Just a Wee Distraction...

It is cloudy and raining outside…the usual, unpredictable British summer. The college corridors and halls are empty of the usual hustle and bustle of students rushing to classes or pulling tricks on each other. I am holed up in the library, trying to focus on my dissertation but really, looking for some distraction.

During term time, it was so easy to get distracted, what with nosey students plopping into a seat beside you and offering food or just "good banter," as the Brits would say. I thought to myself then how much work I could do when I have no more distractions. Now with the rain outside, there is no sun to lure me out—there goes another distraction. How ideal is this to settle down and get some work done!

Hah. Famous last words.

And now, having made myself a cup of tea, and having chatted with a friend back home who happens to be on line, I need to settle down and work and what do I do? Blog!! Oh well, the spirit is willing but the flesh is--otherwise!

Hauling myself into the library was suppose to get me all disciplined and productive but in the end, whatever I do won't get me working---I will just have to simply force myself to do it. As Nike wisely adviced, “Just do it!”

Right, okey, will do!!

Until the next distraction...;-)

Help. Can my 18,000-word dissertation just write itself?

PS. Still on my so-called leave. This is just a--er--distraction. So I will still be scarce in the blogosphere.

Cheers, mates!

On Temporary Leave

Excuse me, folks, I don't think I have much good will and cheer to spread around these days. But instead of coming up with a whine list (and I could give you a really long one!), I will just go off line...for now, and besides I have gazillion-word essays to write, so....pray for me!!

I wonder what I ate that day I decided to go back to school?!

Oh well, will miss bloghopping for now.

******
Let me just leave you with this verse from the Bible I read this morning:

"The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you.
He will quiet you with His love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

May this truth manifest itself in your life.

*******

Cheerio!

God Will Lift Up Your Head

by Jars of Clay

"But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill."
- Psalms 3:3-4



Give to the wind your fear
Hope and be undismayed
God hears your sighs and counts your tears
God will lift up, God will lift up, lift up your head

Chorus:
God will lift up your head
God will lift up your head
God will lift up your head
Lift up your head

Leave to His sovereign sway
To choose and to command
Then shall we wandering on His way
Know how wise and how strong
How wise and how strong

Chorus

Through waves and clouds and storms,
He gently clears the way
Wait because in His time, so shall this night
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy

(3X)
God will lift up your head
Soon end in joy

(3X)
God will lift up your head
Soon end in joy

Jack's Back!

Oh Joy!!

Disappointment over.

I just stumbled on a trailer of 24's season 7! Apparently it came out late last year--and I missed it. Oh well, better late than never. Can't wait to start another adrenaline-rushed couch potato adventure! Weeeee!



===
...and speaking of disappointments, Blogpal Swipe comments:

"No 24 this year though due to the writers' strike. sigh..."

Oh, well...life's not too good these days it seems. *sniff*

Tara Na!

You know how it feels when you anticipate something and then it doesn’t happen? Yeah, disappointment is not the best feeling in the world. Sometimes, it may just be a small twinge that gets you all self-deprecatory, “See? Told you so—it won’t really happen...” And that’s fine, a day out with friends would easily erase the feeling—without even having it mentioned out loud.

And then there are the more crushing ones that could literally make you feel heartsick, or angry or sad. Those ones need more than just a pep talk from friends—for some, it would take more than a hug, or even a good cry. This is something not easily erased.

The strange thing is—what could trigger deep disappointment in one and just an “oh, well…” reaction from another could be almost the same thing. Not all the time, of course but on certain occasions anyway.

It all depends I guess, on how high you set your expectations, or how many disappointments you’ve already been through in life (some only have a diploma in disappointments while others have Ph.D's!).

Whichever the case maybe, the whole point I guess is when one starts moving on from that disappointment. And yes, the key thing is “when” not “if.” What a wasted life it would be if one decides to wallow in it or build a home on top of it. Yes, analyze it if you must, philosophize about it (like what I'm doing now), deal with it, cry over it—and if the disappointment redeems itself at some point, great--but for now, we’ve got to move on.

I have always loved the phrase moving on—in almost all areas of life, most especially in the area of disappointments. Because moving on means giving yourself the chance to heal, to hope again, to grow, to discover better things and to journey on.

So, if you are disappointed, just like I am today—what are you waiting for? Let’s go! Let’s get a move on! Or as we say in Filipino, “Tara na!”

The Voice of Our Own Gladness

“The voice we should listen to most
as we choose a vocation
is the voice that we might think
we should listen to least,
and that is the voice of our own gladness.
What can we do that makes us the gladdest,
what can we do that leaves us
with the strongest sense of sailing true north and of peace,
which is much of what gladness is?
Is it making things with our hands out of wood
or stone or paint or canvas?
Or is it making something we hope like truth out of words?
Or is it making people laugh or weep
in a way that cleanses their spirit?
I believe that if it is a thing that makes us truly glad,
then it is a good thing and it is our thing
and it is the calling voice that
we were made to answer with our lives.”

by Frederick Buechner,
quoted by Ken Gire
in "Windows of the Soul"

"Seize" the Unexpected

Just when I thought I could stow away my hoodies and my jumpers and put on my summery short-sleeved tops…
Just when I thought I would trade my comfy thick slippers with flip flops…
Just when I thought I should set the heater aside and get myself a pair of sunglasses…
Just when I thought I could start studying al fresco instead of the warm comfort of my room…

===
I woke up with a start at 5:30 in the morning and saw a narrow sliver of dim amber colored light between my thick curtains. I burrowed my head back into the pillow but then looked back again at that familiar looking amber light and sensed how still it was. Saw I snuck out of bed, tip-toed and looked out my window but couldn’t see much through the condensation but had an impression of ghostly white shapes. My curiosity peaked and I went out to the corridor and looked through the half open window…and my hunch was right: snow had fallen.

As glad as I was for another chance to crunch on snow, I couldn’t help but wonder on how capricious the British weather can be. The past couple of weeks, you would think that we set our clocks forward one hour to welcome summer instead of spring. The past couple of weeks, we were playing in the sun and eating our dinner picnic-style under the bright evening sky.

And then…suddenly spring/summer gets interrupted by a winter that seems to be making up (with much embarrassment, I am sure) for its weak showing during its scheduled season.

You can gauge its embarrassment by its timid showing of hardly a foot of snow dusting all surfaces except the pavements and roads…and how quickly it melted away by noon.

Leaving not a few disappointed folks who decided to sleep in on a Sunday.

But then who knows, it might decide to keep its promise to show up again tomorrow and the next day as the weather stations predict. If one is to gauge from the way the temperature has again gone all the way down and the heating’s back in full blast, then maybe we will see another white and wonderful world (limited edition) tomorrow?

===

But for now, I leave my flip-flops within reach…
I put back on three layers of warm clothes…
I continue to study in the warm comfort of my room…
And enjoy this temporary time warp.

Whatever the case maybe, it pays to be flexible and enjoy the day as it comes.

Carpe Diem (with or without snow)!