Filipino News 147

BUHAY
NZ
02 ISSUE 147 BALITANG NZ | www.filipinonews.nz | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | www.pinoynzlife.nz | MOB: 027 495 8477
www.migrantnews.nz : New Zealand’s first MULTICULTURAL newspaper featuring immigration and settlement news since 1991.
THREE QUARTERS FULL
By DR LILIA SEVILLANO
Dear Readers, after consultation
with our editor, we
agreed to start a new column
that provides some positive
food for thought to help us
through these challenging
times. Well, life can be challenging
sometimes, but more
so these days. In another column
I mentioned that we are
surrounded by so much negative
news that it truly is a
challenge navigating oneself
through it all. This month
begins with the maiden article
for this column that I’ve
called ‘Three Quarters
Full'. I’m sure you’re familiar
with the notion of seeing
the glass as half-full rather
than half-empty. Well, I’m
going a step further and suggesting
that we see the glass
as three-quarters full.
The objective of this new
column is to share some
uplifting monthly quotes
with you and to provide my
personal reflections on them.
Through the reflections I
hope that you will go away
from reading it with a better
outlook on life and develop
your own reflections. What I
will say is that everything
Dr Lilia Sevillano
that happens in your life
begins with the thoughts in
your head. If you are constantly
thinking negative or
worrying thoughts, then
these manifest in your reality.
It takes a tremendous
amount of practice initially
to control one’s thoughts and
to shift them towards more
positive ones. I can speak of
this because it’s been my
own experience. Through
this column I hope that I can
help you on the road towards
an improved outlook on life,
towards seeing the glass as
three-quarters full. So, let’s
start this with …
“Happiness is not having
what you want. It is appreciating
what you have.” –
Unknown
The majority of people in
today’s society are focused
on the material things of life,
believing that if they had
more money, an expensive
car or two, more clothes,
more shoes or a holiday
home, that it would make
them happy. When the object
of their desire is acquired, it
brings short-term satisfaction
before the emptiness
and dissatisfaction return
and they look for more
things to make them happy.
Of course having money
in the bank, a nice car and a
holiday home is not in itself
bad. Consider it icing on the
cake. But when it becomes
the barometer for measuring
one’s happiness, then that’s
when it becomes a worry,
because the dependence on
material things for happiness
will never provide real satisfaction,
peace, or joy. Even
when they are obtained,
something new crops up. Or
others think that the money
is never enough. Or someone
else has a bigger holiday
home or a more expensive
car. In the process there will
always be something out of
reach. You will be always
looking forward, forgetting
to appreciate what you have
NOW. Happiness is not
something in the future; it’s
present here now. Think of
what you have now: have
you a roof over your head,
food to put on the table, your
health, your loved ones, are
you living in a safe and
peaceful country? The blessings
are endless.
The question is, do you
appreciate all that you have
NOW? Looking for what
you want to have removes
your attention from what
you do you have now and I
am very confident that there
is so much to make you
happy. It isn’t a bad thing to
work for something that you
wish to have, but don’t let it
make you forget about what
you already have.
Try this morning trick:
when you wake up take a
few minutes to think about
what you already have and
are grateful for. I can guarantee
that as you mentally
tick off your growing list,
then the happiness within
you will begin to grow. And
you can start the day feeling
truly happy. Remember, the
glass is not half empty, it’s
not even half-full, it’s threequarters
full and it only takes
a little effort on your part to
fill it up. Blessings and light
to you all.
AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL
SEAFARERS’ CENTRE