The Tea Boy

Yesterday, when I went to the office pantry for my lunch, I happen to converse with our tea boy there. Taslim, is a 21 years old Bangladeshi, can speak English, knows computer, and with a sound understanding. Before I took my first bite, I posed to him a question that literally caught his attention that leads to this blog post.

“Why you didn’t pursue your college?” He looked at me, and with a timid smile asked in a typical Bangladeshi English, “Why you ask me?” “Well, I asked the same question over and over again to some of your fellows here. I recognize your abilities, as you know, one of my QA checker whom I trust is a Bangladeshi who is also very good like you” I replied. “So common, tell me your story while I am feeding my hungry stomach.”

It took for him a while to reply. Nodding his head in disappointment, and with a long breath he spoke sheepishly about his story. He said that it was his fault. That word ‘fault’ took us a few minutes before I finally comprehend because he had a hard time pronouncing it. He said it was his fault because he didn’t listen to his parents. He said that no one to be blame except him, and he is keeping that in his heart, and for that he feel sorry. We exchanged words about what happened, and exhorted him to share something about his life, and I’ll share some words and thoughts in a positive way.

“So what are your plans now? Do you intend to become a tea boy the rest of your life? You know, one day you’ll get married and will have kids. Do you think you can be able to send them to college someday by being a tea boy?”

“No” he said. “But what can I do?”

“Well, it’s up to you. It’s your decision to make, but I suggest you save money now, invest in education, get married and work in a good company. Through that way you will break the chain, and will have a good chance and your kids will have a better future. Remember that you are rearing a generation, and your decisions and the choices you will make today will greatly influence the kind of life they will live in the future. ” I answered.

He said that I was right. He said that instead of buying things and material stuffs that fades and wanes with the years, he should save money and take up a college or university degree.

Well, that’s his story. Amplify that to millions of others around the world. I am an education advocate. PEBA and KABLOGS along with the Thoughtskoto family and some generous donors are engaged in scholarship grants and sponsorship, making a difference in the life of a young person, that we believe will greatly impact the lives of the generations that will come after them.

It doesn’t matter who we are, where we are and what we are doing now, we have tremendous opportunities to learn, to improve, to succeed and to make a difference. We all have the capacity to change ourselves for the better. Small and seemingly simple ways we do everyday will become an asset in the future.

But most importantly, we OFW’s and Filipino’s in general are people who enjoy and savor every moment and yet even in the middle of laughter’s and joys, our minds reach back home. How are they doing? What do they eat? Do they feel hot right now that electricity is going on and off? Do they also enjoy? We save even the cheapest thing for our love ones back home. Masinop kumbaga, maalalahanin, mapagmahal. But the best that we can give to our kids and love ones are not material things. Education, and instilling right values, influencing for good and love unconditional will last.

©2010 THOUGHTSKOTO

Words That Are Better Than Gold

My almost two year old daughter and I are playing Starfall online, an educational website for kids when we stumble over this page. Four words that says the possession of them all are better than gold.

Hope.

Joy.

Kind.

Peace.

My wife adds, health but I pointed out, you can't have peace if you don't have good health. I think these are the very things, or gifts our world wanted.

Hope amidst the uncertainties of the future, when there are so much pessimism and prophets and prophetess of doom and gloom. That the sun will not shine again clearer and lighter.

Joy, the very reason we all wanted in life and even in the life beyond. Sometimes the simplest things are those that gives us real and lasting happiness, or joy. It is when we do good, and when we truly share our best without expecting anything.

Kind - thoughts, words and deeds, that is. I love a song that I always sing when I am alone, "Have I done any good in the world today? Have I help anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad. If not, I have failed indeed. Has anyone's burden been lighter today, because I was willing to share..."

Peace. Anyone in this world wanted it. Nations and countries, kingdoms and tribes, clans, families, individual wants a piece of peace. Peace they say cannot be achieved without change.

"May the people on this planet be changed.
Changed from hatred to love,
Changed from greed to giving,
Changed from selfishness to selflessness,
Changed from apathy to action,
Changed from jealousy to joy over someone's accomplishments,
Changed from intolerance to acceptance,
Changed from being destructive to being constructive,
Changed from fighting to peace,
Changed from killing to protecting life,
Changed from censorship to freedom,
Changed from ignorance to education,
Changed from fearing our differences to rejoicing our variety."

For me, another song, "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me." You've heard this song, don't you? So I guess, we better start singing now, haha.

So there you go, the four words that says to be better than gold. Hope, Joy, Kind, and Peace. May we have all these things as we continue our journey in this life.

©2010 THOUGHTSKOTO

Bakit Maraming Nag-aabroad?

(Mga kuha ko gamit ang celpon nung ako ay nagbayad ng aking OWWA OFW Fee, ang haba ng pila, kaya dito na ako sa labas, number 5201 ako, pang limang libo mahigit sa araw na yun.)

Naisip ko lang yan, naitanong ko pala sa isip ko.

Bakit nga ba maraming nag-aabroad? Some migrate with their families, some pursue their studies, but a big portion, numbering to 13 Million went abroad in almost, always singular reason...

better future.

Never mind ang lagpas kili-kili at minsan abot-leeg na mga presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin.

Never mind na halos lahat ng mga hiring sa bansa is dapat graduate ka nito, or pasado ka dito, or dapat may masteral ka. Competition is very steep, kung di ka pa nag-aral sa mga di-kalibreng paaralan, wala kang mapapala kahit mamudmud ka pa ng resume mo.

Never mind na engineer ka at sumasahod ka ng 20T sa isang buwan, minus tax, minus etc, etc.

At habang nanonood ka ng balita, maiinis ka lang sa gulo sa gobyerno, at sa mga batas kuno na pinagtutuunan ng pansin ng mga halal ng bayan.

At kung papasok ka ng work, marami pang mga anik-anik, at samut-saring fines, rules, regulations, kaltas, etc...

I don't want to sound negative, pero ang pag-aabroad ay patuloy na bahagi at magiging bahagi ng buhay ng Filipino hanggat hindi maiayos ang namamahala sa gobyerno at mga gumagawa ng batas nito.

Mas pipiliin ng isang accountant, technician, or skilled worker na magtrabaho sa ibang bansa kapalit ng pagtitiis at sobrang lungkot para lamang maiahon sa kahirapan ang pamilya at mabigyan ng magandang bukas ang mga anak.

It is not a trend, going abroad is not anymore a matter of choice, it is a necessity, sometimes, in exchange of personal sacrifice and terrible loneliness, because most Filipino's believe, going abroad will make if not all, some of their dreams come true.

Iilan lang yan sa mga reason kung bakit maraming nag-aabroad. Ikaw, bakit ka nag-abroad?

You might want to join the discussion over KABLOGS about this matter.

2010 THOUGHTSKOTO

Motivating Motivation

“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing that's why we recommend it daily” – Zig Ziglar

My wife printed that quote and posted it in our bathroom for more than a couple of years ago, and every time I took my shower, I can read that quote.

Below is the introduction to the book I was reading a few weeks ago entitled, 101 Motivational Quotes by Steven Grabek. I have a passion of reading books and among my list are Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, The Children of Hurin, Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, and a few from Peter Drucker. I don't know how to finish them all aside from the online studies and trainings, so I need some motivation, kasi as mentioned nga sa itaas, like paliligo, it should be daily also.

"By definition motivation means that which motivates, that which makes us take action towards our desired goals and which gives purpose and direction to those actions. Now we all know that very often we lose our motivation and we allow procrastination to dominate our life. With out our motivation we stop taking action and doing the things we really want to do, we stop achieving the things we really want to achieve and we stop believing we are capable of becoming who ever we want to be.

The secret to beating procrastination is that we need to keep motivated. Every day we must do something, anything that gets us motivated, whether it’s listening to your favourite song, going for that morning run or simply reading some quotes. Every day we must motivate ourselves because when we are motivated we have energy, we have ideas and we have dreams and we pursue those dreams with our unbounded faith that we will achieve them and more."

Whatever you do in life, just do your best.

Thats my motto ever since I was high school, and that is still true even now.

I fail, and yes, oh, I failed a lot, so many times, and yet many times, I too got up, stand up, wipe away the tears, and move on. Life is too precious to be miserable. When we truly understand the purpose of why we are here, why we are working here, and why are we doing this and that, then, we have a sound disposition and we will do good in whatever we do. That I believe. In three words, they call it, A SENSE OF PURPOSE. Wow, my counting skill is diminishing, that's not 3 words, but 4. Haha.

Anyway, there are also times that we won't understand why we do things, and why we are motivated to do this and that as well, just let it be because that is what we call

FAITH.(or love or passion..?)

And faith is doing something and believing something even though you don't understand and you don't see.

Well, that's another topic.

-photos credit to each links. -

©2010 THOUGHTSKOTO

Deadliest, Largest and Strongest ever Earthquake as of 2010

Deadliest Since 1900

July 27, 1976	Tangshan, China	255,000	7.5
Jan 12, 2010	Haiti	230,000+	7.0
Dec. 26, 2004	off west coast of northern Sumatra	225,000+	9.0
May 22, 1927	near Xining, Tsinghai, China	200,000	7.9
Dec. 16, 1920	Gansu, China	200,000	7.8
Sept. 1, 1923	Kwanto, Japan	143,000	7.9
Oct. 5, 1948	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, USSR	110,000	7.3
Dec. 28, 1908	Messina, Italy	70k–100k	7.2
May 12, 2008	Eastern Sichuan, China	87,587	7.9
Oct. 8, 2005	Pakistan	80,361	7.6
Dec. 25, 1932	Gansu, China	70,000	7.6
May 31, 1970	Peru	66,000	7.9
May 30, 1935	Quetta, Pakistan	30k– 60k	7.5
June 20, 1990	Iran	50,000	7.7

Largest and Strongest

1.	Chile	May 22, 1960	9.5
2.	Prince William Sound, Alaska	March 28, 1964	9.2
3.	Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands	March 9, 1957	9.1
4.	Kamchatka	Nov. 4, 1952	9.0
5.	Off western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia	Dec. 26, 2004	9.0
6.	Off the coast of Ecuador	Jan. 31, 1906	8.8
7.	Off Shore Maule, Chile	Feb. 27, 2010	8.8
8.	Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands	Feb. 4, 1965	8.7
9.	Northern Sumatra, Indonesia	March 28, 2005	8.7
10.	India-China border	Aug. 15, 1950	8.6

Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov

If you want to find out when and where the earthquake is happening, check it here.

Earthquake in Chile, and other places in the world, El Nino or severe drought in the Philippines, heavy rain and hailstorm in UAE, tsunami in Hawaii and Polynesian Island and the Pacific Coast, reminds us that we are in the last days. Be better prepared.

Resignation

Dear Manager,

I have been too cute and to shy to inform you of my desire for the last 5 years.

You're a good manager. You know how to deal with your people.

But you don't know how to impress their wallet.

Well, forgive me of my blatant frankness (blatant na frankness pa!) but despite of the many millions you spend in the purchase of the many machines for the last three years, you haven't increase even 50 halalas (6 pesos) my salary.

Any Filipino in his decent mind know that he/she came here abroad to work for the betterment of the future, but if the last three years is nothing but increase in jobs, assignments, scopes of work, and position, duh, forget it. I would rather prefer to be a mere chemist in the lab receiving P90T a month rather than be a manager and managing a diverse group of people and receive only P60T.

Well, you can buy a cute Filipino's hand and back like mine, but no, sorry, you can't buy my heart and my mind.

I am leaving you with so many things, and my memory will be etched in every procedure future chemist will read and follow, the Quality System, HACCP, ISO, and almost all of the QA forms that chemist will fill. My memory will be remembered in the design of the water treatment, laboratory room, and microbiology room.

Nah, I rant too much here.

Bottomline, I am resigning.

Forget about the analogy that I was the one who planted, nourished and is taking care of the tree and when it is about to bear fruit, I'll leave. I know the fruit will be delicious and wonderful to the taste. But I don't know if I will be shared with that fruit. Worse, I don't know if I'll be given the chance to taste the fruit my labors.

So today with a heavy heart I am filing this irrevocable resignation. We have nothing to talk about. You got tired of talking and I got tired of listening to those sweet words and promises.

Also I wake up this morning

and found

this in our

garage.

©2010 THOUGHTSKOTO

The TORTOISE and the DUCKS Lessons Learned

Aesop Fables

The TORTOISE and the DUCKS Lessons Learned

Well, we all know na ang pagong, dala dala niya ang kanyang bahay sa kanyang likod. No matter how hard he will try, he cannot leave home. Sabi nila, Jupiter, one of the gods, sabi nila punished the tortoise kasi napakatamad daw nito, at stay-at-home lagi na hindi siya dumalo sa wedding ni Jupiter, kahit pa especially invited siya.

Anyway, after so many years, sumasama lang ang loob ni pagong ang wish he had gone sa wedding nay un. Kapag nakikita niya ang mga ibon na lumilipad-lipad, and ang mga rabbits at chipmunks and other animals ran and patalon-talon, lagi niyang pinapangarap na Makita niya rin ang mga bagay na dapat makita. Laging malungkot at discontented ang pagong. Gusto niyang makita ang mundo, pero hayun niya dala-dala ang kanyang bahay at maliliit na mga legs na halos di makayang kargahin siya.

One day, nameet niya ang dalawang pato at sinabi niya ang kanyang hinaing.

“Matutulungan ka namin na makita ang mundo,” sabi ng mga pato. “Kumagat ka lamang dito sa stick na ito, at dadalhin ka namin sa itaas kung saan makikita mo ang buong kabayanan. Pero tumahimik ka lang, kung hindi ikaw ay labis na magsisisi.”

Tuwang-tuwa ang pagong. Kumapit siya ng maigi sa patpat(stick) gamit ang kanyang mga ngipin, ang dalawang pato ay hinawakan ang bawat dulo ng patpat at lumipad sila paitaas sa mga ulap. Kitang-kita ng pagong ang ganda ng tanawin mula sa itaas at halos lumuwa ang mga mata sa nasisilayan. Biglang may dumaan na uwak, and nagulat sa pagong na nakalipad, sabay sabing,

“Ito na seguro ang hari ng mga pagong!”

Natutuwa ang pagong, at sa magkahalong galak, tuwa, saya at excitement, sumagot ng...

“ Maraming Salam…”

Nang bigla niyang buksan ang kanyang mga bunganga para sumambit ng mga kataga, napabitaw sa kanyang pagkakakagat sa stick at siya ay nahulog, kung saan tumama siya sa mga batuhan at nawalan ng hininga.

Maraming lesson ang kwento na ito. And the Thoughtskoto will be featuring all throughout our blogging life stories like this from Aesop and many others and try to share our own thoughts and what are the lessons we can learn that will help us become a little kinder, a little better.

First: Laziness is mediocrity is to evil.

Laziness, it won’t lead farther than to where we are sitting right now. There is so much to learn, there is so much to be done. I firmly believe that most of the simple and poor people in this world who become successful, are those who work hard and those who are not ashamed working with their hands.

Second: Our enemy is a green eyed monster named Jealousy

Jealousy, will always makes us feel miserable. “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself…” says in the Desiderata. We need to accept what we are and who we are, but always remembering that we have the power to choose for the better without jealousy and envy towards others.

I love this quote from the Serenity Prayer that was cross-stitched and hanging at the wall in our house.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to changethe things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference"

Third: For your Eyes Only

We were told not to, but we still did it. It happened to me, and I am simply so stubborn and so hardheaded. I need to keep my mouth shut, and give silence a chance to pass, and experience the peace and tranquility of being away or not a part of the noise and evil sounds of this world. In high school we call it reflection, in college, we call it introspection, and in my life I call it solitude. One moment where we can ponder and think what has happened to our lives, what we been doing, and where we are heading.

Sometimes, I need to follow even the simplest rules, to survive. Sometimes, in order for me to experience some great success, I need to be quiet and savor the things that are wonderful to behold. That’s the problem with the tortoise, he was so overjoyed, that he overcome, and forgotten that he need not open his mouth.

Sa buhay natin, maraming bagay ang mas mabuti pang hindi sinsabi, or wala kang sinasabi than later be sorry.

There are things that as my mother used to say;

“For your eyes only.”

©2010 THOUGHTSKOTO