Tag Archives: friendship

Finding and Believing

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Took a look at my blog and yes, it has been gathering virtual cobwebs and cyber dust. I’m just so out of it…the past few months have seen a huge displacement occurring in my life, as if someone took a huge boulder and hurled it into my comfortable pond of existence. It was something that had to happen and had to be done. I’m more at ease now that certain things have been taken care of, but some hurtful residue has remained.

In a way life is funny and strange. You’re coasting along, thinking you’re in complete control and then…BAM!! It hits you and you realize that you relinquished control a long time ago, without even knowing or admitting it. I’ve made my share of mistakes in the past, just like everyone else, but sometimes I tend to ignore it. To forget. To imagine that no, those mistakes never happened. Bad move.

Then I received this text message from someone I hadn’t met in ages:

Whatever comes, accept it. Everything that happens happens for the good. A positive mind turns it into a blessing. This will dawn upon you later.

I hate to use the D-word, but I’ve been feeling depressed on and off. Fortunately it has been mild so far, not to the point where my whole system shuts down, whether I like it or not. My appetite’s still there, I manage to do my work, etc. Beyond that the depression tends to rear its ugly head at me from time to time. My blogging has faltered, just because I couldn’t muster myself to write—my head refuses to let me focus and I lose my thoughts. So it has been a difficult past few months.

Some good has come out of all this, though. I’ve begun to appreciate the soothing power of friendship and I’d like to thank all my friends who have given me an emotional shoulder of support to lean on. I have to give time time. And continue to trust in the Lord that everything will turn out alright as and when He sees fit.

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Serendipity

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It’s amazing how often people meet like ships in the night, and then drift away…it happened to me way back in 1981 when I met someone whom I liked a lot…our paths crossed for a brief semester at the University of Arizona, we went out for one solitary date, and then she just—disappeared. I was completely dumbfounded—she was a person I would have liked to know better. Slowly time made me forget, since I had other friends in college. Our two ships set their own different courses in the sea of life.

Fast-forward to 2009, and I was writing my blog series about my years in America. I intended to include some of my American college friends in it, and suddenly she flashed into my mind. Oh what the heck, since I’m on Facebook why not humor myself and do a Facebook search? Something just prodded me on, so I entered her name and clicked on Search. Lo and behold, the search results came back (there were several hundred entries) Gosh, am I going to search through all that? Again something urged me on, so I clicked on the first results page—nada. Second page, third page, fourth page, nope. And then there she was—slightly older no doubt (so am I) but there was that recognizable smile.

I hastily penned a message about adding her as my Facebook friend and clicked on Send. I remember writing something like “If I’ve got the wrong person, I do sincerely apologize.” A day or two later, I received an email from her, and eagerly opened it (I half-expected it to say that I’d got the wrong person) But fortunately it was her! And she remembered who I was. Thanks to the miracle of Facebook, two ships have managed to steer back towards each other, after an absence of 28 years.

We’ve been using WLM to stay in touch since then…it’s delightful to know about what has been going on in her life, while I tell her my own gory details. This is not a publicity campaign for Facebook (and it doesn’t need it) but without it two friends would not have reconnected again. Friendship transcends all barriers, be they physical or otherwise. There is nothing more congenial than knowing and confiding in a good friend. Friendship is truly the best ship of all. Thank you for being my friend, Crystal.

“Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” Aristotle

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The song remains the same

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Somehow or other I’ve been suffering from a lack of blogging juices lately…with the help of a little Diana Krall playing in the background hopefully I can get this post published. The crux of the matter is that this festive season has left me a bit depressed—not to the point where I have to resort to medication yet, thank God. After all I have many things to be thankful for (and I do thank the good Lord for my blessings, every day). However, it is hard to feel upbeat all the time when some treacherous curveballs have been thrown my way. Trying my best to duck out of harm’s way, not 100% successful though.

I’m going through a major crisis in my life—something that will probably get worse before it gets better. I don’t want to elaborate too much yet, but the constant source of support that I’ve gotten from friends and relatives has been very encouraging. Nonetheless, it hurts when I have time to ponder, which is why I’m trying to keep myself preoccupied with anything I can find—my teaching, blogging, reading, exercising. Idle minds do give fodder to the devil and his workshop…it’s a blessing that I can feel that there are people who are praying and genuinely concerned about my well-being.

I know it’s silly, but I wish the beaming technologies of Star Trek could be available now. Instead, I have to get onboard a 747 if I want to get out of here. And that costs money, damn.

Still, all it takes is a little warm encouragement from a friend, who says “Hang in there.” Or the smile of a student when I gently encourage her to play (that happened today!) And whaddaya know, a student gave me an early Christmas present—thanks, Jason and Sue! Little things do matter and mean a lot to me…and that’s what keeps me buoyant, instead of slumbering down and wallowing in a mess of self-pity. And let’s not forget music…that really helps to soothe my troubled soul.

Apologies if this post sounds downhearted—it’s the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ—a miracle of miracles. I’ll just have to shoulder on and hopefully God willing, next year will see better days ahead for me…

Season’s Greetings to all my readers. Have a joyous Christmas and Happy New Year.

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The ABC’s of Me (F)

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F: Facebook, Friendships, Food

Ah yes, Facebook. The cyber opium social networking network—some people love it, others wouldn’t even touch it. I haven’t been on Facebook for very long, in fact I only signed up last year but I love it. I can understand why it has become the #1 social networking phenomenon—it has almost everything (text, photos, apps, quizzes, chats, groups, marketplace, etc.) integrated into one convenient center. You just decide how much and what you want to do with it. The wide range of options makes Facebook very customizable, but you’ve got to learn to be careful not to divulge stuff that might come back to haunt you later on (ah yes, heard the one about employers searching FB for information about their prospective staff?)

I use Facebook primarily to connect with my friends and to publicize my blog posts, whenever I write a new one. And the quizzes—well I won’t talk too much about them, because there are some absolutely stupid and banal ones there (imagine a quiz titled “How stupid are you?” and you get the picture) Still, it’s great when you have time to kill or you’re just about fed-up with computer work or games. The chat program is very rudimentary; I still prefer Windows Live Messenger. However, it’s convenient for a quick chat when your friends are logged in.

One thing I’m grateful to Facebook for is that recently I had the chance to reconnect with an old friend from my University of Arizona days. We haven’t been in touch for something like 28 years, and through FB I managed to find this friend and reconnect. It was wonderful, and I think this is something that FB excels in doing…thanks, Facebook!

Friendships and friends mean so much to me. I don’t have a lot of what I would call close friends. Just a few of them and with the exception of one (yes you, Boss!) all the rest are in the good US of A. I know, we can’t like hug or throw friendly punches at each other, but Windows Live Messenger more than makes up for it. To all my friends out there (and you know who you are) I love you all. Thank you for your friendship!

“I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Uh oh, someone’s going to call me a piggy when I mention food. I remember one of the best advice I received from my dad as I was about to depart for the UK was this: “You eat to live, not live to eat.” In other words, don’t be a glutton. And if eating isn’t enjoyable, then why do it? The same goes with sex, I suppose…but oops I am getting side-tracked. Many people are envious of me because I can simply eat whatever I like and yet not put on weight. What can I say, I have a high metabolic rate, LOL. However, I don’t use that as an excuse to pig out—no no no. I’ve been more careful with my diet now that I’m close to hitting the big 5-0.

Speaking of which, I’m absolutely a breakfast person. I need my breakfast! It has been cereal for the past years but recently I converted to oats because of their ability to purge the bad cholesterol away from my body. Honestly I am not a fan of oats but hey, if it’s good for me I’ll eat it. I have regular meals (and leftovers yes) and I indulge in the occasional pizza and burger, though not always. And since I’m managing my boss’ food blog it is sometimes a wee bit overwhelming to look at all those glorious food pictures and become hungry and salivate—but fortunately I can stand it!

As a fitting conclusion to this subject of food, just take a look at this whopper of a burger from Burger King. Can you finish this monster in 7 minutes? Tongue out

P/S Watch the video here.  The final comment from the guy who ate this makes this video well worth watching.

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