My Two Great Leaders

March 29, 2019

"Be grateful when life granted you two great mentors..."

While being in the corporate world for nine years, I taught myself this, “Never get too attached to anyone at work because in the end, those people whom you will treat as ‘bestest’ or closest friends will eventually leave you.”

People really come and go in our life. That’s a proven and tested statement.  

Since then that some of my friends chose to have different paths aka away from our company, I always guard my heart not to be easily attached and trust people anymore.  I also learned to distance myself whenever I feel like being close already to new people who I just met and talk to.

Gladly, we have the power of Social Media nowadays so we can still keep in touch with those people that we have been close with before. But the problem on today’s latest technology and its updates’ convenience that can bring us is that, we tend to forget what a real bonding and friendship is.

We choose to have no time to meet our friends personally and we simply take the time to just talk to them through our fingers and gadgets.

Having friends at work was then never been a priority for me.

Gladly, I have great bosses whom I also considered as my confidante. I can still work and live my corporate life peacefully and happily because I was blessed to have the best superiors.

Aside from my “real world” or corporate boss, I also met and got along with this crazy yet great and full of passion leader during my volunteering life.

Coincidentally, they have the same first name!

More than three years ago, my volunteer leader trusted me and believed in my capabilities so she hired me as a Social Media Coordinator and blogger of the non-profit organization she is directing and founding. It is none other than the Project Pearls! This NGO is now very close to my heart! Its mission is now my advocacy. Its dreams is also now my dreams for the other people.

Since 2015, my life already revolved in these two worlds: the volunteering life during weekends and then the corporate world during weekdays. Though it keeps me busy, I love it and I am truly enjoying it!

I still find time for my hobbies and things that I love to do which are writing, mountaineering, travelling and some time for my family. How I manage it? I’ll let you know in my future blog entries!

These two women taught me and continuously teaching me a lot! May it be personal matters, professional advises or others, they still have generous hands wide open for me.

Despite the difficulties and challenges I am going through, they don’t give up on me. When I am already saying that I can’t, I have their backs and saying to me that I still can!

There are so many things to be thanked for in this life and one of the best of it is having these two empowered women not just as a boss for me but also as a life mentor, a true leader and a friend.

 God still never fails to give me amazing gifts and of course I am beyond thankful.

My corporate boss is leaving now. Actually, today is her last day of work. And this triggered me to write this entry.

She may be gone starting on Monday to start anew with her life but all her teachings, advises and memories with us will forever be cherished and won’t vanished.

Thanks for everything, Ms. Yssa! I owe you my career growth!

Three years ago, I was so scared to step out of my comfort zone and be transferred to an environment that I don’t have any idea nor experience and yet you have chosen me to have a chance. A kind of chance to prove to myself that I really can!

So I went out of my nutshell. From being a timid girl, you have molded me into a much livelier woman. I don’t speak that much before but you have pushed me to open up to others. I learned to be more proactive and tried my best to get along with my other colleagues.

It was really a great thing to have mentors in life!

These two bosses never cease to believe and trust in me. They may have scolded me at times and corrected my mistakes but they never judged me and didn’t lose hope on the things that I can still do better.  There were times that I doubt myself and almost gave up on the things that I do but here they are still pushing me to my limits because they believe that I really can do it!

I always think that I don’t do better for the required effort and output but these two amazing humans keep on reminding me that I AM enough and what I do is really more than enough.  

 Thank you so much Ms. Mel and Ms. Yssa! You may not know each other personally but rest assured that you both have the best exemplary kind of leadership that every human should have by heart.

I love you both!

You are the best two Melissa’s of my life!

I Am A Woman. I Am An Achiever.

Women Achievers Summit 2019

March 16, 2019

Marco Polo, Ortigas, Pasig City

Last March 16, 2019 we attended a summit about Woman Empowerment and here's some of the key notes that I took home with me to live and to be with every day.... 

This inspirational and informative talk with the amazing six speakers brought us a lot of words to live by.

For me, the main goal of this summit is to let us know that being a woman is a very powerful tool in changing the world for the better. 

We may be softer physically (and sometimes emotionally, actually most of the time) but we always have a strong will to do everything that we can in the most graceful way!

We also have the unjust society and strong tradition in which most people believe that women are only for homes and can do lesser. 

But in reality specially in today's world, women stand out in all the things they do!

Here's some of my favorite take away keys from the real-life superwomen aka empowered speakers. Each one of them stands out on their chosen fields and passion.  

1. Women must help each other. It is already in our nature that women care for people in the sincerest way. So for a better world, we must lift up each other instead of competing.

2. In solving conflicts, women have the most unique solutions and better approaches. Our second speaker sighted some examples of circumstances (current issues) that had great outcomes and the people behind those remarkable scenes were women. 

3. The third speaker let us learned some great life lessons from her personal experiences. One of her life lessons learned the hard way that marked on me is to "Live life around your passion and purpose".  To some of us, our passion and purpose are not yet cleared and sometimes is changing; but once we found it, it was such an unexplainable joy to live with it every single day.

4. "BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL WOMAN IS HERSELF." That's the quote from our fourth speaker that had an impact on me. In all the challenges that we are facing, the very first one that can help us is always, always ourselves. 

5. The fifth speaker elaborated Emotional Intelligence. This is the ability to understand one's own feelings. Emotions are valid. Negative emotions will fall under either Fear or Pride. So we must always seek for clarity as this is the balance that we need. Let us learn to always be positive. People with high Emotional Intelligence are those who are filled with Compassion, Empathy, Freedom and Love.

Aside from this, Coach Pia left us with this quote, "Be the best version of yourselves because of your inspirations. Find your inspirations."

6. Our last speaker taught us some skills on how to be a powerful influencer through good communications. Being a good and effective influencer must show respect, be flexible, and has clarity of messages when she delivers. Building rapport with the listeners is also important. 

Application of the Lessons Learned...

Through all these new learning and gained inspirations, the strong will to empower other women ignited upon me. 

I realized that being a woman has a lot of gifts included and all of it was given to us. So we must use these in bringing out the best not only for ourselves but for the other women as well.

Being a woman is a blessing so let's be a blessing to others too! 

A simple conversation with our friends or even people outside our circles can already have an impact and somehow touching other's lives. Letting troubled people know that there's someone who can support them or just be with them during this time is already a big help.

Somehow and sometimes, all we ever need is someone who can listen to us. 

Women may rant, complain and cry but after that, we will find out the right things we should do to solve or positively surpass our life issues, conflicts or difficulties. 

To My Future Offspring

Date: March 26, 2019

(Dedicated to a friend who's going to be a mom real time soon!)

I haven’t touched you yet but you already held my heart.

I haven’t seen you yet but you already made my world so beautiful.

I know what love is, but I appreciated it more through the thoughts of you.

I don’t know yet how it will feel to carry and bear you but I’m pretty sure that all the hardship will be worth it.

You are my dream, you are my future and you are my hope. You are the colors in my black and white world.

To you my love whose I haven’t been yet, I promise that you will always have my care, my worries, my time and effort. You are the reason of my waking up each day. You are the main cause why I work so hard every single day.

You are my happiness and your happiness is always my pleasure.

Your pain will be tripled mine so I will always make sure that all the best protection that I can give will always be yours. I will be your real life superhero. I will be your wonder ‘womom’.

I will be your first and last teacher.

I will be your Guidance Counselor when needed.

I will be your all time chef, I can also be your driver, your human diary, your number one fan, your advisor, your nurse, your financer until such given time, your forever mentor and your first ever best friend!

I know that I am not perfect and never will be but I am hoping that I will be the best mom for you that I can be.  

We both may have tantrums and mood swings but at the end of the day, keep in mind that it will be us who will be forever teammates.

I got your back and I hope that I can also rely on you.

And when you grow up, I know that I can trust you simply because I love you.

It was just like you trusting me ever since you will see the world.

I promise to support you on all your dreams and the path that you will choose to take. I am just here silently and maybe sometimes nosily watching you one step behind. So whenever you fall or you have to move backward, I can tap and catch your back to make you move forward again.

Being your mom is the best dream that I ever had and I will never miss this chance of time just to be your mom. Hugging you is one of the best gifts of the world to me.

We may get busy at times but we have our home. Home for us is each other. A talk with you even for a short period of time is all that matters.

I can’t wait to finally see and meet you!

To you my future offspring, please remember this:

The world may turn its back on us but I will always be facing you with smiles and together, we can get through it all.

You may see me cry at times but rest assured that I will never give up on you. Most of the time, I will try my best to just show you some tears of joy because you alone can make my world a lot happier.

See you soon, my love. See you so soon. In God's perfect time.

Love,

Your Future Mama.

  

An Open Letter To The Man Who Left Me Behind...and Clueless

Dear Almost,

It took me some time and courage to finally share our “Almost” story
to the world.

More than three years ago, I met you through the online world.

You chatted, “Hi!”

And out of courtesy, I said, “Hello.”

Just like any other, that’s how our talks started.

Through our long and sensible text conversations, we got along well.

It felt so nice exchanging personal stories and facts with you and by
the time I first heard your voice, my heart really (no joke) skipped a
beat.

After a month of talking to you over the phone, video phone and chats,
we finally decided to meet.

It was June 12.

We met in Manila.

I don’t know what to feel nor what to expect. It was my first time to
meet a stranger. It was awkward, yes. But you held my hand and let me
feel that everything will be just fine.

And that holiday for the Philippine Independence Day really turned out well!

Together we explored a famous museum and ate on a fancy restaurant.

The day ended I felt comfortable around you and I strongly believed
that this would not be the last that I will be going out with you.

You are an intellectual person and I think that’s what I like about
you the most. You were a great conversationalist as well.

We perfectly match actually, our horoscopes, our personalities, our
interests and even our inner introvert selves really fit in.

We then had another series of dates.

And we really had a lot of fun!

But here’s the catch of our story.

 I just came from a major heartbreak recently – a month before we met.

And you also had yours few months before we started talking to each other.

We told each other that we already moved on from our exes.

But I guess I was lying to you and even to myself.

The moment you told me you already have feelings for me, I felt nothing.

Yet, I was grateful.

I was genuinely happy when I’m with you. I felt secured. I found a new
best friend and confidant in you. I can tell you anything and
everything. We can talk for hours regardless if we would both have
sleepless nights.

I love it when you sing for me while you play the guitar over the
phone. I even kept all your recorded singing voices.

I wrote a poem and you turned it into a song. We made it together. My
heart was full.

I forgot that I was hurting.

You also became vocal of what you feel for me. For how many times,
I’ve heard you said you love me.

And I’m sorry if I couldn’t return back those words to you yet.

You also said that you understand me and you have been already to what
I was going through.

Since you had your heartbreak months ahead of mine, you could say that
you have really moved on way better than me.

Then you said you would wait until I finally learned to forgive
myself, love myself and be free from pain.

But I guess you were also telling that to yourself.

I became busy finding myself.

I tried new hobbies, met new people, joined different organizations,
volunteered and went to places I have never been yet.

We were still talking but not that much anymore.

We would always plan to go out again but it was always postponed due
to our different reasons.


I was confident enough that you were just there, patiently waiting for
me until I finally find my way back home and that was to you.

You gave me assurance for that and I guess I really trusted your words.

A year had swiftly passed.

We both became busier. I, with my new found passion.

And you, with your studies and internship.


Despite our mutual absences, my feelings for you grew.

I missed you.

I missed talking to you overnight.

I missed being with you.

I wanted to see you again and be with you again.

It felt that a part of me was really missing.

Up to now, I still think that there was a point in my life that I
realize how I really felt for you.

I think I was ready to finally say those three magic words to you.



One fine night just before I was about to sleep and since I missed
you, I visited your Facebook profile.

And to my surprise, there you are, tagged in a photo. You were happily
smiling…with someone, a girl whose holding your hands so tight.

You were in that familiar restaurant – that same restaurant you brought me with.

 And the caption said, “Happy Monthsarry!”

I think you forgot that I had two Facebook accounts and on my other
account, you forgot to hide that post.

What the fudge?!

I also checked your Instagram account which was on a public setting
before so I could see your posts. Though I didn’t follow you on
Instagram, the photos you posted there revealed the confirmation I
needed.

Congrats, you have fooled me!


I immediately blocked you on all our social media accounts that
connected us. I also deleted all your contacts on my phone.

I was really mad back then.

I ended up crying with my friends feeling so devastated. I felt
cheated once again.


How could you hide it from me? You could have told me that you already
stopped waiting for me and you finally found the one for you.

I was fooled once again.

The one whom I thought would never do it since I have shared with him
all my miseries about my ex… Why?

Why did you do that?

Was it really my fault?

Was it because of me that you stopped loving me?

Have I been too busy finding myself that I wasn’t aware of what you feel?

I’m sorry then.

I thought I can finally start my new journey with you but I guess I was wrong.

You already started yours with someone new and that’s not me.


After a couple of week since I have blocked you, you texted me.

Even though, your number was already deleted, I know it was you just
by the way you called my name.

You said, “Sorry”.

And I replied, “Okay.”

Our conversation ended there.


Our Almost Love Story started from, “Hi!”  and ended with, “Okay.”

Dear Almost, it has been four years.

And I’m not mad anymore.

Maybe it was just a blessing in disguise that led us into separate
paths. We are not meant for each other and it’s alright.

Thank you for the happy memories though.

Thank you for healing with me.

Thank you for the song.

Thank you for being you.

Thank you for letting me feel that I am still worth loving.

I am genuinely happy for you right now.

I also already found my ‘Home’ now and I guess it is not really you.

I wish you the best. I miss you.

I hope we can be friends again but if it's already impossible, it's fine. 

Our happiness is all that matters.

Mga Salitang Natutunan at Laan Sa’yo

Ikaw ang nagmulat sa akin ng salitang “Pagpili”.

Minahal kita dahil sinubukan kong piliin ka at pinili kita upang manatili sa buhay ko.

Ikaw rin ang naturo sa akin ng salitang “Sugal” dahil kahit pakiramdam ko noon ay hindi pa ako handa ay sige lang at lumaban pa rin ako kahit walang kasiguraduhan na mananalo tayo.

Ikaw ang nagmulat sa akin ng salitang “Pagtanggap”.

Nanatili tayo sa isa’t isa at buong pusong tinanggap ang kahinaan ng bawat isa.

Maraming pagsubok ang literal na sumubok sa pagsasamang mayroon tayo.

Ilang beses na rin nating muntikan piliin ang salitang “Pagsuko” pero nanindigan tayo at kumapit sa salitang “Pakatatag”.

Makalipas ang limang taong pagsasama ay pinili nating maghiwalay pansamantala upang mapaganda ang kinabukasan. Nag-aral ka habang ako naman ay patuloy na hinaharap ang tunay na laban ng buhay – ang pagkayod para sa pamilya.

Hindi madali ang mahiwalay sa’yo ng dalawang taon ngunit kinaya natin ‘yon.

Natutunan natin ang salitang “Sakripisyo” pati na rin ang salitang “Pagtitiis” para sa mas maalwang buhay at mas maliwanag na bukas.

Maraming gabi ang kausap ka sa telepono habang umiiyak ako.

Muli ring sumasagi sa ating mga isip ang “Pagsuko”.

Pero hindi tayo nagpatinag at muli tayong nagkasamang muli.

Masaya naman tayo. May mga plano na nga tayong nabuo.

Pero nagpatinag ka sa salitang, “Tukso” at pinili mo ng talaga ang salitang, “Pagsuko”.

Ipinagpalit mo ang pitong taon nating pagsasama para sa taong tatlong buwan mo pa lamang nakikilala.

Ipinamukha mo sa akin na sa atin ay hindi ka na masaya at sa inyo ay mas magiging masaya ka.

Kaya sige, pinalaya kita.

Hindi naging madali. Sobrang sakit. Parang biniyak at binasag sa maraming piraso ang puso ko na buong-buo ang naging tiwala sa’yo.

Nadapa man, nasugatan pero pinilit parin maging matatag kahit sobrang hirap.

Dito ko natutunan ang salitang, “Pagbangon”.

Nahanap ang sarili, ginawa ang mga bagay-bagay na pangarap ko lang noon.

Ang dami ko pang mga natutunan. Salamat sa pananakit sa akin dahil marami pa palang maihahain ang mundo sa akin, sa atin.

Mabilis na lumipas ang panahon at sa wakas ay naranasan ko rin ang salitang, “Paghilom”.

Mas minahal ang sarili at mas maraming lugar ang napuntahan, mga bagay na nagawa nang mag-isa.

Mas maraming bagong tao ang nakilala at naging kaibigan.

Hindi naman pala tama na sa iisang tao lang paiikutin ang daigdig.

Masaya na rin akong naghihintay para sa tamang taong darating para sa akin.

Kahit kailan mula nang maghiwalay tayo ay hindi na kita ginambala pa.

Pero ikaw ang nagpahiwatig sa akin ng salitang “Pagbabalik”.

Pati salitang “Ikalawang Pagkakataon” ay hiningi mo kasabay ng buong pusong paghingi ng tawad.

Naniwala ako sa dalawang salitang ‘yon at muli kong inangkin ang salitang, “Pagsugal.”

Muli ka ngang hinayaan na bumalik sa buhay ko.

Sana lang, sana lang talaga ay huwag mo nang sasayangin ang ikalawa at huling pagkakataon na ito.

Sa totoo lang ay puno pa rin ng takot ang puso ko na baka maulit lang ang nakaraan pero sana , sana, sana, ay tama na ang desisyon nating ito.

Mahal pa rin kita, pinipili pa rin kita.

Masaya ako kapag kasama kita.

At hindi ako kailanman magsisisi sa ibinigay nating panahon at muling pagkakataon para sa isa’t isa.

Kaya Mahal, sana, sana lang talaga, ay tayo na talaga hanggang sa huli.

Wala mang kasiguraduhan ang lahat ay patuloy na ipagdarasal na sana ay tayo nga talaga ang inilaan para sa isa't isa ng Maykapal.