work life balance

in ecomony, there's a price equilibrium if the price at which supply equals demand. in life, there's a stress if the work and personal life doesn't have its balance. in one of the seminars i attended called myt (managing your time) conducted by no other than anthony pangilinan of businessworks. one lesson and the topic which got the notion of my interest was understanding of the word stress. ...that stress is equivalent portion you got from the great demand (pressure) over your positive abilities (performance). i get the picture below in this site showing normal human function curve.

stress can have serious effects on our health too like what happened to mine. i suffered from bell's palsy some years ago probably out of stress. from then i realized that i should not be decreasing the pressure of demand but rather increasing the positive level of my abilities so i can cope with all things that may come to me ...meaning...my positive abilities must be always higher than the pressure of demand in order to increase my level of performance (maintaining eustress level). it really depends on how you look at things. stress issues has a serious effect on our well being too and it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. this one below is from HRSDC.

stress... it's a common conversation. if we haven't noticed it, maybe its lack of awareness. it's time for us to trigger that kind of awareness. don't let any episodes of anxiety drown out our most agreeable perspective in life. so keep praying and growing that someday we'll be much better than the first time we came in. spend quality time with our loveones and a time for ourselves. learn to unwind and relax...and came back fresh.

preserving the past

past is no longer the place where we are longing for, it is simply the place where we had learned it from, but some also says "he who does not look back at his past plight will not reach his future." ...it's true, "ang taong hindî marunong lumingón sa pinanggalingan ay hindî makararatíng sa paroroonan."

last saturday was really fun, great and memorable. me and some old friends, high school classmates and teachers met again. finally... after eleven long years. but unfortunately not all of my classmates were there. maybe because of undisrupted job commitments, others were abroard. kudos to the warm bodies who joined and of course those who participated even they're not physically present.

majority of us have our own family... have our own kids...and married... some are thin...some are physically challenge... some still the same... some changed. but it's still all good.. they were all good. i am so thankful to God after a decade of struggle and fulfillments, after all things that happened to me, i still loved what i did and continue giving thanks what i have right now. i came across with a speech written and delivered by none other than steve jobs, ceo of apple computer, allow me to share this with you:

"it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward... (in my case when i was in high school). but it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. you have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. but don't lose faith. i'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that i loved what i did. you've got to find what you love. and that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. don't settle.

as with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. and, like any great
relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. so keep looking until you find it. don't settle. your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. and most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. they somehow already know what you truly want to become. everything else is secondary.

great words isn't it? i agree...

If you haven't found it yet, Keep looking, Don't settle.

happiness in the workplace

"It's common sense. Happy people are more productive." says Larry Page, co-founder of Google.com

we are dust

today is ash wednesday. my wife and i woke up earlier to attend wednesday mass. we left our little princess still in bed. ah... i will missed her morning kiss today....after the mass, we took partways for the temporary assignment, our jobs.

this morning i read an article from fr. sandy enhaynes while browsing bo sanchez daily insights, and the homily is still fresh in my mind on the same topic, this is regarding the meaning of doing custom (ash wed). this article is entitled mamamatay ka din!

i was once challenged by a parishioner who approached me because she noticed the huge number of people following the catholic custom of imposition of ashes during ash wednesday. she said churches are filled to the rafters with people who receive ashes on their foreheads but offer not much meaning to it. she challenged me to do something about it, otherwise this sacred ash wednesday ritual will just be that, a ritual.

mamamatay ka rin! whether the priest says, “repent and believe in the gospel” or “remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return,” i believe the hidden pronouncement is this, that men have to shape up so as to be prepared for the shipping out which eventually will come.

mamamatay ka rin! the imposition of ashes is meant to make us be acquainted with our own mortality. life on earth is temporary and it has to be seen as a time of preparation— for the more permanent existence in the next life. there is a story about a man who lived all his life believing that god does not exist. he wrote in his will that he has to be in his most expensive suit when he leaves this world. the will was followed to the letter, hence, when he was brought out for viewing during his wake, everyone marveled at how marvelous he looked. the silence of the awestruck people who surrounded his coffin was broken when a man said, “all dressed up but nowhere to go.”

mamamatay ka rin! when it happens, where will you go? the challenge is for us to do something about our lives on earth. we are dust, and to dust we will return. before it happens, we need to really consider how we shall merit a place in the promised paradise of god. so as you receive ashes on your foreheads today, remember, mamamatay ka rin. tremble with that thought, then shape up.

quoted summary: "a man who won't die for something is not fit to live." - martin luther king, jr.