I was born, baptized, and raised Roman Catholic. My mama was religious, but my papa was not; My mama brings us all to Sunday mass but my papa was left at home. My mama prays with us every single day but without papa.

I never questioned why my papa was not religious and did not seem to bother. All I know was that even though he was not religious, he was a good father to us, and somehow professed that there is a God — he was agnostic, perhaps.

When I was in Grade 2, I had time with my guidance counselor, Ms. Elena Yee (God bless her soul). She asked me the usual question asked to young kids “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I replied “Ms Yee, I wanted to be a priest.” God bless my good soul for having this innocent decision when I was just 8 years old.

But when I was in Grade Six, I began to get interested in the metaphysical, the paranormal, the religions outside Christianity, the Occult, and the other worlds outside our world. This vastness made me rethink of my reality and made me question my existence, our existence. That in reality, we are just a spec of dust in this universe that bible stories or creation stories can’t justify.

Don’t get me wrong but I was told before by a religious friend that we should not be taking the Creation Story literally. The Holy Bible is full of stories with symbols, and it’s our responsibility with the intellect given to us on how to decipher the messages behind these stories.

Faith and Whys

“Who is the real religion? Aren’t religions just a result of cultural differences that lead to the same awareness? which leads to the same God?”

“Is there really life outside Earth? Are aliens real?”

“If Egyptian Magic was mentioned in the bible several times, Magic must indeed be real. Are there spiritual planes we are not aware of?”

“Who takes care of this planet? Why is the cycle of nature so precise? Do elementals really exist?”

“Is anyone really listening to my prayers?”

“Are prayers just the result of the Law of Universe?”

“When is the End of the World? Many people have already died before me. Is it really near?”

“How can we work with Angels to aid us with our lives? How can we meet our Spirit Guides?”

My questions about life’s mysteries are endless, and being a religious Catholic won’t help me in discovering the answers of my whys and how comes.

Being religious means being limited to a set of restrictions on religion. That if you are not with us, you are against us. That if you don’t believe like me, you are not with me.

I was part of a charismatic group when I was a teenager, and it was a part of my life story that I will forever cherish. I was full of the spirit, from the time I wake up to the time I sleep. I do nothing except praise. I stopped watching TV, stopped listening to secular music, stopped wearing black (because they said it was a color of darkness, and that God was light.) I was living a restricted and disciplined lifestyle, but I liked it anyway. I was contented and happy even when society thinks otherwise.

But I stopped and went separate ways with the group. Though Jesus is in my heart, I know that there is more to what I am believing and their set of rules. I was wrong when I said I was contented because I was not.

Journey to Discovery

In my journey of discovering the answers to my questions, I studied World Religion and immersed myself with their beliefs. And to be honest, as I search for answers, I got lost and confused. I wanted to just go back to my religious life but my mind has already been tainted with more whys. It’s like I have eaten the apple that Adam and Eve ate.

For how many years now, I have had encountered many faiths. I immersed myself by becoming a Born-again, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Pagan, a Hindu, even becoming a believer of the other worlds. But through all these, I grounded myself to the promise that even if I go far, my faith is still with Christianity. My faith is still with Jesus Christ (Mighty is his name.) I will never compromise my Christianity in any way. It was not easy, but it was life-changing and interesting.

One thing that these religions have in common – all religions lead to the teaching of Love, and that most religions somehow originated from a single source that sprouted to become religions on their own. And that through these differences, we are bound to live a life co-existing with other creations of this universe.

My encounters with different faiths made me appreciate the uniqueness of their beliefs. Each of these religions taught me a thing or two on how to live my life pleasing to the creator.

There won’t be divisions of religion in heaven, anyway. And you won’t go to hell for living a good life but believing a different faith. It doesn’t make sense at all. In the end, when we die, it’s how we lived a fulfilling life and helping our fellows that matters, and not much on personal beliefs.

The Complexity of God

I may not completely comprehend God, but I know the higher energy or whatever you call him is here to guide us with our lives. I believe that God is out there, but his or her complexity is far from our human understanding. Even the gender of God I cannot understand. How does God really look like? Is he the usual White-bearded guy in a white wardrobe? or just a ball of bright light? Ah, I don’t know. All I know is God is there above and we owe our lives to him.

That’s is why I prefer being Spiritual than being religious. To cultivate my spiritual life than continue my whys without clear answers to my questions, because it will be an endless search and I had enough.

To Each His Own

For now, my belief system is a collection of beliefs from all that I find beneficial in my life. I still pray my morning prayers, but I also set my intentions to the Universe. I follow the holy commandments, but I also follow the wise sayings of the enlightened buddhists. I believe in God, but I also believe that there is more to human life and this Earth.

A lot of people, maybe including you, may say I am wrong with my beliefs, but this is mine, and whatever gives me contentment, even if it doesn’t make sense to others, won’t matter anymore.

I now understand my father even better. May his soul now in peace. I believe what I want to believe in, and you believe in yours, let’s just live ethical and meaningful lives, and respect each other and continue each of our own unique faiths.

May God gives us all our hearts desires.

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When we were younger, our parents and teachers discipline us through the concept of Delaying Gratification. Remember the time when your parents won’t give you your candy if you haven’t cleaned your room? or challenged you to buy you your favorite toy if you get good grades in your test?

I remember one time when I was in Grade 5 and was chosen to be one of the finalist for the school’s “Battle of the Brains” in SHS-Ateneo de Cebu. 3 of us were chosen to compete for the class. We weren’t the kids from the “smart section” so we didn’t mind if we win or not, but we prepared and studied basic knowledge of a few subjects.

My papa challenged me that he will reward me with 5,000.00 pesos if we won champion. I was aiming for the money, so I tried to do research. I thought for a while “Does he really think we won’t win that’s why he’s rewarding me with that big money?”

Long story short, we won champion. The fifth grader me got his cold 5,000 pesos cash. A huge money for my age. My papa dropped his jaw when I showed him my gold medal when I went home. “We’re Champion. Give me my money!” I teasingly told my papa. It was during that time when I valued more the reward system. At first I really didn’t mind, but when my papa offered me a reward, my focus changed – and it was a good feeling. Having something after a job well done.

When I grew up and earned my own money, I honestly lost that concept for a while. It’s easy to buy things or do things if you earn your money. You all have the freedom and the control, which makes it hard for discipline. As I grew older and my priorities and responsibilities have changed, I started to revisit this concept, now with a defined term – Delaying Gratification.

It was hard at first, but as soon as I try to discipline myself with this concept of “Suffer now, Enjoy later” concept, I felt challenged in a good way. That I know I can afford it now, but I will wait for the right time for me to enjoy it. It was a struggle until it became a habit.

I always reward myself for every finished projects or assignments I do. Maybe a movie at the end of the week, a weekend trip or dine in a good restaurant. It is always a rewarding feeling that for every stressful week or day, and as soon as you finish your work, you give yourself a pat on your back, treat yourself and say “I deserve this.” But with caution that you don’t over limit how you treat yourself. Treat yourself in moderation, because Discipline comes in pairs.

But I can’t deny that I sometimes struggle from it. I occasionally do things in a single whim just because of an unwanted day – we’re humans, we also have days when we are down – but every time I feel blue, I always promise myself to go back on track. That’s the important thing – to always get back on your focus.

We’re not late to change for the better. Delaying Gratification thought me a lot about self-discipline – the most important ingredient to success as told by a number of successful leaders. Change your focus to be better. You can do it.

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The adrenaline was rushing all throughout my body the moment the paragliding pilot told me “Sige, ready na ka? Ig dagan nako, dagan napud. diretso ra ug dagan, dagan ug kusog. Walay hunong hunong, unya ig abot sa pangpang, ambak.. Ok? 1,2,3…” (Okay, are you ready? When I run, you run also. Run straight, run fast, and no stopping, when we arrive at the cliff, jump… Ok? 1,2,3…”

“Ay, wait sa kuya. Taymsa.” (Wait for a while big brother.) Trying to process what he just said with a half-baked smile. After a few minutes, Okay, I’m ready. – or I think so?

The fresh wind rushed through my face when we finally took-off at the peak of the town of Daanglungsod. While on air, I didn’t move and was closing my eyes for awhile. I can’t believe I was swaying my two legs freely at great heights. It terrified me for a while but after a minute, I decided to open my eyes and enjoyed the alluring scenery of Oslob, Cebu.

My fear of heights disappeared few minutes after, and I enjoyed the rest of the experience… especially the landing. It was awesome.

Here is the video made by our team for the Cebu Provincial Tourism Office. It was part of the travel promo of the tourism team.

Thank you to those who made this experience possible – Province of Cebu, LGU Argao, Visayas Paragliding Club and OCPD.

I hope you enjoyed the video.

For more of the paragliding experience in Oslob, Cebu, visit this page: Oslob Cebu Paragliding.

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I have read of stories about God’s wrath in the Bible, and watched historical documentaries about past pandemics, but I have never imagined that I will experience similar episodes in my lifetime; though I am thankful that my family and I are far from sick. Far from the gore photos and clips shown in the documentaries that I have watched.

Being an ambivert, I am comfortable being at home, but my outgoing personality weighs more than my being introverted, which made me want to go out of the house at the early weeks of the Community Quarantine, and having “food delivery” as my reason for going out of the house. I drove from Lapulapu City to Tisa, Labangon with an estimated 12km distance and one hour drive just to buy Siomai, and deliver it to friends.

But as weeks passed and the infected cases multiplied, it hit me with reality that this crisis is real, and decided to Stay at Home.

Here are some of my realization while I am on quarantine.

Our Inner Self

There is a greater world inside of us than the distractions we find on the physical world.

Reading news of blame game, power tripping and a fraction of the majority struggling to survive drain my energy, and this made me decide to filter information from social media, because as much as I want to avoid negativity, I still need to be informed of what is happening around me.

Due to all the noise, I have protected my personal space, and created a barrier, a limit. Meditation, Self-talk, Conversations to my ancestors (spirit guides) and the divine make me feel better amidst this crisis. I close my eyes, breathe deeply, visit my inner world and listen to my inner voice. It changed my perception of life better.

Contentment

I have always been a minimalist, in my life and work. I have this understanding that “Life is difficult because we make it difficult.” Every morning this ECQ, I stay at our veranda to have my cup of hot coffee while watching the trees sway with the wind and the chirping of the birds. I notice that the trees and birds follow the course and survive the basic provisions of nature, it’s their daily cycle – and they survive. While we, people, tend to complicate our lives with the lack of contentment, creating problems because of our own doings. Wanting to have more when we can live our life fully with only our basic needs.

This ECQ, I have valued my life more, that my basic needs is more important than my wants. That I can live in simplicity, with the hope that I will be abundantly provided through hard work and faith. Though there is nothing wrong to thrive for more, what is wrong is when we fail to appreciate what is served in our already full plates.

Live Your Best Life

After this ECQ is over and when we go back to our daily lives again, start living your Best Life. Become the better person, be empathetic than ever before. We have been given another chance to live, so let’s make it our best. Do the things you have always been wanting to do, and do it with zest. Be a man for others and have a heart that is ready to give.

In the end, what matters most is how you have influenced people to do better and impact their lives for them to be better people.

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