Failures

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

I always accept failures as mere challenges. Learning a lesson through failures is always a possibility, right?

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Writing Your Autobiograpy

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

This is it….my life’s journey!

That would be the first sentence if ever I find myself writing about my life. I am never ambitious enough to write one though. Having almost four thousand posts in this blog and hundreds of posts in my four other blogs would be enough if the purpose would be to show the world how I am and what good memories are worth-keeping and angst that sometimes surfaces now and then. At times, I do feel insecure especially with my health, most of the time though I am tremendously happy.

Life is short, I agree but if you could leave something behind that would make someone reflect and smile, then you have accomplished something worthwhile.

I have a friend on Facebook who has just written his autobiography by answering guide questions. I don’t know where he got them. He said it is a pamana, a legacy of sort for his grandchildren. It is a self-published book.

Would you attempt writing your own?

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These Things

 Love those moments between dawn and daybreak  –

the sounds of a new day, the smile of the morning sun, the feel of the gentle wind on my face. And slowly, the nocturnal music of the night becomes the  noise of the morning, the honk of school buses ready to pick up their student riders, the noise of motor vehicles always in a hurry to get to their destination and the bark of our six dogs, some waiting to get out of the gate for a morning walk but they don’t get to do it nowadays. The garden is enough. I love the smell of  hot Pan de Sal  freshly bought from the bakery, the taste and aroma of a hot cup of coffee and the sizzle of  eggs in the frying pan to go with it.

I love those moments  that a typical day brings –

the silver hues of raindrops on the grass, the earthy smell,  the discovery of  new blooms in the garden which I  am always so excited to snap with my camera.  Simple things that may seem too mundane to others but these are the same things that make one’s day special.   There’s no use crying over spilled milk, is there? There’s no use  showing to the world that you carry its weight on your shoulders. Time is gold so they say , and  we hurry and forget to appreciate everyday blessings that come our way. We chase the day like there is no tomorrow and before we know it, it is gone and all we remember is the stress we experienced and so much work  left undone. When you begin to see, really see what the day has in store, there are outstanding moments that you get to appreciate more.

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Five Lines

I caught a glimpse of you

from some recess of memory

When I woke up, I knew

It was a dream

Still.

(Another repost from 2011, that year when I managed to have 366 posts due to the Post A Day challenge. Most of my followers back then are no longer active now.

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Dawn

I greet the new day with a smile and a prayer

A hope for good things to come

A loving remembrance of the past

A new lift of the heart.

Hello –

I welcome with fondness the new dawn stirring

A new day unfolding…

(reblogged from June 15, 2011)

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Going Up And Up

We bought a tank of an LPG gas yesterday and I was like ” my gosh, even this has increased big time?” The last time we bought one two months ago, the price was P920 pesos for a filled-up 11 kg. tank but it has risen to P1,150 pesos yesterday. Since we don’t cook much nowadays, the previous one has reached two months. Almost every day we order online food and when Josef and Jovy are at the office, it is just mom and me. Mom doesn’t eat much now, I have to wake her up in the middle of the day to eat lunch and around 6pm for dinner. I have to supervise her meals, otherwise, three tablespoonfuls would be enough for her. She drinks plenty of water though. She does not drink coffee anymore.

I am also surprised by the price increase of eggs nowadays. What used to be P7.50 large eggs before now cost P9.50 each. I always buy a tray when I go out. The prices of commodities have all gone up. Your P1,000 pesos could not even buy a two-day meal. Sad to say, nothing is being done by this government except to go abroad and sell himself but I think no one is biting. The Marcos name is very well-known for ill-gotten wealth since the older Marcos was president for twenty years. The lowly Juan and Juana could not even meet three meals a day. Sad scenario isn’t it? Public and private employees bear the burden of being taxed as much 20% to 30% of their salaries. Kawawa ang mga mamamayan.

There are three private ITs who were concerned about the result of the previous election last May. They don’t believe that 20M votes were counted an hour after precincts closed. Their findings after several months of research were submitted to the Commission On Election but it was clearly ignored then their mandamus was filed before the Supreme Court but even that was ignored by the SC. Those justices are not talking. Clearly the election result was rigged and they are so quiet about it. There is no way to go according to the defenders of the truth but to take to the streets again. They have been having daily rosary prayers infront of COMELEC and the SC. People say that those 31M lead votes are just in the SD cards created by someone to look like it’s the truth. A done deal?

We will wait and see come February 25, the anniversary of the peaceful EDSA Revolution which led the Marcoses fleeing to Hawaii back in 1986. They have come back and the Philippines is in a rut. We are rapidly sinking.

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Love At First Sight

They’re both convinced

that a sudden passion joined them.

Such certainty is beautiful

But uncertainty is more beautiful still.

Such is the start of a lovely poem by Wislawa Szymborska, one of the few women ever to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is still a part of my slow reading taken from Ten Poems To Open Your Heart. She is an unknown author to me, I love her words though.

Is it really possible that love blooms at first sight? Maybe and perhaps you have seen each other before but awareness was absent. Maybe you have been to the same place before but the eyes did not see it. Or maybe you have dreamed of each other but didn’t recognize each other in real life.

Is love at first sight really possible?

Love is a great mystery, born forth sometimes by a single glance or just a tremulous smile. Who knows, they might have met before but were unaware of each other. Or chance meeting maybe? Whatever it is, it evoked something deep within. Sometimes you feel that you have known each other in another life. And the recognition is there in your eyes.

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Finally Home

I finally found the link of the article I submitted to Philippine Star (a national newspaper) when I joined their contest once almost thirteen years ago. It was posted by my mentor at a Catholic page on which he created a long time ago, Fr. Louie Coronel, OP. The title is Finally Home which you can read here: https://thefilipinocatholicpage.blogspot.com It’s labelled under ‘reflection’.

Come to think of it, it was the first and only writing contest I joined back then. Or you may google my name Arlene Ariston and the link will show. I submitted two more published articles in Philippine Star’s opinion page. Although I didn’t win in the contest, they sent me a check for P2,000.00 pesos for my effort. I received lots of congratulations on my newsfeed at Facebook. That was the time when my kids and I were all excited that for the first time in twenty years, we will be whole as a family again. But it was not to be because after Nissa got married, the hubby left for good and you know the rest. My life with my kids and the family is peaceful now. And I say, that when trust and respect are lost, love eventually follows on the wayside.

What was I thinking? I just googled my name just to know where I’m at at the moment. How many times it appeared on Google😉🥰😊

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Getting There

A smile

a handshake

a hug

an embrace

making up for the lost years.

Time stood still for a moment

and memories are reborn.

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Hang In There

People see me as always positive in life. Even my kids believe that I could defeat (if that is the right word) all the hurdles in my path. Nissa always says that I’ve been through so much and here I am, still standing tall. Josef is confident that I won’t need another operation for me to get well.

I am blessed I have such supportive kids. I believe that we could always adjust to situations we find ourselves into. Hope and prayers will always be my guides. Sometimes though, I cry when I feel so much alone. Sometimes I need the physical presence of friends. Sometimes I find myself pretty weak too. Sure, I have lots of friends online including some of you here who make me feel blessed, more so with your inspiring comments, sharing lovely thoughts and praying for me. But there is a BUT there somewhere – hugs from friends I haven’t seen for so long, laughter shared and lots of stories too, affirmation that despite the years, I am still a lovable person. Would that be too much to ask? I hope not.

Life is beautiful, I agree but it is a great challenge too. When I could not sleep at night, I grasp my rosary and start praying. Sometimes, I can’t even finish the five decades and I fall asleep, finding bead marks on my face and arms too when I wake up. I always get to finish the glorious, joyful, sorrowful and mysteries of light while waiting for the doctor to see me. In every decade, I ask for petitions – health for me and the whole family, protection from harm for friends and family members, protection of our house and its suroundings, financial stability and world peace.

I know! I will always believe in a loving God who never get tired of accompanying me in my life’s journey. And I accept the saying that into each life, some rain must fall. Hang in there.

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