Saturday, June 18, 2011

A Father's Special Day

“Papa, what a real man you are. Since the day I started to observe things around me, I saw you waking up before sunrise, going to work in the farm alone, and then returning home after sunset. “I came to know that you work under direct exposure to the sun, heat, humidity, dust and cold. You do all of that to spend your hard-earned money on me and my other three sisters. “I love you Papa.” I wrote that to my father when I was 12 years old. Now I am mature enough, and I realize the full value of my father’s sacrifice even though I’m not yet a father.



My father is still alive, so I have gotten the chance to take care of him the way he did for me. Now, as I recall what I wrote at age 12, I have the same feeling. “pTo my father, I know you love me and my three sisters. I know you sacrificed to put food in our mouths and smiles on our faces. No one ever made a certificate of recognition for the great sacrifice you made. No institution could accommodate your credentials. I am really proud of you.”

With those words, I try to express my feelings to all those who work with dignity especially to those fathers working abroad. Most of them have children back home, awaiting their return. So I call everyone to treat the workers all around us with full dignity as they sacrifice to earn every single cents of money. To all the fathers in the whole world, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Do we need to care?

Do we need to care?


Every day, we hear about the problems

of our friends, neighbors and relatives. How should we react to problems that don’t affect us directly? Let me tell you a story: A mouse looked through a crack in a wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. He was shocked when he found it to be a mouse trap. The mouse warned the farmyard animals, “There is a mouse trap in the house! There is a mouse trap in the house!” The chicken said, “I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.” The goat told him, “I am so sorry, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers.” The cow made fun of him: “A mouse trap? I am in grave danger!” So the mouse returned to the house to face the mouse trap alone. That night, when everybody was sleeping, a sound was heard throughout the house. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what happened. In the darkness, she did not see that the trap had caught a poisonous snake. The snake bit the farmer’s wife, and the farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with chicken soup, so the farmer slaughtered the chicken. His wife’s sickness continued, and friends and neighbors came to sit with her. To feed them, the farmer butchered the goat. The farmer’s wife did not get well. In fact, she died, and many people came for her funeral. So the farmer killed the cow to provide meat for them to eat. So the next time someone is facing a problem and you think it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

SMILE

I’ve been wondering about what lies behind a smile, what it means and where it comes from. Sometimes I find myself smiling at people I don’t even know, and I ask myself, “Is it because I’m happy, or is it because they’re easy to smile at?” Then I think, “Does it really matter what the cause is if it makes someone happy?” I didn’t think so. It’s a simple facial expression that could chase away the darkness from someone’s life in that moment and make the day brighter. A smile could change the world’s atmosphere if it was truly from the heart.

It sends out a great vibration that most people get affected by, and it’s a proven technique that is used medically and psychologically. A smile comes spontaneously when you take a deep breath and just let it be.

We tend to smile at people who have touched our hearts in one way or another, whether we know them or not. It all starts with eye contact, followed by a moment of silence in which you feel like it’s hard to breathe. Finally, you realize that your face is glowing, and all that happens because of a smile. What’s best about it is that it’s even easier to do when you’re smiling at kids; in their eyes you can see both innocence and mischief behind their smiles. No matter how bad your day has gone, when you come home to the people you love and the first thing they do is welcome you home with a smile, you can’t beat that. It makes your day! A smile is a sign of happiness and relief. Studies have shown that it lowers the blood pressure. So take a deep breath, close your eyes and smile.