The Hospital Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Viva Pit Senyor!

The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philipines. The festival honors the child Jesus, recognized as the Santo Niño (Holy Child), patron of the city of Cebu. It is a dance ritual that commemorates the Cebuano people’s pagan origin, and their acceptance of Christianity.

The festival features a street parade with participants in bright-colored costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs. Smaller versions of the festival are held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate, and honor the Santo Niño.

Recently, the festival has been promoted as a tourist attraction, with a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country.
The word Sinulog comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which is "like water current movement," which describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums. The dance is categorized into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language.

The Sinulog dance steps were believed to originate from Rajah Humabon's adviser, Baladhay. It was during Humabon's grief when Baladhay was driven sick. He then ordered his native tribe to bring Baladhay into a chapel where the Santo Niño was enthroned. Moments later, surprisingly, Baldhay was heard shouting, and was found dancing with outmost alertness. Baladhay was questioned as to whether why was he awake, and was shouting. Baladhay explained that he found a small child, pointing to the image of the Santo Niño, on top of him, and trying to wake him up. He, at great astonishment, scared the child away by shouting but couldn't explain why he was dancing the movements of the river. Up to this day, the two-steps forward, and the one-step backward movement dance is still used by the Santo Niño devotees believing that it was the Santo Niño's choice to have Baladhay dance what the holy child wants them to dance.

A - Z of Quotes

A—"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Lou Holtz

B— "Believing in yourself is not for you; it's for every person who has touched your life in a significant way and for every person your life will touch the same way five minutes from now, or five centuries from now." Jaye Miller

C—”Change is as inexorable as time, yet nothing meets with more resistance." Benjamin Disraeli

D—"Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the action stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living." Anais Nin

E—"Enthusiasm releases the drive to carry you over obstacles and adds significance to all you do." Norman Vincent Peale

F—"Focused will is incredible. If you have a dream and you don't give up no matter what obstacles come up, then life's problems will fall away and you will get what you want. It happens. It works." Yanni

G—"Goals are like a map. They help us determine where we want to end up, and give us personal direction on which to focus our energy." Catherine Pulsifer

H—"Happiness depends upon ourselves." Aristotle

I—"Ideas won’t keep; something must be done about them." Alfred North Whitehead

J—”Joy is not in things; it is in us.”Richard Wagner

K—“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information on it.” Samuel Johnson

L—"Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects." Arnold Glasow

M—"Motivation is like food for the brain. You cannot get enough in one sitting. It needs continual and regular top ups." Peter Davies

N—"Nature does nothing uselessly." Aristotle

O—"Opportunity dances with those who are ready on the dance floor." H. Jackson Brown Jr.

P—"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." John Quincy Adams

Q—"Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers." Anthony Robbins

R—"Results! Why, man I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work." Thomas A. Edison

S—"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Leonardo DaVinci

T—"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." Diogenes Laetius

U—"Use your unique abilities to shake the world." Wendy Hearn

V—"Victory belongs to the most persevering." Napoleon Bonaparte

W—"Wisdom is the daughter of experience." Leonardo da Vinci

X—"X-ray your life, are you where you want to be, if not set your goals, take action." Catherine Pulsifer

Y—"Youth teaches, age puts what we have learned into practice, teaching us wisdom." Catherine Pulsifer

Z—"Zone into your comfort zone, and, then zone into where you want to be. Be all that you can be." Catherine Pulsifer