HOW TO STAY YOUNG
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1. Throw out non-essential numbers.

This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends.
The grouches pull you down. (keep this In mind if you are one of those grouches

3. Keep learning: Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain get idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud.
Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and Lots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen:
Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourself. LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love:
Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health:

If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. 
And if you don't send this to at least four people - who cares?
But do share this with someone. ..

Hey, dance with me....
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Synopsis: Frances, a.k.a. "Baby," Houseman (Jennifer Grey) is an idealistic teenager vacationing with her wealthy family at Kellerman's, a fictional resort in the summer of 1963. One evening, stirring music draws her to the staff quarters, where "dirty dancing" is all the rage. Here she meets Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), a dance instructor, who is as experienced as she is naïve. Baby soon becomes Johnny's pupil in dance and in love. But the two are from different worlds, and Baby's gruff father disapproves. As the summer winds down, Johnny and Baby must come to grips with responsibility and love and other's expectations.

This movie includes the memorable line spoken by Swayze's character near the end: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

Dirty Dancing has got to be one of my all-time favorite movies...for one, I love to dance, and two...the love theme,  Time of my life just makes me want to get up and dance and fall in love at the same time.

Three minutes before noon break, this is me smiling and moving my feet.Let's dance! 

Breathe...
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“Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table No one can find the rewind button, girl.So cradle your head in your hands and breathe... just breathe, Oh breathe, just breathe…” Anna Nalick, 2 AM

I’m not sure which of the two I’m more inclined to do: breathe or scream. All I know is I feel like my insides have been carved hollow and there’s absolutely nothing left. It’s one of those days. It’s one of those crazy/sad/pathetic phases that always pass, I know…but I’m here right now and for the life of me, I'm reminding myself to breathe…

Angel's LSS: Goodbye Again by Vertical Horizon
24/7 Reading List: Customer Service Reports
Silverscreen Pick: Grey's Anatomy Into You Like A Train
Differential Diagnosis: LET ME BREATHE!

A year after...
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I put up the Here's to Love quote again after a year, probably out of sentimental reasons because I re-watched Meet Joe Black yesterday. Contrary to what you might think, it's Anthony Hopkins that I like and not Brad Pitt. Hahaha!

The movie still left me that warm and fuzzy feeling all over. Yes, I still cried...death isn't a topic I would like to discuss lightly nowadays, specially with my father's health condition. But I'm keeping the faith and holding to my belief that prayers do move mountains.

As for love...One year after giving up, I would have to concede: lightning does strike--even if it's still  for me to keep in a bottle. All I know is the free falling part felt great, and knowing he was there to catch me is enough to tide me over.  

See you soon, luv.

Angel's LSS: Eevrything by Lighthouse
24/7 Reading List: My newswriting module
Silverscreen Pick: Smallville Season 2
Differential Diagnosis: tickled pink, hehe

Little Girl Lost
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I've been fighting the urge to burst into tears.

I'm here in the office, plowing through work like a mandibular hormone-driven drone, multi-tasking while reminding myself to breathe in and out, praying incessantly, trying to smile and cheer myself up by listening to music...but my head still would not clear.

Dear God in heaven, I am lost!

I am exhausted and drained and anxious and worried and scared. Most of all, scared. I am not ready to lose my father. I don't think I'd ever be. And although I trust You and as much as I would want to submit myself to Your will, I'm sorry Lord, because I just can't at this point.  It's  too painful, and I'm scared of being alone;  of raising my brother without my Dad--and just the thought that he won't be just a good morning-phone call away is killing me.

It's eating at me everyday: how he would once again be subjected to several hours of surgery, his ribs pried open, chest cavity probed, poked, cut, sutured then closed. He would be intubated to drain water from his lungs, intubated to feed, supported by metal tubings and endless IV drips...drugged to numb the pain, drugged to keep infection at bay, drugged to kill whatever cancer cells may still be in his system.

But can they give him drugs to comfort his fears? Can they  pump his body full of hope that after going through all of these, he will see  his daughter and his son who are several thousand miles away again?No, they can't. Only faith can do that. And lucky for him, he has a heart full of that.

I'm praying harder than I have ever had in my whole life.

I cannot cry, I cannot break down and crack and I cannot even show my family how much I'm hurting....or everyone will start falling apart too. 

S-E-R-V-U
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by: Rosemary Rein

I was sitting at a new hip day spa and salon when the entire staff of stylists and technicians suddenly disappeared. “Wait a minute! Where are you going? I’m wrapped in foil!” I think to myself. Moments later, the ownership team re-appeared with the entire Broadway staff, donning party hats, clown noses and a birthday cake for one of the other patrons who were celebrating her 48th birthday.

You see, this Savvy Staff had waited for the “precise” moment when our birthday girl had gone into the Changing Room for maximum Surprise Power when she came out. Well it sure worked!

Okay, since we do live in Costa Rica, for one brief moment, our birthday girl thought to herself “Great! Banditos on my Birthday”. But then, sheer delight and fun at the surprise and celebration.

The reason I go to this particular salon, is not only because a girl knows a good haircut when she finds one, but it’s because of attention to customer service. It’s the Extra’s and Surprises and not just on your birthday. They Remember that I like my coffee, black with equal and have it ready for me and imagine my delight, when during a standard “Wash” I get a relaxing scalp massage. That’s Very Unexpected and Extra.

But S-E-R-V-U is not only important in Customer Service to distinguish one company from another. It is also important in personal relationships. It’s what makes our partners, children and employees feel “Valued and Important”

Test your S-E-R-V-U quotient with 4 simple questions:

1) S: In the last 30 days, how have you used the element of Surprise to provide a memory for a customer, colleague or loved one? A note slipped into the luggage of a family member who is traveling, wishing them well and saying you’ll miss them, a surprise birthday celebration for a customer….the possibilities are endless.

2) E: In the last 30 days, site specific examples of how you have exceeded expectations by providing a little Extra in a personal or professional relationship or task? What do I mean by that? Well It’s the type of thing that prompts the other person to says “Gee—that’s was above and beyond the call of duty.

3) R: Fortunately technology is making it a lot easier for us to remember special occasions. What’s your system for remembering the birthdays, anniversaries, and special interests of your customers, those you live and work with? A colleague and friend of mine, sends me via snail mail, articles he knows will be of interest to me. In the age of e-.mail, his occasional, unexpected, hand-written notes and attention to my interests makes me feel like I’m dining by candlelight. It’s also great to get something other than Publishers Clearinghouse in the mailbox.

4) Do you V-U People?:

Say again? Yup, Do something Very, Unexpected! To delight others and shake things up a bit? While flying recently, a flight attendant during the safety demonstration stopped mid-sentence and said “Hey, I don’t think you’re listening”. That sure got our attention and then she warmed our heart with a smile that said---“I’m fooling with you”. Very Unexpected and Delightful. When you do something totally unexpected, you’re unique and that often translates into something and someone very special.

So this week, this month, today - apply the S-E-R-V-U Formula to those most important to you. Customers, Employees, Family and Friends.
Remember to Surprise them, Give Something Extra. Remember the little things and occasionally do something Very Unexpected.

Angel's LSS: Goodbye Again by Vertical Horizon
Differential Diagnosis: COLD

Thank you LORD!
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Tears Are for the Soul
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Why many religious traditions consider the act of crying a gift from God.By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

In the Academy Award-winning animated film Spirited Away, a little girl gets lost in an abandoned theme park. She is befriended by a boy who gives her a cake that he says will give her back her strength. When she eats it, she starts crying.

There is strength in tears. We weep with gratitude over all the amazing gifts from God that come our way. We cry when we share moments of great elation with others. Tears enable us to get in touch with our deepest feelings. They help us express our grief at endings and the loss of those who are precious to us.

Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. He also wept over the city of Jerusalem and in our time, we weep over Jerusalem and Baghdad and New Orleans. A Yiddish proverb says, "What soap is for the baby, tears are for the soul."

The early Christian desert fathers and mothers had the highest regard for what they called "the gift of tears." Alan Jones, dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, says these drops "are like the breaking of the waters of the womb before the birth of a child." That's a wonderful way to describe the connection between pain and joy.

Tears are a gift of grace from God, and their fruit is always joy. Weeping arises from the heart and signifies an open and softened heart. Perhaps that is why so many people are embarrassed to cry; they do not want to reveal their vulnerability. Yet many of us have felt the rich communal dimensions of crying with others. Think of the great global funerals of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana where millions around the world were united in a common experience of grief.

The religious traditions honor the gift of tears and have found ways to ritualize it. During the Passover Seder, when Jews remember their escape from Egypt, they bring salt water to their lips to symbolize the tears of bondage. When a person died in ancient times, mourners put their tears in bottles and sometimes even wore them around their necks. Over the ages, the weeping of tears has been a sign of the mystical experiences of saints and repentant sinners. These transcendent moments go beyond what the mind can comprehend.

It is no wonder, then, that Jelaluddin Rumi, the great Persian mystical poet, lifts up the value of tears.

Crying out loud and weeping are great resources.
A nursing mother, all she does
is wait to hear her child.

Just a little beginning-whimper,
and she's there.

God created the child, that is, your wanting,
so that it might cry out, so that milk might come.

Cry out! Don't be stolid and silent
with your pain. Lament! And let the milk
of Loving flow into you.

From Mathnawi, translated by Coleman Barks