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Touched by an Angel
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This is about me, my thoughts , opinions, my grief recovery and the journey to my "new normal" after the death of Luijoe , my beautiful 6 year old son last May 27, 2000. Recovery is always a work in progress....
Recent Posts Tagged With 'recovery principles'
Love thyself first
“If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.”- Dalai Lama I glanced at the man behind the wheel...
I Think, Therefore I am
Treat yourself like you already are what you would like to become”Wayne Dyer You know the saying bilib sa sarili (Believe in oneself) can come off as conceited or even narcissistic. Yet, I practice it all the time. Believing that I am actual...
When Friends Leave… Let Go!
“The friendship that can cease has never been real.”- Saint Jerome You would think 50-year olds act maturely in the face of adversity. I am sure most of us can. A recent misunderstanding among old friends (including myself) jolted me....
How Gossip Hurts Friendships
“It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about nowadays saying things against one, behind one’s back, that are absolutely and entirely true.” Oscar Wilde Just recently, I received an email from a friend (let’s call Delta) straight...
Not a Drama Queen at 50 Something
Real women, it’s said, don’t have hot flushes. They have power surges, and so others will experience what Margaret Mead called “postmenopausal zest,” a release of energy that propels them to take on causes, take control of their lives and emb...
The Sweetness of Gratitude
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” MARCEL PROUST The hot and humid afternoon coupled with a lot of deadlines made me lazy for the rest of the day. A text message ...
Star Trek, Spock and Emotions
“How do you feel? … How do you feel? … How do you feel?” — Computer, “I do not understand the question.” — Spock, TVH (Photo credits) There I was at the living room, a 9 year old girl totally absorbe...
I am not a Therapist or a Counselor
I am not a therapist. I am not a sex therapist, either. Neither am I a marriage counselor. I lead a peer support group for grief recovery every 3rd saturday of the month. That’s about it. Writing about recovery principles are the stuff that I...
How Are You Feeling Today?
Numb feelings. That was my defense mechanism during the peak of my grief. I needed to shut down the emotional part of myself to survive the unspeakable grief that befell my family. I shut down the part of me that felt anger, sadness, fear, joy and p...
Deadly Swine Flu (H1N1) is Worrisome
“Ninety percent of the things we tend to worry about we have no control over, so why worry about them?” Author Unknown With the swine flu having already spread to at least six other countries, authorities around the globe are like firefi...
Letting Go of the Past
“Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future.” Denis Waitley I want you to read this and know that I have moved on a long time ago. I don’t hate you. I am not angry at you. ...
My Magic Shawls And Letting Go
My husband stared at the couch by the bay window and sighs “look at what the cats did!@!*! The damage to the leather is getting worse everyday.” We have three lovable furry felines in our household and they give me so much comfort when th...
The Bloggers Credentials & Credibility in Filipino Voices
When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. Wayne Dyer My husband is not a very patient man whenever I ask questions concerning politics. He always tells me to read the news report or the Opinion Columns. Sipping coffee an...
Positive Energy, Anyone?
I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside.- Wayne Dyer It’s so easy to notice what’s wrong. Just take a look at the latest uproar in the blogosphere. It takes practice to see what’s r...
25 Random Things About the Love of my Life
I bet most of you have been tagged at least once on the Facebook’s 25 Random Things About me Note. Can you imagine the viral effect of this meme? Facebook reports that nearly 5 million notes were created by its users during the week of January...
Loving Myself Unconditionally
It takes two to make a relationship work. It is easy to blame the other partner if something fails in a relationship. I used to blame my husband for every little thing without even checking if I too had my faults. When I took away the focus from my ...
My Daily Positive Affirmations
Whenever something bothers me, I keep reminding myself that we cannot control people’s actions, attitudes and even events. I label it as the Three P’s (People, Places and the Past). The only thing we can control is our attitude. But it isn...
Holiday Parties and Family Reunions
Holiday parties are everywhere the past few days. I was supposed to attend a Blog and Soul party yesterday but I felt stressed out at the last minute. I just decided to stick it out with the the ManBlog party held at our home last night. More of Lau...
Being Right
Being in recovery is not about being right. It’s allowing myself to be who I am and accepting others as they are. I cannot help it if others perceive me in a positive light while others look at me as the complete opposite. One’s perceptio...
How To Beat the Holiday Blues
Two days ago, I received an email from my husband that he felt pangs of holiday blues hitting him once again. For the past years, the Christmas season has been a dreaded holiday for my husband. He can’t even stand those Christmas carols that i...
Are You A Victim? Real or Imagined?
Do you feel trapped or helpless? Do you feel like inaapi ka (you were victimized)? If I have learned anything from my past, it was my awesome ability to find misery in any situation, even the most wonderful of circumstances. Shoulders bent, head down...
Thank You For the Music
Last night, my nephew, the son of Oscar, my late brother asked me if I knew the notes of his dad’s award winning composition Pangarap ng Musmos (Dream of the Youth) which was played over 30 years ago in an Ateneo College Music Festival. I tol...
Hello, My Name is Gratitude
I was planning to bake Pumpkin Pie tonight because I remembered just how delicious it was during my visit in Missouri last month. My daughter said “we’re not Americans, mom so why should we celebrate Thanksgiving Day”. I protested...
Do You Believe in Giving Second Chances?
Second chances? Do you believe that someone who has caused you so much pain deserves a second chance? Do you believe that YOU deserve a second chance? Four years ago, I packed my bags and left my husband because I thought I wanted to start a new ...
Have a Good Cry
A friend once said to me, “If someone cries in front of me, I consider it a gift.” Every third Saturday of the month, I receive this gift during the monthly meeting of The Compassionate Friends. I am honored to receive it. It’s qu...
Taking Care of Ourselves Emotionally
After years of denial, numbing feelings of pain and all sorts of emotions, I finally came true to myself. I learned to take care of myself emotionally through practice and learning new behavioral patterns like Acting as if. I forced myself into posi...
Getting Through Stressful Times
I worry about my daughter who is still in the states. She is there for vacation and some thesis research. It’s natural for a mom to worry especially if she finds out that her daughter’s housing is unpredictable and her money resources ar...
Making Choices
I have choices. We have choices, more choices than we let ourselves see. People may feel trapped in their relationships, their jobs and their lives. They may feel locked in a controlling or caretaking behavior. Feeling trapped is sympton of codepen...
Flower Power, Make Love Not War
Smile. God Loves You. I often scribbled those words in my diary way back in the early seventies when I was in High School. I also picked up Flower Power, a slogan likely coined by Alan Ginsberg in 1965. It referred the hippie notion of “make love ...
GMA’s Temper Tantrums and Self-Care
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA)’s legendary temper tantrums or katarayan is in the news again because of staff inefficiency which was probably due to miscommunication of a TV taping. Jove Francisco wrote about “The Prompter”...
