By the way, I do not have a Multiply account.

Mahal Kita, Mahal Kita, Hindi 'to Bola

Jaeyoun Kim, with his open letter that spread long ago, stated that for the Philippines to improve and become well off, love for country not only has to be felt but also practiced. I agree with him, and indeed the improvement should start with our selves.

In my opinion, even if there are a lot of corrupt and vile acts like plunder, cheating especially in elections, terrorist attacks, murder and rape (at high rates), that pull our country down, they are little as compared to the great force that will pull our country up, if and only if each one of us starts loving our country. By doing so, all of us can take action to alleviate the situation.

Indeed it is hard to love a person with qualities that we hate. Even harder is to love a country with undesirable qualities. The Philippines is slowly becoming one of the worst countries in Asia economically and politically, while about half a decade ago, it was one of the best. Our neighboring countries are slowly overtaking us. Poverty, corruption, and immorality is also plaguing us, but since this is also affecting other countries, this is barely an excuse, and I believe that even though it is difficult to love our country for what it is, once we learn to do so as individuals, it will be much easier for others to love the country, which will lead to great change.

The choice to love our country is ultimately ours, but I believe that choosing this can only bring us good.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

Astig na Pasko Para Sa'yo, at Mag-isip Ka Sana

Hi guys! I'm back. I remembered posting that I was going to share my retreat experience, but then I decided that I'd keep it to myself, and ponder on other things with you guys.

It has often been said that to achieve, a person must first be able to believe.

I agree. Recently, I was watching a DVD of The Secret (which was initially a book), which featured a handful of experts from different fields discussing what they would repeatedly call the Law of Attraction. This law supposedly governs the universe, and tells us that we attract, in one way or another, whatever we tell our minds to think. Somebody there even said "Thoughts become things."

There were lots of scientific and philosophical explanations given to explain the Law of Attraction, and to convince us to think positively for our very own futures. However, while watching that very interesting video, I came to the realization that hey, why do I seem to be learning nothing great? It seemed as though I had heard this one big "secret" they'd been talking about before. It seemed that I myself knew The Secret all along, and I'm pretty sure you do to. All the hype about the supposed "secret" may be amazing us, but I think that the good secret towards our lives has long been revealed to us before, through our experiences, and we just have to reflect on them.

From our experiences, whenever we want to achieve something, we tend to think about them a lot. Sometimes, we think about them positively, with thoughts like "I'm going to be a great basketball player! I can work hard enough!" More often than not, though, people tend to react to thoughts of achieving anything negatively. "I'll never be the boss; I'm just an ordinary Filipino." However, those who end up doing great things in life are those who believed that they could be great in the first place. Why? I think it is because they were thinking good thoughts, thoughts that led them to real action. Thoughts dictate our actions, and our actions have the powerful ability to change our lives. I am pretty sure that you have, for at least once in your life, thought of the same thing. Thoughts dictate our actions, and thus our futures. It does not take high-falluting illustrations of signals sent to the universe to really understand that our thoughts are powerful. We really don't need to be amazed by hearing that the universe tends to agree with our thoughts. We just have to observe how the simplest things in our lives happen.

We may want to be rock stars, movie stars, or great heroes someday. We may even want to save the whole world from cavities. While it is really good to listen to advice that we have to keep believing and centering our thoughts to these goals, nothing really can replace hard work. It is good to let our thoughts dwell on whatever we want to achieve, but if we really want them so much, our own instincts will tell us that we still have to work. Nothing of worth still comes easy, and I don't think the situation will change in the near future. Think for yourself!

Wait, what am I really trying to prove? All my thoughts seem to be messed up, but I just want you to know that a lot of times, we just have to think based on our past experiences to find answers to the problems we face. There is really much to learn from our very own stories. Most of the time, the answer is just waiting to be found inside us, and things are a lot simpler than they seem.

Hi! Sorry for not posting too frequently. I promise to do so soon though. Please watch out for my next post. I'll try to describe my retreat experience.

Commitment

I'm sure all of us have been part of a team. A lot of males may recall joining basketball leagues in school or in their villages. Quite a number of women may have played volleyball in organized tournaments or in with their friends. Even in school or in work, we have often been part of teams for certain big or small projects. There is at least one moment in our lives when we have been called to work together with certain people, whether we like it or not.

Dictionary.com defines team as "a number of persons forming one of the sides in a game or contest," and "a number of persons associated in some joint action." I guess all of us are familiar with these definitions. But what makes up a good team, really? Although many would argue that what makes up a good team is perseverance, passion, and chemistry, all in unity, I think that the best quality that any team can have is commitment.

When one has a task at hand, to finish it well, one needs to persevere, or work hard for whatever goal. We all know that without hard work, no good work can really be made. It is always good to work hard, especially in a team. When each member does so, any kind of task can be accomplished immensely well.

While hard work may make good work, it is passion that leads us to great accomplishments. It is hard to motivate one's self to work hard, but when one is passionate about something, his mind becomes so engrossed in that idea or work, and working hard for that thing seems like no work at all. It may be safe to assume that when we are passionate about something, it motivates us to work hard.

Now, let's discuss team chemistry. Usually, people who are passionate about one thing group together, and because of their passion, they work well together. There are some rare cases however, where teams are formed by necessity, and yet good chemistry is established. It is really important for members of a team to get along well to get the work done. I avoids delays, and helps every member work well.

In a team, all these things have to be in the spirit of unity, or oneness. A team has to be united to work hard together. Teams with one passion that unifies them often work better. People who get along well also need to be united, in the sense that they have to direct all that positive energy towards one thing they want to accomplish.

Having all these traits in a team is excellent. However, anything cannot be done without the choice to do so. This is where commitment comes in. We may have the best team in the world, but if each member does not commit to that one thing, nothing will happen. Essentially, commitment is making the choice every day to work hard, and to do one's best. Everything may already be there, even the passion and chemistry, but without the choice to work for the goal of the team, nothing great can ever be accomplished.

You do know of at least one instance in your life when you joined an organization, or assumed a position of leadership, and then told yourself and the people around you that you have plans, great plans for the future of whatever thing that is your organization or electorate hopes for. There is nothing wrong with that. However, you have to understand that you are going to have to make the decision everyday to do your best for the achievement of that goal. It is the only thing that will keep you going. We have oftentimes declared that we like a certain job, or opportunity, but without commitment to that thing, we will never go far. We will just waste the chances given to us. In a team, EACH member has to commit. EACH member, whether he is in a basketball team, a volleyball team, a team for a business-plan, a brainstorming team, a loveteam, or whatever kind of team, has to make that choice everyday. It is the only way for the team to flourish. Hard work comes from choice; passion is empty without the choice to work; team chemistry and unity are nothing without that choice.

The next time you decide to do something, choose to have commitment.