Remembering Beautiful Lives...

Tito Raffy, Tita Chona & Mika...

"they were born to amuse, to inspire, to delight..."

They may be gone too soon, but they will always be remembered well and dearly, not just by family and friends but to all those complete strangers whom they had shared the unconditional love of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

How could we forget these three beautiful lives?  The perfect poise and faithful aura of Tita Chona, the fatherly strength and humility of Tito Raffy, and the youthful gracefulness and passion of Mika . They were and will always be a perfect family symbol of FAITH and PASSION. They lived beautiful lives, showed exemplary deeds, and even up to their last hour on earth, they continue to inspire us to do something bigger, greater than our own selves.

And who would have missed the greatness shown by Tito Raffy and Tita Chona's eldest daughter Bambi and only son RL ... we could not help but admire these two for their strength and faithfulness. Indeed, their parents have embraced their souls with so much love and faith that they are not quickly shaken with any test or trials. We will always pray for you Bambi and RL,  that God will continue to prepare you both for another greater journey in sharing God's goodness.

Again, Tito Raffy, Tita Chona and beautiful angel Mika... THANK YOU for sharing your brief, yet beautiful lives with us. We are forever grateful that you had been part of each one of us especially here in your  CFC Qatar family.

Thank you... we will always remember and love the three of you dearly.

Gone Too Soon But  Will Never  Be Forgotten

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Season of Discontentment

Each of us, probably, goes through a season of discontentment. A season when we tend to acquire that irrational craving for something new and something better. It could be a craving for a change in career, a change in lifestyle, a change in relationship, a change in friends, or simply a change in attitude. A season when simple things become complicated and the complicated becomes more extra-complicated. Complexities that perplex our once simple life. Complexities that burden us with more difficulties. Complexities that made us difficult to thrive, difficult to believe, difficult to be satisfied. Should we allow this craving complexity to take a higher form and eventually direct us somewhere or face it and mortify its intensity.

Photo by Story & Shots: Little Miss Yurie meditating on the oval track.

Remember, our primitive time as children? All we needed were few basic material things -- food, clothes and toys --- to make us happy; and a kiss and a hug from our mom and dad-- to make us safe. When we could not have new toys, we simply used our imagination to conjure up make-believe scenarios using recycled gadgets and playthings. What we had then, seemed like a treasure to our childlike dimension. The teenage days of our life were not that complicated either. There were no VCDs or DVDs to watch till dawn, no CDs to quiver with, no cell phones nor e-mails to send messages, no cyber cafes to hang out with our friends, no internets to connect us to the rest of the world. But we enjoyed a lot more with a lot less, right? (Probably, because back then we didn’t know what we were missing yet!)

But, hey, look at people, nowadays. See how the jet age and cyber-technologies and modern lifestyle have transformed them. Some of them have turned into idealistic and transforming individuals who are brave enough to stand up and ready to be ridiculed for their convictions. Others are plainly contented to what they see or hear and numb enough to question the traditional philosophies imposed by the world they happen to live in. Some of them may keep on searching, and moving, and changing for an unfound reason. Some of them may just go on…hoping there is something better to see at the end of the tunnel.

The message here is this: those who refused to go out from their hard-core shells and learn to explore new things in the world and stand up for their convictions will remain in their own shell forever, but those who update their knowledge and skills; those who read, research and learn; those who perform mental gymnastics constantly; those who crave for change and create a difference in the lives of others will thrive in the playing field of life. We have to acquire a high-speed mindset, a fast-track sense of doing things. We have to develop a taste for higher convictions and consequential living to reach higher grounds.

Now, we can’t exactly speak for all people, whether the season of discontentment that passes through our life, is a bane or a boon. If we are discontented because we always want to explore what is there to explore, to harness what is there to harness, to learn what is there to learn, then good! Keep on with our discontentment. But if we are discontented because we have this notion that life itself is a plain discontentment, then we have to change our direction. You see, this vicious cycle of dissatisfaction goes on and on and on. We will never be contented with what we have or what we have accomplished, not because we are insatiable beings. Rather, discontentment resides in us because we know we have not fully shared what we ought to share to the world. So, treasure that moment of discontentment when it comes to you. There’s so much to learn from that unfulfilled mission, unconsummated vision, or unfinished journey of existence.

As Joan Atwater beautifully said in her book called The Simple Life:

Our lives are overburdened, and living often seems to us a terrible complicated affair. The problems of the world are so incredibly complex and we see that there are no simple answers. The complexity always leaves us with a feeling of helplessness and powerlessness. And still, amazingly enough, we go on, day by day, always half subconsciously yearning for something simpler, something more meaningful.

So how we look for our lives and living becomes tremendously important. It’s up to us to bring this authenticity, this simplicity, this directness, and this unburdened clarity into our looking. If such a thing as living life fully interests you, then it’s up to you to learn about it and live it.

Create Your Own Hole in the Sky

Photo by Story & Shots: Hole in the Sky

Perhaps the best way to achieve freedom in your life is to know and decide when and where you want to put your own hole in the sky. Luckily, I’ve seen myself thriving in this dimension. I may had exerted an ordinary effort, or spent an ordinary time, or found an ordinary place, or make friends with ordinary people, yet the learning I’ve had weren’t ordinary at all. Each of us goes through a transition stage. We don’t exactly know what we want, where we should be or what we see ourselves to be. Perhaps, I am passing through that time now. There is this feeling of wanting for more, of giving another best shot, of harnessing what I believe is there to cultivate, of taking risk, of learning more . There are a lot of things I want to do... there is my passion to publish and author a book... there is my vision of seeing myself as a great speaker and trainer... there is my hallucination of being a psychologist... there is my hidden cry to become a nun... there is my desire to be like Ally Mcbeal, the lawyer... there is my fervent prayer of becoming an angel in heaven... so many things I want, so many dreams I wish...thank God, dreams and wishes are freely given! Yet I found myself gasping for air, breathlessly confused of where I am now. It seems like life offers me with so many beautiful things, yet I keep on craving for other things...and I’m afraid to see myself holding with nothing!

Opportunities, I said to myself, are not circumscribed to one soul and so is bad luck. Everyone must have his own chance of taking a win or a loss in the gamble of life and so am I . I know I won’t have it all at the same time but I can have those things in its own time. As the maxim goes, ‘do one tick at a time.” And the flower will die or bloom in its own time...and the bird will rest or soar in its own time...and the waves will rise or fall in its own time...and love will hurt or inspire in its own time...and life will perpetuate or cease in its own time... for everything has its own season, every season has its own dimension, every dimension has its own reason, and every reason has its own time.

So I won’t let that moment slip through my fingers, it may not come to me again. Rather, I would savor its presence while its there. I would take time to smell the roses, or see the butterfly flies, or appreciate the moon and the stars as they shine at night. I would rather talk less and listen more to what the experience is telling me. I would say more ‘I love you,” and more “I am sorry,” even if the circumstance does not require. And mostly, I would give my best shot at life, seize every moment, look at it and really see it and live it and love it --- for it will never come back!

This Will Soon Pass

I consider myself an eternal optimist…though I’ve been put in a lion’s den sometimes, it doesn’t put my soul in a trap. I always make it a point to stand up, and gather any spark of strength left in my veins to go on with the fight. After all, things like these in our lives always happen but will soon pass. And it did…and it always will, believe me!

Photo by Story & Shots: Keep Calm Lion King

This Will Soon Pass…

The tunnel seems so dark; I don’t see where the road leads
The heart seems so numb; I don’t feel where the pain goes
Deafening silence can be heard from the inside, it suffocates
Screaming out loud I cannot do, agony it intensifies
No words can comfort me; neither any touch can ease the hurting
Everything seems hopeless; I cannot cling to any vine of longing

Giving up seems to be an easy way out
Should I hold on and suffer?
Or should I let go and die?
Sometimes I fall
Sometimes I falter
Sometimes I am drifting
Sometimes I am denying
Sometimes I cease from hoping
Sometimes I hold back my faith from moving
But I don’t lose my soul
For I know, things like these will soon pass.

Life is Beautiful

Life is full of amazing surprises…Sometimes it makes you shiver and cry…Sometimes it brings you joy and laugh on high…Sometimes it says nice hellos …Sometimes it bids painful good-byes…Life is full of hopes and wondrous graces…Sometimes we see it, sometimes we don't…Sometimes we just sit and wait for our stars to come out…Sometimes we just close our eyes and let the day pass with a sigh…Sometimes we lift up everything on high and say let it be…But life goes on beyond laughters and tears, hopes and wishes…Life awaits hopeful beginnings to those who can truly accept painful endings …Life treasures long friendships to those who can endure agonizing distances…Life moves mountains to those who can struggle weak knees and fretful hearts…Life brings forth a beautiful journey to those who really believe and make life beautiful.

Photo by Story & Shots: Color your life with beauty

Everyone has his own creative way of starting a new year. I started mine dusting up and recollecting my old memory files. As far as I can remember, those memory trinkets I have kept were ten or fifteen years ago but it seems like the words and the memories are as fresh as those good old days. I should have created my own memory museum to capture and preserve all of these. Would you imagine our happy childhood days when love letters are finely written in sweet scented stationeries and cards are well crafted with beautiful words and sincerest feelings of love and friendship? And who can forget the smiley faces, the beautiful collection of scents and stickers, the secret pen names, the poetic words, and heart-warming flatteries? Ahhh…those were the days of great adventures…carefree moments of creating dreams and wishes…and literally, an era of simplicity and hopefulness.

Yes, sometimes it’s good to think of happy memories when you are bombarded with uncontrollable spills of life. It clears your perspective and somehow, makes you feel not all days are bad and this one will soon pass. Perhaps, some of us went through days of faltering faith, tormenting nights of tears and worries, and unending race to nowhere. I did, and I still do from time to time. There are times, when I just don’t know how to pray and say thank you. There are times, when I get so impatient and too confident to do things on my own. There are times, when I expect too much and ended up so distressed with my expectations. There are times when my own race of life becomes meaningless and exhausting. But despite these low tide moments of my life, I realized, life is, and can always be beautiful if I choose it to become beautiful.

Would you believe, there is always beauty in every detail of our ordinary existence? There is beauty in the failure of our dreams…it motivates us to get up and learn and start again building new dreams. There is beauty in the parting of lives…it brings us to another beginning and a time to begin a fresh new life. There is beauty in being heart broken…it restores our hearts and makes our soul strong after the wound has healed. There is beauty in not having enough money…it makes us contented in living a simple life. There is beauty in patiently waiting for our destiny… it makes us realize even if the waiting takes a lifetime, everything will be worth the wait. There is beauty in being restless…it makes you cling to a great God and yearns for his protective embrace.

Indeed, there is beauty in love and pain…in high tides and low tides… in success and failures…in joy and sadness…in hellos and goodbyes…in certainty and ambiguity…in life and death. And remember, life can always be beautiful if you make it so.

Why I love THANK YOU

Thank You…

When someone utters these words spontaneously and with all sincerity, my heart dances with euphoria. When I give someone a gift, a favor, or a portion of my precious time, I ought to have something in return. But that something doesn’t have to be an expensive gift, a remarkable favor, or a return for my precious time.All I need to give you back to me is your sincerest thank you.

Photo by Story & Shots: Pure Love

It’s not actually the idea of expecting always something in return, but it is the remarkable feeling of joy that I get from being appreciated and thanked for. For I understand, the spirit of giving does not end with the gift being given to you. Rather it continues when you give thanks and make another person feel good.

You see, if the human race knows the importance of thank-yous in our lives,we could have prevented thousands of people from being miserable and distressed. We could have put a spark of hope in their lives,by simply thanking them for creating a difference in us. We could have move mountains and lift a soul by our simple whisper of thank you. And perhaps, if all of us take time to make it a habit to say that simple thank you, we could have created heaven in the middle of the world.

That is why, if there’s one word left in the world, 

I want it to be…THANKYOU!

The Reason for Rainbows

Rainbow on Sky photo  from www.7-themes.com

Has anyone of you seen a rainbow lately? Not much, I guess. I seldom see it myself nowadays and it makes me wonder why. I miss the beauty and the mystery it exudes. Rainbows never fail to amaze me since I was a kid. I always asked myself why it is beautifully painted in the sky and appears for some time? Why can’t it stay there for long? What are rainbows for? Where did it come from and where it goes when it disappears? Until now, I don’t know the exact answers. The only thing I understand about rainbows is…they are painted in the sky to remind us hope never ceases and God never forgets us. That’s why I always love to see rainbows.

Here's a poem I wrote long years back to remind me of Rainbows.

The Reason for Rainbows

Forty days and forty nights of unceasing rains and floods
There seems to be no more hope left for a sun to rise above
Every edge of the sky is painted with dark, angry clouds
There seems to be no end to the angels’ sob

When will the sun come out and dry the land?
When will the angels sing and tune the band?
When will the sky clear and brighten the heaven?
When will the rainbow appear and hope be given?

Sighs disappear, when rainbows appear
Clear, blue clouds can be seen all over
And colorful hope floats freely in the air
Yes, rainbows are there painted in the sky
To remind us always that hope never ceases
And God never forgets.

Writing Fascination

I used to think writing is only for highly intelligent people. It doesn’t follow I guess. I know a lot of high- IQ people but their minds stutter when they write. I don’t have such a gifted brain, but I know I can write. In writing, eloquence of the mind may be important, but I think, it is more important to have eloquence of the heart. For me, a genuine writing ability springs from the heart and soul, not just the mind. You may know a lot of high-sounding words, or maybe you’re an expert with crossword puzzles, but if you don’t have a genuine heart in conveying your thoughts, you can’t string those words into a beautiful package of language and touch a soul.

There are a lot of reasons why we should be fascinated with writing. It’s like a therapy for some broken souls. It’s like an outlet of fear and anger, a weapon to combat pains and hurts. Try sometimes to put everything on a piece of paper (then shred it off, later!) and I tell you, your heart will feel like it’s being consoled temporarily. Some people write when they are overflowing with joy… or when their hearts cannot contain the happiness within and they are bursting to the seams. Writing is more of a heart full of spirit that one is eager to share with someone. It’s like a soul that never ceases to say, “I love you” till the other soul says, “I love you” back. Thoughts never cease on flowing till the soul pours out everything in words.

Writing is magical too, because it makes you closer to souls you can’t reach…it comforts lonely spirits… it befriends strangers… it heals broken hearts…and it simply gives life to a deserted world. I don’t know but there is that amazing fascination I get when I write. It makes me happy…it consoles me…it allows me to dream and dream…it gives life to my soul. There is always this strong force within me, wanting to explode! That’s why, I want other souls to discover the magic and fascination one can get from writing.

Believe me, writing is not that difficult. Everyone can write, as long as there is that spark in your heart to create an idea or to express a thought. It can be a thank-you note for a friend…a message of comfort for a weary soul…a smiley face put on paper with your name on it…some sharp words of pain when you soul is hurting…words expressing your love to someone…anything that goes in and out of your mind is a masterpiece for writing.

Start with some simple words…write everything that comes in your mind. Never mind whether it’s structured or not, grammatically correct, or lousy. Just write it out. Spontaneity is more important. Make writing as a habit. Write whenever you want…in the morning when you wake up, you will be surprised, where did all these thoughts come from…and in the evening, you will be happy to transcribe everything that has transpired during the day. Write whenever and wherever you feel like writing…you can be in the middle of your sleep and something within you wanting to be heard or poured out, get up and write! You can be reading a book, and an idea eventually spring out, document it! You can be in your solitary moment, and you just want to share your solitude with a friend, grab a pen and say what you feel. You see, every moment is valuable…every moment is worth remembering…every moment is fleeting that how we wish we all have eidetic memories to store it in our minds.

So why not try, writing it all out now…and someday, you will be thankful…you’ve learned how to write!

The Roller Coaster Ride

Roller coaster is unpredictable. You get in, you sit down, and you’re strapped on. You’re there for the ride. And then you go up, then you go down, and your stomach feels like it’s falling out of your body. It’s so exciting and you’re scared and you don’t know where you’re going and you don’t know what’s happening next. It just goes around and around and around.

Life is like a roller coaster. You just get on, and you’re there for the ride. You go up, you go down, you make mistakes, you get praises, you feel good, you feel bad, you tell the truth, you tell lies, you get a slap on your face, you get an honest reward, you win some, you lose some, you love today, you will be out of love tomorrow.

Like a roller coaster, everything in life is uncertain. No one stays on top no one remains at the bottom neither one clings at the center. It may not be given as a choice but everyone can have the chance to have a good ride in the roller coaster of life.