"a call to change"

Would you be so emotional, fearful, surprised or dismayed at the thought of change? Having a new haircut and a new hair color is considered change. Change in appearance that is. Quitting your current job ('cause it doesn't shoulder all your needs including insurance, housing loans and weekly luxury budget) and applying for a new one (but still is related to the former) is considered "change." If it's for the better we wouldn't know (just tell me if your experience brought positive or negative results). No matter how people look at it, change seems to be happening every minute, every second and every nano second without us really noticing it. From the way we look at ourselves from the outside to the choice of words we express, change takes place. Through an earthquake, our planet rejuvenates itself by plate tectonics, a movement of the layers caused by flow of rocks within the earth. This action seems terrifying at first, yet it does the core of our planet well from the inside, but what it actually does is to orderly transform the plates b spontaneous movement resulting in breaks in the outermost layer of our Mother Earth, and freight for humans (even though we are adaptable). If there are changes that are supposed to happen, it doesn't neccessarily mean the transit is smooth. LEt me site an example through a love story..... Judy and JArrett gets married because they fell head over heels with each others way of expressing love, care and lah-dee dahh... and they had a son after only a year when they got married. After Judy bore a cute son, she got diagnosed with a disease I'll just call FICKLEMINDEDCOZIKNOWTHATMYGYMTRAINORISHOT. Sad huh. Then, after a few months of continued medication of frequent gym sessions after taking care of their son and cleaning the house, it got worse. It became FICKLEMINDEDME.SHOULD'VEMARRIEDAHOTGYMTRAINOR'COZMYHUSBAND'SLOSTHISMOJO. To make it short, Judy decided to divorce JArrett because she sees herself in perfect harmony with her hot gym trainer in front of the mirror and inside her SUV uhmm...yeah. Indeed, a rough transition. They both had a son already after she realized she's more madly in love and lust over an exercise buddy whom she had known right after marriage. End of story. Change may present itself in an obvious fashion or it may prove to be really unseen, like change that happens inside of us rather than from the outside. In the case of Judy , having a fickle mind (fickle because she didn't think twice about leaving Jarrett after only a year of marriage) Changes in her other half happened because she had changed her mind first. What could be more embarrassing than changing husbands? Change on the outside, as well is representation of an inner change happening from within. When we are on the verge of change happening inside of us, be it positive changes, they are sure to affect how we look on the outside.

what you reap is what you sow : life of Henry Sy

It is often said that what we make of our life now will be our future. Does this ring a bell to you? This is a story of a man's life, woven into an entirely inspiring and life changing future. Henry Sy was born to a poor family in Xiamen, China. Starting from scratch, he managed to start up a simple shoe store. He started out selling overrun shoes in Tondo and from there, he went all the way to the top. In 1958, Sy established a small shoe store in Quiapo, Manila that marked the establishment of SM Prime Holdings. In November 1972, the small shoe store became SM Quiapo, SM's first standalone department store. On December 25, 1985, he established his first SM Supermall, SM City North EDSA. He was named "Management Man of the Year" by the Makati Business Club in 1999. He organized the SM Foundation Inc., which helps underprivileged and promising young Filipinos. Starting with only little amount of resources, he never ceased to keep producing. A Chinese Filipino with lots of zest for life is what he is, getting involved with different kinds of fields such as interests in retailing, real estate, hospitality, banking, mining, education including healthcare services. There was never a question of why he is doing such things to help his family, and eventually Filipinos live a more meaningful and convenient life. Now, his small shoe store is now being expanded across the Philippines. His life started out simple and now, he is enjoying the fruits of his labor while helping out people in the process. Now that is a great harvest!

catching dreams (dream catcher)

intro:

Ever wondered how your dreams can be filtered? What do you call an object that can capture your unwanted and most feared nightmares? Where do dreams come from? Dreams are memories or subconscious thoughts that are visually manifested while we are sleeping. Dream are snap shots of images that pass through our minds. They usually come from experiences that we have had or things that we have seen while we were awake. What we see as images in our sleep are dreams and sometimes could be nightmares, or the scenes similar to your favorite horror tableau. Dream catchers are one of the most fascinating traditions of Native Americans. The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect the sleeping individual from negative dreams, while letting positive dreams through. The positive dreams would slip through the hole in the center of the dream catcher, and glide down the feathers to the sleeping person below. The negative dreams would get caught up in the web, and expire when the first rays of the sun struck them. Woven by old Ojibwa people in the ancient times, dream catchers are made of twigs, sinew, and feathers. Good dreams are clear and know the way to the dreamer, descending through the feathers. The slightest movement of the feathers indicated the passage of yet another beautiful dream. Bad dreams, however, are confused and confusing. They cannot find their way through the web and are trapped there until the sun rises and evaporates them like the morning dew. Real or not, dream catchers are meant to give out a positive notion to people who have been having tremendous problems sleeping because of nightmares. Vocabulary Enhancement: 1. filtered: to sort out the good from anything bad 2. notion: a general understanding; imperfect concept or idea of something 3. tremendous: extraordinarily great in size 4. glide down: to move smoothly and continuously along 5. fascinating: attractive; holds natural charm 6. tableau: a picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene. perspective exchange: 1. Have you ever had nightmares? What were they like? 2. DO you agree that a web can capture nightmares? 3. What were the best dreams that you had? 4. What were the worst dreams that you had? 5. Where do you think dreams come from?

Love zombie (under unique stories)

COnstantly checking your e-mails, phone and your favorite social networking site up to the point of going paranoid over and over? You know it's three in the morning and your hands just won't get off your phone even just for a minute. The object of your affections, your lovey dovey You might be bitten by the love zombie.

YOur lover might be waiting on the other side of the world or city far from you. YOu get the itch to meet him, but certain circumstances seem to block you from meeting up. Obsessive love is a state in which one person feels an overwhelming obsessive desire to possess another person toward whom they feel a strong attraction, with an inability to accept failure or rejection. Although not categorized specifically under any specific mental diagnosis by the DSM IV, many people argue that obsessive love is considered to be a mental illness similar to "attachment disorder, borderline personality disorder, and erotomania. Obsessive lovers may feel entirely unable to restrain themselves from extreme behaviors such as acts of violence toward themselves. They may be entirely convinced that their feelings are love. The "Obsessive Love Wheel" (OLW) is a hypothetical sphere originally described by Dr. John D. Moore in his book, Confusing Love with Obsession. The wheel illustrates the four stages of Obsessive Relational Progression as part of Relational Dependency (RD). Moore suggests that for people who are afflicted with relational dependency (love addiction, codependency, etc.) their relationships often follow the pattern of the wheel. It is currently unknown if the same principles apply for a sudden attraction to anyone who bears a friendship, but can be speculated that this is something different entirely. Vocabulary Enhancement: 1. zombie love- like puppy love, this type of love is an undying passion and love of any one person or thing in which you cannot get thinking about them out of your head because of how much you just can't live without them. 2. lovey dovey- your sweet heart, the object of your love. 3. "get the itch" - a sudden urge to do something, immediately. 4.

Narcissistic tendencies

Have you ever been caught up staring in the mirror for a long time? Thinking it's the only way you'll feel confident, cheerful and sure about your day's success and positive outcome? Vanity is a huge word nowadays that even the most simple acts of it seems to boost a person's self confidence at first. Even worst, people have plastic surgery to appease their own insecurity. Apparently, physical appearance is a factor for a person's personal development, be it in the workplace, within a group of friends or society as a whole. Let's site an example. Most celebrities have had "a little work done" over the course of their careers, going for the usual nip here or tuck there to improve their appearance and keep themselves looking youthful enough to keep landing the big roles; and then there are the few dozen who have taken cosmetic surgery procedures to their most extreme. SOme even end up having these procedures done resulting in even more painful and ruthless outcome or mistakes in operation. What causes people to overdo their grooming? This tends to stem from a psychological need for approval or in simpler terms, insecurity. When we become insecure, vanity is sure to follow as an act of cover up. Vocabulary Enhancement: 1. plastic surgery- Surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic reformation of tissue 2. "a little work done"- have undergone a procedure to fix something. 3. nip- to sever or remove by pinching. 4. tuck- to make several folds in. 5. extreme- of greatest possible degree or manner 6. "landing the big roles"- able to be in a position of higher rank Perspective exchange 1. If you could change anything about yourself (physically), what would it be? 2. Why would you like to have it changed? 3. Do you think getting plastic surgery is proper? 4. What do you think about people who has undergone cosmetic surgery? 5. Is plastic surgery common in your country? 6. Do you consider yourself a narcissist?

Corner cutting: a terrible disease

Have you ever tried putting soap on the dishes and ended up washing it with water only halfway through? Then you get so irritated seeing small particles of soap once they're dry. It is these things that make you wish you should've been more patient. COrner cutting, or taking shortcuts is what keeps people thinking they've done a pretty quick and easy task, realizing in the end that it caused more trouble than ease. This is a short story about a girl who doesn't like to take necessary steps, but instead, took the easy way out to reach her goal. Lara, a thirteen year old once had a dream of becoming a professional athlete, preferably a runner. She trained herself for a few weeks by running in the park several hours a day. Little did she know that there are a few more techniques to be learned and it would take tips from professionals to become one. So she ended up joining marathons. The first marathon she joined, she had sprained her ankle. End of story. When we cut corners, it is an evidence of being lazy, no matter what angle we try to look at it. We can say, cutting corners is a terrible disease. Vocabulary enhancement: 1. halfway through: not involving the whole process. 2. little did she know: not knowing all the facts yet 3. taking the easy way out: skipping on necessary actions to do, resulting in unfinished tasks or projects Perspective exchange: 1. Have you ever cut corners? If so, what was it like? 2. When you cut corners, what would the results be? 3. IS laziness an issue for you? In what aspect of your life? 4. What could help remove the attitude of "taking the easy way out?" 5. In what area of your life do you usually take shortcuts?

nature's creatures worth the freight (under unique stories)

Snakes, tigers, bears, spiders: which of these spine-shilling and eerie creatures do you fear the most? Here are two most intimidating creatures you probably won't want to stand close to: (warning: may contain sentennot appropriate for the faint hearted) Box jellyfish pack a deadly sting Anders Garm The box jellyfish is squishy, with 24 eyes and a tangle of tentacles, each equipped with about 5,000 stinging cells. The creatures pack a special type of venom — the most deadly in the animal kingdom — that is activated by contact with certain chemicals found in fish, shellfish and humans. The venom can cause cardiac arrest, cripple the nervous system, and eat away skin. Several victims stung at sea die before they reach shore. Saltwater crocodiles eat people Greg Wood / AFP - Getty Images Saltwater crocodiles are aggressive and territorial. They regularly eat people. They live in saltwater estuaries, and freshwater rivers and swamps, ranging from Australia north to Southeast Asia. The biggest males weigh in excess of 2,200 pounds and measure 20 feet from toothy snout to scaly tail, making them the world's largest reptiles. Though they mostly dine on smaller prey such as fish and shorebirds, adults will occasionally tackle larger animals, including careless people. Tourists lure this croc out of the water with a chunk of meat. Mosquitoes kill millions every year USDA The mosquito. In some parts of the world, these pesky, bloodsucking insects spread diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and West Nile Virus that kill nearly 3 million people a year. Many of the malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where scientists and international aid organizations are busy developing strategies to stop the disease's lethal spread. Now you're scared. vocabulary enhancement: eerie, spine-chilling- scary cardiac: of or relating to the heart cripple: make useless or worthless perspective exchange: 1. What are the types of animals you fear the most? 2. What eerie creatures have you encountered already? 3. Do you get scared of spiders? If so, how do you react upon seeing them? 4. How would you react upon seeing a snake? 5. When you fear something, do you show it, or cover up those fears?