Live, Laugh, Learn and LOVE!

TO LOSE BALANCE SOMETIMES FOR LOVE IS PART OF LIVING A BALANCED LIFE!

There goes my favorite line from the movie: Eat, Pray, Love... that made my way to self forgiveness, loving myself more and obtaining the balance I needed in life to keep moving towards self fulfillment and happiness!


The movie itself made me realized how to forgive myself and mostly love myself more and go back to the center where God and peace can be found. This is the best way for me to find that balance I have been searching for. Yes we all go through failed relationships and experience pain and sadness but there comes a point in your life when you are just exhausted giving love that you find yourself unloved....this is the time where you learn to stop, let go and walk away from the drama that's making you miserable. It's going to be a challenge to keep walking without looking back but realize that you are doing yourself a favor. Start by accepting the situation... pour it all out until the day that you become numb about it... embrace brokenness and surrender it all to God. 

From my experience of brokenness I have experienced Gods surprises from the moment I surrendered everything to him, He opened me to the best things in life. Believe that He puts certain people in our lives to mold us to be better persons because He certainly is preparing us for the Best of the Best in our future. Forgive yourself and the other person or persons involved and give yourself that peace of mind you deserve. Remember to value yourself and give yourself a chance to be loved again without forcing it. You deserve a Love that is given out of free will from your partner and perhaps the phase of being single is a calling from God too to renew your relationship with him. Respect yourself and acknowledge that your past is a stepping stone for you to your goals...because this is just one of Gods test for us to grow. Don't jump too easily on a new relationship just to forget your past because it wont simply help.... its best to love and complete yourself first and by the time your ready trust that God has the RIGHT ONE ready for you too. Its all about being the person God wants you to be and having an overflowing love that you can share with that person. Everyone of us gets through difficulties but put in mind that if God brings you to it, He will certainly bring you through it. Sit back, relax, enjoy life and open your hearts and eyes to His surprises (nothing beats his miracles in life).

A good friend once told me that Life is not all about Love...there are some realities and responsibilities that we need to do to be fulfilled in this lifetime. True enough that Life is about living each day to the fullest.... and Love in Life is NOT only by having that perfect relationship (with the RIGHT ONE).... there is also what we call Love for Yourself (by fulfilling yourself) and Love for your neighbors. Now that's what i call living a balanced Life - Trusting God, Loving yourself and Sharing that Love to Others.

‎I've come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call "The Physics of The Quest"- a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: "If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting(which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments)and set out on a truth-seeking journey(either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared - most of all -to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself....then truth will not be withheld from you." -- Eat, Pray, Love!

Ending the Year 2012 with a Leap of Faith! (",)

Year 2012 has turned out to be my nightmare .... yet this year has taught me more about MYSELF. Things I never taught I can be and I will be because of the situations that God has allowed me to experience. 

This year I've learned:

1. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to Disagree. I have learned that sometimes its better to apologize than to be always right and fight. Its not a weakness, rather than it is a sign that you are more understanding than someone else.

2. Silence the Mind. This way it gives you time to think before saying or doing something. Peace of Mind is the best gift you can ever give to yourself because in doing so you can accomplish many things more efficiently and effectively.

3. Don't compare yourself with other because you don't have any idea what their journey is all about. God gives us different challenges depending on what we need to improve and realize for ourselves.

4. Embrace Brokenness. Everyone has been broken and has experienced pain. The best remedy is to go back to the center with God and submit to him your broken heart and trust that in His time He will give you a new heart that's fulfilled and more spirited.

5. Let Go. Just keep loving and when its not for you, you have to learn to let it go. Don't push yourself to something you are not welcomed because it gives more frustrations to yourself. 

6. Love yourself. Make yourself happy and fulfilled before you can finally share it with someone. Find yourself and find your balance.

7.  and to Believe in Miracles.... every thing and every one changes.... but if you have that strong Faith in God, He will reward you with something far better you wished for.

This 2012 has made me realized that despite the trials I had to face, I was never alone on it...I had Gods grace with me all along. I chose to fight for something that wasn't given to me yet I knew in myself that I did a good fight. I was scared the entire year and the greatest lesson was to JUMP INTO THE LEAP OF FAITH. LET GO and LET LIFE HAPPEN! Trust Gods will and let Him bring you life's surprises. 

When I look back on my life, I see pain, mistakes and heart ache. When I look in the mirror, I see strength, learned lessons, and pride in MYSELF.

Cheers to a Better, Bigger, Brighter 2013 Everyone!

A Leap Of Faith

A great man once told me that the greatest lesson in his life is not to let anyone hinder him for what he wanted in his life because no one else will give you happiness and fulfillment except yourself........and so did I... 

so here goes a note to My Future Child:


To My Future Child,

I am not certain whether or not you are lucky to have me as a mom. To many people’s eyes, I am a traveler, a wanderer, a free spirit---one with a nomadic existence. To some, I am a eccentric for I choose to challenge conventions and live life as I feel it should be lived. But to a few, I am a person of infinite passions, an individual who makes things happen because I opt to live my dreams.

I am a traveler, my child. And you have to understand that a traveler cannot give you all the material wealth your heart wishes. All I have is a treasure of memories and wisdom that I have prudently tucked in my heart, so when you come into this world, I will be able to let you experience what genuinely matters in life.


If at a very young age, you find yourself staring at the atlas and asking for a globe as a Birthday gift... If you find yourself eager to run around the neighborhood under a heavy rain or the scorching sun....and if you hear the sound of tribal drums from a distance calling you. Would you just shove these yearnings away and stay? Or would you chase the source of the beats that beckons you?

My child, I won’t ask anything of you but to live your life bigger than I did. It will be the utmost gift that you can give me. Don’t squander it. Explore, Dream, Discover and Experience! Get lost in the extravagance and romance of the great outdoors. Meet new people. Embrace the unusual and unfamiliar cultures. Don’t be afraid to take that one leap of faith that will change your life forever.

Do you know how an eagle learns to fly? Its mom pushes it off the nest. It strives and struggles. It gets terrified. But it never gives up. Now see how grandiose it soars.

I want you to be like that baby eagle. Jump, I command you, then conquer the skies! 

Love,
Your Future Mom

Inside the VATICAN @ The World's Largest Church!

So here goes my train ride adventure from Civitavecchia to San Pietro Station where the St. Peters Square, Vatican City is located. Thanks to Frommer's for making it manageable to go there on my own and not to mention there's a large number of Kababayans pretty scattered around Italy. The phenomenal experience of being in this most-sought after European destination and hearing mass with the Pope send chills down to my spine... that remarkable feeling that just gives you so much HAPPINESS and TRANQUILITY.

My Ticket from Civitavecchia Port to San Pietro Station

This way going inside the Vatican with hundreds of tourists from around the world

Entrance to the Magnificent Vatican

Vatican, the World's second-smallest sovereign independent state which only have a few hundred citizens and is protected by its own militia, the curiously uniformed Swiss guards.

The only entrance to the Vatican for tourist is through one of the glories of the Western world: Bernini's St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro).

As you stand in the huge piazza, you'll be in the arms of an ellipse partly enclosed by a regal Doric-pillared colonnade.

 two 17th  Century Fountains flanking the Egyptian obelisk

 Straight ahead is the facade of St. Peter's Basilica (St. Peter and Paul are represented by statues in front, with Peter carrying the keys to the kingdom),

Atop it stands a line of 140 crowd depicting saints, martyrs, popes, and the founders of the religious orders of the Catholic Church.

and, to the right, above the colonnade, are the dark-brown buildings of the papal apartments and the Vatican Museums. 

At noon on Sunday, the pope speaks briefly from his study window and gives his blessing to the visitors and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. 

Hearing an actual mass from the Pope send chills down to my spine

The Militia or Swiss Guards

St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square are used to accommodate a large attendance. Anyone is welcome, but you must first obtain a free ticket from the office of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, accessible from St. Peter's Square by the Bronze Door. 

  

hundreds of tourists who wishes to go inside the Vatican Church

 The reasons for Martin Luther's criticism of the Catholic church of "extortion," excessive hoarding of wealth, and constant donations as the key to Heaven are easy to see: a tour through the Vatican renders a visitor literally mind-boggled, stunned, and senseless at the unfathomable wealth, beauty, and majesty of the Vatican.

 Almost no building on earth holds comparison with the lavish and ornate qualities of St. Peter's Basilica. Although other cathedrals are similar and superior in many ways (such as Esztergom Cathedral in Hungary and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna), no such masterpiece is so meticulously perfected, shined, honed, and maintained as St. Peter's.

An Armenian Saint statue outside the Basilica with small American  scripts at its bottom

 Almost every square meter of the small nation has the ability to amaze every visitor. Each room holds treasures of such incalculable value that one can barely comprehend the previous room before entering the next.

 There are the corpses of at least two former popes inside visible for public viewing, and many more "tombs" dedicated to the popes with no bodies inside.

  

 Other rooms offer interesting visuals: massive halls and corridors are adorned atop with glorious hand-painted murals dating back some more than 500 years.  

All of these massive painted murals are not simply attractive fillers to decorate the hallways; some if not most of these are far more impressive and intricate than the famous Sistine Chapel. 

Golds, Gems, Marbles and Jewels are just everywhere.

There are an endless amount of scenes drawn by Michaelangelo in the chapel, ranging from Adam and Eve to the creation of Man by God, to the life of Mary, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Disciples. All of the figures seem very muscular and firm, including the women considering the fact that Michaelangelo couldn't paint women.

 The basilica certainly is an architectural, economic, religious, and visual wonder almost without comparison or comprehension. SIMPLY BREATHTAKING! The Vatican was one of the greatest experiences in my life that I will surely visit again in the near future. 

West Indies: Caribbean Adventure

The Caribbean, long referred to as the West Indies, includes more than 7,000 islands; of those, 13 are independent island countries and some are dependencies or overseas territories of other nations. 

Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer began his exploration of the Caribbean, becoming the first European to venture into the area. After reportedly landing in the eastern Bahamas, Columbus named these islands the Indies, because he thought he had finally reached Asia (and the East Indies). 

Great military powers continually fought for control of the islands, and finally, a blended mix of African and European cultures and languages transformed this large group of islands and its peoples into one of the premier tourist destinations on the planet. Long called the West Indies, the overall area is now commonly referred to as the Caribbean, a name that became popular after World War II. 

Now, let me show you around you around the Caribbean Islands: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bay Islands, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Croix (briefly), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Bridgetown, Barbados

Anguilla has become a popular tax haven,
having no capital gains, estate, profit or other forms of direct taxation
 on either individuals or corporations.

Ziplining Adventure is St. Lucia...longest and highest one in the Caribbean

Moon Hole in Bequia, Grenadines

Pirates of the Caribbean

Mayreau, Grenadines

A hardworking man selling his handmade crafts at the same time fishing

My First Yellow Submarine Experience c",)

Skeletons found under the sea

Submarine Adventure in St. Barths

Water Sports Marina Adventure with the Ladies

Mardi Gras in Dominica

The Tobago Cays Catarmaran Adventure 

A very deep hole at the top of the Fort

British Virgin Island of limestone and corals

Lovely Kids from Mayreau, Grenadines

There's much more photos to share, so much to enjoy and so much to be amazed at in here. Overall the Caribbean is a magical place of palm trees, white sand beaches, turquoise waters and sunshine, all blessed with a climate that consistently offers a much-needed break for those stuck in the cold weather doldrums of the north. 

If you haven't been, you should, and if you've been here more than once, you will come again, as these islands, these beach-ringed, jungle-covered rocks are home to thousands of historical surprises and activities galore.