Living with the Chickens

I want  to share this one brief scenario which must have been a dialogue between a budding couple but eventually became a monologue for some reason.

It is one of those usual days that the two of them are together when the guy said, “If I would ask you to leave everything here in the city and go with me in some quiet place to  live our lives together..”

I must say that there must be some believably-good promises that comes along with that to make it irresistible enough for the woman not to turn him down.

He continued, “We will live a happy life..”

Not a bad promise but a little scary because there’s no specifics. It‘s hard to depend on  general terms alone.

“It will be you and me..”, it’s him again.

The two of them together. Okay, that’s mostly where couples start. Fine.

“.. and the chickens.”

After those last three words, the guy himself laughed at what he said. The woman’s face was blank.

You and me and the chickens. Where did it came from? For two people, or let’s say for a couple who’s so used to living a life in the city, why would they want or prefer to live a life with the chickens?

The ‘chickens’ represents a simple life. Ideally, it is living in the countryside with peace and comfort without having to hustle through the bustle of the city. The city life is demanding in its own terms. Our schedules usually cannot fit within the twenty-four hours of the day. We need more time and more energy because there is so much things to be done. But not everyone can leave the city even if there is a promising life outside it’s vicinity. Because our world revolves here. It isn’t true for everyone that we can live the rest of our lives in a place where we can always hear the birds chirping and enjoy the sight of the waterfalls with the one we love, nor live in an isolated paradise with only the two of you. Sweet! Though we may actually enjoy such in a week time or maybe a month but boredom would surely get into us sooner. We will get tired of it and we will always run back to the world where we belong and where we used to live our lives.

Though we always complain how much we’re tired and how much we hate our bosses and how much we need vacations to rest & relax, we still love being in the city. But most of us doesn’t know that we can actually have as much peace and comfort without leaving the world that we always knew.

Here are some points that may help direct us to what we’re missing:

• Take a break from the net.  Spend less time on trying to catch up with friends we barely know and take it slow on following trends but establish strong bonds with our partners, take time to nurture and look after our relationships.
• Manage our time effectively to be able to squeeze in everything within the day and not be consumed up by chatting with netfriends at work, the endless non-business phone calls and personal emails.  
• Learn to prioritize things so as not to be engulfed  by the career that we hold, the gigs that we go to and the hours & hours of malling that tires us up insensibly.
• Connect with our inner selves constantly. Take  time to stop and smell the roses, greet the morning with a big smile and watch the stars in the evening sky.

We can try to sort out all the things in our lives and find out what’s really important to us.  Try to determine the things that we value the most.  The bottomline  is we all want a happy life so we need to look for ways on how to achieve it and work for it.

We can live with the ‘chickens’ despite being in the city.  We only need to learn how to manage our everyday lives well .

Wishing everyone a sweet life!

Adjusting Entries

Receivables is overstated because one account that should fall under ‘bad debts’ is accounted to it, therefore, before closing the monthly books, an adjusting entry must be made to correct the figures. So a Credit Note is issued to correct the final balance of receivables.

Okay, that is accounting.  Let’s shift into our real lives.

We all make mistakes – whether its at school, at work, inside our home, in our relationships, towards the community and in the eyes of God.  At any level, we all experience going through some “happy little accidents” at some point in our lives. But most of the time, the words  ‘happy’ and ‘little’ are left out and the ‘accidents’ remain that we come across with whether it’s our fault or the others.  And sadly, we cannot make any adjusting entry to correct the wrongs that was done.

The accidents that happen interrupts the flow of our lives, alters our plans and sometimes brings us to a crossroad that we never thought is coming in our journey.

I remember the very first job I had as a Payroll Clerk. I was processing the month-end payroll of over 500 employees and it was only when I am already preparing the payslips that I found out  I have not applied the withholding tax deductions for everyone. Sure, it isn’t manually done but I need to enter a code that it is the month-end payroll so tax deductions would be effected by the program. And by that time, the payroll letter and back-up had already been sent to the bank and will be credited to the employees account the next day.

It’s like a glass of cold water was poured down on my head. I just graduated from college a few weeks back then and all I could already imagine getting fired in an instant. Ahhh! I could not explain my fears. Knowing that I ain’t got any option, I told my manager what happened. I was in tears while I am explaining and I was so surprised when he laughed so hard at me. What could be so funny?

To cut the story short, adjustments may be done at the end of the year but I owe everyone an explanation. Right there and then, I wrote my very first internal memo routed to all departments.

Relief!

But how about the mistakes or the accidents that happen in our lives?  That when it’s done, we cannot change anything anymore about it and it becomes a part of the past that will stay behind us for the rest of our lives.  And depending on its enormity - it may haunt us in every waking moment of our lives, or it may be the ghosts that will keep us from proceeding rightly, or it may just be forgotten after some time,  or it may serve as a ground to which we can unleash the strength and courage we never knew we had.  

The most important thing is that we learn a valuable lesson from our mistakes and gain the wisdom from the experience  and try not to do it again. We can share it to others, too, just so they can use some precautions when they would be in a similar situation.

We have to remember that adjusting entries cannot be done in most cases in our lives.  I guess, there’s no need for me to say more.

Image Credit: motifake.com

La Dolce Vita - Part I

 

“I see trees of green

Red roses, too

I see them bloom

For me and you

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world.”

The song lyrics above may not give the exact meaning of a sweet life to many but in a way, that’s a part of it. When we are able to see the beauty of the world where we are and when we can fully appreciate the love that we share with that special person in our lives, then we could be living a sweet life. Not everyone is having such a life especially those who are in trouble, those who are sick, those who have broken relationships, those who have failed careers and so much more. The list could be endless and there are so many things in this world that hinder our way to living a sweet life. But we can always find an avenue in which we can create the life that can make us happy and contended despite the many hurdles on the road that we’re passing through.

We are living in a time of our lives where ‘busy-ness’ is what becomes everybody’s business. Day and night. We never stop. We open our eyes in the morning, still half asleep, jump out of the bed, run to the shower, dress up and hit the road. In the office, we will be fully occupied with phone calls (both business and personal), meetings, receiving and replying to emails (both business and personal, again!), chatting over the messenger and updating all the social networking sites we are engaged in. After the office hours are over, we will get online with our Blackberry’s so we wouldn’t miss out anything while we’re physically detached from our laptops and meet friends in a café, spend time with them over dinner in some fancy restaurant in town, then go home late. Again, we will check on our friend’s statuses on their FBs, see new photos uploaded, chat with netfriends who are still online while watching some movies on MBC and will go to bed an hour past midnight or maybe two. On weekend nights, we will be out on discos and bars, see the movies, and do mall-hopping with friends to catch the latest trends.

We are practically consumed 24/7 by the city where we live in, by the virtual world we are engaged in, by the careers we are trying to pursue and by the money we are trying to make. We become restless. We become prisoners of what we assume as freedom from the world that we created ourselves. We know that we are satisfied with our everyday life. We will close our eyes at night knowing that we lived our day just right. But are we happy?

We are driving a good car, we are wearing designer clothes and we stay in a good place in the city but we have shallow relationships. We grace social events and we meet classy people but do we ever have real friends?

When did we last stop to smell the roses? When was the last time we sincerely hugged the person who cared so much about us? When was the last time we said ‘I love you’ and really mean it? When was the last time that we watched the sun set with a friend? When was the last time have we really been connected to our innerselves? When was the last time we thanked God for our life?

Photo Credit: pbase.com

In a Dark Corner..

And then I knew

How the heart could be so numb

Plainly beating

Unwelcoming.

Staring blankly

Without a blink

Not wanting to hear a sound

Slow passing hours.

There are still shadows

Ghosts of the past

Restless. Hopeless.

Cluelesss..

Video: Wireless Connection

What you're about to see is a simple illustration of a love story. This may appear cheesy and mushy and.. yes, you can say it here --- Corny! But, what the heck? We all know that being in-love is like that and I am sure that those of you who are in-love will nod your head for me. For those who aren't.. well, you're missing the fun!

Enjoy the video.

For best viewing, please go to:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8O8PkWt3Ds

A Graphical Illustration:
From two (2) source figures (the boy & the girl), each was made to make little movements in the hands and in the mouth to convey actions. Definitely not a comic strip.

For the slides of this video, you may visit: 
Coroflot: Illustration1 - Wireless Connection

Non-Smoking Zone

This is a non-smoking zone. Please don't lit your cigarette. No one should smell any smoke coming from here. This is a secret place..


"What are you doing here? How did you know I'm here?
Sssh! Don't tell anyone.
Please go now.
No! You can't stay! You should not stay!
I won't talk to you. I won't tell you anything.
Sssh! Don't say a word.
Hey! Stop making noises!
Stop asking me because I won't spill a thing.
Go. Please go. Just go.
And don't look back. Please?
No. Don't stare at me like that.
Don't try to read my eyes.
I'll be fine.
After you would disappear from my sight, I'll be fine.
Don't come near me.
Why are you doing this? Why don't you just go?
Just leave me.
Questions again. I have no answers.
No! Please! Don't hold me! Don't do that!
I am weak now. I am helpless.
But I can forget this. In time, I can.
What do you want?!?
Just turn your back now and leave.
Don't make it harder for me.
It's okay. My tears would dry soon.
No, it's not your fault. It's mine.
I am stubborn. I let this happen.
Now, I have to fix things up.
But everything will be okay soon.
What?!? You won't leave? You cannot stay!
Please I want you to leave me now.
Why?!? Why do you have to ask 'why'?
When you would start to walk away from here, you would know why.
Go now. Leave me. Don't look back. Never come back.
I may be in tears now but I would be over you soon.
Don't stay here. Because the longer you stay, the more I'll get hurt.
So, go! Just go. Never come back.
Why can't you leave?
Why would you stay?
Please go.."


I don't want to be just a friend..


Sssh! Don't tell anyone. Don't lit your cigarette. I don't want anyone to see me here..

Random Thoughts

I am threading the road from St. Mary's Church, still wondering what could be ahead. To my left is the Metro construction.. to my right lines a few thirsty palm trees standing in the desert sand. People had gone ahead. I am walking down the Church Street heading to the nearest bus stop. Warm humid night of August. It was peaceful here. A lot more peaceful than my mind.

***Star* Strucked***

"G*Nice just got back to me! He just replied my email!"

Yes, I need to shout that to the world! It feels like I just got an autograph from my favorite Hollywood celebrity!

Okay. I know that some of my friends are totally clueless of what I'm talking about. Well, especially those friends I got outside the UAE. I must give a little orientation here before they would ask me "What is G*Nice? Is that a new gadget or something?" Hahaha!

I wrote G*Nice (Yes, G*Nice is a human being! Not a gadget!) an email 2 days back asking him for some professional advice about my aspiration to share my thoughts to the reading community. And in his reply, he told me that he'd find time to read my materials and would give me his feedback soon. I am keenly awaiting for whatever is it that he would tell me and of course I am really hoping to hear from him that I have a chance to pursue a writing career, which (I have to let the world know now) had been a long time passion and my ultimate dream. So, I am 'Keeping-my-fingers-crossed-ingly-yours...' (am not trying to copy him but I just want to sound 'inspired' by him as he gave me the permission to do so).

G*Nice is my favorite columnist in the 'Friday' magazine. That's a supplemental mag for the biggest newspaper in the UAE, the Gulf News. Ahhh! What should I say? I just love his 'Getting Back' column. So if you, my dearest of friends, is in the UAE - better grab your Gulf News copy on Friday morning and Friday magazine will be there, supplementary.

Just a little warning here: It's Really Addictive. So expect that you'll be getting your copy every Friday.

It was always said that 'Life is like a box of chocolates.. (hmmmn.. i love life, then..) you'll never know what you're gonna get." Well, that's exactly how I find this British-Guy-Living-In-Dubai's column. It's emotional, sentimental, personal and yet trendy, informative & upbeat. He's sure to touch your heart, light up your day and sometimes, you'll end up sympatizing for the guy. And he can always bring you to self-realizations by letting you take a closer reflection in your life according to what he writes without him asking you to do so. That's pure talent, I must say!

Whatever he writes, he will always bring in some surprise, like the box of chocolates, on your Friday morning. That's one reason I cannot afford to miss it.

What I find best with G*Nice is that he establishes that connection with his readers. He just don't plainly write. He communicates. And he communicates to me through his column like we're just chit-chatting over coffee and since it's his column, I let him talk about whatever is it that he wanted to talk about.

***

Please note that this is not a paid write-up and not a promotion of any kind. I am merely sharing the wonderful feeling that I am getting from the mag, particularly with G*Nice column because you might not know about it yet, but I'm sure you're gonna love it, too.

P.S.  Thanks, G*Nice.. for giving my Fridays a different kind of perk other than what a good cup of coffee can give.

When The Going Gets Tough..

".. the tough gets going."

But how tough can you get when life is pressing you crushingly into the ground?

Today is one of those not-really-good days (I'm trying not to use the word 'bad' here as everything seems to be in that situation already) and not at all different with the other days in the past weeks - only that the more I am trying to tighten my grip, the more hope is trying to slip from my hands.

I am going through a rough road and its end doesn't seem near. It's like being in the middle of the desert and nothing within my sight is not sand, or yet - being inside a long, dark tunnel when no light is defining its end.

It felt like I am in the middle of an ocean in a small, old yatch with the storm hitting hard and the gigantic waves could swallow me whole in just a blink of an eye.

If that would happen, this is gonna be my end.

I went to church because I felt so weak, so helpless and so hopeless. Like my knees could not bring my feet to take a step. I stayed kneeling long after the mass has ended. And there I surrendered myself to God. My mind's too tired now to think. I just kept silent. There are no words coming from me to God. But deep inside I am praying. He knows what's in my heart. He knows what I need. I closed my eyes, with my head down in my clasped hands.

After a while, I remember the Trinity Prayer that one priest taught in a sermon in one of those Novena masses. He said that when you're confused and out of words in prayer, just pray:

"Abba, Father, have mercy on me.

Jesus, wash me with Your precious blood.

Holy Spirit, sanctify me."

And there I was kneeling with my eyes closed, heads down, hands clasped.. I prayed:

"Abba, Father, have mercy on me. 

Jesus, wash me with Your precious blood.

Holy Spirit, sanctify me."

I kept on saying the prayer, over and over again. I did not stopped until I felt the warm tears in my eyes flowing generously on my cheeks. Continuously, I prayed:

"Abba, Father, have mercy on me.  

Jesus, wash me with Your precious blood.

Holy Spirit, sanctify me."

When the gigantic waves are about to sink me deep in the ocean floor, I must pray:

"Abba, Father, have mercy on me. 

Jesus, wash me with Your precious blood.

Holy Spirit, sanctify me."

Silence.

I only asked God one thing. That right this time that the going is really tough, may He give me the strength to keep on going.

"Amen."

Photo Credit: johnlund.com