Taking Care of Our Parents: It's Pay back Time

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

     My mother recently had her partial hip replacement surgery.  It was the result of a bad fall she experienced a few months ago.  At first, I was hoping that no fracture had ever occurred in her lower extremities.  Well, I never wanted to be in the hospital because it has been a long time since the last time I set foot in that establishment.  My heart was beating faster when we went to Orthopedic hospital for a check up one week after her fall.  So many thoughts were running in my mind like how could I possibly blog when I had to be with her in the hospital?; how could I submit my entries in a contest that I was joining that time?; how could I practice the techniques that I learned from the seminar that I recently attended?  Guess what?  It became automatic for me to use a technique that I learned from the seminar and it worked.  No, we were not advised to go home.  We were told that my mother had to be confined because there was indeed a fracture on her thigh bone.  On the neck of her right femur to be exact.  The head was affected and had to be replaced with prosthesis.  So, I conceded and accepted that I would be sleeping in the hospital until the doctor tells us to go home.

     We were taken to a room filled with aging female patients with one of their legs placed in a traction.  That was awful and I felt sad about it.  But then, the technique was working that time.  People seemed nice to us, a caregiver gave me a seat and somebody lent an electric fan to us.  My mother and I survived the first night as we just ignored the heat that we felt that time.

     I just did what I had to do.  I went on with writing my entries and submitted them.  But I had to set aside my blogging for the time being.  My schedule would not permit me, it was too tight.  Gradually, we gained new friends  and we never experienced boredom and fear at that moment.  My mother had a successful operation and to my surprised, a former student showed up to be my mom's therapist.  Truly, when you thought of good things and just relaxed, too many wonderful moments would happen in your life.  We relived some good moments and I got a brief review of what to expect once the patient got out of the hospital.  I graduated with a degree in Physical Therapy but I no longer practice the course.  Good thing, an acquaintance popped up and gave me a good lecture about my mom's condition.

     It has been more than three months since my mom's operation and she is doing well.  Although we have not gone back to her doctor, I still do what is to be done and I surf the net if I need something to learn about her condition.  I gave my time for her, much of my time.  Sometimes, I think about the book that I am writing.  I stopped writing the draft when she was in the hospital and until now I have not written a single word as follow up for the draft.  I look at my calendar and it says that three months had passed since the last time I got hold of the draft.  Yes, there are times that I feel left behind by colleagues and I secretly envy their success stories.  They have more great happenings and they seem to be enjoying their life.  But when I look at my mom, I know that I will get more than what other people have received and that is for sure.  I am paying her back for what she had done to me when I was just crawling and needing love and affection.  Even our Pastors are telling me that I will be receiving more blessings because I take care of my own parent.  Wow, I hope those blessings are aligned to what I have been praying for.  I know God is always listening to me.

     By the way, I would like to tell that my entries were chosen and that I had won thousands for that.  Furthermore, I learned how to cook although I could never imitate the way my mom cook her specialties, still I take pride with what I have gained so far.  I continue to do the techniques I got from the seminar and I always put in my mind that my reaction is more important than the circumstances I am experiencing at the moment.  I look for the good in it and I find some from it.  This is part of my journey and there is always a lesson to learn that will inspire me to continue my mission.  The blessings that will come to me are good motivators and I know that I am deserving of them.

     It feels good that I can serve now that I am still strong and able to do what should be done.  It would be a pity when I am called for something that I could no longer perform simply because my muscles and bones would not permit me.  Parents are there to support  us and we should pay them back when it is time for us to do so.  That is life.  Going against the grain is not allowed.  Or you would be really left behind as your colleagues start collecting their blessings...and even yours.


     

The Most Important Person In Your Life

Who is the most important person in your life?  Maybe you would like to tell me that you cannot really answer the question because you have thought of so many people who currently occupy spaces in you mind.  I know you will think of many names and from those images that keep on flashing in your mind, you can always come up with one unanimous choice of yours.   No matter who your choice is, you will always fail my expectation.  Why?   Even if I do not know you personally, through this question I can easily say that there is one person that you always neglect and sad to say, he or she is truly the most important person in your life.  Who is this person?  Wanna know now?   That person is YOU.

I cannot blame you for not mentioning yourself.  Maybe because that question pertains to other person or...you are so shy to say that it is you.  One more guess and I tell you that this is the real reason, you never consider yourself  SPECIAL.   All your life you work hard to maintain your good image by studying in the most prestigious university in your area, graduating with honors, working in a company that is well known all over the world.  Yet, you always disregard your importance in your life.  Why do we always do that-forgetting to include ourselves in the list and then we fret once others exclude us  in whatever important things they do?  Maybe we lack self-confidence.  Maybe we do not want to be in the limelight to escape envy and being talked about all the time.  Yet, secretly we wanted the whole world to know that we exist and we are doing great.  When we received awards or recognition we wanted that in something tangible or something that we can hold or proudly display in our homes.  Most of us have a space called fame or spotlight area where all our plaques and certificates are displayed so that others will know that we are living our dreams and we excel in that field.  During gatherings or reunions, even if it is not yet our turn to speak, we find ways to interrupt others so we can brag about our achievements not knowing that some of us become subjects of gossips of those who envied us.

But why is it that we have to always think that we are really important?  Here are some important points that answer that question:

It gives us the energy to do what we want to do:  Our feelings are important when we face whatever it is that we have to do for the day.  Knowing that we are really that important or special, we become happy ans inspired to take the neccessary actions to be able to achieve our goals for the day.  Our energy is that high and gives us the chance to show our creativity and talents.  We cannot really work on our goals when we are tired, sad and angry.  It cripples our chances to show what we can really do and our work is substandard and we can be labeled as mediocre.  Besides, being a negative person is never an asset.  People will always leave somebody with this kind of energy.

We become true achievers:  We set our goals and then think of the ways to achieve them.  It does not stop there.  We actually perform those steps that we outlined in order to achieve our dreams.  Our dreams do not center on ours alone.  We also include others that can benefit from the goodness that we do.  We share our knowledge to others, we appropriate time to be of service to them.  Most of all, we share with others the prize that we reap.  Those are true achievers.

We become a role models: Important person deserves attention, a lot of attention and with that he becomes conscious of his attitude towards others; he is now aware of his actions; what he say becomes important too.  He learns to behave in a way that others will not be offended.  He must form words that will only soothe others' senses.  The change that we want will have to come from us and must begin from us.  When one becomes a role model, it follows that most people will aspire to be one, too.  But the responsibilities are not that light and should never be taken for granted.  Knowing that a role model can affect lots of people, one really projects a positive image that can even change the way of the world.

We live a purposeful life:  Most people work so hard day in, day out to make ends meet,  if not to make themselves rich.  But these people do not really seek what is important to them.  They just go with the flow- study, graduate with the courses not intended for them, work to build their houses and fill in their bank accounts until they are up for retirement.  These people seem to be clueless of what is really there for them.  God has given them talents to use to make this world  a better place to live in but they chose to take another path only to find out that what they do is meaningless.  They get involved in miserable relationships, they work with ruthless people and receive what is not due them.  This is the result of low self-esteem simply because they do not regard themselves as important.  They are not aware of their capabilities and intelligence to do something worthy in their lifetime.  For people who see themselves as important, they seek in their hearts God's plan for them.  They do what God has told them and they live a happy life knowing that they are of service to others and they get paid so well.

We are capable of creating the kind of life we desire:  We feel the power within us and that power is intense, capable of turning things around.  We dream so high and with that power and right action, we can possibly reach that dream.  Possibilities are infinite, endless because we are so inspired to be creators of the things we desire.  We continually receive inspirations from the Divine and the instructions are so clear, we can do what is good for us.  We become students for life and the lessons that we are learning are helping us compose our aspirations and achieve them.  Those obstacles that perenially show to scare us seem to be small battles that need not be taken seriously because we become warriors that are ready to attack them once they strike.  Being designers of our life is an easy course.

We can always expect miracles to happen:  Everything good can happen to us.  Small ones.  Big ones. With the way we treat ourselves, blessings can come to us.  We believe in ourselves, we have confidence, we love ourselves, we accept who we are, we show who we are in everything we do, we are proud of who we are, expect people to treat us good, too.  With that, we can attract what we desire and our life will never be the same again.

Now, start treating yourself well.  Be reminded that we are created by God and all of us are His children.  All of us deserve special attention and we can only receive that if we regard ourselves the most important creation in this world.  From now on,  You are the most important person in your life.

Mental Housecleaning

     What are you thinking right now?  Your dreams, goals, things that you want to buy?  Or are they your everyday pressures, enemies, problems?  At this moment, may I ask you to forget those thoughts and proceed to go into silence for at least 5 minutes?   Maybe you are at a lost as to how are you going to do it.  Just sit or stand where you are right now and close your eyes.  Take a deep breath and hold it for 7 seconds and exhale.  Do this again.  Relax now and think of nothing.  Let go of your problems, excitement and any feelings you have.  Be still and stay that way for a while.  Now take a deep breath again hold it for 7 seconds, exhale and open your eyes.  Feeling better?  Absolutely yes.  You just meditated.  This simple activity brings a lot of benefits to you.  What I have asked you to do was a simple mental housecleaning.  Do you notice that when your mind is free of any cobwebs you can actually think and act better?  That is because you have gained some clarity when you let go of your thoughts.

      A lot of us bombard our mind with lots of thoughts and most of them are destructive to us.  Successful people know how to use their mind and they see their mind as a tool that can help them achieve their goals.  What exactly are the contents of their mind?   Success thoughts.  Not only the steps on how to conquer their dreams but also the steps on how to conquer their fears.  They have created several affirmations that they feed into their mind so that very, very soon they will act according to what their mind is thinking about.  They have programmed their mind to become successful through the kind of thoughts they have in their mind.

     So for those who are struggling all their life, we know the kind of thoughts they have in their mind.  Negative thoughts.  Most of us know the consequences of instilling this kind of thoughts in our mind.  But we are hard headed.  Several Secret Teachers have appeared and appealed to us to think only of happy thoughts to attract happy experiences but some never really bothered to do so.  Truly,  most people are programmed not to release their destructive thoughts simply because they are afraid of accepting new experiences.  Truly, embracing change is a hard task to do.  Doing new activities reveals our weaknesses and even ignorance sometimes and we are afraid to show all these to anyone for fear of rejection.   This is something deep.  We all know where this will lead us if we continue to sabotage our mind, if we continue to plant wrong seeds into it.

     Some people are kind of lucky they go into some trials and learn lessons from them.  These lessons trigger them to act accordingly, meaning wiser this time around to face challenges in life.  That facing obstacles require not only the lessons you have acquired from years of studying in school but also the tough mind you have programmed to succeed.  Many times over, we claim that we can overcome any humps and bumps when we go out in the street only to find out that we are short of mind power.  We get easily intimidated, scared and overwhelmed because we still carry with us some limiting beliefs that keep us from moving forward.  We have fears and it all starts to come out when we think negatively of ourselves and the situations we are in.

     We can prepare our mind to face our dragons - our fears.  We must let go of our beliefs that do not make us great.  We must clean our mind, sweep those negative thoughts and replace them with seeds of success.  It may be hard at first to do it but if we could only think of the valuable experience we would be having when we do it,  now is the best time to go for it.

      I encourage you to meditate daily to clear your mind.  Acquire some power.  Build a better version of you.   Put your past behind you, it should never be accessed again.   Your future can be created beautifully.  How?  By instilling good thoughts in your mind daily.  Remember that you can attract what you think about most of the time and your future is just around the corner.  Your future can be later, tomorrow, next month, next year and so on.  If you want a better life start feeding your mind with great thoughts.  Great mind creates great person.  Bear that in mind.

Clear Your Space

You have to work on a project.  All the important details and things are with you and yet you cannot start what you have to do.  Your eyes are focused on the extra details or clutter that keep you from working.  You cannot concentrate because your attention is always on the things that  are not needed.  So, what are you going to do with them?   Although you always argue that you do not have extra time to clean your space, it is better to face the problem rather than prolonging your agony.  For sure, there will be extra time needed to finish your work when you have those clutter in your working space.  Those frequent glances can take a lot of your time and instead of finishing ahead of time, you wasted precious moments.  Why not clear your space first and take a rest.  This will surely work on you.  You can think clearly, work with harmony and end your activity with so much fun and excitement. 

Any project done in a hurry and in a messy location can never be a work of art.  It will always be a work of hate and agony because of the experience incorporated with that work.  Most people like to start with a clean and cool environment because the atmosphere can give inspiration and better ideas.  Some opt for a quiet meditation before starting a project.  This helps them to clear their minds of any cobwebs thus, resulting to a more relaxed and interesting working experience. 

A clear place inspires you.  It gets you going.  There is more to be done when your space is uncluttered.  More work to be done in less time.  That means your attention is focused solely on your project.  Uncluttered space also means smelling fresh and clean.  Old papers gives a foul odor so do empty bottles or cans that have been in the area for a long time.  It is very relaxing when the place is clean and smelling fresh.  It can raise your vibration which gives a positive feeling.  This one is also very important when you are working on a special project. 

Whether the place is your working area or resting place, the most important thing to remember is to make it clean, clear and fresh.  Where you are reflects who you are.  When your place stinks and is messy, people will always think of you that way.  It is best to extend the cleanliness to your space, to everything you have and do.  That way you can think clearly, express what you want in a pleasant way and do what you want in your perfect time.  Why not start cleaning or clearing your space now even if you are still waiting for clients and work to come?   The moment you do so, they will start to come to you.

New Blogger Templates: New Beginnings

     I just received an e-mail from Blogger.com regarding its newest templates.  When I clicked on the site where the templates are displayed, I immediately changed my template.  It really inspired me to dress-up my old blog and changed the title of it.  Just a few months ago I was thinking, "maybe Blogger.com should come up with new templates."  My wish was heard by my angel and sent the message to Blogger.com.

     I have had an on and off relationship with this blog of mine.  It is my first blog.  I left the blog after consistently writing articles for five months.  After more than a year, I decided to revive it.   It was still here when I checked on it and was waiting for me to fill those spaces again.  I just realized that it really cared for me.   I told myself that I should make up for it.  Give it another try.  Make it new, at least in appearance.  Write frequently not when I am only in the mood.  I always tell myself that this blog will eventually attract avid readers.  But that will depend only on the frequency of writing my articles or updating this blog.   At least, when I write on this page this blog never questions me nor irritates me.  It just accepts whatever words I typed.  That is one great reason to blog.

    There are other reasons why I love to blog.  I get to meet other bloggers as well.  I also learned  a lot from them.  On this page, all bloggers are just some clicks away from each other and I really appreciate the invention of this site.  Blogger makes it a point to bring my messages to people I do not really know and keeps me informed about the latest in almost everything.  Blogging makes an aspiring writer to be "legitimate writer" at least through this page.  Besides making very easy for each blogger to create his own blog, Blogger assures its bloggers that each blog can be a creation of a true writer...so much about praising Blogger.

     Very soon I will make my blog a professional blog.  I am so excited about it.  To tell you the truth,  I made a decision to leave this blog or delete this blog but the new templates changed that decision.  I am retaining this blog not only because of its new templates.  This is my very first blog and I feel very comfortable telling what is on my mind through this blog.  I want to keep things that make me happy, comfortable and inspired.  That is what Blogger.com is doing to me.

    

Loving Yourself First

     Most people spend a lot of their time and money to look for the right person to love.  Many have been searching for a long time and yet, the love they want never come.  They simply forget that they can never give what they do not have.  

    A lot of self-help books teach us to fill ourselves with love and eventually this will be radiated to each person we will be meeting.  When we have this kind of feeling it is easier for us to love ourselves and this is the first step towards having a great and wonderful relationship with anybody.

     Loving ourselves may be hard for us because the very first thing we see when we face the  mirror are the countless flaws that disturb us day in, day out.  Before we can conquer love, we must accept our flaws and treat them as something that make us stand out and different from others.  Another thing, we must approve of ourselves.  Some of us are not blessed with movie star looks but can still make other heads turn when they walk.  It is because they always think of themselves as unique, the flaws they have are seen as something that make them even more interesting.  These people have lots of self-confidence and they can live with happiness despite having imperfections.

     The very first thing to do is to acknowledge our flaws and accept them.  We have to do it or else, we will live in place where only miseries, frustrations and unhappiness thrive.  Our success in life will always depend not on what good traits we have but on how we respond to stress and anxieties we encounter everyday.  Once we acknowledge and approve of ourselves, things will fall into their proper places.  Why is that so?   We now send a different vibration to the Universe.  We send positive feeling and this in turn gives us situation that will make us happy all the time.  When you are happy, you look and feel better.  You radiate everything good to every person you meet.  Loving ourselves will be easier now and we will be working on having more love in our life every day.  Isn't that wonderful?  We can stop looking for love because love will haunt us.  We can now give more love and we can now receive more love.  People start looking for us and we will be overwhelmed.  Love begets love. 

Start your day with this affirmations taken from the book "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay:

I love myself.

I approved of my self

After sometime, all will be well in your life.

Why I Love Essential Oils

I came to know of essential oil when I accidentally read about aromatherapy.  I also learned that they are main ingredients of all perfumes that are being sold worldwide.  I used  to seeing the word lavender but it did not really made any impression on me until I read about the history of essential oils.  Lavender is considered the most famous and well-loved essential oil because of its many uses.  For one, it is good for treating a wound although others claim that tea tree oil is the best for wounds.  Moreover, it has become a staple ingredient in making a face cream because of its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.  

 

     I love creating massage oil using essential oils.  I combine lavender, rose, vanilla and jasmine and the smell is perfect for me.  Don't you know that these essential oils that I mentioned have the power to attract love when they are being used?  According to those who are experts in the use of essential oils, these oils can attract money, relationships, jobs and whatever it is that you want to manifest in your life, by just having or mixing 4 types of oils with a carrier oil.  A carrier oil can be grape seed oil, virgin coconut oil, jojoba oil.  Essential oils are mixed with any of the above mentioned carrier oils because of their potent property which can cause skin irritation.  If you want to have a good night sleep, you can prepare your own oil for massage by mixing clary sage and lavender oil with any carrier oil of your choice.  You can even put a drop or two on your pillow and smell its relaxing scent.  Now, you are on your way to your dreamland.

     Lavender oil mixed with a carrier oil can be used to massage parts with stretch marks.  Try it and you will notice that they get fade after several sessions.  It will also put you into sleep because of its soothing effect.   If you run out of mouthwash and there are lots of essential oils in your cabinet, try creating a mouthwash of your own.  Bring out peppermint, tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils, honey and purified water.  The rule is for every 10 ml of liquid you can have 4 drops of essential oils.  So be guided with this rule.  Do not forget to add a teaspoon of honey to sweeten the taste.  A big bottle is best consumed in three months, after that you have to make a new one.

     If you want to really relax while taking a bath,  add essential oils on the water you will use.  In a teaspoon of milk, add a few drops of essential oils of your choice.  The milk will neutralize the oils so your skin is protected from irritation.  You will notice that after a while of doing this, you get glowing skin.

     When you want to meditate, you can use essential oil with your burner, the scent is conducive to your activity and it keeps you focused on what you are doing.  Lavender is also a good choice.  Some opt to use eucalyptus, sandalwood or even jasmine. 

     There are many uses of essential oils and one would really love to have all of them.  They give magic to every user simply because the scent can take him anywhere-meditation, sleep, bathing.  So start collecting your essential oils and be ready to take a ride to the wonderland.