Thankful

It has been one of the roughest periods of my life, the past few months.

Now, at least, some semblance of things looking up for the better.

Thank you to the people who have been there for and with me every step of the way.

God, PJ, my parents, Skittlez, PJ's dad, and my adopted Lizada family.

And so my favorite Bible verse says:

"I thank my God every time I remember you" - Philippians 1:3

Live the Day as if it was the First

Just a while ago, my colleague gave me some bad news the minute I stepped into our office. One of our co-workers, from another office, passed away last night.

No illness, no weakness in the body or the mind preempted his death.

I suppose this is why we are in a state of terrible surprise and shock right now.

It's a sobering thing, learning of someone's death, especially if the method was as sudden as it was unexpected. The first thing I thought of was something I read some time ago; "live not as if every day was your last, but rather as if it was your first". I agree with this. For me, living every day as if it was our last means we are dreading an end, expecting something we don't want to happen to, well, happen. My co-worker passed on with no warning, and I believe that he at least went to his final goodnight not thinking about the negativity and sadness that one associates with death. I believe that he went to bed on his last night alive just looking forward to tomorrow; as if it was his first.

We all mourn the loss of this soft-spoken fellow. It's never easy to lose someone we're familiar with, whether that person is a friend or a mere acquaintance. I pray that his soul is at rest, and that his family receives all the support we can muster. 

Rest in peace, man.

"Death is the condition of higher and more fruitful life"

- E. H. Chapin, Living Words

The Rooms - A Short Story

It began not too long ago. A young man was getting to know how life went outside the safety, familiarity, and comfort of the world he was used to. He was about to enter a scary, yet unexplored world. The supposed world of 'real'.

It began well. A window of opportunity opened, and he quickly clambered through it. In that place, the room beckoned; he will be well, he will be treated well. He was indeed treated grandly, a first among peers one may even say. In a short while, the window closed and a door opened; this room promised to be even more rewarding, even more fulfilling. And for a while, it was.

He went away for a while, and things were never the same again. His spirit and belief in the promises first of the window, and then the door were shattered in the worst way imaginable. His trust and his faith were both shaken, and he had all the right in the world to not only run out of the room, but to take the house down for what they did to him.

He decided to keep quiet, for the most part. He loved the rooms so much, for the happiness and pride he has received from these rooms that he promised to try - as much as possible - to keep the status quo. He will stay silent on the failings of the rooms, and turn a blind eye to the wrongs even as his own soul suffered. The rooms were in silent cooperation.

He went away again, for a while, to clear his head even as he has already made up his mind to give the betrayal a no-look and to stay in the rooms. He even closed the windows and doors all around. He had faith. One day, it all came crashing down; he woke up to find that the world he knew hated his name, attached it to unspeakable things. He was more than a black sheep, he was a pariah in the domain of the rooms with the windows and doors shut closed. The grand treatment was gone; in its place there was scheming, stonewalling, and most painful of all, vicious lies. 

His world crumbled around him.

Is crumbling around him.

The wish was to lay down, to pretend things will be okay. The windows and the doors have become smaller. The rooms themselves look set to wither him away to nothingness. He cannot seem to escape, to find a way out. One thing is for sure though. He will not lay down and wish for things to be okay. 

He must fight. He must fight.

Jay~

Red and Yellow

Received a phone call earlier this afternoon.

Hopefully, it's a sign of better things and opportunities to come, as well as new doors to enter as I close some shut.

Dear Lord, 2012, please be kind to me.

Jay~

Work: It Kills You

 I spent the past five days away from Manila, on a business trip. There was possibly only two good things that came out of it: I was in my favorite place in the country (Davao City) and I made a few new friends. Other than that, it was one of those things that I would very much rather forget.

While it is tempting to write a detailed account of the trip, this little should suffice:
Work is work. It should supersede any and every thing else.

Jay~