Yesterday after going to church, Junfer and I were invited to attend a surprise 50th Birthday party for one of our co-members in CFC. While we were waiting for the celebrant, Junfer and I were sitting at the end of the table close to the teens (sons and daughters of other couple friends also invited at the party) when one of them asked about Junfer’s mobile phone. I was just observing there discussion, not even having a remote intent of joining a discussion that is to tech savvy for my own liking, when one of the teen’s mobile phone rang to the tune of one of Linkin’park’s songs (title of the song eludes my memory). After the phone call ended Junfer commented “I like that song of the Linkin Park.” The reply of the teenager actually made me laugh, he said “Ah talaga kuya you know Linkin Park”. Moments later, Junfer turned to me grinning and asked, “Are we really that old for them to think that I don’t know Linkin Park?” That even made me laugh harder.
Funny as it really is to me, it also made me think. Are we in the process of becoming the older generation? Are we in the phase where the music that the teenagers listen to would sound Greek or more so annoying to us? Are we moving to the older, reprimanding click that the teenagers refer to as the age group that doesn’t understand them? Are we getting old?
In all fairness, I have known Linkin Park way back in college. I have listened to their songs and liked quite a few of them. Aside from that, I don’t recognize any new band that the younger people are listening to right now. I am also not sure if that is tantamount to the fact that I am getting older or is it just because I prefer to watch movies rather than listen to music. I also am not fond of hanging out at noisy bars to drink, but then again, even when I was in college or while I was working in Manila, I don’t frequent clubs or bars simply because I feel that’s not my kind of socializing. And as to reprimanding the teens, even when I was a teenager myself, I have observed that my age group is composed of tons of different personalities. There are those teenagers who have fun and act out their age appropriately and there are those teens that act so obnoxiously under the disguise of a teenager having raging hormones but in reality are teenagers who are lacking the guidance as to having good manners and proper conduct. I still feel the same way now. I still find some teens act better than others, like for instance this morning on my way to the office, a teenage boy was banging the metal trash bin in the bus every 10 minutes or so, (not even throwing anything in the bin, he just finds it amusing to bang the bin) and he was having a conversation with some girls sitting opposite him in a shout like manner and when his mobile phone rang, everyone could hear his conversation simply because he was shouting and he has put his phone on speaker mode. What’s the deal with that? I also can’t help but wonder if that question from the teenager to Junfer was triggered by the fact that we are friends with his parents thus making him think that we are of the same generation, in which case age wouldn’t have mattered at all but affiliations. I have just realized that the group of friends we have accumulated when we moved here belong to a much more mature age group than that of Junfer and I belong to. I think this has also influenced the outlook we project on their kids.
Maybe I shouldn’t be even thinking of moving on to the older generation because from what I have observed, teenagers of today, specially in this part of the world, are in so much hurry to grow up and if they maintain this pace, certainly they will catch up with our generation.
In the end, I think that music, personality, maturity and most other attributes are not dictated by age group or clicks. I may like a different genre of music or I may like to hang out with a particular group of people or I may find the behavior of some people not parallel to my liking but I believe that these are not influenced by how old they are but rather of what there persona are. I believe that quality, characteristics and interests of each person are not influenced by age group but rather a choice they make for these are impacted by one’s individuality.
Monday 28 January 2008
Tuesday 22 January 2008
All of a sudden …. I’m 27
As far as I could remember, I was not the type of kid who looks forward to Christmas so that I could send a wish list to Santa. I remember, though, that I look forward to my birthday and write a list of wishes that I would mention when I do my birthday prayer. One thing I’ve realized though is that every year that passes by, my wish list to God became shorter and shorter until the time came (of which I don’t know when) when my wish list became a thank you list.
I also remember, every year when I was still in primary school, my birthday will not be complete without a party at our house with all my classmates coming over to celebrate the day with me. During those times, I would stage a tantrum attack whenever my mom would suggest that we just dine out or just celebrate my birthday intimately. Now, I long for nothing more that to go home to my husband so he could take me out to dinner to celebrate my day.
It’s now that time of the year again and my thank you list is longer than it ever was before. I think that as I grow older, the more I realized how blessed I am and the more I come to believe that if you have your faith in God, he blesses you in ways you could never thought possible. I guess I am at the point in my life when my heart is filled more with thanksgiving rather than petitions. As I pause and ponder on my past years, I realized that as I mature, I opt to spend my day with an intimate group of people that I love and loves me back rather than throw a big bash for a crowd who are just there for the food and treats you nicely simply because its your birthday.
Ah, it’s that time of the year again when another calendar has passed by my life. I am quite happy though with how I spent my year for most of it was spent creating a nice home for our family and being with the one that I love the most. I have also seen places that I have always dreamed of seeing and experienced a lot of things that I have aspired to experience.
When I go down on my knees to do my birthday prayer tonight, definitely my prayer would be more of a thanksgiving rather than petition for the past year has been blessed far more than I could ever thought possible. I had a well lived year and I am looking forward to another great year with faith and love in my heart.
Many thanks to all those who remembered and sent their greetings, I have and always will treasure all of you in my heart.
I also remember, every year when I was still in primary school, my birthday will not be complete without a party at our house with all my classmates coming over to celebrate the day with me. During those times, I would stage a tantrum attack whenever my mom would suggest that we just dine out or just celebrate my birthday intimately. Now, I long for nothing more that to go home to my husband so he could take me out to dinner to celebrate my day.
It’s now that time of the year again and my thank you list is longer than it ever was before. I think that as I grow older, the more I realized how blessed I am and the more I come to believe that if you have your faith in God, he blesses you in ways you could never thought possible. I guess I am at the point in my life when my heart is filled more with thanksgiving rather than petitions. As I pause and ponder on my past years, I realized that as I mature, I opt to spend my day with an intimate group of people that I love and loves me back rather than throw a big bash for a crowd who are just there for the food and treats you nicely simply because its your birthday.
Ah, it’s that time of the year again when another calendar has passed by my life. I am quite happy though with how I spent my year for most of it was spent creating a nice home for our family and being with the one that I love the most. I have also seen places that I have always dreamed of seeing and experienced a lot of things that I have aspired to experience.
When I go down on my knees to do my birthday prayer tonight, definitely my prayer would be more of a thanksgiving rather than petition for the past year has been blessed far more than I could ever thought possible. I had a well lived year and I am looking forward to another great year with faith and love in my heart.
Many thanks to all those who remembered and sent their greetings, I have and always will treasure all of you in my heart.
Monday 14 January 2008
Seven Turning Twenty Seven
When I was a kid, about seven years old, I remember each morning on my way to school, I see this lady clad with a smart corporate jacket and skirt paired with a towering high stiletto heels click clacking her way to the public transport waiting area where I am waiting for my school service. I recall staring at her admiring how sophisticated she looked and how I can’t wait to grow up and wear the same pair of shoes. I don’t know what it was but in my mind I pictured this lady as a 27-year old woman and I thought to myself when I’m 27, I will be wearing those chic corporate outfits with lofty heels matched with a pair of hosiery.
My admiration for this woman actually inspired my young imaginative mind to paint a vivid picture of what I will become when I am 27. I clearly recollect all the details that I have added to the appearance that I have sketched for myself. I even wrote all the details down my small journal to make it more official. During those times, I dreamed that when I’m 27, I’ll be married to the man of my dreams (even at the age of 7 I believed that the ideal age of getting married is 25). I’ll be working as a successful lawyer for one of the top companies in Manila. I even remember noting down that when I am 27, unlike the lady who takes public transport, my husband will be driving me to the office everyday. (I was a hopeless romantic even as a kid, I think it was the influence of Disney cartoons)
Suddenly, I wake up and it’s already the 14th of January 2008, my birthday month and I am turning 27 in a couple of days. I can’t help but look back and wonder if I did myself justice and fulfilled my list when I was a kid. Well for starters, I am married but not to the man of my dreams at seven years old who was Sleeping Beauty’s prince charming with his blond hair and blue eyes and his proud horse, but to a man even more than just a dream, a man who was an answered prayer. I am not a lawyer but a Certified Public Accountant and I am not working for one of the top companies in Manila but for a leading company in Europe. Oh, I do wear click clacking heels when I go to the office and I do wear those corporate attires, mostly skirts so I think my seven year old self would be happy about that.
It feels so surreal, as I look back at the dreams I envisioned when I was a kid. I might not have hit the mark on most of what I have enlisted but I can’t say that I’m dissatisfied. As I mature in that 20-year-gap, I have learned to believe that happiness is not possessing expensive things but sharing what you have with the people in your life, it’s not the places you’ve been to but who was holding your hand while taking in the beauty of a new place. Happiness is having people that you love cherish those glorious moments of success with you and having them by your side in times when the world seem to crumble. Looking back, I just can’t thank God enough for all the blessings he showered upon me and continues to shower me everyday.
In the end, I think my seven-year-old self would be more than happy with where I am today. I know I am.
My admiration for this woman actually inspired my young imaginative mind to paint a vivid picture of what I will become when I am 27. I clearly recollect all the details that I have added to the appearance that I have sketched for myself. I even wrote all the details down my small journal to make it more official. During those times, I dreamed that when I’m 27, I’ll be married to the man of my dreams (even at the age of 7 I believed that the ideal age of getting married is 25). I’ll be working as a successful lawyer for one of the top companies in Manila. I even remember noting down that when I am 27, unlike the lady who takes public transport, my husband will be driving me to the office everyday. (I was a hopeless romantic even as a kid, I think it was the influence of Disney cartoons)
Suddenly, I wake up and it’s already the 14th of January 2008, my birthday month and I am turning 27 in a couple of days. I can’t help but look back and wonder if I did myself justice and fulfilled my list when I was a kid. Well for starters, I am married but not to the man of my dreams at seven years old who was Sleeping Beauty’s prince charming with his blond hair and blue eyes and his proud horse, but to a man even more than just a dream, a man who was an answered prayer. I am not a lawyer but a Certified Public Accountant and I am not working for one of the top companies in Manila but for a leading company in Europe. Oh, I do wear click clacking heels when I go to the office and I do wear those corporate attires, mostly skirts so I think my seven year old self would be happy about that.
It feels so surreal, as I look back at the dreams I envisioned when I was a kid. I might not have hit the mark on most of what I have enlisted but I can’t say that I’m dissatisfied. As I mature in that 20-year-gap, I have learned to believe that happiness is not possessing expensive things but sharing what you have with the people in your life, it’s not the places you’ve been to but who was holding your hand while taking in the beauty of a new place. Happiness is having people that you love cherish those glorious moments of success with you and having them by your side in times when the world seem to crumble. Looking back, I just can’t thank God enough for all the blessings he showered upon me and continues to shower me everyday.
In the end, I think my seven-year-old self would be more than happy with where I am today. I know I am.
Sunday 6 January 2008
All set for 2008
I have always loved the exhilarating feeling that New Year brings. I don’t know if this feeling is influenced by the colorful display of lights in the sky or the overflowing champagne (or any alcohol for that matter), but New Years just fill my senses with an invigorating feeling. I think that this sentiment is more influenced by the thought that New Years offer a new beginning to everyone. Each and every New Year, I feel that I get a new shot at things. This is the time when I can leave all my woes and excess baggage behind and receive a clean slate on all new endeavors that I want to undertake.
I believe that another great thing about New Years is that it gives us this yearning to look back in the past and ponder on how to make amends on our previous mistakes, and provides an opportunity to be grateful for all the blessings that we have received. While watching the first season ender of Ally McBeal, an old American series that I find so entertaining, John Cage, one of the characters said, “If you think back and replay your year and it doesn’t bring you tears of either joy or sadness, consider the year wasted”. These lines stuck with me and I just had to oblige and look back at the year that was. Doing so, I was overwhelmed by how enormous the things that I have gone through in 2007, both good and the not so good and John Cage couldn’t be more correct, the mere flashback of the year that was simply brought mist into my eyes. The past year was a melting pot of experiences that etched memories that will forever remain with me, and it has also presented challenges that made me a much stronger individual, ready and able to face any trial in the coming year.
Above all, I believe that the greatest thing about New Years is that it presents everyone with a gift – Hope. Every new calendar that we hang on the wall symbolizes another chance for all of us to do better, to seize the battle that was lost and to grab opportunities that will define us as an individual. .
Personally, I have very high hopes for 2008. How can I not? I am armed with the glories of the wars I have won in the past year. I am empowered by the lessons of my failures and I have the people around me who offer me comfort and love.
I believe that another great thing about New Years is that it gives us this yearning to look back in the past and ponder on how to make amends on our previous mistakes, and provides an opportunity to be grateful for all the blessings that we have received. While watching the first season ender of Ally McBeal, an old American series that I find so entertaining, John Cage, one of the characters said, “If you think back and replay your year and it doesn’t bring you tears of either joy or sadness, consider the year wasted”. These lines stuck with me and I just had to oblige and look back at the year that was. Doing so, I was overwhelmed by how enormous the things that I have gone through in 2007, both good and the not so good and John Cage couldn’t be more correct, the mere flashback of the year that was simply brought mist into my eyes. The past year was a melting pot of experiences that etched memories that will forever remain with me, and it has also presented challenges that made me a much stronger individual, ready and able to face any trial in the coming year.
Above all, I believe that the greatest thing about New Years is that it presents everyone with a gift – Hope. Every new calendar that we hang on the wall symbolizes another chance for all of us to do better, to seize the battle that was lost and to grab opportunities that will define us as an individual. .
Personally, I have very high hopes for 2008. How can I not? I am armed with the glories of the wars I have won in the past year. I am empowered by the lessons of my failures and I have the people around me who offer me comfort and love.
Thursday 3 January 2008
Blog Readability
After having browsed through one of my favorite food blogs by my old friend Allan, I chanced upon this blog readability test. Got curious so I tried and guess how my blog scored....
COOL!!!
Online Payday Loans
COOL!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)