Have a good day. Count your blessings. And pass or share this to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.
Nanay Estelita, a National Treasure
The art and the patience of weaving from indigenous material is slowly disappearing. The masters are fading into old age and one can only hope that their next generation offsprings will continue their craft. They are treasures we want to keep and skills we hope will be with us forever. Here is a story of one such national treasure.
Estelita Bantilan, 85 years old, is one of the Philippine’s treasured national artists. She is a B’laan master banig (mat) weaver from Upper Lasang, Sapo Masla, Malapatan, Sarangani Province. She has been making banig since she was 10 years old. She learned how to weave banigs from her mother, who also learned the skill from her own mother.
Nanay Estelita uses indigenous materials found around the area where she lives in making banig. Buli, the main material used for weaving, is harvested from the many buli plants scattered around her house. The dyes used for coloring are from plant and rock pigments, which are harvested by her husband from the nearby forest.
Weaving one Banig used to take one month to complete because working on it can only be done during early morning and very late in the afternoon, when it is not hot. Heat, Nanay Estelita explained, makes the buli impliable. Upper Lasang didn’t have electricity until last year, so Nanay Estelita could not work at night. Now that they have electricity, she is able to weave at night and production time got down to two weeks.
Even though she is already 85 years old, Nanay Estelita is still very active. She works on her garden when not weaving. When asked what’s her secret for long life, with a big bright smile, she said “happiness.”
Perseverance
Perseverance is a key factor for success.
His name is Erwin Macua, 38 years old.
He juggled from being a security guard, pursuing a bachelors degree in Elementary Education, and being a father of 3 children.
And last March 24, 2017, he graduated cum laude from St Theresa’s College in Cebu – the same school where he works as a security guard for the past 20 years.
“Age is not a hindrance, poverty is not a hindrance. Just pursue your dream with the formula: hard work plus determination plus prayer and you will reach your aspirations in life,” Macua said.
An inspiration to his classmates, Macua said he plans to continue his work as a security guard while self-reviewing for the licensure exams for teachers.
He credits his passion for teaching to the lessons he learned from observing the diversity of students in school, which had him looking forward to having his own advisory class in the future.
For now, Macua will continue guarding the gates of STC as he prepares for the licensure examination for teachers in September. He said he has received offers from private and public schools. But his focus now is to pass the exams before he teaches, he said. “It’s one thing to graduate with honors and teach. But I’d be happier to be teaching with a license. That way, I can inspire my future students to work harder,” he said.
Sources: abs-cbnnews.com; sunstar.com.ph
Pass the Biscuits
Here is one story I got from a friend via mail. It is an interesting lesson on life, relationship and friendship. I hope you will enjoy this.
PASS THE BISCUITS
When I was a kid, my mum liked to make breakfast food for dinner
every now & then & I remember one night in particular when she had
made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening
so long ago, my mum placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!
Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mum and ask me how my day was at school.
I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember hearing my mum apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Honey, I love burned biscuits.”
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned.
He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Your mummy put in a long hard day at work today and she’s real tired. And besides… A burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!”
You know, life is full of imperfect things… And imperfect people. I’m not the best at hardly anything and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else.
What I’ve learned over the years is that learning to accept each others faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences, is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
So…please pass me a biscuit. And yes, the burned one will do just fine!
And please pass this along to someonewho has enriched your life…I just did!
Life is too short to wake up with regrets… Love the people who treat you rightand forget about the ones who don’t.
ENJOY LIFE NOW – IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!
A Winner Never Quits
A quitter never wins, a winner never quits.
I first heard these words from a sweepstakes ticket vendor who exhorted patrons to continue buying from him.
Persistence, that is what it is called. But this thing took on a new meaning to me when I chance upon a section of the book Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen on Overcoming Obstacles. It talked about how one of the greatest leaders in history may have exemplified this trait. It talked about how Abraham Lincoln did not quit, and eventually won!
Today, on his 150th death anniversary, let me share how Lincoln breathed life into the word — persistence:
Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.
He could have quit many times but he didn’t and because he didn’t quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of America.
Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln’s road to the White House.
- 1816: His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
- 1818: His mother died.
- 1831: Failed in business.
- 1832: Ran for state legislature- lost.
- 1832: Also lost his job. Wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.
- 1833: Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
- 1834: Ran for state legislature again – won.
- 1835: Was engaged to be married , sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
- 1836:Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
- 1838:Sought to become speaker of the state legislature – defeated.
- 1840: Sought to became elector- defeated.
- 1843: Ran for Congress-lost.
- 1846:Ran for Congress again. This time he won-went to Washington and did a good job.
- 1848:Ran for re-election to Congress – lost.
- 1849:Sought the job of land officer in his home state-rejected.
- 1854:Ran for Senate of the United States-lost.
- 1856:Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention-got less than 100 votes.
- 1858:Ran for U.S Senate again-again he lost.
- 1860:Elected president of the United States.
The Alarm Clock
- An Alarm Clock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The alarm clock is only useful if you follow what you wanted it to do for you, that is, to wake up as soon as it rings. How you react to an alarm, especially if you personally set it, is a reflection of your personality.
Designed to Remind Us to Wake Up
An alarm clock is designed to make a loud sound at a specific time. These types of clocks are used to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps. They are sometimes used for other reminders as well. To stop the sound, a button or handle on the clock is pressed; but most clocks automatically stop the alarm sound if left unattended long enough. A classic alarm clock has an extra hand or inset dial that is used to specify the time at which to activate the alarm.
With modern technology, digital gadgets have added the alarm functions to their capabilities. So alarm alerts are now standard features of wristwatches and cellphones. Many cell phones feature built-in alarms that do not require the phone to be powered on for the alarm to go off. Other cell phones feature the ability for the user to set the tone of the alarm, and in some cases music can be downloaded to the phone and then chosen to play for waking.
But the way man interacts with the "alarm clock" remains the same, as when it was first used – to warn people about certain thing sthat they have to do once the alarm sounded.
So here the gist of the message I am trying to convey today:
We set our alarm clocks to a certain time before we go to sleep. We want to wake up early enough so as not to be late for work or for our early morning rituals.
But waking up and starting to prepare for work or commencing our morning routines are two different things.
When the alarm rings, we immediately push either its stop or its snooze button. We do not want to get up: we either want to go back to sleep or we just like to stay in bed. In some instances we even forgot that we were the one who set the alarm. And foolishly curse it: saying it is still too early or that it has goben off sooner than the time it was set, etc.
But what most of us do is to re-set the alarm to a later time. And when it rings again, we hit again the snooze or the stop button. And goes back to sleep beacuse it is still too early.
Yes, with the help of an alarm clok, all of us can really wake up early. But waking up early does not mean rising up up from the bed early.
Because we seem to have a lot more time, if we feel lazy.
