1. Making the right decision to emigrate (5 years today).
2. Moved house 3 times.
3. Failed and passed my driving test.
4. Became citizens, which meant passing the citizenship test as well.
5. Survive the long winter. Brave the -30ْْْ˚C windchills. Drive during winterstorm.
6. Enjoy the short spring/summer season and make the most of it.
7. Finding a job is timing, chance, luck and connection.
8. Cook dishes I miss and ambitiously replicate Godging’s dishes.
9. Buy if I can’t make them, as….
10. Aphu would always remind me, to never scrimp on food.
11. Eat lots of fruits, veggies, eat brown bread, brown pasta and brown rice, even if calrose is hard to resist.
12. Drink skim milk daily, buy anything fat-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free, less sodium, half-the-fat and everything light, cos mahal magkasakit.
13. Got over a miscarriage, 2 pregnancies, and accepted that nobody’s gonna patronize my cravings and aversions, so I had none.
14. Assemble furnitures – sideboard, bed, shelves, computer table, tables and chairs.
15. Appreciate our helpers back home, because....
16. No matter how much I ignore that piece of garlic that fell on the kitchen floor, I will always end up having to clean it myself.
17. Understand why Papa would often remind me to turn off the lights and the component before I leave my room.
18. Save when you have to. Spend when you need to. Splurge when you want to.
19. Money can be earned again but opportunities may not come back, a valuable truth I’ve learned from my mother-in-law.
20. Spend lots of time with my kid(s). Cos with kids, the days are long but the years are short.
21. Spend quality time with family. Go on vacations. Or just cuddle at home.
22. Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
23. Don’t neglect relationships, keep in touch with old friends, even while you make new ones.
24. Greet people on their birthdays cos it makes them happy
25. Thirst for knowledge. Read books or magazines, and news, health, parenting and lifestyle articles from the net. Also showbiz news and blogs.
26. Respect the privacy and secrecy of others.
27. Criticize less and mind my own business.
28. An idle mind is the devil’s workplace.
29. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
30. Life is not about keeping score or counting assets.
31. Learn to say no when you have to.
32. Be truthful. Don't get bitten by white lies, palusot, and exaggeration.
33. Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not – Oprah.
34. Sometimes it is okay to lose a little so as not to lose it all. That I’m allowed to be mad, but I can also choose not to get angry.
35. Turn to jazz, instrumental or classical music. Breath deeply. Spend some alone time.
36. Stop and smell the roses, admire the clouds, feel the breeze on your face, enjoy the aircraft noise, eat more ice cream, walk barefoot. Live well, laugh often, love much.
37. Disappointments come from unmet expectations - as Sammy would always tell me - and from interpretations, anticipations, expectations and the unwillingness to embrace change.
38. Don't sweat the small stuff.
39. Look at the glass half full rather than half empty. Turn the negative into positive.
40. Everything happens for a reason, and to everything there is a season.
41. In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond. So hold the hand of the person whom you love rather than expecting them to.
42. When you love someone, just let them know, shout it out loud…don’t wait…or that moment will just pass you by – My Bestfriend’s Wedding.
43. Nobody can make you inferior without your consent. Ignore those people who would pull you down a few pegs so that they'll feel superior to you.
44. What people think about you is none of your business and there’s nothing you can do about it.
45. Life is not all about me. There are far greater problems in this world than my own.
46. All we’ve got at any given moment is what the moment holds. Life is too short for perfection.
47. Where you are at any given time is exactly where God wants you to be.
48. Be prayerful. Be thankful. Be content.
49. An Uncle once told me – Jan ‘03, I have noted – that he can picture me maturing into someone who would live life with happiness and pure contentment,… ho-mia, too. I always remember his words and I want to think that I am seeing myself now the way he had pictured it. Note: whether it's true or not, it's a state of mind.
50. Our lives are books and each day is a page. We can’t erase what has already been written but we can always try to write a better ending.
