Life Purpose

Today, I'd like to share with you a very inspiring message from a very successful person.  I hope you find this inspiring...i definitely have.

Find What You Love — Apple Computer Co-founder Steve Jobs


http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html - Stanford Report of Stanford University

Below are excerpts from the Commencement address at Stanford University by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. See link above for full speech.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months. So why did I drop out? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates. ... My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.


And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life ... and here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

My second story is about love and loss. I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? ...


I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over. I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

My third story is about death. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning. It clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. When they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now. This was the closest I've been to facing death. Having lived through it, I can now [talk about it] with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept.

Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Love and Cooking

Last saturday, I cooked. I cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. I cooked penne in tomato sauce for breakfast, monggo and fish for lunch, and adobong pusit for dinner.

Corollary to that, I washed. I washed the dishes during and after breakfast, during and after lunch, and yes, during and after dinner.

It’s ok, I’m not complaining. It was actually quite fun. I discovered that I can cook a decent meal and not just come up with one of those burnt, unidentifiable things that you see on your plate but eat it anyway, believing in the saying that what you don’t know won’t hurt you!

I also learned in the process that you can never have enough of garlic and onions! Half of my life during that faithful day was consumed in peeling, slicing and pounding on those things!

The peeling and slicing went like a breeze, but the pounding required intelligence and creativity.

You see, I don’t have any mortar and pestle (is this term correct? I’m inclined to say mortal and kettle…). So I use whatever works.

Before, I used the cutting knief. It was alright until the edges became dull from cutting and so I decided to use a thinner knief, but razor sharp. Therefore, using it solely for the garlic would be a waste of soap and energy as it would add to the pile of utensils to be washed. I tried a spoon. It was ok for small garlic but not for the large and chubby ones. Then, I tried the wooden flat ladle, which I would use also to stir-fry everything. It worked! Since it was flat and wide, the palm of my hand fit perfectly, allowing me to give the right amount of pressure to squish the garlic. Great.

Moving on…..

While cooking, you’ve got to naturally keep on tasting the food, whether it’s salty or spicy or sweet or not to much of it. So you keep on adding and subtracting…until the taste is totally different from the time you started and you’re suddenly no longer sure whether what you’re cooking is mechado or kaldereta, paksiw or adobo or worse, nilaga or sinigang!

I couldn’t eat much of my own cooking. I already felt full from all those tasting and smelling. Tweety likes it though. She says it’s delicious.

In the end, I would like to thank my Tweety for the appreciation and loving praises, but her cooking is definitely much better! Heaven sent ;)

That's the Cooking part.  You ask what has Love got to do with it?

This morning, Tweety shouted..."Kain na! :)"  Now, that's LOVE!

Welcome to my Life!

Everyone is allowed to dream...

In relation to who I am...here's more for your information:

1. MY HOME

2. MY OFFICE

2. MY CARS

3. MY BIKES

5. MY OUTFIT TO WORK

6. MY SHOES

7. MY WATCHES

Well, that's just a sneak peek for now. I'll share more of my life with you very soon!

Who I am, according to keirsey.com

Today, I got the chance to take a personality test.  It's quite successful, i guess, at capturing who I am.  It describes me as an INFJ which stands for Introvert, Intuitive, Feelings, Judgment.  I fall in the category of an Idealist, Counselor. More specifically, the results say---        

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.
Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people's feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.
Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.
Mohandas Gandhi, Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Goodall, Emily Bronte, Sir Alec Guiness, Carl Jung, Mary Baker Eddy, Queen Noor are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).

So what do you think? It's me, right? Well I'm not trying to be agreeable just because I want to be rubbing shoulders with the great Mahatma Gandhi! (Although that's not a bad thought...)

Cars and Motorcycles

Yesterday morning, while driving to work and daydreaming of my future house in Palawan, I was momentarily distracted when I saw the car on my left side get hit in the bumper by a speeding motorcycle. The driver of the bike waived his hand to the driver of the car, in a gesture of apology, but continued forward. Unfortunately, the bumper was quite damaged as part of it fell off its' hinge. Naturally, the car driver was furious and made a "beep,beeeeeep" to the guy on the bike, who didn't acknowledge, knowing well that the last "beeeeeep" was really a warning for him to STOP. A chase, ensued...


This story, ofcourse, has nothing to do with any of us.

BUT! (No, No! Not that!!!) My question to you is...

IF YOU WERE THE DRIVER OF THE BIKE AND THE CAR THAT YOU DAMAGED WAS CHASING YOU, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO ESCAPE EMINENT TROUBLE?

I know its a felony to do such a thing but that's what happened! So if you were the one being chased, and you know that stopping will get you into more trouble, what would you do to avert being caught?

My initial thought was to make a sharp turn on the next corner and all other narrow corners available until I can't be trailed! However, I'm sure that if the car driver was unrelentless and persistent, he won't give up the search and I could be found.

So what's a better idea?

What about still making those narrow turns but parking the bike in an area with plenty of other motorcycles. I'd immediately get off the bike, take off my helmet (leaving it with the bike) and change my shirt or wear a jacket or a cap. That would probably lessen the resemblance.

It also won't hurt to wear a wig, afro style, and a moustache (more hair, the better!)

However, it would be best if you can find a camel back and pretend to be Quasimodo..or the Hunchback of Notredame (aren't they one and the same?!? See!!! I can't even tell!)

You can also take off your shirt and pants and just pretend to be a taong grasa.

Hmmmm.....

Sunday Lunch with the Family

Have you guys visited the Meralco Development Center in Antipolo City? Its not only a venue for trainings and seminars but also a great place to visit with the family.

It has a cafe and restaurant named "The Pavilion." Their meals are delicious and their cakes are great! We sampled their pork sinigang, Kare-Kare and Fried Chicken among others. Yes, there's fish and pasta too! I'm sure with the food ordered, you're now not w0ndering why my cholesterol is super high! And you think I'm done? For dessert...we had brownies, blueberry cheesecake, pastillas de leche cheese cake, sans rival and tiramisu!

After that...I had to have hot tea. Yes, ofcourse I got scared that all the fat and butter would stick in my innards and I would get sick and....(*hikbi*)...

Anyway, we ate and ate. After that, since our stomachs were bulging, we decided to take a walk around the Meralco compound. The area was really full of greens. There were lots of mango trees and other plants. Butterflies abound, which is a sign that the place was clean. There were walk ways that led to areas to be discovered.

(There's supposed to be a photo here but the server and I are not in good terms right now so I'll have to delay its posting...)

In a short distance from the restaurant...a beautiful sight greeted us...Lo and Behold! There was an Aviary! A huge one at that. We saw different species of parrots, peacocks, cockatoos, weird looking chickens (which you wouldn't in your life dare eat...) and an eagle etc. They were plenty...and noisy! Sounded like monkeys eating a cow! Mind you..the parrots were HUGE! It was terrifying to get near them lest they're hungry and find a way to get their claws on you and fly you to the moon! But by gad they were very beautiful. All colorful and feathery...(obviously!)

The loveliest part of it was that we found a....SWING! Yup, a swing. The kind that you find in kindergarten school. The best thing is that I fit! I was actually able to swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Most of us didn't let the opportunity pass so we rode on it like little kids. It was fun. Ofcourse, I have motion sickness... so...you know...

There was also a Grotto of the Virgin Mary near the Aviary but we failed to walk by that area as everyone felt that the mosquitos were just a bit too friendly!

All in all, it was a fun day.

Meralco Center is located in Sumulong Highway, Antipolo City. They're open the whole week starting at 7am.

OF ILLNESSES AND OFFICES

Last night, I felt sick. My skin was hot, my eyes were burning and my hands felt cold. So I popped a reliable pill in my mouth and went to sleep. I still felt a bit bad when I woke so I finally decided to call in sick from the office.

Suddenly... all the pain and discomfort went away! It's like the bad spirit fled from my body after being shoo'd away by a medicine man!

Now I feel great and brand new!

Therefore, premises considered...I can safely conclude that I'm allergic to the office! I'm sure a lot of you share this same fate. We get sick when we think of the office and much more when we're in them!

As I've said...I hate the boss...but love the xerox machine. The latter is the only thing that keeps me going when I'm in that hell hole. It is the source of my dreams and inspirations.

Hail to the xerox machine and all other photocopiers!

Right now, I'll savor my time away from hell. Cheers!

Staircases and Xerox Machines

I'm in a new place now. No! Not heaven (or hell) you twerp! I'm still alive... I just changed jobs.

Ofcourse people change jobs for the better. That was the intent here. However, things have a way of turning something sweet to bitter. Today, is worse than all the other days of my working life! I traded a bad environment for something worse...if not the worst ever!

My boss here has unilaterally decided that he is the center of the universe and that he has replaced God as creator. So...from now on, he will be in-charge of the universe! Get the drift?

So what was his first decree? To banish me from my cubicle! He adopted the 'deadma' method.

Have you met anyone so selfish? I hate him. Yeah, i do.

Good that I've been blessed with some form of humor. I'm not laughing here though...but really, I have humor. HAHAHAHA! See.

Since i'm currently soooooooooo busy doing nothing, I've developed the gift of daydreaming. My past dreams were punching god-damn in the face, pushing god-damn down the staircase, watching god-damn twitch on the floor due to a heart attack and similar other things. Yesterday, my mind was debating on how I can make fruitful use of the huge xerox machine in front of my cubicle. So I came up with the idea of shoving the machine down god-damn's throat. However, that seems to be quite a difficult feat. I wondered as to whether pushing it up his ass is much easier....Hmmmm....

Today, the dream is about firecrackers...here...at god-damn's cubicle. KAPOW!!!

Huh?

Every time I open this page, I wonder why its not as colorful as the others...why I don't have so many borders or boxes or that I can't get the font type and size that I want 'coz it just won't follow me or that I can't even get the original title to show. It's like the dog sat on it...or ate it...or kicked it to the side...or did something beyond my wildest dreams (...and mind you, my dreams can get preeeeetty wild...)! This dog ain't listening to me, I reckon...it's had that plug in his ear since birth! No...wait...I think those are my missing earplugs! Darn it...
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I'm poofed. Without comment. I went through life today like a breeze, not feeling or thinking about a thing! In my head, its like "bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt" and I go into a trance where I can't see or hear ...then it goes "pluk!"...and my mind goes "yeah!"...and then back to "bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt" with a continous repeat.
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When you try to force yourself to stay awake and/or alive, do you notice that you get crossed eyed in the stupid process? Yes you do man... No? You don't believe me? Why the hell not?!? Oh yeah???? Huh! (Whatever...)
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Ok, moving on...I've always admitted to myself and others that I'm a forgetful one and utterly disorganized. So I wondered whether it would be a good idea to have a notebook or pad to write all of those seemingly important stuff. Well, being the excited person that I am, I got myself several notepads (old and new) as well as other electronic gadgets to help me. Everything was fine at first...until I can't remember where I placed a notebook, and then another, and another! So I throw my hands in the air...surrendering to mother nature...my stupidity!
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Before I condemn myself before you....I'll have to say Goodbye... Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye! (bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt)

Faith

It's quite interesting how events turned out in my life...everything unexpected happened. Ofcourse, it is always for the better, if not the best.

I learned that no amount of planning will make you ready for what happens next. I have proven, though, that only one thing is true above all...that God is with us all and only your faith in Him will guide you.

God holds everything in His hands...life, time and love. For years, I believed that things will unfold as they should and that all I have to do is be patient. After waiting for a long time...now, I am seeing everything unfold before my eyes...like beautiful flowers in bloom. Surprisingly, despite my frailty, I understand.

I hope you do too...