crazy enough to fall in love, crazy enough to try, fail, crazy enough to try again, and crazy enough see it through.

Even at the end of the movie they're crazy. Something in her brain keeps her from remembering, and something in his brain keeps him around to remind her - everyday. Not exactly what I would call my dream life - or anyone's.

I was reminded of this kind of crazy after one our family lunches few Sundays ago. As has been happening more frequently, our conversion made its way to one of our inevitable topics: me and females. To be more accurate, me and my lack of them.

Joe: What about Isabel (I put this name randomly so don't get any ideas)?
Me: What about her?
Joe: She's nice. Pretty too.
Me: Yup.
Mom: Why are you guys so looks oriented?
Me: Do you want ugly grandkids?
Mom: har har.

-

Mom: My wish for you is that you marry someone who is moral and wise.
Me: Did you marry Pop because he was moral and wise?
Mom: No.
Pop: She married me for my looks.
Brothers Bonifacio: Hahahaha!

During the back and forth, Joshua went: I'm really happy I fought for Kristie.
Me: What do you mean?
Joshua: I'm really happy that even when no one approved of her we stuck it out.

My initial thought was: Wait until you have to feed her and watch your happy turn into a Happy Meal. But driving home later that evening, I thought about what he said. Joshua can be understatedly profound, and he brings a perspective to this performance-oriented brotherhood. He's a constant reminder to me that God has called us to love people.

And that's when I remembered The Notebook.

Because when I think about love, I don't think about the wisest and smartest people I know. When I think about love, I actually think about people who were so in love that they had gone beyond comprehension, as if they had gone crazy. When I think about love I think about the story of a boy who had nothing, a girl who should have known better but didn't, who put their trust in the greatest Love available to us, and didn't let anything get in the way. I'm talking about my folks by the way, and they just celebrated their 28th anniversary this month.

I know I'm known for being an Asian Professor Higgins, but I have to say, that really inspires me.

All You Can Do Is All You Can Do

2010-10-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize for not updating this column as regularly as I should. I’ve been very busy with my different involvements, particularly with our growing website naturalhealth.ph and the food supplement Issho Genki Squalene.

I’ve also been busy correcting a classic mistake of youth: over-extending, over-reaching, over-confidence, or in other words: over-stupidity.

Now that I’ve been working for about a decade (I started my first business when I was around 16 / 17 years old) I’ve realized that I could have saved myself the headaches, gas exhausted, money spent (mine and others), and time wasted on going for too many opportunities. Don’t get me wrong. Opportunities are great, but only if they’re the “right” ones. Here are some lessons learned from a life of over doing...

One Size Doesn't Fit All

2010-10-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

Wrote this for lifebiz.ph a few months ago.

It’s easy for us to be judgmental of others. I have to admit I catch myself having condescending thoughts of people who don’t meet a certain expectation or standard. Until we become the object of judgment then we’re all of a sudden hoping for more understanding and patience to exist in the world. I know I feel this way when I fail.

Sometimes the source of our being judgmental is when we take our own experiences and use it as basis to measure the lives of others. Sometimes we think that just because we did well at sales everyone else should. Or sometimes just because we understand things quicker, those who don’t are dumb or slow.

When the team was conceptualizing (or re-conceptualizing) LIFE Biz, we began by thinking about people in their work and careers. This led us to realize that we needed to go deeper than just jobs – we needed to address vocation.

Vocation is more than a job. It is a calling, by God, to be a certain person and to accomplish certain activities.

As we looked through the different stories of people in our community that have made a difference in their vocation we noticed some similarities:
1. All of them were different.

Some were young, others old. Some were men, others women. Some were businessmen, some were political leaders, some were soldiers, some were artists, and even others religious servants. Some inherited wealth, others started from nothing, some borrowed, and some had investors. Even as they all fulfilled their calling, they all did it in their own unique way.

The second thing we noticed was:

2. All of them were incomplete (or downright ruined) until God stepped-in.
As each of them traveled their own path, they all faced a wall, a personal dead end. Whether it was a financial challenge, an emotional one, something relational, or whatever, every single one of them hit a point of need that nothing they tried could address.

Until God stepped in. Until He made things beautiful in His time.

So we decided to avoid making the very common “one size fits all” mistake, which is, to take something and apply to everything without taking into account the differences in people’s experiences, backgrounds, circumstances, and attitudes. We have decided to stay away from the “dos” and “don’ts”, and “step by step guides”, and the “no fail formulas”.

We just want to encourage you by presenting stories and ideas of people who have answered their calling in faith, which means to take on responsibility, to take on failure, to take on criticism, to take on challenges, and believe that God’s grace is there working, preparing, creating, redeeming, transforming, correcting, revealing…

…Revealing. It’s that word again. God revealing Himself able to meet us where we’re at, with our own limitations and failures, and able to answer every individuals’ unique need. He knows that there’s more than one size, shape, color, and heart. He knows because He made us that way.

What I Do When I'm Sick

2010-10-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, while running with fellow runner, Butch Jimenez, and our new recruit, JB Delacruz, we got caught in the heavy rains of one of the typhoons. We were in the Heritage Memorial Park area in Fort Bonifacio when things started to get heavier and heavier so we still had a couple of kilometers to go before we were done.

It was a lot of fun running drenched with nothing but my Vibrams and a running belt keeping my sandwich bag covered iPhone dry and snug. (That’s a waterproofing tip for you. But it’s not fool-proof.) The day before, Saturday, Butch and I had done another evening 10k in the Fort area and this was a great way to cap the weekend.

Fast-forward to today, Wendesday, and I’m now feeling much better than Monday and Tuesday of red eyes, a sore throat, and an aching body. I guess all the late nights (not healthy), work stress (not healthy), and heavy exercising (not healthy when combined with the other two) was too much for my body. In short, though I hate to admit it, because this rarely happens to me, I’m sick!

So here are 3 things I’ve been doing (some you’ll find in this article on fighting colds):

Full article on Naturalhealth.ph...

Why?

2010-10-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Posted this on naturalhealth.ph. Naturalhealth.ph is a website I started to promote and support naturally healthy lifestyles. We don't have Whole Foods here and great natural products, though growing in popularity, are nowhere near the awareness that their chemical counterparts enjoy. This is our little way of changing that.

I'm now tying-in my life theme of VALUE to all my different involvements, which includes my blogs. So even while the initial posts are elsewhere they'll also be a fit here because why they may be of different industries, or looks, or forms, they will all still be about value and the things we treasure.

WHY?
Someone asked me recently, “If money was not an issue would you be working on this?” He followed this up by saying, “If you didn’t earn any money from this would you still be promoting health?”

And the answer is a loud “YES!”

Let me tell you why, because knowing the “why” many times helps us appreciate something better.

There are many “whys” in our lives, many reasons why we do or don’t do things. For most it’s this idea of survival. “I work hard so I can eat. I eat to survive.” For others it’s for money or the accumulation of things. “I need more” or “I want more so I’m working my butt off.” For some it could be the prestige of success, “I want people to respect me.” And for others something else, there’s a why, a reason, a motive for all the different things we do. But for me, it’s one word: VALUE.

Read full article on naturalhealth.ph...

My Guest Post for Liz Claudio: Never Say Never

2010-09-29T01:28:00.000-07:00

My friend and fellow blogger, Liz Claudio, asked me to do a guest post on her blog where she writes about her thoughts on learning, loving, living, and sharing. Here's a preview:

When I heard him say this I really felt something inside drop, not so much because he didn’t want to have kids, but more because of his reason: “I don’t want my children to experience what happened to me because of my dad. I don’t want to make them go through what my dad made me go through.” Here was this wonderful young man, smart, hardworking, determined, can run 5k in 15 minutes (that’s fast by the way), telling me that his reason for not wanting to have children was his fear of following in his father’s footsteps.

You can read the whole thing here: Never Say Never

An Infinite Number of Lives

2010-09-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Dinner Has Changed
The theme of Cinema Paradiso plays as I enjoy another late dinner by myself. I couldn’t have asked for better background music. I really enjoyed that movie, and the score is one of my favorites. Sometimes I feel like a character in a coming-of-age film, fortunately stumbling along through life experiencing all the mistakes, hurts, losses, and lessons along the way.

Life for me has changed a lot, and it has gotten very interesting – my catch-all word for stressful, challenging, worrying, stretching, strengthening, character building, and maturing. Most days start early in the morning with the sunlight acting as a natural alarm clock, then its prayer, oil-pulling, breakfast (when I remember), and off to work. I go through a list of things to do for Issho Genki, naturalhealth.ph, and some other opportunities, as well as taking some time for my non-profit involvements. Sometimes I have lunch but lately I’ve been forgetting, so I put an alarm on my phone to remind me, but I somehow messed-up the alarm so it rings at 4pm. I haven’t gotten around to fixing it. So aside from the granola bars I eat all day, dinner is really the only regular meal I have.

And even dinner has changed.

Just a few months ago, while still living in my parents’ house, I could expect a yummy home cooked meal every evening. These days, I usually eat at one of the cheap restaurants near my building or stick to a mixture of no-cook food on paper plates. I finally bought glasses last week, so now I can enjoy my favorite full-cream milk in something other than a plastic cup. Once in a while I treat myself to something a little more expensive, but it’s true what they say about earning your keep, when you’ve worked so hard you just don’t want to spend it away.

But despite having less conveniences, less food, less security (more like no security), and less of all the comforts I used to enjoy, I feel alive – and isn’t that what life is about? To do more than take up space on the planet, but to know and feel in your heart that you’re participating in this great story’s unraveling. That your living out your story within His-story.

That’s the one point I hope you catch in this post: live your story.

Live Your Story
I love stories. I love reading them, hearing about them, and watching them, and I love writing my own. And while I have my favorites, I’ve realized that all stories are incomparable. You can’t compare The Godfather to The Little Prince, neither can you say Il Postino was better than Legends of the Fall.

They’re all good stories.

But sometimes we do this with each other and ourselves, comparing stories and making pronouncements on which one’s better. Your story is better because you’ve made fewer mistakes. My story beats yours because I’ve traveled more. Your story isn’t worth anything because you don’t have money. You ruined your story when you were arrested, or when you got pregnant, or because you went bankrupt. We rank our stories according to conventions, unforgiving conventions that trap us.

But there’s no use comparing stories since every story is unique, and different, and special because every story is a life with a spirit, soul, and body, that’s maybe very differently oriented than yours but also created by God. I’ve decided to stop playing story judge. Instead, I’d rather be like a child that listens wide-eyed to everything from flying elephants and brave soldiers to martyrs and romances. It’s also helped that I’m more aware of my own limitations, stink, and weaknesses, and I want to be forgiving, hoping that someday people will be forgiving as well. Because when I’m really honest with myself, when I pray at night, all I can say is, “Father, here’s my story. It isn’t much. But it’s yours if you’ll take it. Please redeem it. Fix it.” There’s enough in my own story to work on. Why busy myself policing others?

Fathers of Three Boys
The man who delivers the paper to my parents’ house has been doing the same thing for a while. He used to come in a bike but now he’s upgraded to a scooter – one that’s big enough to hold him and his own 3 boys. I saw them once, packed tight one after the other on the scooter, and I wondered to myself what that must feel like. Then I had an impression, “It’s different isn’t it? It’s something else.”

I thought about that: “It’s different.”

Here was a man, just like my dad a father, of 3 boys too, working to put food on the table, married for sure, so many similarities but – different. They don’t have our cars but we don’t know the thrill of riding behind our dad on a scooter. They don’t have Bulla Bars in the freezer like my mom likes to have, but there’s something, many things actually, in their story that’s not in mine. It’s different. Again, it’s incomparable. One is not better than the other. It’s just different.

An Infinite Number of Lives
Wakes are supposed to be a sad place, not a time for inspiration. But a few weeks ago, while walking out of the wake of Chip’s brother, Jaco, I couldn’t stop thinking about the words printed on a photo of Jaco his mom, Tita Sony, handed me:

“There’s been an infinite variety of lives. Who’s to say his was any less worth living than all the others?”

There are an infinite number of lives. Yours, mine, lives of those who have gone before us, and lives waiting to begin, all different, all unique, all priceless, and all worth living just the same.

Thoughts on a Sunset Painted Windy Day

2010-09-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

Looking back,
To connect the moments,
That brought me to you...

Maybe it's a heart that was once broken
Maybe it's a promise unkept
Maybe it's the hope I lost forever
Maybe it's my fear of what's ahead

Maybe it's a dream I wish I'd woken
But I didn't and now regret
Maybe it's a step I should have taken
Maybe it's a shame I can't forget

Maybe a million things,
A million moments,
That brought me to you...
- Connecting the Dots

They say the lights of the fireflies are powered by memories, the memories of everyone alive and gone. And every night they fly back to this tree, to relive the closed eyes, and hands clasped, the kisses, and the moments long over.
- The Tree of Memories

Sometimes it's good to slow down. Sometimes it's good to stop completely. Even sometimes it's better to take a step back - like I am now as I write this. There's a lot of work to be finished, meetings to prepare for, emails to send, and numbers to crunch, but there's also a soul to rest and a spirit to fill, both of which I have taken for granted despite the fact that they're the parts of us that are eternal. But not anymore. I will remember to value these invisible treasures.

Moment #1: Fireworks
I remember being on a date once. It was her, me, and my slightly overweight wingman. We had climbed the fire escape ladder to the roof of her building and sat on a ledge. I remember her turning to me and saying, "Isn't this great?" "Yeah", I said "It sure is." And I really did think it was great, because when you like someone, as in really really like someone, every simple act or experience becomes a moment, a moment unforgettable.

"Do you know what would really be great?"
"What?" I asked her.
"Fireworks!"
I don't know why I said this, but I did, and I told her, "You'll get your fireworks."

And I'm not making this up, but a few minutes later the dark sky lit up as red and amber sparks rained down from the welding in the building across us - like fireworks. It was amazing. The timing was perfect. Her wish was granted and I was the handsomest man in the world to her.

But that was a long time ago. A lot has changed since.

Moment #2: Primavera
I remember walking through the almost empty Charles de Gaulle airport dragging my suitcase behind me. I had missed my overnight train to Madrid and had to catch the earliest flight in the morning to make it to my meeting. I was too tired to get a hotel for the evening and I didn't think it was practical to get a room for a few hours. I was being practical but only because I had to: I didn't have any money and the little I did have went to the only seat I could get: business class on Air France. That hurt, and that was before they lost my luggage. But I didn't know that then while I sat down on one of the benches. It wasn't long before I was surrounded by sleeping homeless guys. I don't remember being scared. I think I was too tired to get scared. I do remember that they didn't smell very pleasant. You're never too tired to smell stink.

But looking back, that misadventure was perfect. Sure it delayed my plans. Sure I got no sleep. Sure Air France lost my luggage. But I made it to my meeting, and not before seeing a golden-haired angel from a Botticelli painting behind the counter selling toothbrushes. And I had a thought, that maybe if I had made my train, I would have missed this most unassuming piece of divine art.

But that was just that. It was great. But it was just a visit to the museum.

Moment #3: A Sunset Painted Windy Day
I can still remember walking on the soft grass. I can still feel the wind dancing with my hair. I used to visit that place to escape my responsibilities, but today was different. Because as I looked at the setting sun sink into the darkening sky, I felt an impression in my heart tell me, "Do you see how beautiful that is? I painted that for you." And I took it all in, the light and dark blues blending with the grays, and whites, and violets, and vermillion and other kinds of reds, and oranges like the one from the fireworks. They were all there.

We walked down that hill with the painting frescoed into our minds.

Thoughts on that Sunset Painted Windy Day
As I drove home, I still couldn't get over it.

"You painted that for me?"

"I painted that for you. I paint every sky for you."

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

"But why?"

"Because you're mine."

That never used to make sense to me, how having someone was enough reason to make you want to make every moment special for him or her. But then I began to understand, and as I did I could feel every beautiful experience being relived and every regret redeemed because I realized, what I didn’t see then, that every moment, was made especially for me. Every welder’s spark, every delayed plan, every deferred hope, every embarrassment and every failure, every dream, every open door, and every lesson was and is made especially for me.

So tonight this post ends, and my midnight starts, by looking back at the moments that brought me to You.

Clarifications

2010-09-07T03:15:00.000-07:00

Some of you have probably seen the articles on the newspaper featuring me as an "MVP". This is part of Pharmaton's campaign to encourage more people to make valuable contributions to society. I liked the campaign because I've always believed that private institutions can and should use their resources to help the public good in a way that also makes sense from a marketing perspective. I say this because I believe that for any relationship to work, whether it's a marriage, a friendship, for work, or even for inter-organizational or inter-sectoral areas, it has to be a win-win situation. You cannot sustain a relationship when one party is always winning and the other is always losing. This is something we've always realized and respected in the foundations we are a part of: collaborate and look for a win-win. Based on the feedback and participation of people in the Pharmaton MVP campaign, I would say this is a good example of big business serving the public good as well as their private bottom-line - which isn't a bad thing since they're a business after all.

There are two things I want to say though regarding the campaign, two things I want to clarify. Sometimes, well actually, many times, media makes things bigger than they really are and more amazing than reality and that's why I'm writing this.

First things first, I didn't found or co-found Real LIFE. Dr. Joey Castro did when he started helping the students in Pasig. It wasn't called Real LIFE yet. It wasn't called anything. But the spirit of what would become Real LIFE began with him back then, and it's the spirit where seeds are planted. My involvement started when I graduated from the Ateneo and joined Dr. Joey to help "organize" (if that's what you call organizing) his program into a foundation that was named Real LIFE. I guess this is where the mixup happens, because not many people knew about what Dr. Joey was doing before the whole Real LIFE "institutionalizing" and "branding" took effect and had Doc and I closely associated. I want to be clear about this, not because this matters to Doc, the guy is the humblest man I know and doesn't care about these things, but because it matters to me that Doc gets the credit he deserves.

Second, aside from Doc's work, Real LIFE has grown as fast as it has thanks to the leadership of Lynn Nawata and our very hardworking team Sony, Vince, Rhia (who was our first team member), and Ariel. I recently had lunch with Doc and we were talking about how proud we are of this team, and how they've taken Real LIFE to a level of organizational excellence the two of us could never have brought it to. The Real LIFE Center stands today because of their handwork, as well as the dedication of Mailleen Hern who recently passed away. We have more scholars than ever because of them too. The LIFE Program exists because of their research and execution. Again, this doesn't matter to them, but it matters to me that they get the credit.

Some of you might ask, "So what was your part?" Well, I was the big-haired guy in the video. Seriously, the way I see it, Doc lit a candle, which I took and set a few hearts on fire, which Lynn and the team took and turned it into a flamethrower.

I'm writing this so that we won't miss the essence of the Pharmaton MVP campaign, which is all about celebrating the contributions of everybody and highlighting that each of us in our own way can make a difference. You don't have to do something big, you can start small. You don't have to be special, you're already a valuable part of the mix. I'm also writing this so that people don't start thinking I'm this super guy - which is an expectation I'm bound to let down. I'm just blessed to have worked with good people and to be a part of things greater than me. Other than that there really is nothing big about me.

Well, maybe except my hair.

Hellen

2010-09-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

I wrote this in August of 2007. I was 23 years old.

I was suppose to meet up with some friends but felt like I really didn't want to see too many people I knew, so I decided to have a quiet dinner with a book on global corruption (A Game As Old As Empire - read it, it's very interesting), and my journal to write and draw on. I went to look at art materials after (I'm suppose to be an artist now, so I can rationalize these purchases) and realized that the only color I needed was the color they lacked - White! I found it really interesting when the salesgirl tried to sell me something else in place of white:

Salesgirl: Sorry sir, we don't have white eh.
Me: That's alright. Thanks.
Salesgirl: We have a lot of black if you like.
Me: That's ok. Thank you.
Salesgirl: How about brown sir?

I figured it was late, and she had been working the whole day, that she no longer remembered that you can't paint a "white" flower with "black" or "brown" paint. I did appreciate her very pleasant attitude and willingness to help me. (Maybe she thought I painted with bleach.)

My last stop was suppose to be a bookstore that I frequent on lazy nights. The manager is very friendly and never fails to ask me what my new "escapade" is, and always asking questions about Afghanistan. He's much older, turning 59 this year I believe, and reads about almost anything (this is why we get along). Since it was nearing closing time I asked him if he would like to have coffee for a bit. He thought that was a good idea, closed shop, and we sat down with some cappuccino for him and tea for me.

I had a great time conversing with him on a multiple of disciplines and arenas, from art, to classical music and opera, to history, religion, and polictics and economics. In conversations like this, I prefer to listen and ask questions. By virtue of the fact that the guy has been alive more than twice as long as I have, he's got to have more to say. I found his stories very interesting, and I was happy to talk to someone who appreciated Debussy, Saint-Saens, Hosseini, and Chernow as much as I.

Then I asked him if there was a family he went home to, and he said there was none. That really changed the mood of things. Sometimes I wonder why I ask these things. Reminds me of when Stephen and I grilled one of his employees on which of his two girlfriends he loved more. (That's a differnt story.)

He told me that he had never gotten married. I asked him why not, and I will never forget his answer, nor the longing in his face as he told me, "There was someone once. She was a ship that came and passed. What went wrong? We started thinking about the 'what fors' and lost the 'what ifs'." I appreciate style, but I normally like to talk in English, so I asked him to explain.

We talked about how at the start of things, their relationship was all about the what ifs. It was all about the possibilities. "What if we do this? What if we take a trip? What if we settle down here or buy a house there?" Everything was an option as long as they were together. But the realities of life eroded what they had, and the impracticality of the possibilities removed initial considerations. Situations and circumstances proved less than ideal. At the end of it all, they found themselves questioning what they had. "What is all of this for? Is all the effort worth it?"

I guess they didn't think so. They'd probably be together if they thought otherwise.

He did leave me with some take home. He told me, "Never trade the possibilities for the practical compromises. Mediocrity is Monstrosity. You can not settle. All the masters, from painters to singers to athletes to heroes, there is a passion, almost an obsession, for something, sometimes something unattainable. That is why they're masters. Either you give it everything or you don't. When you hold back, your expectations will never be met, and you will inenvitably question what, that thing you once enjoyed, is for." (I never got to ask him if he noticed that a lot of the "masters" were depressed and quite unstable. He could have told me that the "what ifs" are basically his stylized way of talking about the possibilities, and the "what fors" are the questions he asked when things got difficult. )

I paid for the bill and I thanked him for an interesting conversation. Then I went home, tried to type this blog, practiced piano, and went to bed.

I remember asking him what her name was.
Lost in his thoughts, with a faraway look, he told me, "Her name was Hellen."

Sakura

2010-08-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

I like waking to sunlight streaming through my window. I like to think of it as Heaven's way of saying good morning to me. But there are times when the mornings aren't good, and the rest of the day doesn't really improve, and the evenings, sometimes they are like capstones on a grave.

But to live is to wakeup everyday, and to wakeup is to wakeup to reality - the parts we enjoy and the parts we don't.

The past few months, since I moved out, I have gotten into this habit of just lying on my bed and staring at the metallic form of a fire sprinkler on my ceiling. Every evening before I sleep and every morning, I take some time to stay this way, staring up, lost in my thoughts - and there's a forest of thoughts to get lost in.

Maybe that's why my hair grows out in all directions, like extensions of my dendrites. Anyway...

One of the thoughts I've been thinking about is the idea of "the end". Not necessarily death, but the conclusion of something.

Everything ends. Everything has an expiry date. Everything has a limit.

But let me share a simple thought I had when visiting my friend Mark's mother on her last days at Medical City. I'm hoping it will help you as much as it has helped me.

Early one morning, I got a call from Mark asking me if I could ask my dad to pray for his mom. She had been fighting cancer for many years, praying, getting healed, improving, relapsing, and suffering again, but always in faith, and always with that peace beyond all understanding. My dad couldn't go so I went instead. Mark is a friend, and his mom, Tita Charrie, is an amazing woman. I had visited her before when she could still talk, and she was always very engaging and hopeful. But that morning, when I walked into her room I knew something was very different. Her family was not there during the short period that I visited, they had to do a few things but were on their way back, so it was just Tita Charrie, the nurse, and I. My heart sank leaving a hollow feeling on my chest. And through that pit drained the little faith I had left.

I thought to myself, "God, how could you let this happen? Where is the reward of faith? Where are the answers to prayers?"

I couldn't bring myself to pray, it just didn't seem like any of my petitions would be answered anyway. So I sat down on the bench beside her bed, and leaned my head on the wall while I gathered myself. As I turned my head, to my right, sitting on the window ledge, I saw a tiny light violet clock. On its face was its brand: SAKURA.

Sakura. I recognized that word. I had encountered it many times on my trips to Japan. Sakura is what the Japanese call Cherry Blossoms, and every year thousands of people go out to see the Sakura in a tradition that is locally known as Hanami or "flower viewing".

They celebrate because the Sakura, the Cherry Blossoms, represent spring. New life.

"Open your eyes, David. New life."

I like how God can get His word through to even the most stubbornly deaf of people - people like me. He knows exactly what to say and He knows exactly how to get your attention.

So I leaned forward, put my hand on her leg, and prayed a simple prayer, because the complex ones seem to be beyond me, "Father, bring new life to this situation." I can't forget how she turned her head to look at me, smiling through the tube in her mouth, she lifted her arm slightly and waved. Looking back, she was probably saying goodbye, saying it the way we do to friends we know we're going to see again.

I left that morning reminded of what Tita Charrie always knew, that even as the seasons change and bring many things to an end, because life and all it contains is fleeting, there is a Spring that ushers in new life, an amazing life without end.

Ladies & Gentlemen Your Response Please

2010-08-13T09:15:00.001-07:00

Once in a while, we find the past making an appearance in our present. Like a movie flashback we find ourselves reliving a memory long dormant and forgotten.

That's exactly how I felt standing in front of one of the halls in Teachers Camp, Baguio. As I looked through the dusty windows of the empty room, I remembered very vividly a scene from many year back as a young nervous boy:

It was the night of the camp ball, I had been selected Mr. Campference, and as is the tradition, I was to have the first dance with the year's Ms. Campference - a much taller girl. Growing up, I was always the smallest in my class. I was tiny come to think of it. I can't begin to describe how scared I was to walk out there and dance with a giant of a female in front of everyone. To me, back then, that was the scariest moment of my life.

I still feel that way, like a schoolboy dancing with responsibilities much too big for him. Sometimes as the music plays, the weight of supporting her through the dizzying turns and steps can get very tiring.

People ask, "Why take on responsibility in the first place? Why bear the burden for others? Why complicate your life?" I don't really have an answer for them. I see responsibility differently.

To me, to be responsible is to respond. Respond to what? To the needs of people around us and also to the opportunities presented. It's like that yema boy I wrote about, who, without saying a word, asked me, "David. David. Your response please?" Or when I was asked to join Habitat for Humanity or Real LIFE, "David. David. Your response please?" How do you know that you're the one to respond? You'll know if you're listening, because need and opportunity call you by name. But you have to be listening because everyday there are calls coming out for help, for food, for a chance, for forgiveness, for leadership, for strength, for hope, for love. There's so many calls that you're bound to hear one calling you specifically and you can't miss it, because it's saying your name over and over and it's asking, "your response please."

So for those of you responding I'd like to encourage you with what I shared in Baguio, in that same room that once scared me. Here are 5 short points on HOW to respond.

1. Make love our motivation - While we respond to need and opportunity, let it be our love for people or our passion for a concern or cause that drives us. There are so many needs and so much opportunity, a good way to know which one is for us is to check our heart and ask ourselves, "Do I love this?"

2. Make vision our guide - To respond to a need or opportunity usually means to enter a situation that's not ideal - probably far from ideal - and that's why there's a need or opportunity in the first place. There's something missing, something we can bring to the picture. That's why we have to see the big and greater picture, a picture we remind ourselves when things get challenging - and they always will because nothing worth doing is without challenge.

3. Make discipline our practice - Our passion and our vision should lead to consistent action. This is one area I need a lot of improvement in. It's nice and fun to be involved in something we like. It's nice and fun to dream big. But it's the daily steps and ceaseless plodding that takes us closer and closer to these targets. Unless love and vision are applied in action, they will never produce the masterpieces they were intended to create.

4. Make joy your strength - There is a different energy that comes over us when we're enjoying what we're doing. Our work becomes fun, and what's fun we can sustain longer. Responsibilities don't always have to be tiring and tedious. We can enjoy the growth, the learning, the discovery, and relationships.

5. Make faith your hope - No matter how motivated we are, no matter how grand our precise our vision, no matter how disciplined we are, and no matter how much satisfaction we derive, we will all face a challenge that's much much much bigger than us. This is why we need faith in God, that we know we can place our hope in Him and trust that what is too big for us will never be too big for Him, not our responsibilities, not our limitations, not our sins, not our failures, nothing.

As we traveled back to Manila after just 6 hours in Baguio, I was filled with a gratefulness to God for even including me in this amazing thing He has designed called life. I know I don't deserve a spot on the team. I would never make the cut. When I'm very honest with myself I'm reminded, that if I were to take them, I'd fail the leadership test, the integrity test, the faith test, and the excellence test. But that's the amazing thing. Despite all my shortcomings, there's a call with my name on it, and it's not asking if I'm ready. It's asking for a response.

My Big Mistake

2010-06-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

This is the introduction to the upcoming My Big Mistake column to be launched in July.

My Big Mistake

"The business of making a difference is not exclusive to the perfect - in fact, if you were to look closely at the people who have made some of the biggest contributions to humanity, you'd almost think it's exclusive to the imperfect and to seriously flawed people - and you'd be right. Because these are the ones who took chances, made mistakes, suffered consequences, learned, made more mistakes, more consequences, learned more, and ended up with…

… discovery. I love that word. Partly because it starts with the letter "D" (which is absolutely my favorite letter), but because it means something was unveiled. That in the process of stepping out, falling, hurting, learning, rising, and on, something was revealed, a truth that gives you another chance, another better chance. And when that truth is spread it shares that better chance with others."

- David Bonifacio, Housekeeping

I'm very excited to have this column to share with you one topic I can confidently say I have much experience in: mistakes. When we talk about mistakes, we're not just talking about Decisions and their subsequent Actions, but we're looking at a more specific classification, which is "Wrong Decisions and Wrong Actions".

Mistakes are about wrong decisions and wrong actions - and I make a lot of wrong decisions, and because of this, do a lot of wrong actions. So this makes me quite fit to be your tour guide through this gallery of mistaken individuals that we will feature.

Sometimes I find myself caught between who I want to become, who others want me to become, and the limitations and flaws of who I really am. And sometimes I see the giants of an industry, or a sector, or a really successful, or behaved person, or just someone who appears to have it all together, and I think to myself, "How am I ever going to be like that? Will I even ever be like that? I can't even pay my bills!"

Many of you probably can relate.

So this column takes a closer look at these "giants" in their respective vocations, and as we peel off the perceptions, we'll find people, like you and I, and as is the case whenever there are people, we'll find mistakes.

But more than the mistakes, and errors, and boo boos, and trips, and sins, and consequences, and hurt, and pain, and regrets, and "never agains", what I would really like to focus on are two words:

Discovery, no wait, something better - Revelation, that God is revealing things to us through our mistakes. He's teaching us lessons, strengthening us, and making us realize what's really important, but most of all, even in the midst of our mistakes, and the consequences, if we look to Him we find He's revealing Himself to us. This gives me hope, hope I hold on to, that even if I fail to meet the expectations of my family, my employees, my church, my non-profit family, and all the other people who look to me, those who look up to me and down, that I just need to go back to His light and get a fresh revelation of His love.

Which brings us to our next word:

Redemption. Redemption is a beautiful word. It's a heroic word. It's a word that reminds me, "David Bonifacio, broke and bankrupt by his mistakes, (his many many mistakes known and in secret) but redeemed by His love." When we talk about redemption, there is an aspect of value, that when something is re-deemed, it is re-judged and re-evaluated. Maybe some of us have been deemed, judged, and evaluated as failures, or losers, or bankrupt, or indebted, or poor, or greedy, or a cheater, or lazy, or stupid, or corrupt, or unscrupulous, or whatever, but there is hope as we shall see, and we can be re-deemed, re-judged, and re-evaluated as forgiven, accepted, and valuable.

These articles are more than just a showcase of mistakes, they're stories of Revelation and Redemption, and sometimes a series of revelations and redemptions, and forgetting, and another round of revelations and redemptions. And you can call that a roller coaster if you'd like, I prefer to call it LIFE.

The Dying Art of Thinking

2010-05-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

Got this from my friend Mark Baretto. It's by Ravi Zacharias, one of my favorite writers. I highly recommend that you read this.

The Dying Art of Thinking
The 17th-century French philosopher Rene Descartes (pronounced Day-Kart) is best known for his dictum, "I think, therefore, I am." A cynic may well quip that Descartes actually put des cart before des horse, because all he could have legitimately deduced was, "I think, therefore, thinking exists." I do not intend to defend or counter Cartesian philosophy; I only wish to underscore that thinking has much to do with life and certainty.

One of the tragic casualties of our age has been that of the contemplative life—a life that thinks, thinks things through, and more particularly, thinks God's thoughts after Him.

A person sitting at his desk and staring out of the window would never be assumed to be working. No! Thinking is not equated with work. Yet, had Newton under his tree, or Archimedes in his bathtub bought into that prejudice, some natural laws would still be up in the air, or buried under an immovable rock. Pascal's Pensees, a work that has inspired millions, would have never been penned.

The Bible places supreme value in the thought life. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," Solomon wrote. Jesus asserted that sin's gravity lay in the idea itself, not just the act. Paul admonished the church at Philippi to have the mind of Christ, and to the same people he wrote, "Whatever is true . . . pure . . . if there be any virtue . . . think on these things."

The follower of Christ must demonstrate to the world what it is not just to think, but to think justly. But how does one manage this in a culture where progress is determined by pace and defined by quantity?

What is even more destructive is that the greatest demand comes from neither speed nor quantity, but rather from the assumption that silence is inimical to life.
The radio in the car, Muzak in the elevator, and the symphony entertaining the "on hold" callers add up as impediments to personal reflection. In effect, the mind is denied the privilege of living with itself even briefly, and is crowded with outside impulses to cope with aloneness.

Aldous Huxley's indictment, "Most of one's life . . . is one prolonged effort to prevent thinking", seems frightfully true. The price paid for this scenario has been devastating. T. S. Eliot observed:

"Where is the life we have lost in the living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information ?
The cycles of heaven in twenty centuries
bring us farther from God and nearer to dust."

Is there a remedy? May I make some suggestions for personal and corporate benefit?

Study God's Word
Nothing ranks higher for mental discipline than a planned and systematic study of God's Word, from whence life's parameters and values are planted in the mind. Paul, who loved his books and parchments, affirmed the priority of Scripture: "Do not go beyond what is written." Psalm 119 promises that God's statutes keep us from being double-minded.

Read Great Books
The English-speaking world is endowed with a wealth of books. But much contemporary literature comes perilously close to a promiscuous religion with an appeal for the "feel better" syndrome, rather than the impetus to "go deeper."
Read authors who stretch you and introduce you to other writings as well. Great writers stimulate your capacity to think beyond their ideas, spawning fresh insights and extensions of your own. Good reading is indispensable to impartation of truth. An expenditure of words without the income of ideas leads to conceptual bankruptcy.

Challenge the Mind
The church as a whole, and thepulpit in particular, must challenge the mind of this generation, else we betray our trust. The average young person today actually surrenders the intellect to the world, presuming Christianity to be bereft of it. Many a pulpit has succumbed to the lie that anything intellectual cannot be spiritual or exciting.

Thankfully there are exceptions. When living in England, our family attended a church pastored by Roy Clements, one of the finest preachers in the western world. Every Sunday at two morning services he preached a one-hour sermon to a packed auditorium.

Cambridge, being rife with skepticism, demanded a meticulous defense of each sermon text from the assaults of liberalism. An introduction of a technical nature would take up to 15 minutes of his time before he entered into the heart of his message.

I mention this to say one thing. When we were leaving Cambridge, Nathan, who was nine years old, declared the preaching of Roy Clements to be one of his fondest memories. Even as a little boy he had learned that when the mind is rightly approached, it filters down to the heart. The matter I share here has far-reaching implications. We do a disservice to our youth by not crediting them with the capacity to think. We cannot leave this uncorrected.

This is our first issue of Just Thinking. It is our hope that this newsletter will challenge your mind and stir your heart. After all, it is not that I think, therefore, I am, but rather, the Great I Am has asked us to think, and therefore, we must. And we must serve Him with all our minds.

Lessons by Francisco "Butch" Bautista

2010-05-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

"As a long-time collector of sunsets, cool breezes, and walks on the beach, I readily identified with what my friend was saying."
- Butch Bautista

Sometimes when we look at the dysfunctions of society, we see a lot that could have been addressed earlier if we were just fathered better. And since not everyone of us is born with fathering fathers, we should seek spiritual fathers and mentors. I'm glad my own father has pointed me to different people to learn what he could never teach me.

Tito Butch Bautista emailed this to me December of last year. I am very very very grateful to God for Tito Butch because of all the things I've received because of this friendship. I remember one time when he bluntly told me to focus and to stop chasing every opportunity that comes my way.

I've improved a little in that area - though I am getting better. I need a lot of improving in a lot of areas.

This next lesson though I took to heart, and I've made it my goal to live simply.

Lessons by Francisco "Butch" Bautista

"Some of the best things are blindingly simple, and they're usually based on truths."

Advertising man Dave Droga's statement summarizes how I have lived my life, and how I try to live the rest of it.

No-frills living starts with basic belief. A priest accidentally led me to God. It was my first confession: I was six, braving a mandatory Catholic rite of passage. I had barely memorized the ritual prayers, so I mumbled in nervous supplication at the confession booth. Suddenly the huge priest stormed out of his sacred cubicle and bellowed in my face. "Go home," he was red, "and come back when you have memorized the prayers." My heart stopped.

I remember thinking why I had to memorize words to talk to God. I asked myself how the same prayers said over and over again could erase my sins. And I was so scared to go back to the man in the box. I decided to talk to God directly. I prayed at bedtime. I talked to God in church during mass which I continued to attend with the family, or anytime I wanted to ask for something.

I asked for few things. Some were as childish as a gold medal in a high school contest, some were big things like healing and long life for my parents, protection from accidents for the whole family. But I remember all of them were heard, and granted. As my batting average grew, my tolerance for the superfluous shrunk. I was getting results talking to God directly, so why memorize names of saints, their birthdays, their specialties, and similar stuff? Why even go to mass?

Growing up I found that if I focused on one or two things I really enjoyed, I could be good at it. School work was a breeze because I loved to read and write papers anyway, and I didn't care about grades. I tried the violin, guitar, drawing, basketball and tennis, even boxing gloves and a speedball my father gave me but gave up because I was lousy at them. So I kept things simple. My car, of course, was a VW Beetle, then a Toyota Corolla. I had only one girl friend and married her after a year; she's still my wife after 42 years. Sure, problems mushroomed along the way, but I stuck to the main point: Keep it simple.

People who can facebook, paint toenails, listen to rock, and do homework while texting amaze me. I am essentially a one-at-a-time person. Multitasking confounds me. Can we really do everything? Some people can, though, and I admire them.

I have long ago given up on pleasing everyone. Is it even possible, or worth it? Can we be
everything to every one? Any one?

"Believe," we are told many times, "and you will have eternal life." Can it be that easy? Some of us still doubt.

I also learned something about accumulating stuff.

When a good friend decided to consolidate his homes in Manila, Hong Kong, and San Francisco into one residence, the clutter he collected through years of living in three houses could have filled a small Home Depot. He had beds, tv sets, refrigerators, stoves, appliances, pans and cutlery, furniture, tons of clothing and shoes for four seasons, golf and fishing gear, hundreds of books, many of them same titles purchased from airports throughout
the world, thousands of tools, gadgets, artifacts and other remnants of profuse spending. He had retired in his mid-forties and was planning to build the rest of his life around golf and fishing in Malaysia, New Zealand, or the Caribbean.

Amid this wealth of confusion, he told me, "You know one thing I discovered? Only a few things really matter to me: a couple of shirts, two pairs of jeans and my Swiss army knife." This from someone who had everything.

As a long-time collector of sunsets, cool breezes, and walks on the beach, I readily identified with what my friend was saying.

"I know. I've always lived like that," I said. "I have nothing, so I simplify."

It is blindingly simple. All we need is an audience of One. Jesus distilled a dam of 613 rules into two drops of living water.When you get down to the basics, nothing could be more basic.

Busy Online and Off

2010-05-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to blog lately. I've been so busy. I do add short pieces to http://thoughtsofalostboy.blogspot.com/ and I do answer your questions on http://www.formspring.me/dbonifacio. People ask me why I "waste" time with all these online things, and the answer is very simple: the world is changing, and it's changing at a faster pace, it's important that we're able to adapt or at the very least be aware of what these changes are and appreciate their current or potential relevance to our society. Here's a rundown of the different ways you can find me online

http://www.davidbonifacio.com is my catch-all site that combines all my different interests and activities. I can't say it is optimized yet. I'll get around to it.

http://www.davidbonifacio.blogspot.com is where I place my thoughts on value and the things we treasure. This is also where I use a lot of business and history examples, as well as talk a lot about social development and community service.

http://www.thoughtsofalostboy.blogspot.com is my "sap blog" of prayers, poems, songs, short thoughts, and more romantic interests. The title is inspired by J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, which is the story of a boy who never wanted to grow up.

http://www.formspring.me/dbonifacio is the newest addition to online activities, and is turning out to be one of the most interesting and entertaining. Here you can post questions or comments you'd like to send me. I'm apologizing in advance if I'm not able to answer all your questions but I'm committing to answering questions at least once a day.

And of course there's Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter, and you can just look for davidbonifacio.

For those of you who don't care, which is probably most of you, my next post might be of more interest to you. I'm entitling it "What's the Bottom Line?"

Wait for it.

John Mackey's Letter

2010-04-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Got this from Jim Ayala. It's a letter Whole Foods founder John Mackey wrote to his team. He is a good example who valued a purpose greater than money.

John Mackey Letter to Whole Foods Team Members

November, 2006

To All Team Members,

The tremendous success of Whole foods has provided me with far more money than I ever dreamed I would have, and far more than is necessary for either my financial security or my personal happiness. I continue to work for Whole Foods not because of the money I can make, but because of the pleasure I get from leading such a great company, and the ongoing passion I have to help make the world a better place, which Whole Foods is continuing to do.

I am now 53 years old and I have reached a place in my life where I no longer want to work for money, but simply for the joy of the work itself and to better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart.
Beginning January 1, 2007, my salary will be reduced to $1 per year and I will no longer take any other cash compensation at all. I will continue to receive the same benefits that all other team members receive, including the food discount card and health insurance. The intention of the Board of Directors is for Whole Foods to donate all of the future stock options I would be eligible to receive to our two company foundations: the Whole Planet Foundation and the Animal Compassion Foundation.

One other important item to communicate to you is, in light of my decision to forego any future additional cash compensation, our Board of Directors has decided that Whole Foods Market will contribute $100,000 annually to a new Global Team Member Emergency Fund. This money will be distributed to team members throughout the Company based on need when disasters occur (such as Hurricane Katrina last year).

With much love,

John Mackey

Before She Goes Away / Simple Rules to Live By

2010-04-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

Before She Goes Away
Every day all of us move one step closer to our inevitable end. With each hour, minute, and second that passes, we are another hour, another minute, another second nearer to death.

Every time I think about the end, I think about the time in between birth and death because that's the portion that matters. And when you look at the facts you'll find that the current generations live longer than the people who lived in the past. The world average today is at 67.2 years which is much longer than that of the early 20th century (30-45 years), medieval times (30-35 years), or the historical Greeks and Romans (28 years). In other words, you and I have more time to enjoy life, to make a contribution, and to leave a legacy - that lasting representation we pass on to the next generation. So make the most of it. Like the girl that got away, time is impossible to replace.

Now you're wondering, "Who got away from you David?"

... If you really have to know, her name is Cording, and she was an incredible cook.

Simple Rules to Live By
Saturday morning is my time for the kids at the Real LIFE Center in Pasig. For those of you who haven't volunteered yet, visit this site: www.igivetolife.com and start converting your earthly resources into real treasures. (See my last post on How to Make Your Money Last Forever http://bit.ly/bXgYiX) If you can't make it donate something. (Like a nice sound system) Haha! Shameless plug - but for a good cause!

The past few months, I've been privileged to meet with some of the older kids at the corner McDonalds to talk to them about God. I've had to adjust my non-existent budget to accommodate the appetites of 10 kids but it's worth it. Besides, I'd rather treat kids than a date since they're more grateful and not so expensive.

Because they are kids, I've had to simplify the communication of the Biblical principles we talk about. Sometimes we forget that a principle is a seed, and it's only when it is planted can it one day give birth to proper action. If you're wondering why people aren't acting right check these three things: is the right seed/principle planted? Was it planted/communicated correctly? Has it been given time to grow? The goal with these kids is that someday they'll outdo, outrun, outbuild, outdream, outgrow, and outshine me, so I really work on the seeds and the planting, trusting that God will help the principles bear fruit in their lives.

So I'd like to share 3 of the simple lessons we've talked about (on the days we are actually discussing something and not playing basketball or Counterstrike). Who knows? They may turn out to be fruitful seeds.

1. Parating magpasalamt sa Diyos (Always be grateful to God) - I wanted this to be the foundation of their outlook in life, that they always recognize that God is good.

2. Ibato sa Diyos (Throw it to God) - This is an alternate title for the only thing this mistake-riddled person can preach about: Run to God. Whatever you're facing, however you're feeling, run to God.

3. Magtanim ng pagmamahal (Sow love) - Spend every chance you can to sow love into someone's life through kindness, generosity, and even discipline and perseverance. What you love you will value and protect, and when you sow love you tell others that you will value and protect them.

A Glimmer of Gold
Many times after meeting, I notice the kids still holding on to uneaten hamburgers, saving it for their siblings who don't share their fortune of eating in a fastfood. And when I see this I know, I know for sure, that the seeds planted will grow into something amazing. It's a scene that makes my morning and my day. It's a good reminder that life is full of these golden moments. Sometimes, all it costs is a box of chicken nuggets.