Time check: It’s 11 p.m., and I’ve just begun my long break at work. As the day winds down and I reflect on its events, I’m amazed at how I managed to accomplish everything: running errands, working, attending return visits and Bible study, practicing music, working again, and finally resting. Today, I focused on reviewing and rewriting articles concerning asset protection, wills, and trusts—topics that involve securing one’s future. It was actually enjoyable revisiting them and seeing how crappy I was back then. Can’t really tell I no longer am, though.
After swimming in a sea of phrases and words, I’m still excited about writing this piece. It was because I recently had a brief yet profound realization about life. Perhaps things become particularly introspective at midnight, or maybe I simply cherish the tranquility around this time. My recent personal study taught me that one effective way to reduce stress is by finding moments like this. Moments of silence.
It’s past four, and I’ve chosen to step away from my work for a while. I ventured outdoors and walked to my favorite local coffee shop. Opting for a Kani salad and a black coffee without sugar, I settled at a table near the entrance. Despite its seemingly spontaneous nature, this break was carefully planned and scheduled. In the midst of life’s hustle and bustle, I recognize the importance of avoiding overwhelm. I believe that this moment is like a musical composition where a pause serves as a crucial rest.
The number seven signifies completeness from Jehovah’s standpoint. Today is my seventh year of happily accepting that I will be his happy slave. And although I am still a work in progress, a masterpiece under completion, I can confidently say that I am already complete.
I’ve been staring at my screen for almost 20 minutes now and I just don’t want to miss this serene moment, my most available time, to write again. Coffee’s running out. The silence is freeing. What a good time to write about anything. Well, part of me was actually bargaining to just grab a guitar and make a song instead or shorten this entry into poetry, but tonight, I am feeling the need to talk without the limitations of a melodic measurement, or the number of syllables in a verse.
Inadjust na namin para sa amin. Atin-atin lang naman hahahaha
Magdadalawang taon na tayong limitado sa kilos at paglabas dahil sa pandemic. well para sakin, mag-iisang taon na kong nakakulong sa bahay (siyempre may panaka-nakang paglabas din para sa pag-acquire ng essentials) pero sa loob ng mga panahong iyon, hindi naman ako nabagot.
Isa sa mga bumubuhay ng bawat araw ko ay ang musika. Ito rin kasi yong panahon na talagang mananamnam mo pati mga salita sa bawat kanta. Naging malaking bagay rin sa makabuluhan kong pagkakakulong sa bahay ang pakikipag-usap sa mga kaibigan virtually at isa si ate Shiela sa mga nakakadaupang-palad ko chat na tiyempo naman, naaaliw rin sa musika sa ganitong kalagayan. Ang nakakaloka rito, dahil marami kaming naririnig na kanta, nabuhay na naman sa aming mga kalamnan ang pagiging nazzi sa lyrics o sabihin na nating mga taong nagmamarunong HAHAHAHAH tipong nakikirinig na nga lang kami sa kanta, kami pa ang may kapal ng mukha magrereklamo. Hahaha
I grabbed this photo from our PSS 2019 Viber group chat. I’m not sure who owns this photo. I just saw this one fit the theme and this photo rendered the silence that I like. The one I’m comfortable with.
“We will read the passage below and later on; you will answer the corresponding questions. You have 20 seconds to read the passage silently.”
Me. Reading the instruction for the lesson material.
Emphasizing the last words with the hope that my student on the other end of my screen understood the instructions. To make sure I put it more simply, I added, “No voice. READ SILENTLY FOR TWENTY SECONDS.” *with me gesturing to zip the mouth shut*
There is something flattering with the idea of being right. One way or another, we have met people who would go to greatest lengths just to be sure they are right, so great they eventually forget to be kind. Sometimes, though, I wonder why would most people rather be right than be kind as if kindness is a wrong thing. As if they have to be different? Why do they have to be different?
shot while searching for the meaning of Kindness in jw.org
I was wiping my cat’s fur on the collar of my long-sleeved plaid shirt while I was waiting for the interviewer to appear on my laptop’s screen. This interview would determine if I was fit for the job. A friend, who is working there, told me that it wasn’t any ordinary kind of job interview. She said, the question was mostly inspirational so I awaken the Miss Universe sleeping in me that the universe never had. Hahaha! The interviewer appeared and asked me to pick a number from one to ten. I picked the number three, my favorite number. She asked then, “If there was one thing you learned from your friend that changed your perspective, what is it?” I was given one minute to prepare and answer. If you know me so well, you would know that I am not really good at verbal conversations. If you know me so well, you would know that I am a self-proclaimed poet and that my mouth is for food but my hands are for words. Ergo, thousands of rejections were marked on my curriculum vitae. My failing point? Job interviews.
But this one was different. I got the job! After a deep breath, I answered right away, “The thing that I’ve learned from a friend that changed my perspective was: It is better to be kind than to be right.Being right can win the argument, but being kind can win the heart.” I told her…while trying so hard not to do the pageant wave but at least I flashed my pageant smile. But it was never me. There was no way it could ever be me. You know, my mind is a maze and my thoughts often bumped into blocks. I know it was Jehovah who reminded me of what to answer to that question which was somehow significant to me. After all, I’ve learned it from our congregation meeting. I’ve heard it from my fellow servants, and most of all, I’ve experienced it firsthand.
Being right can win the argument; being kind can win the heart.
Dezza Fernandez, Miss Universe on the parallel universe 😛
Those days, government workers are called public servants. I used to manage the official publication of the Provincial Government of Bulacan called The Capitol. In my years of service, however, I realized I want to be a public servant in the real public service and so I became one of the publishers of the organization that publishes The Watchtower.
I was very happy to be scheduled for a shepherding a couple of months ago. One brother asked how was I and I remember my reply was “I’m fine and happy. I just had a bit of a change in my life a few months ago. I don’t know if I could consider that a major change but I just resigned from work.” I could see the reactions of these two brothers in my monitor and one of them blurted, “Are you kidding?! It was a major decision! It’s a huge turning point in one’s life.” I smiled and thought, “Well, compared to what Jehovah has done to me, it was nothing.”
Yes. I made that daunting decision three months ago. I emptied my position in the office in which I had spent six years. No, I did that not because I have a new job. I did that for some reasons but mostly because I wanted to succeed in life. True, success is about attaining something, but it will always be a matter of WHAT and WHY to attain the true success. In those years of secular service, I had a chance to redefine success:It is doing your best and not outdoing someone else’s.
If we were to ask people how would they describe the year 2020, the descriptive word would always be synonymous to tough, struggles and chaos. It’s true that it almost got the best of us. Problems rose one after another. The year was dark, so they say. But I have come to realize that 2020 was the year of redefinition of aspects in our lives. If anything, it was a year of clearing our vision, therefore, 2020.
August has flown so fast and ended with me having back pain and dry cough—stuff that do not get me worried so much until this pandemic happened. My worries grew a little intense with a quite bothersome news about a colleague who tested positive for coronavirus. As I went back tracking for the moments of encounter with the person, I realized I got exposed. And by exposed, I mean we were in the same room regardless of whether we got physical contact or we got closed less than a meter. Virus can go invisibly right under your nose so I sincerely wanted to make sure if at some point, I had it. I just hope people would not ridicule such act because after all, we deserve to know if that’s the least thing we can do from what we could not see.
YIELD A MAZE 