Have you been good lately?

Dear Santa,

I did watch out and I didn't cry and most of all I didn't pout because I knew why. Santa Clause is coming to tooooooooown.

I'm sending my wish list early. I have an endless list of the things I want to do. Santa, are you still there?

1. I wish to attend oil painting classes. It was in the year 2004 that I started to pick up the brush and enjoyed coloring canvasses. I was bored out of my wits in Taipei so I went to a community college to learn the basics of landscape painting. Was it fun. The teacher was speaking in Mandarin though but for the most part, I understood him. I heard there's this painter who holds classes in the Pasig area. I hope it's not too much to ask if you can free up my time on Saturdays for this one. :-)

2. I wish to take culinary classes. I'm the famous cook (I refuse to call myself chef because I think it's mostly by chance that I cook up something yummy.) who turned congee to steamed rice. How cool is that? I don't think this wish needs much explanation. Boo hoo.

3. I wish to learn another language. German maybe? This fraulein has a confession to make. My Mandarin is getting rusty. Seven years after getting off from language university in Beijing, my Chinese has significantly been reduced to clarificatory statements. "What do you mean?" I think with more exposure to a Mandarin speaking crowd, I'd remember the language.

4. I wish to learn how to drive. I think this has got to do with being independent in a way and conquering my fear of running over mongrels, cats and jaywalking pedestrians. *Screech!*

5. I wish to learn interior design. I find myself more and more thinking of having my own place and decorating it but I don't think it'll happen anytime soon. I'm not ready to leave my parents anyway so this is out of the question. I just love coloring my surroundings regardless of where I am. It just has to feel like home whether I'm at the office or some place.

6. I wish to own a resthouse by the beach. I'm drawn to the serenity that a pristine beach holds. Whenever I'm feeling stressed, my thoughts drift to Shangri-la Mactan. That place is paradise and I wish to have a small place of my own where I'm surrounded by nature and where the sounds of the waves kissing the shore calm me. Maybe my future husband or those who wish to woo me can gift me with one. :-)

7. I wish to try my hand in corporate training. I love being with people and I like sharing what I've learned. I never really got to practice my training in organization intervention back in college but it remains to be an interest to this day.

8. I wish to have more opportunities to organize events. I've always been invited to host weddings and other parties and I enjoy the preparations that go with it. I'm a person who thrives on drawing up lists and organizing things. Maybe I can be a wedding planner. Just maybe.

I hope this is not too much to ask dear Santa. I know you see me when I'm sleeping and you know when I'm awake. You know when I've been bad or good so I was good for goodness sake.

Love,
Melissa

Thank You!

It's very natural for me to question things and not see it from a perspective of a blessing or opportunity probably I'm driven by fear or ruled by a bad experience. I've always been told to count my blessings. When most people are gifted with opportunities of a lifetime, they jump up and down with joy whereas I, I fret, whine and sulk. Truly, I forget that I am blessed.

I was inspired by an article sent by my friend Rosie about Oprah's overwhelming gratitude. I've heard of her gratitude journals and I attempted to keep one but for one reason or another, I never put my thoughts down in writing. My evening prayer is always a brief "Thank you Lord for this day." Restless that I am these past few days, it would help to list down the things that I'm thankful for today.

1. I'm thankful to have a good relationship with my parents. We have our usual arguments and debates but I would say that these are normal for any parent-child relationship. I can discuss most things with Ma. Pa, on the other hand, provides wisdom from his experiences. I'm also thankful for my brother and sisters who I can openly share things with.

2. I'm thankful for coming nearer my goal of a balanced life. It took quite a number of years and streams of tears to juggle work, family, friends and my spirituality. It was no easy feat to integrate myself back in Manila. There were the usual questions of "Why am I here?" and "Is this what I really want?" but I overcame the restlessness and found my peace with what I have today.

3. I'm thankful for the opportunity to travel. I do a lot of travels whether for business or personal and I'm grateful to see what life is like outside of the comforts of my home. I may not have wholeheartedly initially accepted the offers that were given to me but it took acceptance and a reminder of where I am today and what I have accepted to do. I always remind myself that I always have a choice.

4. I'm thankful for Friday nights. Friday nights are MY nights whether I watch a movie, have dinner at one of my favorite restos or enjoy conversations while I quietly watch the cityscape from the bar window. I'm happy for the time I keep for myself and how I drown out the noise of the week to find peace within myself.

5. I'm thankful for true friends. I think my being centered has also something to do with the friends I keep. Being surrounded with the right people has surely made me a better person. There are friends who I don't see everyday but are nevertheless keeping my best interest in mind. As Shar has told me before, there is no need to explain to true friends. True friends will believe while your enemies will never believe anything you say no matter how truthful you say it.

6. I'm thankful for the job that I have. It gave me the opportunity to learn, to meet different people and most especially to grow. It has also given me the financial stability in order to enjoy the finer things in life. It has also given me the chance to share my blessings. It has been an endless stream of abundance that returned to me a hundredfold.

I'm pasting below the article from Oprah and here's hoping that you share it with others. Pass it on and see how two simple words can make a difference. Thank you.



THANKFULNESS
By Oprah Winfrey

I live in the space of thankfulness - and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.

That's because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.

'Say thank you!' Those words from my friend and mentor Maya Angelou turned my life around. One day about ten years ago, I was sitting in my bathroom with the door closed and the toilet lid down, booing and hooing on the phone so uncontrollably that I was incoherent.

'Stop it! Stop it right now and say thank you!' Maya chided. 'But - you don't understand,' I sobbed.

To this day, I can't remember what it was that had me so far gone, which only proves the point Maya was trying to make. 'I do understand,' she told me. 'I want to hear you say it now. Out loud 'Thank you.'' Tentatively, I repeated it: 'Thank you - but what am I saying thank you for?'

'You're saying thank you,' Maya said, 'because your faith is so strong that you don't doubt that whatever the problem, you'll get through it. You're saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds. You're saying thank you because you know there's no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things. 'Say thank you!'

So I did - and still do. Only now I do it every day. I kept a gratitude journal! , as Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests in Simple Abundance, list at least five things that I'm grateful for.

My list includes small pleasures: the feel of Kentucky bluegrass under my feet (like damp silk); a walk in the woods with all nine of my dogs and my cocker spaniel Sophie trying to keep up; cooking fried green tomatoes with Stedman and eating them while they're hot; reading a good book and knowing another awaits.

My thank-you list also includes things too important to take for granted: an 'okay' mammogram, friends who love me, 25 years at the same job (and loving it more than the first day I started), a chance to share my vision for a better life, staying centered, having financial security.

I won't kid you, having money for all the things I want is a blessing. But as I look back over my journals, which I've kept since I was 15 years old, 99 per cent of what brought me real joy had nothing to do with money. (It had a lot to do with food, however.)

It's not easy being grateful all the time. But it's when you feel least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you:PERSPECTIVE. Just knowing you have that daily list to complete allows you to look at your day differently, with an awareness of every sweet gesture and kind thought passed your way. When you learn to say thank you, you see the world anew.

And as Meister Eckhart so eloquently stated: 'If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'Thank you God, that would suffice.'

Have a safe and blessed day!

You like wine?

Do you drink wine or do you taste it? I have never been one who loves to drink wine, cocktails or any alcoholic drink at that. Until I was asked "You like wine?" Hmmm, I might as well give it a try. It never hurts to sip or for those who are really into it, GULP. You'd probably catch me giving a toast with cold water or iced tea or sipping with the innocent look of a 4-year old.

I've always associated wine with older people (sorry guys) and formal parties. Wine is for those who are either old and wrinkly and simply for the coiffed hair party people who enjoy the company of dahlings and palanggas. As they say, learning to appreciate the finer things in life is about acquired taste and experience. My interest in wine started in the year 2005. Being in the company of older people, Friday nights were spent over pica picas, cheese and dinners with what else? Wine.

Having had the chance to visit Napa Valley, I visited the vineyard of the oldest operating winery called Beringer. In tow was my mom, Uncle Gerry, Auntie Grace and her mom. It was a 2 hour drive from San Francisco and we sure did start the day early. We joined a wine tour for a good 30 minutes and we were shown how it's all done. Barrels and barrels of wine it is in a deep cold underground tavern. At the end of the tour, there was a bar for wine tasting. Here goes the part when all the oldies storm the bar to take a sip of the red and white wines. So how do you begin the art of wine tasting?

First, you look. Look at the color and it can tell you much about what you're about to taste. Red wines and white wines vary. A deeper red would be different from a paler red wine. I think it also goes with the aging. The second step is the smell. Swirl. Take a quick whiff and you'll have an initial impression. This of course is not similar to what we do in our exercises of inhaling and exhaling. After you've taken your first whiff, take another deeper whiff. Ok. Think of x-rays and the technician instructing you to "Hinga ng malalim." *sniiiiiiiiiiiif* Just sit back and enjoy the aroma. You'll be able to smell what's in your wine. It takes experience to tell the difference. Maybe this is where the oldies come into play. Years and years of swirling and whiffing and toasting. More wine please! For the last part, taste the wine. Take a sip. What you'll taste is a combination of sweetness and acidity. There's an intial taste and an after taste. It can be a combination of fruits so it is good to pay attention. For me, having gone through my look, smell and taste, I love white wines more than red wines. The taste is mild and just right to get me tipsy on a Friday night.


To enjoy your wine, you of course need the company of good friends. So raise those glasses and let's drink to friendship, men and the art of wine. Cheers! *hik!*