Of Endings and Beginnings

I've been feeling the blues and it's been going on for a while now (severe depression which has been on and off since 2012). I was pretty ok last half of 2013. The NLP / Neurolinguistic Programming sessions I took in September helped a lot. In a way, the emotional baggage I've been bringing with me since I was a kid got healed somehow. Plus the non-stop travels I did the past two years did a lot of good to my psyche. 

The non-stop hopping from place to place was tiring, yes, and I was welcoming the rest I will be having from these trips come February, my birthday month which was last month, the only time I got to rest from my travels since January 2012. 

Fun, fun Feb, my birthday month!

Everything was going great; I was looking forward to celebrating my 36th birthday at home despite all the emotional trials I've been going through... until something hit me hard and since then I was never the same. :( :( :(

Breaking Through My Barriers Part II

Yesterday, I blogged about how I got into this amazing training program called Breaking Through Barriers (BTB) conducted by Train Station and how it has been changing my life since (slowly albeit surely). Before you read this blog post, head over there first to give you a little background then go back here to read the personal barriers that I have broken down so far since attending the BTB seminar. 

photo op with my coaches and classmates after getting our certificates

Like I said before,  I won't delve into the details of how the whole training seminar went for two days. You'll have to experience it for yourself if you also want to change your life for the better. But I will share with you the changes that have been happening in my life so far. I didn't plan this. I was actually skeptic if I can do this. I had very little expectations. I just wanted to be a little bit happy or at least not sad anymore. I was so tired of always waking up with a knot in my stomach and feeling crappy and depressed all the time. But after the training,  things did happen! Things I didn't expect to happen, did happen and continue to manifest. I guess our brain really is trainable. Once you learn how to unlock that part of your brain that holds you back, the possibilities for happiness are endless! 

So here they are:

Breaking Through My Barriers Part I

It's the last quarter of the year, the last chance I have of fulfilling one of my resolutions when this year started and that is to blog some more (God knows I got a ton of travelogues lined up for this!) I used to find solace, comfort, happiness and wisdom in writing my thoughts and experiences here and in my other blogs as well. But due to time constraint, overflowing responsibilities and depression... yes, depression, I haven't been able to realize (yet) my goal of blogging regularly. Well, I hope to change that starting this month. Since I'm usually on U.S. time zone, then it's still the first of October today and I'd like to believe, this is a good start. 

Let me then begin by telling you about the cause of my happiness lately; why I've been feeling a lot perkier than usual, my mood swings seem to have stopped and I'm just able to control more how I view my life these days. Though there are still pockets of moments when I'd just suddenly feel down, I now know how to switch it the other way. Here goes...

with RR Herrera and Carelle Mangaliag (owners of Train Station)

I've been invited by my dear friend Carelle Mangaliag, owner of Train Station and a renowned Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) pioneer and master practitioner here in the Philippines, to participate in one of her amazing programs called Breaking Through Barriers (BTB), countless of times. But I'd always find an excuse not to go. Don't get me wrong, many of my excuses were valid like I'd be traveling or attending a previous engagement or the last excuse I used was when baboo Peter got sick (which was true!) after I got back from my 2-week Siargao trip. But knowing myself, if I really wanted to go or do something, I'd move heaven and earth to do it. That's my personality. I'm  a rebel that way. Anyway, I digress... 

Malapascua - Moalboal Trip with Carelle Mangaliag: an Introduction

This very enriching vacation/volunteer work I did at Malapascua and Moalboal in Cebu started last Dec. 1, 2010 right after our trip to Dumaguete from Nov.26-30, 2010 (which I will just blog about after this Cebu trip).

me inside PAL's Boeing 747

One day, as I was finishing all my tasks at work before heading to Negros Oriental with my hubby, my friend RR Herrera (yes, the former child star ^_^) called me asking if I know how to dive because their company, Train Station (formerly Motivating Minds), is looking for a diver who can help document the training they will conduct among the locals of Malapascua and Moalboal as well as the staff of the dive resorts they will be staying at (the very accommodating Exotic Dive Resort in Malapascua and the beautiful Club Serena resort in Moalboal). Excess funds from the office of former DOT Secretary Ace Durano (he's amazing!) will be used to cover the plane fare and food while accommodations and dives at Malapascua will be handled by Exotic Dive Resort. In Moalboal, Club Serena will take care of the dives, accommodations and food. All of these things will be provided to the team in exchange for the training that will be provided to the people there which will be based on Neuro-linguistic Programming principles being taught by Carelle Mangaliag and RR Herrera of Train Station.