JAN. 18, 2010

MOST MEMORABLE DAY!

I was walking on the rain with someone very special. We get strolling with a very nice conversation. Marami kaming pinag-usapan tungkol sa buhay buhay. Nagkakahiyaan pa nga kami that time eh... hehehe.. nag aasaran at nagtatanungan..We really take the time na magka-usap. Well, it was so fun and great. I CAN'T FORGET THAT MOMENT!

FEB. 19, 2010

JUST LIKE SIMPLE DAYS=(

Daily routine- pasok sa school, recess, chit chat with classmates, picture taking, answer ng mga assignments sa room, sharing of answers, kinig sa teacher at sa mga sermon, having a group study daw... UhHmmm... actually, group talk pala.. hahaha... and siyempre uwi sa bahay. Yan lang naman ang ginawa ko for the day but at the same time enjoy pa rin!

FEB. 20, 2010

NOT JUST A SIMPLE DAY!

OOOPs.. daily routine pa rin. But the difference is, "sweeper ako this day! Hehehe.. I mean huhuhu pala. I need to wake up at 5 am para hindi ako ma late sa duty ko. Huhu. . I was not able to enjoy my tulog. But kahit sweeper ako I must enjoy pa rin, kaya at the end of the day kahit I am so dirty nah, I'm still happy-go-lucky. It is almost 5:30 pm na kaming naka uwi from school. Im so tired sa pag floorwax. Unfortunately, ang dumi-dumi ko na! GOSH!!!.. My hands were very red and my jogging pants were so dirty.. Ang baho ko pa! Ewww... HAHAHA.. But as a reward, pinuri kami ni Sir.D! Wow!!!

Kitams, It is not just like simple days! hehehe...

FEB. 21, 2010

NO FUN!

Hahaizz.. I am so lonely! Nobody wants to talk to me.....huhuhu... Feel ko, they are so far and i am having my own world. I was not able to jam with their kulitans.. OUCH! I feel so alone! But i must go on.. FINE! If they don't want, I better don't want too!!!... The day ends no fun=(

FEB. 22, 2010

END OF THE STRESSED DAYS!

Yeeha! Friday na! Almost free... But kailangan pa rin pumasok sa school.. answer ng mga nakaka-stress na mga tanong..facing difficult tests.. Hahaizz.. I've got only low scores as usual..huhuhu.. Pero kahit ''mEh ganon'', I'm happy pa rin kasi after that nakakahalukat ng utak moment, no more sermons and lessond na! After this day, is the end of the stressed days! HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

FEB. 23, 2010

I THOUGHT IT WAS, BUT IT WAS NOT!

I hate this day! I was just sleeping throughout the day... Hahaizt.. So lonely talaga!! I am doing nothing... Text lang sa mga friends and after that wala na. Back to nothing na naman. Approximately,WALA TALAGA AKONG NAGAWA!! Akala ko mag-eenjoy ako ngayon kasi nga weekdays bit it was not under my expectations! Kainis!!

BADMINTON WORLD

Marathon runners are good examples. Normally most of the marathon runners reach their stamina limits in the last 12 KM over 42 KM. But their strong mental ability allows them to keep running at the same pace to finish the race. Some runners even increase their speed to finish the race although they are already exhausted.

Marathon runners call this method 'hitting the wall', meaning pushing to the limit. Even the legendary Tan Yee Khan of Malaysia uses the method of 'hitting the wall'. This method should be applied bybadminton players who aspire to go one step further in the game. Whether it is during the game or training, players should keep focusing and pushing their body to the limit.

A match could take a rather long time to end. A good badminton player or in other words an 'established badminton player' will not go down without a fight and should be able to keep their pace and the accuracy of their shots until the very last pointin the game no matter how long they have played. This is where mental toughness plays a big role.

You can be a very skillful player and fit player but if you meet an opponent who has a much higher level of stamina and fighting spirits, you will very likely lose the match if without the ability to push yourself when you are exhausted. There are plenty of instances whereby players are not strong enough mentally and emotionally, lost focus because of tiredness and gave up easilyin the game.

Sometimes you can be leading far ahead in the game like reaching game points or match points and you are already thinking about victory. This should not be a habit of a badminton player because you might lose the game if you meet a player with great fighting spirits. You maybe be leading 14-0 or 19-10 but no matter how far you lead, you still have to stay focus until the game is over.

A good case in point would be the game that featured Hafiz Hashim and Lee Hyun ll in the quarter finals of the 2006 DOHA Asian Games. Hafiz was leading 19-10 at one stage in the first set, but could not stay focus and lost the set 22-20 in the end. He could not recover from this set back in the second set and lost the tie. Lee Hyun ll showed his mental toughness and fighting spirits in this instance.

A good player should always possess the 'never say die' attitude even if their opponents are leading by a huge margin just as Lee Hyun ll has shown in the Asian Games. Another good case in point would be the game in between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan during the Malaysia Open 2006.

Lin Dan was already leading 20-13 in the rubber game and this was a really difficult situation for Lee Chong Wei because one mistake is enough to cost him the match. But he handled the pressure well and showed a greater desire to win, slowly clawing back in to the game. Finally, he won that game 22-20 and surprised the whole world.

Mental toughness can also give you an edge like focusing on the match no matter what is happening around, keeping you calm and cool in the court. Having mental toughness is having a high EQ (emotional intelligence). Many incidents, good or bad, can happen during a match outside or inside the court. For example, players can be psychologically affected by bad line calls, umpires decisions or insulted by the audience.

There were cases of top players which were emotionally affected such as the case in one of the game which featured Taufik Hidayat in an Indonesian local tournament. He was insulted by an audience that directed harsh words at him. Taufik then runs up to the audience chair and confronted him.

During Thomas cup 2002 Finals in Guangzhou and 2002 Busan Asian Games he fell prey again to his emotionally vulnerability caused by the umpire's decisions and bad line calls which led him to lose the game. In the 2006 HK open, he walked out of a semifinal game against Lin Dan because of a bad line call. No doubt he is a very good player, but if he could just control his emotions a bit better, he can be one of the all-time greats.

In many cases, players without much exposure are easily intimidated by the situation on hand and were not able to play their usual game.Mental toughness is needed to overcome all the fear with a 'nothing to lose', 'give everything you got' mentality. When fear is overcome, the confidence will be there to win the game. You need to keep thinking positively in the game, no matter what happens.

Badminton players should be equally strong, physically and mentally. Mental toughness will determine your success as a badminton player and will help you attain consistent achievements.

A GOOD BADMINTON PLAYER

To become a good badminton player, beside Physical Skill, you also must have a Mental Strength. Mental Strength is very crucial especially when come to the tournament. Besides these, Sport Nutrition is also important especially for the player preparing for the tournament.

1. Physical Skill:

Let's start with the most fundamental of badminton skill, ie: Strokes, Steps/Footwork, Stamina, and Strategy.

Strokes:

The basic technique of badminton strokes includes Overheads forehand and backhand clear / smash / drop, drives, lifts, net shot. You are higher recommended to learn from the badminton demo video(see link at the bottom of this page). With the video, it will save you a lot of time learning all the basic strokes.

After you have learn the basic strokes, the next step you have to do is practice and practise. Without the ability to execute all the different strokes, one will not be a complete badminton player.

Steps/Footwork:

Steps/Footwork is always comes together with stroke. A good badminton must have a good coordination of footwork and strokes. This includes foot, body, arms, swing coordination.

Stamina:

A badminton can last anything from 15 minutes to 1 hour plus and there can be more than one game within a day. A completed badminton match is best of 3 games, that means you got to play at least 2 games continuously. Without good stamina, a badminton player will be unable to successfully execute his/her desired strokes or even cannot finish the game. Again, stamina need to be build over the time via regular training, workouts or exercises. Regular workout will also help to improve your game by increasing your arm strength.

Strategy:

With good badminton skill and stamina is not enough, you must also have a good strategy to win a game. you have to make the correct shot at the correct time, either a drop-shot, smash, or clear? This is also important to identify the weakest point of opponent. This is especially crucial for doubles game, you should identify your opponent weakness and attack the opponent who is weaker. This is the most simple strategy. If your opponent is weak on his/her backhand clear, then you should hit the shuttle towards his/her backhand more. To go one level higher, it is also important to make the correct choice for a series of return and to lay out a game plan for whole match. This is so called the strategy of a badminton game.

2. Mental Strength:

Besides physical skill, a good badminton player must have good mental strength as well. Mental strength is the ability to make the correct decision even when under pressure or at the crucial moment. For example, when one is down to 5-19, or reaching the match point, 20-20. The player must stay focus to the game regardless whether he/she is leaving behind, leading, or under huge pressure due to the internal or external factor (eg: audience). A good badminton player must also be able to change strategy during the game on different situation. A good badminton player will not go down without a fight and should be able to keep his pace and the accuracy of his shots until the very last point in the game. A good example would be the game in between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan during the Malaysia Open 2006. Lin Dan was already leading 20-13 in the rubber game and this was a really difficult situation for Lee Chong Wei, But he handled the pressure well and showed a great fighting spirit, slowly clawing back in to the game. And Finally, he won the game by 23-21.

You also have to keep yourself calm in the court and with high EQ. Many incidents, good or bad, can happen during a match either outside or inside the court. For example, bad line calls, umpires decisions or insulted by the audience or even opponent coach. See The Athlete's Mind Guide(refer link below this page) .

3. Sport Nutrition

Beside physical skill and mental strength, Sport Nutrition (refer link at the bottom of this page) is also important especially for the player preparing for the tournament. On a day-to-day basis, you have to take care of your nutrition by consuming a well balanced diet comprising carbohydrate, fat, protein, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals and water. A Nutritionist can extend help in achieving this. Water should be consumed in just adequate amounts before, during and after play, ideally at the amounts required to quench the player's thirst.

A GOOD BADMINTON PLAYER

To become a good badminton player, beside Physical Skill, you also must have a Mental Strength. Mental Strength is very crucial especially when come to the tournament. Besides these, Sport Nutrition is also important especially for the player preparing for the tournament.

1. Physical Skill:

Let's start with the most fundamental of badminton skill, ie: Strokes, Steps/Footwork, Stamina, and Strategy.

Strokes:

The basic technique of badminton strokes includes Overheads forehand and backhand clear / smash / drop, drives, lifts, net shot. You are higher recommended to learn from the badminton demo video(see link at the bottom of this page). With the video, it will save you a lot of time learning all the basic strokes.

After you have learn the basic strokes, the next step you have to do is practice and practise. Without the ability to execute all the different strokes, one will not be a complete badminton player.

Steps/Footwork:

Steps/Footwork is always comes together with stroke. A good badminton must have a good coordination of footwork and strokes. This includes foot, body, arms, swing coordination.

Stamina:

A badminton can last anything from 15 minutes to 1 hour plus and there can be more than one game within a day. A completed badminton match is best of 3 games, that means you got to play at least 2 games continuously. Without good stamina, a badminton player will be unable to successfully execute his/her desired strokes or even cannot finish the game. Again, stamina need to be build over the time via regular training, workouts or exercises. Regular workout will also help to improve your game by increasing your arm strength.

Strategy:

With good badminton skill and stamina is not enough, you must also have a good strategy to win a game. you have to make the correct shot at the correct time, either a drop-shot, smash, or clear? This is also important to identify the weakest point of opponent. This is especially crucial for doubles game, you should identify your opponent weakness and attack the opponent who is weaker. This is the most simple strategy. If your opponent is weak on his/her backhand clear, then you should hit the shuttle towards his/her backhand more. To go one level higher, it is also important to make the correct choice for a series of return and to lay out a game plan for whole match. This is so called the strategy of a badminton game.

2. Mental Strength:

Besides physical skill, a good badminton player must have good mental strength as well. Mental strength is the ability to make the correct decision even when under pressure or at the crucial moment. For example, when one is down to 5-19, or reaching the match point, 20-20. The player must stay focus to the game regardless whether he/she is leaving behind, leading, or under huge pressure due to the internal or external factor (eg: audience). A good badminton player must also be able to change strategy during the game on different situation. A good badminton player will not go down without a fight and should be able to keep his pace and the accuracy of his shots until the very last point in the game. A good example would be the game in between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan during the Malaysia Open 2006. Lin Dan was already leading 20-13 in the rubber game and this was a really difficult situation for Lee Chong Wei, But he handled the pressure well and showed a great fighting spirit, slowly clawing back in to the game. And Finally, he won the game by 23-21.

You also have to keep yourself calm in the court and with high EQ. Many incidents, good or bad, can happen during a match either outside or inside the court. For example, bad line calls, umpires decisions or insulted by the audience or even opponent coach. See The Athlete's Mind Guide(refer link below this page) .

3. Sport Nutrition

Beside physical skill and mental strength, Sport Nutrition (refer link at the bottom of this page) is also important especially for the player preparing for the tournament. On a day-to-day basis, you have to take care of your nutrition by consuming a well balanced diet comprising carbohydrate, fat, protein, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals and water. A Nutritionist can extend help in achieving this. Water should be consumed in just adequate amounts before, during and after play, ideally at the amounts required to quench the player's thirst.

TEEN'S PRESSURE

Peer pressure is one thing that all teens have in common. You can't escape it; it is everywhere. No matter how popular you are, how well liked you may be or how together you feel, sooner or later you will have to face peer pressure.

Whether it is pressure to conform to a group norm or pressure to act a certain way peer pressure is something everybody has to deal with at some time in their life. How successfully you handle peer pressure depends a great deal on how you feel about yourself and your place in the world.

Peer Pressure Risk Factors

There are certain risk factors for peer pressure, personality traits that make you more prone to give in to pressure. The traits that put you at higher risk for falling in to the peer pressure trap include:

• low self esteem
• lack of confidence
• uncertainty about ones place within a given peer group
• no personal interests exclusive of one's peer group
• feeling isolated from peers and/or family
• poor academic abilities or performance
• fear of one's peers
• lack of strong ties to friends
• feeling that friends could turn on you
• close bond with a bully

Handling Peer Pressure

How do you prepare to face peer pressure and win? There are many things you can do.

Prepare a mental script of how you would like to deal with uncomfortable situations. Script out the reaction you want to have in a given situation and play that script out in your head over and over again.

Know where you stand on key issues like sex, drugs and alcohol and do not allow anybody to make you deviate from your position. Never be afraid to speak up and let others know your boundaries. You may get a bit of teasing at first but most people respect the boundaries of others when they know what they are.

Never take part in any bullying. Making other people feel bad or sad is a terrible way to try to fit in. Flatly refuse to take part in anything designed to cause harm or distress to another person and speak up if such a situation arises. You do not have to be angry or confrontational but one person standing up for what is right is usually enough to inspire others to follow.

Think of yourself as a leader and act accordingly. The more you see yourself in a leadership role the more comfortable you will feel asserting your own opinions and feelings.

Always Be Comfortable With Your Choices

When ugly situations arise and peer pressure kicks in to high gear it is very easy to get caught up in the moment and forget that you will have to live with the choices you make. If you give in and do something that is contrary to your character or core value system it will cause you distress later and you will feel regret.

When peer pressure rears its ugly head try to focus on how you feel about what is happening rather than getting caught up in the crowd. Always stand up for what you think is right.

Some people may not like it when you go against the group but doing the right thing is rewarding. Peer pressure only works if you let it, if you refuse to let it intimidate you it loses its power. The secret is to be assertive without becoming preachy or self-righteous. Stand your ground but refrain from standing on a soap box. Remember, peer pressure can only win if you let it.

The Value of Positive Teen Girl Friendships

Most fashionable television show and movies with teenage girls as main characters focus on the ruthlessness that can exist within female relationships. Even between friends, an underlying theme of jealousy and envy can be felt. The terms “mean girls” and “queen bees” have become popular within the last few years, but the definition is old: bullies.

Girl “Friends?”

Unfortunately society thrives on magnifying the negative side of female friendships. The recent popular movie series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, focuses on the lives of four very different young girls who accept and encourage each other as they are.

These movies, based on the novels by Ann Brashares, take the focal point off the more shallow portrayals of teenage girls in contemporary film and television and showcase instead a different side of girl friendships – friendships that can withstand the inevitable truths of growing apart, disappointments, heartache, and forgiveness.

In the Sisterhood movies, the main characters go through life experiences that grow their friendship stronger. One suffers through the death of a parent; another girl encounters first love; one even has a pregnancy scare – themes that more girls may be able to empathize with and not simply on fashion or make-up. And although cliques, gossip, drugs and sex are realities of adolescence, it need not be the only topics one sees in television and movies.

Surviving Teen-Angst

The fact that popular TV shows such as “Gossip Girl,” and “90210” cater to young girls in junior high and high school can be a scary reality to parents. These shows are on the level with most daytime soap-operas with their under-age sexy characters and scandalous subject matters. However, if parents actually watched these shows with their daughters, it could serve as a platform to discuss some of the topics.

PACQUIAO BATTERS COTTO FOR TKO WIN

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao staked his claim atop boxing’s mythical throne as the pound-for-pound best, using his lightning hand speed to beat and batter Miguel Cotto into submission Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Manny Pacquiao celebrates with trainer Freddie Roach after beating Miguel Cotto in a WBO welterweight title fight on Saturday in Las Vegas.

(Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

Pacquiao knocked Cotto down once in the third round and again in the fourth, pummeled him repeatedly and easily lifted the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt from the Puerto Rican with a 12th-round stoppage. The time was 55 seconds into the final round, as referee Kenny Bayless leaped between the fighters to save Cotto a more savage beating and ignominious end.

Cotto came out strong and landed some hard punches, but Cotto couldn’t deal with the speed. Pacquiao was landing three shots for every two Cotto did early. After the knockdown in the fourth, Cotto’s offense was nonexistent as he spent most of the last two thirds of the fight fending off Pacquiao’s onslaught.

Cotto landed in single digits in power shots in every round from the fifth forward.

Pacquiao nearly had the stoppage after the 11th when Cotto trainer Joe Santiago walked onto the ring apron and waved his hand at Bayless.

It appeared he was going to stop the fight, but then Bayless and ringside physician James Game spoke and allowed it to continue. It was only extending the misery as Pacquiao poured it on in the 12th.

When the fight ended, the crowd began to chant, “We want Floyd!” It was a reference to Floyd Mayweather Jr., the other man with a claim to the top of the boxing pound-for-pound list.

Pacquiao, who has won championship belts in five divisions and beat the linear champion in two others, can no longer be knocked as a small man who was beating washed up fighters.

In Cotto, he took on an elite and powerful welterweight whose only loss came under suspicious circumstances to Antonio Margarito last year. There is suspicion that Margarito’s gloves were loaded for that fight, though it has never been proven.

But Pacquiao proved he was able to not only take a welterweight punch, but rock him repeatedly. It was a magnificent performance and will create public demand for a fight with Mayweather.

“I want to see him fight Mayweather,” Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said.

Santiago said Pacquiao hit harder and was stronger than expected. Cotto injured his left shoulder in the eighth.

A STUDENT

Times change. The definition of "student" once was "one who studies something". Today it can mean merely "one who attends a school, college or university". This modern definition doesn't even suggest that the person does more than "attend". College and university professors still use the first definition, and schools have ways (such as requirements, exams and grades) to attempt to ensure that those who attend will also study and learn something. So what distinguishes a student? What makes the student stand out from the rest of the class? The four As: attitude, academic skills, awareness, and accomplishment, certainly are a large part of it, and a student who has them will be very likely to earn As: * Attitude is primarily a genuine desire to learn, and the willingness to do hard intellectual work to achieve understanding. It is also shown by how well you apply yourself even to subjects in which you have little interest, and how much you can achieve even when a professor's style isn't to your liking. * Academic skills include ability to read with comprehension, intelligent use of resources (including library resources), logical and mathematical skills, efficient study habits, and the ability to communicate clearly and fluently in speaking and writing. * Awareness of what's going on in the world around you, and the habit of intelligently relating it to your academic courses. For example, when taking a course in political science, you should relate what you are learning in class to what's happening on the national and world political scene. When taking a science course, you should relate scientific principles to phenomena you observe in everyday life, and go out of your way to find applications and examples of science in the real world. * Accomplishment is demonstrated by successful application of understanding. The evidence of that is: 1. Correct and confident application of what you've learned to new problems and challenges, 2. clear and effective communication of your understanding through speaking and writing, and 3. possession of a base of information, skills and understanding sufficient to allow you to continue your education outside of the classroom, throughout your life. All of these add up to a fifth A: ability, a word frequently used above. The goal of education is to achieve the ability to apply one's knowledge in new, creative, and correct ways. Abilities are not entirely innate; some are achievable through dedicated and focused effort. Other symptoms and qualities of a good student include: 1. Self-discipline. The successful student has learned to budget time, and uses it efficiently, and will do the things that need to be done, when they must be done, whether or not one feels like it at the time. 2. Initiative. In short: doing things without being told. The student doesn't wait for assignments to read ahead in the textbook, or to seek out and study related books to gain understanding. The good student does more problems or exercises than assigned, and does them even when none are assigned. The good student working in the laboratory does not merely follow instructions (though that is an important skill) but looks for opportunities to discover new things, try new things, or find better methods. When an opportunity arises to do a project outside of class, the good student jumps at the chance and doesn't even ask whether it will earn extra credit. 3. Breadth of interests. College provides a great opportunity to broaden your interests and explore new things. You may never again have available to you such a convenient and comprehensive library, such diverse and inexpensive cultural events and academic activities. Much education can occur outside of class, if you seek it. But if you confine yourself to the things you've always done, avoiding anything new and unfamiliar, you will have squandered a valuable opportunity. 4. An open mind is a mind receptive to examination of new ideas and facts. Having an open mind does not mean that one jumps on the bandwagon of every new fad. A better characterization of an open mind is one which is willing to dispassionately and rationally analyze new ideas, weighing them objectively against established knowledge and the facts at hand. 5. A critical habit of mind. Education is more than the acquisition of information. It includes the ability to acquire new information, to critically evaluate that information, and to correctly and effectively use it. With so many information sources at our disposal in this computer age we are awash in information, and in danger of information overload. But much of that information is fraudulent, worthless, incomplete, or just plain wrong. It has always been so. Probably 95% of the books in any library could be lost with no harm to human knowledge. But it's not easy to determine just which books are worth keeping. We are assaulted through every medium by folks trying to sell us something (with impressive claims of its value), to persuade us to accept some political or social idea, to convert us to some religion or philosophy, or to convince us of the value of some medical panacea. Most of this is humbug. One of the values of a good education is the ability to see through false and unfounded claims and outright deceptions. By this criterion, education has largely been a failure, for many people who have college degrees are still suckers for the snake-oil and perpetual-motion-machine peddlers. 6. Perceptiveness. The more you learn, the more perceptive you become. You can, as necessary, "read between the lines." You no longer need everything spelled out; you can fill in missing details. You aren't dependent on being shown; you can puzzle things out for yourself. You perceive quickly what a writer or speaker means, without misinterpreting. You learn to seek the intended meaning of what you read or hear rather than trying to impose your own preconceived meaning. You can see through complexity to the heart of a matter. You are able to distinguish the important from the trivial in a serious discussion. 7. Objectivity. Most of us begin our education with an "egocentric" view, expecting everything to have some relevance to our needs or desires. We even impose such interpretations on things we learn, and avoid learning some things because they don't seem important at the time. Education can broaden that view, encouraging us to set our egos aside and objectively evaluate facts and interpretations. We find out that mere unsupported personal opinions have no value in an academic discussion. We learn to recognize the validity of facts and ideas that we may not like. We learn that other people and other cultures interpret things differently, and that fact is not a-priori evidence that they are wrong. We learn that the world does not revolve around us, and the universe cares not one bit whether we exist, or what we do. Education can give us humility. 8. Humility. However much one knows, one must realize there's a lot more to be learned, and that some of what one `knows' may turn out to be wrong. For this reason intellectual arrogance is unbecoming an educated person. Knowing lots of things is good, but knowing the limitations of one's knowledge is essential to using it properly. Many of the classic errors of history were made by people over-confidently going beyond what they knew and understood. Work to be educated, not merely trained.

LIVE AND SURVIVE

Life Tip 1) First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences, negative and positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative. I've always said it is too bad failures don't give seminars. We don't want to pay them so they don't tour around giving seminars. But the information would be very valuable – how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes.

We learn by what we see - pay attention. By what we hear – be a good listener. Now I do suggest being a selective listener, don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read. Learn from every source. Learn from lectures, learn from songs, learn from sermons, learn from conversations with people who care. Keep learning.

Life Tip 2) Life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn; you now have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn't mean you can do everything but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

Life Tip 3) Life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project - see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that's the end, but just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

Life Tip 4) Life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.

Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these four words to work?

LIVE AND SURVIVE

Life Tip 1) First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences, negative and positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative. I've always said it is too bad failures don't give seminars. We don't want to pay them so they don't tour around giving seminars. But the information would be very valuable – how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes.

We learn by what we see - pay attention. By what we hear – be a good listener. Now I do suggest being a selective listener, don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read. Learn from every source. Learn from lectures, learn from songs, learn from sermons, learn from conversations with people who care. Keep learning.

Life Tip 2) Life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn; you now have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn't mean you can do everything but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

Life Tip 3) Life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project - see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that's the end, but just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

Life Tip 4) Life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.

Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these four words to work?

Philippines: Typhoon 'Ondoy' Death Toll Reaches 243

A rain-filled typhoon code named 'Ondoy' left Metro Manila Philippines with 243 people dead and thousands homeless as a large part of metro Manila remain submerged in floodwater more than three days after the typhoon left the country.

Almost a week after typhoon Ondoy left the Philippine area of responsibility, several Manila cities and towns remain submerged in floodwater. As of 6:30 a.m. today, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) of the Philippines reported 243 dead with several others missing. Damage to infrastructure is expected to hit P5 billion while more than two thousand homes were destroyed. Typhoon Ondoy was reported to be a rain-filled typhoon but with less wind. It was reported by the Philippine Weather Bureau that the rain content of Typhoon Ondoy was more than the volume of rainwater that Hurricane Katrina dropped in New Orleans a few months ago. Sunstar reports: 'A total of 373,675 families or 2,254,915 persons have been affected by flooding. Several 78,892 families or 389,616 persons are now staying in 561 evacuation centers located in areas near Rizal, Marikina, Quezon City, Taguig and Pasig. The joints units of armed forces, police, firemen and other rescue groups have rescued a total number of 73,892 persons and 31families'. The unusually heavy rain brought in by typhoon Ondoy left thousands of residents homeless in the cities of Marikina, Pasig, Taguig and the towns of Cainta, Taytay, San Mateo, Rodriguez, among others, as their homes remain submerged in flood waters. Local government authorities in the affected towns and cities of Metro Manila pointed to the clogged drainage and heavily silted rivers as major causes of rising flood water. Pasig River, the main tributary of rainwater to Manila Bay, is heavily silted. Indiscriminate dumping of domestic and industrial waste has been identified as the main cause of clogging . Environmentalists are calling on the government regulators to implement appropriate environmental laws to avoid accidents and deaths due to rising floodwater as a result of the indiscriminate dumping of waste into the rivers and streams.

BLANCHE

ME AND MY SIBLINGS

KENT IVAN URBIZTONDO
ME
JESSA MAE URBIZTONDO

LET'S LOVE MOTHER NATURE

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.

Life is a process. We are a process. The universe is a process.

Nature is just enough; but men and women must comprehend and accept her suggestions.

Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day. [Uncle Vanya, 1897]

The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.

Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.

The Hopi Indians of Arizona believe that our daily rituals and prayers literally keep this world spinning on its axis. For me, feeding the seagulls is one of those everyday prayers.

Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it.

Watching birds has become part of my daily meditation affirming my connection to the earth body.

The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration.

My best Acquaintances are those
With Whom I spoke no Word—
The Stars that stated come to Town
Esteemed Me never rude
Although to their Celestial Call
I failed to make reply—
My constant—reverential Face
Sufficient Courtesy.

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church,
I keep it staying at Home -
With a bobolink for a Chorister,
And an Orchard, for a Dome.

Who has not found the heaven below
Will fail of it above.
God's residence is next to min,
His furniture is love.

When we understand that man is the only animal who must create meaning, who must open a wedge into neutral nature, we already understand the essence of love. Love is the problem of an animal who must find life, create a dialogue with nature in order to experience his own being.

We cannot command nature except by obeying her.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

The sun, with all those plants revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.

... everything in nature is lyrical in its ideal essence, tragic in its fate, and comic in its existence.

To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.

My profession is always to be alert, to find God in nature, to know God's lurking places, to attend to all the oratorios and the operas in nature.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and if I can only walk with sufficient carelessness I am sure to be filled.

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

A weed is no more than a flower in disguise.

Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you...
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life.

There is nothing pleasanter than spading when the ground is soft and damp.

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.

The day I see a leaf is a marvel of a day.

If people think that nature is their friend, then they sure don't need an enemy.

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.

A flower is an educated weed.

To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.

Today the network of relationships linking the human race to itself and to the rest of the biosphere is so complex that all aspects affect all others to an extraordinary degree. Someone should be studying the whole system, however crudely that has to be done, because no gluing together of partial studies of a complex nonlinear system can give a good idea of the behavior of the whole.

On every stem, on every leaf ... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was to devour that particular part.

I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in the kindness of human beings. I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and angels.

I am comforted by life's stability, by earth's unchangeableness. What has seemed new and frightening assumes its place in the unfolding of knowledge. It is good to know our universe. What is new is only new to us.

Rabindranath Tagore:

Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.

Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.

Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.

Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens.

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

Everything in nature contains all the power of nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.

Presently we pass to some other object which rounds itself into a whole as did the first; for example, a well-laid garden; and nothing seems worth doing but the laying-out of gardens.

The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.

When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands.

The charming landscape which I saw this morning is indubitably made up of some 20 or 30 farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet.

After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with color, bountiful with life. Within decades we must close our eyes again. Isn't it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come to wake up in it? This is how I answer when I am asked -- as I am surprisingly often -- why I bother to get up in the mornings.

Nature, to be controlled, must be obeyed.

Birth, life, and death -- each took place on the hidden side of a leaf.

The world is always in movement.

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.

One of the most important resources that a garden makes available for use, is the gardener's own body. A garden gives the body the dignity of working in its own support. It is a way of rejoining the human race.

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
An eternity in an hour.

Written in Early Spring

I heard a thousand blended notes
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What Man has made of Man

The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.