Your mantra for the week:

“I am prospered by doing what I love to do.”

The One Presence is within you. It is also around you, for you live and move and have your being in It. Because God is within you, you are gifted. You are unique. You are blessed.

Know that there is so much you can do in the universe. You contain the All; thus, you have unlimited choices.

You may ask, what must you do? The answers are all within you. You can affirm. You can pray. You can hold a conversation with the
Presence.

Search out what you can do about your gifts. You have talents. You have abilities. Some of them you are aware of, and some are yet to be discovered. But the truth is, you are gifted and you are blessed with infinite possibilities.

There are infinite ideas within you, but they are of little value when you don’t put them to good use. Ideas are to be used in order that they may come forth on the physical level. And you have the capacity to choose an idea, focus on it, use it, and see it manifest right before you.

There is no such person who is not gifted. For we all have been given our share of talents, of the things we can do and must do to live a fulfilled life.

You know in your heart what you love to do. But because of many false beliefs and many fears, you often do not pursue these things and would settle for second choices, for the second best, so to speak, and, therefore, your life is only on that level.

When you get an idea and you feel it’s a wonderful idea, follow it. Take the first step. The law of the universe says do it, I will give you the Power. And that Still Small Voice keeps reminding you, My beloved, I have given you not only life but everything that goes with living a fulfilled one. I have given you the capacity to use My Mind. Yes there is only One Mind, and that’s all that you are using.

There are ideas that constantly cross your mind. You are free to choose what to use, the ones that you would like to bring forth into the world, ideas that will bring you joy, so that you wake up every morning ready to do the things you love to do.

What you love to do prospers you. For when you are doing this, you are filled with energy, enthusiasm, joy, and these feelings are felt by those around you. And when they are felt, they inspire.

You are gifted beyond your fondest dreams. No matter what challenges you face, remember that there are ideas that you can use to rise above all difficulties. Yes, ideas are constantly flowing through your mind like a stream of consciousness.

Affirm that you are divinely directed to all that you have to know, to the ideas that will help you resolve all that you have to resolve. Ideas that you need in every area of your life—be it your health, your money, your relationships, your success— are always available to you.

There are certain things that block you from recognizing these ideas. They are your fears, hurts, unforgiveness.

You can begin by forgiving yourself for all your negative thoughts, and the so-called mistakes and errors you have made. Release them and know that they belong to the past.

You have wonderful things to contribute to the gifts given you. Show the world what you can do.

For a change

In the Capricorn portion of January, the amiable and attractive Ann Puno in an Ito Curata hostess gown celebrated her birthday with 40 of her closest friends.

For a change, the dinner was catered, except for a dish or two that included her now popular chicken relleno. Four tables of 10 were orderly positioned in the lanai-esque living room cum art gallery where Ann’s husband Rene’s art collection could be viewed. His latest acquisitions are by Hermes Alegre, Mia Herbosa and a Russian icon to boot.

Bukidnon Gov. Joe Zubiri, who I seldom see at gatherings, said, “I have been in government service for 27 years” and, therefore, it is only the ageless Vicky who does the social circuit. The couple shared a table with the fashionable and fun-loving Marivic Vazquez, who is totally mum when asked about her untypical relations with his father; Mario Katigbak who, through the house of Hermès, recently sponsored a special screening of the film “Grace of Monaco” starring Nicole Kidman.

One remembers that the Kelly bag of Hermès, before it was named Kelly, was used by Princess Grace to cover her pregnancy when posing for pictures. The movie was truly entertaining, although there were objections from the Kelly family about the veracity of certain episodes. The producers were quick to make a disclaimer at the start of the movie by saying that the story was purely fictional but was based on actual events.

One line in the movie stood out: “When you marry royalty, you do not only marry a person but the whole culture.” Bob Miller, who celebrates a birthday next week at Club Mwah, agreed wholeheartedly, in the “very similar way I have married Philippine culture.”

The most animated table sat the lovely Lara Villafuerte, wife of Camarines Sur Governor LRay who, like Marivic, has an unconventional relationship with his father; but unlike Marivic, he is not mum about the issue and neither is his father. Apparently, the elder wants to combine the north and the south of Camarines Sur to accommodate an extended family—so very like many other politicians.

In the same group was former Batangas Gov. Tony Leviste, who was  inviting us to his Lipa farm, where he has built a special road so you can get there in 45 minutes. With him was steady date Nelia Fuentebella; Makati Garden Club’s Sandra Jocson who said she’s “a mother looking for a mother fu**er”; Engineer Leonard Tiong who did not just look cool, he also cools your offices, your homes and whatever you need to be cooled; the pretty Valerie and her businessman Ping Sotto.

Joanne Rae Ramirez, she with the Betty Grable legs, was with her friendly husband Ed. They sat with Achim and Gabriella Wegfahrt, neighbors of Rene and Ann in Ayala Alabang.

In the dining room were the partygoers Paqui and Lilibeth Campos, Mel Meer, and gallery owner Juan Ponce de Leon who, two weeks ago, previewed the Jim and Reed Pfeufer collection by Fernando Zobel, which will be auctioned on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Makati Diamond Residences.

‘Unaffordable’ BenCab

Incidentally, during the Zobel preview at the Ponce Gallery, I said hello to the “unaffordable” BenCab, who pointed out a painting by Zobel which, he said, would probably hit P10-15 million. What he particularly liked were the Zobel etchings.

Also viewing the artworks was Linda Panlilio, who told us: “George, I remember how you use to hold court at the basement of the LA building with your green jokes. We all pretended to be shocked, but we always came back for more.”

Present, too, were former movie star and now art dealer Orestes Ojeda, who is associated with Art Verite Gallery at the mezzanine of the Serendra complex; and the constantly alluring Deanna Ongpin.

Cocktails

Meanwhile, back in Ana Puno’s birthday dinner, her children Yago, Luis and Renee, together with steady date Drix Crisologo, were having a tête-à-tête about the conversations that went on during the cocktails— mind you, cocktails with emphasis on the first syllable.

I sat with columnist-colleagues Cory Quirino, David Lim, Tina Jacinto and Becky Garcia. With us were society photographer Rupert Jacinto, George Sarakinis and an Iraqi jeweler-friend from the Netherlands, Mouied Alkaylani.

It was truly an evening of fun, frolic, at puno talaga ng katatawanan. However, many guests from Alabang left early as is their usual way. I will pretend to understand why they do this.

Jack Pot

A most unforgettable quote of the week is from the richest man in China, Jack Ma, CEO of the Alibaba Group: “If you are a multimillionaire, you are wealthy, but if you have a few billions, it is just a trust given to you by the rich to take care of their money.”

Jack Ma should really be renamed Jack Pot.