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Inspiration : Motivation : Action
Index of Articles
by Ruby Bayan
Laws of Life
- 5 Laws Of Life You Can Depend On - This, too, shall pass... Time heals... Ask, and you shall receive... You can have anything, but not everything... What goes around, comes around.
- Ride The Winds Of Change - Everyday we find ourselves standing at the doorstep, looking out to the world, asking, "Should I go or should I stay?" For most of us, deciding to move to another job is a Herculean task that keeps us awake pondering, "What am I getting into?" To many, even as we hear the loudspeakers fill the church with the hymn of the wedding march we still ask, "Am I ready for this major change in my life?" And I know, sometime within the next 24 hours, you will pause and ask yourself, "Do I really want to do this?"
- What Goes Around Comes Around - We've heard it many times, on many different situations -- what goes around comes around -- whatever you sow you reap. It's the law of nature -- the circle of life.
- Not Even Diamonds Are Forever - I remember an old story about a king who had a beautiful fountain built in the middle of the castle's garden for all of his subjects to appreciate. Being a kind, just, and benevolent king, he asked his adviser, an old and wise man, to carve a plaque that would be put next to the fountain.
- The Endless Round - Another calendar year comes to an end as the world welcomes another new one. Strangely, I am reminded of Elton John's song in the movie The Lion King: "The Circle of Life."
- Reflections On The Circle Of Life - Isn’t it just amazing how one morning you wake up and realize that your innocent baby boy is now a grown up man? Mine will be 28 soon, and I can’t help but be overwhelmed at how some of our roles have reversed. Over the years, I taught my son the ways of the world, but now, he’s teaching me.
- Dreams Come True - I don't remember anymore -- it must have been during high school. Someone said, "Have a dream. And dream big! It won't cost you extra to dream a big dream."
- Life's Lessons I Learned While Sitting In The Patio - It's what one would call "sheer luck." We had to return to Florida on short notice because my partner was called back to take care of a new account. Site unseen, we signed up with an apartment complex that was closest to my partner's area of responsibility. We must have been in Fate's good graces because the only available unit, which had very recently been vacated rather abruptly, was on a prime spot.
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Family
- My Mother's Termination Notice - Five months after Papa died, Mama discovered a lump in her breast. The dark cloud from the loss of our father had barely lifted when my brother and I found ourselves once again standing in the hospital corridor. Tears welled in our eyes as we stared at a piece of paper that read “CA Malignant.” We were going to lose our mother, too.
- My Mother, My Role Model - My Mom, Reygula Monteroso Bayan, was born in 1914. She gave birth to me when she was 39. And we lived in close proximity until I was 45, when I left for the US.
- My Father Was A Veteran, Too - I'd like to talk about my father on this Veterans Day. He was a veteran, too, and a real inspiration in more ways than one. He died in 1991 at the age of 84.
- What A Brother Means To Me - My brother Ronald and I were born in the mid-fifties. Just the two of us. And because we grew up in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, we spent most of our younger days dodging inquisitive stares from friends and schoolmates who all had no less than four brothers and sisters. At least we had each other. It was okay. Well, most of the time.
- My Mother's Hands - I remember first noticing my mother's hands when I was a teenager. I was born when she was almost 40, so by the time I became conscious of my own nails, she was about as old as I am now.
- Mother And Son - Incredible. This is my 100th article for Suite101.com's "Inspiration/Motivation" topic -- the column I launched in February 1999. I can't believe I've written inspirational pieces for the World Wide Web for almost four and a half years.
- Patience, My Child, Patience - My son -- he was so precocious as a child! He'd force himself to stay awake and do three things at the same time while having a meal because he believed, "Mom, eating and sleeping are a waste of time!" He was eight then.
- The Aquarium In Our Living Room - As far back as I can remember there had always been an aquarium on the built-in hardwood divider shelf that separated the dining room from the living room in our old house. The five-gallon aquarium fit snugly into the divider as if the shelf was specifically built around it.
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Partners and Friends
- A Reunion Of Friends, A Celebration Of Life - I've just come from a reunion of friends who have not seen each other for 10 to 25 years -- peers some of whom have not heard from one another since the 70s. I witnessed the mélange of anticipation, enthusiasm and excitement -- it was simply euphoric, for lack of a better word.
- Partners Climbing The Mountain Of Life - Many of you already know that I had the opportunity to climb a few mountains in the Philippines. I received my training from the founders of the Meralco Mountaineers. A couple of years later, I became an officer of the club, teaching aspiring trekkers the skills I would never have learned had I not taken up the courage to climb.
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Making A Difference
- How Many Lives Have You Saved? - My partner and I were just talking about the time he saved someone's life. He rushed his roommate to the hospital when he noticed that the guy was suffering from what seemed like a stroke. His roommate constantly thanks him for having been there... otherwise...
- Be A Life Force - You know what they say about how we remember the comments we hear about ourselves, especially when these remarks describe us as persons we never thought ourselves to be. We work on the negative comments and try to disprove them in order to improve ourselves; and the positive comments, we try to live up to them.
- Kindness Doesn't Cost A Cent - What does it take to be kind? My answer is: as much as it takes to smile. And what do you get in return? At the very least, also a smile or a word of appreciation. At most, a wealth and lifetime of favors.
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Coping With Darkness
- Getting A Grip On Black Tuesday 9/11 - I am frozen, dazed, unable to grasp the horror I have been observing. My mind is reeling, trying to make sense of the tragedy. My heart is broken, watching the pain on other people's faces. My sensibilities are offended, failing to comprehend why humans could be so angry to choose to hurt and annihilate one another.
- How To Rise Above Pain And Depression - You made a mistake, so you curse yourself to the ground. Your partner had a change of heart, so you wallow in despair. You were hit by a setback, so you decidedly quit altogether. And that’s it. End of the world. Or is it?
- We Say Goodbye, Then Life Goes On - Two weeks ago, one of my mountaineering friends died in a terrible accident. Despite her being a very good swimmer, she couldn’t escape an undercurrent which sucked her down and pinned her between huge rocks. Rescue efforts failed to pull her out of the water in time to save her life. All of a sudden we were all hit by the realization that our precious friend, Fe, was gone.
- Thanks For Adversities - It was a couple of months after I first started out being a full-time freelance writer when I found the courage to query a print magazine -- the first time I submitted an unsolicited manuscript. I studied the magazine's guidelines carefully and I was certain they were going to accept my article for their "Personal Experiences" department. Two months passed before I heard from them. They sent me a short and courteous explanation why they couldn't use my article. I was devastated -- it was my very first rejection letter.
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Looking At The Bright Side
- Count Your Blessings - At the most desperate moment, when I feel that things can’t get any worse, in that darkest hour of hopelessness, I take a deep breath and echo in my head what my mother always says... “Ruby, count your blessings.”
- Light At The End Of The Corridor - “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor!” – every child’s big dream. It was mine, too. But Fate had something else for me.
- Things Happen For A Reason- Very recently, a close friend, Gerry [not his real name], was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia. He didn't see it coming -- he just kept working 16 hours a day, not paying attention to his body's natural needs for rest and recreation.
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Success
- A Balancing Act - You’ve seen them: tightrope walkers, clowns on 10-foot stilts, unicycle riders teetering a pyramid of glassware on their foreheads. You watch them in awe and amazement, and say to yourself, I wish I could do a balancing act like that!
- Successful People Are Born And Made - All motivational and inspirational speakers say the same things: set goals, work hard, persevere, and succeed. It’s a time-tested sure-win formula. But when you go into the details, different people following the exact same formula achieve different results. Why? One of the reasons is people are born with different tools to begin with.
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Book Reviews
- "The No Complaining Rule" by Jon Gordon - The title tells it all: no complaining. Author Jon Gordon, an inspirational speaker and consultant, delivers his message in this book through a captivating story that many corporate executives can relate with. Focused on the circumstances surrounding Hope, the VP of human resources at an IT company during a dangerously precarious business situation, Gordon takes the reader from negativity to productivity via the “no complaining rule.”
- "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" by John Izzo - John Izzo said that he wrote “The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die” because of his lifelong search to discover what it means to live a full and meaningful life. His search, and research for this book, involved interviewing more than 200 people, 59 to 105 years old (he called it “the wise elder project”). Izzo gathered all the wisdom the interviewees shared and segregated them into the five secrets everyone must discover in order to live a meaningful life.
- "Life Safari" by John Strelecky - Many of us have it on our “to-do-before-I-die” list: go on an African Safari. John Strelecky had it on his list, too. Life Safari is about how he had dreamed of experiencing Africa, when he decided to take the trip, who and what he discovered there, and why it changed his life.
- "Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)" by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson - I have to admit: I read the book twice. The first time, I bogged down after every other chapter because I needed to reconcile what I was reading with what I regarded as true. Many times the book talked about me, and how I justified some aspects of my life. The book actually portrays scenarios very close to my own circumstances!
- "This I Believe" edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman - If you’re looking for a book you can read in one sitting, this is not the one. “This I Believe – The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women” is a powerful collection of essays based on the National Public Radio series of the same name. The book is edited by Jay Allison, host and curator, and Dan Gediman, executive producer, of This I Believe. These editors are donating their proceeds to This I Believe, Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the mission of This I Believe.
- "My Life as a Furry Red Monster" by Kevin Clash - “With Elmo as my partner, with my family as my inspiration, I’ve learned that love works best when we keep it simple, when we remember to say it and show it, and, most of all, when we share it.”
- "The Why Cafe" by John Strelecky - John Strelecky’s first book, The Why Café, is certainly one of the most inspirational and motivational works I have read. But while most inspirational books present their ideas and solutions in step-by-step bulleted lists, you-can-do-it mantras, or 30-day guaranteed-new-you programs, this handy gift book presents its life-altering concepts through a short story.
- "Let Your Goddess Grow" by Chalene Proctor - “Let Your Goddess Grow: 7 Spiritual Lessons on Female Power and Positive Thinking” is an empowering book spiked with affirmations to nurture and enrich a woman’s soul and psyche.
- "Unstoppable Women" by Cynthia Kersey - The complete title of the book is "Unstoppable Women: Achieve Any Breakthrough Goal in 30 Days." I skimmed through the pages, hoping to cheat and cram the 30 days into maybe three or four, but when I realized that the book was actually a seminar, workbook, journal, and life-altering guide, I knew I had to take it a day at a time.
- "No Opportunity Wasted" by Phil Keoghan - If someone came up to you and asked what your dream in life is, would you have an answer? If you do, and you were asked if you were ready to make the dream come true that very moment, would you say yes? Phil Keoghan -- host of the award-winning television series, "The Amazing Race" -- wrote his book to make sure you have an answer to the first question, and a resounding "YES!" to the second.
- "Between Trapezes" by Gail Blanke - Goosebumps. I had barely finished the prologue of "Between Trapezes: Flying Into a New Life with the Greatest of Ease," when author Gail Blanke managed to make my skin crawl.
- "Fit AND Fat" by Sally Edwards and Lorraine Brown - "Being fit, not just being thin, improves metabolism, fat-burning capacity, emotional well-being, and the immune system" -- that's the core message of the new book, Fit AND Fat, recently released by Sally Edwards, renowned fitness expert and spokeswoman for the Danskin Women's Triathlon events.
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