2011 Year in Review: Endless Possibilities

There are many things to be grateful for in the year 2011. My life has been ups and downs this year, but I have struggled to persevere and endure the not-so-good happenings that brought sadness and tears. 

However, I have also experienced the excellent living brought by the blessings that came along the way of my journey. Life, as I define it is indeed balanced: you win some, and you lose some.

Being a winner in life would take lots of courage and determination. I have been able to conquer my fears and doubts to be able to climb up, if not on the top, at least one step higher. I made it to become the person that I am today because of my willingness to change. I succeed in changing my beliefs, perceptions, and negative thoughts about myself, knowing that "I can if I will."

2011 has been so memorable as I recall the past events that made me smile for joy and tears for sorrow. Whatever those circumstances, it will be a thing of the past and will never be backed.

REFLECTION

I started the year 2011 with a new year celebration with my family. This event is very memorable for us, being together to welcome the beginning of the year. It was fun to have a meal on media noche, play with some firecrackers, and watch fireworks which are everyday activities in the new year.

We have welcomed the new year with gratitude for all the blessings we have received for the past year and the hope of attracting abundance for the new year. Gratitude is an essential virtue to practice to receive more prosperity in life. I am grateful and feel blessed.

It is a nice feeling to reunite with loved ones and express love and affection. The beginning of the year was so bright and an excellent start to doing things by my goal.

THE BIRTH

We have also welcomed the new year with the birth of our youngest family member, Szymon Prince. He brought so much joy and blessing to the family. This young boy is the source of inspiration and happiness to his parents and siblings.

GRATITUDE

I have been blessed to become part of BE Life and have gained more profound knowledge and wisdom about different aspects of life. I have met wonderful people who are my superiors, mentors, and colleagues who inspire me.

I have become more insightful and learned to accept my higher purpose. Along this path, I have met like-minded people and served people to live their most extraordinary life. I thank everyone who has touched my life; in return, I will continue to do the things that bring fulfillment to others.

Thanks to my Spiritual mentors, colleagues, family, and friends for the support they have shown me this year. Their presence is highly valued and appreciated.

OPPORTUNITY

This year, I had the opportunity to travel and work abroad with my colleagues. This time, we will serve people of various backgrounds, creeds, and spiritual beliefs. This is a challenge that I have accepted, and I will be doing my best to bring about positive results to the people I have met and served.

I have learned to be more optimistic. The power of positive thinking is valid and has made a difference in my life. There were moments of fear and doubt, but I shifted my thoughts to be positive and on the right track whenever they arose.

I have learned "The Secret" to endless possibilities. The three words: Ask-Believe-Receive, to attract things that I want. We deserve to become abundant, which comes when we change our thinking. I have done it before, and "The Secret" will be passed on to my loved ones and everyone who may need it.

It feels good to have a self-inventory of whole years' of experience. I have several questions about inventory this year. Questions like; did I make any progress on personal development? Did I make a difference in someone's life? Did I grow in spiritual maturity? And so much more to ask. On deeper reflection, I have found the answer to these questions and will continue to inventory myself each year for new personal development.

LIFE'S LIKE THAT

This year is not just happiness but a moment of grief to unexpected happenings. Life may be full of uncertainties and twists, and we have learned to accept it no matter how hurtful it may seem. This way, we know to be strong and courageous.

THE LESSON

In life, one of the most important things is to take everything as a life lesson, whether positive or negative. We take it as a challenge to live and fight for. It is also essential to become a blessing to other people. I have been blessed, and you may be blessed, so it is not a tough job to share it with people who mean so much to us. Sharing depends on how we define it, but the question of how we can become a blessing to others is a challenge to ponder and take action.

What an incredible year 2011!

© 2011 Del Cusay

Christmas in Our Hearts: A Wonderful Beginning

I have loved to celebrate Christmas with my family since childhood. Christmas would mean so many things to me when I was a kid, full of beautiful imaginations, like believing in Santa Claus and the gift to be received from him. As a kid, I had a meaningful experience during this season. For me, this is the season to gather as a family, having a meal together on Christmas eve or Noche Buena. Full of surprises like games, food, gifts, and others.

Through the years, things have changed rapidly. Beliefs in Santa Claus have changed; consecutive years celebrating Christmas not being together as a complete family, not many gifts received and given, and no games, no parties, and just enough food for Noche Buena (Christmas eve).

Every Christmas celebration is unique. We had several Christmas parties at school, parties with friends, and an exclusive celebration with the family.

Although the Christmas season has uniqueness and extravagance, I have always remembered the real essence of celebrating Christmas. To give, to share, to love one another—virtues that were instilled in my mind.

Celebrating Christmas is beyond values and virtues. More than the party, the gifts, and the food is the time to remember the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we have attended mass on Christmas eve to commemorate His birth and to pray for blessings and abundance.

Moreover, Christmas is an excellent opportunity to reunite with loved ones, heal broken hearts, and forgive. This is in preparation to open our hearts to receiving many more incredible blessings for the coming of a new year. A more fulfilled life comes after an open heart— a giving and loving heart. Likewise, success is short-lived and never measured by how many material things we possess.

A fulfilled person is more than being happy. It can be measured as to how you're living your life. How many people have you helped and transformed their lives? What sacrifices have you made for the benefit of the many?— these are some spiritual practices of a fulfilled individual with Christ-like virtues.

This Christmas, although I will not be able to celebrate it with my family, I still feel connected with them. I don't have to feel lonely in a foreign land, knowing they live a good, content life with a sense of fulfillment.

I may be far away, but the spirit of Christmas is still there. There is no reason to be homesick or sad, but there is always a reason to smile and celebrate with people closer and dear to us.

This Christmas, above all and from a deeper perspective, is about Jesus Christ. Hence, we must remember how to share indiscriminately, give heartily and love unconditionally.

Christmas, as celebrated all over the world, would remind us to live with our responsibility beyond what we call being Christian, and the virtues it has taught us should be practiced the whole year round, and that Christmas, regardless of race, creed, and religion, or spiritual affiliation will always be in our hearts forever.


© 2011 Del Cusay

Awakening our Spiritual Power

"A precious and brilliant gem is more polished and valuable. Just like problems - it is like polishing us to become the best we can be and become a person as brilliant as the diamond, which comes with great value and importance."


We have discussed spiritual power for this month in response to the second lecture of our spiritual mentor, Master Del Pe. He has shared insights on how to awaken our spiritual power and how it benefits our existence and life purpose.

I am sharing what I have learned from the lecture and our group discussion and how I will apply this extraordinary power.

What is Spiritual Power

We, humans have much human power that we have discovered or are yet to be found. Sometimes we use it unconsciously, which leads to unwise use of power. However, there is a superior or infinite power that no physical power can compare.

Spiritual Practitioners gain spiritual power through spiritual practices and guidance from spiritual mentors or masters.

It is priceless and can not be bought or taken away. It is inherent in nature but yet to be awakened if not fully discovered or misused.

Developing Intuitional Power

To become intuitive, we must be able to study ideas and principles. We may have many ideas and follow different directions, so we must ponder them deeply. Becoming more intuitive is essential for our survival instinct and guides us toward understanding higher truths regarding universal truths.

Sometimes, our belief is only definite if we seek the absolute truth. What we think is just a product of our mind alone, without knowing that we are guided by different laws or principles.

For instance, I have an idea about something, but I need to prove it to be absolute since that idea may come from past experience or just creative imagination. The best thing for me to do is to verify that idea or principle regarding what has been established already or the universal truth that many understand and accept.

I have used my intuition in my past experiences, but I have done the right thing. My intuition says to act on something or decide on something, but I base my actions and decisions on my personal beliefs, which are only limited. In this case, I may have made the wrong decision or action.

With this, I have learned that it is essential to seek the universal truth to avoid the fallacy of ideas and actions. Universal truths serve as my guiding principle for attaining intuitive power and wisdom.

Likewise, using creative imagination is also vital for developing intuitional power. Expressing our thoughts or ideas is a product of our creative vision. For instance, our brilliant input or output of something results from our mind's creativity.

The great things we see around us are a product of man's creative intelligence. In fact, we have to develop a creative imagination to achieve great things. Leaders in the global industry were able to create great products being used today because of their mind's creativity. In our own way, we can do something great if not for the benefit of the many, at least for ourselves, only if we use creative intelligence.

Another way of developing intuitional power is through the practice of meditation. I have been a practitioner for 8 months, which significantly impacted my present life. There is a gradual transformation in almost all aspects of my life; physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.

I consider meditation as my spiritual tool for nourishing my soul in a moment of silence. I also feel the divine oneness and the healing benefit after that. In fact, the first post I made is about the power of meditation since it has made a remarkable transformation in my life.

Developing Wisdom Power

There are some strategies to develop wisdom power, one of which is to study past experiences and digest life lessons.

In our lives, we have been experiencing different problems that we consider obstacles or hindrances to our plans and goals. However, if we are going to reflect deeply, problems are part of the challenges we must face to become much more robust and better people.

In my life, I have encountered so many problems, big or small, and I was able to face them and look at them as a challenge rather than an obstacle. It has made me a better person, and I have learned a lesson from it that will serve as my guiding principle whenever I encounter the same problem.

The world's most accomplished people have faced tough challenges that put them where they are. We may perceive them as if they don't have a problem since they have everything, but we may never know that they have gone through difficult times before attaining success and fulfillment.

Whenever a problem comes our way, we should never give up but must fight for it.  "A precious and brilliant gem is more polished and valuable. Just like problems - it is like polishing us to become the best we can be and become a person as brilliant as the diamond, which comes with great value and importance".

Another way of developing wisdom power is being in the company of wise people or having our own life coaches or mentors. These people are considered masters of life, and they are more accomplished. Their ideas are precious and can become a source of inspiration and guidance to live a better life.

Life coaches or mentors are devoted to helping us towards the right path to achieve lasting success and fulfillment.

I have followed some spiritual mentors like Bo Sanchez and other international life coaches like Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, and Master Del Pe. I have been following their blogs, articles, webcasts, and wise teachings, and I have read some of their books and gained insights about mastering life.

Having a mentor is more likely to succeed in life than those who do not have one. Even the most famous celebrities in their expertise have their own coaches or mentors. However, we have to be cautious about whom to follow. We must look for a mentor who can change our lives and impact us significantly. Numerous life coaches exist, but only a few are genuinely qualified and masters of life.

We can also gain wisdom, power, and intelligence through metaphorical quotations. The quotable quotes of famous people serve as our inspiration in life, and we can learn from them if we deeply understand the content of their selections.

Some of them use metaphors that should not be interpreted literally because they have a deeper meaning. In fact, some metaphors can not get out of our minds once we have read or listened to them. It is instilled in our minds, and we use it to our benefit and to give wise sayings to others.

In our lives, we have noted several metaphorical quotations and uttered the same in our own way of thinking. These quotations might not be well-known or recognized by many, but unconsciously, we have inspired other people and, somehow it, might leave an imprint on their
minds.

Wisdom power can also be achieved through reading books and other forms of literature that are sources of knowledge and wisdom. The principles we have learned can be applied to living a better life.

One of the books I liked most is "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. The book is simple and easy to understand, and each chapter has challenging questions to ponder. It is a spiritual book that teaches life lessons as guiding principles.

I learned a lot from reading, and it is a lifetime education. I will continue to read and expand my mind and share the knowledge that I have gained.

Intuitive powers and wisdom powers are both indispensable to attaining spiritual powers. We must apply these teachings to direct us to the right life path. We must know our life's purpose for us to better understand our responsibility to serve and that our spiritual powers will be our best weapon to live the better life we deserve.



© 2011 Del Cusay