Simple Thoughtful Loving Words

It's the month of October - my birth month! I am bias to say that this is my favorite month of year. And this morning, I thought about an idea to jot down entries of gratitude for each single day of this joyful exciting month. (I am just more energetic and ecstatic during these days).

We had a company team building the other day - and I joined the go-karting where we had to race, just like F1 (Formula 1), but only a much simpler and easy race track. We then played mini-golf (where I learned more rules and strategies on playing golf) and then proceeded to a hotel in front of a beach for our lunch, drinks and merry session.

Due to the race I participated, I went home really tired and with sore muscles. I had a few exchanges of messages with the "honey" and promised to wait for his call after he finished dinner. However, just 5 minutes after I sent him that message, I dozed off to sleep! Zzzzzz....! So in the morning of the 1st of October, I woke up with a missed call and with his Viber message saying:

- - - - - - - - - - -
"You missed a call from your boyfriend at 9.45pm. To redial press 1, to call back press call and to kiss press x. End of messages."
- - - - - - - - - - -

Hahaha! His message made my day!

It was also my first day of lunch training sessions for digital business seminar which is ongoing for the next 3 weeks! It involved information technology through the use of web designing and html codes. The subject excites me and triggers my yearning for web code knowledge, which I had been interested in since I was in high school. I am looking forward to share this here at the end of our course. We are also required to submit an idea of a webpage using all the tools we learned from the course. (I still have not finalised my concept for the website that I plan to do.) Still, I am excited for this learning!

I am also given a new project at work (secondment), where I learn about real estate fund industry and met new people.

I am excited for the coming days ahead.

Love lots,
Lyn _(",)/
01 Oct '14

The Anchor of My Life

Whenever I am too lazy to write a blog post (which I always am) or just take privately the things that are happening to my life (and write them on my notebook journal of gratefulness, instead), I spend some quiet time re-reading on some of my previous posts, and reflect on how situations have changed…for the better.  It’s amazing at how at most times that we plan every single bit of detail for our lives, even up to the single centavo that we would allocate or budget to certain wants or needs, but then there will be situations that will happen that will either break or make us – and everything just changes.

I saw a Facebook post of one of my friends earlier that said, “If material things are what you refer to when you say I AM BLESSED, then you have no idea what a blessing is!”

Since I have started to become a financial advocate and enhance my knowledge on financial literacy, I have been reading posts on basic finances and how to properly prepare for future needs. Somehow along those anxiety, fear, excitement and joy of either disrupting the finances or achieving financial goals, we have mislooked the present situation and should have been grateful instead of what we currently have that simply never really take much money to bring us joy and much gratitude for life.

What is My Purpose of Being Abroad?

During one of my catch-up meetings with my client recently, we had gotten “out of focus” from work and ended chatting more about our personal lives – especially relating to life’s choices, retirement decisions and plans for the future. He was married to a co-Asian and recently had their first child, a bouncing baby boy, last month.  It was a great opportunity for me to listen to thoughts of someone who grew up in a first world country and to learn from his elderly thoughts of setting out plans for the future.

He told me that our resident place is surrounded by materialism – I agree! Our place is called “tax-haven” and all professions here are mostly related to finance, managing wealth of the wealthy! Most people have forgotten about family values – parents usually send their children to nursery day care centers, while they keep themselves busy with work to earn.  On another hand, this man had made a choice to be the sole provider for his family, with his wife tending to their son, and had a mortgage for a house near the beach. His thoughts were as simple as ABC – nurture his family with one parent looking after their kid/s (he plans to have another baby soon!), he balances out his work so he can be home early to play and see his son goes to sleep, stays at his house over the weekend to spend time with his wife and son, buy a house to serve as a capital asset which he plans to sell 15-20 years from now, and use the money to retire in Asia! Wow….! He told me that Asia has been growing and with its low cost of living, he can have a comfortable, simple retirement life there with his family.

The 2013 Milestones: A Look Back

I am sooooo back! And I would begin my first entry of 2014 by completing on the months that I made this blog blank on the remainder of the year 2013. (Ooooops!)

And as for every year that comes and goes, it is always nice to reflect and look on what had been the blessings that I am thankful for, as well as the trials that molded my strength. The year 2013 was a year that tested my capacity on major decision-making skills, taking big steps toward personal finances and investments, and best of all, the bloom of a LOVE LIFE! =D

So, here are the milestones of the 12 months in my Year 2013:

January 2013 – As most of my readers here know, I always take December as my holidays to spend Christmas and New Year with family in the Philippines. And returning to the cold winter January in the UK after a month of vacation at my warm tropical Philippines always gives me a heavy heart.  The beginning of this year was also “supposed” to be the last year of my 3-year working permit visa in the UK. I am just SO EXCITED to finally be back in the Philippines FOR GOOD come December 2013!!! (And as you may now know as of this writing, this did not happen. You will know the major reason in the coming months to follow). And this reason was also briefly introduced to me during this month of January. I was assigned for 4 months (from January to April) to our affiliate office to work on a client. This was the longest I was ever away from my 2nd home! And my adventurous self did not like being away for such a long time – but I tried and managed to enjoy whatever life has thrown on me at the onset of the year 2013. Picture was the sunrise at 8am in Guernsey Island from the penthouse apartment provided by our office.

February 2013 – Since I started receiving my very first salary, I made a budget (which most often is not being followed.) My spendings are over the variance and I admit that I do not have the proper money management skills, plus a really low personal finance and investment knowledge.  I took budgeting a little bit seriously when I started working abroad in 2011, equipped myself through learnings via the internet and get myself involved into investments. Two years passed and I became thirsty of finding a community who share the same enthusiasm that I have towards financial literacy.  I found them via The Global Filipino Investors (TGFI). Join our Facebook group of now more than 22,500 members!  I also became one of the group’s administrators during this month.  Read my full interview at MoneyGurado’s blog here.

March 2013 – Too late for winter, ei? Who would not get excited to tick off one of the looooongest pending adventures on my bucket list – an experience which I had been dreaming of since I was in high school? Finally, I experienced being under the rain of snow and felt them melt under my bare hands. Freezing cold!!! Definitely worth it. And FYI, I never want to experience snow again, though. The road was wet and slippery, plus it was sooooo cold!!! Brrrrr….. One of my weekly work flights was also cancelled for 2 days due to snow – and I was able to take much from my travel insurance for the delayed flight. Yey!

Be in Control

"You are in control, ei?" Those are the words from my director/boss when he was checking about the status of my work (and every member of our audit team) for finalisation of reports for him to sign-off.

The past eight weeks were always a "weekly rush" for me. I scattered. I failed. I cried. Demotivated. Got frustrated. I stood up. I learned from my mistakes. I succedeed -  getting better compared to previous weeks. ;)

"Be in control". These words may refer to stepping into someone else's rights, but what I meant here is about being able to handle of circumstances that we know we can still do something about.

Let us be in control of the choices we make. When we dealt with external forces which we are not in control of, we may either complain and end up rocking ourselves or going in circles without doing any step forward, or we may choose to find solutions and take necessary steps to put them into actions.

We can not control the situations that come our way, but we can control how we deal with them. ;-)

Keep learning and keep on moving forward!

Cheers,
Lyn-Lyn \(",)/

When Someone Does You a Big Favor, just… Pay It Forward.

Pay it Forward…. it was a movie I watched for five times (already!) since it was introduced to us in our Values Education class during my sophomore year in high school.  I took the movie at heart (I watched it again and again few years after) and took the assignment from the movie seriously, which was: Think of something to change the world and put it into action.

During my reunion with my high school classmates last December, one of my high school friends (“J”) told me that another classmate of ours (“C”) had helped her with the transportation and hotel reservation when the former went to Manila.  For people who had heard about the bad stuffs for victims who are usually new in the capital city of our country and never grew up there, we are very cautious and feel safer if someone we know would fetch us from the airport or would help us tour around the big city.

My Ex-Boyfriend Gets Married Next Week

The blog title seems surprising, but it's a mixture of it and excitement!

The other day, my ex-bf's pre-nuptial photo with his fiancee appeared on my Facebook news feed (yes, we are FB friends) and I automatically heart-felt commented congratulations on the picture. 

For some who has undergone a "relationship-that-I-though-this-was-it-but-realized-it-was-never-meant-to-be", all ties with our previous partner are also cut once break-ups happen. . Sad, but this is usually happens for some relationships. It seems like both of the parties are total strangers or worst, others even had years of grudges and unsettled issues that they carry with them even if they have their own families later on.

My Bucket List Page – Now Activated

I got inspired to do a bucket list after my friend and I talked about things we would do (I’m going to be back composing poems and hopefully, to songs!).  One even mentioned that bucket list is only done when you are old (like you’re in your 60s up..) But errr…. I decided to do this bucket list to see them online and really, DO SOMETHING to achieve them. =) It ranges from simple joys of life to extreme sports that I want to do! (haha)

I created another page for this, and I will update it as often as something pops in my beautiful mind. ^_^ Feel free to share yours. :)

 

Cheers,
Lyn-Lyn _(“,)/

I Fully Surrender.

To the past that I could no longer do something about but only carry the lessons learned,
To the present that I have to live, enjoy and do my share of being a blessing,
To the future full of uncertainty, plans and promises, I fully surrender them unto You.

For the hurts I have felt, for the words that were said and could no longer be taken back,
for the heartaches, the anger and frustrations, I provide forgiveness and seek for one.

It’s Officially Autumn

I walked downtown going to the office this morning, amidst the busy hours of the day (When I say busy, it is not as “busy” as Manila during the rush hours).  There was traffic, but no honking and car beeping nor irritated drivers.  I was glad that everything in this island paradise where I am now is just walking-distance, the drivers let you cross the street when they see you waiting at the pedestrian lane, and workers, though walk fast in order to catch the last minute before the clock strikes 9:00am, walk without bumping other “walkers”.  This is such a peaceful place, indeed.

Life at Mid-20’s, as We Call It

I have yet to make another mushy blogpost today. (He he) Taking some breather from all the financial technicalities of my blog, and letting out part of my human emotional side.

Last night, I re-visited my 12-year old online diary website (Yes, I kept it since I was in sophomore in high school) – only a few of my high school and college friends know about it – but I guess, their accounts on that website has already “extinguished” due to years of inactivity.  It’s a good thing mine is still working. (smiles)  It was quite an irony as I clicked each entry dated back 5 to 8 years ago and re-learn lessons from my younger self. 

A Day to be Grateful For

Just got back from my almost 2 weeks of vacation leave and I miss updating my blog!! =D

Recently, I realized that life is a series of choices – and we can see a certain situation as something to either make or break us.

Today, I choose to be grateful.  There are those downfalls that’s happening in my life, and I acknowledge them and I am working my way to stand up again.

I make businesses. I am a miracle-worker.

“I am a business-creator.
I am a miracle-worker.
I am blessed to be a blessing to others.”

 

I went home today with a smile of gratitude and a peaceful feeling after making into reality the lifelong dream of a very cool and loving 61-year old Filipina nurse – (I just revealed her age, but don’t be deceived – she’s as strong, as talented, as active as a 45-year old woman) – and she looks more than a decade younger than her true age. As she always tells me, “Age is just a number.” =)

Always Have a Grateful Heart – Be Thankful _(“,)/

I miss writing – but I don’t know why I am recently out of words. All I wanted was to let pictures speak for themselves.

I took this photo last 23 June 2012, when I attended
the boys’ stag party outdoor adventure. =)

Over the last couple of weeks, I have so much to be thankful for our Lord. I always have been a person with a thankful & happy heart – I say thank you when I eat food.  =) I smile at the sight and touch of sunrise.  I would have a “joyful teardrop” with a hug from a friend.  I laugh hard at the simplest of thing that is “laughable”.  I giggle with joy to hear a touching and successful love story.  I would cry with gratefulness seeing people helping each other (like the Facebook group I am into who is helping out streetkids and making a boat for the kids in northern part of Negros so these kids can get to their school to study).  I am amazed and awed at the beauty of nature – especially with the changing colors of the horizon during sunset.  I would run to the seashore and let the waves come run after me. =D

Day 25: Write 5 messages to 5 different people without using names.

To the man who played the guitar called ‘Pinch’:

“I miss you.  I miss your hugs. I miss being wrapped in your warm embrace. I miss our laughters. I miss making you laugh and seeing those tears of joy. I miss the carefree person that I am when I am with you.  I miss your singing _out-of-tune. I miss our sharing of ideas. I miss your music and the song you composed for me. I miss your care. I miss the hand massage you provide to me.  I miss your simplistic and logical views on life. I look forward to waking up in the morning and seeing your face. I look forward walking down the aisle and seeing you waiting for me in front of the altar. I wish you will be here and we will explore the world together.  We will both make a difference in this world.  I love you. I care for you. I miss you.” #cheesy# =P

To the 86-year old guy who still believes he is 16 years old:

“I kneel in front of you and I listen to history.  With you, I understand more the past that creates my present reality.  I learn my roots – which make me understand of what I want for my future and who I want to become.  You relive history for me – I am still your one and only ‘Intsik’. Be healthy. Wait for me on December – we will celebrate your 87th birthday. Ooops, I mean still and forever your 16th birthday.” :-)

Waking Up from My Worst Nightmare

During the onset of my first winter season here abroad, my emotions and belief in myself were also challenged and tested. Aside from the cold weather I experienced every day, the warmth inside me are also turning cold - making me helpless, sickish, lonely and empty.

 

For some of you who had followed my previous blog (abundantpinoy.blogspot.com), you would notice the lag of time I wrote there during those winter months - it was for this reason that I was undergoing personal struggles - both in my relationship and career. It is that "quarter-life" crisis, as they say.  I never wrote them in detail, because I never want to take record of those ill feelings and situations.  But now, I write them down because slowly but surely, I am able to face it heads up and with the desired outcome. =)

The Happening of A Dream

My dreams are slowly unfolding in front of me – the dream of fulfilling a life by living the life He bestowed upon me.

In Life, We Need Options and Choices

My hand was sweaty. My heart thumped hard and beat faster. My knees could barely support my body and about to collapse if someone would move me. 

In a few minutes, I would talk to the "Big Boss" and would lay down my card to request for a transfer from working in our headquarters in Makati City to our regional office, in my hometown, in Bacolod City.

A Lesson on Generosity & Being Blessed

On a Saturday morning, I had a wonderful 4-hour Skype date with my family in Bacolod. (Yeah, this is how I missed them and how we spend usual weekend mornings - just updating each other about anything and everything.) =)

You Never Know What You Got, Until It's Gone

This saying has been an old adage, but I was reminded about it just recently when the administrator account of my personal laptop, Bridgette, was LOCKED! 

I was scheduled to make presentation on the stock investing in Philippines last Saturday, and I thought of "cleaning my desktop", changing my desktop backgrounds and then, thought of also putting on a password to my administrator account.  After putting in my well-memorised password and testing it, my laptop suddenly just do not recognize my password and it keeps on telling me that my username and password were incorrect. *waaah!*  It was just a good thing that before this "I cannot-unlock-my-admin-account" mess had happened, I forwarded an email of my stock investing presentation to my brothers, which I just retrieve from my sent items when it was time to make the presentation. (Thank heavens for emails!)