THE GREATEST ADVICE

by Rick Warren

from the book The Purpose Driven Life

To make yourself happy, pursue your passions & be the best of what you can be.

Simplify your life. Take away the clutter.

Get rid of destructive elements: abusive friends, nasty habits, and dangerous liaisons.

Don’t abandon your responsibilities but don’t overdose on duty.

Don’t date because you are desperate.

Don’t marry because you are miserable.

Don’t have kids because you think your genes are superior.

Don’t philander because you think you are irresistible.

Don’t associate with people you can’t trust.

Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. Don’t pretend.

Don’t dictate because you are smarter.

Don’t demand because you are stronger.

Don’t sleep around because you think you are old enough & know better.

Don’t hurt your kids because loving them is harder.

Don’t sell yourself, your family, or your ideals.

Don’t stagnate!

Don’t regress.

Don’t live in the past. Time can’t bring anything or anyone back.

Don’t put your life on hold for possibly Mr. Right.

Don’t throw your life away on absolutely Mr. Wrong because your biological clock is ticking.

Learn a new skill.

Find a new friend.

Start a new career.

Sometimes, there is no race to be won, only a price to be paid for some of life’s more hasty decisions.

To terminate your loneliness, reach out to the homeless.

To feed your nurturing instincts, care for the needy.

To fulfill your parenting fantasies, get a puppy.

Don’t bring another life into this world for all the wrong reasons.

Don’t live life recklessly without thought and feeling for your family.

Be true to yourself.

Don’t commit when you are not ready.

Don’t keep others waiting needlessly.

Go on that trip. Don’t postpone it.

Say those words. Don’t let the moment pass.

Do what you have to, even at society’s scorn.

Write poetry.

Love Deeply.

Walk barefoot.

Dance with wild abandon.

Cry at the movies.

Take care of yourself. Don’t wait for someone to take care of you.

You light up your life.

You drive yourself to your destination.

No one completes you - except YOU.

It isn’t true that life does not get easier with age.

It only gets more challenging.

Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose your capacity to love.

Pursue your passions.

Live your dreams.

Don’t lose faith in God.

Don’t grow old. Just grow YOU!

When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back.

Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give to someone is your time.

Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is T-I-M-E because the essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves.

God is good all the time!

Christmas Party sa Gapo 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL BATCH 80. Here are comments about the just concluded Christmas Party in Olongapo attended by 21 members of the batch with Anna, Sol, and Jong comming from out of town just to be with thier batchmates to celebrate the Christmas.

Oo nga Rica grabe talagang saya ng ating christmas party to the max, kahit napuyat ako at kinabukasan pasok sa trabaho okay lang sulit naman, I felt sorry sa ating mga kabatchmates na hindi umaatend sa ganitong gathering they always missed a big part of their lives. I hope everybody who are still in gapo or yung mga nagbabakasyon dito will join us next time para mas masaya wag po kayong mag alala dahil wala pong discrimination na nangayayari succesful ka man o hindi, mayaman o mahirap, from higher or lower section, kapamilya or kapuso lahat pantay pantay. Lahat po tayo ay anak ng Diyos. Masaya talaga promise. To our president slamat for posting our pics. Hey lola myrna nagwala ka na nanaman talaga itong aming friend hindi mapigilan but we truly enjoyed your ago go go dancing part. Salamat din kay grace sa kanyang masasayang palaro s uulitin ulit. Syempre kay Susan who keeps her house open sa lahat ,salamat mama susan and husband ronald for being hospitable wag kayong magsasawa. Rica salamat din pala dahil ikaw ang matiyagang nag organize kung anong food ang dadalhin namin. Salamat kay Lord at sa lahat for making the party possible. Cora

Weng, salamat sa comment. Sayang, wala ka sa gathering, miss na rin kita. Sa sobrang laki ko nga walang nakakilala sa akin except si Cliff. Super enjoy ang reunion, para bang ang feeling ko bumalik kami sa high school days kaya lang for adults only ang mga games. Sabi nga ni Mr. Prez, matatanda na tayo kaya puro green na ang theme ng games natin. Enjoy pati husband ko sa mga happenings. Kaya lang, next time I have to diet na kasi di na daw niya ako sasamahan pag ganito pa rin ako kahealthy! Susme! Di ako magkasya sa plastic rope. But I admire Myrna the most upon learning about her condition. Di pa rin nagbabago ang grace ni Dersie sa pagsasayaw, pati na iyong ibang dancing partners ni Raf. You have to see their entries sa YouTube. To all the beautiful and handsome batchmates I met again, thank you for making the occassion memorable for me. Anna Sumeracruz-Dimapilis

Hi Weng, Thanks for the comment. Sana your're here para enjoy ka rin. Ang gulo namin hehehe.... I really enjoyed a lot di nasayang ang pag-uwi ko. Thanks to everybody. Hoping to see you on our next reunion. Sol

Dear batchmates sa Gapo, ang saya naman ng party nyo.... happy to see you all enjoy..... good to see you anna, I didnt recognize you sa salamin mo, bagets ang dating, sana mapadalas ang pagsama mo sa gatherings ng grupo.... and to the boys, kahit konti lang kayo, kitang kita ang saya, all the girls..... walang kupas.... can't wait to see you all in you tube, don makikita ang gulo nyo..... kakamiss, .... Weng

We are 21 all in all. memory gap na yan kapatid. sign of old age nah. wag ka naman pahalata. hehehe.... nabubuking eh. sabi ko sau member pa tau ng "SK" (SOBRA KUARENTA). we had so much fun and enjoy talaga to the max. ANG SAYA NG MGA PALARO NI MAMA GRACE... sobrang saya!!! grabeeeeh!!! sa muli mga kabatchmate. .. kitakitz uli tau. Rica

Thank you sa lahat ng dumating, Rica, Susan , Nona, Myrna, Mercy, Bunny, Grace, Dersie, Cora, Thelma, Sol, Anna, Amy, Erlinda, Jean, Ed, Raf, Jong, Cliff, Arlie, at Francis at kung meron man po akong di nabangit, paki bangit nyo na lang po...pacensya na po at tumatanda na. Yung ibang pictures, paki post na lang nina rica , susan, sol, anna, nona, mercy at cora.yung pong video ni myna, paki abangan sa you tube. i po post ko po. kay rica naman po yung video ni raf at ni dersie, paki abangan din po yun. ( parental guidance recommended) marami pong salamat. Francis Rivero

Oceanside Reunion 2008: Chairmans' Note

Dear Batchmates,

Everyone is quiet, trying to recover from Saturday's get together..Maraming salamat sa mga umattend ng potluck, it was a pleasurable evening and it's really good to see everyone again, it's been a while since our last gathering.

I especially want to thank Jen for spending time with us, hindi ka pa rin nagbabago, mabeauty pa rin and still kalog just like I remember you way back when..

Alex thank you for bringing your high tech gadgets to capture the moments, your officially the Director of video and photography, thanks again.

Also, besides a lot of catching up, eating, singing and watching the fight, we talked about the upcoming SJS (U.S.) annual reunion in 2010, batch 80 is going to be one of the sponsors for that year. We elected a group of people that will lead us for that event,
namely:

For President - Abdon Pugal + Co Chair
We have 3 Vice Presidents
For San Diego - Susan Caluza
For L.A. - Alex Pineda
For the North - Vic Tisuela
For Secretary - Cecilyn
For Treasurer - Shirley
Ambassador to Batch 80 PI - Jen

Also in attendance:
Elmer
Noel
Michael
Bennette
Amber with wife Ofie
Jun Caluza and Susan, Ron with Irma and Jaron
Butch with Rose, Sean and Stephanie

Each region has a point of contact, for better communication.
Kung meron kayong question, please e-mail and stay tune.

Happy Holidays!

Butch

Conceptual Healing

Magandang araw mga kapatid.... kamusta na kayong lahat.... Ang lahat man ay abala, hopefully you find time to read my sharing today, for this one has really blessed me and I want to share this to all of you.... first part pa lang ito..

We have just finished having our annual Tagalog retreat we call Tagalog Mission. Fr. Arlo Yap SVD is a truly amazing Retreat Master. Truly overwhelming, hope you will all be blessed too.... ang di ko na lang ma-share is the relections and jokes (which really filled the church with so much laughter) he prepared during the whole 2 hours no dull moment ... this may be long but worth reading.... God bless to all!

email from my colleague tess....

He (Fr Arlo Yap) says “maraming namamatay sa maling akala” - a lot of people die because of wrong thoughts or thinking and it’s all in the mind!

The way we think is the way we feel
The way we feel is the way we BECOME.

Happy old age for you and for your parents means enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Four Considerations to have a Happy Old Age

1. Take good care of your Health
You have a lot of money to buy food of any kind but you are not allowed to eat what you want because you have diabetes or other diseases, you have a very huge farm/ hacienda but you can’t enjoy it because you have rheumatism or you’re blind etc. You really work hard to earn and get all you wanted in life but at the end you can’t enjoy it, how can you say you have a happy old age?

2. Take care of your family
A. Take care of your children
It’s the way how parents teach their children by example. The legacy parents can give to their children is not really a good education it’s only secondary but knowing that before you leave this earth you are so sure that your children are helping and loving each other and you cant see any selfishness in them, enough for you to have a peace of mind in your old age.

B. Take care of your Spouse
Sooner or later even you have a dozen children, you and only your spouse will end up living together, your children will soon have their own family to care of. Learn to nurture more the sweetness and love you have when you’re only in your courtship or GF/BF stage. It’s really good to know that you have somebody TO GROW OLD WITH, to add to this try to listen to a song Grow Old with you with these lyrics:

I want to make you smile whenever you're sad

Carry you around when your arthritis is bad

All I want to do is grow old with you

I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches

Build you a fire if the furnace breaks

Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you

I'll miss you

Kiss you

Give you my coat when you are cold

Need you

Feed you

Even let ya hold the remote control

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink

Put you to bed if you've had too much to drink

I could be the man who grows old with you

I wanna grow old with you

3. Take care of your Properties
For parents, divide/arrange the properties you have for your children before your children ask you to do it for you, as if they wanted you guys to die, hehehehe =) and learn to save for you and your spouse for your old age so whenever you need something to buy for a medicine, hospitalization etc, you don’t have to ask your children.

For sons/daughters, what ever you received is your privilege not your want. Never ask your parent’s decision especially when it comes to inheritance, they know what’s best and who need most of that.

4. Serve the Lord in all the way you can
Remember whatever you have : material things, talents, family, friends, job, colleague, struggles in life, lessons are all from God and God alone!

Well, that’s all for Talk 1

Rowena Salvador

Mayonaise Jar and 2 cups of Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided,"I want you to recognize that this jar represents our life.

The golf balls are the important things - God,family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play With your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. "Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled.

"I'm glad you asked". It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

(this was shared by "thelma Galvez-Curiano" a while back. it is a simple reminder of how life should be treated. there were other versions of this but i like this one the most.)

A Prayer

Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen!

(passed on by Weng S. through email)

This is basically true but a bit modified. The following is the prayer as read by Pastor Wright in January of 1996 on that Opening of Kansas Senate.

Heavenly Father we come before you to ask your forgiveness. We seek your direction and your guidance. We know your words says " Woe to those who call evil good." But that's what we've done.

We've lost our spiritual equilibrium. We have inverted our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

We've exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We've neglected the needy and called it self preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. In the name of choice, we have killed our unborn. In the name of right to life, we have killed abortionist.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abuse power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor's possession and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, oh, God, and know our hearts today. Try us. Show any wickedness within us. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless this men and women who have been sent here by the people of the State of Kansas, and that they have been ordained by you to govern this great state.

Grant them your wisdom to rule. May their decisions direct us to the center of you will. and, as we continue our prayer, and as we come in out of the fog, give us clear minds to accomplish our goals as we begin this legislature. For we pray is Jesus' name, Amen.

Reverend Wright is not the original. It was a version of one written by Bob Rusell in 1995.

(from snopes.com)