Spa and Wellness, Massage Therapy, Business and Entrepreneurship Meetup (Lessons and After-thoughts)

Manila, Philippines Meetup Groups:
Business and Entrepreneurship
Spa and Wellness
Massage Therapy
Lessons from Feb 05, 2011 event


There were so many things that I learned from the last Meetup of Business people and Entrepreneurs (or should I say Inno-preneurs) and professionals that belong to the Spa and Wellness as well as the Massage Therapy industry event held last February 05, 2011. I bet the attendees can enumerate more and I will highlight a few of them here. I will start with the lessons I learned from each speaker or segment of the event.

1. I learned from Hadjii Crespo that it doesn’t take so much time to untie the knots from stress points in our body (like the shoulders and lower back) we only need at least 15-30 minutes of trigger point release to de-stress our muscles. He demonstrated and has even given free samplers of the method to attendees. This is relieving because sometimes even if you want to spend “spa-mpering time” the whole day- you just can’t take the time off. In between our hectic schedule, we should. We really should. That is one thing that practitioners are guilty of. We always tend to take care of others without taking care of ourselves. Remember we cannot give what we don’t have, taking care of ourselves is one way we enrich our lives. Having known Hadjii through my good friend, Rommel Martinez, I have learned that it takes friendships also to do business together. There must be mutual acceptance and cooperation. You cannot do business with someone you dislike. That is one reason why both have stayed friends and became business partners. It has also been more than a year since I have known Hadjii and I am grateful because he was introduced to me. It’s a good thing that Hadjii shared with us the method he developed. It means he trusts the Meetup group with the knowledge that he shared with us. That we will all use it for the benefit of others and the massage community. Thanks Hadjii for sharing! I agree!

2. Engr. Rolando Alagde’s lecture and videos were stimulating to our thoughts. It is touching to know that our fellow “inno-preneur” even took the half day off away from his class (nag absent si sir Rollie sa AIM) because he wants to share his knowledge and wisdom with the crowd. Without anything in return- but our prayers and gratitude. We are so blessed to have a great and giving friend like Sir Rollie. There will come a time when we can get more and more sponsors so we can provide more than “love gifts” to high-caliber lecturers like Rngr. Rollie. In the area of business and entrepreneurship, I learned that we should be having fun as well. If we are not having fun-- sooner or later we will burn out and stop what we are doing. It doesn’t matter if its work, studies, business and whatever we do- we should have fun and get excited every time, otherwise the fruits of our labor will be of no use. Actually with some of what he said, he already sold what the Biz Wiz group is about to do. As with anything, everything should be a balance between sustainability in business economics and having the passion for what you do. Sometimes, I would ask myself of people I hear who can’t wait to retire, “why do you want to retire if you love what you are doing?” Look at one of the video he shared with us below:



In the video above, 66% took the stairs even if its more difficult to do, this is what I mean by “simple fun with a simple choir”, if we were to analyze, of course it doesn’t make sense to take the stairs if you could take the escalator- BUT- if we could make any difficult choir and turn it to a more fun experience- then you have a market.

Reflecting more about it in our everyday lives, the fun theory seems to show that humans are deletion creatures. We delete almost everything that we do not consider important or vital at one specific point. Why? because our brain cannot focus on so many things at one particular time. If we delete the difficulty of walking the stairs and instead replace it by an activity that would complement the difficulty and by making it fun to do then we have deleted the difficult part and replaced it with the fun part. If we tend to gear our attitude toward what brings us feelings of being happy, content, excited and passionate about life, then that is what we will find. It’s easy as walking the stairs!

To take this a little further, when you are having fun with your profession, with your work, with your life- it’s easier to get up it the morning, it’s easier to smile, it’s easier to give, it’s easier to close a sale, it’s easier to make friends, it’s easier to make sales and its easier to close a deal and its easier to make money. On the other hand, it’s hard for people to make you angry, unhappy or upset. So when you see someone who is always upset, angry or easy to get in an angry mood- expect that the person needs some understanding, expect that that person is in a state of either boredom or burn out- so we have to be more understanding, we have to be more forgiving of each other’s states of mind. Life is short we should not sweat the small stuff but enjoy!

3. On Ms. Angel Laparan’s lecture, she told us that it’s even harder today to deploy nurses but the deployment of spa and workers in the massage/spa industry is still on-going. Most of the time, one does not even need to be licensed or certified because it all depends on the employer. Of course, certifications do help a lot especially if the employers choose to work with only those who have had medical related backgrounds- but not all the time. I also shared that in my experience, certifications and licenses help only if you are targeting management and executive positions. She has also told the audience a lot about my experience working as a spa manager and spa director in EU. I think there are a lot of opportunities only if we know where to look and whom to get in touch with. I myself, have to turn down a lot of offers abroad because of inconsistencies and restrictive employment contracts. Although the spa, massage therapy and wellness industry has lots of “gray areas” as a profession, we are slowly gaining our ground towards a more collaborative and professional world. One of the things she also touched on was about how one should prepare for a job overseas interview and how important it is for applicants to be able to express them selves in spoken English. Prospective applicants should not be high-nosed and realize earlier on to accept working with a multi-cultural staff. I believe that there should be unity in diversity. I will give you one secret that employers look for. Most of the time, when I sit down with an employer and they would hire me to interview their applicants, it doesn’t hurt to look at the credentials but…the big but is we give more priority to the attitude and character of a person rather than the accomplishments, the experience and the credentials. I would always choose someone who is likeable, able to learn and be taught rather than someone who thinks they know it all. As a consultant, each and every time that the employers and I are faced with the dilemma of selecting only one from a lot of applicants and those who passed the interviews, we would always choose someone whom we see is likeable and a team-player. In very far flung countries, we would always choose someone who works with the team NOT against the team. I sit down with employers, deliberate who among the candidates are fit for the post and the true consensus is- they do not need credentials if you have a bad attitude. Period.

4. What I learned from the Biz Wiz group: I have already discussed this in my previous blog last year in November. Why do you think I invited them over if I was not impressed? But even before Biz Wiz was ever Biz Wiz – I already knew Jason Estimado who was a part of Meetup since 2007. He attends and even lectures about anti-aging and beauty. Here is the link to this blog post that I have written. http://www.yunesa.com/2010/11/same-old-spa-massage-clinic-and.html

II.

5. General lessons: First, I learned from the brilliant Seth Godin that Autarky is dead. As he pointed out in one of his latest blog posts, “Self sufficiency appears to be a worthy goal, but it's now impossible if you want to actually get anything done. All our productivity, leverage and insight come from being part of a community, not apart from it. The goal, I think, is to figure out how to become more dependent with each other, not less.” And what does it have to do with Meetup? We are all dependent on each other. The sponsors, the attendees- and the organizers are crucial to the event, we wouldn’t have made each event better than the other without the help of the sponsors and the participants. Thanks also to the generosity of James who traveled all the way from Subic to Ortigas, who gave a sample of skin white and beauty products he sells and to Ed Rivera who is into native and local accessories like bags and home furnishings. With every Meetup we also get to know everyone's business so if we need something or a particular service or product, we know whom to get in touch with. Thank you for depending on Meetup and thanks to all those who traveled far just to meet us and for everyone who shared their time and prioritized Meetup. I might not be able to write all your names here in this blog post but - my prayers are all with you. Thank you for the openness, time and friendship.

6. “Familiarity breeds respect” as the brilliant Seth Godin wrote in one of his latest blogs, Over the six year period, I have been friends with hundreds of great and gifted souls. I also think that one of the big reasons why Meetup has been successful and strong when it comes to relationships since its inception more than 6 years ago, is that people at Meetup serve each other. As Bo Sanchez points out, “If you find a great organization that has not found a way to serve each other (sad but true) that organization will experience divisions because everyone will be looking at his or her personal agenda and interests”. It is in our good fortune that we tend to repel those types of people because Meetup was not designed for that. Everything and everyone must serve a good purpose with each own talents, uniqueness and capability to complement each other. Meetup doesn’t look at itself as just an organization but a support system that doesn’t worry about protocol. We hope to fill the need for identity, connection and relationships. It was and will never be about “what’s in it for our personal agenda but what’s in it for us to give to others”. Kaya pag lumabas ka ng Meetup na parang ubas, pag uwi mo hawaan mo ng pagiging ubas ang mga pasas. Kung malaki naman silang tao- maaaring prunes na yun. To my English readers, if you ever walk out of a Meetup looking like grapes then when you get home, you have to induce the excitement of being a grape to others who are already dried like raisins and if they are tall, then they are like prunes which you have to water. (wink) In other words, we all need each other, the success of one is the success of the whole- and the failure of one is the failure of all. We should find a way to enrich that relationship- and never to destroy it. Over time, as Seth writes, “you don't just come to trust valued colleagues like these, they also earn respect. Once you understand someone's sensibilities and goals, it's natural to see the world through their eyes and to embrace their motives and tactics. Once you've seen their work under pressure and in quieter moments, you get a sense for what they believe in. In a world of quick projects and short engagements, this sort of relationship is priceless”. I am blessed because I have found such people at Meetup.

7. Focus- as said earlier, we are deletion creatures, we should focus- focus on what? Focus more on what is good, better or best on a person, expect the best with a person, we should focus what makes us feel beautiful inside and out, focus on larger than life experiences, focus on the better things in life rather than those experience which has brought us pain, hurt or disgust. In Shakespeare’s “the Merchant of Venice”, there was a man named Shylock who was very wise but he was cruel. He said, “would you allow the same serpent to sting you twice?” Of course, we should never allow the same serpent to sting us twice. But we should never become cynical. Hindi komo may gumawa sa atin ng mali, pagdidiskitahan din natin ang lahat ng maaring gumawa din ng mali. You do not sink the ship to kill the rats. Learn to trust people. Actually, in life, very few people will hurt us or cause us pain, most are still basically kind. But people who don’t trust and don’t open themselves to other people’s goodness and kindness put walls between them and the world. They in turn imprison themselves in the process. Hindi komo may isang taong nandaya at nanakit sa atin ay lahat na ng tao ay ganun. Learn to trust again. Live life again, love again, give again- although a bit wiser the second time around. Tandaan lang natin na ang isang tao na sobrang wise ay hindi nag e-enjoy sa buhay. One way to enjoy life is to open our self up to people and focus on the better part of life rather than our previous hurts.

8. Energy- is infectious. Need I say more? We have forgotten a lot of things to give and say before our time was up just because we were all “hyped-up”. Hopefully, it will give a good vibes and ripple of effect to our beloved “Meetup-ers”. Thanks and God bless you more! Until next Business / Entrepreneurship, Spa and Wellness and Massage Therapy Meetup! Hats off to all of you!

The Business of Innovation

The Business of Innovation in the Spa, Massage Therapy, Beauty and Wellness Industry

Memory was something you might lose as you age older age...a sign of old age.

An application was used for employment

A program was a TV show

A cursor is a person using profane words

A keyboard was a piano

A web was a spider's home

A virus was any type of flu or that exhibits flu-like symptoms

A CD was a bank account: a cash deposit

A hard drive was a long trip on the road with traffic along the way

A mouse pad was where a mouse lives

and if you had a 3.5 inch floppy,

you just hoped nobody finds out.
 
Funny but so much has changed since the advent of the computer/digital age. We see progress, we see innovation in all aspects of our daily life: from the way we send cards to the way we conduct our businesses. From the way we view our careers to the way we live our daily lives. We have softwares to schedule our clients inside the spa, check our inventory or use bar code systems, know who was absent at what day and who among the staff is scheduled for a day off or a vacation (yes and maybe one of these days I can demonstrate some of these applications with the Meetup group that I organize). The netbook, the printer, scanner and lap top replaced the typewriter, the ebooks replaced books, email and e-cards replaced postal letters, envelopes, and the post, the phone book and rolodex replaced the address book. These are just amongst the other things that technology can help us with.
 
Last Saturday, after visiting the Fitness and Beauty trade show, I attended a Meetup group outside the Meetup group that I organize. It was composed of techie people. I have learned that even if I (and another Japanese lady who was out of place for the time being) was the only one who has a different field amongst all the others, we are still (a bit) in touch with technology. This blog for instance, has its foundation in communicating through technology. I might not understand what JAVA, Cloud, SAP means (amongst all the other technology terms that I have heard) but the nice thing about technology is that we do not have to understand the applications behind --as long as we can use it in our daily lives. Except for the high profile technology inventors, we do not even know who invented which and what. We can only thank God that it has reached our hands and we can use it. There are a lot of things we can use technology for and one of which is educating ourselves. We have to, at the very least adopt to the changing times, hindi yung ayaw na nating matuto mag-text or mag-email man lang. Hindi man lang alamin kung papano mg-FB. Kung ayaw nating matuto ng bago ano ng gagawin natin sa buhay? Life is a continuous learning experience. Kailangan mag invest din sa sarili by improving what we know. Do not go into the spa, massage therapy, beauty and wellness industry without doing your homework or performing due diligence including adopting to new and better ways of serving our clients through technology.
 
Here are some ways you could use technology in your spa, massage therapy, beauty and wellness career or business:
 
1. Use high technology machines to assist you in fighting cellulites, aging and other degenerative diseases. Attend trade shows in and outside the country even if you are on vacation. Whenever I go out of the country, I try to search for events for the country that I will be visiting and attend any seminar, workshops or trade shows that will be held during the time that I will visit. It adds up to my knowledge and my expertise. You will learn from the products, gadgets and services of others. I am not saying that you have to copy them but adopt what you think might be good and remove things that might not be suitable/ applicable for you. The bottomline here is to know the trends in the industry.
 
2. Use Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) and Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) to speed up transactions in your spa, massage clinic or wellness center. EFTPOS means that prospective clients can pay for goods and services using credit and debit cards.
 
3. Use a website that will serve as your point of contact and sale. You can offer gift certificates online, special promotions and email subscribers using your website. Use it as an e-commerce website. E-commerce is the ability of businesses to trade with the world via websites. This means that there is a larger market and your spa, massage clinic or wellness center is now open 24 hours a day.
 
4. Lessen the use of paper, communication is improved through the use of the intranet and Internet. The intranet is an internal system of computer communication while the internet can be used to communicate with clients, suppliers amongst others in the outside world (through websites and email). Spa staff can work away from the office using mobile technology such as phones, laptops and modems. But a word of warning, do not use naman technology just to play games online or chat with others while you have no client. Use technology wisely.
 
5. Instead of advertising, use the Internet for recruitment purposes. You can post job vacancies online or using the Meetup message board and positions can be advertised and targeted to the right audience, often costing less than print alternatives. And it can be done for free at www.meetup.com/philippinespaandwellness
 
 
and many more....
 
However, the use of technology should be a balance between our needs and practicality. Use it to be more effeicient, better and be able to focus on things that machines and computers cannot do. If the benefits outweighs the cost, then consider in investing in technology. We can just hope that technology can complement and ease our lives rather than burden it.
 
The more high-tech we become, the more high-touch we need -yunesa

A Journey to Massage, Spa, Health and Wellness

A Journey to Massage, Spa, Health and Wellness
By Eunice
yunesa@yahoo.com


It was in the early months of 2000. I have been coughing for the past one month but have no signs and symptoms of having tuberculosis or pneumonia aside from consistent cough and a painful back. I just returned to my position working as a travel and timeshare sales and marketing executive for the past three years and I was thinking that maybe it was due to the very cold temperature inside the hotel. Everyday it was like winter inside the presentation area and because all of our directors were Westerners, we were stuck in a position where all of us have to adjust to their preferences in temperature and corporate culture. I can no longer ignore what I was feeling so I went straight to a pulmonologist and decided to submit myself to an examination. Medical history was taken and the specialist decided to have my sputum and X-ray checked just in case. Both results were normal except that I have dextro-scoliosis for which the pulmonologist referred me to another specialist- this time an orthopedic doctor who told me that my condition cannot be helped any other means except by surgery. Feeling dismayed that medicine cannot help me with my condition, I sought also the help of my friend who was a physical/occupational therapist and yes, she verified that the only solution to scoliosis is surgery. But I can also help myself not to make it worse, she said. She gave me exercise movements to be done everyday so my condition will not worsen. So, reluctantly I have accepted my condition. While I was searching online for a cure, I found that massage can alleviate symptoms so I have tried it and it helped ease my back pains. So, I started to look at massage therapy in a different context, I started to look for alternative medicine as a career. I was not able to find a medical degree leading to a doctorate in Alternative Medicine but I found out that there is such thing as Licensure for Massage Therapist. This was my first step in my journey to massage, spa, beauty, health and wellness. From that time forth, the rest was history.

Two years thereafter, I have been feeling weak and sick. I am having difficulty breathing whenever I walk or come up and down the stairs. Even if it’s just some light work, I get tired easily. I feel fatigued almost all of the time, I have chest pains and shortness of breath. Being someone from the medical background, I sought medical help immediately. The internal medical physician told me to seek the professional help of a cardiologist. I thought to myself, “why a cardiologist? I thought it was my lungs again?” Even if I was not convinced, I still heeded his advise and went to a cardiologist who asked me to undergo an echocardiogram (ECG) and some running test. The result? I have MVP or Mitral Valve Prolapse in my heart (to be specific it was in the Posterior Mitral Valve leaflet). I read again the results, I have MVP or Mitral Valve Prolapse. What again? MVP? Most Valuable Player? Like in basketball? Hehehe…. What is that? ano kamo? I must have been asleep or absent when that was taught in school because I cannot find it within the recesses of my stock knowledge. So I asked the cardiologist to please explain my condition. He said that I have a condition in my heart also known as “click murmur syndrome" and "Barlow's syndrome". This is the most common heart valve abnormality, affecting five to ten percent of the world population. I thought,” yeah right Doc, you are just saying that to pacify me.” So where did I contract it, where did I get it from? Is it a disease? An infection? He said “the Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) syndrome has a strong hereditary tendency, although the exact cause is unknown. It is seen most commonly in women from 20 to 40 years old, but also occurs in men”. By this time, I am already correlating data in my mind from my previous medical history and was wondering “My dextroscoliosis is idiopathic (meaning of unknown cause) and now another condition, MVP is also of unknown origin?” Again, the cardiologist said, there are no cure for it except if I went ahead and do surgery, which is not really necessary, he said. As it’s not really a cure. Since my MVP condition was a classic one because I have mitral regurgitation, he told me to not to stress myself too much especially physically and not to worry too much. There is no cure.

To make matters worse (or should I say better?), when I searched online about MVP complications, it includes in rare circumstances—cardiac arrest, usually resulting in sudden death. Ahhh, at least a prayer of mine has been answered because I asked the Lord not to make my death long and hard. Hehehe…..anyway, I just kept on praying and hoping for the best. You may feel that it's morbid to think about death, but actually it's more unhealthy to live in denial of death and what will inevitably happen in the future. We need to think more of eternity, not less.

In 2007, I was also diagnosed to have endometrial polyp and intramural myoma (both are said to be abnormal growths) to which the gynecologist told me the only solution are two ways: conceive a baby or undergo sugery. Again, both of these do not promise that it will not grow again. By this time, I am already aware of some alternative and complementary therapies so I sought the help of one Meetup member who is a doctor but also into complementary medicine. No other than Dra. Naomi. She explained to me that my condition was very easy to cure. She gave me a lifestyle check including food: what to eat and what not to eat. That time I was still eating red meat but slowly getting off of it. So, I decided to take her advise seriously.

You know, when you are faced with death on your face, you get to evaluate you life and your lifestyle. I was then reminded by God to cling to him. I remember the time that God and I made a pact, this was a long time ago that once I get to accomplish what He (God) has entrusted me to do on Earth (whatever that is) I am free to go. He is free to take me home. Since the time that I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I do not fear death. My only request to God was: I do not like to suffer- it should not be a violent death or a long hard death. But, we do not get to choose when and where our birth and death will be. All we can do is ask God to grant our prayers. Well, after being given the advise from the doctor that they cannot do anything and there is no real cure for my condition (again). This time, I decided to undergo surgery but I have to give other ways a try. “If these trials (the complementary therapies) will not work after three months, I will go under the knife” I said to msyself.

During that time, I have gotten into self-reflection. It’s ironic because I only slow down when I am faced with life threatening illness or danger or physical ailment. Ewan ko ba lagi akong parang nagmamadali...hahaha....kahit sa mall my sister would always remind me ano ka ba ateng? we need to stroll and walk not pace fast. Most of the time naman, I get so caught up with work and other things to do that I am always in a hurry. At other times, I forget eating because I am so engrossed with work. Yes, at times for the whole day when I have an activity, dinner na ako makakakain. I was also reminded by God to slow down. As I read Psalms 46:10, it said, “be still and know that I am God”. Ouch! There I am again noh? Being reminded by God to take things slow and not to forget Him even in our daily lives not only on Sundays. During those times, as we were also talking with Dra. Naomi she said that prayer is also very powerful and there were scientific researches which showed that whenever you pray for something especially food that you are about to take, it energizes the molecules of food thereby giving you more boost and healing along the way. So I also started a prayer vigil for my healing. After three months of extensive health diet and lifestyle conditioning- and boy! It’s hard….really hard because I have to have the discipline to really eat only this much, eat only this, do only this and not do that. My body was complaining because it is not used to a “really” healthy lifestyle and when I started out this new lifestyle, my diet was all raw and vegan. As if I have cancer. I ate raw food and a lot of seaweeds! Only fruits for a start and vegetables but nothing with face on it. Eh di siyempre, yung katawan ko manghihina the first few days pa lang. I was trembling because of hunger as I was used to carbohydrate based food. But after I got my system in check, detoxified myself, a week thereafter, my body started to move in directions that my mind wants it to go. Since then I have not indulged in red meat particulary pork- sabi nga nila naging muslim na daw ako. But then again, come to think of it, they have a point not to eat pork because it’s really not healthy, it poisons our body. Pork is very hard to digest and assimilate. So, after three months, to be able to finally confirm if my new lifestyle was effective, I have to go back to my gynecologist and have myself checked again. This time, during the ultrasound while the gynecologist was looking for the myoma- she was saying, “bakit nawala? Anong ginawa mo?” after an extensive search, the gynecologist gave up and said “nothing” and my results where normal. Thank God. It was a miracle. God used Meetup for me to meet people like Dr. Naomi, encouragements and prayers from my friends, family and Ted, diet and lifestyle to heal me.

But my story will not end here, remember I have dextroscoliosis and the doctor said also there is no cure? I went to this fire and heat therapy (one of the indigenous therapies that we went to for our Meetups) and had three (I think) sessions with Tatay Tony and to my surpise, my backaches have really diminished. For this, I would like to thank Mr. Ramon Tan, the owner of Carica who introduced me to Tatay Tony when he found out that I have scoliosis. To this day, I have not had too much pain on my back not unlike before. This was one of our photos:

Last but not the least, just last month February 24, 2010, I was diagnosed to have nodules and cysts on my mammary glands (in short breasts). Yes, cysts and nodules not just one but four on each sides. Ano ba yan? Ang dami naman tumutubo sa akin? Hehehe……puro pa naman idiopathic……unknown cause. But again, when I was about to undergo aspiration biopsy the surgeon told me to come back again after a month if I felt something abnormal if not I can come back in April for a mammography, just to be sure.

So why am I sharing to you all of these? One, because having to face the reality of death several times, we get to evaluate our lives more than anything else. Life is short. As James 4:14b said, “Our life is like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”. Life is not all about career or money and how far we have reached in our fields. Although these are important, these are not permanent. We have to ask ourselves, if God chooses to take me right now, am I prepared? Have we done God’s purpose for our lives? Have we glorified God through our skills, our talents and our abilities? Life is not just a matter of going up the ladder of success in the world’s standards. It is what we have done that impacts eternity and how do we prepare for eternity? Go on a one on one talk with God. Pray. It works. We have to ask God to forgive us and let Him come into our lives and offer our lives to Him as he has given His life for us. When you are in your dying moments, I do not think I will hear you say "bring me my diplomas, I want to look at them one more time or bring me my medals and trophies, my awards and the jewelries that were given to me". When life on Earth is ending, we do not want to be surrrounded by objects but with people. People we love and cherish. So whenever we wake up everyday should be to make sure that we spend time loving God by loving other people and using whatever talents or skills He has given us to share it with everyone. Do not waste today's blessings by keeping it with yourself. Give God and people a time and chance into your life.

Two, because whatever our journey is in this field, we all have stories to tell, we have experiences to share and kindness to show. You have something to share, something to contribute and no one in this world is as unique as you. You are created to do more than exist. You are wonderfully made. You are placed on this earth to add more love, give more of ourselves, to add more understanding, more forgiveness and we can do that with our work, our career, our talents, our skills and our abilities. Our money, our career, our life- will come to an end but what we have done for the sake of God will reflect until eternity.

As Russel Kelfer's poem amptly states:
You are who you are for a reason.


You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.
You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.
The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,

They were custom designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.
No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.
You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!

Do not just spend your life trying to create success financially and in your career or trying to create a legacy on Earth. It's not at all bad to want to be remembered when you are gone but ultimately what matters most will not be what others say about your life but what God would say about yours. Realize that all these acheivements will be surpasses by others in the future, records will be broken, reputations fade and tributes forgotten. Do not just live for an Earthly legacy because there is much more than what we see on Earth.

I pray that God will touch you in whatever situation you are right now. Be it in health or in sickness, in success or defeat, up or down- we need God. I also hope that you will come to realize that no religion, no amount of good works will ever replace God’s love for us. He is just a prayer away, He is just waiting for us to come to him and talk to Him with our hearts. All we need to do is ask to come into our lives. “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened (James 11:9-10)”.


Do not waste your time, ask God now.

Scams and Hoaxes and What To Do About It

A Warning On Scams And Hoaxes And What To Do About It

by Eunice Estipona

Okay I know that this does not have anything to do with spa, massage therapy and wellness but because this also affects our overall wellness, I will include this in the blog. I also think as someone who is in the forefront of information dissemination and as a blogger, we all have the right to discuss the other realities of life. Today I will blog about scams and hoaxes as recently it has affected me and one of my new staff. Please read below:


These are just examples of scams that you should be aware of:

I. Text and mobile phone scams with similar modus operandi like:

1. You have won like this or like that from the government or any private institution. But unfortunately hindi ka naman sumasali sa kahit na anong contests or raffle. Paano ka mananalo?

2. Someone posing as your kakilala (relatives, family member or friends) asking for load or money to be deposited to their account. This happened to one of my new staff who got a text message from this number 09204569906 and was posing as me (unfortunately, I was not available to be called at that time because my mobile number accepts only text/SMS messages because I was out of the country). Well, she was a new staff so she easily believed and sent a 100 peso load to the number. Kung 100 pesos nga lang pinag iinteresan pa nitong mga scammers how much more the big ones? Anyway, to make the story short, she sent the load and when I texted her back using my real mobile number, wala na. Napadala na niya yung load.

3. Someone who would like to meetup or see you (eye ball) posing as someone sent by your kakilala. Beware as this might be a hold-up. I remember, someone last year sent me several emails and text messages posing as Michael Roswell, a visiting American who wants to find a fiance (sorry, not interested) and is really very adamant in meeting me because he is a member of my online group at Meetup Philippines. Until finally after a lot of text messages and I did not reply nor did I give-in to meeting him. Another text message coming from another number (which I will not disclose) sent me a text message containing the following message “to all ladies beware of the anti-fraud international name Michael Roswell don't put load in his stupid phone. I take a paper on his bag and saw a list of number of victims. I am the one to meet him three times, do a Google search Daniel Brenar, his real name and I'm a secret agent of his ex wife, a Japanese in Japan email me for information. Then she gave out her email address. But then again, since I was never interested in meeting men online for courtship, I have never emailed the said texter. Putting a period in this scam by Micheal Roswell A.K.A. Daniel Brennar.

4. Someone posing as an OFW and wants to send some “padala” (gifts) or asking you to send money because they have a business to engage into and they would ask you to send money via Western Union or any remittance company.

5. Someone asking you to send or give money immediately because your friend, relative, boss or amo has been involved in an accident. Another person will pose as a courier for you to hand over the money to him/her.

6. Letters like this below:
From: shawn.davis006@gmail.com


Subject: MASSAGE CLASSES

To: undisclosed recipients

Date: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 10:10 AM
Greetings
I am Mr Shawn Davis from the united kingdom,i want to make inquires for Massage training course(Massage therapy or body work) for 4 weeks in the months of March 7th 2011 to 3rd April for 5 adults (age-20&23)5 classes a week for 3 hrs,i hope the weather condition will be perfect and best for classes, what do you think? You are required to get back to me in details if you can accommodate us,meanwhile can you help me with the information below

1)Does your school operate full time to fit our schedule?

2)Are the instructors certified by any organization?

3)How many instructors are at each class?

4)What training kit do we need?

5)Do you accept credit card for payments (Visa,MasterCard)

6)Do you have accommodations,guest house or hotel close to your facility?...



I would love to hear from you in details and any information we ought to know before our classes,also enclose the total cost of your services,as soon as i hear from you i will proceed with prepayments for you to hold the dates and commence preparation for classes.i hope to hear from you soonest,thanks for your time.

Regards

Shawn Davis


That was a really good one.. I almost bought it except for one thing... If he were from the UK then he would know English grammer perfectly... Not only can he not write, but does not even address the letter to me and my name is at the top or even mention the Philippines as his location! For emails like this, do not even respond, but it would be a good scam letter to write about in a blog or an article like this one I am writing... Oh, you know he is after our personal information, address, bank, credit card account.. etc..


So, why are these text obviously a scam? How will you know that a text is a scam?

Number 1, the texter uses a “normal” 11 digit number. Legitimate SMS promos will always course through telecommunication companies’ short codes, 3- or 4-digit numbers provided by the carrier, not the usual mobile number format (example: 0918-123-4567).”

Secondly, the copy needs some work. Honestly, would you take a text message coming from “D’ Sec of Banko Sentral ng Pil” seriously? Ang galing naman mag short text messaging....

You never entered such a contest or promo. Think about it: how can you win something that you’ve never participated in?

Lack of claiming instructions. Valid announcements of winners will always feature detailed instructions on how to claim the prize, and not just simple instructions to call or claim your prize by sending money. Also when the message urges the recipient to claim his or her “prize” quickly. The Department of Trade and Industry said promos usually give the winner 60 days to claim the prize.

How to prevent and what to do with TEXT scams:
1. Kahit nakaka tempt, we should never give in to cash or monetary rewards offered by text scams. Do not give out any information and when they call you using the cell phone tanungin niyo ng mahusay. Sila ang tanungin niyo huwag ikaw. Sila ang tumawag at huwag ikaw. Do not waste your load. Let them run out of load. Do not text back and ignore their messages. If it's to god to be true then it probably is.
2. Do not give out personal information that can be exploited like your Full name, email address, mobile number, place and date of birth most especially your SSS number, credit card number, bank account details, etc. They are phishing for you to tell them of your financial information.
If you gave up your information already, contact your financial institution/ bank at once. You likely will have to close your account immediately. Here's what will happen when you give strangers your bank account information: They will take your money. Period. End of story. You get nothing, but you lose a lot.
3. Share your experience with our community through this blog.
4. Report it to any or all of the following:
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING COUNCIL SECRETARIAT
5/F, EDPC Building, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Manila
Tel: 302-3982 and 524-7011 local 2372

ANTI-FRAUD AND COMPUTER CRIMES DIVISION
National Bureau of Investigation, Taft Avenue, Manila
Tel: 523-8231 local 3455/3456
http://www.nbi.gov.ph/

CORPORATE AFFAIRS OFFICE
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, BSP Complex, Mabini St. Manila
Tel: 523-4832 and 524-7011 local 2259
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Hotline Tel. 7513330
http://www.dti.gov.ph/

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION
The Columbia Tower, Ortigas Avenue, Barnagay Wack Wack
Mandaluyong City 1555
Trunkline 7277960-69
Public Assistance Center Hotline
7890
http://www.dotc.gov.ph/

II. Email SCAMS and hoaxes

In the form of:

1. In the form of employment opportunities, where you will have to send via email. All your credentials, your certificates including a copy of your passport, etc. After gathering all your documents, they will ask for a fee to process all your documents. Two years ago, my cousin has fallen prey to this and he sent $50 USD to a certain employment agency in New York only to find out that after more than six months, he was sent a cheque with a letter from some internet police authority and sent him back the 35$ because they said that they have been receiving reports that the organization that he sent the money to was a scam. Well, his case was a lucky one because at least he got his money back. But not so with most, where they get to send more and got nothing in return.

2. Email scams and hoaxes may also be in the form of an email message pretending to be from a financial institution or any big organization asking potential victims to call a number, and asks victims to key in their credit card or ATM number.

3. Beware of emails you receive because scammers will try to trick you by using phony e-mails, asking them to click to web sites that "spoofed" authentic web sites for banks and credit card companies, eBay and major retailers, even the IRS. Text message scams mostly appeared early this year.

4. Scams informing the recipient of winning big money in a lottery that he never joined like an email lottery “kuno”.

5. Scams from an anonymous individual or a political figure informing you to send money because they badly need it.

6. Email from any person who poses as family member of a deceased person requiring the need to transfer funds to your account..

7. Email from a sick person in bed wanting you to be the sole beneficiary of his/her will.

8. Work at Home email scams: Old scam, new format. You should immediately run from anyone who promises lots of money for little work that requires no experience. While there are companies that allow their employees to work from home, they require job skills and interviews, just like regular jobs. Work-at-home scams will ask you to purchase supplies and equipment from them to perform the "job." That's how they make their money. You will lose -- not make – money.

9. Forwarded money and donation scams through email. Example below:
Microsoft and Disney are both beta-testing an e-mail tracker and will send you money if you
forward this e-mail. The Gap is testing an e-mail tracker and will send you a gift certificate. The Red Cross is using its e-mail tracker and will donate money for some poor kid's operation or to raise funds for an orphan of Sept. 11.

Okay there are a lot of forms and disguises for these type of email scams and hoaxes and what shall we do about them? You might ask "what's the harm in forwarding an e-mail to my friends? And people on my email list?" The answer is that some of the latest hoaxes are intended to do more than just deceive you. There are some web pagea saying if it gets "a million hits" then some poor sick little girl's grandparents would donate money for her treatment. Think about it, if her grandparents had the money and their granddaughter was really sick, do you think they would wait for a web page to get a million hits? No, the only thing that is sick is the person who put that site up. Was it just a prank to get a million hits? Absolutely not. The page had a revenue generating ad banner on it. Everytime someone visited that page the guy made money, even more if the visitor clicked on the ad banner. The danger of a scam like this is that as people begin to catch on, they will be less trusting of legitimate sites that have an honest message. So they will likely NOT trust those legitimate sites.

10. That is not all folks, it gets even worse. Con artists on the net are finding better ways to make money off the gullibility of well meaning people. The latest scam is online petitions. You are presented with some legitimate sounding cause and told that when a million people sign the petition, it will be presented to some organization or perhaps an elected official. Note: some of these petitions are real, but lately there have been petitions popping-up on the web with a more sinister purpose... they are collecting e-mail addresses to sell to spammers, often porn sites. So while you think you are being a good Netizen (internet citizen) by sending all your friends to sign an important petition, in fact you are helping some low life make a buck while getting your unsuspecting friends signed-up for a ton of unwanted junk e-mail, much of it of an adult nature. And once you are on those lists you can't get off, responding with a "remove" message only informs them that they have a warm body at that e-mail address reading the spam, which increases the value of their list. A list of people who will actually open spam e-mail and respond to it is a valuable commodity which will be sold from spammer to spammer. The "fresher" the list is the more it's worth. Hence the fake "petition" pages.

11. Email claims to be from PayPal asking you to confirm your account data by clicking on the link. You will be taken to a spoof login page where your details will be captured by the phishers. PayPal never send users emails requesting details in this way. URL of spoof website disguised as "Click here to activate your account". Any email messages that may seem to come from a legitimate business source such as Ebay or Paypal, that asks you to “verify your account” and asks you for your password. Businesses do not ask you to verify your password, social security number or credit card information via email. Most often this is probably a phishing scam.

12. A Russian, Filipina, Asian or any women and men seeking online relationships. They will even talk to you online via webcam and will earn your trust but before they come to your country or meet you, they will ask for money and after that they got it from you, you will no longer contact you again. Beware of online “meat market”. There is nothing wrong with online relationships, but you should be more careful. Remember my story about Michael Roswell above?

13. The most common form of advance fee fraud is an e-mail message that claims that you have won a large sum of money, or that a person will pay you a large sum of money for little or no work on your part.

Advance fee fraud is also known as the Nigerian Letter or the 419 scam, because the scammer often claims to be from Nigeria and 419 is the Nigerian criminal code that this scam violates.
Here are a few examples of the most popular advance fee frauds:
A foreign government official would like your assistance in transferring funds and will pay you a hefty commission if you agree.

14. You stand to inherit millions of dollars from a relative you don't remember.

15. You've won a prize or a lottery (perhaps one from a foreign country) that you don't remember entering.



Warning signs and what to do with email and online scams and hoaxes:

1. Use spam filtering technology and keep unwanted emails out of your inbox by reporting them as spam.

2. Be suspicious of anything that shouts something like…“SEND THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW”.

3. Don't make investment decisions based on anonymous e-mail or text messages you receive.

4. Anything that promises to make you rich and then asks for your credit card. DO NOT give out your credit card or Social Security Number when asked for it in an email message.

5. Don't open attachments in unsolicited e-mails. Spams are usually sent as an image or as a PDF attachment.

6. Use an Internet service provider (ISP) or e-mail provider that has implemented Sender ID Framework, a technical solution to detect and block spoofed e-mail. All of the latest versions of Microsoft e-mail software support this technology.

7. If in doubt with the person, company or links, type in and Google the website. Do not click on the links asking you for personal information.

8. Legitimate people, e-mails and web sites provide ways to contact the author, writer or webmaster. At the bottom of this page you will find my e-mail address. I will stand behind what I publish on this blog or website and will make corrections if an error is pointed out. Scam artists on the other hand, hide their identities, they fear being tracked down. Just having an e-mail address doesn't guarantee the writer is honest, free e-mail addresses are easy to come by, but if you find a site that offers no hint of the author or way to contact him/her, then be very suspicious.

9. If an e-mail or web site claims to represent some large, well known institution, then how will you know if it is really from them? For example, if an e-mail claims to be on the behalf of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, does the return address reflect that? Most of the large institutions now have web sites and their own domain names. Likewise, if you see a web page that claims to speak on behalf of the POEA, is it hosted as part of POEA's web domain (in this case: http://www.poea.gov.ph/)? If instead it is hosted by a free service like Gmail, Yahoo, GeoCities or Xoom, or Hotmail, then watch out, because it probably isn't from who it claims to be.

10. Do not forward unnecessary emails, if the e-mail claims that it is being "tracked?" This is a sure sign of a hoax since e-mail can not be reliably tracked. Rather than helping some poor soul when you forward one of these message, you are in reality wasting precious Internet bandwidth, which in the long run COSTS all of us.

Have fun online and remember, before you forward that next chain letter, take a moment to see if it is true. Most are hoaxes and some are even hurtful. The Internet is a powerful tool for spreading information and whatever is good, but like any tool, it can cause damage if not used responsibly. So check before you forward, it only takes a few minutes.


I can't leave this email/blog post without talking about bad money relationships. Please hear me when I say that “there are some money that's not worth having” and it's not about the actual cash or monetary value, but it's about the person giving it to you and the means of getting it. If you think you have sold your soul by doing business with these people, then trust your guts and retreat. Business people are always trying to hook up with other business people, for the most part, this works in everyone's favor. Facilitating introductions, great meetings and networks. But all of these are not free. It might come as an utang na loob (gratitude) for which you have to pay back sooner or later. But it does not take long to identify whose referrals you want and whose you really cannot afford to have.

There are money relationships that you do not want to go near and will cost you in the end. Trust your instincts and your gut. A healthy respect for people blended with a bit (a bit lang ha?) of paranoia is probably a good recipe for staying safe, sound and secure.

Be safe and even if there are wolves among the sheeps, trust but be selective. Just because there are wolves out there, does not mean its not ever safe. Do not throw the baby out of the bath water or sink the ship because of the rats. Do your homework and ask for advise from trusted sources.


by Eunice Estipona

You can email me at yunesa@yahoo.com
www.meetup.com/philippinemassagetherapy
www.meetup.com/philippinespaandwellness
www.meetup.com/businessandentrepreneurs

View my latest TV guesting on Youtube:

Everybody's Meetup: Dito Po Sa Atin

Everybody’s Meetup: Dito Po sa Atin
By yunesa


It is wonderful to find people with similar likes and interests. It is more wonderful to be able to meetup or meet eye to eye individuals whom you have exchanged emails with and communicate only via text, YM and online. Napakabuti na nagsasama-sama, nagkakatipo-tipon at nagkakaroon tayo ng pagdadaupang-palad especially during meetups. Bakit ba kailangang may mga organisasyon? May mga asosasyon? May mga committees? May mga pagsasama-sama? May mga teams? May mga groups? May mga meetups? Dahil lang ba wala tayong magawa? Or we need to show off to others? For popularity’s sake? To promote our products and services lang ba? Bakit tayo nagbibigay ng ating time, effort at pawis. sa mga bagay na ito? Bakit may meetup? Bakit usong-uso ang mga social networking even online? Merong Friendster. Merong Multiply. May Twitter. Yahoo Groups. Facebook. MySpace. At marami pang iba. Marapat na ang bawat isa ay makibahagi sa pagbuo ng mga pagsasama-sama na ang mission, vision, culture, goals and objectives ay iisa. When we join any kind of group, bear in mind that we are joining to contribute to a larger view and context than us. Hindi lang para makapag-promote ng business or i-advance ang ating career but ang pangunahing layunin ng bawat pag join natin sa isang group or even meetup ay para tulungan ang industry where we are involved at tulungan ang mga taong may mga katanungan at pasanin in the area involved. For example, kung may gusto tayong itanong or help regarding spa, massage, wellness or even in the realm of business and entrepreneurship- walang tinatanggihan o kinakampihan ang meet-up maliban na lang kung may mga masasamang elemento na gustong mag-promote ng hatred, violence or any business or product that involves something na hindi naman nakakabuti sa general health at environment. We are non-partisan. Hindi tayo nag jo-join para manggulo instead, we are joining because we want to help or receive help and learn from others. We should engage in a group to give relief, care and shelter. Hindi yung habang lamalaki at lumalawak eh nagiging mapanghusga, mapagmapuri at mapagmataas ang group. We need a revolutionary approach to helping and learning from each other. Dapat everything that we do eh yung nagtuturo tayo ng bagong pag-asa, pagbabagong-loob at pag-iisip. We do not need too much fighting, quarreling and division amongst ourselves kasi there is too much war going on sa mundo natin at palagay niyo ba na wise maki-halo pa tayo sa ganun? Almost nothing will sap your energy and passion faster than being with people you do not trust or respect or do not trust you or respect you in return. Enduring a place with toxic relationship is truly suicide and no one will care when you need help or start to go down. Nakakapagod yung ganung relationship. But a group that connects you with people you genuinely like, respect and admire is an enormous gift. A group like this will push you further and inspire you to be your best. Tama na at tigilan na ang crab mentality, ang tsismis at tuligsaan. Hindi na dapat ang ganyang uri ng mga character and attitude. Wala namang malinis talaga. Wala ni isa sa atin ang walang kasalanan. Palagay niyo ba ang pagkakalugmok sa putikan ng isang tao ay wala tayong kinalaman doon? Meron din one way or the other. We affect each other directly man or indirectly. Kaya pag nagrereklamo at nagsasabi tayo ng masama sa isang tao, tayo man ay nababahiran ng kasamaan. Like attracts like remember? Kaya nga we should bless instead of curse kasi nga yung masamang sinasabi natin regarding a person ay bumabalik din sa atin. We should forgive kasi hindi natin alam kung kelan tayo naman ang mangangailangan ng forgiveness. We should love even those people who are un-loveable and those who do not deserve it. Mahirap gawin pero yun ang dapat gawin.

Of course, the truth is, we cannot please everybody. May mangilan-ngilan na kahit anong gawin natin eh hindi talaga ma-ple-please. We cannot address every issue or concerns of everybody, siyempre, we are humans. Marami pa talagang dapat i-improve at gawin. Yung mga taong hanap ng hanap ng butas para masiraan tayo ng loob pero hindi naman gagawin yung mga ginagawa natin eh dapat hindi na pinapakinggan yan. Sa meetup you will feel refreshed dahil ang ma-me-meetup mo dito eh generally mapagtanggap ng walang patakaran, maamo, banayad, mabubuti at mga kaibigan… eh anong kasiyahan ang aabutin mo kung tsini-tsimis ka ng iyong kapwa? Mas mahigpit pa tayo sa Diyos. Ito na nga napapahirapan na ng husto ang tao, lumuluha, duguan- dapat mapahinga na dahil sa judgment ng tao at usig ng budhi. I-ju-judge pa natin at tutuligsain. Every meetup natutuwa ako na napapahinga ang tao mula sa takot na mapag-usapan, takot na matsismis at takot na maintriga. Sa meetup hindi na natin kailangang magbalat kayo at magsuot ng maskara, itago ang nakaraan at itago ang mga sugat dahil hindi yan pinaguusapan sa meetup. No back-stabbing, nasty gossip or mind games involved. Merong mapayapang relasyon na dapat maging modelong relasyon ng bawat isa online and offline. Of course everyone has different styles, methodologies at different personalities but we should accept our differences. Basta hindi lang yung nakakasira sa kapwa at dapat hindi nakakasira sa general peace and order of the group. I am grateful for everyone because 99% of the time, every time na aalis ng meetup ang bawat isa ang bunga nun is magaan ang loob at naging masaya, mapayapa, tahimik at panatag dahil lahat naman tayo gusto ng payapang buhay at pakikipagkaibigan.

You will find different people of various persuasions in diverse places especially online. Different personalities. Different characters. How do you deal with each one? Some suggestions:
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of having hidden agenda. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds, think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but only follow top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed over night. Build anyway.

Ang meetup ay para sa lahat, hindi namimili or nagtatangi. Walang patakarang pagtanggap as long as “tao” kang mag-join, alam mo at least mag email at gusto mong mag-add ng value to the lives of others. You are most welcome. Walang outcast. Even if you cannot afford to attend a meetup, as long as there is a sponsor, pwede ka naman mag-attend. Walang hinaharang sa pinto. Nung mga unang mga meetup nga lahat yun for free but we would like people also to take responsibility for their learning and experience kaya we are charging nominal fees na. Up to now, we do not charge anything to join online. Pagkakaibigan at pagsasamahan yan ang laging na e-experience natin every meetup. Gawing madali at huwag pahirapan ang pag-join sa group yan ang layunin din ng meetup. We support other similar groups that are sensible, ethical and moral and follow government rules and regulations. We support individuals who are doing business responsibly. We have to see to it that everybody is adding to the value of one another. We are not too strict or stringent. Hindi rin tayo too formal na kulang na lang magkaroon tayo ng bulak sa ilong at makiramay hehehe….but at least decent. Hindi tayo maselan sa mga malilitt na bagay dahil may pananagutan tayo sa bawat isa na makapagbigay ng tuwa at kapahingahan. Paano tayo makakapagpasaya at makakapagpahinga sa sinuman kung ang grupo ay parang pulis at intelligence network sumbungan dito sumbungan doon, tsismis dito tsismis doon, parang may inspector palagi, kailangan pumasa sa quality control, parang sanidad at quarantine. Kaya yung mga nagsusumbong at nag-re-reklamo laban sa isang tao, grupo at iba pa kapag kinakausap ako ang lagi kong sinasabi ay kausapin niyo ang taong iyon directly. As much as possible it should be between the two of them only. It’s their own private matter. Whether that be a personal or professional issue. Ang dinidibdib kong trabaho sa meetup eh yung pwede nating gawing mga activities at mag-isip ng mga paraan na kayang abutin ng aking kakayahan para lahat ay makinabang especially online. Hindi tayo nandito para humusga, kumampi at hinding-hindi ako pwedeng manggatong. Patuloy akong magle-lecture, sasagot sa mga emails, mag o-organize ng meetup, mananalangin at aasa na ang pinaka-mabuti ay mangyayari. Somehow in these times of fleeting relationships and false friendships, everything has been reduced to the bottom line of winning. It has stopped being about new ideas to create camaraderie, to help people and has taken on the identity of winning at the cost of impugning anyone not on our side. Paano mapapahinga at magkakaroon ng kasiyahan ang isang mag jo-join sa isang meetup or group kung puro espiyahan, sumbatan, manmanan, husgahan, tsismisan, imbestigahan at litisan? Walang mapapahinga pag ganito ang nangyari. Hindi ito dapat mangyari. Dapat laging mas mahalaga ang future kaya hindi dapat na mag-away at magkaroon ng division because the world is small. Why will you want to hurt someone if you will also hurt yourself in the process? One way or the other, magkikita-kita rin tayo- eh anong gagawin natin pag ganun ang nangyari? Magiiwasan? Mag de-dead-ma-han? Parang wala tayong nakita o naka-salubong, ang hirap ng ganung sitwasyon di ba? Life is short to waste on too much politicking and back-biting. Ang liit-liit kaya ng mundo. On the other hand, tama na siguro yung pagtanggap ng pagkakamali and surrender ourselves to restoration. Laging mas mahalaga yung darating pa at may pag-asa pa. Marapat lamang na maging mahigpit tayo sa sarili ngunit maluwag sa iba. Pagibabawin natin ang pag-ibig at paguunawaan. May mga pagkakataon talaga na nagkakamali o nagkukulang ang tao siyempre tao lang tayo eh pero hindi naman din dapat maging reason ito na maging wala tayong paki-alam kung nakakasakit na tayo sa kapwa.

Some parts of our mission here on Earth are shared by all human beings. Example, we were sent here to bring in more gratitude, more kindness, forgiveness and more love into the world. We share this mission with each other because the task is too large to be accomplished by just one individual.

When joining any meetup or any group for that matter, we become accountable to people other than ourselves. Ang meetup ay parang basketball at volleyball. Meetup is a team sport- it has always been. No one particular person even myself is a hero, because everybody is. Walang hero dito. You are the hero here at meetup hindi ako. Ako lang ang taga-organize. YOU compose meetup. This is not my group. This is your group, your team, your family. Walang kami-kami dito sa meetup lahat ay tayo. Tayong lahat ay both kapamilya at kapuso. Hehehe……Divorce and annulment is not an option. Dahil marami pa tayong dapat i-accomplish, dapat i-improve, dapat bigyan ng pansin at dapat gawin, we are not interested in politicking but in helping increase your value, everyone’s value whether that means through a meetup under the tree, inside the mall, a lunch or through seminars and workshops. With this being said, I am sharing an email forwarded to me by my good friend and colleague Brian Stone, from NY regarding the Five lessons to make you think about the way we treat people. 1 - First Important Lesson – The Cleaning Lady.During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz.. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times.. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. 'Absolutely,' said the professor.. 'In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello.'I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy. 2. - Second Important Lesson – Who’s whoOne night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride.Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 60s.. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached..It read:'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away.... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.'Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole. 3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve. In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked.'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.'Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?' he inquired.By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins.'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said.The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies... You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition. 5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts... Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will save her.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then hisface grew pale and his smile faded.He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away?'.Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister ALL of his blood in order to save her but he had chosen to save her anyway.'Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching.' In the book, “Only the Real Matters”, by Francis Kong (p. 163) he said that in the US, “immigrants from other Asian countries have prospered because of the creation of their business federations and chambers. Groups like the American and Japanese Chambers of Commerce with its Korean and Chinese counterparts have sought the improvements of the lives of their overseas workers who, in turn, are committed to their organizations. What about the Filipino community? According to his story, it was observed by his friend that, every time three Filipinos gathered together, there would be five varying opinions. Debates and arguments would ensue and there would never be any agreements. Nothing would be resolved. Everybody wants to be the leader and only a few want to be followers. Little wonder the Filipinos in America, one of the biggest and most talented minorities, have hardly made a dent. They have so much, yet accomplished so little. Today, we see the Chinese own the food and noodle shops, the Koreans own the grocery shops; the Japanese own the electronics shop; and the Filipinos shop in all these shops.”

This story of our countrymen in America is tragic but it need not happen to us. We really have to put an end to this. In Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfishness or empty conceit, but consider others better than yourself and regard each other as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. The bottom-line is to exemplify ang halimbawa ng Diyos, ang kanyang standards at katuruan even in our careers and relationships with people. We should all be better NOT bitter- dito po sa atin. This is the way we do things here at meetup. This is the way we are. Para pare-pareho tayong gumaling, lumakas, bumata J, sumaya at nagtutulungan sa paglalakbay sa buhay na ito.

yunesa@yahoo.com

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This article is written by: Eunice Estipona a spa consultant, mentor, advisor, speaker and lecturer. One of her advocacies is to make healing and information regarding the field of spa, massage and wellness accessible and affordable to everyone. If you are serious about turning your business or practice around, making the right decisions, getting an unbiased opinion and knowing where to get help, for lectures and other concerns she can be contacted at yunesa@yahoo.com or +639184745685. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site at http://www.meetup.com/philippinemassagetherapy
These along with hundreds of resources found locally and abroad are contained in “The Spa, Massage and Wellness Resource and Career Book”, the first book of resource information to know more about the Spa, Massage and Wellness Industry in the Philippines and other countries including the United States, Australia and other Asian countries. You can view, read, download and print for FREE the book’s summary at this link http://www.scribd.com/doc/6425282/About-the-Book-Spa-Massage-and-Wellness-Resource-Guide-and-Career-Book

A list of training centers, magazines, publications, books and literatures both local and international are all available in the book, “The Spa, Massage and Wellness Resource Guide and Career Book”. You can order it online via http://www.amazon.com/ or for local Philippine orders, email yunesa@yahoo.com. If you are looking for a career opportunity, not just a job in the spa, massage therapy and wellness industry, this book is a must read.
If you are a spa, massage therapy and wellness information seeker the resources contained in the book for you. This book is a collection of data and valuable information regarding the spa and massage industry in a global perspective with a focus on the Philippines. Her advocacy in writing the book is to make “unbiased” information regarding the field of spa, massage and wellness resources and career, accessible and affordable for everyone. If you are considering a career in the massage, spa and wellness industry, this book will prepare you and give you a glimpse of what it is like, the preparation you need to take: emotionally, intellectually and financially. In this book, you will learn more details in the spa and massage field and the possible paths you can take. You will also learn about local and international training programs offered and numerous employment possibilities. Giving you much needed information at your fingertips. You can order it from http://www.amazon.com/ or for local Philippine residents from all National Bookstores and PowerBooks nationwide, you can email and get in touch with Eunice at yunesa@yahoo.com.

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