Celebrating God’s goodness, even in the smallest blessings!
After my wedding, I started using a blessing box! I bought a box made of recycled paper and dried leaves. I personalized it… I designed it. This box contains all the things I feel grateful for, all the blessings I received (big and small I love them all!)
I want to continue being grateful and fully embrace an attitude of gratitude in all areas of my life. I believe this is the best way to combat negative emotions such as unhappiness, feelings of discontent and regrets.
“Gratitude creates happiness because it makes us feel full, complete; gratitude is the realization that we have everything we need, at least in this moment…”
The decision to live in a joyful expectation is one of the hardest decisions to uphold. Over time, we accumulate a lot of experiences – joyful and difficult ones. It helps a lot to carry on when we take a bigger view and remain fearless and hopeful amidst the difficult situations. Writing and knowing is far easier than doing and committing. But I am convinced… Gratitude is the key! Everything falls into place if we commit ourselves to it! If we focus our thoughts and energy on the things we are thankful for, we create an internal world of joy and hope. And without much effort, we are able to deal with adversities and feelings of fear and anger.
I want to say “thank you, Jesus” in my daily life. I have started it before and I feel the need to keep up with it. I want to believe that at this time in my life, I am threading a difficult path.
I haven’t realized this but gratitude consumes our energies in the most positive way. I believe that every person has experienced receiving a gift! A gift in its physical aspect for example (a birthday gift or anniversary gift) gives delight more than you can imagine! With the right attitude, we experience these joyous stages: (1) The anticipated feeling of receiving a gift, (2) the feeling of actually receiving the gift, (3) the gift itself and (4) the memory of having received it.
Now, what more when we are gifted with joyful moments, opportunities, loving concern, and shared memories? It’s definitely a lot more fantastic and fulfilling to go through those stages!
And so I shall work my way to develop a grateful heart and maintain thankfulness in my daily life for it is in doing so that I will be more focused on joy, optimism, faith and trust!
Tonette, living in gratitude!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
But MOTHERHOOD is my most important role in life!
Why do I usually disrupt my schedule for Abbie?
Because I’m her mother and she’s my daughter.
She’s more important than all my work.
She’s more important than all my personal to-do lists
She’s more important than my routines and tasks
Nothing compares with her!
Today, I am embracing this philosophy as a mother!
“PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS! Your WORK will ALWAYS be THERE. BUT YOUR KIDS WON’T. They’ll GROW UP, have their OWN LIVES, and WALK AWAY. When you age, you’ll always treasure your time with your kids. You’ll always wish that you spent more time with them.”
Ooouch… but this one holds true. We are all operating on a limited time when it comes to our kids. They grow up so fast! This is the appropriate time to take advantage of their clingy tendencies and their dependence on us. Child development tells us that there is a “superstar” for each stage of development. At this stage, family is the most significant, most influential persons to them. Soon she will enter school and become more concerned with peer relationship, hobbies and other interests.
This is my time. So while I am the Superstar and the Megastar in this season of my child’s life, I will make the most out of it! I will shine my star and grab every opportunity to hold her, hug her, play with her and laugh with her! i love you abbie! mwuah!
Because I’m her mother and she’s my daughter.
She’s more important than all my work.
She’s more important than all my personal to-do lists
She’s more important than my routines and tasks
Nothing compares with her!
Today, I am embracing this philosophy as a mother!
“PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS! Your WORK will ALWAYS be THERE. BUT YOUR KIDS WON’T. They’ll GROW UP, have their OWN LIVES, and WALK AWAY. When you age, you’ll always treasure your time with your kids. You’ll always wish that you spent more time with them.”
Ooouch… but this one holds true. We are all operating on a limited time when it comes to our kids. They grow up so fast! This is the appropriate time to take advantage of their clingy tendencies and their dependence on us. Child development tells us that there is a “superstar” for each stage of development. At this stage, family is the most significant, most influential persons to them. Soon she will enter school and become more concerned with peer relationship, hobbies and other interests.
This is my time. So while I am the Superstar and the Megastar in this season of my child’s life, I will make the most out of it! I will shine my star and grab every opportunity to hold her, hug her, play with her and laugh with her! i love you abbie! mwuah!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
jumpstart to a healthier lifestyle
I am making a decision to start living healthily, not solely for my own sake but for the sake of my darling daughter abbie! Life is what we make out of it. We are products of our daily habits. And so I am committing myself to establishing better habits than overeating, slouching, sleeping late, and getting up late (a real daunting task for me), and even procrastinating! Below are the things I’ve started doing and continuously commit to do:
1. thinking healthy, lovely, wonderful, happy thoughts (as peter pan told wendy that happy thoughts will lift you into the air and make you fly!) ‘-) well this is not an easy task but with hope in my heart, I am able to take things lightly and see the brighter side of things. There are stressors, sometimes they’re massive, sometimes provoking, but I know I am bigger than them. After all, happy people are generally healthier than unhappy people.
2. Praying about my concerns and leaving them all to SFJTD box (Something For Jesus To Do)! After all my body is not meant for severe stress! (as my friend posted on her FB wall today: “LESSON 21: DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. Bills? Health? Family? Relationships? Work? DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. Finances? Weight? Appearance? Past? Present? Future? DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. Deadlines? Goals? Things to do? Unfinished business? Indecision? Depression? DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. You think too much. God is in charge.").
3. Convincing myself that consistency or discipline to workout on a regular basis is the key to achieving healthy body! According to studies, it takes 30 days to establish a habit, I am trying to develop a habit so I that going to the gym will be automatic! As of now, I still need to condition myself and patiently encourage myself in the morning to workout! I get to work out 2 to 3 times a week!
4. Keeping a to-do list all the time! Small errands, major goals, weekly plans, office matters, medical check-up, visit to pedia, car maintenance, things to buy, payables, etc. I put them all to writing and free myself from troubles of forgetting!
5. Taking supplements and choosing healthy drinks (alkaline water, soya milk, apple cider vin. cocktail, grape juice, apple carrot juice, fresh milk, cereal drink, white tea, milk tea, green tea!)
6. Sleeping like a baby! Whether it’s a 7 hour or 4 hour sleep, I am able to get a good sleep through the night.
7. And the best of all, playing with our 2 yr old abbie! Bil and I believe we are losing a lot of calories during play time. And we love it so much! Night time is play time. And, weekends are best! It doesn’t matter if I don’t get to rest a lot during these days as long as I get to bring the whole family together for bonding time (hapi day in cavite - as we term it)! Driving is therapeutic! (I like to think so) but it’s better when bill has no work during weekends because it means getting a good break from driving and enjoying the passenger class!
1. thinking healthy, lovely, wonderful, happy thoughts (as peter pan told wendy that happy thoughts will lift you into the air and make you fly!) ‘-) well this is not an easy task but with hope in my heart, I am able to take things lightly and see the brighter side of things. There are stressors, sometimes they’re massive, sometimes provoking, but I know I am bigger than them. After all, happy people are generally healthier than unhappy people.
2. Praying about my concerns and leaving them all to SFJTD box (Something For Jesus To Do)! After all my body is not meant for severe stress! (as my friend posted on her FB wall today: “LESSON 21: DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. Bills? Health? Family? Relationships? Work? DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. Finances? Weight? Appearance? Past? Present? Future? DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. Deadlines? Goals? Things to do? Unfinished business? Indecision? Depression? DISMISS ALL ANXIETY. You think too much. God is in charge.").
3. Convincing myself that consistency or discipline to workout on a regular basis is the key to achieving healthy body! According to studies, it takes 30 days to establish a habit, I am trying to develop a habit so I that going to the gym will be automatic! As of now, I still need to condition myself and patiently encourage myself in the morning to workout! I get to work out 2 to 3 times a week!
4. Keeping a to-do list all the time! Small errands, major goals, weekly plans, office matters, medical check-up, visit to pedia, car maintenance, things to buy, payables, etc. I put them all to writing and free myself from troubles of forgetting!
5. Taking supplements and choosing healthy drinks (alkaline water, soya milk, apple cider vin. cocktail, grape juice, apple carrot juice, fresh milk, cereal drink, white tea, milk tea, green tea!)
6. Sleeping like a baby! Whether it’s a 7 hour or 4 hour sleep, I am able to get a good sleep through the night.
7. And the best of all, playing with our 2 yr old abbie! Bil and I believe we are losing a lot of calories during play time. And we love it so much! Night time is play time. And, weekends are best! It doesn’t matter if I don’t get to rest a lot during these days as long as I get to bring the whole family together for bonding time (hapi day in cavite - as we term it)! Driving is therapeutic! (I like to think so) but it’s better when bill has no work during weekends because it means getting a good break from driving and enjoying the passenger class!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
the right investment!
For my little abbietot, I am trying to find ways to make her feel so loved and adored. I am investing a lot in her emotional development. This means playing with her daily, telling bedtime stories (even inventing some), listening to her and literally being with her. What else? Adjusting my schedule, prioritizing our play time, devoting my weekends to her, setting up a “hapi day” (a bonding time for the whole family), and a lot more! As a toddler, she is already capable of surprisingly deep and intense emotions which include feelings of fear, anger as well as heights of joy and excitement! She knows how to communicate how she feels but seems to be “melting down” every time we refuse to give what she demands (something perfectly normal for her stage)
A strong emotional foundation is what I am aiming at. We have a long way to go since this developmental task is normally achieved by the end of preschool years. When she enters school, she must be prepared for more complex emotions like feelings of pride, embarrassment, guilt and others. So as parents, we are faced with a great challenge. We have to know how significant our role is. We can’t just watch our child grow and be silent observers or viewers. We have to be in charge!
I know that abbie’s relationship with me as her mother and her relationship with her father, grandparents, and the rest of the family will affect all aspects of her development - intellectual, social, emotional, physical, behavioral and moral. The quality of relationships will lay foundation for a wide range of later developmental outcomes that really matter like self-confidence, motivation to learn, achievement in school, and empathy for others.
With this knowledge, I am motivated to take more seriously the kind of relationship I have with my baby (oh she’s no longer a baby), my little girl! Undoubtedly, making time with the things that matter most in life should be a priority!
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