Last night, Jamaine and I were watching Little Mermaid on Disney Junior. It’s funny how we would think these cartoons are just for plain entertainment but when you take a closer look, there are lessons embedded in them somewhere. Not just for the small kids but for the big kids too.

I remember in one story, Little Mermaid’s friend Urchin came with some distressing news: he told Ariel that her father King Triton was planning to marry her off to a prince from another kingdom. With the king out on a trip to the other kingdom, there was no way to ask him if it’s true. It seemed discussions were going on about the wedding plans and the other king was giving King Triton wedding bands.

Meanwhile, the prince goes to Atlantica to get to know Ariel but Urchin, Flounder and Ariel herself contrived to give him a hard time around the castle in the hopes of turning him off. The prince was so offended he went back to his kingdom and waged war with Atlantica.

When King Triton returns home, everything became clear: he simply wanted to pair off Ariel with the prince for one of the games in the sea olympics. But it was too late to stop the prince, war ensued and Urchin got hurt in battle. In the end, Little Mermaid braves the crossfire to seek out the prince, she apologized and asked him to stop the fighting.

Sometimes we only see the small picture yet we are quick to react, come up with our own conclusions and make the wrong decisions. But when we begin to see the bigger picture, we realize it wasn’t what we thought it was after all.

Big Picture Thinking is a habit worthy of adopting. It helps you assess situations better and you make wiser decisions. The next time you find yourself in a challenging situation, step back and try to see the bigger picture.

Day 4 of One Post a Day

Last night, Kalia was extremely out of sorts. I could sense she was sleepy but she refused to lie down and kept whining about something I couldn’t quite understand.

She wanted to get her ball from the playroom and she kept saying “Mowning sunshine…mowning sunshine…” But I kept telling her that we could play her ball tomorrow because it was still night and it was already sleeping time. It was almost 12 midnight.

I asked her to lie down but she started to whine about a host of other things: her legs were itchy, her pillow wasn’t soft enough, the bed was too crowded (we were on a Queen – size bed), her milk didn’t taste right.

I was feeling very sleepy but I summoned all my might to focus on patience. Her sleeping has been disturbed for the past days and I have lost my temper a few times because of my own sleepiness. But this time, I reigned in my impatience and just focused on being gentle and loving knowing that this would calm her sooner or later.

I tried singing her favorite songs and massaging her back but nothing worked. Suddenly, Jamaine chimed in, “Sabi ni Jesus, sleep na raw.”

That’s when I thought of dialing in some divine help. I started to pray aloud and Kalia almost immediately quieted down. “Jesus, please give good sleep for Iya, please help her sleep through the night and wake up happy in the morning. Please give good sleep for Jamaine, good sleep for Mommy, good sleep for Daddy. Please watch over us while we sleep.”

I prayed aloud over and over. A few turns and tosses later, Iya was fast asleep. She stirred just once to ask for milk but she slept quietly through the night until this very moment that I am typing this.

Thank you Jesus.

It dawned on me how I always have this direct line to a Higher Power who is ready to help me no matter how small my need. I just need to remember that He is there and to acknowledge to myself that I don’t have to do everything on my own.

Besides, He always does it better and faster than I could.

Got a problem? Dial G-O-D or J-E-S-U-S. He always answers.

Wow, it’s February! Can you feel the love? It’s my most favorite month of the year because it’s my birthday month.

I’m so sure a lot of wonderful things will happen in February.

My year was off to a great start and it just keeps getting better everyday.

I’ve been receiving so many blessings and so many answered prayers.

I am on track with achieving my personal goals.

And I’m feeling so inspired and motivated every day.

Before 2009 ended, I declared that 2010 is MY year. It’s the year for receiving miracles and creating success.

One thing I know for sure: WHEN YOU LOVE LIFE, LIFE LOVES YOU BACK.

Happy February everyone!

For the first time in a very long time, I got sick. I’m talking about the fever – nausea – vomiting trio that drags you down on the bed every time you try to get up.

So I spent the whole day yesterday, lying under the covers only getting up to either go to the bathroom, vomit on the sink or drink some water. I felt so bored just being in bed, there were so many things I wanted to do: play with the kids, jog with Kernan in UP, write in my journal, read one of my books or just blog. But the littlest effort exhausted me so I stayed put.

What made bed rest bearable was having three angel doctors taking care of me.

Jamaine stayed with me in the room almost the whole day.She understood I was sick so she just kept me company and played by herself while watching her Dora the Explorer DVDs. When I felt thirsty, she would go down to the kitchen and get me a bottle of water. She would say:

Mommy, inom ka ng ‘cetamol, kasi malaki ka na e. Pag Jamaine ka, syrup ka lang, pero pag malaki ka na, ‘cetamol para gumaling ka na.

She was reiterating Kernan’s request for me to take Bioflu which I consistently refused. I always believed I could heal my body naturally with just rest and water.

Kalia was also well-behaved whenever she was in the bedroom. Her yaya or her daddy would take her out every now and then so I could rest more. But every time she was with me, she would sit by my side and put her small arms around my head. She would say:

Init!

Then she would plant a kiss or two on my cheek and say:

Aboo! (Her abbreviation of “I love you!”)

Kernan has been incredibly supportive ever since I started this. During those times, when I would really feel hungry, he would remind me that it’s just X days left and that I could do it. I didn’t actually expect I would get sick. I thought maybe I’ll just have some temporary bouts of weakness, but as it turned out, it came in one big hit.

Apart from one meal, I mostly had water. My darling hubby would buy me soups, Gatorade and Minute Maid so I could have some variety in taste. He said, he’ll buy me my favorite foods once this ends.

I’d have to say his support is one of the reasons I survived my sixth day.

I woke up this morning feeling a lot better and strong enough to go to the office. First text I got this morning made me smile, I felt even better and stronger:

Psst… I love you. Secret lang ha… Of course, now it’s no longer a secret.
Mahal, thanks for the support. I love you.
E love kita e.

I’m so grateful to have such a loving husband. I’m so grateful to have such loving daughters. God has blessed me so much already.

Everything else He gives me is a sweet bonus.

Photo: Dave Jones

I was doing a writing project that revolved around “daring” when I saw this old photo. I remember how amazing it was to reach the top of that craggy rock. I felt like I could reach the skies!

This was taken a couple of years back during a shoot about rock climbing in Baguio. We had wrapped up the shoot but I felt challenged to do it myself. After all, I would be writing the story and I needed to know first hand what it was like if I wanted to describe the experience authentically.

Of course, I had little gremlins dissuading me. Balance was always a personal challenge and I get lightheaded when I walk on heights. I did try wall climbing a few times before but that was in a padded environment. Falling would be quite fun because you’d get to bounce on the cushions a bit.

But climbing on that rock meant holding on to sharp edges and accidentally falling means broken bones and puncture wounds here and there. Not fun at all.

What got me going anyway was knowing that I had the chance to prove my gremlins wrong and to assure myself that I can conquer my fears.

Even if there was a slim chance (and I had to make sure, it was a really, really slim chance) that I would fall, at least I could say I tried (and be grateful that I have travel medical insurance )

So I did dare to climb that rock. And it was exhilarating.

Right at that moment, I felt like I could do anything. I might as well have shouted “I am the Queen of the World!”

And I am. At least in my world. I just needed to recognize that I am stronger and braver than I think I am.

Because once you use your strengths, the world opens up countless possibilities.

What fears have you conquered this year?

So meaningful to me in more ways than one.

I’ve been on a roll for the past days, thank God for the blog opps and projects streaming in. And now that I’ve accomplished most of them, it’s time to take a breather and get back on track.

I’m stepping back a little bit to cast a final glimpse into the past and to fire myself up for today and the exciting future ahead.

I feel like I can’t resume blogging about daily life again without filling in the “blogging gap” of the months I was away. So here goes my personal story.

Just to warn you, this is going to be a long post. Feel free to go on or click away.

Stepping out into the light

The past months have been an extremely trying time, perhaps the most trying time in my life. I was in a very dark place, consumed by my own selfishness and pride. I’ve hurt people including the ones I loved the most.

I was “relying on my own understanding” believing that I ought to live my life no matter how I want to. I wasn’t taking responsibility for my choices, I was unwilling to change, I was ungrateful of the blessed life that I had.

Needless to say, I was very unhappy even as I tried to convince myself that I was right and I was okay.

But the good thing — maybe the best thing about life is, you always have chances and choices. You just have to take them and make them.

It took one hell of a wake up call for me to realize my life was going in the wrong direction.

I sobered up and started walking out of the dark tunnel I got myself into.

In the darkness, I saw God. He was walking with me all along, I was just too deaf to hear and too blind to see that He was guiding me.

I started praying again and getting to know God even more. I started being grateful again for everything He has given and continues to give me.

I started to realize and accept what I needed to change in myself.

I am learning to completely trust in God.

I am learning how to really lead my heart.

I am learning how to fully live with love.

At the end of the tunnel, I finally stepped into the light.

I felt like I died and I was born again.

I’ve never felt more blessed, more grateful and more loved.

God’s power and grace is more than amazing.

And then the storm came

I wrote about my Ondoy story for our news website.

That experience taught me two important things:

• Value your real treasures.
• Make every moment count.

When I went back to our flooded Pasig home to save the necessary stuff, I realized how I can get by with so very little. As I wrote in my article, I accumulated all these things throughout my life but when “crunch time” came, I didn’t really need all of them to survive.

Seeing all those other people who have lost entire homes and all their precious possessions in an instant, I understood the full meaning of this verse now more than ever:

Value your real treasures: your loved ones.

I’ve watched and read the tragic stories of loved ones being washed away by the great flood, of people missing, and of dead bodies surfacing in the rivers.

In just a matter of seconds, an angry Ondoy wiped away all these precious lives.

I am just so grateful that all our family members are safe. But more than that, I am even more grateful for the chance to love them more.

For the chance to make every moment I spend with them count.

Rebuilding begins

Starting anew is a very exciting thing.

I’m so excited to:

• be fully a Christian
• live in our new home: a real heavensent blessing
• have more quality happy family time
• start a new financial freedom project

I’ve proven time and again that life is what you expect it.

Expect good things to happen and receive the abundant blessings pouring in.

Seek miracles and watch them unfold every moment.

Life is definitely getting better and better everyday.

Be happy and be blessed!

Photo by: “†OnlyByGrace”

We are “temporarily homeless” as our Pasig home is still flooded until now.

Our neighbors say it may take more than a month for the waters to completely subside since our area is on the same plane as the Pasig River.

I never thought it could happen to us but it was an eye-opening experience for me.

Despite everything, I remain grateful that we are all safe and sound.

The real story to follow soon.

Was overwhelmed to find a long backlog of assignments for this blog and I have a lot to catch up on.

True enough God continues to bless us in more ways than one.

Hope you are all safe and dry.

You are God – Jam Capistrano

“You are God
Lives You restore
You are God
Healer of all
You are God
Faithful and true
I CAN ALWAYS FIND REST IN YOU.”

***
And because I can’t blog while I cry, I’ll tell you about the story another time.

Makes me feel blessed to be living in the one of the greatest creations in the universe.