Paolo Coelho on the magic instant and on love

According to Paolo Coelho, "the soul loves everything that is beautiful and profound." And so I want to share the article below which is featured this month at his Warrior of the Light series where I subscribe for a monthly dose of inspiration...

Hope this finds a space among your thoughts and help you to profoundly consider your next steps in life.

God bless everyone!

Bernadette D. Sueno

(www.kaigachi.blogspot.com)

From: Warrior of The Light
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 4:11 AM

The magic instant
We have to take risks. We can only truly understand the miracle of life when we let the unexpected manifest itself.

Every day – together with the sun – God gives us a moment in which it is possible to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day we try to pretend that we don't realize that moment, that it doesn't exist, that today is just the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if you pay attention, you can discover the magic instant. It may be hiding at the moment when we put the key in the door in the morning, in the silence right after dinner, in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. This moment exists – a moment when all the strength of the stars passes through us and lets us work miracles.

Happiness is at times a blessing – but usually it's a conquest. The magic instant helps us to change, drives us forward to seek our dreams. We shall suffer and go through quite a few difficult moments and face many a disappointment – but this is all transitory and inevitable, and eventually we shall feel proud of the marks left behind by the obstacles. In the future we will be able to look back with pride and faith.

Poor are those who are afraid of running risks. Because maybe they are never disappointed, never disillusioned, never suffer like those who have a dream to pursue. But when they look back – for we always look back – they will hear their heart saying: "What did you do with the miracles that God sowed for your days? What did you do with the talent that your Master entrusted to you? You buried it deep in a grave because you were afraid to lose it. So this is your inheritance: the certainty that you have wasted your life."

Poor are those who hear these words. For then they will believe in miracles, but the magic instants of life will have already passed.

We must listen to the child that we once were, and who still lives within us. This child understands about magic instants. We can muffle his sobbing, but we can't hush his voice.

If we aren't reborn, if we don't see life again with the innocence and enthusiasm of childhood, then there is no more sense to living.

There are many ways to commit suicide. Those who try to kill their body offend God's law. Those who try to kill their soul also offend God's law, although their crime is less visible to the eyes of man.

Let us be heedful of what the child within us has to say. Let's not feel ashamed of it. Let's not allow it to feel afraid, because it's lonely and is scarcely ever heard.

Let's allow the child within us to take the reins of our existence a little. This child says that one day is different from another.

Let's make the child feel loved again. Let's please this child – even if it means acting in a way that we're not used to, even if it seems foolish in the eyes of others.

Remember that the wisdom of men is madness before God. If we listen to the child we bear in our soul, our eyes will shine once more. If we don't lose contact with this child, we won't lose contact with life.
Let's live all the magic instants of 2009!

Love
There is always someone in the world waiting for someone else, whether in the middle of the desert or in the heart of some big city. And when these two people's paths cross and their eyes meet, the whole of the past and the whole of the future lose all importance, and there only exists that moment and that incredible certainty that everything under the Sun was written by the very same Hand. The Hand that awakens Love and creates a sister soul for everyone who works, rests and seeks treasures under the Sun. Were it not for this, the dreams of the human race would make no sense.

Animation Council of the Philippines launches Animahenasyon 2009

From: grace dimaranan Subject: Animation Council of the Philippines launches Animahenasyon 2009 Date: Sunday, June 21, 2009, 9:54 PM Animation Council of the Philippines launches Animahenasyon 2009     The Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI) is calling all budding and professional animators from across the country to participate and submit their animated works to Animahenasyon 2009: 3rd Pinoy Animation Festival, as it formally opens and accepts entries to this year's festival. Entry forms may be downloaded from the ACPI web site at <http://www.animationcouncil.org>. The deadline for submission of entries is on September 15. Animahenasyon 2009 will be held from November 25 to 28 at the Gateway Mall Araneta Center.   In an effort to build an audience, awareness and development of original contents, ACPI puts together its flagship project through an annual animation festival called Animahenasyon that showcases original animated works of both aspiring and professional animators in the country through a competition.   The festival is composed of the professional and the student/amateur divisions that will have different running time categories: 1 to 5 minutes; 6 to 20 minutes, 21 to 60 minutes, and the full-animated feature (more than 60 minutes). There are also categories for music video, title sequence, public information, demo reel, and TV series. There will also be animated works in exhibition (full-length, special citation, and past Animahenasyon winners).     This year's Animahenasyon will feature a global animation forum where delegates from the continents of North America, Latin America, Canada, Australia and the Asia-Pacific will come to the country and showcase the latest trends and best practices from their respective countries in the field of animation, game development and the digital creative industry in general.   These foreign representatives will present the current state/condition of their industry and feature sample contents from their country. These delegates will also bring with them a group of people for possible business matching in the Philippines. The global animation forum shall provide a venue for exchange among animators, producers, industry supporters, and possible business opportunities   Animahenasyon 2009 will also include an investors' forum where business seminars would be held in conjunction with business meetings. The forum will cover content sales and distribution, outsourcing, co-production, financing and even for education partnerships. This assumes a full day, divided into six sessions of 60 minutes each for presentation with an open forum. This component of Animahenasyon shall help set direction for the development of the animation industry.   Also part of Animahenasyon 2009 is the animation master classes/ workshops, and exhibit of works of this year's lifetime achievement awardee Jose Zabala Santos, nephew of renowned artist Nonoy Marcelo. The Festival this year will be  headed by ACPI's Board director, Grace A. Dimaranan, a veteran animator, animation instructor & creative director  in the industry and currently  the managing director of Top Peg Animation & Creative Studio Inc. Animahenasyon serves as a venue for Filipino animators to present their world-class ideas, and opens doors of opportunities for them to meet with and be inspired by the finest names in the industry. It also aims to create greater awareness of the Philippine animation industry and its contributions to the global entertainment business, while tapping locally produced content for promotion in animation markets here and abroad.   For more information about Animahenasyon 2009, please call 483-9501, 8172727 local 108 or email the secretariat at info@animationcouncil.org, animationcouncil@gmail.com,  or visit www.animationcouncil.org.   -- *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Secretariat Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. 9th floor, The Palisades Condominium 107 Perea Street, Legaspi Village, Makati +(632) 817-2727 local 108

BEWARE OF PHISHING ATTACKS! NEVER DIVULGE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION!

Below are sample e-mails which I received during this month asking for details of my e-mail information. These are samples of phishing or the crime of falsely masquerading as a legitimate person or company in order to steal important information from internet users. To avoid being the victim of similar acts as well as viruses and other maliciously intended e-mails, NEVER open mails from senders who are not your contacts. Delete it automatically. If they are legitimate, they will again send you a message, and will use a company logo and a legitimate institutional e-mail, not a "@yahoo.com" or similar generic address. 
Also, never click on attachments in unsolicited mail as they may contain dangerous computer viruses.

You may forward this message to your friends and family, especially those who are quite susceptible to such modus.

Remember: Information Technology (IT) is also all about SECURITY! - S.S. Esposo

regards to the PNHS CAT Alumni family,
badet

SUBJECT: Fwd: FIGHT AGAINST EMAIL SPAM (VERIFY AND UPGRADE YOUR EMAIL NOW)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: INTERNET ADMINISTRATOR <notice@mighty.co.za>
Date: Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Subject: FIGHT AGAINST EMAIL SPAM (VERIFY AND UPGRADE YOUR EMAIL NOW)
To: account@upgrade.com



The WEBMAIL INTERNET ADMINISTRATOR has decided to stop the ongoing email spam that has circulated all over the INTERNET from the world. Kindly help us stop the email spam that is going on by upgrading your email account. You are required to send your account information to the WEBMAIL INTERNET ADMINISTRATOR for verification and upgrading of your webmail account.

Your name:
Your email id:
Your email password:
Your alternate email id:

©2009 All rights reserved.

WEBMAIL INTERNET ADMINISTRATOR

=================================

SUBJECT: Fwd: Attention email account Owner

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: CUSTOMER CARE <saraji@unilorin.edu.ng>
Date: Fri, May 22, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Subject: Attention email account Owner
To:





Attention email account Owner,

We contacted yesterday to reconfirm your account information to avoid loss
of your account detail. We hereby bring to your notice once again that the
details of this email account are already deleted from our database and in
a short time, your email account may experience error which will lead to
deactivation.

To solve this problem, we hereby ask you to quickly reply and submit your
data immediately. These include

1.Username......
2.Password........
3.Full Names......

Contact E-mail: adminofficer777@gmail.com
Do this immediately.

Thanks for your co-operation to help us serve you better.

Signed,

Admin

...para sa mga gusto maging future UP students: the UPCAT 2010-2011

Pakipasa: sa mga estudyanteng 4th year sa hayskul ngayong pasukan maging sila ay inyong anak, estudyante, pamangkin, kamag-anak, kaibigan, inaanak at etc. Applicable din sa mga guro at magulang ng nasabing pangkat ng mag-aaral.

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The University of the Philippines College Admission Test or  UPCAT <oop-kat> is the official admission exam of the UP System. It is annually administered to incoming senior high school students who would like to qualify for admission to the University. The exam is held every 1st Saturday and Sunday of August, with the results coming out in February of the succeeding year.  

For more detailed information about who else can take the exam, what are the requirements, when are the deadlines, how much to pay, and etc. please click the link below:
http://upcat.up.edu.ph/htmls/aboutupcat.html


DEADLINES FOR FILING OF UPCAT APPLICATIONS FOR S/Y 2010 - 2011
23 June 2009 - Metro Manila Schools
30 June 2009 - Non-Metro Manila Schools

Below are quick links to the required forms. These are FREE to download and distribute:

• UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES -- UPCAT APPLICATION FOR FRESHMAN ADMISSION -- FIRST SEMESTER AY 2010-2011
• UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES -- SECONDARY SCHOOL RECORD
  

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Some tips about the UPCAT:
Hopefully some of these are still applicable. 10 years na kasi since nag-UPCAT ako eh, hehehe.

1. Ano'ng klase yung exam?

Math, Science, General Information, and Reading Comprehension. In English and Filipino yung questions for all subjects. If I remember correctly, 100 questions each so mga 400 questions yun under time pressure.  The exam lasts for about 5 hours. May morning and afternoon sessions.

2. Gaano kadali yung exam compared to other exams?

Madali lang actually. Comparable to the NSAT, actually maganda pagpraktisan yung mga NSAT reviewers. Slightly more challenging than the USTET.
Mas madali and normal compared sa DOST Scholarship Exam.
Mas masakit sa ulo compared sa regular college admission exams except siguro for ACET and DLSU dahil:

a.may mga Science and Math questions na nasa Filipino (medyo nakakalito unawain minsan. Also goes to say na hindi rin lamang yung magaling mag-Ingles pero mahina sa Filipino)
b. Mahahaba yung babasahing paragraphs pero one to three questions lang naman yung tanong. Pang-ubos oras talaga.

3. Your chances of passing the UPCAT ay depende sa:

a. The average of your 1st - 3rd year high school grades + UPCAT Score. Ito yung dati. Nira-rank nila yung average scores then may alloted percentage per campus and per course. Nowadays, nagsasama na rin yata sila ng other factors. Ewan ko kung ano na ba yung mga yun.

b. Your choice of campus. Mas marami ka siyempre kalaban sa Diliman dahil ito yung madalas na first choice ng mga UPCAT takers.

c. Your choice of Course/s.Sa UPCAT, you are asked to give first and second choices. Mas okay kung yung gusto mo talaga kunin ay non-quota course. Kasi kung may quota, nasa top rankings ka dapat in order to get in. Example, BSBAA ang number one na pinipili ng students sa UPD. Nasa top 5% ka dapat ng ranking in order for you to have a fighting chance to get in.

d. Faith. Pramis, totoo ito. Prayers help. Isa pa, if deep in your gut you believe na for UP ka, talagang magugulat ka na lang na pumasa ka na pala. You'll know it.

e. Common Sense, bilis bumasa, at pagiging maingat sa pagsagot. 

4. Right minus wrong daw ang pag-check ng exam...
 ... ayon sa mga Proctors. Ewan kung totoo ito. During my time, hindi ko to sineryoso. Basta I made sure na nasagutan ko lahat. Since machine-checked yung paper (yup, parang NET/ NSTA/ PRC type), baka lalo pumalya pag may blanko ako'ng sagot. 


5. Do your best. You only have one chance to pass the UPCAT. But then, it does not mean that you have to take it so seriously. Enjoy the experience. If you do not make it, at least you had the guts to try. Not everyone has the stomach to even try taking the UPCAT. Besides, if UP is really your "dream school", you can always try to transfer later on after you have incurred at least 33 units and an average grade of 1.5 or better in all your credited subjects (actually this is so much easier! beware however that in UP, a well-earned grade of 3.0 could be equivalent to your easily-earned grade of 1.5 elsewhere. Practice studying hard!).


6. Make sure that when you pass the UPCAT, you are fully prepared to do whatever it takes to graduate from UP. Totoo na mas madali makapasok kaysa makalabas. Nangangain kasi ng self-esteem ang UP, nyahaha!!! Personally, it took me several scary depressions, one year of LOA, 2 courses, two years of AWOL, and two years of languishing in thesis work before I was able to graduate. Bale 9 years kung bibilangin. BUt it has its rewards syempre. :)
 


RELATED FORUMS:

• How To Prepare For UPCAT (UP College Admission Test)
• Most difficult college entrance exam aside from UPCAT
  

RELATED ARTICLES:

• The UPCAT: 15 ways parents can help
• 12 reminders to UPCAT takers