oLd leTTeRs

I was going through my stuff earlier and found a box full of old letters from friends, past boyfriends, and family. I read some of them and reminisced the good old times, the emotions, and the stories or histories of friendships and past relationships. There were old pictures with people I would love to be with, and people I would rather forget.

Do I keep them because I like holding on to the past or because I cherish the past? Is it time to let go? Maybe it's time to let go.

AnDy RooNeY's ThOuGhT oN LiFe

I’ve learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper.

The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
I’ve learned that the best classroom in

the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
I’ve learned that when you’re in love, it shows.
I’ve learned that just one person saying to me,

“You’ve made my day!” makes my day.
I’ve learned that having a child

fall asleep in your arms is one

of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
I’ve learned that being kind

is more important than being right.
I’ve learned that you should never

say no to a gift from a child.
I’ve learned that I can always pray for someone

when I don’t have the strength

to help him in some other way.
I’ve learned that no matter

how serious your life requires you to be,

everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
I’ve learned that sometimes all a person needs

is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
I’ve learned that simple walks with my father

around the block on summer nights

when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I’ve learned that we should be glad

God doesn’t give us everything we ask for.
I’ve learned that money doesn’t buy class.
I’ve learned that it’s those small daily happenings

that make life so spectacular.
I’ve learned that under everyone’s hard shell

is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
I’ve learned that even the Lord

didn’t do it all in one day.

What makes me think I can?
I’ve learned that to ignore the facts

does not change the facts.
I’ve learned that love,

not time, heals all wounds.
I’ve learned that the easiest way for me

to grow as a person is to surround myself

with people smarter than I am.
I’ve learned that everyone you meet

deserves to be greeted with a smile.
I’ve learned that opportunities are never lost;

someone will take the one’s you miss.
I’ve learned that when you harbor bitterness,

happiness will dock elsewhere.
I’ve learned that I wish I could have told my Mom that

I love her one more time before she passed away.
I’ve learned that one should keep

his words both soft and tender,

because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
I’ve learned that a smile is an inexpensive way

to improve your looks.
I’ve learned that I can’t choose how I feel,

but I can choose what I do about it.
I’ve learned that when your newly born grandchild

holds your little finger in his little fist,

that you’re hooked for life.
I’ve learned that everyone

wants to live on top of the mountain,

but all the happiness and growth occurs

while you’re climbing it.
I’ve learned that the less time I have to work with,

the more things I get done.

A TaStE oF WiSdOm

September 20, 2006


“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur Clarke

“It’s not that ‘today is the first day of the rest of my life,’ but that NOW is ALL there is of my life.” – Hugh Prather

“Chance is the pseudonym God uses when He does not want to sign His name.” – Anatole France

“Don’t be afraid that your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.” – Grace Hansen

“Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.” – Joseph Campbell

“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you will discover will be wonderful. What you will discover will be yourself.” – Alan Alda

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond all measure.” – Marianne Williamson

“If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.” – Anonymous

iSkoLaR nG BaYaN

REBEL WITHOUT A CLUE
Payback
By Patricia Evangelista
Inquirer
Last updated 05:56am (Mla time) 09/03/2006


Published on page A11 of the September 3, 2006 issue of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer


I HAVE recently learned that I owe a debt of gratitude to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez. "Some degree of gratitude," must be due to the fact that I spent my college life in the University of the Philippines. I apologize for my omission, and can think of no way more apt than to share what he calls the "world-class education" that I have acquired in the four years I spent in UP. I will attempt to do justice to the underpaid and overworked professors who teach with ancient blackboards where today's lectures are superimposed over diagrams from
three years before. If I cannot, perhaps the good secretary would be interested in taking the class I took in my freshman year-Philo 11: Introduction to Logic.

In a statement just this week, Gonzalez laments the decline in quality of UP graduates. "That school," he thunders, "breeds the destabilizers that haunt the country every year."

In the interest of clarity, let us define the word "destabilizer." A destabilizer, or an obstructionist, is one who deliberately chooses to oppose current norms. They mistrust much of what is claimed, perpetually demand for answers and admit only truths that they believe have basis in fact, logic, theory, precedence or their own personal standards. In the academe, however, they are called neither destabilizers nor obstructionists. The common word for these vile creatures is "scholar."'

The reason students are sent to school is not to learn how to parrot government memoranda, or memorize the capitals of provinces in alphabetical order. Students study to learn how to think-not just to acquire a sheet of printed parchment to post on the wall. The capacity for critical thought is what separates the man from the beast. A dog can be trained how to sit, a monkey can walk across a tightrope, but it is the man who can choose to stand up and speak.

Contrary to what Gonzalez believes, it is not opposition to the government that characterizes the UP scholar. It is the opposition to passive acceptance, and a compulsion for thought. Gonzalez claims that he is not against all UP students, God forbid, because there are some who are "bright and good." I assume he means those of us who do not rally , who do not march, who do not choose to side with the Left. By "bright and good," he means "bright and good to the government of GMA." "It is the people's taxes that is keeping UP alive," he claims. Agreed. "It is the State that is paying for their schooling." Agreed. "I think some degree of gratitude should be there also." Agreed.

There is a difference, however, between the State and Secretary Gonzalez. He is not the State, however much he tries to convince us. Neither is the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The State is the people, the debt is to the people, the gratitude is to those who paid their taxes in the hope that the country's best and brightest will do some good in the future.

The academe, more than anywhere else, is the hotbed of debate, a place where multiple perspectives clash, and every sort of ideology, theory and philosophy has a place. Disagreement is a norm, and is seen as a manifestation of critical thought. That UP breeds destabilizers is not a bad thing-after all, if stability means the kind of government we have today, then I stand for destabilization, too.

All of us agree on our debt to the country-all of us want to pursue the national interest. But because we are scholars, because we are taught to think, the manner we pursue that national interest and the definition of that national interest vary from student to student. The red-shirted activist in Mendiola is no less aware of that debt than the political science student who plans to join government.

This need to check the government, Gonzalez claims, "is degrading the national interest." Who defines national interest? To Gonzalez, certainly not the people, and certainly not those who have been shot, strangled and maimed because of the administration's relentless pursuit of national interest.

Democracy is not the absence of dissent; it is the tolerance of the freedom to dissent, and the awareness that dissent can check the State's enormous power. And still Justice Secretary Gonzales, in all smugness, demands that this "high tolerance to educational freedom," should be raised in the annual budget hearing. I cannot believe I live in a country where education is threatened because it is used.

This is not simply an issue of an old man trying to strut his machismo by aiming potshots at students. It may be hard to believe-as this is the man who, I have a sneaking suspicion, is the opposition's hired gun, the man who "forgave" Susan Roces because she was "too pretty to put in jail," the man who told former President Aquino to first take care of her controversial daughter Kris before she opposes GMA; and the same man who claimed that the only reason he didn't absolve three suspects in the Subic Bay rape case was that he had to "appease the mob." He is the man whose snappy comeback to the impromptu Oblation Run held a week ago was to ask the fraternity men to "take off your masks and run naked."

But irrelevant of the man, his denouncement of UP is an attempt-no matter how moronic, and no matter how laughable-to justify actions that would otherwise be unjustifiable. It is one of the dozens of persistent suggestions that the government is always on the side of right, that to oppose it is treachery and that to question it is to go against all standards of morality, honesty and patriotism. And all this is dangerous, at a time when people are tired of marching in the streets, tired of throwing out one corrupt leader after another, tired of the perpetual struggle for the rights and freedoms that are inexplicably being curtailed.

The government thrusts us b ack into the Dark Ages, where leaders are omnipotent and "the people" do not exist. Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and probing into the nature of the "enemy" is assumed to be support for the enemy. Those who oppose policies are "destabilizers," or "NPA sympathizers" or "oppositionists." To report truth that will compromise government approval ratings is "inciting to sedition," a crime of which Gonzalez once accused the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. "Why fight the State?" Gonzalez demands, "Why try to bring it down?"

Gonzalez claims that he is proud to say he is from the University of Sto. Tomas, and that it is the reason he is "well-behaved." I offer my sympathies to UST, and since I am also aware that there is much that is "bright and good'" in that school, I believe Gonzalez must be a case where good education has failed in creating an educated man.

If this man is the epitome of what it is to be well-behaved, I'm glad that that's a compliment I've never been paid.

LoVe QuoTeS (an e-mail fwd)

"Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right person so that when we finally meet the right one, we will know how to be grateful for that gift."

"A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you have to let go."

"Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they’ll love you back! Don’t expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their hearts, but if it doesn’t, be content that it grew in yours."

"It is easy to fall in love but it’s hard to find someone who will catch you when you fall."

"You’ll know he loves you when he’ll never hurt you no matter how much you hurt him; and you don’t hurt him even if you know you can."

"Love not one, love not two, love the only one who loves you, too. Love not three, love not four, love the one who loves you more. Love not five, love not six, love the one who really sticks. Love not seven, love not eight, love the one who really waits."

"Losing the one you love could be painful yet a blessing, for it just means someone more deserving is yet to come."

"Sometimes the love we are looking for is right in front of us --- too close for the eyes to see. So, close your eyes and let your heart see for itself."

"True love does not have a happy ending. That’s because true love doesn’t have an ending."

"There are things you’d love to hear that you would never hear from the person whom you would like to hear them from, but don’t be so deaf as not to hear it from the one who says it from his heart."

"Never say goodbye if you still want to try --- never give up if you still can go on --- never say you don’t love a person anymore if you can’t let go."

"Don’t go for looks; they can deceive. Don’t go for wealth; even they fade away. Go for someone, who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Hope you find the one who makes you smile."

"There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them for your dreams and hug them for real! Hope you dream of that special someone."

"The beginning of love is to let those we love to be just themselves, and not twist them with our own image --- otherwise, we love only a reflection of our selves we find in them."

"A heart truly in love never loses hope but always believe in the promise of love, no matter how long the time and how far the distance."

"If you really love someone, put a circle around their name not a heart, because a heart can be broken but a circle goes forever."

"Follow your heart. It might not always be right but despite the pain, you’ll have memories that will make you smile even once and every rare while."

"There are so many stars in the sky, only some are radiant enough to be noticed. Among those you choose to ignore is the one, which is willing to shine for you forever even if your glance remains elsewhere."

"In relationships, thank God when you’re hurting or crying. There you are given a chance to measure the importance of the relationship with the other person and of yourself… then you'll grow!"

aLL i WaNt iS u 2DaY

by South Border,

one of my favorite bands in the Philippines

Some things never change

Some things will remain

And I always hope and pray

That I could change that day

And maybe find a way

To make you come to me and stay ...

Chorus:

Yesterday doesn't matter

Tomorrow we may not ever know

So listen to me now

As I try to say

That all I want is you today ...

If you only knew

What you put me through

You might not have gone away

Have you ever felt

Even for a while

Something's missin' in your life ...

(Repeat Chorus)

All I want is you today

If you don't need me anymore

Don't say it

If you don't love me anymore

Don't show it

Because this life I have is yours

So maybe you could try not to love me again ...

Chorus 2:

Yesterday doesn't matter

Tomorrow I just might be gone

So listen to me now

As I try to say

That all I want is you today ...

All I want is you today ...

So TrUe

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

--- an e-mail forward ---