What's Next?

It is the first of January 2011. And I'm feeling sleepy but I cannot bring myself to sleep without shedding my first thought of this year.

Another year had slipped off. 2010, once been welcomed with great joy and expectations, is now a part of history. 2010 has been extremely remarkable for all of us Filipinos.

To name a few, the global financial crisis felt sometime of 2008 which brought mass layoffs to a number of companies somehow had been lessen if not ended in the year 2010. This is something positive though there still lots of jobless college graduates that contributed to a high unemployment rate.

The ex-President's death on year 2009 had helped increase political power to her son, now President Ninoy. Filipinos were united to elect someone they believed can be trusted, who exhibits concern with Philippine government, someone who will going to act on better governance and to lessen if not totally eradicate corruption. The 2010 election I believe is the first time in the Philippine history where no cheating was done on presidential position. Take note, presidential position only.

The poverty that most indigent Pinoy have been experiencing is no less but greater than the year before. But thank God that the same Ondoy tragedy that caused deaths of hundreds of Filipinos in the year 2009 did not reoccur. Though there are lists of natural disasters from the different parts of the Philippines, Filipinos still live through great extent of survival. And not to mention the hostage-taking happened near the Manila city hall, just off Rizal Park leaving Philippine lambasted with critics, another blow to an arising success of Philippine tourism.

Come 2011, what's next?

We have our own sets of expectations and goals. Renewed hope? Yes, new year restores our mind sets, leaving negativities with the old year. Renewed people especially politicians? How I wish we will have.

Contemplations

It's almost the end of year and a beginning of a new year. Just the usual time when we take a look at where we stand with our lives and dreams, whether we are where we expected ourselves to be.

We evaluate ourselves of the following:
- what we have and haven't accomplished
- the highlights and low-lights of the past year
- the things we should have done better
- the things that we haven't done because we were afraid of the consequences

I know somewhere, some are contemplating on the following rhetorical questions:

For those that are burn-out or no longer happy staying with their job, is it time to leave my job? Followed with, am I making enough money? Piece of advice: before you fly off your job, be sure to have a replacement. Remember that a bird in the hand is so much better than two in the bush. No matter how burn-out you are, spice up your patience to punch your time card until you find something else better.

For those that are planning to get married, is he/she really the one for me? Will our love lasts a lifetime? Am I ready to accept his/her flaws and love him/her with his/her imperfections? Hmmm.. are you having a pre-wedding jitters? Before you end up being a runaway bride/groom, think about this: can you live the rest of your life without him/her? If your answer is no, then it is likely that he/she is really the one for you despite all his/her imperfections and your love will lasts till you both have gray hairs and wrinkles on your face until such time that one of you will leave this earth.

For those half-halfheartedly deciding on something, is my decision right? Weighing the pros and cons of a decision is really hard. Just think about the consequences of what you are going to do and think about the good it will brought you and the people which will directly be affected by your actions.

For those experiencing problem with their life, will I survive this blow? Of course you will! God is not going to give you a cross you could not carry. Just hold on to him while steadfastly carrying on your burden. It is not always all the time that fate is against you.

Oh and I personally mull over some two questions above.

Just this Christmas, I had prepared a list of things I want to receive as a gift. A wish list. As expected, I have not received everything in that list. But as I withdraw myself from that christmassy feeling, I would like to replace that Christmas list with a 2011 wish list, my personal game plan of what will come next. Same to that Christmas wish list, I'm as well expecting some in the list will not go the way I planned it to be.

As I look back at my 2010 life full of surprises, ups and downs, I admit I could not 100% figure out where I stand. But with my 2011 wish list tucked in mind, I'm definitely sure to welcome 2011 with big changes :)

Crossing my fingers that luck will knock at my door this 2011 and the same wish goes to everyone.

Things to thank for

As I behest myself to reflect on my life this past one year, it dawned on me that despite a number of disappointments and an endless list of things unaccomplished, my life has still been considerably rich and rewarding.

For one, the problem I had encountered with my job application earlier this year had been a blessing in disguise. I have earned their trust and respect which in return, I had achieved yet again another factor that contributed to my 'self-worth'.

The confusion with my family was straightened out. The exchanges of defensive words had led us to listen and understand each other better. It helped us be more appreciative of each other plus the fight we had became an avenue for us to have an open communication and a higher degree of closeness. I admit it really helped me a lot. My worrying nature that causes me to be short-tempered lessens.

My nephew died and during this grave situation, my family was together and even my boyfriend was there to help. Together, we had pulled through each other, we had pulled though my brother. And this situation had instilled a lesson into my brother who I think is still not ready to be a father. Sad to say, a life-lesson learned at the expense of losing a family member. I know God did not want like this to happen, but His will serves a purpose. During those moments at the hospital, while watching my nephew having a hard time breathing, I whispered to God that if he's really meant for us then save my nephew of all the pain and let him live, but if he's not then take him and we will give him back to Him. It helped me realized that whatever He gave us will be taken from us if were not worth it.

My relationship with my boyfriend has its own ups and downs. The ups had let us enjoy and cherish each other, the downs made us appreciate and bring the best of each other making our bond stronger. I pray that this bond is tight enough to face another storm that surely would come our way and I also pray that nothing will obstruct our plan this coming year.

Lastly, I've been financially tight but despite the low budget, we were able to get through by not being recklessly wasteful.

I have other things to be thankful of, the good friendship I have with some, my housemates, yen, zette, shiela (we are with each other whenever the low of life hits)... my mother despite being an old woman is still trying her best to cook meals (the best!) for us, new acquaintance (Ms. Mabelle who's trying to help me with my Mary Kay business). I also want to thank people who had been unpleasant and had added a challenge to my life. It is also through them that I considered my life meaningful. Without this kind of people, how on earth would I learn how to deal with difficult people? For this, I thank God for sending them my way :)

I thank my boyfriend for giving me a laptop as a gift. With this laptop, I hope I could resurrect my blogging life.

I want Christmas Joys to Last

A whole year had gone by and before I knew it, this year's Christmas had already slipped off. Food were everywhere. Streets were busy and shopping malls were jam-packed with people who had jiggled their way for a last minute shopping. Everyone was filled with Christmas spirit. Even strangers I had met along the way had looked up and smiled at me with a hint of Christmas greetings in their eyes.

We feel so blessed, happy, forgiving and kind. We forgot misdoings of people who had hurt us. And personally, I want this special feeling to last all year long not just on Christmas season. I want it to last 365 days and repeat the joy of giving, sharing and loving year after year after year. Imagine a place where everyone is kind and living harmoniously with each other, what a perfect place to live!

I hope everyone had a happy Christmas.