Friday, June 29, 2012

A healthy and happy talk

Last June 23, I went to school for an org meeting. And perhaps, I was also there to extend my research for a certain class report. Those were the only reasons. But at the end of the day, my mere purposes of going to school on a saturday were overpowered by such a quite short but definitely a healthy and happy talk.

My previous professor on History of Political Thought who taught us incredible lessons cleared out his busy schedule and agreed to spent time with us - his former scared-to-death students :)

It's just an amazing feeling, when all of a sudden, the person you were looking up to, the person you were all scared with, the person who seems to be so serious turned out to be someone so approachable, so down-to-earth, so open and so kind.

This man indeed taught us things not just about Socrates or Plato or Aristotle, he taught us how to think, how to behave and how to live using wisdom over appetite.

I know it's kinda late to post things like these since he's no longer our professor, however, that saturday we spent with him took us all back again on those "scary" but "awaited" days :)

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With these, allow me to share some related quotes.

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. - Khalil Gibran

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. - Karl Menninger

The true aim of every one who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to kindle minds. - F. W. Robertson

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward

Introductory Post

on June 27, 2012 in Open Letters with No comments

Hi there.
My title says it all.

This is just an introductory post for a new category I will be adding on my list. And that would contain my "OPEN LETTER" posts :) Letters that will be addressed to anyone, to anything.

That's all folks! :)

When an answer is no. (Expecting vs Hoping)

on June 11, 2012 in Life and Reality, Something personal with No comments

Did it ever happen to you when you've been praying too much for something and still you didn't get it?
When that's the only thing you want for yourself but didn't happen?
When you've tried so much to make it real but it didn't?

It is a sad feeling.
A very sad feeling.

It's like how Bradley won over Pacquiao. (for Pacquiao fans)
It's like how Heat won over Celtics. (for celtics fans)

These are moments that so many questions will linger on your mind.

Questions such as, Where did I go wrong? Don't I deserve it? What should I do now? Why did it happen? Why God didn't answer my prayers? Why do I always fail? Why does it have to be a no? Why, why, ... never ending why and never ending questions.

However, think more deeply.

While there are things you didn't had,
there are things you didn't hoped for but came
there are things that you didn't wished for but happened
there are things you never even imagined but transpired.

While you are bragging that life is unfair, be fair in the first place. Yes, it’s cliché, but it’s true that you must count what you have and not those you don’t have. You can never be happy if you cannot appreciate yourself and the things that you possess. So whenever you don’t succeed, whenever you get disappointed, whenever the result is not favorable to you, or whenever you feel you screwed up think of those great things that God has given you, things that you didn't really asked for but made you happy. Think of your failure as a challenge, as a motivator to make it better next time...

And these are the exact words I'm telling myself over and over. It's easy to say all these, but in reality, no matter how much you make yourself believe that it's okay, it still hurts.

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”
― Alexander Pope

That quote is just one of the many versions of saying stop expecting so you won't be hurt. I am disappointed, but in my defense, I believe I didn't expect I just hope. And that leads me to take a step back and question the difference between expecting and hoping.

And these are what i got.

Expecting usually refers to something happening that you know will happen.
While hoping means that you are waiting for something to happen, that might never happen.

Expecting means that the consequences are already formulated and the actual occurrence is forthcoming. Hoping is wishing for something to happen

Hope is something that you desire; whereas, expectation is something that you anticipate.

And with those I realized that expecting will hurt you more, than when you are just hoping. Because when you expect, you are already living on the idea that you'll really get something you want while when you hope, you're just merely wishing and you're still aware that it might not happen.

But at the end of the day, whether you expected for something or you just hoped for it when an answer is no, you'll still feel a sting of pain.

So sleep on it move on and start over, but this time more wisely.