The Underground River of Palawan

I think it was already five years ago when I posted in this blog about a dream travel to Palawan after finding a video about the Coron Island, one of the islands in Palawan.  I did not forget about that dream travel since then, until The Underground River of Palawan became one of the 7 Wonders of the World. I had the opportunity to realize my dream of going to Palawan last year but unexpectedly, I was even able to  go to the Underground River so I considered the experience a gift from God right on the day of my birthday.

The creations of God inside the Underground River were overwhelming, a bright light is just needed to see and appreciate them so bringing a camera with a flash is a must. Being able to paint some of my shots of the Underground River became another dream but I knew that could be almost impossible so I showed the photos to some artists, my brother included, but they just challenged me to paint them.

Until I was again challenged to join an art exhibit titled "Dance of Faith" this June, which I find closely related to my experience inside the Underground River because it strengthened my faith in God.  I chose three views to paint, one with the tourists on the boat, one I consider an artwork of God and the last view showing the end of the tour. For me, this end of tour also depicts a new beginning because my faith in God is stronger and that will help me meet more challenges in life and fulfill more dreams from then on. 

Follow the Master

When I was attending the art workshops of Mr. Fernando Sena, Philippine's "Father of Art Workshops", I believed I could be good using any medium, except watercolor. But the works of the master, Mr. Sena, like his work in watercolor shown here, inspire me not to stop dreaming that there will come a time I can do a good art piece using watercolor.

My talent in drawing was discovered in grade school when we had a project to make a scrapbook of the different kinds of birds. which became one of my favorite subjects in painting like the one I did using pastel in my photo with the master, and the parrots where I used pentel pens during Mr. Sena's workshop. He had always guided his students, pointing out what is lacking in our works, or what were the mistakes we made.

Let this "big dream" of following my master to make a beautiful watercolor painting be added to my Dreams List. Perhaps another dream which I believe I share with many artists, is for Mr. Sena to soon be a National Artist. Let that dream be written in the universe' list of dreams and be fulfilled!

Those small dreams

Maybe I should also make a list of my small dreams because they are plenty! They are too small to be significant, like it was my dream for my morgana bromiliad plants to bloom flowers at the same time. Now, after several years, two of them have flowers! One plant can have only one flower which can last for up to three months and then it dies but one or two new plants grow before it dies.

I noticed that most small dreams simply satisfy a hobby or interest, or maybe that is true in my case bur not necessarily for all. I had a lot of small dreams involving the interior and exterior of the house and I noticed that they are fulfilled little by little because of unexpected situations. I have a console table that I've wanted to be paired with a mirror, which I bought separately a long time ago. But there was never a space at home for both, so the mirror goes to my son's bedroom while the console table was constantly moved from one place to another. Until my son moved to the room of my daughter who got married and temporarily we can do anything with the bedroom that he left, so at last I found a space for both the mirror and the console table together, beside the dining table.

Though small dreams remain to be insignificant, don't forget about them. The universe remembers them and keeps them in a bank and then someday soon, it will find a way for those dreams to come true. They will bring the dreamer a pleasant surprise, one that will suddenly keep life's stresses away and make a dreamer's life more beautiful!

Staying at Home

Can a dream be fulfilled by just staying at home? In the past, that was impossible, unless you are some Albert Einstein or a composer! But in this era where communication can be done in no time, wherever you are, what really matters is the presence of an internet connection and of course a computer, nothing more.

I'm glad I have access to these blessings while caring for a special child at home. At first I would tell people I cannot do this and that because I have to stay home, but when I tell them, "but I can do more when I'm at home because I can research this and that", and they would agree.

I am now focused on pursuing my dreams while staying at home. When the time comes I am not at home but somewhere out of town or the country and bringing along my special child and husband, that only means I have accomplished whatever is needed to be done to fulfill my dreams while staying at home.

She started a joke

Today, September 29, is my friend's birthday and my former classmates and I paid her a visit. We were the best of friends in high school but we did not graduate together because at that early age she knew how to dream big and had to work in a place where she could be a scholar till she graduates in college.

The next thing I knew, she already owns a school nearby. We could be the best of friends like before, but we both became too busy, I with my work and she with her school where her success was phenomenal.

Our high school reunion could bring us closer again, both of us initially active during meetings. She had very good sense of humor so anybody could easily make her laugh during those meetings, and there was a time she told me I really made her laugh. I was glad to hear that, but I was touched more when she issued a check to me to buy a comb gadget that will prevent the recurrence of stroke of our high school class President. The amount was almost double the cost of the gadget so we were also able to buy him supplements to cleanse his blood vessels, like Resveratrol (Tiens Vigour Rousing).

The last time I saw her was during one of our meetings in April last year in her school. She invited me to come with her in a classroom to meet some of her adult students. They were finalizing their schedules for review classes. One student had to leave earlier so asked permission to do so and hugged my friend. My friend jokingly said, "anyone who hugs me passes the exams (government exams)". So after the meeting, the adult students formed a line and hugged her while she was almost laughing. I was smiling as I watched, it was just a joke from her, but the whole scene was so touching.

That was my last memory of her because her biggest joke was to be invisible after that. It was only last month when I learned she had passed away. She had Stage 4 breast cancer so chemotherapy was not an option. Perhaps she just wanted to be happy with her family during her remaining months, not to be pitied by the people around her. Perhaps she doesn't want to see people crying. Those were the real reasons why she became invisible. How could I have forgotten who you are, my friend?

I wonder how my friend became very successful. Perhaps it all started with a joke and when she was starting to prosper she wanted to surprise everyone so she worked harder.

How time flies, how some people fly

I wonder who notices more how time flies so fast, is it the one who had accomplished many within a short period of time, or is it the one who accomplished nothing within that same period of time? Most of the time I belong to the latter, and I beg for more time so I could still accomplish something.

During the Business Building Seminar for TIENS members in the Philippines last May 26, I saw new faces. I was amazed that some of the new faces belonged to a distributor level higher than mine. As a 6-star distributor, that meant my network had a gross sales of more than 18,000USD. A 7-star would mean his or her network had a gross sales of more than 60,000USD, and I’ve seen new faces that have accomplished that, maybe for just a year.

One of those new faces who is now a 7-star shared her secret in one word: FOCUS. Focus in one company, and focus on learning, sharing and selling its products. That means organizing your schedules so that you can perform all the activities associated with focusing to that company and the products.

Although I am not flying yet, I also would like to share my own advice: Choose the company where you intend to focus your time and effort, especially if it is a networking company. It should be a big company or a multinational company like TIENS, with a complete office with departments like HR, Accounting, Logistics, IT, Marketing and Training. It can have more departments but not less. Very important is it should not have a “binary” marketing plan because it will overpay especially if the networker is a seasoned one who knows how to play the game. I was a Systems Analyst so I was able to analyze how, after I thought I was mistakenly overpaid by a networking company based in Singapore, the leaders of which were eventually charged by the Singaporean government.

At the time I could focus on that one company, TIENS, that could have been my lone source of income, I was enticed to try to invest on a product from another company that has no branch here so I coordinated with a second party. I believed the product was so good, an alkaline water filtering system, the same product we had been using for years already. And TIENS didn’t have a similar product, the reason I was easily enticed because it doesn’t conflict with the products of TIENS. But all I can share now about that good and marketable product is my bad experience because the second party who I thought was a trustworthy person swindled me! What a waste of time, effort and money. Please learn from this experience so it will not happen to you! When it comes to expensive products to be marketed, deal with a big company, never with a freelance person!

Right now I have a very valid excuse for not focusing my activities on that one company TIENS, and that is because I am now focused on the education for blind children for my special child. I am praying hard though that there will come a time I could focus on both, and that they could harmoniously complement each other. One is a noble activity, the other one a company with quality health products that had helped a lot of people so I know that is possible. Why I pursued TIENS was a message I got from a missionary who was the speaker in the second seminar I’ve attended in TIENS or Tianshi Philippines: FOCUS ON HELPING OTHERS AND SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW!

Perseverance will be rewarded

It was worth searching the web for the definition of "perseverance" because it inspired me more to write this post about our own experience of persevering. Before my story, here are some of the definitions I have searched:

"Perseverance is a day-to-day decision not to give up".
"Continued steady belief or efforts, withstanding discouragement or difficulty".
"Steady persistence in a course of adhering to a course of action, a belief or a purpose".

Whenever people see us with our special child, people would tell my husband and I that the child will bring us good luck. And then there are also others who'd say that the child is very lucky to have us as her adoptive parents.

A year before the special child was born, though I could no longer give birth because of surgery, I wished for a child but did not want a grandchild. So when this child was born right inside our house, I believed she was God's gift to me. This child is now 8 years old and we are confronted with several challenges that would test our perseverance. Maybe I had been persevering most of the time in the past, but I didn't think it could also be a gift from God.

A few months ago, our child had massive seizures because of her cerebral palsy. Her doctor advised us to try changing her diet into a modified Atkin's diet, because it effectively eliminated the seizures of some children with epilepsy and cerebral palsy, and also eventually eliminated their medicines. I immediately researched about the diet, some guidelines that go with it and its positive effects, and then immediately tried it even without the guidance of a dietician. To our surprise, we noticed several changes which the doctor sees as improvements because our child became more sensitive. There was a negative side effect - constipation. It was very difficult to both the child and us so after a month, I decided to quit. It was just a few days after that decision when we went to the doctor who was glad to hear about the changes, and then told us that the constipation can easily be resolved so we should resume the child's diet.

The two hours after every meal of dealing with our child's constipation was greatly reduced. But the best thing about it is the improvement in her motor skills, caused by the reduction or maybe even the absence of seizures. She can now hold the glass of water she's drinking and is able to control the amount of water she can swallow at a time. Just a month ago, she'd drown herself when she would hold the glass.

There is now big hope that our dreams for Lyca, our special child, will soon come true. And there is only one secret in realizing those dreams - perseverance. I'm glad that it's not only me who was given this gift of perseverance which is now being put to test. There's my immediate family: my husband, my daughter and my son who are now adults and who perseveringly expressed their support for Lyca, emotionally and financially. In due time, their perseverance will be rewarded.

Write about your dream!

I've been very busy these days, but I have to write about my dreams! Perhaps I'm not really too busy to write, I'm just overwhelmed with the consecutive events that's happening. I am overwhelmed because each event was not planned to follow the preceding one, but they looked planned step by step, of course by God, because who am I to know what's going to happen next? These were the events that happened, without me knowing that the next will happen.

1. I resigned from my regular work to be able to work full time with my network in Tiens. I was inspired by my trip in Jakarta last November, so on the first week of December I decided to resign, to take effect February 1.

2. Last January, Tianshi Phils. announced the Tiens Wellness Center Program, and the training started the last part of that month. Since I have resigned from work, I was able to attend all the trainings given. I wrote about that in a previous post here.

3. In my search for people interested to have their own Wellness Center, I remembered to approach a herbal supplements stockist, and she was interested. She said it was her dream to own a Wellness Center. The problem though is the start-up since she has used up her funds, so I volunteered to shoulder some initial stocks just to be able to introduce the products of Tiens in her center. We are taking it slow now, since she still has to serve her regular clients.

4. My partner and I decided to proceed slowly by focusing on health gadgets first. We planned to schedule demos but she knows just a little about the gadgets.

5. Surprisingly, a training on Tiens gadgets was scheduled by Tianshi Phils. on Monday, so I told my partner she has to attend that training.

6. Surprisingly also, my husband and I will be involved in an exclusive wellness forum this Friday. I need to display some products so I pulled out most Tiens products from my partner's center. I still lack some gadgets so I need to get them from the Head Office. Anyway, I can display them at my friend's center after the forum if they are not sold.

With all those events I enumerated, perhaps anybody can now predict what can happen next. Please make your predictions very positive. I have a very simple dream, to be able to help people maintain good health, by sharing everything I learned about wellness, but I also need to earn an income since I no longer have a regular job.

Have you read my earlier post about a dream, to be A "therapist"?

Follow your dream!

My dream to go to Europe this year with the choir of my children was dependent on my winning a Lotto, but my winning a photo contest that I discovered on the web lately, will also give me the chance to at least go to Italy. This is the country in Europe I wouldn’t want to miss in case I’ll be blessed to go to this continent the second time around.

The photo contest was really a very inspiring news for me, so I’m now very busy selecting photos for my entries. There are a lot of good amateur photographers, but I shouldn’t lose hope. If my destiny is to go to Europe this July, then I will win. The last time I went to Europe, it was with the choir of my son but we only went to Greece. It was a priceless experience though, an AMAZING GRACE , because the choir of my son won three golds and the grand prize, and more than that, little miracles happened.

My son and daughter’s current choir, the Novo Concertante Manila, will be participating in a contest in Spain and they should leave on July 5. The photo contest’s finale will be on July 10 and 11 in Italy. This coming July, the Feng Shui forecast for both my daughter and me (Monkey and Snake) is a windfall luck. When I’ve read that earlier this year, I was thinking maybe the choir will win, because they will be in Europe for three weeks, but how about me? Maybe I will win the Lotto!

All I can do now is pray hard because it’s not only the Lotto I am counting on this time. It’s nice to know there is bigger chance for my dream to come true. That goes to show that seriously following a dream will open doors to make it come true!

Dreams for 2009

Here are my dreams for 2009:

1. To win in Lotto! If I win the jackpot, I will go to Europe with a choir and my family, while the major part of my winnings will be properly planned for Lyca, my special needs child's program in the U.S. (if still necessary), and the organization of a foundation for artists and poor children with cerebral palsy next year.

2. To be a contestant in Deal or No Deal (LOL), and if I win a big amount, I'll continue my Interior Design course.

3. To earn more from my blogs, but this will only happen if you'll continuously visit them (please).

I can't believe only the above 3 are my dreams for this year. Maybe because I knew that my more important realistic dreams are about to come true. What are they?

1. To own a Tiens Dream Bio-energy Health Mattress.
2. For Lyca to be able to walk.
3. For Lyca to be able to talk.

A half-fulfilled dream

If you will check my Dreams List, my second dream on the list, to study Interior Design, was half-fulfilled because I was just halfway the basic course when I stopped. It was not my intention to stop permanently since I knew I may resume it anytime as long as there's sufficient fund for it. The only problem now is in my sleep, I always dream that I'm already late in my class, or I forgot that I have a class and I'm very worried.

Maybe I should seriously plan to resume my studies or those dreams will not go away. That dream to complete Interior Design is obviously still in my subconscious mind!

A dream becoming a reality

Last Friday, I got a call from the social worker in-charge of the adoption case of our special child and she said the court's decision is about to be released. Weeks earlier, I also learned about the possibility for our special child to be sponsored in an Elks program in the U.S. Looks like the events are gearing towards the fulfillment of a dream! What's lacking now is the money I will need for us to go to the United States. Before I woke up this morning, I dreamed that a friend just told me a way to get a million dollars. And then this same morning, I read a blog's post titled "Nouveau Riche - dream which become reality".

Wow! Just look at those coincidences! Look what a "Dreams List" can do! I am now encouraging everyone to make a list of your dreams and write about them in detail. Have you read or watched "The Secret"? I've watched it after I've created this blog, so it was not related to this blog's creation, but what "The Secret" was saying is exactly what this blog is doing.

"Nouveau Riche" is "the new rich". Like what Ukion described in his blog, I want to be a "nouveau riche". Not to be a millionaire, but to use the millions to experience or realize the dreams that I believe in.

To be an announcer or an emcee

DZMB…on your radio….

Hi! This is Lita on DZMB! I will be with you for the next two hours of your listening to the finest music in town...

That was Lita, my mother. My brother and I would listen to her radio program every morning when we were kids. In the afternoon, she would go home to lie down and rest. I would look at her from head to toe, admiring every inch of her while she was lying down. She was not only my mother. She was a star! Every household listened to her radio program every morning!

That was how “to be an announcer or an emcee” started to be my dream, but it was not a serious one. I just wanted to experience a part of what my mother had experienced as an announcer. When I was already working as an IT professional, I knew that I will never have the opportunity to be a radio announcer. I was thinking that I can be contented to be an emcee instead, because I knew there was more chance for that to be realized.

When I was still with a company’s Corporate Technical Services where IT was one of the departments, the search for a volunteer to be one of the hosts or emcees for the Christmas program was announced. This volunteer will be the partner of a male host who was earlier identified. He had a very good reputation as a host, so a novice in emceeing would be hesitant to volunteer. But that was an opportunity to fulfill my dream, so I grabbed it and volunteered!



The outcome was good enough because the feedback was that I’ve projected a “showbiz” personality. They didn’t know that I emulated a popular host in the Philippines, Gel Santos-Relos, since I can’t remember my mother’s style. Incidentally, Gel resembled my mother when the latter was younger. The old photo is a reproduction of my Mom's photo when she was younger, but it also reminds me of Gel Santos when she was younger.

The photo from Citizen Pinoy shows the hosts which included Gel Santos-Relos, when she already had migrated to U.S.A. as an alien with exceptional skill (something like that). I just learned that Gel Santos-Relos is now hosting “Balitang America” (News from America) in The Filipino Channel. Maybe I should watch her show to rehash my showbiz style of hosting (LOL).

Thanks to my Mom and Gel, I will never forget my experience as an emcee.

Row, row your boat

While I was typing my message for everyone in Twitter to "share your dream" through this blog, I heard my special child's voice which means she just woke up. I got her and sat her on my lap while typing and at the same time singing...

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

I repeatedly sang those lines until I began to "internalize" each word and realize that such a simple nursery rhyme has a very deep meaning!

Life is but a dream, but you have to row your boat... gently down the stream, which can be full of challenges and obstacles.

It can be very tiring to row your boat alone because you have to row left and right. The boat will move smoothly if you have a partner, or a team if it's a big boat. I saw a movie where a leader prompts when to row so that the big boat can move smoothly and swiftly.

We may all have different dreams but if we give each other moral support and realize that we are in a WIN-WIN situation whatever our role is, we can create a synergy that will help us attain our dreams.

Dreams List

Have you watched the movie, “The Bucket List?” I guess those who did were tempted to make their own list after the movie. In my case, I have a similar list but it just remained in my thoughts, until today. I call it my “Dreams List”, and it never entered my mind that not only will I document that list, but will also share it to the public. Here is my list, from the oldest which started when I was just a teenager, up to the latest:

1. To travel to Greece. FULFILLED.
2. To study Interior Design. HALF-FULFILLED.
3. To have my own family and a home with a garden. FULFILLED.
4. To be an announcer or an emcee. FULFILLED.
5. To be a soprano. FULFILLED.
6. To deliver a speech in public. FULFILLED.
7. To have a painting exhibited in public. FULFILLED.
8. While in Singapore in 1998: To be back someday. FULLFILLED
9. To win in a photography contest. FULFILLED
10. To win in a singing contest. FULFILLED.
11. To win in a speech contest. FULFILLED.
12. To win a speech contest in the international category. REVISED.
13. To write a book about life. REVISED.
14. To have my own laptop. FULFILLED.
15. To have a smaller laptop. FULFILLED.
16. To bring Lyca, our special child, to U.S.A. for a program at Elks.
17. To establish a “Life Every Artwork Foundation” (LEAF).
18. To build an art gallery for LEAF.
19. To win in the Philippine lotto.

I hope to elaborate on each dream on the list so I created a new blog just for this list. I also wish to know about the dreams of others through the "comments" portion of this blog. Some big dreams on the list were changes from my original dreams, like “my dream house” that is no longer on the list because it was replaced by “a home with a garden” which is owned by my in-laws but an ideal home for my special child. I believe that life is all about changes, and that the unexpected changes that led to better lives were part of God’s plans.