About Honoring, of Thank You's, and of Gratitude: A Prelude Message Before My Birthday

Usually, when one celebrates a birthday, the celebrant is the one being honored -- that's the usual norm right?  (at least for us here in the Mid-East in our community-hehe). But today, let me put a twist in it. Instead of them honoring me for my upcoming birthday, I will be doing the favor as I will honor them who have been a blessing into my life. Family, relatives, friends, and acquaintances alike will be the focal point of this entry. 

Life has been so good to me. I never thought that a simple man in me will be bestowed with blessings so overflowing that I need to share. Ika nga sa kanta "So blessed I can't contain it, so much I gotta give it away" . Don't get me wrong huh? I don't keep the biggest material or financial blessings. What I'm trying to convey is the blessing that is abstract and cannot be seen by the naked eye. It's like the good will in business. Blessings (apart from the material ones) for me are the gift of life, family, friendship, work, and that of a community. 

Allow me to be emotional (huhu!) in this entry (dramatic actor lang-haha), to pour out what inside my heart, and to thank important people in my life. I'll grab this opportunity to express my thank you's, my gratitude for the kindness, friendship, comradeship, companionship, camaraderie, of staying with me through my ups and downs, and of staying true to me all these years.

1. God - Nothing can be above Him. So I'm giving him the top spot which should be the case. He is the giver of all that there is in me. He is my defender, my rock, my bastion, my deliverer, and my Savior. Without Him, none matters in my life.

2. Milwida Domingo Rafol - Of course, the 2nd person to offer my thanks is my very lovely and understanding wife. She is my joy, my life and my pride. She had done so much to spice up my already colorful life. I am thankful to God that He let me be a part of her journey here on earth. My love for you is immensely immeasurable. And as we discover more exciting things in our relationship, I'm looking forward to be more thrilled everyday. I love you Mine!

3. My Family - I pay homage and honor to my parents that they were chosen as God's instruments for me to witness all His amazing creations. I honor them for raising me & inculcating life's principles of hardwork, impartiality, honesty, fortitude, and humility. Each life lesson that I have gained and learned from them is being lived out in my life today. I will forever be thankful to you. My sister and twin brothers - who have been there with me through the trying times in my life. And made me understood that when all people are gone in my life they're there as my rock and my strength.

4. My relatives - Relatives are one of the closest people you can turn to anytime of the day, they are the very people you can share with your life's circumstances and they are also those people who are ready to accompany you when you need them the most. And so I want to honor them for being one of the instruments to spice-up my life.

5. My friends - speaking of friends, I can categorize them in different types. There are those whom you consider your best friend/s, community friends, casual friends, and now a new breed of friends come to life - my blogger friends. These are the very people who can be leaned on when things seem in doom. And these are the same people who will laugh with, cry with, and party all night with. Thank you for the gift of friendship. You will be treasured for life.

6. My "In-Laws" Family - I honor them for fully accepting me as their "in-law", as a husband of my wife. They are the most modest, humble and simple people I've known with. Their characters and family bonding is something I truly appreciate. The value they put to the closeness of family is very commendable. 

Never in my life did I dream of being rich. If God grants me to be rich, I will use my riches to help out less privileged people who deserve a second chance at life. 

As far back as I can remember, I only aspire for a simple family, with needs sufficient to sustain a living. When I contemplate about having a family, I always comes back to the simplicity my parents taught me. That life isn't all about riches but on how you take part as a human being toward your family, community, and society. It's about maximizing your full potential and sharing it to the next one in need. In life, I've always believed that we aren't born to be on our own, we are interconnected with each other - and that for me the ultimate measure of living a worthy life is on how you treat other people and on how you have been a person to others. 

As for me, my ultimate wish in life is just to run my own business while still continuing my mission of being a person to others.