A friend of mine (Hi Josh ^^,) gave me the link to this video and he asked me if I could make a blog post about it. Of course I said yes. So here I am, staring in front of the monitor with my headphones on, thinking and reflecting on Derek Redmond’s story. 

I am not a runner. But I do play soccer, and I’m required to jog and run a few times around the oval so I know how hard and how exhausting running is. (If by any chance you find the earlier statement unbelievable, don’t worry, I can’t believe it myself. HAHA) Anyways, running is really hard. And if you’re “the” Derek Redmond, it’s twice as hard since in every competition you have eyes watching you. You are expected to run fast, come first, and eventually win a medal. When people expect a lot from you, you just can’t see any room for failures. So could you just imagine how Derek felt when a torn hamstring snatched away all hopes of winning first. Even finishing the race seemed impossible. Medics surround him, people are in shock, but instead of stopping, Derek stood up and with one disabled leg, he continued. To be honest, if I were in his situation, I would have given up easily. I would stop, and raise my white flag. Then I would tell myself, “I failed. I didn’t win a medal, nor did I finish the race. I failed, I am a failure.” But my view of failure is not failure itself. In Derek’s case, failure is not losing, it’s giving up. He doesn’t want to become a failure. No, he wasn’t a failure. Even if he’s injured, he continued the race. With his father assisting him, he went on. Crying in pain, but not giving up. I bow my head to his passion for running. I commend him for his determination to go on, despite the hindrances that he faced. The crowd didn’t gave him a standing ovation for nothing. No, they didn’t applaud him for finishing a simple race. It was a race for his life. For his career. For the people that mattered. And for all who believed in him. Not a single medal can top the prize he received. And for that he will always be remembered.

People succeed because they didn’t give up. If you give up now, how would you succeed later? Giving up MUST not be an option. You started the race, then you must finish it. Even if it takes you awhile to get to the finish line. After all, God is patient and He will wait for you at the end, even if you take detours and pitstops in the long run. He’s not after your ranking, he’s after your growth and learnings. Keep the faith! Goodmorning:) 

I always wanted to know what God planned for me in my life. I wanted to know His plans, because I thought maybe if I knew those plans, then I would know how to answer questions or make decisions of my own. But that would be like cheating. And I don’t want to cheat life and regret everything. Having plans are good, but knowing your purpose is better.

Plans could easily be changed whenever the circumstances ask you to. But a purpose, that’s something we cannot change. Take the Electric Fan for example. Inventors created it to give people relief with the wind it produces whenever it’s hot. People cannot make an electric fan that will store people’s food; that is not its purpose. But inventors can always change the plan or the whole concept behind and they can now create an air conditioning system. It still serves the purpose of giving people relief whenever it’s hot, but now it’s original plan has been changed.

I’m not saying that God’s plans for us are not important. I’m just saying that God’s plans can easily be changed. We have tendencies of changing His plans for us through the decisions or choices we make. But His purpose for us, that’s what we should think about. Let’s do our best to live up to our purpose in life, instead of living out a life planned yet easily affected by our decisions.

When everything’s falling apart, I cannot complain about it and it hurts me. When people fail me, I cannot raise my voice at them and it hurts me. When I’m weak and disheartened, I cannot stop because people expect a lot from me. And that hurts me. It hurts me because no one can understand me. It hurts me because no one cares, or bothers to check on me. Why would they even do so? I’m no longer a child. That hurts me too. I want to be a kid again. That way, no one will pressure me with all the things I have to do. I just have to play, study and behave well. Since when did things become complicated? Since when did people become so rude? They’re insensitive and arrogant, yet they still have the nerves to call you their friend. They lie to me, they hurt me and they all take me for granted. It hurts, and I don’t even know how to lessen the pain.

At the end of the day, what matters most is how you keep your real self despite the fact that people are desperately bringing you down. Life is a battlefield, face it, because people kill each other in real life. But in “this” world, people just bitch out on each other. Something we can’t really stop, but we can always ignore or defend. Ignoring something doesn’t mean that you don’t care. It just means that you’re more educated than some people that you choose not to add more fuel to the fire. But if ignoring doesn’t work, you can always defend yourself. Defending something doesn’t mean you’re guilty. It just means that you care enough to even bother explaining things to people who lack judgement. 

We can either ignore things, or defend it, it doesn’t matter as long we’re not the ones who initiated it. Fights are better left in the ring. Everyone is already bombarded with problems, adding to it makes you a pest to someone else’s life. I don’t want to be a pest to the life of my friends. Do you want to be a pest in the life of your friend? Of course not. So why start something like it?

But then again, no matter how much I discuss things, it is still be God who gives us challenges. Meaning, other things are just distractions. We should just learn how to keep ourselves grounded seeing clearly the goal, when things become complicated and things start to blur.

No one gets to see a beautiful rainbow without getting through the storm. Being hurt, feeling anxious, getting jealous, becoming insecure, etc. Everyone has them but you see, in order for you to understand yourself one has to undergo these things. Yes, it truly is a bit disgusting being the way it is but after you undergo those phases in your life, you’ll know that you are better than that.

Experience is the key factor to learning oneself and others. How can you relate what those people are going through if for once, you have never even experienced nor seen them first hand? You judge as if you already know them but in fact you are no better than them. Being ignorant is not an excuse, it’s a way of saying “I don’t care that much”.

Once you have surpassed those dark phases in your life, you’ll be able to grow as a person. You tend to mature and your decisions become unbiased. You become calmer and you look at two sides of every story.

So remember, no one ever said learning is easy. Just keep your chin up and get ready for a jam-packed, crazy, and wonderful experience!

It’s now official! The founder of the global campaign announced on January 28, 2012 that the magnificent Puerto Prinsesa Underground River in Palawan, Philippines is now one of the New7Wonders of Nature. It sure overwhelmed every Filipino making them say: “Proud to be Pinoy”. The Puerto Prinsesa Underground River consists of a limestone karst mountain landscape, several large chambers containing significant formations of stalagmites and stalactites. Hagedorn even said that this confirmation is very wonderful news for Puerto Prinsesa, and a great example of how now it’s more fun in the Philippines, in reference to the Department of Tourism’s “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

“World-wide exposure of our natural beauty on this level is critical both for tourism and for our image nationally and internationally,” he said. It is said that a new mineral called serrabrancaite was recently discovered in the cave as confirmed by the Italian La Venta Geographical Association, which has been conducting expeditions at the Puerto Prinsesa Underground River. “Cave experts themselves were amazed because only few caves in the world host more than three to four minerals, yet in the Puerto Prinsesa Underground River alone, they have unearthed at least 11 minerals, of which three are new cave minerals,” Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Ramon Paje said in statement. Which is why people thinks that the Puerto Prinsesa Underground River deserves to win.

Paje also included, “The Puerto Prinsesa Underground River represents one of the largest and most important underground estuaries in the world, hosts one of the most complex cave systems, and has the natural capacity to offset the effects of high-impact tourism.”

The DENR secretary added that Puerto Prinsesa Underground River contains unique formations from secondary mineral deposits not found elsewhere, and hosts cave formations that allow scientists to conduct studies in understanding the Earth’s evolution. He further noted that a 20-million-year-old fossilized remains of a sea cow or sirenia have also been found embedded in perfect condition in the cave’s walls.

Paje said that the victory of PPUR, which has also been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, would be like “David winning over Goliath” as it competes against the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the Grand Canyon of the USA and the Amazon River of South America.

“Filipinos worldwide should be united irrespective of geography, religion, or political affiliation to show the world the beauty of the PPUR and the whole Philippines, as well,” he stressed.

‘Money cannot buy Happiness.’

Once upon a time, this phrase was probably true. But as time continues to progress, I believe it is becoming obsolete. I’m sure we have all been told that money truly can’t buy happiness. But in all honesty, how many of us believe that?

Another saying that is associated with money is ‘More money, more problems.’ Is that necessarily true? Wouldn’t having more money bring fewer problems?

Seeing my parents struggle to pay bills and whatnot is something that does diminish my happiness. When I think about how my life is right now, and I think about how I want my life to be in the future, I can’t help but hope that I do not have to deal with the struggles that my parents are having right now. I hope that one day, I will be able to help them and tell them that they no longer have to work.

In all honesty, wouldn’t we all be happier if we were able to go and buy the things we wanted? If we were all able to buy the things we wanted, get gas, afford to go to college, and pay bills, wouldn’t we all be happier?

Is money something that goes along with love and relationships? As people grow older, it seems like money becomes a new factor when finding a relationship. I’ve heard adults say that they want someone who will be able to help raise a family with them. Someone who can help provide for all of them. It saddens me to know that Love and Money are being linked together. Shouldn’t it be about their personality, and not their income?

I’m not necessarily saying that money can buy true, genuine happiness. But it certainly does help attract it. As much as we all might not want to admit it, if we sat down and truly thought about what we want in life, money is probably something that comes to mind.