Proper Nutrition: a Bridge to a Brighter Future
July 31, 2006If practice of improper food intake were a crime, scarcity of prison cells would be a major global problem. People at different times of life would be guilty. Those in their senior years, the middle-aged, and most especially, the juvenile. Some of them may be oblivious and helpless to such condition, to committing their "crime", and some, totally aware. If someone is aware of what good nutrition is, he/she shouldn't be irrational enough to not practice what he knows. If someone is unaware on how to eat right, then he/she should take responsibility on being informed.
But of course, everything has to start with dissemination of proper knowledge on good nutrition. This would guide people on the do's and don'ts of being healthy. The best time to learn these do's and don'ts is when one is young. This would help develop a child into a functional citizen in his/her latter years. In effect, this makes the society full of beneficial citizens who would illuminate the present and future with their bright minds.
"Food is the only beautiful thing that nourishes", I heard that line from a movie. Yes, indeed, food is a beautiful thing which provides humans with nourishment and sustenance. However, food could have ugly effects when taken in without control and proper consumption. Effects such as diseases, unwanted weight loss or weight gain, deficient energy to carry out daily tasks, and others. Too small is not good. Too much won't make it any better. Food intake should be proper and moderate. This would entail practicing good nutrition.
Nutrition, as defined by Bremer, a clinical exercise specialist, is the quality of macronutrients namely protein, carbohydrates and fats; and micronutrients viz. vitamins and minerals, which we take in daily. Good nutrition means that we receive a balance of both macronutrients and micronutrients in our daily diet.
Nutrition comes as a great factor in the development of a child's intelligence. Studies show that children who eat properly perform better in school than those who don't. It was found out that passive consideration of proper diet at an early stage may have long-term effects in a child's functioning in later life.
"Kumain ng right para maging batang bright" is the theme for this year's nutrition month. When I first heard it, I sort of wondered why "bata" or child was stressed in this year's theme. I wondered why it sounded more like a preschool tag line than a theme for an event celebrated by people of different times of life. And then I thought of what Rizal said — "pag-asa ng bayan ay ang kabataan". That's when I thought of how important it is to feed the minds of the young on how to eat right. People should indeed think of paying attention to the basics like educating them and making them apply what they learn about proper nutrition. That way, the hope of our nation would be well-kept-up and there won't be any reason for Rizal to be turning over in his grave.
If children and everybody else are well-taught with proper food intake, they would have a healthier body that's energized enough to be functional in the society, and a sounder mind that's brilliant enough to innovate ideas for society's progress.Not only is good nutrition a healthy practice, it is also a bridge to a brighter future.
Unsolicited Euphoria
July 30, 2006Will the ocean ever spill out of the earth and flow into space? Maybe if gravity decides to work reversely, that phenomenon could take place.
This feeling is like the ocean. It stays intact in my heart (just as the ocean is intact with the earth) unless an exceptionally unparalleled sensation happens. It would take a reversal of gravitational force to bring us together. That fact, I know.
I wish I never met you at all, I sometimes think. Then I start to think of the most profound moments of my life — I realize that most of them were spent talking with you. And so I thank God for sending you to me, instead. I slap myself and think how I could ever have wished of not meeting you when you were always the sweetest blessing God ever bestowed on me.
I would love to think it was I whom you regard to as your sunshine or..or..your reason..or your life..or whatever it is you deem her to be. Yes, indeed, I would love to think that everything were easier. At first, I think of it as a possibility. And then after the stinky reality fumes its stench, I just can't help it I cover my nose and give up hope, instead.
Then again, I always believe there's a reason for everything. There's a reason why you're there and I'm here. There's a reason why the ocean must stay intact with the earth. There's a reason why by some twist of fate, I came to that place where you and I met. And yes, there is a reason why this unsolicited euphoria came gushing to me.
What's the damned reason, you might wonder. Heck! I even wish I could say only time could tell. For I believe not even time can tell why fate brought us both to that place. I'm grateful of its existence, though, whatever that reason is. The hurt and frustration associated with it doesn't really matter. At least it doesn't when I think of you and how phenomenal life has been ever since you first came. This euphoria, unsolicited as it may be, isn't unwanted. That's another fact that no matchless miracle could change.
Again I say, thank you for being a blessing.
A Work of Art: A Message
July 14, 2006Every piece of art has a story behind it. Let that piece be a painting, a song, a poem, or a dance, it comes from and tells of a story that is — the artist, its creator’s experience.
We can think of art as an expression of man’s experiences. It could be his feelings, his thoughts, and his environment. It is through these that man is stirred to create art. Through these, man regenerates thoughts and ideas which would therefore become means to a more aesthetic and marvelous end — a piece of art.
At most times, artists feel relieved as they finish a piece. It’s as though they are being lightened, if not totally divested of their life’s burdens as they create art. I see this as the power of art to connect man with his experiences. And that connection eventually reaches out to others with similar experiences to that of the artist’s. If a man of art is able to share to the world a little of his anxieties through sending a message by means of art, then the world’s weight won’t be for him and him alone to carry. After all, man can’t be complete without relating to others. And art is one beautiful way of man’s sharing and relating to others.
Running Away From Me
July 6, 2006Betrayal. It’s probably one of the cruelest experience someone could go through.
A family’s betrayal…a friend’s…a lover’s. But the worst is when you’re betrayed by your own emotions. It is even more crushing than that time when your bestfriend took your enemy’s side instead of yours. More shattering than that time when you discovered your partner hooking up with a supposed good friend. When betrayed by another, you’ve got someone else to blame. Someone else who may take the guilt. Someone else who becomes less free and less dignified because of his misdeed. Someone else who just might say sorry when things cool down.
But when deceived by your own heart, you’ve got only yourself to feel both the pain of betrayal and the pang of guilt. Everything - the blame, the sorrow - it’s all on you. No one else is degraded because of the crime. When pacified, no one else could be sorry. No one else but you.
It is indeed true, what they say, that your worst enemy is you.
You could wrestle with a sumo master and ache from getting all your bones cracked. But you know what else could bring more pain? It is when you wrestle with your self and get your soul crushed.
Lean On Him
Yesterday, I looked into the mirror and saw someone looking back at me. A pained pair of eyes which, I later realized, was actually mine. In that split second when I stared at myself and didn’t see me, I stopped awhile, immobilized and a little distraught at this confusion.
Sometimes, life can be a little tough on us. There are times when we feel like jumping out into the void where there’s nothing that could bother us, nothing that could hurt us.
But times like these are inevitable. And whether or not we like it, times like these are actually what makes life, LIFE. We can’t very well know what good is if we haven’t known how bad feels like. The latter helps substantiate the former.
So yesterday, as I was looking into that mirror and realized that..well..life’s been kinda tough lately, I tried not to be drugged by the pain as I silently uttered a simple prayer - “Please. Hold me close.” And I felt it…He gathered me into His embrace and let me cry on His shoulders.
As far as I know, that’s what I’ve been striving hard to do since yesterday. So far, He hasn’t let me down. And…well, not that there’s a need for me to say it…I believe He never will. 
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