Gratitude Challenge: Day 15

I am too busy to even think about what I cannot do. There is so much more that I can do and have to do. -Auj Lazaro

I have always been interested with reading biographies without slipping on the usual mistakes of imitating how they have lived their lives' destinies. In fact, I have been recently being engrossed with watching the old episodes of Inside The Actors' Studio through YouTube.

So I thought of answering James Lipton's famous ten questions that are known to define better the real person inside all of us.

Here's my take on those ten:

1. What is your favorite word?

>> Shine.

2. What is your least favorite word?

>> curse.

3. What turns you on?

>> An astounding level of confidence that is so great, it influences me.

4. What turns you off?

>> A know-it-all. Useless for an opinion.

5. What is your favorite curse word?

>> Shit.

6. What sound or noise do you love?

>> Cheering of crowds.. gives me good goosebumps.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?

>> A loud cry in agony. A wail.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

>> A farmer.

9. What profession would you not like to attempt?

>> An engineer.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

>> "Finally.. you have arrived."

I have answered more tests after this set of ten. Here are the results:

And to hear from other people, the best descriptions I got were ironically from those whom I have always disagreed greatly with in the past:

IB Balicanta said:

They say, The sensed absence of Aujan and her sensed presence amount to much of the same thing, only in reverse. You start to hum. Aujan rises like a Phoenix from a burning pyre on the beach..

My Humanidades professor from UP said:

As shakespeare would have put it if he had as much talent as me "Verily, aujan is an utterly knockout"...

By the way, I think IB is close to being alcoholic and that professor is gay.. talk about making sense. *lol*

But here's the best description of myself if I would take it from the length of time I have seen myself in a whole new different view being soaked in Dori's love:

I think I am something more convoluted and ultimately private. But there is something that we know about each other that nobody else can ever capture. The essence of a delicate time full of ardor. I am simply at my best always when I am with her.

:)

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” - Dr. Seuss

Dori says...

I am..

a believer of giving back and paying it forward.

a lover of nature, thus hearing the trees speaking, the water whispering, and the flowers chit-chatting.

a traveler, a wanderer, an adventurer, enjoying every life journey.

an advocate of peace, creativeness and simplicity.

a worry-freak-at-times optimist, ironic it is.

an affectionate partner who's ready to listen, understand and learn the intricasy of love.

a mom-at-work, getting a grip on motherhood and raising a school-age kid who does not want to go to school.

a striving cook who can concoct edible-enough dishes that will challenge the palate.

a daughter who's assisting her mom into joyful geezerhood.

a supportive sibling who's willing to lend an extra hand.

a warm friend on a winter day.

a witness to the Lord's mighty grace and provision.

a wonderful creation of the Almighty who's trying everyday to give Him back all the glory.

Self-awareness is freedom. It leads us to a purposeful existence and to create updated versions of ourselves. All it takes is for us to be open and accepting, saying Yes to life.

Gratitude Challenge: Day 14

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

- Albert Schweitzer

Dori says...

It's not that we find being grateful a drag, it's even the contrary, but this challenge has taken us already two months instead of two weeks so far simply because we cannot put into words precisely how overwhelming people and events become especially now that our gratitude eyes are widely open. But then again, the cynical would say I'm just making a justifiable excuse here.

Excuses. We're so full of them. They say it's the key to failure when you find leeways and extensions a constant companion and that's true enough. In transcription, we were taught if you want to be an excellent transcriptionist, you have to do it right the first time, always. This means your output quality is such that it can go straight to the client without the need to pass through an editor or a second person. Realistically and applying it as a life principle in general, this is a tough act to do on a daily basis, but people who excel do tend to rise above that challenge and win themselves the price of being extraordinary. Of course, this would definitely also entail wising up and guarding against the works of the devil, namely sloth, greed, pride and the other deadly sins.

So on with this challenge and on with leading exemplary lives by going back to basics, loving generously and giving of ourselves at all times possible, kicking away excuses. Love is, after all, the reason that we were created, right?

And here's the image depicting the outlier in Auj.. I love her for this. \m/

Belated Valentine's 'ya all ;-).. and Melai, you rock, on with girl power and being so out of the ordinary!

Auj says...

For everything that I am and I am going to be.

To live and enjoy giving.

To be indebted of a thousand influences.

To the miraculous creation of my being – the million transformations and creative energies.

For the roof over my head.

For everyone who supported when I still did not know better.

For the scars that have left me to be a better person.

For the truth that I exist.

For the loving source of the Lord behind everything.

For the beauty around me that is immaculate.

For the opportunity to feel complete.

For the poorest of times which made me feel rich.

For the small comforts of my everyday.

For forgiveness.

For the underlying belief that everything exists for good.

For carrying on to live through so much pain and embrace life all over again.

For the cornerstones of love and peace and joy.

For the communication lines with my Creator.

For Dori's reciprocation of love.

For the quality of work.

For the depth of my experiences.

For the orchestration of God’s masterplan.

For all these, I am grateful.

Being grateful refined my capacity to love and live; and develop the power within myself that no one else can posses but me. This particular gift of the Lord is the very thing that makes me laugh, write, cry, speak, live and love without any inhibition.

These make food taste better, burdens lighter, and colors brighter. And I know that for as long as I would keep my focus on these things, this seed of gratitude will expand and attract more blessings and prosperity in my life.

This is the essence of all that this gratitude challenge has to offer.

I am grateful.

Gratitude Challenge: Day 13

A mother's touch can soothe a thousand aches. She's the world's best guide when your feet are all grown.

Dori says...

I come from a big family, but now as I'm adding more years into my cap, I'm realizing that at the end of the day, it does not matter if you have a dozen kids or just one. I've seen the pattern from my own parents and my siblings as their children leave home in search of that elusive joy of finding themselves and settling on their own.

The thing is we all grow up whether we like it or not, by voluntary decision or forced by neglected circumstances. By then, even without realizing it, change changes us and we grow mature, hopefully. If not, we have to ready ourselves for just a vicious cycle of life lessons slapped on our face until we finally get it.

I know I'm supposed to reflect on three family members or friends for this day's challenge, but nanay is like a 3-in-1 package worth all the acclaim and honoring for a life well lived. I am a privileged witness to how nanay went through tough family challenges and managed to raise 5 uniquely different children the best way she could. She barely finished school, but she dreamt bigger for us and realized that by sending us all to college with her meager income as a dressmaker which she had been doing since she was 16. I'd be so blessed to inherit her faithful resilience, even just half of it.

Nanay now lives independently and I cease not praying that she never feel alone or lonely even if she's left by herself as all of us her children have come to live on our own but never apart from her. She will always be revered as the mother who reflected the Lord's goodness and unfailing love.

Yes, I am 100% mama's girl. :-)

Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. - Deu 24:19

Auj says..

Yes, it is like getting married and raising children. It is as tough as that.

I experienced early on how hard it is to live with some stranger you fell in love with under one roof. Share in one bed. Eat in one table. And all that concept of trying your best to live with people who you never knew as family (but would eventually turn out to be your family) appearing too daunting always made me stop believing in getting married.

It is hard to tie people's differences to have a more peaceful setting to live in everyday. It's hard to keep everyone from balancing well so that our boat would not capsize. Or worse, to keep anyone from jumping off the boat.

I have had my own share of being at both ends. During the days when I was still staying with my family, I was a witness to endless count of people we have welcomed in our home to render them a refreshing start and an all new take on their lives. When I started wandering on my own, I became the stranger seeking a portion of shelter in others' homes. And now, that I have been blessed with a pad that is good enough to give me peace, I now act as the owner of my home.

It is never a bliss to keep up with any of Dori's, Pio's and Balbs' sudden tantrum syndromes. But it is with these people that the Lord has given me this home. And everyday, my joy rises over their human frailties reflecting my own. In reality, all four of us are God's orphans. It is not just Pio. And I rejoice over this fact knowing that God blesses the orphans who have no other person to depend on but God and the works of His Hands upon ours.

Everyday I learn from them without them even knowing it. And by this time, each time they would wonder how the hell do I get to know a lot of things, I hope they would realize it was because of them too -- and that I work hard for them too aside from just making my salary day a fulfilled 'Praxedes Lazaro Day'.

I promised the Lord before He gave me this home that I would treat the people who would live with me with utmost respect, love and patience. That I won't ever be rude and impatient. But instead, I would always fill the home with words that would heal and not hurt. That I will never treat people who would enter my home the distorted ways I was welcomed in numerous other homes I have been in my whole lifetime.

This is the House of the Lord. The Lord treats the people who live in it with extra care. I will too. :)