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!

When you stop dreaming

I stopped buying Lotto tickets because I stopped dreaming. But that is only for the meantime because I was bothered by what I thought could be a serious illness for the past 3 weeks. How I was cured was an overwhelming experience I published in my "Amusing Tips" blog and my thoughts are still focused on the said wonderful experience.

What is more satisfying than an instant feeling of wellness after being sick for three weeks? Sometimes one doesn't need to dream to attain something that seem too remote to happen in the immediate future. God will bring you there for another reason, and it could be a reason for you to help another person, not knowing it could be a blessing in disguise.

Uncertainties

I just said in my previous post that perhaps I can be a "wellness consultant", but I was really thinking of a very ambitious dream because instead of just TCM, I was envisioning a consultant who will know where to guide a person for his wellness, and that covers all, from "hilot" to mainstream medicine. I just realized I might be pertaining to "Superman".

So as far as that dream is concerned, there are lots of uncertainties. Issues have to be addressed one at a time and that can take years.

I am now back to my just one dream at the moment, for my special child to get the right education and therapies she needs. Even these are uncertain. But we have started whatever we can do, thanks for the tips given by the "Resources for the Blind" organization. Our special child can now drink water on her own, with control inspite of her cerebral palsy and blindness. She can already say "air" clearly, not just "er", whenever she hears an airplane pass by. Just a month ago, that possibility was uncertain.

Uncertainties are just for the present time because no one knows what can happen tomorrow, or even just a minute from now. It would be best to accept and embrace uncertainties. It is a way of affirming what actually is real.

Winning the Lotto

In this age of collective karma, what else is there to dream about? Of course those who are single can still dream of marrying, but in their married life should be more spiritual than material.

So why is the title of this post "Winning the Lotto" if I’m talking about spirituality in lieu of materialism? Maybe because it’s the only remaining item in my "Dreams List" that can possibly happen, and because I almost won last Saturday. All my numbers were in the winning number, but mine was separately spread in 3 entries, LOL!

Why do I need to win the Lotto then? I want to go to U.S.A. which I’ve never visited. Some closest relatives live there and there is a lot I can accomplish there, aside from getting the right therapeutic facilities like in an “Elk center”, for my special child. That is assuming I will get a student visa for her. I can still continue paying my own karmic accounts by being of service to the people there, whenever I have the time. I can be a "wellness consultant" teaching the holistic principles of TCM especially for my relatives. Some thought just popped out of my mind, and that can be a new dream related to that, so my next post should say something about it!

One dream

We tend to dream for a lot of things, most of them material things. But these material things are just temporary and will only make us dream for more or better material things.

Until I've encountered a message intended for me, to show everyone to true peace and happiness, and considered it to be my biggest dream. But on second thought, that shouldn't be just a dream but a direction to a way of living and I know everyone will agree. The ways and means to that direction seem hard to find or think about, but I know God will be there to make things happen.

I am therefore back to dreaming about one dream that seem hard to achieve: the right education and therapies for my special child without any cost, since I simply can't afford them. That was why I've thought about the possibility of going to U.S.A. to fulfill that, but even for air fare, I no longer have.

Gone are the days when I had enough money to fulfill most of my dreams, all of which were material things or means to make more money. But none among them brought me true peace and happiness.

Perhaps I should focus on that one dream for my special child. I'm sure fulfilling that dream will bring me true peace and happiness.

A Star in God's Eyes

During the Christmas program at Brahma Kumaris, each one was given a card containing a Christmas symbol. My husband got a symbol that fits him, and here's what I got:

The Star

"You are the star in God's eyes, who illuminates and shows everyone to true peace and happiness".

Wow! I think that will be the biggest dream I'll ever have, and the biggest challenge too. But I guess I've started to try to be one though perhaps I lacked self-confidence. I wrote about "God's Message" which was the main reason for starting a blog, but I didn't care if people will believe it or not. Maybe I was right that the message was for specific people at specific times, but maybe I could have exerted more effort to make mankind believe it because the message was for the whole mankind and not just for selected people.

How do I fulfill that biggest dream now? Perhaps I'll just continue sharing everything that I learn which will help people attain peace and happiness. In the first place, that was my main objective in creating the three blogs I'm now maintaining. I couldn't believe that while writing this and searching for the URL of my "God's Message" post, I found another venue or a popular site where I can fulfill that dream!

May the year 2012 bring true peace and happiness to everyone!

Lubel

My dream condo unit

There was a time I dreamed of owning a condo unit but forgot about the idea. Until I realized the difficulty of building a house and also maintaining it at this age. I got units in Basic Interior Design course and as a result, I said to myself when the time comes I'll build my own house, I'll focus on it and even take a leave from work. Time flew and it's a different story now.

I'm again dreaming of owning a condo unit, but this time I have very specific requirements so it's not easy to find one. The most critical requirement is the toilet and bath which should not be located at the southeast, nor south and north part of the unit, simply because those are my lucky directions where I should study or work. Again related to the toilet and bath, preferably it should not be seen from the entrance but that will be hard to follow because most units especially the small ones have the T&B located next to the entrance door.

Another consideration is the placement of the stove which should not be fixed so I can put it in a place where the front door is not facing the back of the person cooking. "A surprised cook will spoil the meals", I'm not sure why that belief should not make sense but I'd like to follow that anyway.

The floor where the unit is located should be at the ground or second floor, though a breathtaking view will of course be sacrificed so I may still consider a higher floor. Why I'd like a unit at the ground or second floor is because of its accessibility to the amenities specifically the pools and the gardens. I have a special reason, the kiddie pool will help in the therapy of my special child.

That's about it, my dream condo unit. I've seen a lot of them but the earliest turnover is 2014, LOL!

A Dream Workplace

Six months ago, I posted about "My Dream Office" which should be in my own house. But for most who are employed in a regular job, working in a common workplace is inevitable. There should be a dream common workplace then, the kind that will help employees live a healthy life. Is that possible?

In Japan, workers in some offices are required to attend the warm up session in the morning before the official working hour starts. But since a dream workplace would like to maximize the health of the employees while in the workplace, other solutions can be worked out.

1. Exposure to sunshine is a must for a person’s health and the best time of exposure that will surely help the body to produce Vitamin D is from 9:30 to 10 in the morning. Eating should not be allowed in the office in the morning, instead, a special canteen without a roof or located at an open field that operates only in the morning should be provided, where snacks may be taken or short meetings may even be conducted . Employees may be scheduled alternately and those scheduled to be at the open field canteen starting at 9:30 A.M. may be motivated with a free snack ticket. When it’s raining, that’s the only time snacks in carts may go to the offices.

2. Thirty minutes before the closing time of the office, all elevators should be switched off and all employees should be required to use the stairs.

3. The main canteen of the office should serve healthy foods only, without any meat. These food should be sold at cheaper prices.

4. Turn on the centralized air condition only during hot seasons. Use electric fans during cool seasons since too cold temperatures can affect a person's health.

5. Employees with no abnormal findings during the Annual P.E. should be rewarded, and if they have ideal weights, their rewards should be doubled.

6. Of course provide gyms with saunas and work-out programs for the employees.

There are more ways than just the above 6. Where to get the funds for such program? Decrease the amount for health insurance to add to the savings in electricity when the centralized air condition and elevators are turned off, and the open field that will not require lights. This is not an original idea, only the ways differ, but that only means that achieving a dream workplace similar to this is not an impossible dream.

A dream garden of a cat and a CEO

Every morning at 9:30, the sun's rays are right in front of our door and I don't let that opportunity to be exposed to sunlight even just for 20 minutes pass. To motivate myself to regularly do that, I look at the garden, check if its overall view looks good. Both the left and right gardens would fit the frame of a camera, therefore their full views are easy to appreciate or assess.


How would I assess a garden? A blooming flower will surely make the overall view of a garden look good so it would be easy to spot and assess in more detail. The morgana flower will make a garden beautiful and at first glance one would like to look at it more closely and in so doing, discover flowerettes also blooming on the fully bloomed large flower. On the other hand, wilted leaves will surely mar the overall view of the garden so they should be regularly removed.


Why is the title of this post "A dream garden of a cat and a CEO"? Because our cat FPJ always looks at the garden like I do. Like me, perhaps he appreciates that he could see the overall view of the garden at one glance. I like big gardens, but if there is no spot in a beautiful garden that fits the frame of a camera, it will be hard to remember how beautiful it is.


It goes without saying that even a small garden can be a dream garden not only to a cat but also to people like me, and even perhaps to a CEO of a company. What if the overall view of a company is like a garden that I just described? The CEO will surely be very glad that at one glance he or she could see how healthy a company is. The small garden in this last photo looks good, but the branch of a beautiful plant with dark pink leaves is almost on the ground. That would be easy to correct but if left unattended, the beautiful leaves will finally fall to the ground and wilt.

The perfect plant for a perfect grade

"I could have given you a perfect grade for this, but you drew the wrong plant!". I will never forget that comment from my teacher in Freehand Drawing in my Interior Design course five years ago. It was almost lunch when we started drawing the three vases, one vase with plant on it, so we were asked to finish the drawing at home. I wasn't able to find the same kind of plant that was on the vase when I got home. But there was another reason, I just didn't find the plant beautiful. They said it was a water plant.

I've never forgotten that incident, and the plant. Since then I've been looking for the presence of that plant everywhere there were plants, until I realized that inside the school of my son where we had a coffee kiosk, the plant was abundant. It is beautiful when the leaves are already big. I grew the plant at home and wondered if it will fulfill my dream of replacing my artificial decorative vine at home with a natural vine. But every time I put some on a vase with water, the plant just didn't last. I realized that was because I've always forgotten to add water. So I bought clear vases so I could see if there was no more water. Until I got used to adding water even when the vase was still half-filled.

I later learned that the plant's name is "Devil's Ivy", also called "Golden Pothos" and it has grown with big leaves outside our house which I intentionally trim to use as decors on vases. And from the grown plant with big leaves, I finally managed to grow its vine just using water exactly at the place where I used to hang artificial leaves.

I finally got my dream. It was a small dream that had nothing to do with my bad experience for not getting a perfect grade. Now I know why I shouldn't had misjudged that ugly plant that became my way to fulfill a dream.