Your mantra for the week: “Everything I do excels in a magnificent way.”

This is the first Sunday of the Lunar New Year and it is also the month I celebrate the first anniversary of this column.

All throughout the galloping Wooden Horse last year, I covered varied subjects of interest.

This year promises to be even more absorbing because the Wooden Sheep is truly a unique child of Mother Nature—not only in its being so trusting but also its gentleness and generosity. Most important, it is a time for introspection and getting to know oneself and bringing forth our finest qualities.

Here are some pointers that can be used in our quest for the best in us.

1) Love yourself unconditionally. It means loving yourself despite all your defects and weaknesses.

2) Your body temple should be your number one concern. If you are still smoking, stop. If you are drinking and eating excessively, cut it down by half. Exercise. Get enough rest by sleeping at least 6-7 hours daily. Eight is ideal.

3) Respect yourself and others. This would enable you to treat everyone as an equal.

4) Praise, appreciate and compliment others whenever possible and you will find yourself receiving the same.

5) If you are in a position to help, do it in any way, shape or form—for as long as it does not run counter to your principles.

6) The Year of the Sheep is a wonderful time to forgive yourself and others. It does not only unblock the channels of your good, it also makes you healthier, more lovable, and opens up opportunities for success and discovering your hidden talents and abilities.

7) Laughter stabilizes your mental and emotional states, resulting in excellent decisions that lead you to success after success.

8) Do what you love to do. Many people are doing things they do not love to do—for reasons of livelihood, for peace in the family, for convenience, and oftentimes just for the lack of imagination.

9) Learn the importance of responding instead of reacting. To respond means to understand where the other party is coming from. When we learn to respond, our behavior will always be reasonable and bring about positive results.

10) Seek where you can get your spiritual inspiration. You are a spiritual being going through a human experience for soul growth. When you have found your spiritual home, support it with your time, your energies and your tithes. Please check my article about tithing (“Our best president, so far,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, Feb. 8) and be reminded that to prosper means to expand and grow along all lines.

Buy one, give one

A bag called Bag943—distributed by Bag of Dreams Project, composed of volunteers who believe in the product—is based on the concept “Buy One, Give One” to public school students throughout the country.

This is the brainchild of education advocate, youth leader and community organizer Josh Mahinay, who was featured last week on Winnie Monsod’s TV program “Bawal Ang Pasaway.” His life story is truly inspiring. He relates, “Going to school meant skipping a meal and walking 10 km a day with nothing but a plastic bag to carry my school stuff.”

Now public school students  can own a bag of their dreams courtesy of those who purchase Bag943.

I wonder whether some Birkin bag collectors could sacrifice a bag or two—slightly used Birkin bags still fetch a mean sum to bring joy to a lot of public school students.

Josh ko more power to you!

Pain management

There is a pain management center called MSquare Myotherapy and Rehab Clinic that I discovered through my good friend Sonja Vodusek Vecchio. It has saved many people from an invasive, painful and expensive spinal surgery.

Myotherapy is a form of manual therapy which focuses on the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal pain and associated pathologies. It works on trigger points manipulation and joint mobilization in which the muscles relax and eradicate pain.

The founder of the clinic, Ray Santa Maria, trained in Australia for five years to master this method (tel. 4708476; facebook.com/Msquare-Myotherapy-Rehab-Clinic)

Next to being born free, there is nothing like being pain-free.

Irrelevant

How can one describe people like Peping and Tingting Cojuangco, Norberto Gonzales, Archbishops Ramon Arguelles and Oscar Cruz, and martial law “poster boy” Kit Tatad, who are all asking President Aquino to step down so that they can create a transformational government?
They actually want to replace P-Noy with themselves. It seems these people would do anything to be in the news because  they are now irrelevant.

Take Peping, for instance, who is complaining that P-Noy, his nephew, is not paying attention to him. But the people that Peping is recommending to serve government are mostly now over the hill.

The sermons of two archbishops, meanwhile, are no longer from the pulpit but from self-made political pedestals.

Martial law mouthpiece Kit Tatad seems to be pining for the old days; he’s supporting someone who is as corrupt as his former boss.

Without Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, it is self-evident that Norberto Gonzales is telling the truth about his not being involved in a coup d’etat attempt.

Behind all their protestations, there is a man making money on all of them by assuring them that he could bring about a coup d’etat simply through his strong persuasion. I would love to invest with him because I will be assured of an ROI that will surpass all record breakers at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Then I can happily support the “Buy One, Give One” Bag of Dreams project.