Adapting to change

The only constant is change, goes the saying. And how true it is! We can overlook change, resist it, or adapt to it. The latter is by far the best.

Life changed this week for the family and friends of the 23 people who died and 20 who were wounded in a suicide bombing targeted at the US Vice President visiting Afghanistan. The news stories did not report any remark by the VP about the loss of life. Was he ignoring or resisting the change taking place?

It is easy to resist change when we become rigidly focused on a task and forget to step back to review where we are and what has changed around us in the meantime. It is also easy to forget that usually there is more than one solution to a problem.

Adapting to change seems hard but is more satisfying, I found. Embracing change means letting go of something every day, even more than once a day. The result is more freedom, less attachment, and being more attuned to my environment. While I am deliberate and mindful in each moment, after I have dedicated my action I let go of it, and I am free again to choose the best action in the next moment.

The human mind creates illusions of structure and unchanging truth. However, in reality everything around us changes, and even our own bodies are made up of changing energies of varying densities. The world seems stationary to our eyes and senses, but is in fact spinning fast all the time, so that is another optical illusion created by our mind.

When we decide in favor of adapting to change, we relegate the mind to be our servant in stead of our master, and we start trusting our intuition more. Once we learn to listen better to our inner voice, every moment and every circumstance in our life can teach us a lesson or send us a valuable message.

I decided that adapting to change is the best way to live.

Photograph: Delicious dish waiting to be eaten in Warung Enak, Ubud. Once I ate it, I moved on.

Giving back

Two unexpected things happened to me today.

First, I found out about the scare caused by salmonella bacteria in my favorite peanut butter brand, Peter Pan. It has prompted a global recall of the product after a few hundred people fell sick in the US and a few died. Amazingly, the shop where I regularly buy this peanut butter managed to contact me asking that I return the merchandise to them.

Second, I received a belated birthday present in the form of a Charriol ball pen, with a wish that I enjoy writing more and more to inspire others. And interestingly, this fancy ball pen made in Geneva uses Parker cartridges, so finding replacements is easy.

Most of my day, however, was spent on predictable activities like cleaning up my email inbox, updating my action list, having a cappuccino during coffee breaks, and enjoying the salad bar for lunch. I also received two books from Amazon, one requested by my daughter to give as a birthday present to her class mate friend, and another for myself about life coaching: The Coaching Starter Kit by CoachVille.com.

What was also to be expected is that I felt tired after a long first day back in office. It was the first day in many months that I didn’t have to write a daily blog post for Reborn at 50. However, I found that I could not refrain from writing even as I was tired – the urge to write is within me now, even if I am bleary eyed.

So I live forward appreciating the unexpected as well as expected happenings. The experience of “giving back” is one I will explore further: giving back to nature by being careful and avoid wasting valuable resources; giving back to friends by sharing good things with those who support me; and giving back to the universe by returning tasks, beliefs, and material posessions that are poisonous to me.

The art of giving back will help me to create space for living forward.

Photograph: Balinese altar for giving back, with checkered clothes with Poleng pattern depicting right and wrong living side by side.

Living forward

I returned today from a week-long holiday in Ubud, Bali to celebrate being reborn at 50. It was an unforgettable visit, and it capped off an insightful journey of 83 days to prepare for my rebirth. Now that my Reborn at 50 blog is complete with a daily countdown of 83 posts, I return to Dao and Wine which is where I started blogging last year.

Living forward is a theme that distilled itself from my week of celebration. I got lots of inspiration for living forward during the holiday. Ubud is the epicenter of art in Bali and I had a great week of appreciating nature, good food, music, art, and real estate there. The town is filled to the brim with creativity, and people are friendly and gentle.

Traveling back today was fun as well. The Balinese staff of the resort were very friendly and helpful in seeing me off. I did more souvenir shopping in the airport, and watched the latest James Bond movie in the plane from Singapore to Manila. Then the unpacking of gifts and other acquisitions at home.

What a difference a day makes, goes a famous song. In my case, the past week almost made me forget my daily routines in Manila. I realized that taking a break is a healthy thing to do. I am happy to be 50 now, and I have lots of plans for living forward.

Each night in Ubud, the friendly hotel staff put a card with a quotation on my pillow. One that stood out for me was by Sanaya Roman and read “What you love is a sign from your higher self of what you are to do.” I loved exploring Ubud last week, and I feel more connected as a result, with myself and with the universe around me.


Photograph: Something old, something new. I left my old sandals in Ubud - I think they carried me far enough in the past 4 years. I replaced them with comfortable slippers for in and around the house.