…reflecting on self
1. I have a healthy sense of self that some people see as arrogance. But if somebody tells me straight to my face what a jerk I am, I’ll adjust.
2. When pissed off, I clam up. When really, really pissed off, I explode.
3. Brat fits me, yes. So what? At least I don’t deny it.
4. I am an excellent judge of character and intentions. I read people. I just don’t show dislike.
5. Sometimes, I decide to close my eyes, dive and embrace the risk. This is what adventure is about. Life is a series of experiments.
6. I laugh uncontrollably, smile endlessly, giggle profusely – I feel good and I want to share the vibes. It doesn’t work all the time; the grumpy smirk in return.
7. I’m an Aquarian Rat. That explains why I’m outside the norm.
8. When others are angry, I don’t mind them; what matters is I am not angry. They can torture themselves with more anger while I walk along the corridors with a melody.
9. Yes, I do commit mistakes, given the conventions of the world– sometimes, willfully. This is how I learn life’s deepest lessons.
10. I cry for what I cannot have, nor will I ever want. This is the paradox of my life.
...valuing family, life and love
11. Family is precious. There is nothing like a responsible/loving/gorgeous husband and
wonderful/lovely/talented kids. I’ll bet the world for them.
12. A fulfilled life is all about choices and priorities. Decisions are made based on long-term benefits, never on spur-of the-moment advantages and fleeting emotions.
13. Decisions are hardest when made against the self. I made the best decisions by deciding against myself.
14. Falling in love is magical, always spontaneous. When one falls, he sees no faults. Loving is a decision; regardless of faults, one chooses to nurture the love.
15. Marriage takes hard work. A man often ends up a father; the woman, a mother. It must not be so. Keep stealing fire from heaven.
16. At one point, marriage reaches a standstill that’s, well, normal. Resort to abnormal, if it helps you hang in there.
17. Regardless of difference in levels and dimensions, loving the past without shortchanging the present is an art. It takes a great deal of propriety and sense of adventure to embrace both.
18. They say it’s lack of friendship, not love, that causes unhappy marriages. I don’t know. I don’t even know what unhappy is.
19. I never did and never will love a man as “quietly” as I love the man I am married to. Nothing even comes close.
20. Love brings out the best. This love, no matter the number and form, must inspire greatness and sublimity. If it brings out the worst and triggers vileness and misery –rethink!
21. Married men are dangerous, nevertheless not invincible. They know how to play the game. Unfortunately, smart women play better.
22. I wander off once in a while into my Memory and my Time, but always I return to my Home and my All.
23. Life is short. Live, love, be. I can choose to widen my perspective by going for things I never thought I could or ever would. But, no…I won’t dare cross the line.
24. No man can ever make me crawl on my knees and beg. True to the vow I made upon my sister’s grave: I will give no man the honor to see me fall.
25.The doctor said my health conditions are incurable, nonetheless controllable. The same goes for heartache.
…learning from teaching
26. Teaching is not about cramming loads of information into the students’ minds. It is about inspiring
them to see the good, the true and the beautiful.
27. Every teacher has a favorite student. No matter how teachers avoid biases, one or two will strike us as exceptional. Some favorites become lifelong friends.
28. A teacher cannot box a student’s future in two-digit figures. Grades are but measures of performances, not of personhood and potentials.
29. There are student ingrates. No matter the lessons imparted and the influence exerted, a teacher meets one or two, even more in a lifetime, who will insist they know better.
30. I am proud when students become better than I am; prouder when I see part of me in them; proudest when they go against me – but always with dignity, gratitude and respect.
…loving friends
31. Without friends, this would be a lonely world. I get by, always with a little help from my friends.
32. A best friend is one with whom I share my most shameful deed without fear of rejection or judgment. Donna is my best friend and she has stood by me at all cost, as I have by her.
33. My High School friends, mostly boys now men, probably remember me as the bubbly and childlike girl in pigtails. I have changed –so changed – but they still see me as that. I am glad. With them, I still catch a glimpse of the person I was.
34. My Tropang 90’ish stood by me in what must have been the darkest part of my life. With them, there is nothing to hide. They see through me. The bond is so strong that they instantly feel my pain despite distance, despite time.
35. Triumvirate, Controversy Magnets, The Dogs – I’m OK with any label, and it doesn’t hurt a bit that there are haters who can’t comprehend why we are still loved by most.
…praising God
36. God’s love is constant. Mine comes and goes. I am sure though that I am most welcome anytime I choose to be home.
37. God knows what to do at all times in my life. He destroys and restores me. He strips and clothes me. Above all, he tests to sanctify my soul.
…looking forward
38. There are sacred things I keep to myself. SACRED -- strong and beautiful – i’ll die with its power upon my soul.
39. I don’t have to wait to be 40 to start what might be the last lap. Today at 39, I begin a new life…
