Day after Christmas morning

I'm simply blogging today since I just got an external keyboard for my iPad from Kuya Dondee.  I didn't realize that this totally improves the overall experience of using your tablet.
Well, it's the morning of December 26, 2013--the day after Christmas moning.  I'm here seated on the dining table of our condo beside an unfinished bowl of Honey Stars cereal.
Christmas was actully great.  The eve of Christmas was spent with fun "reunion-type" activities with my in-laws at the clubhouse.  Christmas day was spent at my Dad's ancestral house as part of our Cenido tradition even before I was born. :)
Merry Christms to everyone! This season is a great reminder of God's love an

SATURDAY PRAYER: FOR REST AFTER A HEAVY WEEK OF WORK

Dear God,

Thank you for another week and for this day! Thank you for our lives and the purpose you have given each one of us. We come before you tired and ask for a refreshed spirit. We are exhausted and we need your strength to carry us. Fill us with joy, so that no matter how tired we are, we rejoice because you are good and your love endures forever. Help us not to complain amidst our weakness. Restore our minds so that we can still function properly. Give our bodies the energy needed to get through each day. We claim healing in Jesus Name! Please also help us to manage our time so that we will get the rest we need. Help us to prune things that are hard to let go of that suck the energy from us. Lord, we lay our lives down at your throne and praise you! AMEN!

Ref:
http://unveiledwife.com/prayer-of-the-day-energy-strength-for-the-exhausted/

A reason for everything

I recall a few months ago, when I was in Singapore on vacation with Ebeth around October 2012, I asked for  a sense of meaning and fulfillment in the workplace.  For months, I felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything of significance to the organization that I work for.  For months, I felt so demotivated as I can't seem to figure out what exactly I was supposed to do from a bigger perspective.  I felt like I was just coming to the office, reading and writing mails, and not having that sense of purpose, motivation,  and happiness that I use to have at work, specially in the last 2 years before I got promoted way back in 2010.  

Everything changed in May 2013.  It was triggered by a heated discussion with an overseas client.  Deadlines swarmed towards me.   Unfinished work started to pile up.  My boss wasn't helpful, and made things worse. Inbox starts to reach more than 500 unread emails, and I came to a point where I had to hustle on a daily basis, and felt like I was overdoing myself, stressing out every bit of muscle that I have in my body while I was only simply seated on an office chair.  It felt like it was among the most challenging points in my career life in P&G as I find myself longing for a hug and a good talk with my wife, each and every single day after extended work hours.

Despite this challenging times, I began to have realizations that maybe all of these happened for a reason.  Then I started to think---

1) It made me realize how much I love my wife, and how much she loves me back, which I may have ,kind of,  taken for granted in the past few years given that I've always felt that I I've always given more in our relationship since I am willing to give everything for my wife but never gave her a chance to reciprocate it. It was very refreshing, how she showed me such great support during these trying times despite having her own set of challenges at work. She offered me her ear and her heart, and helped me hang on and live through the challenges.  It was exactly what I needed during that time--someone to tell me to hang on, love myself more...and everything will be fine.

2) It made me realize that I need to value my work and have a conscious effort to put myself back on track when everything start to seem overwhelming for me to handle.  It made me realize how I am really empowered to be in charge of my career.  I am empowered to choose if I want to be significant or not.

3) It made me realize that what I started experiencing from May 2013 onwards, was apparently a the exact answer to my prayer in October 2013.

I am not as OK as I want myself to be now, but I know things are looking up and I'll be back on track soon.

on regrets

Lately, I kind of realized that I have a lot of regrets in my mind and in my heart. Even though I have a seemingly composed facade, I recently always felt a certain sadness in my heart about things from my past. I sometimes find my self staring at nothing, and unconsciously thinking of stuff that might have been, and the "shoulda, woulda, couldas" of my life in general. Most of them in school-- where I should have done better, and at work --where I should have taken opportunities when it came by. I guess being surrounded by these great people at work kinda made me jealous, since I know in my heart that I could have done the same achievements that they attained, and exited the university with a thought that my alma mater was proud to have me as a student and not just a mere ID number. I know my capabilities, I have proven it many times already, but I failed to do nail it to a glorious closure. I was there, I once had good grades, I was given the opportunity to be a leader in our student government, but lost my momentum, and now I feel like I just settled for an ending dictated by the universe. At hindsight, I feel that could have done a better job. A better job in living the moment, embracing my youth, and sucking all the sett juice that my life back then has to offer. But I didn't. Now I feel like i'm in a vicious cycle, accumulating regrets day by day and failing to seize all the opportunities that come, since I was busy looking back with regret. I need to stop this. I need to accept my past. I need to remove my regrets, and learn to embrace the fact that whatever I do will always be as good as it gets. Every second that passes by becomes part of history, so I need to focus and LIVE in the present.

Of Dreams and Providence

Do what you can and God will fill in the balance.