Miracles Happen

...even to dead car stereos.

Mine went kaput on me a month ago and I've been driving in silence for a while (well, not really because my thoughts is one big rowdy party). Lo and behold, the aliens decided to give me back my stations this morning!

The first sound I heard? "....

*static*

*chop* 

"...THE KINGDOM OF GOD...."

*chop*

 

Hhhhmmmm....See?

Duane Chapman: A Study in (Ikea) Pencil

This is why IKEA, a jacket pocket and I shouldn't mix.

I "accidentally" bring home that little shopping pencil (which I adore) everytime, and end up doing crazy things when deprived of a main source of sanity that is called...LUNCH.

Oh, Bob!

I should have held a contest to pick the Best Response to a line in my An Old Friendship, revisited post:

"Answer a question no one has thought to ask you." - Robert Fulghum

I've gotten 7 responses in there so far. And each one is unique, surprising and so human and beautiful in their own rights. Everyone won in my heart.

One response that had hit me hard though was Bob's. She said:

answer a question nobody has asked me?
Do you need some help?
YES YES YES YES!!!!

It's so beautiful, humble and honest.

When was the last time we ever asked someone if they needed help? How many resounding YESes do you think are we going to hear?

When was the last time we were really honest with ourselves?

When was the last time we were humble enough to admit our needs?

These little questions won't be a waste of breath.  I believe that if we start shooting these questions, it will pave the way to A Million Good Things for all of us in this world, in our lifetime, and the next. And then the next.

My two cents. 

An Old Friendship, revisited

Somewhat.

He's only an imaginary friend I adopted in my younger years the moment I got my nose stuck in his first collection of essays, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (1986). His collections that I've so far chewed, digested, inhaled, guzzled, read over and over until the corners curled with folds collecting potato chip crumbs, pages greased out by butter and dotted with coffee stains include:

• It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It


• Uh-Oh


• Maybe (Maybe Not)

Then, 120 million new authors and pseudo-gurus later, the books have gathered dust in my old shelf back home, most likely forgetting the sensation of being held and leafed through by eager hands. His name, obstructed by cobwebs woven in my head through years of unending busy days.

Until I came across one of the JOTW winners this week Links - A 50 year old guy blogs .  I read his posts and gave an impromptu comment "You are like my favorite author, Robert Fulghum".  I was surprised I remembered. I was surprised that even rolled out.

I believe everything happens for a reason. You have no idea how bad I wanted to cram through the rest of the collections I've missed:

• From Beginning to End -- The Rituals of Our Lives


• True Love


• Words I Wish I Wrote


• What On Earth Have I Done

I fell in love with the first book because it expounded his down-home philosophy of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. There we go. He still sits in one dark corner, hidden in the deep recesses of my subconcious after all -- serving as that one unacknowledged spiritual guide. Still a big influence, no less. In my blogs, in my way of thinking, in my attitude towards the nitty-gritty of life.

"Answer a question no one has thought to ask you." - Robert Fulghum
My answer?
Yes. I wish I'd grow up[old] to be like him...think like him, write like him.

"Answer a question no one has thought to ask you." - Robert Fulghum
It's your turn.

Dr. Karim

One of my favorite clients, Dr. Karim, called two weeks ago while he was in one of those trade shows that the nutraceutical company I work for always joins.  He said he expected to see me there. Unfortunately, I am a mainstay in the office. Though I would be interested to travel to different states and have fun meeting different people, doing luncheons, power-dressing, swapping business cards and practically jetsetting...I've done that before and I'm happy with my life here in my cube, blogging on my coffee breaks and swapping cheddar, salami and crackers with Monica *burp*.  I did hear some horror stories regarding crappy hotel accommodations.

Anyway, Dr. Karim, as I later found out from our representative, has put in some good words about me. Our rep said there was no way anyone can pry him away from his business relationship with me. I'm just really happy because I have been really nice to him.  And in my heart I know I can't take all the credit because the more I ponder, the more I realize that it was primarily because he had been really nice and putting all his faith in me first. If he had been irritating and distrustful, I wouldn't have been as motivated to deal with him. We normally develop an aversion to annoying and stressful stimuli. But he has been trusting and easy, there's no way you'd want to hurt that. I probably will never see him in person, he's in Florida and I might not be qualified ever at all to represent this multi-million company even in the least anticipated trade show of our nature. But that was a huge pat on my back that he did. It should be a pat on his back for an attitude well done.

We usually reap what we sow. It's true that random and cosmic bad things still happen to good people, but the general theory is we still court better chances in society if we play our cards well...and that is by trying to do the right things all the time. That includes also paying back and paying forward the right things that have been done to us, with the others paying back and paying forward the right things that we have done to them. It's an interactive chain reaction of good deeds, not the bad.

Doable, right?

ooops

just random stuff tonight...

it's 6:26pm and i'm watching FRIENDS. it's been a while and after all these years and a million loops of reruns, they still affect me in a really good way. we're visiting my cousin at the hospital later. she gave birth yesterday. hubby's trying to drag me to black angus for some steak dinner...maybe.

i'm so tired. i had a hard day at work yesterday, had a very soap opera-ish management meeting followed by a negative buzz thereafter about the new manager at work (who we are still trying our darnest to like) and how my name was dragged into a small issue somehow.

long story short, i wrote him a very diplomatic letter this morning, airing out my sentiments about what transpired yesterday and cc'd the president.  i like to be straightforward with my thoughts especially if there's a bit of injustice. i hate fakers. i hate scheming wackos,  people who twist truths around to save their own arses. i always work with the truth. i'm an advocate of truth. i think that's why i'm a free soul.

well anyway, we finally resolved it, i finally clarified things with that man whose office is across the hallway from my cube... in a diplomatic way, with me talking and doing some hand gestures to stress my point, gathering all my wits to put him to his place in a gentle way while i stood in front of his desk, trying to look as firm, professional and confident as i could be.

i came back to my cube victorious, satisfied with the peace that has found its way into my heart.

then i sat down and discovered my fly had been open all the while!

*boink*

 

Thought for the Day

"The grass isn't greener on the other side . . .

It's greener where you water and fertilize it."