UST @ 400

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI giving his message for the Quadricentennial year of the...

Pontifical

                   Royal

                                    Catholic

University of Santo Tomas!

GO USTe!!!!

The Universe On Its Knees...

Why You Don't Get What You Want: You're CONFLICTED (by Bo Sanchez)

As long as you are clear and you have a well- defined goal or wish in life...

....the universe will conspire and will willingly give that to you!

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Surrender:

Lord, I receive every blessing, every miracle, and every healing that you want to give to me today.  And because of this, I will become a rich blessing to others.

Lord, I surrender my future to You.  I place my entire life into Your hands.

I also surrender my family and friends into Your care, knowing that You love them more than I can ever love them.  I pray all these with a trusting heart, in Jesus name, Amen!

Heal our land...

EDSA-Buendia Bombing

Dear friends, let us pray for those who died in this incident...Let us also pray for peace in our country.

Mother Mary, we beg you...bring peace to our family, to our country and to the whole world...

Teaching is a gift...and a task

I am a teacher, a new one to be exact. And I just realized that there is a lot more to discover when it comes to the teaching profession.

When I was still in college, our professors in our Education courses would always tell us that teaching is an art. It is also a gift, that is developed through the years. At this point in time, I have been teaching for almost two years. I cannot say that I have fully mastered this art and this gift. All this time, I thought I have been doing well. I never imagined that it would take a student for me to realize how much gift and skill is needed to be a success inside the classroom. 

Our school has this Student Teacher program where chosen students will be replacing us for three days. All we have to do is to observe as the chosen student teacher does his or her thing. Today is the first day of that program....and having just three classes today, I managed to observe just those three classes. As I watched my student teachers handle the class, I have come to realize that for the past two years, I have been doing the same thing. I ask myself now...Do I handle my classes well? Do I always know what (and what not) to say inside the classroom? As I prepare my lesson plans and my visual aids, do I always think of what would capture the interest of the students? I never realized how tough it really is to just handle the class. 

It's more than that.

It is also about making practically everything relevant to them, always interesting, always fun. However, its not always the case. Inside the classroom, students are varied in interest and learning styles. At times, it would be very difficult to cater to all of them. This is where the 'art' of teaching comes into the picture: how can the teacher manage to cater to the varied interests of the students in his or her class. This 'art' is again not something one can learn overtime. It is largely based on the teacher's varied experiences inside the classroom. To enrich this experience, the teacher should not only deliver the lesson, but he must know his students really well. It's not always about mastery of the subject matter...books can provide that. However, mastery of the students cannot be known by merely reading books; it can be learned really well by getting to know the students from their family background down to their strengths and weaknesses. 

Teaching is not merely a battle of cognition. It is also a matter of how this cognition that is shared to them can make a huge difference in their lives. Learning is not merely about good grades. It is about getting better grades outside of the classroom - how they apply it to their own experiences. A teacher is not just tasked to talk about pure academics in class. He is in charge of the life of the students inside the classroom. A single word can either make or break a student. A teacher is not only mentally competent and mature, but also spiritually and emotionally mature as well. Teaching is an art, and every student a teacher encounters is a canvas waiting to be enhanced through his years of schooling. And no one can paint that canvas very well except the teacher.

Let GO and let GOD! :)

How valuable are you?

I heard from my favorite preacher Joel Osteen that scientists made an attempt to compute how much the average human would cost - every single cell, atom, tissue, bone, etc. It showed that the average human body would cost around 6 Million Dollars, or 258 Million Pesos... :O Wow!!! that's some amount...who would've believed that we are actually multi-millionaires! :O

And take note...that's only the amount computed for an AVERAGE person... ;) peace out! :)

I guess this is enough to make us realize how valuable we are; how much value God put into us. I think that's how we should put it. :)

Putting that aside, how valuable are we?

I have realized that we are very valuable and special, no one should take that away from us. No one in this world is licensed to take away the value and dignity we have. The same preacher said that we seemingly base our values on the wrong places. We base our value and self-worth to what other people think about us. So, if these people say that "you are not good enough", "you are not that handsome/ beautiful", "you are not talented", your self-worth will also go down the drain because again, you depended your value on what other people tell about you.

And I agree to that. For years, I have depended on what other people think of me as my basis for my self-worth. As a result, I think I never fully realized how valuable I am because I would always hear negative comments about me...even as we speak. I've had my dose of people looking down on me...ignoring me every single day, people who single me out, and so on. And I tell you, its a pain everyday...it is a constant struggle trying to get the approval of others (who tend to disregard me anyway). And I tell you, it sucks...it is tiring, it is stressful. No wonder I lost (for  a moment) my motivation in doing things. I based my value on the wrong people, on the wrong places.

Mr. Osteen suggests that we do away with such thinking. Base our value and self-worth on someone who chooses us, approves us, and loves us unconditionally:

GOD.

God created us in His own image and likeness, we are chosen, we are His prized possessions. He approves of us, we are uniquely special. For our Creator, we are just perfect. Our unique characteristics are important to Him. We are unique, special and treasured. :) And this alone, my friends would be enough for me to say that there is no room for insecurity in our lives. Even if others reject you, even if others don't see your worth...God, our Creator is constant in making us feel and understand that we are His Masterpiece. 

Celebrate the people who celebrate your existence. Shun any thought of negativity in your mind due to your past experiences and what other people tell about you. Join people who love you and care for you because of YOU. 

Don't dwell on your past experiences that caused you pain.

Don't dwell on people who tell you that you are not special and not good enough.

Dwell on people who celebrate your existence. Dwell on people who celebrate your personality. Remind yourself that you are God's masterpiece, you are chosen, prized and cherished. Your value is much more than the negative things the people around you are telling you. Fill your life with positivity and gladness. :)

Let GO and let GOD! :)

Change?

The only constant thing in the world is CHANGE.

Why is it so difficult to accept changes in our lives?

Simply because we are so attached to a lot of things, we are afraid to accept changes that might affect certain aspects of our lives that we are attached to.

However, whether we like it or not, changes will always come into our lives - at any given time.

I am happy where I am right now...or...I am just simply convincing myself that I am?

My mind is now on a constant battle between staying or leaving. Bummer. I hate it when I have to make such tough choices. Whatever I choose, it will surely bring about huge changes in my life.But what can I do? Life's full of choices...no one can avoid this fact.

I guess at this point in time, I just have to see the joy in what I am doing, and bring back the vigor that was once in my system when I first got here. I need it back...badly....

Life is what you make it...

Life.

It is a gift given to us by our Almighty God. Freely given, free of charge. However, there is just one simple condition so that we could always enjoy the benefits of this gift:

Take GOOD care of it.

I mentioned earlier that life is a gift from God. However, sad as it may seem, for others, this very life and existence that was freely given is a CURSE for them. And this gives them 'enough' reason to end their very existence. And yet, there are a lot there who, despite the fact that they still wish to live longer, their lives are taken away from them - when they LEAST expect it. :(

If that is the case, what are we to do with this very existence that was freely given to us? Simple.

Make the most out of it.

But I wonder...is it really that simple to make the most out of our existence?

We can always find a lot of reasons to tell everyone that life is meaningless, useless and just some crap that we deal with everyday: stress at home, stress in school, stress at work, stressful classmates and co-workers, financial stress, and so on. The list seems ENDLESS...we just can't find a reason to SMILE...

Yet, one principle comes to mind:

Happiness is a CHOICE.

No one in this world can REALLY make us happy except OURSELVES. No one in this world can calm you down and snap you off your "sober mode" unless you choose to.

At this point, you might say: "that's easy for you to say, since you are not in our situation...!"

Let me tell you this: I have had my dose of moments where I felt down, lost, defeated...but what spells the difference? Why am I still existing?

I chose to be happy.

I picked myself up after falling, and moved on. And if I fall again, I do the same thing. If i fall really hard, I don't choose to stay there. If others extend a hand to help me rise again, I'd gladly reach for his hand and guess what? Move on again. It is never easy all the time, yet it is our choice to be happy that gives it a different perspective. And if we continue to practice this in our very lives, we can find that life will just be a breeze...storms may come, but you can just brush it off. Your joy will be your most powerful weapon in facing all the storms of your life. And eventually, this joy that you have with you can help you build an 'army' of people who share that same joy and happiness and you will find yourself getting through without sweat. :)

Does stress pull you down? Well, continue to be stressed!

STRESS this point to yourself: BE HAPPY, BE HAPPY, BE HAPPY!


Let GO and let GOD!