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If you had your own country, what would you name it?

Uhmerica ^_^

Don't be shy, ask.

Schema of a Filipino Child

Photo taken by: L.R. De Guzman
Taken: January 18, 2011
Parañaque City, Philippines

Most people say that we are shaped by what surrounds us. I guess this will be enough an explanation as to why the Philippines has been in the third world ranks since time immemorial.

Ten Thousand Smiles

Photo taken by: L.R. De Guzman
March 29, 2011
De Guzman's Residence

Someone I'm Not

Photo taken by: C.N. Garay
Taken on: December 25, 2010
SM Mall of Asia Open parking space, Pasay City.

Or more like something that I think I'm not but I really am, the Kuya.

It has been quite a while.

The three of us aren't really that close, but let's see what will change this coming year.

REPOST: 7 Essential Steps to Mastering Temptation

7 Essential Steps to Mastering Temptation

We Americans are out of control. We want to lose weight, but we can’t stop eating. (Since 1980 the obesity rate in the United States has doubled; two-thirds of the population is now overweight.) We want to save, but we can’t stop spending. (The average American household owes more in debt than it earns in a year, and still keeps spending more than it takes in.) We want to be healthy, but we can’t stop smoking, drinking, and doing drugs. (One in ten Americans has an addiction disorder.) We can’t even control our attention. (We’re multitasking like never before, constantly switching our focus from Blackberries to iPhones, to email and texts and the internet.)

These behavioral problems aren’t just vexing and embarrassing. They’re killing us.  Smoking and obesity are the top two causes of preventable death in the United States. More than half of people who die between the ages of 15 to 64 do as a result of unhealthy decisions, compared to just 5 percent a century ago. And impulse control takes a toll across all age groups. Children born today might be the first in American history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. They will also face greatly diminished economic prospects, as runaway spending in both private and public spheres contributes to an unprecedented and increasingly unsustainable debt load.

Self-control is one of the hardest things to achieve in modern life, but in the course of my research I’ve come across seven key tools that can help us to resist temptation.

#1: Name your problem. Admit to yourself that you’re not happy with your behavior and how it is affecting your existence. At the same time, frame your challenge positively. The way you view the task ahead of you determines your mindset and your likelihood of success.

#2: Choose your battles. You have limited reserves of willpower. If you use them up on one thing (e.g., forcing yourself to work late) you will not have them for another (quitting smoking or restricting how much you eat).

#3: Rest. You have less willpower if you are tired or distracted.

#4: Practice. You can increase your overall store of willpower by exerting it more frequently. People who exercise not only improve their stamina and overall healthy, they get to practice overcoming inertia every time they lace up their sneakers.

#5: Burn Your Ships. Remove options. To reduce the attractiveness of something — and hence the amount of willpower required to deny yourself it — move the choice further away. Put less food on your plate. Freeze your credit card into a block of ice.

#6: Stay cool. Avoid making decisions when emotionally aroused, whether by hunger, anger, loneliness, or lust. Especially lust. A study published in Journal of Consumer Research found that men who watched dirty videos were more prone to seek immediate gratification when it came to making choices about money, soda, and candy.

#7: Face the truth. We all tend to overestimate the strength of our willpower, and then put ourselves in situations where temptation is more than we can resist. (“Sure, let’s go to the pizza parlor — I’ll just order a salad.”) One recent study found that the more highly test subjects rate their willpower, the more likely they were to succumb to temptation.

Do you have other tips for bolstering your self-control? I’d love to hear about. Please leave a note in the comments section.

The article above can be originally read in this website: http://jeffwise.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/7-essential-steps-to-mastering-temptation/#comment-647

All thanks to Mr. Jeff Wiseman, the original author of this article, who gave me permission to repost this article. Thank you! - in Filipino, Maraming salamat!

Wits and Whips

Photo taken by: L.R. De Guzman
Taken on: December 2009
Burby's, Diliman Center, Commonwealth Ave., Q.C.

There are times when we look for something more interesting than the usual daily conversations in our life. A conversation where learning is derived from. A sharing about life. These conversations, I miss.

December 23, 2010

Facebook Chat

Ha. The joy of death nga naman po.

hahaha

indeed

3:56am

Relief from the trappings of this world.

haha

death could be the best resort at times

Partly the reason why I find it peculiar that a lot of people search for immortality.

Indeed. :))

But I do not approve of suicide, btw. :))

Religious point of view ba yan?

or what?

self-check

haha

Deeply religious po kasi ako.

Catholic?

So, of course, I won't be able to steer myself away from that mentality.

so are your beliefs bound by the sanctity of your religion?

Parang thinking away from your thoughts. Malabo.

Born-again po.

Let's just say that my mind was shaped by my religion.

hmmm

that is somehow dangerous

how so?

there could be a tendency of you closing your mind into some other possibilities beyond what your religion can show you

I think of myself as open-minded.

Tipong, I believe in everything that my God has said.

I see

But it could be that He did not bother to mention insignificant things, things that are of no concern to His general bounds.

But what if God doesn't really exist?

Nowhere in the Bible can one see that we should use the wheel, or that we shouldn't eat chocolate. Perhaps it is because He gave us the freedom to choose in things that are of no particular concern for Him.

Personally, I believe He does.

I mean, I credit Him for keeping my life smooth sailing amidst the stormy seas.

But if God doesn't really exist, would my practicing the tenets of His religion be senseless?

I think not.

I joined RCY because of Him.

Apir!

If I lose my faith in Him, should I quit my org?

Hehe!

Apir po

The truth of our God is far superior than any other truths.

diba kachurch po kita? wala lang po

Hahaha

Haha!

before tayo maging churchmates, i was a non-believer.

I agree

Oh. Sino po naghatak sa'yo, si Ate Byang?

nope

Aw.

closest friends in college

Pero siya po nakita kong kasama mo hehe

hahaha

bihira yun

Good thing you're saved, kuya

I don't like to call myself saved

Haha!

unfair for those who have not yet known Jesus

hihi

Then can yourself in whatever way you wish, then.

I think more appropriate ang blessed.

I believe that He does not judge the innocent

whatever God does, God does. God is in his heavens.

I agree.

I base my belief in the Bible. Fundie, if you may. :))

Liberals are born from Fundamentalists.

So I do not see the reason why we should know how many angels can fit inside the eye of a needle when there is nothing in the Bible to indicate such, and there is nothing in the Bible to say that there's a need to know such.

Haha!

I just don't see myself as following traditional Christian doctrines, unless otherwise said in the Bible.

So, Liberal Fundamentalist?

labo.

wag na nga lang i-tag ang sarili. :))

:))))

labels, sometimes cause more confusion.

I agree.

But sometimes, labeling oneself is the only way to explain oneself to others. Sad truth.

ironies of life

Haha!

Ang deep na po ng usapan. Nalulunod na ako. :))

Thanks for the time po.

hahaha

Sige po, tulog na ako at aabutan na ako ng araw. :))