Saying Goodbye

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has journeyed with so many people who were about to die, that her famed model, The Five Stages of Denial, has become the accepted standard of examining terminally-ill emotions. They are classified as: Denial – “No, I am not going to die” Anger – “Why me? There are so many other people…

Cleanliness from the Inside

It is said that we Filipinos are a mystery. We value cleanliness, yet look at our surroundings: We will clean our own backyard but we will dump the garbage in public places. We take a bath at least two times a day, even when it is winter, but look at the litter all over the…

Shattered Dreams

All of us have had our shattered dreams in life. We have planned, we have invested in ourselves, we gave our time, we gave it our all. The results, unfortunately, did not turn out the way we planned it to be. Just think of all the emotions – shame, anger, frustration, and hopelessness.  In the…

Insensitive People

Who among us does not have family or friends or officemates that are insensitive?  Here you are trying to find comfort and consolation because of a big problem, yet your friend talks about her vacation Here you are dealing with death and your sibling talks about the division of properties Here you are dealing with…

Good Luck or Blessed

We Filipinos, when it comes to blessings, are very faithful. When we get a new house, we have it blessed; a new car, we have it blessed; a new office, we have it blessed. Typically, when one is asked why do the blessing, the response is for “Good Luck” and that “Money Flows In.” If…

Is the Devil Real?

Matthew 8:28-34 This is the 21st century, yet…do you still believe in the devil? This is the question some people ask. They think that the devil was an invention of the Church in the olden times. That might be the thinking because this is the age of computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This is the…

Do Not Grow Weary

How many of us are feeling that we are just about to give up on life? We have problems and there seem to be no solutions; we have a sickness and we feel that it is just a matter of time; we have financial burdens and there is no way we can pay our debts…

Dealing with Stress

Once I had the opportunity to bless a spa and afterward, I was informed that the business was flourishing. In fact, the spa I blessed was their latest branch in their expansion. Why is there a huge demand, I queried? The owner said that their clients are mostly office workers and they have lots of…

Hope

There is a saying, “laugh and the whole world laughs at you. Cry and you cry alone”. In talking about crying, why is it when life brings us crisis, challenges, sickness, pain and suffering, we feel alone? When we deal with fear, anxiety, worry, restlessness, depression and suicidal thoughts, we feel all alone. In the…

It Will Always Be Better

There is a story of a flight in a storm, wherein the first announcement was to “wear your seat belts.”. Then it was announced that “food will not be served because of turbulence.” When the plane was experiencing rough movement, suddenly the oxygen masks dropped. To the gratitude of the crowd, the flight eventually became…