How Enjoying Life led me to find the Love of My Life

I’ve travelled a lot for the past month. I went to Club Balai Isabel Batangas, Nagsasa-Anawangin Zambales, Sta Victoria Ilagan, Iba Zambales, and Palaui-Sta Ana Cagayan. I don’t know your standard, but for me that’s a lot just for a month. Some of you may be wondering if I’m really that guy because I was a very introvert man. For almost two decades, if people wanted to see me, they may not need an email, a facebook or a cellphone to know where I am. All they need is their loud golden voice to shout and call my name in front of our gate: Kevinnn!! …because we don’t have a buzzer.

In today’s layman’s language,”kumota na ako” (I’ve reached my quota). And it taught me 256 lessons of life that I’m going to share with you.

Okay, I heard you.

I’ll just drop it to 5 lessons of how my pursuit of happiness, how appreciating, adoring and enjoying life has led me to find the love of my life.

1.    Relationships Come and Go on the Road

In my Nagsasa-Anawangin trip, I was with total, completely, undeniably strangers. The only person I truly know was my cousin. Actually, it was my cousin’s group of friend’s way back in college. The place doesn’t have an electricity or network signal so we don’t have a choice but to talk, laugh, cook our own food, discover the place, stargaze and laugh more.

I friend them (thanks to facebook, friend is now a verb). Because of the activities we shared, it was easy for us to become friends.

However, according to Matthew Kepnes, the nature of travel doesn’t always lend itself to long-term relationships. It’s hard to make something last when everyone moves in different directions. But I’ve realized you need to simply enjoy your time together and live in the moment.

2.    But Chase the One You Like

Yet once in a while, you’ll find someone you really connect with. And when you have nowhere to be and no place to go other than where you want, sometimes there is no reason not to follow.

I was in awe by the beauty of nature in Nagsasa. But I couldn’t help my admiration and wonderment to this woman whose smile can melt a cone of ice cream even during winter.

She’s simply beautiful and her sweetness triggered a bulb lit above my head. And an idea popped out, “I want to know her more!”  

She invited me to attend her sister’s wedding a few weeks later after that Nagsasa trip. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know her more and her family.

3.    People are Good

Next trip: Iba, Zambales.

She’s from Iba. And the wedding was held at their hometown. Gosh, I was going to meet her parents. There was this movie I watched where the guy was introduced to the gal’s parents and he experienced like he was eaten alive. Whew!

My story was different. They were very accommodating and fun to be with.

4.    God Knows Best

I asked her to have a summer vacation with me in Sta Ana, Cagayan.

All things were set. We left Manila, Friday at 2pm. We were supposed to arrive Saturday around 1am in Isabela, my hometown, and get the car to drive to Sta Ana for 4 hours. It’s really nice to see the sunrise at the beach.

But something happened. A trailer truck turned upside down and blocked the road leaving the cars and buses no choice but to wait for the response team to clear the area. It took us 10 hours before we were able to pass through.

We know that this is an uncontrollable event. Instead of grumbling and complaining why it happened, it gave us more time to talk, bond and laugh together with other bus passengers. People often say, “Enjoy the journey.”

More bumps in the road and unexpected surprises occurred. And that’s what made it so exciting.

I don’t know why such delay, but I thank God for it. Maybe He is preventing us from danger or He just wants us to feel and say, “The trip was worth it.”

He knows Best!

5.    You have to Let Go of Where You Were to Get Where You Can Be

We arrived at Nangaramoan beach, Sta Ana, Saturday around 9pm. Since the trip was long and tiring, we stargazed a bit and went to sleep.

Sunday morning, it was sunrise at the beach.

But as much as we want to enjoy the beach, we’re really after the island: Palaui Island.

So we had to leave for almost an hour boat ride to the island.

Whoallah! The view was spectacular!

What am I saying?

You have to let go of where you are to get where you want to be.

It’s fun being single. I’ve been enjoying it for the past 23 years. But the moment she said yes to my proposal (as her boyfriend), it’s rapture.

Joy.

Bliss.

Euphoric.

It is God bearing fruit to a dream He has planted into my heart.

But it didn’t happen with just a snap of a finger.  I had to do things I’ve never done before.

To go out and live life to the full.

To enjoy life.

And to trust God that His Will and His Timing is better than ours.

Friends, go out there!

See what’s in store for you.

Enjoy life!

If you're single, who knows? You might find your one true love. 

Cape Engano

Jump shot at Palaui Island

Nangaramoan Beach

Do You Suffer for Love?

Do you have a partner? A girlfriend or a spouse?

Do you suffer tailing her in the mall when she goes shopping and you carry all the shopping bags?

Do you suffer when she enters a store, picks up two items and asks you “Which one is better? What do you think?” And in your mind you want to say, “Buy both. Let’s go home!” But decided not to and tells her your preference?

Do you have a child? Or three small naughty children that appears to be 27 kids because of the noise and mess and chaos they do in your house? Do you suffer being a parent for them?

I believe that it is sweet, beautiful and lovely suffering.

But it is not suffering for suffering’s sake.

It is suffering for the sake of love.

You still go with her to the mall and accompany her because you are with the woman of your dreams.

You take care of your children because they are your jewel, your prince and your princess. You suffer because of your love for them.

Confession, I don’t have a father. I do but I never saw him. He went outside the country to work when I was one year old. And he never came back. Thankfully, my mom was there. He took care of us, six children. Do you think she suffered? You bet! And I believe that we are who we are now because there’s this mother who suffered being a father and mother for us because she loves us. (Thank you, ma!)

And right now, as the Holy Week approaches, we remember how Jesus has suffered and died for us on a cross.

Jesus died in the Calvary as a common criminal but He never committed a crime. He never committed a sin. Yet He died on a cross.

The King of all kings. The God who created the heavens and the earth. The one who made you and me, died on the cross.

Why?

He could have made a decision to save you “You’re saved.” That’s it!

But God is a God who wants to convince you that He loves you. He wants to express and manifest His love for you. He wanted to show it so that you will have no doubt whatsoever that you are important to Him.

Friends, accept that love from Jesus.

You are worth suffering for.

The Art of Enjoying Life

I am writing this article in front of the house early this morning.

I’m telling you, it is sooo wonderful just to sit here and be mesmerized by the green leaves and blooming flowers with beautiful background music from real, flying, singing birds.

No car noise. No people passing by the street (still in their dreamland).

Just nature.

I loved it!

I am recapturing the ability to enjoy every moment of my life. At no cost! (Well, except for my coffee and doughnut.)

You know, we are losing the art of enjoying life.

We have so many issues. We have so many burdens. We were thinking so many things. We have so many worries.

We are losing the art of enjoying life.

And my word for you is this, learn to relax.

It was Brother Bo who said, “Yes you’ve got problems. Yes you’ve got struggles. Yes you’ve got things running around your mind. But you know what? God wants to teach you that a big part of your life is joy and peace and love. Sure there are problems but your blessings outnumber your problems and you need to learn how to enjoy your life.”

For the past two weeks I had two consecutive weekend vacations with two different groups of people.

Two weeks ago, I went to a resort in Batangas with my college friends and stayed there for a night. They had this beautiful restaurant with a panoramic view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. Believe me, it is world class. And we were there talking and laughing and eating and laughing and teasing and… have I mentioned laughing? with the beautiful view of Taal in front of us.

I had fun.

Taste and See

In Psalms 34:8 says, Taste and see that the Lord is good.

How many of you know that the Lord is good?

You know what? It’s not enough just to know about it. It’s not enough just to read about it. You’ve got to taste it. You’ve got to savor it. You’ve got to feel and experience it. You’ve got to enjoy the goodness of God.

Last week, we were in Nagsasa Cove in Zambales, a remote area with no electricity and with no cellular network coverage. Now you know what that means. No facebook, no twitter and no instagram.

I can hear you. “Whaaatt??”

Yes, you read it right. But I enjoyed the adventure with my new friends most of them I just met during the trip. They were happy people. They’re so much fun to be with that when they tell a story or a joke and you can’t relate to it, you will still laugh after. Because their laugh beats SARS, Meningococcemia and H1N1 combined. It is so contagious.

When it was time to cook, I volunteered for the fire. They were amazed on how I was able to create a fire in less than a minute. (ssshh, I brought a match). And I learned that the tagalog word for creating a fire with wood is “magparikit.” (I am getting ahead of my story)

What am I saying?

Just Enjoy.

How many of you wanna recapture that? The ability to smell the flowers even on a busy day? How many of you walked on the beach barefoot and allow the sand to go through your toes? How many of you can seat on a chair looking at a beautiful view of nature just looking and enjoying life?

Friends, God loves it when you’re having fun. When you’re enjoying life, He loves it.

I recalled what brother Bo said during one of his talks, “Some people have this wrong notion that when they’re happy, when they’re glad, they feel guilty that they’re having too much fun and too much happiness. That’s not true. God loves you so much.”

Learn to relax.

Recapture the art of enjoying life!

How?

Be grateful.

Have a joyful summer.

Choose To Be Happy

You know me as a positive person promoting and writing good stuff. But can I confess with you?

One morning, while writing and revising my dreams in my Dream Notebook I felt happy and excited but then tempted to be frustrated. I was tempted to think that my best life is still a long way off. I’ve got so many plans and wonder how I can get there?

Thankfully I remembered the reasons why I have dreamed and wrote them in the first place. One is: To Be Happy!

Poof! Suddenly I realized my best life starts today! I don’t have to wait for everything to be perfectly straightened out in my family or with my work, business or for all my problems to be solved. I don’t have to forgo happiness until I lose weight (okay, in my case until I gain weight), break an unhealthy habit, or accomplish all my goals. No, God wants me to be happy right where I am, right now.

Pastor and motivational author and speaker Joel Osteen said, “Happiness is a choice. When you get up in the morning, you can choose to be happy and enjoy that day, or you can choose to be unhappy and go around with a sour attitude. It’s up to you. If you make the mistake of allowing your circumstances to dictate your happiness, then you risk missing out on God’s abundant life.”

                You may be going through tough times, all of which give you good reason to be unhappy or upset. But being unhappy won’t change anything for the better. Being negative and sour isn’t going to improve anything either. You might as well choose to be happy and enjoy your life!

                 Osteen believed that to do so, we must stop fretting about the future and live one day at a time.

                It’s good to have a big-picture outlook, to set goals, to establish budgets and make plans. I’m doing these things. But I’m learning to not live in the future because I’ll never enjoy the present in the way God wants me to.

                Learn to enjoy your family, your friends, your health, your work. Enjoy everything in your life. “Happiness is a decision you make, not an emotion you feel.” Certainly there are times in all of our lives when bad things happen, or things don’t turn out as we had hoped. But that’s when we must make a decision that we’re going to be happy in spite of our circumstances.

                In one of his talks, Bo Sanchez said, “In your path towards your happiness, things pop up. Things block. You know what those things are? LIFE. Life comes up. And you need to learn how to enjoy every step of the journey.”

                Maybe you wish you were more handsome or more beautiful, more gifted and talented. You may wish you’d been born with a lot more in your favor. But you can’t let those superficial things steal your happiness.

                Friends, learn to be happy in spite of your circumstances. Have a grateful attitude.

Choose to be happy! :)