The Arrow of Time

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.” -Omar Kháyyam

All of us wake up to the fast paced tick-tock of the clock, a boundary, a limitation in living. In this world we are all subjected to the limits of schedules, appointments, work and other endeavours, which grants us the rights to be called successful, but robs us the time for us to truly experience what living is all about.

With all of our selfish endeavours; to be always on the upside of life, and with all of our chase or our pursuit of success we become a non-empathic human being, a zombie perhaps. The greater we see of ourselves the lesser we see and feel for the others. 

In this world we live in, we are the fools of our own game and somehow if we are to look at “living” in a different perspective, the chase for happiness is purely insignificant, the act of finding it, is nonetheless an illusion. 

There is no need for the pursuit of happiness, because happiness is already there right infront of you Ready for you to grasp it!

  

  

In acknowledging this we may truly see what life is all about, we may find the real direction on which we should be heading to, and that is to feel and live each moment that life has to offer.

Because we actually can’t do a thing after each moment overtakes us, time writes a complex story, an autobiography of how we live each minute of our lives. 

Time is a record keeper, the hands of a writer. Every single stroke of the pen on the paper is crucial. There is no turning back through time, but there is only one single direction and that is forward! To live  in joy.

Well unless you build a time machine, that sounds quite fun 😉

The Talk of a Lifetime

     paper-plane    And I quote, “The only thing that stands between you and your dream, is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible” Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I’m Keven Vincent Guanzon, I stand before you with a speech to empower you.

     Once upon an evening sky, we see the moon rising above us and we begin to ponder about our own existence, why are we here and why should we, be here. Perhaps there is more than just who we are.

     Once there was us who wore our ragged clothes playing in the streets acting like kings and queens of the block, once there was us who held toys, dolls, robots and maybe once in our young lives held paper airplanes grasping it, running with it against the wind and in our wild imaginations, we believe that we were the captain.

     Our minds are wanderers, authors, artists, and basically our minds are a whole bunch of dreamers in this world we live in. We look up above and we see that the whole universe is as humongous as our dreams and as vast as the open sea, but yet we see our dreams as unreachable.

    In our minds we are able to manipulate our existence, our direction, and guess what? –our whole lives! That is how great our minds are, and perhaps we are to question on how our minds are able to do this. Ladies, gents? I tell you… we may not know it, we may not see it, but here inside our minds we ask, we ponder, and basically we dream!

    A great man once said, “Cogito, Ergo, Sum” translated as “I think therefore I am”. Rene Descartes clearly said that what he thinks makes him who he is. That his existence is purely significant, that his thoughts, his dreams and aspirations are with him. that he couldn’t doubt it, but only believe in it.

     Once again ladies and gentlemen, let me emphasize this to you, that we all have this power, a power so great that we are able to lead our lives the way we want it to be, and that is the power of dreaming, and when we dream, we should dream right! Whatever we ask for, we get it when we really seek for it! Never be afraid to dream big but when you dream big keep your feet on the ground,

     Just as when Christ said “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you”. This is the universal truth in our whole existence.

     Focus on your dreams, make this your passion, take it as the driving force in your life, because adversities may strip you down and all you have left will be that fuel, that burning desire to chase the dream.

     Just like when we saw our friends riding a bicycle, as a child we get envious that we wanted to have one too! So we beg our parents to buy one for us. Our excitements fuel our passion.

      And at one point in our lives we feel that life is trying to push us down, we must pull ourselves back up, look back to where we have been, we’ve made it this far to back out. Take a deep moment to pause but never lose sight of the reason why we took this journey, we must keep ourselves inspired by our dreams, and our aspirations.

This is how the nature of living goes to all of us! For we are never alone.

     Pope John the Thirteenth once said “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.

     I could recall that before we became college students, some of us may have difficulties in choosing the right course. Often times, we ask some of our friends about their choice, they would say, “Ana man gud si Mommy ug Daddy.” Well that choice would make even harder for them to know who they are. This is why dreams are so important. They guide us in our lives. They help us improve our behaviours, because these dreams are the reflection of who we are

     And as I finally close these lines, ladies and gentlemen, always remember to dream, and hold on to it steadfast, be passionate about it, because this is your life’s driving force, this is what you strive up for, this is what makes you significant, and lastly always be inspired about it, because inspiration is what locks everything together, it is what bonds you, your dreams, your passion, and your existence together. For we were once children who dreamt of so many things in our lives and here we are with each other, growing up together in the world we’ve all created.

***

     Once I was a child holding a paper airplane, running with it, pretending, imagining, and dreaming. And now here I am standing in front of you, holding this little aeroplane to thank each and every one of you for being a part of this amazing journey.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Here I am to continue pursuing my passion, to take  the steps towards the runway. Thank you and have a good day!

This is my 6-minute speech, 
trust me I've timed the whole duration of this speech. 
This one is for my final exam of our English class.

Just when I thought

Bam! My cousin opened the door. And it’s 6:25 in the morning. “Ken, ken! wake up already mommy pamping is waiting for you downstairs”.
And I was like, “What, what time is it?”.
“It’s past 5 am” He replied.
“No shit, f*** why do I have to get up this early for church?” I grumbled in panic, for I know how bad it is to be scolded by my grandmother, grabbed my used pair of jeans and voila! All set, ready for an early morning walk to church.

     In a flash I remembered that my girlfriend was leaving our hometown, for Manila. (It pains me to think, that I didn’t have the chance of seeing her, because I’m stuck here, in Cebu) So, I took my phone on the table, and saw her message.

“Kev mata na :<” (Kev wake up)

    She wants me to send her off virtually, which is really cute and realistic too me 🙂 and I really have to, because I would want to say “Okay, dear have a safe flight!”

     Downstairs my grandma is calling me. So I rushed downstairs feeling lightheaded and uneasy, I took my pair of shoes and got out of the house with my grandma. While walking through the Daniel ~ Andrea Quijada Compound, I was texting I greeted my girlfriend good morning, and gave her the superawesomekenny virtual comfort (because she felt sad leaving Iligan City). I took my grandma’s hand while walking down the street.

     Today is my grandfather’s death anniversary. (This is why I have to go to mass at 6:00 am)

     While holding my grandmother’s hand, I couldn’t help but think how great the relationship my grandpa and grandma had. from high school lovers, to being a testament of how strong destiny is when you chose and believed in it. They had their fair share of the trials but they still stood strong. That’s why I really idolized my grandparents. I held my grandma’s hand knowing this is where my grandpa used to hold her. I remembered my father’s story about how my grandparents fought their cheesy love story, through letters and courage.

     Even in this present generation of new technology, fast internet messaging, email, texting, and etc. I find myself drawn to sending love letters to my girlfriend, because for me there’s this feeling of thrill, the feeling of paranoia of thinking that the letter couldn’t be sent because of technicalities, and there’s the the feeling of contentment knowing that she have received, read, and kept the letter. Maybe all of this corny-slash-cheesy version of me is handed down from my grandfather, well I salute you Daddy Titing!

     6:50 am the church bell rang. I was worried if I could send her off. Halfway through the mass, I checked my watch every time my mind wander, looking through stained glass windows of the church.

     Suddenly I heard His voice saying. “Trust me and just focus on me.” I started to question my faithfulness, couldn’t I just keep watch for the Lord for an hour?!

“This is a place of worship, not for time keeping. Everything happens in God’s time in this way I should trust the Lord, and just focus on the mass, listen to His words.” So I placed my self at ease, I focused on the ceremony knowing that after the end of the mass, I am blessed. (and He’ll give me time to send her angel off 😉 )

     Just when I thought that waking up that early is a bad thing, but it turned out to be a solemn, sweet, nostalgic feeling. Everything is connected, and it happens in God’s time.

 

A Dream To Achieve

This is a simple releasing of thoughts, so it might sound corny.

June 10 2013.

    The day made me tired. Well it was the first day of school and I felt so sloppy and sleepy. I was in school for about 8 hours, I met cool friends – 2 of my first friends smoke cigarettes (it was only lunch time when I knew they do, so Ii kinda spaced out a bit), and pretty much the rest of them are the funny types.
I woke up early cause i couldn’t wait for the 1st day of school but the teachers weren’t there for the 1st and 2nd period of class. Math and Filipino were amazing. (I guess)
So to sum it up. . The day went pretty well.

Time check 9:47pm.

I stared at the ceiling thinking of the months that passed by. I reminisced. A time portal hidden beneath the neurons in my mind transported me to the times where I fought bloody fights with my mom. A war brought by chaotic ideas about careers and future. I remember screaming at the top of my lungs that I don’t want to go to college in IIT!! and then another scene flashed it was when I cried and pleaded to my mom that I want to be enrolled in IIT ( Reasons were: Love life, band, friends, and mom). Those kinds of fights didn’t just happen once or twice but in many n-times. That’s my dark side.
Anyway. As I stroll through my timeline (not referring to Facebook timeline) I saw myself promising at people that I will never leave them. . I relied so much in fate and destiny but its aces were nothing but an illusion to make me settle with the norms. Graduation day came and its theme flashed in my mind “MSU-IIT: GOING BEYOND BORDERS” that sudden frame shook my body as if I have heard my dad’s voice saying “See ken the omens are telling you to go beyond borders. It tells you to get out of your comfort zone” . . . So it was decided. I was to venture as Magellan did. To Cebu and beyond!!!

     Before I took the great leap. I spent the remaining days in Iligan: Recording, performing, hanging out with the most beloved friends, spending just a short time with her, and cuddling mom. Until. .  I step right in to the vessel that would take almost everything from me 😦 that was a sad moment. . I didn’t know if my decision was right. .
I have left them. I have left my passion behind, holding that microphone in front of the people who’d fill their ears with music, recording songs with your friend who taught you what music is. I have left her behind, those “kilig” moments, those promises, those hopes and dreams that you’ve planned and discerned for so long. I have left my friends, their laughter, their jokes and even their presence. Yes, I find it painful. Very painful.

     But as the days go by, I have learned so many things. I have learned to dream the dream of God for me. I grew up :)) those pains made me realize that if life’s simple goal is about staircase of reaching and achieving your dream or purpose then Ive ascended up the ladder and I’m slowly reaching my goal my dream my true passion. All these circumstances, were disguised staircases. People, places, events, will power and God’s presence are the ones giving me the push 🙂

I miss you guys. Thank you for everything.

“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

            Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”  Those words are strong enough to pierce your heart. Today is the celebration of Easter Sunday – A day that commemorates the resurrection of the risen Christ, He had struggled so hard, we was scorned, crowned with thorns, carried the heavy cross and the worst is that he was crucified on the cross – These were the pains that He has to suffer, but He had promised us that He will be risen from the dead.

            We all had our shares of pain and sufferings, it may be physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental these pain may more pain but are we meant to stay in the pursuit of pain? Would we lie on our mats to beg and wait for good things to happen?

                No! There is nothing more to ask for than blessings! We should all get up and take our mats and walk! We should all take our crosses for the good of all! We shouldn’t be kept dead in the tombs of the guilt and pain brought by our sins, we should be resurrected into a new being!  But I tell you, it wouldn’t happen overnight (even Jesus resurrected on the 3rd day after his death) we should gradually be “Resurrected” and change into a new wholesome person.

               So. . . How do we gradually change ourselves? I can cite 3 steps that we can reflect on:

  • Into-Me-I-See (Intimacy) – (I learned this from the movie “Love Guru”) We should look on ourselves, and try to see what’s making us carry unnecessary burdens in this life. Learn to find the root of some problems and reflect on them. Just look in to yourself.
  • Change and Discipline – Learn to change your views about life, your negativeness, and your attitude towards life. Discipline yourself. Stop doing
    the things that hurts you!
  • Carry On! To Resurrection – Continue what you’ve been doing! You are closer to the resurrection of your life. You are living the life, the way God wants you to live it! See more of yourself, and Change what needs to be changed and Discipline to get into the drive to Carry on To Resurrection!Our lives are limited, for once Jesus passed by a crippled man telling him these words, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

Stop Worrying My Child

*Scroll. . . *Scroll. . . *Click. . . *Scroll. . . *Click. I stopped and took a glance of the past days.

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                I read it over and over again and finally made a great big smile 🙂 For the past few days, I’ve been worrying over some things like worrying about “What’s lying up ahead of me”, I take time worrying about the future, about the past and about her. HAHA! Pshh. Anyways, we all have these fears that drives us crazy and stops us from doing what we should be doing, these fears that lies within ourselves slowly eats our aspirations and dreams, and the worst thing about fears is that it works through worrying.

               According to Wikipedia, the word “Worry” are thoughts, images and emotions of a negative nature in which mental attempts are madeto avoid anticipated potential threats. Based on the definition, we can say that worrying is a premature act of being afraid to the anticipated negative event.

             God created man without the evil spirit of fear inside him, but when Eve and Adam took a bite of the forbidden fruit, their hearts and souls were tainted, they started to become afraid of everything. Adam and Eve were ashamed of their nakedness, and they were afraid of God their creator. Thus as generations passed on each and every one of us has their own fears and worries.
From crawling stage unto the dying state, we all have these fears that expands and multiplies inside us. Children are taught to be afraid of ghosts thus they worry when the surroundings gets dark and creepy, we grow up and become teenagers, our fears and worries are limitless we start to be afraid of getting a low grade, we start to be afraid of the future, we start to get afraid about almost anything, just as Adam and Eve did, time passes our lives and we become adults our fears grew exponentially! Pain, diseases, and even death becomes our enemies. But between this short span of life do we really have to live it with the “Dis-ease” of fear and worry?

             Our life is like a candle, the wick is who we are, the candle wax is our existence. Our purpose is to keep the fire that God has set in our hearts, and to give off light into the darkest part of the planet. . . and that is our purpose. Our flames will set the lives of the people who will come before us, we light their ways with tiny deeds, and we help their flames burn. But what can we do, if our flames are low because of the interruptions of fear and worry that we have come across? So get up from your worrying and stop thinking about things that stops you from shedding light to the world! Life is just full of things that can make you feel best!

            Our Lord provides us with everything that we need, we just have to ask, believe and then we shall receive! Our thoughts creates our universe, thus we must be careful of what we think about 🙂

          Our God, tells us to stop worrying and be brave because He’s got everything under control! Go conquer your fears and achieve your dreams! Mountains and hindrances will never stop you! For Jesus Christ said “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” Just believe that you can move mountains and reach for you star!

The Power to Ask, The Power to Receive

Matthew 7:7-12: Ask, Seek, Knock

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

These are the words that god has faithfully promised to us. Nevertheless. . . pray. For He is there to listen to us, He is there to hear us. Everything that you’ve asked for will come true! It is my greatest guarantee to all of you guys. It is simply by asking to God! He promised us that He will provide us with everything that we need!
You might doubt because you did it once, you’ve tried to pray but nothing seems to happen, no one answered, you never found it, you might think that your prayer will never be heard. HA! Think again! He has the ears and heart to listen, He has the hands to do and provide. But what did you do, during the times that you’ve been asking and praying did you not doubt my dear?
The verse that you read above is so powerful, it’s just that you didn’t believe that it is. How can I say that it is so powerful? Below are my own simple reflections about the verse.

  • Ask – This word has a simple meaning, it is to ASK! Just pray heartily! Ask God, just talk to Him. He’s got a more powerful hearing aid that has ever been invented so don’t just whine there and ask to some wall. Kneel down and feel your deepest connection with Him!
  • Seek – Seek for what you’ve been asking for, seek for it every time you do things. Seek the time and place, when and where you want to receive “it”. In this way you’ve subconsciously believed that you will receive what you’ve been asking for. Pray and seek with a great faith of knowing that “it” will come true!
  • Knock – Smile 3 times with joy and anticipation that “it” is already there waiting for you to KNOCK on its door. On your adventure of asking and seeking for the thing that you’ve been praying for, you’ve come across so many doors and one or many of them might lead to “it”, it’s just that you’ve failed to notice “it” or knock on it’s door, it’s either you were afraid because the door or the way looks scary or it’s just that you were too tired and you want it to be automatic. You’ve got to work hard and find it! Knock on every door, for doors are opportunities. There might be a day when you will knock and enter a house where you’ve found “it” sitting there waiting for you to open “it”!

Surprisingly this promise never fails! For he said on the tenth verse that it is a law! A natural law! (Natural Laws -meaning the order which governs the activities of the material universe).  Given to us by our creator and our provider. Just don’t stop Asking, Seeking, and Knocking and through this you have now taken another step in believing that He is always with us!
This is an amazing power that we hold, it’s already here and will never be gone, just use it! By asking God. For He is a father who is everlastingly kind and loving! He promised this to us because He loves us and He wants us to feel His love. He does not ask for anything but our faith and trust in Him. In this way, the universe (God) will conspire with us!

Fall Seven Times, Rise up Eight!

It may sound so numeric, but it’s something you cannot dare to miss. Some of us may have experienced so many things in life, like hardships and problems or both. Name them as family problems, school problems, grades problems, crush problems, or any other problems, we fall during these times, we panic, we cry, we get desperate, we feel that the world is on our shoulders, we feel like it’s the end of our lives, but it’s a big no! Problems let us realize that not everything in life goes our way, that we have to conform and adapt in order to get by. Nevertheless, problems are seen and dealt with according to the mindset of whoever has the and how they react to it. So in short, it’s mind over matter. Our minds have the power to react on a given situation, so it would be better that you’d think before you react. But if we are to think that our problems will never have a solution our life would revolve in the madness of sadness. Yes we’ve all been pressurized, we’ve fallen but it does not mean that we shouldn’t stand up. Jesus said to the sick and the people who have almost lost hope of life “Go get up, take your bed and do what is needed!” Set your mind into thinking that every problem has a solution. We fell for several times. It’s time for us to stand up more than the several times! Take a step more than where we’ve fallen. It’s up to you to keep the score. Just do your best to stand up and beat the fallen shadow.

Happiness can change in many forms, don’t let go move with it

            Happiness is a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. It simply meant being happy it is the feeling joyous and contentment. Happiness is brought by so many sources, happiness is never constant. It changes from time to time. Some people fail at seeing the perspective that everything in this world changes, thus they’ll be left behind. Time runs over everything it changes everything, people who stay with their so found happiness will find it hard to move forward if their happiness will change into something new. Imagine yourself as a rat, and you’ve been searching for cheese, you hoard them, and then all of a sudden it was gone, moved and changed will you whine and moan about it? It wouldn’t be a good idea because it would waste time and energy. Why not venture out to new places to find new cheese? As humans, it would be easy for us to comprehend the situations but then because of our reactions we kill and exterminate ourselves. Nevertheless, happiness, can move to new directions, change into new forms, we have to look for it, and dig hard for it.

The Best is “Here” to Come

        Out of the millions of sperm cells that swam and raced towards the egg cell, who won and became a human? It’s you! Yes you, the person who is reading this post right now. You were chosen to live this life. Therefore you are one hell of a lucky person! God calls you to live, learn, and do what you are intended to do. That’s how you live a good life!

A bad way of living life involves this:

Birth —> Childhood —> Graduate —> Job —> Death
“Living life without getting to do something memorable”

       So do you want to live a life like this? Certainly not! Cause we were born to live a life with a “Purpose”. . . Wait what? What is a life of purpose anyway? Let us look at a man’s life who was known but sometimes forgotten.

      He was born and raised in a poor family, yet he never complained a single bit. He lived a life of contentment. He helped his father as an assistant carpenter to be able to raise for a living. Deep inside him is a man of full understanding of his earthly purpose. A good evidence of it is when he was a child, during the time wherein he was to be presented to the temple. His parents lost sight of him and was blaming each other for the loss, they retraced their steps back and found their child on the temple surrounded by elders listening to his words. He grew up and reached 30 years old, He went on a journey to fulfill his mission, he taught about life, he taught about leadership, he taught about God, he taught about any other things, he healed the sick through faith and many others. He straightened the paths of the people who were going to the wrong direction. Although some people hated him for they were envious of what he is doing. They even put him to death, well it was a death that he freely accepted. But even at the verge of dying he continued his mission. What a great man this person could be! Well, do you know this guy? Yes you do. He’s

Jesus Christ”

He lived and acted as human, although He was divine for He was the chosen one, but His ways was simply and purely human. Although He did miracles, but it was done to test one’s faith for some other people never believed unless they see. This is how we should live our lives even if we don’t have the power to do miracles but, we have the power to fulfill our purpose.

Here are the things we need to consider to live a life of “Purpose”:

  • Learning to be contented at every circumstances
    Example: Jesus at his early childhood years, he never had complained about his way of living.
  • Finding out your own strengths
    Example: Jesus had the chance to discover about his strength when he preached about God in front of elders.
  • Develop your strengths and use it to do what is beneficial to all
    Example: Jesus at 30 years old did his best to form a ministry, he taught and inspired people, thus fulfilling his mission.
  • Continue living up to your purpose despite all hindrances
    Example: When Jesus was doing his mission, the pharisees and other people mocked and even tried to find faults against him.
  • Serving the purpose up to your last breath
    Example: When Jesus was hanging on the cross, although limited Jesus still continues to do his mission by reconciling a lost sheep by telling him to believe that God is there up to the end.

This is the best way to live a life of purpose, it is not only beneficial to the people but also to you. People I tell you to stop thinking that your life is just a normal cycle. No! It’s a building ready to be built into something amazing! Now go find you purpose and believe in it! Because. . .

“You are the best that is HERE in this world to come!”