May Day Eve

Charms like yours have no need for a candle, fair one. -- Nick Joaquin, May Day Eve

Good Old Times

Just came home from our village basketball game. It has been ages since I last played and my body is crying out murder while I'm writing this. Perhaps time took its toll on me, but I did pretty good though. The shadow of "The Bull" showed its specter once in a while during the game. But what really capped the evening was seeing old friends now coming from different places and walks of life who took time and effort just to play in what we called a "reunion tournament" in our village. The best players from years ago came together despite their busy schedules and played their hearts out against younger and more agile players (I'm beginning to betray my age here. He he.) We lost the game but we made sure their win wasn't served on a silver platter.

After the game, all of us stayed behind in the basketball court to catch up on things, as if not wanting the night to end. Somebody brought in cold beer to to circulate as we shared war stories of how it was during the good old days. All of us felt closer than ever before. We said our goodbyes promising to see each other the soonest time we could.

It was a great a great night tonight. It made me realize that despite time and distance, real friendship is not lost but instead made stronger if rekindled in opportune times like this. 

Can't wait for our next game. This old man still has a lot of game in him. :-)

This one is for you my dear family, on the anniversary of our Singapore escapade. You will always be my source of inspiration and strength.

Universal Studios Singapore, April 13-16, 2011

Beautiful Sunday

I wasn't really in the best of spirits the past few days. It felt like I lost something and was dying inside every time I wake up. Everything else seemed to be unimportant and was going through my days without passion. I sought refuge in my room and the familiar feel of my bed where I would just sleep so as to numb the gnawing pain in my heart.

But there was something about today when I woke up. I realized it was Sunday because of the clanging of the church bell in our nearby chapel calling its faithful for the morning mass. Still half asleep in my bed thinking about whether to get up or snooze a little bit more, a fleeting thought came to my mind, as if somebody whispered it to me in a dream.

Live for today, hope for tomorrow. 

Somehow those words lifted me up. I felt that it was a new day for me. To start afresh. It came to me that however low and discouraged I was the past few days, life begins each morning and that it is never too late to start again. 

Letting Go

To let go isn't to forget, not to think about, or ignore. It doesn't leave feelings of anger, jealousy, or regret. Letting go isn't about winning or losing. It's not about pride and it's not about how you appear, and it's not obsessing or dwelling on the past.  

Letting go isn't blocking memories or thinking sad thoughts, and it doesn't leave emptiness, hurt, or sadness.  It's not about giving in or giving up. Letting go isn't about loss and it's not about defeat.  

To let go is to cherish the memories, to overcome and move on.  It is having an open mind and confidence in the future.  Letting go is learning and experiencing and growing.  To let go is to be thankful for the experiences that made you laugh, made you cry, and made you grow.
 

It's about all that you have, all that you had, and all that you will soon gain.  Letting go is having the courage to accept change, and the strength to keep moving.  Letting go is growing up.  It is realizing that the heart can sometimes be the most potent remedy. To let go is to open a door, and to clear a path and set yourself free.

Dear God,  I pray that you make my love humble and genuine. Grant me the grace to let go of those whom I love, that they may bloom and flourish in whatever garden you plant them in. Amen.

 

Starlight

Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star.
It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.

― Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

Star Gazing by Carla Martell

For Love or Money

At some point in a relationship or even marriage, this question comes to mind, for love or money? In these times of uncertainty, where the quest for a good life is primordial with the common man, this question comes to every person's mind--sometimes every so often.

For some, they say that it you can learn to love someone, for others, it is easier to love a rich man than a poor one. I guess we are all entitled to our own point of view in this matter, but what is right for you can be a mystery.

Let's admit it. All of us have this romantic notion of love that is "forever". That warm feeling of being wanted and accepted despite one's shortcomings, the passion and romance so deep that makes us believe that life is meaningless without our significant other.

At the outset, love conquers everything. But as the years go by, this love may waver. The question of love or money slowly creeps up to one's thinking like a nagging thought. For the lucky ones, they may have it all. Wealth, health and a stable future is at their beckoning. But for most of us, it would seem an eternal struggle that we have to go through everyday.

For the average person, he can work hard for a decent living but never really get to grasp that security and financial freedom that he so dreams of. But would that make him a lesser mortal than the more fortunate ones? I sincerely think not.

But life is full of struggles. Sometimes it would deal you things that would seem unfair and impossible. Moreover, it can affect you emotionally. For some, more than a little.


Every year that passes, we struggle. While it may be said that we have friends and a decent job, affording a secure life is still just a dream. That life where we achieve our dreams and sharing our blessings with our loved ones. A life where we don't have to worry about paying the bills, or sending our children to school and enjoying a comfortable lifestyle. Year after year, it takes a toll on you. And for a lot of people, this brings about depression.

For many, both young and old, single, married or separated, the question of love or money will surely present itself at some time. Life is full of choices. And every choice made determines one's future. So again, for love or money?


Whats your choice then? Is the choice between love or money that easy to make? Would you sacrifice love for money? For the security, the ability to enjoy life, to give to your children along the way? Will you regret your decision for the rest of your life? Will you miss the person you left behind, forever? Love or money? The money will never make you feel the way loving someone does. But then again, can you live without that love, that feeling, just to have the ability to never worry financially ever again?

If you can't, then was it really the right thing to do to give up that comfortable life to be with someone you really love? Did love make the difference then? After all, love can't pay the bills. So is it love or money?

What if you were brought up having very little in your youth? What if you dreamed of "love" but what came to you was just "money" that you start looking for love? Love or money?

What if you decide to be with a person with money or a really good future? You may never go through financial hardship, or live in a tight budget. But such relationship could not be as fate would have it and you meet an average person that you fell in love with. But he cannot afford the life you were used to when you had money. Do you still move forward and face life's uncertainties with him, or do you leave him and find someone with money?

Love or money? What does love mean to you? What does having money mean to you? Can you have both? Sure you can, if you're lucky. But much of the time it is a choice between love or money. Some can even convince themselves that it is love, but in reality, it is the money.

While there are many more scenarios where the choice between love or money can be told, the choice you make is yours and yours alone. And one could only pray that it is the right one. The one that would make you happy.