MEMORIES TO REMEMBER

As we aged, some unforgettable memories hiding inside our mind are ready to be recalled when given a chance to remember. The memories can never be forgotten as time passes by. Our mind was a storehouse keeping all past events that happened. It was there whether it has a happy ending or a very painful one.

Memories are recollection of past stories that we don't want to forget. It keeps coming back every minute of it. It just flashed in our mind during the period of our solitude even before we sleep. It has wonderful feeling worth remembering but sometimes it also bring sadness. Sometimes it hurts our pride. There are instances that our lives are put to the test and then survived.

There are memories we wanted to forget and remember. Remembering thus happy moment caused us to have that big smile especially if it is very important to be remembered. There is a feeling of happiness, contentment and peace. 

I had a painful experience when I was still a teenager. I accompanied my father seeing our land that we cleared for planting sorghum. With me was my little sister age 7. When we decided to cut a single tree that shadowed the clearing, I myself was the one cutting it without realizing that my little sister was near the area. I told her to stay away from  portion of the clearing but she disobeyed and go near it without my knowledge. When the tree is about to fall, the direction changes due to wind movement altering its supposed  path of falling instead it went directly to the site where my little sister was standing. The tree missed her 3 feet but she was caught by the branches dropping her to the ground. My first reaction was panic especially when my little sister moaned instead of crying. We found out that her left leg was hit by the branches. She can't stand alone and in great pain. We immediately brought her to the health center in our place for treatment of cuts and bruises in some parts of her body. But the redness in her legs decided us to bring my sister to the hospital for thorough medical check-up.

We did not delay in bringing her to the hospital. Physical examination with the aid of x-ray result showed that her left leg has 2 small fractures. I cried seeing the condition of my sister who started having a fever. I felt the guilt feeling inside me by not making it sure before felling that tree. It was a negligence that bothered me most of the time even during my waking hours.

The doctor did the plaster casting after stretching to put the cracked bones to its place and into stable condition. It took a month for my sister to stay in the hospital. Another month for recuperation in our home before the plaster cast was removed. Another x-ray exposure been taken that showed the cracked bones healed slowly but my little sister has to use braces and crutches to protect the bones to give way. 

This experience continued bothering me every hour of my life blaming myself to the accident. Even after several years, it is still fresh in my mind the scene that I cannot completely forget.

Memories can never be forgotten if it pained us to remember.

A WAY OUT TO DEBT

The call of modern lifestyle is the reason why paying the monthly bills becomes a burden to our limited resources and the incapacity to pay. We will be caught in a trap of overspending if we allow it to enslave us. We are very fond of having material things and spending unnecessary expenses because it was our habit to show to the world that we can manage even if it is not. This is the result of irrational spending that put us in misery. The difficulty that we have now is of our own making. We are shortsighted to govern our decision without thinking repeatedly how to tackle the burden of debt.

We are in the hardship of looking for money to pay the stacks of liabilities from the bank, pawn shops, lending institution and from friends. This is the time we asked ourselves, "What had I done?" and how to escape from the bondage of debt that started crippling the core of our very lives.

Debt becomes the source of trouble in the family. Parents were in conflict how to handle the management of overspending and how to control it. It destroys the happiness and comfort instead of not having to worry something too much. The kind of character we have put pressure to our destructive habit that leads us to the hardship our family is now facing.

Overspending can crippled our lives for being careless in making a sound financial decision and become the root cause of emotional problem destroying the fabric of a happy family.

There is still chances to escape from being a slave to debt:

Start facing the realities that spending should be done less than what you have earn.

Avoid your many wonderful fantasies when you knew you don't have the capacity to pay.

Make a habit to be reasonable. Don't start making a problem by putting in debt. By doing it, it will be a hard time to be out it.

Make a complete mental make-over and strive to have a good financial stability for your peace of mind.

Challenge your destructive habit. Equip your mind with enough knowledge of wise-spending.

Be strong and avoid any temptation to go to the other side.

Have a good insight and put the welfare of your family first in your heart and material things later.

Do proper budgeting. Prioritize the most basic needs for your family. Find ways how you can save. Make a goal on how you can eliminate debt. Be firm to your decision. Do a little sacrifice, it is of your advantage.

Change your own kind of extravagant lifestyle. It will only bring you difficulties to pay your debt.

Overcoming debt is your best choice. Resist the temptation. Widen your sense of understanding for your comfort. Learn this secret and you will be assured it will not fail you.

OUR GREATEST CHALLENGE

We lived because of the choices we make, when we experience our own failure, when we embrace our own right values, choosing what is right and wrong. We have given the gift of choosing what kind of path we want to lead, what kind of life we have to follow. And along the way, there's so many challenge we have to take, to face the crisis and hurdle the hardship. It is great challenge to be strong, to stand alone and live.

We have the ability to weigh the option by rejecting or accepting an opportunity offered into our hands. We felt satisfied if we make the right choice. This will be our greatest accomplishment, a healthy and wholesome decision.

Any failure of our choice is costly. It may be deadly to our very lives. Many of us decided without knowing the outcome, without realizing the consequences of such action. We choose blindly until the disaster hit us hard then we realized that we choose the wrong one. Learning to choose wisely prepares us to a very rewarding future, improving our lives, avoiding the same mistakes twice.

We choose because we believed it is important to us. If we have to value time, then we have to accomplish something lasting. Know first where we are going to avoid ending somewhere. By spending the right values is one of the most useful moments in using time. This precious moment will be our inspiration to lead us to a life in the direction of our conscience.

No matter what strong is our choice, any failure will test our own kind of character and become our greatest challenge that we have to take. We have to cope to any tragic moment that come into us, head high, with greatest confidence that this crisis will last forever in its own time.

Sometimes, we can't make a choice if we already suffered in our own failure in the past. This experience will motivate us to make a better one.

The fulfillment of a good and exciting life will depend on how we develop our mind to a greatest advantage and dispensing fully our own potential to reach our dream of achieving something we are proud to do. Accomplishment can only be realize if we have the strength, dedication, intention and determination to do more, show more, achieve more pushing to the limit with good result. The way the mind acted is instrumental to the fulfillment of our own success. We live in a time of so many opportunities with the desire to grow.

Accepting challenge is a test of faith, courage and responsibility. Whatever the result at the end of it, it is our choice and no one is to blame. It is our own action then it is our own success or failure. The challenge is up to us. Take it or leave it. It depend us.

WHY ARE YOU SO DIFFICULT?

A child is very difficult to handle during her growing years. She often throw tantrum if she don't like something you give to her. If you tell her to clean-up, she immediately go into her room and disobey your instruction. Parents were holding their child delicately. Children's attitude was very hard to understand as well as not easy to supervise. If you explain to her about her manner, she will fight you. You cannot tell her what to do because she will not listen and heed what you said. Sometimes she will throw something she hold in her hand either glass or figurine. Her mood was changing every now and then and difficult to handle. If there is another child near her that she doesn’t like, she fought and hurt the other child.

There were two families at odds because they were defending their children even if both committed mistakes that should be corrected. Both parents were hesitant to discipline their children. They allowed their children to do things in a wrong way. This unpredictable attitude became the problem of the parents. They used all avenues of changing child's ways but prove fruitless. They were defenseless from the little angel of their home. Sometimes, she was in good mood but it will not last long.

There was a man whose attitude was terrible. His treatment to the people around him was different. He was difficult to handle when he has personal problem. He threw his rage to others even if it has no relation to his problem. He became overbearing and abusive. He became strict and don't listen to reason. He will not accept mistakes in the eyes of everyone. He was insistent and defensive whatever he had said. He doesn’t want to be corrected because he believed he is always right even if he was wrong. He can easily inflict pain to those caught during his changing mood. His children were afraid of him and had that fear in their eyes and keep away from his path of destruction. Even his wife was included in his abuse. Several times he was apprehended and put behind bars temporarily when he started hurting others. He never learned his lesson. His bad attitude was now his personality. The more he became terrible and disastrous if under the influence of alcohol. He became the problem of his family and relatives.

They believed that there was something missing in his brain. He cannot control his misbehavior. You can't tell him that may hurt his feeling. You can't talk to him properly. He can easily insult you if he doesn’t like you. That's the reason why he doesn't have friends around his place. They were afraid to be caught in his line of fire. They were cautious whatever they said because they knew that there was always a rebuttal if not handle properly. Due to his terrible behavior in the eyes of his family, his wife decided to leave him. His neighbors asked assistance from the priest and barangay chairman to pacify his feeling when he became wild but he did not respect them. He was furious upon knowing that his wife left him. Then something happened. He was in altercation with another man outside his house. He reacted immediately that causes the death of an innocent man. He was charged in court and was imprisoned several years to serve his sentence. His foolishness punished him. His terrible behavior stopped him when he was now behind bars.

No one knows if he is repenting what he had done to the man. Natural behavior cannot be change easily if he has no will for such a change.

If it happens to you, how will you handle the situation? One way to handle is to seek his weak points. If you can hit his vulnerabilities, then rejection can be reduced. There is a need to be flexible. Just in case it is not possible to talk to him now, try your luck another day but with tack.

Responding to difficult people need a lot of patience and sacrifice. It is a tough job especially if you feel hopeless and don't know how to respond. Just continue dealing with him properly. Maybe someday he is open to talk to you. Wait for the time when there is a change in his attitude in dealing with you, then show your points and hit him hard. If he insisted, don't force, leave him but don't give up.

A LASTING RELATIONSHIP

A happy relationship needs an investment of time and energy. They approached their relationship in harmony with their desire to have a lasting peace. The quality of a relationship depends on the way two people treat each other in good and bad times. They knew that the vitality of their love were their responsibility. Romance is the beginning of a lasting relationship. If they desire to develop a long-term commitment and contentment, then they have to protect it.

To care and show thoughtfulness can nurture the relationship at its best. It encompasses all the attitudes and deal with whatever challenges surfaced along the way. To be honest is a character that has an important role for a relationship to last. The couple entrusted their emotion, love and trust where love and respect valued as they are selfless and their commitment are strong.

Sometimes the elements that go into a happy marriage may seem elusive. There are challenges and difficulties. Flexibility, communication, determination to work through difficult times is enough to have a relationship in a solid ground. Unity of purpose, calm discussion of issues and coping with the challenge together can make a foundation of trust and companionship. It brings opportunities for them to grow beyond their natural abilities. Their combined efforts can create harmony and it will last for all times.

A genuine person adheres to moral principle and character. This is the core values of his life. Sincerity will allow them to break down the barriers of selfish motives. The deepest level of communication is only possible if they both open to each other completely and without any reservation.

Togetherness is needed for a lasting relationship. It measures their present and future happiness. They should continually find ways to enjoy each others company. If their faith is solid as a rock, there is no chance that it can be destroyed easily, it is always there standing in the test of time.

A truly happy couple understands that love means accepting mate's flaws. The person's desire to change will grow if he was accepted of what he is. Maintaining positive focus are qualities of character that poster lasting love.