Purple Butterfly

Learning, Loving and Living

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Learning , Loving and Living

A ninety-one year old woman died after living a long dignified life.

When she met God she asked him something that had long bothered her.

If Man was created in God's image, and if all men are created
equal, why do people treat each other so badly?

God replied that each person who enters our life has a unique
lesson to teach us. And it is only through these lessons that we learn about
life, people, relationships and God.

This confused the woman, so God began to explain.

When someone lies to you it teaches you that things are not always
as they seem. The truth is often far beneath the surface. Look beyond the
masks people wear if you want to know their heart. And remove your own
masks to let people know yours.

When someone steals from you it teaches you that nothing is forever.
Always appreciate what you have, for you never know when you might lose
it. And never, ever take your friends and family for granted because today
is the only guarantee you have.

When someone inflicts an injury upon you it teaches you that the
human state is a fragile one. Protect and take care of your body as best as
you can, it's the only thing you are sure to have here on earth.

When someone mocks you it teaches you that no two people are
alike. When you encounter people who are different from you, don't judge
them by how they look or act; instead base your opinion on the contents of
their heart.

When someone breaks your heart it teaches you that loving someone
does not always mean that person will love you back. But don't turn your
back on love because when you find the right person, the joy that one person
brings will make up for all the past hurts put together. Times ten.

When someone holds a grudge against you it teaches you that everyone makes
mistakes. When you are wronged, the most virtuous thing you can do is
forgive the offender without pretense. Forgiving those who have
hurt us is the most difficult and courageous thing Man can do.

When a loved one is unfaithful to you it teaches you that resisting
temptation is Man's greatest challenge. Be vigilant in your resistance
against all temptation. By doing so you will be rewarded with an
enduring sense of satisfaction far greater than the temporary pleasure by
which you were tempted.

When someone cheats you, it teaches you that greed is the root of
all evil.
Aspire to make your dreams come true, no matter how lofty they may
be. Do not feel guilty about your success, but never let an obsession
with achieving your goals lead you to engage in malevolent activities.

When someone ridicules you it teaches you that nobody is perfect.
Accept people for their merits and be tolerant of their flaws. Do not
ever reject someone for imperfections over which they have no control.
Upon hearing the Lord's wisdom, the old woman became concerned
that there were no lessons to be learned from Man's good deeds.

God replied that Man's capacity to love is the greatest gift he
has. At the root of all kindness is love, and each act of love also
teaches us a lesson.

The woman's curiosity deepening, God once again began to explain.
When someone loves us it teaches us that love, kindness, charity,
honesty, humility, forgiveness and acceptance can counteract all the evil
in the world. For every good deed, there is one less evil deed. Man alone
has the power to control the balance between good and evil, but because
the lessons of love are not taught often enough, the power is too often
abused.

When you enter someone's life, whether by plan, chance or
coincidence, consider what your lesson will be. Will you teach love or a
harsh lesson of reality? When you die will your life have resulted in more
loving or hurting? More comfort or pain? More joy or sadness? Each one of us
has power over the balance of love in the world. Use it wisely. Don't miss
an opportunity to nudge the world's scale in the right direction.

Pass this lesson of love on to those you love and to those you have hurt.
For each person who receives this, there will be a little less
evil in the world and a little more love.

-Author Unknown

Butterfly Tales
6:48 AM

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Relationships

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

TRUST is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation.

A telephone operator told me that one day she received a phone call. She answered, "Public Utilities Board." There was silence. She repeated, "PUB." There was still no answer. When she was going to cut off the line, she Heard a lady's voice, "Oh, so this is PU B.Sorry, I got the number from my Husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it is."

Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the couple if the telephone operator answered with just "hello" instead of "PUB".

NO POINTING FINGERS

A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?"
The father-in-law answered in a smile, "Never criticize your wife for her shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than
you."

We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mistake, he would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at. This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at ourselves.

If we forgive the others, others will ignore our mistake too.

CREATING PERFECT RELATIONSHIPS?

A person visited the government matchmaker for marriage, SDU, and requested "I am looking for a spouse. Please help me to find a suitable one." The SDU officer said, "Your requirements, please." "Oh, good looking, polite, humorous , sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my
leisure hour, if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest." The officer listened carefully and replied, "I understand you need television."

There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a blind wife and a deaf husband ,because the blind wife cannot see the faults of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of the wife. Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of perpetual perfect relationship. Unfortunately, when the excitement of love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed of roses. The nightmare begins.

NO OVERPOWERING

Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another,or demands too much. People in love tend to think that love will conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after marriage. Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person's character."

It is not easy to change. Thus, having high expectation on changing the spouse character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness.

It would be less painful to change ourselves and lower our expectations. .

RIGHT SPEECH

There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other,we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything without considering if it would hurt the other party.

A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted,"Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me.Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker." She answered ,"You should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he will be the millionaire and not you."

Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad relationship. It's like a broken egg - cannot be reversed.

PERSONAL PERCEPTION

Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home,a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey?"Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?" Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.

Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman."
The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders.

It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow b ridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.

Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..

BE PATIENT

This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.

Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, " Daddy,I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked, "but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home & committed
suicide.

Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or u wish to take revenge. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love. Trucks can be repaired.. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't. Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge.

People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.

Butterfly Tales
7:29 AM

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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

I'm such a blogger today. Blame it on low qeues. I'm tired of putting on my headset and waiting for a call. I can't wait to become a mentor or a supervisor soon. And I even said during my interviews that patience is a great attitude when it comes to becoming a sup or a mentor and here I am too impatient to take off the headset even for just awhile. I am definite that there is a reason for everything and I know that even though waiting has it's toll, it also has its own rewards. I am just glad that good things are happening and I am excited about it. I haven't received any word as to when my panel interview will take place but it gives me time to pray and prepare myself emotionally. Everything happened so fast and I hope to still keep in track of everything. *sigh* my Lindz just started his training today at 3AM so that leaves us no room or little room to see each other, we can always have Friday Lunch together, Sundays and Mondays. I sure am gonna miss him but I'll be able to adjust soon enough. 30 mins more and I'll be logging off...

Butterfly Tales
1:40 PM

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Honey...

Last night was one of the great nights I've had for the past few months. Well, mainly because I spent the time with 2 of my most favorite people in the world. My bestfriend Rox and my Beau Lindz. IF there's one thing that we all have in common, that is the love for music. The love for singing our hearts out. My beau has had a huge crush over Jessica Simpson that he always watches her music video whenever we go online. I just had to sing her song and do good at it. I got an applause after belting Jsimpsons song Take My Breath Away. The funny thing is, I've never sang the song but it seems to me that I've known it for a long time. You can't blame me if I've watched the video dozen of times with my beau.

Last night was all about friendship, love, music, coffee and doughnuts. I had the best of everything. At the end of the videoke, heavy rain poured out but it didn't dampen our spirits. We continued to laugh and sing while inside the cab, I'm sure the driver was annoyed but we were having so much fun. After giving my BFF a hug and said our goodbyes, I prodded my beau as to what terms of endearment we were going to use, well, definitely NOT sweetheart. EEOOOW! He wanted the term honey.. I know it's really sweet but it takes some getting used to cause we have been so used to calling each other by our first names. Just Lindz and Nadz, but then everyone calls us by that name. The reason behind why I want call him a cute name other than his name is that I want to be different from anyone else he knows. I want to be set apart from others and I am sure that I am set apart but I mostly want it to be distinct. *sigh* love gets me thinkin'... wehehehe

Butterfly Tales
1:00 PM

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There are so many things going in my life right now. I applied as a mentor a few days ago and they interviewed me just today. I got the results in an hour after the interview. I am quite excited. I also received email last week that my REM training or what they call as Representative Experience Management ( REM ) Training is for this week. A total of 20 hours coaching and feeback and a great opportunity to hone my skills as an agent. I met with my mentor Minette who is surprisingly connected with my former roomie Joy. It was a pleasant first day and plus the fact that I won't be taking calls for 20 hours this week. It's going to be tough afterwards since the supervisors, Team Managers and the mentors will be monitoring my progress. I am really challenged and glad that so mush is happening. The pressure is on. This time, I don't want to give to a lot of pressures.

Presenting the newest members of the elite

Fe Marie Gallarde

Rapunzel Lim

Ma. Eleonor Lu

Dax Ricarte Veloso

Marichel Silva

John August Flores

Julie Khristie Aragon

Geraldine Popoy

Giorgio Antonio Wei

Francis Israel Balleras

Christine Itang

Nadina Mae Fortich

Donaleen Labides

Rexy Rose Martinez

Enna Nessie Modequillo

Congratulations!!! Please be good examples to the rest of Expedia Cebu!!!

Butterfly Tales
12:33 PM

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the perfect blend

Saturday, June 10, 2006

hmmmnn... brewed coffee, gonuts donuts and my bestfriend Rox. *perfect* It's been awhile since I've had a coffee date with this gal and I say that it's always been perfect, whether it's a simple concoction of instant Nescafe coffee to the expensive yet worth-it starbucks coffee. The perfect pal who listens to even the most absurd and mundane events in my life and who values my opinions. So it really doesn't matter which coffee it is for as long as I'm with my BFF. Hehehe We talked a lot about life and we catched up on each others lives. She, a buzzing, business something and me, my newfound love and the challenges of a sup role. I want to remember what we talked about, mostly about being unique individuals and that one cannot say that one is normal and the other is insane. So, when she told me that she finds herself mostly on the extremes and therefore considers herself insane ( I hope I remembered it right), I replied with a "Ah, dearie, what is normal anyway?" I didn't phrase that statement out from one of Coelho's books but I've had that opinion since I realized that we all are different, unique, crazy and we all have quirkiness. Like what my BFF said, there's no cookie cutter pattern that we need follow, we are all like snow flakes... Beautiful in all unusual way. I won't stress much about our uniqueness, cause there are a lot of facts to prove that we are all odds in our own odd way yet of course, not neglecting the fact that we also share some things in common... We don't necessarily have to conform to other peoples standards even if that person means a lot to us, which brings me to another topic.

My beau and I are either two peas in a pod or from different poles. Just the other night, he pointed out that he does not want to conform to the standards of other people, to put it plainly, to the standards of the people who mostly influenced who I am. I love him for who he is, and simply the way he is so I have no plans of convincing him to adapt to my lifestyle. We don't always like the same things and we don't always jive. He's so funny, outgoing, easy to get along with, and simple. While I, on the other hand, possess an aura of sophistication and complexity. He loves to laugh at the most corny jokes, he laughs out so loud, he loves to make fun of me, enjoys simple things and he sings his heart out. I love to just sit down with coffee and doughnut, talk about deep things in life, read a really good book and philosophize. Yet, underneath all the differences, I am happy and I am content just being with him. He made realize a lot of things, I used to believe that my friends and my beau SHOULD get along very well but that SHOULD not be necessarily the case. There are things that I enjoy doing with my friends, that I can share with my friends alone and there are also things that I share and enjoy doing with LINDZ alone. That I don't have to struggle or force him to do those things that I enjoy with my friends that he himself is not comfortable doing. Even though I want to share the fun that I have when I'm with my friends, I can't always force things to happen. So, I no longer find it a struggle nor an issue if my beau will not go out with my friends. I am fine and I am happy keeping my friends and keeping beau.

He just got the job on the 6th floor from where I am actually working at. I can't believe that we'll be working closer now than before. We both prayed hard for him not to leave and surprisingly the answer to our prayers is a job just 4 floors on top of the same building. I will never forget how he moved in to a boarding house really close to mine so he can be near me and now, we'll be working really close. I hope for many good things in store for us ahead.

Butterfly Tales
9:19 AM

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steps to happiness

Steps to Happiness

Everybody Knows:
You can't be all things to all people.
You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.

So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use
them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being
you*.

Then:
You will have learned to accept your own
uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make
decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you'll be a most vital mortal.

Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to
cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down

Butterfly Tales
4:31 AM

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SUP interview

Saturday, June 03, 2006

4 more hours to go and my shift will end... I got this email from HR.

Hi,

Congratulations!!!

You have passed the HR interview. You will be receiving another email for your Panel interview schedule.

It's just one step closer to getting the sup role. I am praying heavily for it and people who know me well are backing me up on this. I know it's a lot of challenge but I am really up for it. I say that the bigger the challenge is the bigger room for improvement.

My head is about to crack. I haven't had a goodnight's rest since I came back from camp. Our street is celebrating its annual fiesta and since last week, there have been activities outside my boarding house. I have no choice but to endure the noise and the heat, they built the stage just in front of my boarding house. We have the VIP box, there is no need to brush elbows with other people on the street but believe me, I would rather enjoy a good night's rest. I'm just glad that it'll be over by tonight.

I wanted to take a candid shot of the people... It made me proud of being a Filipino. No matter how difficult the circumstances that we are into, Filipinos are fun-loving and it doesn't make much to make us laugh and have a good time. Despite the downpour of rain, people on the streets still managed to laugh and enjoyed the entire 2-week long celebration.

And I finally got to celebrate my birthday with my teammates, I had fun and there'll be more celebrations ahead...

Butterfly Tales
10:34 AM

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