dodingdaga

thirty five and counting

Daga — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:59:02 +0000

35 years was not just thirty five. Why? Actually, it is more than that. First, THANK YOU Lord God for everything about me. There are many things in life that I am thankful for. Let me thank YOU for actually reading this post of mine. Both of US know that you have shared at least some of your stories with me. THANK YOU because you have reminded me that life is full of twist and turns and everything we believed and hoped for will happen, going to happen and soon to happen. THANK YOU because you have enabled me also to clarify our own values and articulates how much we cherish our friendship and the diversity of other people as well. THANK YOU because you have encouraged me also for bringing out the very best in me. THANK YOU because you taught me to risk everything and work hard on something that would give me the feeling of being contented and happy. THANK YOU because you reaffirmed my commitment to the principle of being a blessing to everyone and confirmed my belief that love, kindness and constant connection can overwhelm anyone. And THANK YOU because you are allowing me to share this article – Why We Should Be Thankful?

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something,
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times – you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfilment comes to those who
Are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
And they can become your blessings.

…Author Unknown

And lastly, I have learned quite a lot. Have you learned anything about our friendship?
THANK YOU…

2010 in review

Daga — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:53:29 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,900 times in 2010. That’s about 5 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 8 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 12 posts. There were 18 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 3mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was October 21st with 138 views. The most popular post that day was Thank YOU, Sir!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, en.wordpress.com, twitter.com, touch.facebook.com, and WordPress Dashboard.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for perseverance pictures, persévérance, cute baby boy, perseverance images, and perseverance photos.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Thank YOU, Sir! August 2010
18 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

You, I Welcome. March 2008
4 comments

ENOUGH, TOO MUCH – JUST RIGHT? October 2010
36 comments

There’s no such thing as INSTANT..in real life August 2010
2 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

Understanding by all means… August 2010
1 comment

ENOUGH, TOO MUCH – JUST RIGHT?

Daga — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:17:11 +0000

How do you propose to your girlfriend? In the film “A Beautiful Mind,” the mathematician and Nobel Laureate, John Nash, proposes to his girlfriend as he kneels before her and asks for some evidence, some proof if possible, of the reality of her love. She responds by asking him how big the universe is. And he says, without batting an eyelash, that it is infinite. She then asks for proof of his sweeping statement. He says that he knows it, that it can be inferred from the convergent possibilities of the stars and the galaxies, of space and time. She persists, and insists if any proof can be found. He replies that ultimately he can only believe it.

We have to believe that love is given in exchange for our fear. We should learn to accept that we have come to deserve all this beautiful grace; perhaps we shall never know. It is like love that lives in secret, enduring, as the poet Neruda writes, “between the shadow and the soul.”

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride:
so I love you because I know no other way than this,
In which there is I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

We need to experience love. For the past years, I have involved myself into relationships, each relationship built by trust and confidence. Amid the divergent, disordered possibilities of a fallen world, the proof that love is real and an elated feeling simply eludes us. But the questions here are: How can we sustain the love we are giving? How far can we go? Do we have to limit ourselves? Is it just right, too much or enough? The only thing I can share about love is:

“love like the love we are giving to our mothers.”

That is an infinite love – genuine and authentic. From my past relationships, I have learned so many things about love. First, each person is unique in his or her simple way. Never look for your attitude on her/him. Respect other’s differences. Do not ask to be loved, just love. Simply accept what love he/she can give. Second, always believe that when we love someone, we should give our 100%. Because if we cannot submit or give ourselves fully, then we do not love at all. Third, love is all about risk taking and commitment making–not foolishly and blindly, but after doing all the knowing that can be humanly done, love is about just taking that leap and entrusting one’s future to someone you love. That is also what FAITH is all about, isn’t it?

“Do what you can with what you have and what you can give. Never gauge, never ask for something.”

Last, we learn to be less preoccupied with self-preservation and give in more to transcending and going beyond ourselves to reach out to the other. Also, in giving ourselves in love, we learn to respect the selves we love, to celebrate the individual differences that distinguish these selves who love and are loved.

There’s no such thing as INSTANT..in real life

Daga — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:25:29 +0000

A student of mine during one of our class discussion asks a question, Sir! how come we students must reach a certain age before we can marry? I replied, – First, we need to grow up and be responsible enough before getting into married life. We need to think about what would be the best for both our partner and ourselves and not play a passive role when deciding when the right time is and who we should marry. Second, we should have a sustaining job in order to support our family. Lastly, we shouldn’t let marriage overwhelm us. It is something to be treasured for all our lives and when the time comes.

Let us not be in a hurry. People nowadays are always in a hurry. They get bored easily. People want instant remedies to their problems. They want instant solutions.

“A fruit that is quickly ripened tastes sour, but a fruit that is ripened in season tastes sweet.”

In the case of our students, they want to grow up immediately; they want to experience being an adult. They want to imitate us grown-ups. They are selfish enough to understand. When they are tired of waiting, they want quick-fixes to their problems. They want instant solutions.

In a society full of problems and tribulations, we need to PERSEVERE. Perseverance is to allow time to pass without counting that it has passed.

Perseverance means trusting that we will get all our goals in due time. Perseverance means not looking at mistakes but calling those mistakes learning experiences. It is much better to wait rather than to decide immediately.

Lesson? Let us be patient. Let us persevere in life. For people who persevere, there is no such thing as a mistake. For people who persevere, there is no such thing as a stumbling block. People who persevere, will eventually have a happy life.

It never ends…

Daga — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:01:06 +0000

PROBLEM – \’pra-blem\ noun: any question or matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty. From the definition, we can clearly say that problems are everywhere. Problems sometimes cause death. Problems are never-ending. People never run out of problems. Problems are like our siblings when we were born here on earth. Even before we were conceived, we already have problems – problems inherited from our parents. In a society full of twist and turns, we always encounter problems. Teachers have problems with their students, and vice versa, doctors have problems about their patients, and vice versa, politicians have problems about their constituents, and vice versa, deprived families have problems, and even the richest family here on earth has a problem.

“It always stays with us, it never left us”

No matter how hard we try to get rid of problems, it always comes back. Problems are part of life; they will always be a part – no matter what. So instead of thinking and anticipating problems, try to smile, try to divert your attention towards something else. Make yourself happy, laugh more often, touch and inspire people’s lives, and above all, submit all your concerns to God – nothing more, nothing less, – no ONE else.

Compassion rather than Competition

Daga — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:30:05 +0000

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference”

as defined by Winston Churchill. It is the best quotation that I always used in counseling my players. In this world where the culture of modern people is competition. People always compete. We love to compete. We get fired up when there is competition. It all started when we were young, when our parents pushed us to compete. In school, we compete in several academic and athletic competitions. Our teachers or coaches always ignite that will in us to win, to beat the other team, to defeat our opponent. Competition is good, but if it pushes us too far, it can make all of us neurotics. Competition is good, but if it pushes us too far, then we will just step on and trample one another, because our goal is to get to the top as soon as we can, as fast as we can.

Today, rather than focusing on competition, let us dwell into compassion by showing love to others and by appreciating oneself – being YOU/ME gives us more time for ourselves, more time to enjoy the things we want to do or things that we were deprived of in the past. We have enough time to value the people we love the most, to spend more quality time for the people we care for (our family, friends and other important persons in our lives) and to reflect on the countless blessings that God is always giving us. Let us love and show compassion to others. I am happy, you are happy, we can all be happy. Let us share happiness to everyone!…Smile!

Understanding by all means…

Daga — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:58:55 +0000

Every day in our lives, we encounter different people from all walks of life. Some are good, some are mysterious, some are bad and some are hard to understand. There is a drive in us to understand as much as we can. We do not like things we cannot figure out. We don’t like people we cannot understand. As much as possible, we want to sort, analyze, and understand things. But is it really possible to understand everything? Is it really possible to understand everybody? Much of our dilemma and suffering comes from that. We want to know how people will react. We want to understand everybody. We want to satisfy ourselves – believing that we can somehow predict what’s in other people’s minds.

This is very visible in the lives of a couple. No matter how long they have been living together, sometimes it is hard for a husband and wife to understand each other. It is also present in school. No matter how hard the professor explains the lessons, somehow a student finds it difficult to understand. The same thing happens in hospitals. An experienced doctor, in some way, cannot determine the root cause of a patient’s disease or illness.

Now, the question is, is there a need for us to understand people? Or are we just being arrogant? Arrogance has been defined as claiming for ourselves what is not ours, claiming for ourselves what we have not worked for, what does not rightfully belong to us. Maybe we can say that we are not really arrogant in the literal sense of the word. We might say we are not “mataray”; we are, in fact, mild-mannered. But aren’t we, all of us, arrogant because we want to understand; we want to claim for ourselves what is not really ours?

To understand everyone is hard. We have to experience first what they have been through for us to understand. “We must be in their shoes” before we can say we fully understand them. Understanding needs time. It cannot be rushed. It should be ripened and it must be seasoned. No need to become arrogant…

Thank YOU, Sir!

Daga — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:46:35 +0000

Let me do some boasting. I am 33 years old. I have 10 years as a teacher and a few years as a radio reporter, a news writer, a researcher, a voice-over talent, a trainor, an administrator, a technical support agent, and a tourism operation officer to my credit. Of these jobs, it is the distinct role of a teacher to teach students that I love the most. To this day, I have several graduates who have become successful in their chosen careers. My students have become engineers, doctors (coming soon), nurses, accountants, politicians, and most especially TEACHERS.

It is the goodness of God that made it possible.

It is through the greatness of God that I have touched the lives of my students and they have been at the best of what they are.

A few days ago, I was asked, “What was your biggest joy in your 10 years as TEACHER?” And I said without hesitation, “It is the joy of producing tomorrow’s leaders, today”. It is the joy of being part of their academic life, part of their daily tasks and being a second parent to them. It is almost mind blowing. I, the teacher being reciprocated with congratulatory remarks, gifts in several forms and a warmed handshake and embrace from these students – who are now part of the workforce of the Philippine’s public and private sectors. My joy is to see them return their gratitude to their parents. My joy is to see them driving their own cars. My joy is to know that I am invited on some occasions, simply thanking me for being part of their lives, for having inspired them for what they have become, and reckoning those never-ending high school years with much joy and laughter.

What was my greatest difficulty? It is to see my students suffer. Their agony of unwanted pregnancy, having an early married life, not finishing their studies because of poverty and life’s problems. It pains me. It hurts me. It gives me a quiet time asking myself, What is lacking in me as their teacher that made their lives miserable?. How do I respond to their darkest hours? Why do they have to experience pain and suffering this early?. It was also in my first few years as a teacher when I was bombarded with questions from parents, asking help and counseling about their sons and daughters — all these have caused me to strive more to become a good teacher, a good example and a good listener.

What then is my dream in the years to come? I dream that all my students will graduate with flying colors and have a stable job. Teaching is one big charity effort. Even while everyone’s struggling for comfort, I have yet afforded to wiggle while in struggle. Teaching has both surprised and fascinated my nerve for delivering content to whoever is able and interested. I can gladly say, as I travel on this life, somehow, someday, I have touched people’s lives, made them smile, made a big impact in their decisions, and most specially have become part of their lives…All these are just enough to be thankful because I’ve been there and I’ve done things for them. Now, my career is on a crossroad. I have come to terms that an additional fold of one’s age especially when it’s crippling towards the tail end of the calendar, MUST ALWAYS be a bell ringing on my time line, for personal maturity and professional growth. So where am I now? Rightfully on the space provided for me by the Providence,very still and calm patiently waiting for some fortuitous fruits of labor. Hence, I will continue to sow harder for life… not for my sole happiness but for infinite contentment and constant reflection.

In this game called – LIFE

Daga — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:35:45 +0000

I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything, and many things I don’t know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we’re here, and what the question might mean. I might think about it a little bit, but if I can’t figure it out, then I go on to something else. But I don’t have to know an answer…. I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell, possibly. It doesn’t frighten me. Treating others with respect means a lot to me, these are the people who molded me for who and what I am right now. It’s very significant in the saying

“surround yourselves with good and respected people and you’ll benefit from them”

THANK YOU is a better gesture to reciprocate what good people have shared and imparted. Let us continue to choose the right people in our lives so we will be guided by their success, ups and downs, frivolities and sincerity. These are just enough to drive ourselves in the challenges of life, or in this game called LIFE..

Is It True That Everything Happens For a Reason?

Daga — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:02:49 +0000

The idea that there is a loving guidance at work in the universe is much easier to accept when life is going well. In times of misfortune or grief, it can be difficult to accept those five familiar words invariably offered by well-meaning friends: Everything happens for a reason.

When our world seems especially dark, it does not seem possible that such a statement can be true. We reject it as a rationalization intended to help us cope with disappointment and loss.
Yet, if you could rise above your circumstances and adopt a divine perspective, you would see that your life is unfolding precisely as it should to serve your highest good and the highest good of all concerned.

If God is guiding each of us with infinite wisdom and deep love, it follows that God is an organizing force bringing divine order to the universe, and that you are loved and supported no matter how you choose to exercise your free will.

This divine intelligence works with you to co-create every encounter and every event in your life. Every moment is saturated with meaning and purpose.

An event is neither positive nor negative; its meaning depends on how it is interpreted. An old Chinese Taoist story illustrates how changing an event’s context changes its meaning: A poor farmer’s only horse ran away. “That’s awful,” said a neighbor. The farmer said, “We’ll see.” The horse returned with a herd of wild horses. “That’s wonderful,” said the neighbor. The farmer said, “We’ll see.” The farmer’s son was thrown by one of the new horses and broke his leg. “That’s awful,” said the neighbor. The farmer said, “We’ll see.” The next day an army contingent searching the province for recruits rejected the farmer’s injured son. “That’s wonderful,” said the neighbor. The farmer said, “We’ll see.” And so on.

For those who realize that everything is from God, everything is the same.