Joy

Happy Monday! How important is trust to our happiness? It sounds fairly simple that when you are in a safe place, in a safe job, in a safe situation, it is easier to be happy. So let us just put that aside for now. I'd like to talk about the other side of the equation - the ability to trust and how it relates to our happiness. They always say that trust is earned. I however had experiences with people whose trusts are either too expensive or fragile that there seems to be no way you'd earn it. Those relationships are just... sad. I have three points to keep in mind regarding our ability to trust. 1. Do not pile up trust issues from past relationships with the new ones. I know we want to learn our lesson from past experiences. However, imagine fortifying yourself after every relationship that has broken your trust, and you won't only get a wall but a moat to protect you as well. You'd be so emotionally guarded there is no way a trusting relat

Happy Monday! Lately I have been attending event after event of groups of people who make a difference. I mean it. Institutions (made up of wonderful selfless people) that finance projects to send scholars to school, build schools, support communities, teach people skills to make them productive or to leverage a cause... I am blessed to be surrounded by them. I'll let you in on a secret. As I write this, I was suppose to say I do not actually do as these organizations do. I do not have a social enterprise, I do not work for a foundation, I do not yet run a big community. I just go with the flow. I participate when I can. I lend a hand here and there. I say yes to invitations to do things. However, even I have to admit that because I make myself present, no matter how little I contribute (time mostly) to the causes these organizations work on, I am already making a difference. Accidental I must say, but nonetheless contributory. I make myself available so t

Some years back, we had a student name Nimaya who says the darnest things.  One day, as I was sitting beside her in Art Class and I saw her drawing a butterfly inside a jar.  I complimented the drawing and said, “Nimaya, that is quite a drawing. However, I think you forgot to draw the lid.  You don’t want the butterfly to escape, do you?”  I was so proud of my imagination. Hah! Well, until  Nimaya quips, “ But Ms. Imelda, don’t you see, all the windows in this room are closed anyway, so don’t worry about the butterfly escaping.” And I thought I had imagination! For us adults, reality becomes integral to the way we interpret the world that we have lost that lens that governs all transformation:   Our capacity to believe. We no longer believe easily. Everything needs to be proven, measured by reason, statistics and fortified by testimonies.   However, Metamorphosis happens when despite being fat, sluggish caterpillars, we believe we can become butterflies no matter how fa