一期一会

一期一会 
(A Once In A Lifetime Encounter)

We should always treasure every encounter for they happen once in a lifetime only. Treasure every person who walks in and out of your life. Appreciate things no matter how big or small they are. Cherish every moment you spend with someone for that conversation may never happen again.

 

Stagnant

The water is stagnant
It does not flow
It stays in place
It neither moves backward nor forward
I wonder if it really does not want to move and explore other places
Is it satisfied with where it is right now
Is it satisfied with its current situation
Does it want to move forward?
Does it want to move but still being held back by doubt?
Is it scared to explore other places?
Is it lazy?
Is it its choice to be stagnant?
Does it stay stagnant because it had no other choice?

No one can tell.

 

Things to accomplish before this year ends…

I want to do a lot of things but I can’t do everything at once. I selected some of my goals which I feel (believe) I can accomplish by the end of the year. Here’s a list!

Things to do/accomplish before this year ends:

1. Go on a trip to Puerto Prinsesa with the family/relatives and visit the Underground River
2. Travel abroad (anywhere XD)
3. Study again… 2nd degree? I’m really interested in IT recently.
4. Spend more time with family —> go home more often
5. Spend more time with my wonderful friends… Freelancers! 百年目の卵!
6. Learn how to swim and how to ride a bicycle
7. Perfect at least 15 yoga poses >_<
8. Start a new hobby! (knitting? photography? IDK)
9. Become rich LOL

…still have 6 months to do them all…

I do have long-term goals but I’m gonna write them on a separate post.

I think public declaration of goals is important because it motivates a person more (this is just my opinion). Let’s see how far I can go with this list.

Do you have short-term goals you want to accomplish? I believe that knowing what you want, setting goals, writing goals and accomplishing them are important to have a more meaningful life…

***

Today, I met and had coffee with a friend. I haven’t seen him for about 2 or 3 years so we had a really good time talking about random things. We didn’t notice the time so I got home really late (almost midnight O.o). Now, I’m left with some unfinished tasks. Gotta work more before sleeping (not a good thing but for today, I don’t really have a choice, do I? T.T). But I’m glad to see my friend again because our conversation somehow made me remember my goals in life.

*my brain isn’t working… I’m so sleepy… haha! But I gotta work! Whooooooo!

 

 

Arashi!

My life isn’t normal these days. There are many things missing but there are also a lot of new things that come. My internet connection was down for almost 2 weeks. The great thing is that the technicians finally came today (after a very long wait) to fix it. Yay! I can have my life back. LOL. Just kidding. I have life outside the internet.

Anyway, since I had a couple of free hours each day for I couldn’t work on my part-time jobs, I went back to my old habits – watching Arashi videos. I realized that it has been a while since I spent time watching Arashi – my favorite idol group and my first inspiration to study Japanese. 

Watching their dramas, variety shows and PVs brought back a lot of memories. I remembered how my friends and I used to have “himitsu talks” over the weekend and talked about random things – just having fun together. I remembered how we would always dare to sing Arashi songs in karaoke in front of many people (we memorized the lyrics and we let everybody believe that we knew how to read Japanese characters. XD). It was a lot of fun.

Now that we’re all busy with work – with adult life – we do not have so much time to do these things anymore. However, I would like to bring these memories back and relive them again.

I have a cover of “Be With You,” one of my most favorite Arashi songs (although I like almost all of their songs… haha). I don’t know if I did justice to this song but I love Arashi and I love to sing their songs…  so I don’t care. XP

 

 

Be Always Thankful

I was very frustrated today.

I was too stressed out with work. After being sick for 2 weeks and not being able to work, I’m now left with too many tasks to accomplish.

I was too disappointed and frustrated with my internet connection. I was so excited to return to RareJob and talk with my students again. However, there’s an ongoing maintenance/repair due to signal problems in our area so I had to cancel my lessons and close my schedule for a while.

I was quite disturbed about our apartment’s condition. The cleaning lady hasn’t come for weeks and the house is pretty dirty. After staying in my hometown with my mother and I always cleaning, it’s really disturbing to have a dirty apartment welcome you after just recovering from an illness.

I was too frustrated that I started to hate this day. I started hating going back to Makati and going back to the usual “work” routine.

Earlier tonight, I decided to go to Starbucks to chill for a while and clear my mind (I do splurge when I’m stressed/depressed/sad – not a good thing, I know!).

I rode a jeepney to go to the coffee shop. As soon as I got on the jeepney, I noticed that there was a wheelchair. I looked at the other passengers and realized that there were two kids with autism sitting next to me. They were with their grandmother. Both of the kids have speech problems as they cannot express themselves with words. One of them has paralyzed legs and he cannot walk – the reason why there’s a wheelchair. This encounter was the turning point of this day.

Instead of feeling sorry for the kids, I was filled with a feeling of awe, sympathy, admiration and respect towards them and their grandmother. Despite their condition, they still manage to smile and be happy with life. (I did not really understand what they were saying but they were smiling so I think it’s safe to assume that they were happy about something). They are still moving forward in life even though some people reject them. I talked with their grandmother and she said that they had a hard time riding a jeepney. Some drivers refused to accomodate them because of the kids’ condition and the wheelchair. Fortunately, the driver of the jeepney we rode was really kind. He even carried the boy to the wheelchair when they got off. Simple acts of kindness really warm the heart.

From this experience, I realized how lucky I am. I scolded myself for hating this day and being carried away by negativity.

I got sick for two weeks but these kids have been struggling with their condition for years.

I got frustrated and I complained a lot to the ISP but these kids cannot even express themselves clearly no matter how much they want to.

I got scars on my skin but these kids may have been scarred from bullying and rejection.

I have my work (and a few part-time jobs) to support myself and help my parents financially.

I have two feet capable of bringing me to wherever I want to go.

I have an apartment where I can rest after a long day (though I have to clean it if the cleaning lady doesn’t come).

I have my family, friends and relatives who support me and accept my craziness/stubbornness.

…and so on.

I realized that I have so many things to be thankful for. Most of the time, we forget the good things in our lives when we encounter problems, frustrations, failures, etc. If we just realize how lucky we are – lucky to be alive, lucky to learn from challenges/mistakes/failures, lucky to have people who truly care and love us, lucky to have a comfortable life, etc – all the negativity in this world will probably be gone, if not, reduced to a great extent.

Let’s be thankful everyday! Whenever you feel down, just remember that you have a lot of things to be thankful for and happy about.