Sarah Jessica Parker on I Dont Know How She Does It

Mental checklists happens all the time just right before or when I’m about to sleep. Thinking through things I’m grateful for and re-aligning the day ahead according to priority. When the self wandering and breaking down of goals and ideas doesn’t stop, the need to forcefully get myself out from being glued on my bed, turn the lights back on and then I shall reunite together with my mini journal and pen.

Are these lists really important? Yes.

Most of the time these thought bubbles can’t wait until tomorrow and must be written down to chunk every bit to how to’s, what to and sort them on a time line.

Writing alone in a piece of paper or mini notepads often finds me jotting down more notes, transferring them on my day- to-day planner and synchronizing it all to my blackberry and iPad calendar gives me the peace of mind and more organization.

Couldn’t help but wonder when did this entire “to do lists before I sleep” happened? Is this a sign of aging? Perhaps.

These to do lists aren’t the only ones that keeps me awake longer; budget planning comes in lengthy as I try to reorganize and reinstate which are considered bills and other things.

If you’re feeling anxious, lost or cluttered by your thoughts as you try to head deep to laland, I suggest you go ahead and give yourself time to write it all down and give yourself some order. It may not pay the bills immediately or get you to finish tasks but it sure helps you be aware of what are duly due and manage your day with a game plan.

Now that I have shared my sentiments and can hear the lovely chirping of the birds as I feel the morning dew, our hen turning out to be a morning rooster greeting the daylight; I may finally meet sleep even though its already 6, after writing down my lists, including this.

Do you also write lists or undergo a natural mental checklist right before you sleep?

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.

Business Mirror Health & Fitness Supplement January 5, 2012

New Year resolutions may have gone passe in recent years. Many would say they don’t stick as days, weeks or months go by. However, it can be done. We’re all too familiar with statements such as ” I will quit smoking… I’ll start my exercise program on January 1… I’m never going to eat rice, sweets or pasta ever again…,” and yet you end up having a stick, missing that date and had unlimited servings from your favorite buffet. However, the New Year gives us another clean slate and that’s by having this “fresh start” mindset to change any deep-rooted bad habits or at least what have been trying to get rid of or add to your life.

“Resolution” is derived from the world resolve: to determine or find an answer, to adhere to a goal. It is a key to reach your dreams or undertake small steps towards success.

You actually can set goals anytime, but it will be more special at this start of the year. Take inspiration to spend time and purposefully design the next 365 days of your life.

The key is in the goal worker: If you’re like me who depends on a planner, congratulations! If not, time for you to use your smartphone’s calendar, notifications app or perhaps go use that coffee shop planner you’ve collected during the holidays (other than being for display). It’s intended to be used; have your days organized and planned. You may start on a separate sheet of paper and write in your personal, physical, financial and material goals. Connect them on due dates.

You must see the big picture as you narrow down your goals. Set them each New Year and revise them every three or six months. Go ahead and add, edit or simply mark them once done or what added steps do you need in order for you to achieve them. Revisiting your goals will inspire you after on the changes in that amount of time. It also lets you have a logical and strategic approach on your plans. “SMART” goals (setting measurable, achievable, realistic and timely or tangible) help, but what matters most is that each inspires you to take action.

Set the goals: Goals that work are ones which give you butterflies in your stomach even while imagining achieving them. The feeling of wanting it so bad yet you turn up a little confused, bothered and thinking.

If your goal’s purpose inspires you to act on it, that’s it. That’s where you should be heading on to – you’re on the right track.

You’ll know how a goal is too ambitious if you can’t even get excited about it.  For instance, you’re not in the Biggest Loser camp and didn’t have the luxury to spend five hours in the gym, three hours to analyze your eating patters and to prepare your meals, plus you have kids and household to take good care of…Do you think it’s plausible  for one busy bee to lose 50 pounds in three months? that’s setting yourself up for trouble…

Make realistic goals, analyze your lifestyle and see how you can alter and make time work for you. Cut big goals to chunks, instead of hoping to lose that much weight in a short span of time. How about losing 5 pounds in a month and enjoying activities you’ve planned to do? Explore and try new activities, engage and embrace change. Before you know it, your goals will vary and you can say to yourself that “losing the weight” and the bonus are the healthy benefits.

Remember: lifestyle change.  The scale may say what the numbers show but you still have that goal to achieve. You’ve found the activity that made you feel good, better and healthier. It’s  time to alter other departments of fitness and see how you’re going to lose excess pounds all together.

What about your diet? Just like how you plan your finances: write it down, monitor each day and review your choices. you’ll be surprised how you just decided to quit on unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking and late-night bar hopping just because of that one goal you’ve wanted to achieve.

Which brings up anothe rpoint: It’s fine to set a goal and then fail, but only to realize you’ve even resolved more than what you aimed for. So in that sense, you failed every year trying to lose 50 pounds, but you finally did just because you enjoy what you’re doing and you gained more than trying to shed extra weights in months.

Five steps in setting goals:

1. Write down everything you want in life
2. Of the goals you’ve listed, prioritize them by placing an asterisk or with an “1″ next to any of them that you’re committing to.
3. Branch it all into small steps on how are you going to achieve them.
4. Write a paragraph after each goal on why you want to (or have to) achieve them.
5. Revisit your goals every now and then. Feel free to add or write down new things you’ve accomplished.

Happy planning-and achieving-for the year!

December 2011

After I read Heaven is for Real for kids  written by Pastor Todd Burpo, I hastily sought for Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back deluxe copy for Adults. The current New York Times list of bestseller has sold over a half million copies in print.    Grateful of the publisher,  Thomas Nelson for providing me a complimentary copy; this book has certainly made a huge impact after reading more about Colton, a 5 year old kid who was placed on the operating table due to his bursting appendix trip to heaven.

It took 2 years for his parents to write this book, after hearing tidbits of stories from Colton during his visit. It was not mere coincidence that a toddler would know the name and the face of his great-grandfather whom he haven’t met, his sister, whom he never knew about his mom’s miscarriage and all the more how he described Jesus: The purple sash, the “markers” which are Jesus’ bruises when he was crucified and even the position of the Holy Spirit or what his parents were doing while he was being operated.

This book is accompanied by scriptures after Colton mentions his tales of visit in Heaven.If God’s Word is not sufficient for you, if the testimony of his Spirit, given to believers, is not enough for you, you will not find any true hope in the unproven tales of a child.

Every page made me look forward to every chapter. I am reminded by how my mom survived through miscarriage and how we – my brother, Dad and Mom all had a dream about my younger sister, who’s supposed to be born in 1992 introduced herself to not be forgotten. From then on, when we’re asked how many children my parents has or how many are we in the family, we always say we have one who’s watching us in heaven — just like the Burpo family.

There’s more about this book that only you can tell if its unto your faith or not. You can be one with “doubting thomas” or a person who’d still continuously be praying for others believing that it is a way to” develop a heart for needs outside your own”

“It’s good to be strong and able to bless others, yes. But we learned the value of being vulnerable enough to let others be strong for us, to let others bless us” This book not only told the story of the young boy who met Jesus, God, Mary and the Spirit but it also narrated how a family humbled themselves in times of trouble and in-need; how their faith was tested even more.

You certainly need to give yourself a chance to read this book. Let me know what you think!

* I was provided by the publisher  a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through BookSneeze®.

From December 2 to 11, 2011, Ballet Philippines will perform one of the most beloved classical ballets, The Sleeping Beauty, at the CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). Perfect for the whole family, it will have 17 performances, including 13 matinees at 10 AM and 3 PM, where children as young as 3 years old can watch.

Tickets range from P200 to P600 on matinees, and student and senior citizen discounts apply.

Audiences of all ages will delight in the familiar music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, which was used in the 1959 Disney cartoon. Songs such as “Once Upon A Dream,” and “Hail to the Princess Aurora,” and soundtrack themes such as the battle scene and the bright and perky melody introducing the fairies are straight from Tchaikovsky’s score.

The Sleeping Beauty first premiered in 1890 at the Maryiinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. Based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, the ballet’s music was composed by the great Tchaikovsky, and was choreographed by Marius Petipa, the duo behind Swan Lake andThe Nutcracker.

The ballet begins with the royal christening of the infant Princess Aurora, with her fairy godmothers bestowing gifts upon her. The festivities come to a sudden halt when the dark fairy Carabosse arrives, furious because she was not invited. She curses the princess and dooms her to prick her finger and die. The good fairies protect her only enough to soften the curse, and instead promise 100 years of sleep, which will only be broken by the kiss of true love.

The kingdom spends the next years protecting the Princess Aurora from her fate, but the evil Carabosse is determined to cast her spell. The good fairies, led by the Lilac Fairy, shine their light on the whole kingdom, and ensure that the princess and the whole kingdom get their happy ever after.

With opulent sets and costumes, and beautiful music, the ballet is sure to enchant audiences of all ages. Here, royalty and fairies walk the halls of the grand palace, and royal guests are well-loved fairy tale characters such as Puss n’ Boots and Little Red Riding Hood. There is also a lot of spectacular dancing such as the Bluebird pas de deux, whose music is more familiar as Princess Aurora’s song in the woods in the Disney cartoon.

The Sleeping Beauty was last performed by Ballet Philippines in October 1988, with then CCP Artist-in-Residence Lisa Macuja and BP principal dancers Cecile Sicangco and Nonoy Froilan in the lead. Latvian ballet dancer Aivars Leimanis was international guest artist.

The 2011 staging will have BP ballet master Victor Ursabia as restager, and principal dancers Carissa Adea, Candice Adea and Katherine Trofeo as Princess Aurora, and Jean Marc Cordero in the role of Prince Desire. He will alternate with international guest artist Nobuo Fujino, former principal dancer of Hong Kong Ballet, who will perform for two nights only.

The Sleeping Beauty will begin with a fundraiser Gala Night on December 2, featuring international guest artist Nobuo Fujino partnering our very own international award-winner Candice Adea, with the Manila Symphony Orchestra playing live.

The Sleeping Beauty will have 17 performances from December 2-11, 2011. For more details visit www.balletphilippines.org. Buy tickets online and get exclusive promos and free tickets to BP’s next production, Wagas. For tickets call Ticketworld at 891-9999; Ballet Philippines at 551-1003, 624-5701; CCP Box Office at 832-3704.

The beauty of this book appeals to all women who struggle with significance, balancing schedules, and the busyness of every day life to take a pause and breathe. Take a sip and enjoy every cup.

 I’ve yet to finish this book and tell you more about it..

* I was provided by the publisher  a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through BookSneeze®.

We all know kids don’t lie and their naivety keeps them genuinely sincere. Colton, narrated how he was hugged by his older sister and Grandpa whom he never met and yet knew what their names was after he experienced his visit to heaven.

Does angels have wings? is our perception about heaven real? Colton shared what he saw and how joyful everyone were and how peaceful it is being there: Bright, smiling angelic happy faces.

A must read to every child who asks about heaven and the  perfect book to share with a child or anyone who has lost a loved one or who is facing a terminal condition themselves.

* I was provided by the publisher  a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through BookSneeze®.

Healing is a Choice by Stephen Arterburn

Wholeness – spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical – is a gift from God. But it’s a result of our own decisions, too. Arterburn outlines the biblical plan for opening our lives to God’s divine touch, offering 10 choices we can make and 10 corresponding lies to reject as we find our way to complete health and restoration.

Publisher’s Description

From chronic physical pain to deep emotional hurts, we are all, at some level, in need of healing. And healing, writes author Stephen Arterburn, is a choice, although not our choice-it is God’s choice. While that may lead us to understand that healing is out of our hands, there are several things we do or believe that can stand in the way of God’s healing in our lives.

Describing ten choices we can make, and the corresponding ten lies that we must reject, Arterburn outlines the plan for opening our lives to God’s divine touch. For example, to be receptive to God’s healing, we must make the choice to feel; but we often buy into the lie that we need something to help numb the pain. Likewise, we can choose to embrace reality; but we often falsely believe that if we act as if nothing is wrong, the problem will go away.

Healing on all levels-spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical-is a miraculous gift from God; but it is a function of our own decisions and beliefs as well. When we make the right choices, and reject the lies, we can find the way to wholeness again.

REVIEW

Healing is a Choice is a book written by a man, who has believed in ’til death do us part and everything that entangles tying the knot who’s divorce was announced right when he was about to board the plane; but this book wasn’t just entirely about divorce or his mishaps but rather a book on realization and choices on how your choices can change your life and why healing is important. How one allow change to happen for self-development and foreseeing affliction as a gift and how these experiences may heal the soul.

Each chapter ends with a workbook, towards the end you’ll be able to gain affirmation. One may find a future beyond whatever pain – of any kind – that you’re experiencing too.

Arterburn helps his readers practical methodology for making biblically sound decisions that will change their life for good. No quick fixes but a compassionate approach on how we can invest our time and energy in committing ourselves towards realizing the significance and importance of connecting with other people, moving forward and by acknowledging your baggages by courageously working on yourself towards healing.

The author along each chapter points out that God has provided us tools and properties to heal within every facet of our nature — physically, emotionally and spiritually. That we have a choice and it’s up to us on how we would want to be healed.

One can’t just sit in a corner and expect for a miracle or a blessing to shower. Just like how we work through our goals: we aim for it, work hard for it and go through the journey to achieve it.

The book supplements those who needs some quiet time to go through an inventory of themselves, a realization check up about choices and struggles we’ve gone through in the past, how we resolved it and if there are lessons that we’re consecutively been going through over and over yet still haven’t learned yet.

Healing is a choice, or it is many tough choices, and the results are worth the pain.

Each chapter tackles different scenarios: from the struggle recovering from infidelity, divorce, bankruptcy, obesity/illness, job loss, familial estrangement, or abuse. No matter how many years these baggages has been on your shoulder – Arterburn has equipped his pages with the realization to find courage, have courage to do something about it to seek out, obstain and  utilize whatever resources you need to treat the untreated areas of your life.

Without fear, there’s no courage but without courage, one may never get to resolve what they’ve been carrying all these years. Arterburn divided each chapters to mini-challenges for forty days.

• Connect one’s life with others, or give in to the lie that “all I need to heal is just God and me.” – even an introvert needs a companion, support group and a helping hand.
• The choice to Feel your Life: Face life (ugly emotions and all), or the lie that “real” Christians experience real peace in all circumstances
• The choice to investigate your life in search of Truth: .. or embrace the lie that it does no good to look back.
• The choice to heal your future, that “Time Heals All Wounds”
• The choice to Help one’s life, or give in to the lie of self-sufficiency.
• The choice to Embrace life, or pretend there is no problem by denying its existence.
• The choice to Forgive: ..  or only bestow the gift on those who deserve it.
• The choice to risk your life and  protecting oneself from any potential pain.
• The choice to Serve and be served.
• The choice of Perseverance , or give in to hopelessness.

Everyone has baggages and these baggages needs not to be carried all the way. People do feel numb at difficult times of their lives but often, giving yourself a pat on your back and self-talk that “everying is going to be okay” or relying to “God will take care of me” , you, must also do something about it and take charge of your choices. Either you commit yourself towards healing or you just stay in one corner – waiting – for nothing.

* I was provided this complimentary book through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze program in exchange for my unbiased review.