Personal Note #8

     There will ALWAYS be someone in any job that will give you a hard time even though in some cases their field of work has nothing to do with yours. Accept this fact and expected less from the future in the sense that there will be a perfect job with perfect coworkers.

     Focus on the small steps to fulfill your goal, not on the trivial traits of the environment and life will become easier to deal with.

You got to love "Hungover" :)

House = life

Life is like a house. Why? You will Find out tomorrow ;)

Europe London & Brussels

Hogwarts

The first days i arrived to Brussels, I had convinced myself that it wouldn't last long until the trip ended and I went back to my regular life, cutting off all connections i made in Europe. For the first 3 days I denied myself of enjoying the rich culture and diversity the city had to offer as well as the opportunities of going out with my classmates and befriending them. Oh if I only knew better...
 

HMS Belfast (WW2)

It was not until I got to London where I finally realized the marvelous gifts the continent had to offer. The amazing, old architectural design of every single structure, the countless of historical sites with endless tales of epic journeys, the HMS Belfast, Landors, The Parliament, the Warner Brothers' Harry Potter studio(best decision ever), and many more came to become what would be the best experience I would ever have in my life.

There were many times i wished Xenia was there with me.  But now I know where to take her or anybody else if i get to go back to Europe.

During that time, half-way through the trip my roommate John and I got to really know each other and had discussions of many topics. He is a nice guy. Tall one too. He and I shared many stories and in the end, it was bitter to go our own ways... though he studies at the same school as I do hehe...

Now I miss that corner of the world as much as I miss my home country Costa Rica as much as I will miss this city of New York when I move on to other places. 

 Life is full of surprises, sometimes we get lost in what we wished we could have had or done in the past that we lose track of the present and ruin the future. You got to let it go its own Pace and you will realize how many lessons it has to teach. That is why that from now on I will be more optimistic and enthusiastic about my trips, school or job events, family reunions, etc. because you can never know how much you will end up enjoying it, just like how my stay in Europe changed my feeling towards it in the first place...

+

Belgian waffles are the best!!! never going to have another one until i am back there! :)

It was the first time in my entire life that I went to an Apple Orchard. It was fun and delicious. Living for 20 years in Costa Rica I got used to the perception that going to pluck apples was just like climbing 20ft high slimy trees infested with bugs just to pluck mangoes. I loved it and expected a challenge. But once I got to the Orchard I was amazed by the endless lines of trees running trough the horizon. It was a good day, we had breakfast, we ate fresh apples. Juicy apples. We had a coconut custard pie with a cold cup of cidron apple slush and had fun playing with many animals. It was a good day to spend before my birthday. Jersey Apple Orchards, changes your perception of apples. Don't wanna miss out.

Many things happened that made the entire day much enjoyable. I got to meet Xenia's entire clan and apparently I boosted up my stock with the family. If you ever want to do something new while eating free fresh fruits, go to an orchard :)

Drawing

 Drawing is one of my biggest passion, followed by music and business. I never grew up from it and to this day I enjoy very much drawing. Stories of another planet or distant humans were part of the endless stretch of my imagination. Whenever I couldn't form a story in my head I would draw them and whenever I couldn't draw them I would write them down.

Today I have three books written, three different stories and universe with its own trilogy. Each one of them full of life manifested in words, ready to be read and resurrect within the mind of the reader.

I am sure when I say that fellow artists, screenwriters, directors, novelist and so on feel the same as I do when I begin anew story, world, universe. I am sure the thrill and the bucket-full-waterfall of ideas that falls upon their minds, running down their arms to their hands and ultimately on paper.

This isn't only a picture. For me, what is drawn here is the expression of my thoughts, the story of my imaginations, a whole universe with variables and life. Perhaps, my life that I will never be able to achieve if it.

"Imagination, a world without boundaries."

Soccer past time

Last week two acquaintances from my native country, Costa Rica, came to visit and enjoy New York for their summer vacations. Long story short, on their last day here we went to Woodbury Premium Outlet with more than 200 stores located at upper state New York. It took us hour and half to get there from brooklyn. Everyone shopped except me. I was looking, drooling for clothes, but lvied under a tight budget.
           I began thinking I was not going to buy anything until we went to Nike factory store... I saw many accessories I wanted to use on the days I went to the gym, but still I wouldnt buy them. Nonetheless there was this soccer ball...precious soccer ball sitting on a shelve amongst his half a dozen brothers and sisters. He wasnt premium but he was of legue. Needless to say I bought that ball. I was joyfull and satisfied that I found this ball since I couldnt find any of my liking in Manhattan.

Soccer (also known as football in Latin America) is the official sport in Costa Rica. I used to play it when I was in Elementary school throughout High School until I had knee problems in 9th grade.

Futbolin

          I was frustrated I couldnt play anymore and I knew I couldnt do nothing about it. My frustration grew bigger at first, but as time passed, my anger slowly dissipated. Yeats later I dropped all kind of sports, only to long about a sport I never practiced, snowboarding.

It happened couple weeks ago when I was at the beach with my friends and girlfriend when I saw some guys playing soccer on the sand. "That looks fun." I thought and suddenly I wanted to get myself a soccer ball and return to my hobby.

It wasn't until last Sunday when I saw this awesome round object sitting on a dirty, old shelf, sad and depressing, waiting for the rightful owner to buy him... A day later (yesterday) I walked to Bryant Park to meet my girlfriend. There, I saw the coolest "Fuzz Ball" (she calls) or "Futbolin" (as I say) and made me glad to have bought my soccer ball. I'm happy.

Unity is the Soul of Fellowship

The following post is Christian related. This post was written for Christians and interested visitors.

I own a book called "The Purpose Driven Life" written by Rick Warren. It is a great book for a daily life thoughts, not only religious, but also personal experiences related. As I read I came across with this awesome chapter that I wanted to share with you all. It goes like this...

We must remember that it was God who chose to give us different personalities, backgrounds, races and preferences, so we should value and enjoy those differences, not merely them. [Think of it as you and I. You like ice cream and I like chocolate. When we mix our differences we make Chocolate chip ice cream!]

We must remain focused on what  matters the most --learning to love each other as Christ has loved us, and fulfilling God's five purposes for each of us and his church.

[When we lose that focus and attend to disputable matters, conflict arises and conflict creates division within a fellowship.] Paul pleaded for this: "Let there be real harmony so there won't be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose."

People become disillusioned with the church for many understandable reasons. The list could be quite long: conflict, hurt, hypocrisy, neglect, legalism and many other sins.

"Longing for ideal while criticizing the real is the evidence of immaturity."

Rather than being shocked and surprised, we must remember that the church is made up of real sinners, including ourselves. Because we are sinners, we hurt each other, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally.

Divorcing your church at the first sign of disappointment or disillusionment is a mark of immaturity. God has things he wants to teach you, and others, too. Besides, there is no perfect church to escape to. Every church has its own set of weakness and problems. You'll soon be disappointed again.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was martyred for resisting Nazis, wrote a classic book on fellowship, Life Together. In it he suggests that disillusionment with our local church is a good thing because it destroys our false expectations of perfection. He said, "He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter."

Choose to encourage rather than criticize and avoid gossip. Focus on what we have on common, not our differences.

This book is sold on Barnes and Nobles at a reasonable price and I encourage you to get it because it helps you meditate about life in a very broad perspective.