Be A Filter, Not A Sponge.

Choose What You Listen To.

Garbage in, garbage out. If you want to make a difference in your school or in your workplace today, ingatan kung anuman ang iyong mga pinakikinggan. Maging mapili sa mga salitang papapasukin sa ating tainga at sa ating isipan.

The book of Ecclesiastes has a very good reminder for all of us.

Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you -for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. ~Ecclesiastes 7:21-22

Hindi lahat ng ating naririnig ay dapat na pinapasok sa ating tainga, pinapa-akyat sa ating utak at pinabababa sa ating puso. When it comes to the things that we listen to, we should be selective and learn which ideas to accept and which ones not to.

Meron akong acrostic para sa inyo, para mapaalalahanan tayo na kailangang piliin ang mga bagay at salita na pinakikinggan. Rememer the word SELECT.

Sift through the criticisms and complaints that you get.
Hindi lahat ng mga reklamo o puna ng tao tungkol sa atin ay dapat nating seryosohin. Oo, pakinggan natin sya, pero atin ding analisahin, ating tingnan kung ano ang mga pagpuna at reklamo na talaga namang kinakailangang paglaanan ng ating atensyon. Sift through the criticisms and complaints that you get because we simply cannot please everyone. We all have different personalities, preferences, and tastes. So if your goal in life involves making everybody happy - every friend, every acquaintance, every person close to your heart - all the effort you exert to achieve that goal would, in the end, be all in vain.

Entertaining gossip is a trap and a time waster.
If you want to be a good steward of your time, iwasan ang chismis!

Learn to listen only to the things that will help enrich and make you grow as a person.
Halimbawa ay ang mga kantang nasa iPod/Music Player mo or sa mga teaching tapes at radio stations na iyong pinakikinggan. Makinig ka ‘dun sa mga bagay na makatutulong para mas lumawak ang iyong pananaw sa buhay.

Evaluate what you listen to.
Don’t take every single thing you hear by hook, line and sinker. We must be analytical. We should learn to discern kung ang sinasabi ba ng taong pinakikinggan mo ay dapat mong paniwalaan o kung ito ba ay bagay na di dapat pagaksayahan ng panahon.

Carefully choose your inner circle.
Magandang magkaroon ng mga kaibigan at mga katrabaho na hindi lamang agree ng agree sa lahat ng sinasabi natin. Hindi rin naman maganda kung mayroong kontra lang ng kontra. It would be good to have people who won’t just agree with everything that we say. Surround yourself with people who have the guts to tell you when you are wrong.

Turn on your ears and your eyes to Jesus.
Kung mayroong salitang dapat nating palaging pakinggan, ‘yan ay ang Salita ng Diyos. Sabi nga ni Kuya Mac, “In a changing world, you can trust God’s unchanging Word.”

The things that you listen to will affect the way you think and the way you think will affect the way you act.

Kaya kung gusto mong maging epektibo sa school o sa iyong trabaho, choose what you listen to. SELECT na!

Cain Velasquez

Yes, this very humble and perfectly nice guy right here is our new UFC Heavyweight Champion.

I’ve been a follower of his career since his impressive win over Antonio Norguiera at UFC 110. I reviewed his previous fights and I just couldn’t help myself from being impressed by his skill-set. He has shown high-level wrestling and grappling. He is also regarded as one of the most dangerous stand-up fighters in the sport; his strikes are very powerful, precise and accurate. And certainly, his best trait is his cardio and his big heart. “He can go at an exact same phase for five rounds. He does not slow down.” as Joe Rogan puts it.

Right now, he already replaced BJ Penn as my #1 favorite fighter and I think it’s not just me because after his win against Norguiera, people already deemed him as ‘The Next Big Thing’ in the Heavyweight division. They were right and Cain proved that he deserve that title by dethroning Brock Lesnar at UFC 121.

We all know that this is just a beginning for Cain and that there are still a lot in store for him in the UFC. Now that I think about it, isn’t it exciting to see his next fight against Junior Dos Santos? I honestly like them both but I think Cain’s got better chances in that fight. We’ll never know!

Forgiveness

“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” - William Blake

How quick are you to ask for forgiveness and forgive others? Nothing will make your soul smaller than to refuse to ask for or grant forgiveness. Forgiveness is that wonderful expression of love that God shows us through how He treats us and commands us to practice so we don’t all destroy each other. There are a number of reasons why we struggle to fully forgive others-

• Fairness: It is VERY true, forgiveness isn’t fair. But if we all got only what we deserve, none of us would have a chance to be at peace with God and others. God wasn’t fair with us as sinners -He was merciful. If God can give His beloved son to die for us sin just to be able to wash our sins away, why can’t you forgive those who wronged you? It’s all about…
• Pride: We also struggle to forgive because of our pride. If we “let someone off the hook”, we wonder how we can feel good about ourselves and whether others will just take advantage of us. God wants you to love and respect yourself, but He also wants you to show mercy to others like He has with you.
• Deep hurts: Some people have hurt us deeply -and REALLY AREN’T LOOKING FOR FORGIVENESS. This makes forgiveness extremely difficult and painful. In some cases, forgiving others doesn’t guarantee you will have a good relationship with that person -or should even be around them. But even if forgiveness doesn’t change that person -it does change you for the better in your heart.

The world would be a much better place if everyone sought and extended forgiveness. All you have to do is start in your own heart. Allow me to pray, and you can make this prayer our prayer as well.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the forgiveness You continually offer me. Please heal my heart as I choose to forgive those who have hurt me today. Again, thank You, my God.

Mix-Tape: Influences

Here’s my very first mix-tape (not literally a tape though).

Influences

1. Animate by John Petrucci
2. Can’t Stop by Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. End of All Hope by Nightwish
4. Master of Puppets by Metallica
5. Mind Storm by Joe Satriani
6. Mottaka by Cheese
7. New Skin by Incubus
8. Stream of Consciousness by Dream Theater
9. Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow by Bullet for my Valentine
10. War of Hearts and Minds by Bamboo

Smile

Ngiti. Ito raw ang isa sa pinaka-madaling paraan para maipakita ang kasiyahan ng isang tao. Napakadaling gawin, kaya nga minsan ginagamit ito ng mga tao para maitago ang kanilang tunay na nararamdaman; kalungkutan, takot, pangamba, at kung ano-ano pa.

Pero may kakilala akong kahit gaano kabigat ang kanyang dinadala, tunay parin ang kanyang mga ngiti. Ang kanyang nakakahawang ngiti. Siya si Ate Henzel.

Sa isang blog-site (Tumblr) ko lang siya nakilala, at sa totoo lang, hindi nga niya ako kilala. Baka nga hindi niya alam na may nage-exist palang ako. Noong una, hindi ko lang pinapansin ang kanyang blog, dahil akala ko ay isa lang siya sa mga bloggers na nagpo-post ng mga larawan ng masasarap na pagkain, pero higit pa pala siya doon. Kelan ko lamang nakita ang kanyang mga personal posts. At ako’y nalungkot. Para bang gusto ko siya yakapin ng mahigpit. Tuluyan kong binasa ang iba niya pang mga sinulat. Ako’y naiyak at namangha sa kanya.

Hindi ko alam ang partikular na karamdaman niya, ngunit kung ano man iyon, alam kong hindi iyon biro. Nagtataka lang ako kung bakit tila ba masaya parin siya kahit na ganoon ang karamdaman niya, hindi naman niya kailangang magkubli. Hindi nga, totoo ang galak niya.

Nalungkot ako. Hindi ko siya kilala sa totoong buhay pero nalungkot ako at napatanong.

Bakit siya? Bakit siyang mabait at matino ang nakakaranas ng ganito? She does not deserve this!

Bakit siya? Habang ako, nagrereklamo sa tuwing naiinitan at nagigising sa umaga, siya nagpapasalamat. Habang ako naririndi tuwing nakakarinig at nakakakita ng mga taong umiiyak, siya pinipilit niyang pasayahin ang mga ito. Habang ako’y nagrereklamo sa tuwing nahihirapan sa buhay, siya ay nagagalak at kinakaya pa niya.

If there’s any way that she can share her pain with me, I’ll insist that she do it. My mind and my heart tells me that she doesn’t deserve this. But I guess God has his own perfect plan, after all, we are living because of His grace. “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” - Philippians 1:21

But just as what the Bible told us, we can pray for our hearts desire because God is so gracious and He listens and responds. And starting today, let it be my prayer that may Ate Henzel’s health smile back to her. Smile.