The Greatest Advice

Again, I am going to share a very inspiring email message that I received last year. I hope that you enjoy this message as much as I did. There are really very good pieces of advice here. This piece was written by Rick Warren. Happy reading!:)

THE GREATEST ADVICE

Rick Warren

 

 

Don’t date because you are desperate.
Don’t marry because you are miserable.
Don’t have kids because you think your genes are superior.
Don’t philander because you think you are irresistible.

Don’t associate with people you can’t trust.
Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. Don’t pretend.
Don’t dictate because you are smarter.
Don’t demand because you are stronger.

Don’t sleep around because you think you are old enough and know better.
Don’t hurt your kids because loving them is harder.
Don’t sell yourself, your family or your ideals.
Don’t stagnate.

 
Don’t regress.
Don’t live in the past. Time can’t bring anything or anyone back.
Don’t put your life on hold for possibly Mr. Right.
Don’t throw your life away on absolutely Mr. Wrong because your biological clock is ticking.

 
Learn a new skill.
Find a new friend.
Start a new career.
Sometimes, there is no race to be won, only a price to be paid for some of life’s more hasty decisions.

 

To terminate your loneliness, reach out to the homeless.
To feed your nurturing instincts, care for the needy.
To fulfill your parenting fantasies, get a puppy.
Don’t bring another life into this world for all the wrong reasons.

 
To make yourself happy, pursue your passions and be the best of what you can be.
Simplify your life. Take away the clutter.
Get rid of destructive elements: abusive friends, nasty habits, and dangerous liaisons.
Don’t abandon your responsibilities but don’t overdose on duty.

 

Don’t live life recklessly without thought and feeling for your family.
Be true to yourself.
Don’t commit when you are not ready.
Don’t keep others waiting needlessly.

 
Go on that trip. Don’t postpone it.
Say those words. Don’t let the moment pass.
Do what you have to, even at society’s scorn.
 

Write poetry.
Love deeply.
Walk barefoot.
Dance with wild abandon.
Cry at the movies.

Take care of yourself. Don’t wait for someone to take care of you.
You light up your life.

You drive yourself to your destination.
No one completes you – except YOU.

 
It isn’t true that life does not get easier with age.
It only gets more challenging.

Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose your capacity to love.
Pursue your passions.

Live your dreams.
Don’t lose faith in GOD.

Don’t grow old.
Just grow YOU.

When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back.
Your time is your life.

That is why the greatest gift you can give to someone is your time.
Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is T-I-M-E because the essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves.

Lessons 101

Today I learned about photographic compositions.

I come from a family of artists. All my life, I felt like I was the only outsider. I could not draw. I wrote like a child. I could not paint. I could not design furnitures, not even clothes. I have always wanted to be like my father, or even half of what he was. That’s why I decided to learn the things he knew. He did not have any formal training on his craft. But he studied about them himself, and he excelled in so many things.

So here’s what I learned:

1. The rule of thirds. I’ve already known about this, but it still feels good to know more than what I do.

2. Balance. A picture can have formal balance or informal balance. while formal balance looks ordely, informal balance is still preferred because it makes the picture dynamic.

3. Light. Every photographer must first learn how to work with light. Good lighting in a picture maximizes the effect and the mood of a photograph.

4. Point of view. This can add energy to the picture and create a presence or significance for the subject.

5. Lines. They can be physical or implied. Lines guide a viewer’s eye through the photograph. Lines can lead the viewer to the subject of the phot and give a sense of unity to a composition.

6. Motion. Cameras can create a sense of motion or latent energy, depending on what the photographer wants to do.

7. Selective focus. Although it’s hard to achieve, it really emphasizes the subject of the picture.

8. Contrast and variety. Contrasting and contradicting subjects cathc the viewer’s attention.

9. Shape. Rhytm and pattern. Texture. Space. Perspective. Scale.  These factors are necessary when you want to achieve a photo that stands out.

10. Framing. This draws the viewer’s attention to the subject.

Resolve

January 1. Everything starts today. Another year, another decade, another chance at making a difference. I have a new them for my blog. I hope that, as readers, you will like it, and you will still continue reading my blog.

These are a few of the things that I will do for this year:

1. Write a blog entry everyday. I will make sure that every blog I write will be worth the time you spend on reading it.

2. Travel. When I travel, even to already familiar places, I always have something to write about when I return. I always have pictures to share.

3. Learn something new. I tried learning to read the tarot last year, but I found it too complicated, so I stopped. I think I might go back to learning it again. If not, I’ll probably find something else to learn this year.

4. Everyday, I will try to look for one thing that I should thank God for. It could be really small things that happen or entirely grand ones that do not happen to just anyone.

5. I will try my hardest not to repeat my mistakes last year.

This blog will be the witness to everything else that I see, encounter and deal with. Happy New Year, friends!!!!

Love (Everybody Should Read This)

I have this friend who broke up with her boyfriend a couple of weeks ago. It’s not anything new anymore, since their on-off cycle has been the only permanent thing in their relationship. It takes two to tango. When two people break up, it’s never just one person’s fault. It always takes two to reach the point when you cannot take things any further. My friend is obviously hurting right now. But the guy is hurting too. People are always hurt when relationships end. I think what’s wrong with us is that we focus on our own hurts. We do not stop and think if other people are hurting too. We break up with the person we’re with because that person has hurt us. We don’t pause to consider if our reactions could actually give us more pain.

 Love is a complicated word. I know that. Everybody knows that. We can define love in any way we want to, but the bottom line is that we can never completely describe it. I may not know exactly what love is, but I sure as hell know when love is not really love at all.

 Love is not proud. Too often, we refuse to accept that we have faults too. We keep convincing ourselves and others that we are the ones aggreviated. We are the victims. We were hurt. We were let down. Does it really have to be that way? During those minutes that we keep talking to our friends about our heartaches, did we at least ask the other person if we hurt them too?

 Love is not rude. Yes, they may not love us anymore. Those people who promised us forever, to love us without end, and to always be there for us? Well, they have walked away. They left us without even looking back. We are left alone to drown in misery. But do we really have the right to hurt them back? They may not have the right to hurt us, but we don’t have the right to hurt them too. We do not have the right to hurt each other.

 Love is not self-seeking. The first question that we should all ask ourselves is: Why are we in a relationship with someone? Is it because we don’t want to be lonely? Is it because our exes have someone new now, and it’s just too embarrassing to come across them at random places and still be alone? Is it because we need someone to fill that void? Is it because we need someone to get us through? Are we really in love, or are we just looking for a person to make everything easier for us?

 Love does not keep a record of wrongs. I am not saying that we should start being martyrs. I am not saying that we have to close our eyes to everything that is wrong. However, people are not perfect. Nobody is perfect. We all have our “fall from grace” moment. We all do something wrong at one point. It is not love when we keep going back to the wrong ones. If we can recall the wrong deeds more than the laughter, then there’s really something wrong with the relationship.

 I am not a perfect lover. I have a lot of shortcomings. I am not patient. I only think of myself. I get angry easily. But one thing that I know how to do is forgive. I easily forgive, and that makes me a lot better than other people out there. I hope that one day, I will be mature enough to love people the way that they deserve to be loved.

As a close to this blog, I would like to include the passage from Corinthians 13. I’m sure that everybody is familiar with this. I think that no matter how many times we try to define love in our own way, we will always keep on coming back to this. The passage defines love in as much justice as it deserves. As cheesy as this may sound, the passage is actually correct.

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

  4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

  8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

  13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

My Sunscreen

My life was never easy. If I seem like I’m living such a good life, it’s because I know how to deal with things. I’ve been dealing with things my entire life. I’m an expert. When I was 21, I decided to grab a pen and a piece of paper, and I wrote down the rules that I lived by. Well, I wouldn’t really call them rules. I think they more like GUIDELINES. Whenever I start to question my existence, I always go back to the basics. I already shared this before. Let me open this up to the world again, and hopefully, someone somewhere will read this and get something out of it.
1. If you want to understand a person, do not listen to what he says. Instead listen to what he does not say. Learn to read in between lines, and observe the way he says things.
2. The true value of a person is tested during the darkest times of his life.
3. Life is like a game. Sometimes we miss and get hurt. But life doesn’t end where our heartaches begin. It only ends when we give up and stop believing.
4. When you keep putting off things for later, it will soon be too late to do something about it. So if you want to express your feelings, do it now before you lose the chance.
5. Each one of us is unique. We may find and meet people who are a lot like us, but they will never be us.
6. Always be the best version of yourself, and never settle for a second rate imitation of someone you aspire to be.
7. Know all your strengths, and use them in a way that will be beneficial to you.
8. Don’t be affected by the people who ridicule the choices you make.
9. Stand up for your decisions, and try your best not to regret whatever decision you have chosen.
10. You can never make your dreams happen if you don’t take chances.
11. You will always have all the time in the world to travel another road and still another.
12. Make mistakes, and make sure you learn something from every journey you take.
13.Take time to be alone every now and then.
14. Be honest with yourself. If you love someone, say it. It doesn’t matter if the person doesn’t feel the same. Surprisingly, unrequited love is easier to live with than unsolicited love.
15. Laugh and enjoy your life. When you’re old and you can no longer do the things you want, you will only have your memories of all your happy moments to get you through.
16. Bask in how beautiful nature can be. Remember that you are a part of it, and you are just as beautiful.
17. Appreciate everything that you have, especially the little things.
18. Never hesitate to help those less fortunate than you. It doesn’t necessarily have to be financial. Sometimes, the mere fact that you don’t leave their side when they are in need is so much more of a help than money can be.
19. Love is a decision. Love is never easy that’s why it should never be based on feelings alone.
20. Love people as if it were their last day on earth because you’ll never know if it is actually going to be their last.
21. We can never change reality, but we can change the way we look at it.
22. Enjoy the present and what you have now. It’s today that really matters. Yesterday can’t hurt you anymore, and tomorrow is still just an illusion.
23.Appreciate everything you have. You will never know when these things will be taken away.
24. I believe that there is a whole new world hidden in the heart of each and every person. It is up to us to work out a way in discovering it and enjoying the marvels of their secret oceans and hidden mountains.
25. You don’t owe it to time when you eventually get over someone. You owe it to yourself and to the people who were with you to help you get through those lonely days.
26. There is nothing in this world more beautiful than the sunset.
27. If we just look at things appreciatively, everything around us is actually a part of a conspiracy that means to make our lives beautiful.
28. Self sacrifice is not love. It’s natural for us to want to protect the ones we love. But that’s not love. Open them up to the world. Allow them to get hurt, and give it to them to learn from experience.
29. Nothing in the world hurts as much as love does. But that fact is not reason enough to stop loving. Love is the reason why Life exists, so we cannot truly live unless we know how to love.