To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken.
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
If you risk nothing and do nothing, you dull your spirit.
You may avoid suffering and sorrow, but you cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, and live.
Chained by your attitude, you are a slave.
You have forfeited your freedom.
Only if you risk are you free.

by: Leo Buscaglia

Hope this would give a little lift from that surrendering state...

Have a happy day!

Please take a moment to relax your mind and humble your heart to focus on Christ.  Allow God to be the only person in your mind while you read this prayer I have received from my sister in law through my yahoo mail.  If we can take the time to read long jokes, stories, etc. We should give the same respect to this prayer.

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day.

I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning.  

I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God.  

You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me.  

Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you.  

I ask now for Your forgiveness.

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm.  

Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude.  

Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can  hear from You.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.  

Let me continue to see sin through Your eyes and acknowledge it as evil.

And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth  of my wrongdoing, and receive forgiveness.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to slip away and find a quiet place to pray.  

It's  the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits.  

I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart.  

Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others.

Keep me strong that I may help the weak.  

Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others.  

I pray for those who are lost and can't find their way.

I pray for those who are misjudged and  misunderstood.

I pray for those who don't know You intimately.  

I pray for those who don't believe.  

But I thank you that I believe.

I believe that You change people and You change things for good reasons.

I pray for all my sisters and brothers.  

For each and every one of my family members and friends and their families.  

I  pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than You.  

Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.  

I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly.

This is my prayer.

In Jesus' name.  Amen.

I was talking about some insanity spurts you can do to make your life more laughable; which in the process can help you achieve a healthier disposition in life just before I logged off for the holidays.

Oh well, didn't I mention that?

Okay, now… I just did!

And last week, I by passingly mentioned Zedka in Coelho's novel, Veronika Decides to Die. In the story, Veronika of course committed suicide and was brought in an asylum at Villete because during her time, anyone who was not behaving like any other people did was considered a loony. And they consider suicide as one of the "abnormal" behaviors.

Veronika then met Zedka inside the mental hospital. They became constant speaking partners. I used the term to indicate not friendship but just two people sharing ideas and words, sometimes even nonsensical.

The first time they spoke, Zedka tried to clarify Veronika in her question:

"What does it mean to be crazy?"

Zedka said:

"Anyone who lives in her own world is crazy. Like schizophrenics, psychopaths, maniacs. I mean people who are different from others.

"On the other hand, you have Einstein, saying that there was no time or space, just a combination of the two. Or Columbus, insisting that on the other side of the world lay not an abyss but a continent. Or Edmund Hillary, convinced that a man could reach the top of the Everest. Or the Beatles, who created an entirely different sort of music and dressed like people from another time. Those people – and thousands of others – all lived in their own world."

"A powerful wizard, who wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, placed a magic potion in the well from which all the inhabitants drank. Whoever drank that water would go mad."

"The following morning, the whole population drank from the well and they all went mad, apart from the king and his family, who had a well set aside for them alone, which the magician had not managed to poison. The king was worried and tried to control the population by issuing a series of edicts governing security and public health. The policemen and the inspectors, however, had also drank the poisoned water, and they thought that the king's decisions were absurd and resolved to take no notice of them."

"When the inhabitants of the kingdom heard about these decrees, they became convinced that the king had gone mad and was now giving nonsensical orders. they marched on the castle and called for his abdication."

"In despair, the king prepared to step down from the throne, but the queen stopped him, saying: 'Let us go and drink from the communal well. Then we will be the same as them.'

"And that was what they did: The king and the queen drank the water of madness and immediately began talking nonsense. Their subjects repented at once; now that the king was displaying such wisdom, why not allow him to continue ruling the country?"

"The country continued to live in peace, although its inhabitants behaved very differently from those of its neighbors. And the king was able to govern until the end of his days."

With this story, Veronika laughed. And I bet, I laughed harder than she did.

Nuts?

Really absurd!

And then later on in the story, Zedka defined insanity as the inability to communicate one's ideas.

"It's as if you were in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that's going on around you but incapable of explaining what you need to know or of being helped, because you don't understand the language they speak there."

We have all felt that way once or twice – to some, maybe even more than what "normal" people may perceive the usual.

And basing it from the definition shared by Zedka, one way or another, all of us are insane.

I honestly am – everytime I keep myself inside myself, shouting… screaming… when there is no voice.

I honestly am – each moment I talk to my Mom… sharing her my dreams, my achievements, my fears and my failures, when she had died more than three years ago.

I honestly am – in those times I smile to myself when my kids come across my mind.

I honestly am – in moments when I shiver in Ronald's imagined touch or with him just staring at me kilometers away from home.

I honestly am – in every strike of my fingertips when I write my blogs and my memory lags down a decade.

I honestly am – .won od I tahw ekil sdrawkcab sgniht od I nehw (when I do things backwards like what I do now.)    

It's fun you know… try it and be hilariously stupid. And have a healthy life!

Suggestions:

1.                  dress before putting on your undies (saves you from using some liners)

2.    drink a lot of water before you eat (at least you don't eat much)

3.    gurgle, chew some toothpaste then brush your teeth (cool, right?)

4.    sleep in the morning and be an owl while your family is snoring (argh!)

5.    walk to your office with your back (I did this when they told me the back of my haircut looks nice and awful in the front)

Have a hilarious day everyone!!!

An old children’s story tells of Miss Cockroach, who found a coin as she was sweeping out her house.

After a long time spent at her window, choosing the right mate to accommodate all her fears and anxieties, she ended up marrying John Shrew. And as everyone knows, John Shrew fell in the stew.

Often in our lives, we find a coin that has been given to us by fate, and we believe it to be the one treasure of our lives. We end up placing so much value on that one thing that fate - the same fate that gave us the coin - decides to take it back.

Those who are afraid of making a choice, always choose wrongly.

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they will slow down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "in".

5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addiction, switch to espresso.

6. Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy".

7. Don't use any punctuation.

8. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

9. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

10. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go".

11. Sing along at the opera.

12. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

13. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.

14. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.

15. Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name, rock bottom.

16. When the money comes out the ATM, scream "I won! I won!"

17. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "Run for your lives, they're loose!!"

18. And the final way to keep a healthy level of insanity... Send me ways you maintain your own.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Hope you maintain your insanity this season so that happiness shall be untarnished with the worries of the world!

Happiness is your choice... Hope you choose the right thing!

See you next year... Gotta sign off for the Holidays.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

When he died, Juan found himself in an exquisite place surrounded by all the comfort and beauty he had always dreamed of. A amn dressed in white spoke to him:

“You can have anything you want, any food, any pleasure, any diversion,” he said.

Delighted, Juan did everything he had dreamed of doing while alive. Then after many years of pleasure, he again searched out the man in white.

“I have done everything I wanted to do. Now I need a job, so that I can feel useful,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” replied the man in white. “But that is the one thing I can’t give you. There is no work here.”

“How awful!” said Juan angrily, “That means I’ll spend eternity bored to death! I wish I was in Hell!”

The man in white came over to him and said softly: “And where exactly do you think you are, Sir?”

“Hey son! Have you read your notes today? Hey, where are you going?! It’s already 10. Get back to bed!” Door slammed.

Can you say “attitude”? All of you have been talking, writing about my posse … wait a minute – just a minute – and listen to the person who has any real stake in my life.

Listen!

Anything that has negative to do with my life, trying to tear me down, just let it pass & it’ll gonna be like that for the rest of your life…

I dress the way I wanna dress. I look the way I wanna look. People just don’t understand. Maybe generation gap would be more accepted a s a reason. Yet, I stayed the same – true to myself, true to those who have stayed true to me.

Doesn’t this mean something? I’m confident, not cocky. However unclear, I’m not trying to convince everybody. The truth is – whatever it is, I have to get it. And I’m willing therefore, to earn the stripes to have it.

Money. Power. Respect. Come on! It’s our world redefined! For some fat-assed man, it’s personified. You have to be on your own nowadays. This time, nobody has earned any trustworthiness. When someone says that no-man-is-an-island thing, think again. You have to survive, and like I say, “Yeah, I did it. And I did it on my own.” Ain’t that more satisfying? While young, I have to learn to do things on my own.

Everybody left me dead at some point of my life. I’m screwed sometimes. And life has taught me to all of a sudden that I’m now ready to return the favor. There’s always someone who pisses me off and those are the ones who don’t understand my game. They only bring out the best in me in the process. I consider them my greatest critics, my rival, however, my helper to see things in another whole lot better perspective. They’re just plain weak. Just weak-minded, they just throw shots at me. Sometimes I just laugh, it’s funny. The thing that hurts the most is when you’ve been there and you’ve proven yourself, then you have guys trying to pull you down and make you look bad.

So when I’m finally done, I’m gonna make a speech …..… in a nice way I will. It won’t be like, “I told you so!”, just to prove them wrong because I know what I have and God has given me the talent. But I’d tell them in a smooth way ………. “Kiss my ass!”

I do have mistakes in my life, I mean, like everybody else does. But I won’t be like Marty Blake making predictions only to find out the next day I am wrong. I’m not gonna be like that. I learn and I move on…

So what’s next? I’ve had my fair warning… but nobody’s gonna stop me from doing what I honestly know in my heart is right. It’s something that drives me, my will. I won’t give up any dime drop. I want to be the best in every facet of my being.

Great men lose countless battles, yet remained firm in their conviction – that of which made them sooner or later great… greater than they have never thought they could be. And when my time comes, I want to win the all. But when you can’t handle the competition, you are welcome to try out for some pep band.

Yet, there’s always a limit right? I’m not going to get up in the morning and not be able to look in the mirror and feel like I don’t deserve this kind of life. It isn’t fair sometimes – or for the most part at least, - those were my challenges… to strive to get another life worth every grain of salt that I lick. I want to get out of this ghetto. I’m tired. I want, not wish, a rags-to-riches kind of ending. Happily ever after. I’m gonna be like that. The problem for some people is that, they wish they can be like this or have this or that, instead of really doing it… working hard for it… earning it, the hard way.

I grow with pride, a self-proclaimed ego-feeding maniac. That’s how I am. I haven’t changed. I take pride of myself, of what I’ve accomplished. I don’t -----n’ care what they say. I don’t give a ---t who spits on my face and like, “He can’t do that. He’s never done that before.” Damn! And I’ll be like, “I’ve never done this before, so I’m gonna do it now and hell they!”

Life is best represented in school. It’s where the future lies. A place you’ve spent half of your life and the source of three-fourths your entire knowledge (the remaining one-fourth comes from extra-curriculars… my own rough estimate though, based on my own experience).

Guess man, isn’t it nice when you end up every night knowing you’ve gain more knowledge than what you already knew? And there’s a lot more. It’s my stepping stone, not stumbling block of achieving my ultimate goal – to be the best. Realistically speaking, it’s not gonna happen anytime soon.

But then again, who could’ve thought I’d be born … a simple baby with a future like this ahead of him… that I get the chance to be here. I’m blessed. I’m a lucky man. Education is filled with good times: love, peace, harmony. In other words, the stuffs that dreams are made of. Then I guess, when you’re out of the real world, you’ll gonna find out why…

Thank God, I’m wise!

Love. It has been defined and redefined over and over again. Love has been used... abused... and misused by trillions of human tongues... for ages.

Its Latin term Eros known centuries ago has been released in Literature and the Greek goddess Aphrodite has been both a heroine and a villaine since Ancient English began... but what does love really mean in human existence? Or does it really ever exist at all?

Love. Based from faith, love made life possible. Love was the reason why GOD created the universe... the Earth that we live in... Yes! GOD was overflowing with much love that He made pathetic creatures like us... hoping we will become loving people like Him. But look at what we have done? Look at where we have brought this universe that has been created out of love. People live in hate. Countries wage war against other countries. Countryman kills own countryman. Family stand against own family. Brother steals the right of his own flesh and blood. What a waste!

GOD wasted His love to such creatures like us. And we have wasted the chance GOD has given us -- the chance to live in love, freedom and peace. For we have chosen the other way around. We are wasted...

"Tabula Rasa!" A blank board! That's the best description I can think of to capture the way human existence has become. We dream. we believe. We survive... for our own sakes... But we cease to live. My life... your life... is a feighned life... cause for one thing, we cease to love... we cease to have faith in ourselves... to have faith in the universe that has cradled us... provided our needs in this part of the horizon. And we cease to have faith in a GOD who made all things we can dream of and believe in possible...

No faith is void with love... the language that travails all obstacles that may put a halt in a life of well-meaning experiences...

LOVE...