Monday, August 31, 2009

What FEAR Really Stands For

Last week, I came across the true meaning of what the word FEAR really stands for.

Finding Excuses And Reasons.

How liberating!

At first, I felt a little defensive and when I came to terms with my own fear(s), I realized, that I have been the Queen of Excuses and Reasons. It occurred to me how good I had gotten at it and rationalizing my excuses and reasons.

Wow...

In the end, the only thing that keeps any of us from going after our dreams, goals, desires and so on is FEAR.

Be it fear of success or failure, if we are not truly following our bliss, it is probably because we are making up excuses or reasons for not doing so.

Well, I'm taking the plunge and not letting myself off the hook. No more excuses for taking my sweet time to build my empire (Marlo Entertainment). The only that stands in my way is me.

Get behind me, ME!

What about you?

What have you been called to do?

What is your true purpose?

What excuses and reasons are you coming up with for not living and walking in your full God given potential?

Once you have identified them and see them for what they truly are, let them go.

No more excuses. No more reasons.

And you too will see, no more fear.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I've Been Tagged!

I have been officially tagged! Dang it!

I was tagged on a post from Zensekai, the Zen master himself at http://zensekai.wordpress.com.

How dare he?

Supposedly, the way it works is that you have to post five things about yourself. Four are untrue. One is true. All are so outlandish, implausible or ridiculous that no one would be inclined to believe that any of them are true. And despite the pleas from your readers, you never divulge which is true and which are fabrications. You then tag five other people (four seriously and one person you are pretty sure would never participate).

Here are my five:

1. I once ate 20 slices of watermelon in one sitting.
2. I killed a small garden snake with my bare hand.
3. I was beaten with a belt so badly once that the belt buckle broke off.
4. I've had four near death experiences all involving drowning.
5. I innocently stole a ball from a store when I was five years old.

The five lucky victims who are hereby tagged are: Janie Felan, Bonnie Manchester, Rose Mary Mejivar, Anita Reesman, and (can I have drum roll?) Berna Riojas!

Have fun ladies! You have been tagged!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Where Do Our Loved One's Go?

Have you ever wondered where people really do go when they die?

My very dear friend called me yesterday, upset, and heart-broken as she was missing her mother who passed away three years ago.

Apparently, my friend had made a simple meal that reminded her of her dear mother that triggered a fond memory of her mom. That precious memory as small as it was, took my friend back and she called me, just barely able to speak.

I am so grateful that my friend deems me worthy of such a call and yet, I was and am always at a lost for words. My heart goes out to her. And to her family.

What do you say?

Somehow, "Well at least she is not suffering any more," does not suffice. Nothing I can say will or can make it better. Not when the person who is really suffering is my friend who just wants her mom back.

Even though it has been three years since her passing, the loss is still so painful and so raw. Like a wound that just won't heal.

Time is supposed to heal, but does it?

Maybe the loss just becomes somewhat more manageable. And yet, my friend tells me she feels closer to her mom than ever. She shares that she can feel her mother's presence with her all the time.

So where do our loved one's go?

Are they really in heaven? Heaven sounds and seems so far away. And yet every thing we 'hear' about heaven is wonderful.

Wonderful for whom? Certainly not for those who have experienced the loss.

I wonder...is it possible that heaven is just another dimension?

A dimension that is not visible to the naked eye?

And my friend's mother really is in heaven, but heaven is actually right here with us. And what my friend feels is her mother's love right there present with her and her mother's love is reaching out to her to let her know how much she is loved.

I really need to believe that because I do not and cannot believe that a loving God would or could have the heart to separate us from those we love so much.

I know how dear and precious my children are to me and I hate being separated from them.

Is it possible that the Creator who created you and me in His image possesses the same, if not even more, love for His creation and understands how death impacts His own creation?

Once again, I need to believe that as well.

I come from the school that nothing can separate us from our loved one's. Not even death. And what seems like separation really isn't.

Maybe, just maybe our dear loved one's who have passed are more accessible than we are aware of and all we have to do is just speak to them and let them know how much they are missed. Maybe even though they are not here physically, they can still hear us. And they too are speaking to us in our hearts.

Where do our loved one's go? Perhaps their bodies have transformed, but their love endures forever.

And it is that love, their love, that is still here with us. To uphold us. To comfort us. To love us. Especially when we need them most.

Dedicated to the Maldonaldo Family in Loving Memory of their Beloved Criselda 'Chita' Maldonado.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

True Story


So I'm attending a film festival in Hollywood at a very prestigous hotel yesterday and I'm waiting for two other producers to show up.

We have all agreed to meet at the entrance of the establishment so that we can all go in together, right?

Well, it occurs to me that there might be another entrance so I walk around and sure enough, I see another door leading into the hotel.

So I walk over the the doorway and am wondering why the sliding doors are not opening for me. I begin to sway and then bounce a couple of times and nothing happens. I do this again to no avail.

A young woman walks up behind me and pushes the door open and says, "Lady, you have to push it".