Link

I'm going to start making this blog a little more interactive. In addition to your answers to the previous post ("Question Number 1"), I would also like to ask you to give me your blogs' URL so that I can link it. There were numerous blogs in the past that have asked to be linked, so I will try to link them all, in due time. And please be informed that the comments will be a little more improved, as I will now exert an effort to really reply. Thanks!

Question Number 1

We're all supposed to be innately good. That's supposedly our nature. Being made in the image and likeness of God, we really are supposed to be good. Why is the good way supposedly the path less traveled then? We're all good, but why is it easier for us to do bad things? Why are the least lasting things most attractive? Why listen to a dumb supermodel when you can listen to an old, smart, but saggy politician? You wanna try telling me before I start expounding? The comments section is open, and you're invited to write.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hi! I'm sorry if I haven't been able to really reply to all the readers' comments, but I want you all to know that I am reading them, and I feel very blessed to know that there really are people like you who also have strong opinions about the different things that happen from day to day. Kahit simpleng alimango lang, nakukunan pa rin natin ng aral 'di ba? Thank you for all your comments. They inspire me to write about more relevant things. I know I haven't been able to post regularly (I have lots of ideas, but sometimes I just can't seem to follow them up with a good essay), so I am asking for your help to suggest, through the comments section, some topics you may want to appear in this blog, that we can discuss and possibly learn from. I've been writing and writing and writing without actually really responding to what others think (in my writing, at least), and I plan to change that. Keep reading, and feel free to comment, and suggest. Thank you so much for the help. By the way, to answer most of the questions in the comments section, I'd like to give a little update on what I've been doing (which isn't really characteristic of this blog, but I'll do it). I just recently graduated from the Ateneo High School, and yes, Robi Domingo is my batchmate (Support him ah.). I did not graduate valedictorian (My classmate Viko Fumar was the vale.), but I was luckily able to graduate with First Honors. I am an incoming college freshman now in the Ateneo, and I will be taking up Management Engineering (think Math in business). I was luckily able to pass some schools in the States (just like what Tito Edu announced), namely Georgetown and Fordham universities, but I chose to stay in the Philippines for very personal reasons. But don't worry, any decision would have been a fun-filled one anyway. So there. Read on.

Give and Take (Praning, Don't Read)

Minsan ba ay pumasok na sa isip mo na baka ang tao, nilalapitan ka lang dahil may kailangan siya sa'yo, o dahil may nabibigay ka sa tao? Ang dalawang nag-iibigan naman napaglalapit ng pag-ibig 'di ba? Ang pag-ibig ay isang bagay na binibigay ng isa sa isa kaya nagkakaganoon. Kung masama kang tao na social climber, lalapitan mo lang naman siguro ang isang taong mayaman at sikat na hindi mo naman lubos na kilala dahil kailangan mo makilalang katabi noong sikat na iyon. Ang pari, pinapakinggan at dinarayo dahil nabibigay niya ang Diyos (o karanasan ng Diyos, at iba pang mga aral) sa mga tao. Kahit sa negosyo, kaya mayroong mga business organizations ay 'di lang para mapadali ang pagsasagawa ng mga transaksiyon at proyekto, kundi para makapagbuo rin ng mga 'pagkakaibigan' o koneksiyon na magagamit para sa kabutihan ng negosyo. Kung may kailangan mula sa kumpanya mong gumagawa ng semento ang taong gumagawa ng gusali, baka ibigay mo pa sa kaniya ng mas mura ang semento 'di ba, dahil magkasama kayo sa organisasyon? Ganoon 'din sa fraternity. Brad mo ko, brad kita. Kailangan mo ko, kailangan kita. Mahal mo ko, mahal kita. Kung mapahamak ka, sabit ako pero tutulungan kita at tutulungan mo ko 'pag kailangan ko. Kahit sa mga taong mahilig magbigay, puwedeng isipin (kahit baka makasakit ng damdamin), na kaya siya naghahanap ng mga natutulungan kasi kailangan niya ng pakiramdam na mapagbigay siya, at 'di niya yun makukuha kung di siya makabigay.
Sa totoo lang puwedeng tignan sa mabuti o masamang paraan itong ganitong pag-iisip eh. Masama siguro siya dahil nakakalungkot na kaya lang tayo lalapitan ng isang tao ay dahil sa mga kaya nating ibigay, pero mabuti rin siya dahil alam mong may malalapitan kang mga tao sa oras ng kagipitan, o kahit kailan mo trip.
Pero 'di ba? Nakakayanig isipin 'di ba? Isipin mo kaya 'yong mga nakaraang karanasan mo na may lumapit sa'yo, nakangiti, tapos may hiningi sa'yo. Tingin mo lalapitan ka niya kung wala kang ganoon? Tingin mo friends kayo? Hmmm...
Hoy, huwag mapapraning ng sobra ah.. 'Di naman masama ang mundo eh. May mga masama lang, pero 'di lahat. Pero maganda rin siguro na paminsan-minsan may ganitong gumugulo sa ating isipan, para 'di rin tayo maloko. Basta, peksman, walang todohang praningan ah?

happy happy joy

Hey, have you ever felt sad for no apparent reason at all? You just feel sad and down all of a sudden, and then you try to think of reasons for your sadness, but you just cannot pinpoint which event or person is responsible? This has probably happened to us a lot of times, especially when we're staying home, and doing almost nothing productive. We tend to sometimes be too reflective about things that we end up with so much clutter in our minds.

However, don't you think that it really is in those quiet times that we really get to sort out what we are thinking? We have often been advised by our friends to always find quiet time for ourselves, to sort out things and to really know what is going on both around and within us.

If in those quiet times, we can either sort out our thoughts, or mess them up even more, what does this tell us? I guess it all boils down to what we decide to think. It all boils down to our decisions. With this little conclusion, I'm thinking that maybe we don't even need quiet time to help us out. We can help ourselves out by choosing what to think for ourselves, and letting our emotions follow. But we are mere humans almost perpetually affected by nature. Maybe we still have to choose the right environment for our thoughts.

I'm trying to discover what's the best way to make ourselves happy. Happiness may be thought of as a thought, but it really is what we strive for in life. Knowing that happiness is a thought can make us happier people by choosing to simply be happy, by thinking of the right things, and doing whatever makes us happy.

I guess the challenge now is to find what really makes us happy. Believe me, even if happiness is a simple thought, different things really make us tick, and despite our efforts to try, we cannot force ourselves to be happy with things we do not like. Therefore, we need the proper guidance through prayer. If you cannot pray due to some belief, think of praying as an exercise of thought. I would not choose to though. But if you choose to, beware of probable mind cluttering.