Life’s Little Reminders — ASPIRE. MOTIVATE. SUCCEED!

Are you smarter than a preschooler?

November 2, 2011 By AMSDaily 3 Comments

Photo of Randy Legaspi

By Alpha (Day 108)

Tala: Mommy, did you know that Google means a lot of zeros?

Me: *smiles* Yes, (thank God I read about that) where did you get that?

Tala: From my classmate.

Tala: Mommy, did you know that my violin bow is made from horse hair?

Me: Yup! (Good thing that is one of the few things I heard when I am not catnapping during her lessons.)

Tala: Mommy, do you know why some pirates are peg leg?

Me: Actually, I don’t even know what is a “peg leg”.

Tala: Mommy, did you know that blueberries are white when they are not yet ripe?

Me: hmmm…No.

Tala: Mommy, did you know that when it gets cold, birds fly to warmer places? They also do not fly alone. They always fly in pairs or in a flock so when one of them is hurt or can’t fly they help each other, did you know that?

Me: I know a little bit of what you just said.

Tala: Mommy, did you know that bears also migrate and eat on dried leaves in the winter?

Me: You mean hibernate.

Tala: It’s the same thing, Mommy. Migrate, hibernate, whatever – animals leave and find warmer places to stay like South America or the Philippines – then come back here in Massachusetts.

Me: I see…

Tala: Mommy, did you know that horses eat carrots?

Me: Really? I thought they only eat grass. (sheer dumbness, duh!)

Tala: No, Mommy they eat carrots – and ponies are not just small horses.

Me: Hmm…I didn’t know that! I thought ponies are smaller horses.

Me: What else do you know that I don’t know?

Tala: Well, I know everything because I’m already four and a half! (She turns away from me then sings in a tune that sounds Frenchy …”muh-see-de-la-croix”)

And who knows what else can a preschooler do?

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Filed Under: Life's Little Reminders, Photography by Randy Legaspi Tagged With: are you smarter than a preschooler, children, family, humor, inspiration, life, parenting, photography, preschooler

Day 97: WT…? Lessons from the Road

October 7, 2011 By AMSDaily Leave a Comment

Photo by: Randy Legaspi

It happened pretty quickly. I was driving along I-128 (a Massachusetts state highway) on my way to work when suddenly the traffic came to a full stop right before Exit 5. I had to immediately hit my brakes and boom! I heard my brakes hit the ground, as if my AWD system was gripping an ice-covered road. Then I swerved slightly to the breakdown lane. I had to! There was no other way to avoid a possible wreck to my hood other than to swerve.

But just as I swerve, a car was merging through the highway at a high speed of about 75 mph! The driver knew I was taking a right before I swerved. She saw my right blinkers on – but she decided to still continue with her speed. Instead of slowing down after seeing the pile of cars in front of her, she contined to pass me along with the other cars - missing only an inch away from hood!

I could have been hit at that moment, had I not hit my brakes.

What happened next was unbelievably crazy.

The driver, a woman (about my age) flicked her finger and uttered through her window, “WTF are you doing?” She was probably waiting for me to say something wise in return – but all I said was, “Go! Thank you!” She was obviously irritated if not angry at me for thanking her. She probably could not figure out why I was saying thank you. She also probably saw how calm I was – and she looked so revved up! Then, she continued carelessly at a full speed on the breakdown lane at 6:45 in the morning, instead of slowing down!

My encounter with the woman driver left me thinking about a few things:

1. Was it my fault?

2. The next time a stranger gives me the finger, I’ll give them my full five fingers to bless them!

3. The next time I will heard someone utter the “WTF” phrase, I will say to myself, “what the fudge?” and just think about how hungry that person is for some chocolate and fudge (maybe even some lovin’ and fun).

4. The next time somebody will cut me off, I will do what one of my friends does, she says “Thank you!” to them.

5. The next time a driver decides to pass me, I will say “Bless you!”

Daily with you,

- Alpha

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Filed Under: INSPIRATION, Lessons in Life, Life's Little Reminders, Photography by Randy Legaspi Tagged With: driving, how to be nice on the road, inspiration, lessons from the road, life, massachusetts drivers, motivation, photography, road rage lessons, WT?

Day 88: Don’t Sigh…

September 23, 2011 By AMSDaily 4 Comments

Photo: Shem Pablo

In twenty-hours, how often do you sigh?

When you sigh, does that usually come before you start muttering under your breath about work?

Does that deep breath, a real deep-breathing or is a sigh?

Is your sigh accompanied with a pout?

Did you just sigh?

Why do you have to sigh? and then sigh again?

Does it really help?

>>>

Often I see people sighing as an end to a problem. People sigh when they do not know what to say or if they are caught up for words. They sigh, because they do not know what else to do or how to respond properly, thus a sigh is a quick answer to make. Sighing is easy – one empty, purposeless exhalation.

But.

Sighing does not solve anything.

Sighing does not help.

It just avoids the problem.

It does not fix it.

So…

Here is what I say:

Don’t sigh…instead, SMILE!

>>>

In twenty-four hours, how often do you smile?

Which one weighs more…the smile or the sigh?

Daily with you,

- Alpha

Filed Under: INSPIRATION, Life's Little Reminders, Photography by Shem-shem Pablo Tagged With: don't sigh, dreams, inspiration, life, motivation, photography, smile, success

Day 83: Being a Warrior

September 15, 2011 By AMSDaily 13 Comments

Photo: Shem Pablo

Editor’s Note: What you are about to read came through as a comment from yesterday’s Wednesdays with Buena: Warrior – but because it is such a powerful message, I wanted to share it to everybody as a regular post. Thank you Manang Ria!

Dear Buena and Alpha,

Allow me to also share something that I have read today. It’s from the book Warrior of the Light written by Paulo Coelho…

When the master sees that the Warrior is depressed, he says:

“You are not what you seem to be in these moments of sadness. You are better than that.

Many have left – for reasons we will never understand – but you are still here. Why did God carry off all those amazing people and leave you?

By now, millions of people will have given up. They don’t do anything; they merely wait for time to pass. They have lost the ability to react.

YOU, however, are sad. That proves that your soul is still alive.” (page 122)

We are all warriors but we differ on how we fight certain battles in our lives. We often see ourselves giving up not because we want to but because we have to. We are not losers. Pain and sadness are inevitable but one must not dismiss nor ignore these two. What I have learnt in life is that we should acknowledge yet not allowing these two to eat our souls up. He will not give up something that we can not surpass and endure. One must simply have the heart to completely surrender everything to Him and believe that things will fall on its right places at the right time….

Light and love,

Manang Ria

About the Writer: Ria Geraban-Rombaoa is a very talented artist and is currently based in Singapore. Her interests include painting, photography and music. She maintains an art website called DeviantART. Be sure to visit her amazing site!

Filed Under: Life's Little Reminders, MOTIVATIONS, Photography by Shem-shem Pablo, RECOMMENDED BOOKS Tagged With: being a warrior, inspiration, life, motivation, photography, ria rombaoa, rosary picture, success, warrior of the light

Day 76: Talk to the person

September 5, 2011 By AMSDaily 1 Comment

Photo by: Joana Martin

One of the things I was taught by my mentor that was not easily and readily applied is the first step in conflict resolution.

Conflicts happen everywhere, especially in an organization. As a leader, you must be prepared to handle different types of conflicts and arguments, and you have to do it calmly. One of the most common conflicts occur between your staff member and another, who just do not know how to handle the issue as adults.

Conflicts start when two adults – or one of them, forgets the fact that he is a capable and a logical being who can solve problems the moment they arise. Adults forget the fact that they can talk to the individual who has hurt them first without involving another party. They forget that they have that power to exercise.

That first step in conflict resolution is empowering!

Once you recognize that there is a conflict brewing ask yourself first why this is happening to you. Then, attack the problem with the first action, which is: TALK TO THE PERSON who has been causing you some distress. Talk to him/her. If it needs to be private and it needs to be addressed right away, do so. Delaying it will only cause more aggravation and irration on your part.

So.

Why do you have to talk to that person, first? There are two reasons:

Number one: maybe the person does not know that you are being bothered by her, or her action or behavior.

Number two: you’ll get clarifications from the person directly.

In an ideal world, there probably won’t be any conflicts or further ego-damaging events if everybody will just tell to themselves that they need to talk to the person first, before complaining to another person about that individual who has caused them some sorrow or disappoinment.

By talking to the person up front, you are doing yourself a lot of favor including being truthful to yourself and to the person; being honest without sugar coating the incident and also you become more confident!

It may seem too intimidating to confront that individual, but do it – you know you will be empowered!

You’ll even put smiles on both parties once you’ve heard the clarifications.

Daily with you,

- Alpha

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