Author Archives: Issa

The Prophecy

Vortex

Today was supposed to have been the end of the world.

It did not end. Life went on.  The pressures are the same, the concerns and the responsibilities remained top of mind.

No one breathed a sigh of relief – at least, none discernible. Everyone shrugged, pleaded to have never believed the prophecy. Yet all were palpably aware of what could have been – that is, everyone living their nightmares.

But would it have been a nightmare? Would no one have breathed a sigh of relief because it is the end?

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More debt is good

Power

I got one of those unusual-convention-defying advice from the Rich Dad Academy.

Increase your credit limit in all your credit cards, the speaker said. Have more debt, was the unspoken advice.

The reason: having access to a huge amount of money at the time you need money (and you will need money) will open up your world to more opportunities. The unspoken caveat: use it only to further a business or for personal development (read: do not purchase duds). Again, the unspoken: pay it off before you incur interest.

If you think about it, credit cards could be great. It will give you access to money that  you have 30 days to pay for. Except – it could make you overspend.

Anyway, take the advice for what it is and know the pitfalls if you do.

And here’s how to increase your credit (and get some other extras):

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Time’s Up

Eternity

Saw those two words and – I have no other word for it – I freaked.

We are all waiting to hear those two words. Okay. Not waiting, I guess. But dreading to hear the final buzz, to have the light go off and have it not come back, to look back at our life – if that life-flashing-before-your-eyes at the end is true – and find that our life was wasted on things and people and moments that did not mean anything.

(But how could it be that every moment would mean something? What pursuit will that be? Isn’t life supposed to be filled – some of the time – with drudgery? Doesn’t that make the moments that stand out – stand out?)

At that very moment, every thing – every problem, every pursuit, every goal, every yearning – seemed trivial.

It will all end for every one – every one – at one point.

If we have a common destiny – this is it. The end.

And just like that – perspective shifted.

Things – and people and situations that made the heart heavy – seemed ludicrous. Concerns – no matter how deep or hurtful – did not mean anything. They are temporary – like the cold wind that kisses us this winter.

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What is your story?

The truth must smell as sweet.

Everyone loves a good story. One that would engage his eyes, his ears, his heart or win his trust or interest.

Reality TV, for example, has as its main draw interesting characters who are masterful storytellers that have amazing stories.

How many were not riveted when a blind home cook has earned the title of Master Chef?

(I think this is the reason why Gordon Ramsay et al chose her to be the winner despite the blah dishes (based on their comments) she presented – her story is irresistible – a cook who cannot see!)

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What if your biggest stumbling block is you?

The glorious past

What if you have done something and you think you can’t surpass it? You replay it all in your head – all that glory, all that attention – and you panic. No, it is not possible for you to do something like that again. And then you wonder what possessed you at that time, what power, what connection to the divine. And why you have lost it. You are at a loss. What do you do? When you – and maybe others (especially others) – have such a high expectation of you.

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Temporary Foreign Worker in Crisis

Janette Camba is going home

Cross-post from the Philippine Canadian Inquirer.

The news was dire and she was just beginning her life in Canada.

In 2009, Janette Camba, then 34 years old, was diagnosed with renal failure, just 1 year after her arrival in Canada on a visa under the Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Program.

But she was declared fit to go when she underwent the exhaustive medical exam that was part of the process to enter Canada. It was an emotional time, her leaving – she waited for 6-8 months for her visa to come, and tore her heart out thinking of the family that she would leave behind – a husband and children, 14 and 5 years young. But she knew – thought – the rewards were greater than the sacrifice she had to make.

But in just her first year in Canada – she had to contend with another reality: renal failure.

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In the grand scheme of things

Flying high

A man may do an immense deal of good, if he does not care who gets the credit for it.  ~Father Strickland, 1863

Somebody forgot to mention you in their all-powerful speech. Or acknowledge you. Or to look at you at the right moment – the moment where it mattered – where everyone will realize – or remember – that yes, it was because of YOU.

You were prepared to smile, to blush, to say that it was nothing, or that it did not matter, or that you did not want recognition, or anything.

But you were forgotten.

It was a slip, a sliver of a moment, but it hurt like hell.

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Your words will haunt you

Hide!

And I mean this in a good way (okay, sometimes it can haunt you in a bad way too).

A friend saw a letter she wrote 10 years ago to one of her best friends (her best friend showed it to her, in a fit of nostalgia). She said in the letter that although she was sidetracked with having a baby, she thought she would probably pursue law school (she was in her 3rd year at that time) because some dreams are meant to be pursued.

Such tenacity.

Such a positive world view.

Such a positive view of the self.

Take no prisoners.

(she became a lawyer 4 years after)

She wonders if she still has the same fight in her now. The same urgency. The same determination.

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