Question: How much of what you read online (or offline) is good or positive?

After reading or watching bad news, ask your self: How do I feel? Better or worse? Especially reading or watching negative news before sleeping, you would find yourself more tired or stressed when you wake up.

Try this: read an inspirational story such as those from Chicken Soup for the soul before sleeping for a week. Or find small-town news of ordinary people helping each other out, of that young buy who risked his life to save his friend, you know, the little things that do not make it to the front page. You will notice that you wake up more relaxed and in a better frame of mind.
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The current state of this site is not what I’ve envisioned it to be. The CNN-ish fonts are intentional. I want this site to be the bearer of good tidings and news. ( My other site, MabutingBalita.net is the site for the Good News).

Consider this a beta version. When the site becomes gold, it will be more community-based and less mainstream (meaning, it will not focus on what the big media outfits put out). The real stories and lives of the Filipinos around the world and events that affect them will be its main feature. This is no little task for a full-time employee and family man who also is involved with several organizations and advocacies. (One has to sleep too, you know). If you have ideas on how this can be done or you are willing to help, just drop me a note and let us exchange ideas and collaborate.
For now, I just scour the blogs and my everyday experiences for inspirations. Like these:

Shakey’s Pizza delivers (and no, this is not a paid post) and now you can pay with your Credit Card. I’ve been wondering why there are so few businesses which are taking advantage of this. PLDT has its SWUP after all but I have not heard much after the launch. Taking it a step further, how about a roving “Pay Your Bills through Credit Card” guy? He can take cash too, though that makes him a likely target of mugging but these are just details. The technology and feasibility is there.

Thank God It’s Friday! from Noemi. She left a Macbook, and maybe can include the byline ..Aboutmyrecoveredmacbook hehehe! It was returned (Though I’m not sure if she had fries with that=). Hats off to you guys. That’s customer service, honesty and good guy values we want to see more of everyday. I’m sure that there are a lot more examples of these that are not being reported or discussed. If there are some more, please ping me so we can put them here.

If I become a TV news producer, I would make good deeds the headlines rather than novelty or feel-good fillers. I wish one government station or major network would dare to be the source of good news more than the bad news. On second thought, why not a YouTube-like streaming good news? Paging Karlo, Greg and Web 2.0 guys…

Another great find is from Pedestrian Observer. Filipinos have great talent and artistry, and Charmaine Clamor is making waves in the Jazz scene. She describes her style as Jazzipino, a testament to her roots and influence. More details here.

To cap it off, Chris features an item from Entrepreneur.com.sg praising Filipinos for their friendliness and even suggesting the Philippines may be the Blogging Capital of the World.

Wouldn’t that be great?

Give us more of these good news everyday.

The Philippine Blog Awards 2008 is coming!

“The Philippine Blog Awards aims to recognize notable Filipino-owned blogs in their respective niches — a venue to showcase notable blogs with quality content that engages readers from around the globe.”

We’ll have to wait for details for now but we’ll get more in the coming days.

Want to sponsor? Click here.

Volunteer like me? Inquire here.

Spread the word by linking with these beautifully crafted logos.

While Paypal in the Philippines is a great development, it has yet to make a splash, I think.

Here are 7 people who should immediately board the online payment facility train.

1. The Native Crafts makers. Americans, Australians, Europeans and the Japanese like our products very much. Christmas lanterns from Pampanga could be hanging in Sweden, Norway or Perth. Furnitures and abaca handicrafts are a big hit abroad. More smaller players can join the fray and reach a larger market share.
Note: make sure that what you will selling is of high quality and reasonably-priced. This is not a quick-rich scheme, you know.

So, click the link below and get your Paypal account now and let the dollars flow in.

2. Musicians. I’ve been wondering for a long time why very few Filipino musicians make it big. We do not lack the talent. I think what we lack are connections and PR. But with the web, we can make it happen. Why not sell you music directly on the net? How about composers become like our graphics artists and do freelance, outsourced work?
3. School Administrators. I know of lots of schools need funding. My alma mater has built a digital library and could use some funds. (NOTE: I AM NOT AN OFFICIAL FUND RAISER FOR THE PROJECT.) If you know me personally, trust me and would want to send in some dollars to the Don Miguel Solaroli digital Library, send it to my personal paypal account and I’ll give it to the school. Minus the fees of course. No charge from me. (For those who may think that it has been named after a rich European don, it was not. It is named after a dear an Italian Salesian Priest who spent most of his life in the Philippines with poor boys.)

4. NGO Leaders. Are there orphanages doing this already? If you are one, open an account and put up a link now.
If you feel generous this Christmas, why not send money to your favorite charity group. If you don’t know where to send money, ask me. Just tell me what your advocacy is. And please make it legit and positive.

5. Artists/Painters. Am not an are expert but strolling along the 4th floor of SM Megamall and viewing the occasional exhibits and galleries displays the inherent artistry and passion of the Filipino. I remember Ral Arrogante and his junk art. The winners of Metrobank and Petron Art contests. Art students who already show their wares. How about Joey Velasco and his moving pieces? Those from Angono? Or maybe your little kid’s sketches? Ok, I was just joking (unless of course, you have a gifted child). Paint the internet with our colors!

6. Bloggers, of course! The ones whose work we enjoy reading. Just because we care about them and appreciate their prose or poetry or their crazy ideas and rant and raves like they were our own.

7. Me. Though I consider myself a blogger and would love to receive money because you like what I write, my gut feel says I can cook up more ideas on how to use Paypal. There should be something I can offer that should be valuable to somebody out there. Like, if you are a Filipino living abroad and you would want to give a gift to somebody here in the Philippines, send me an email and maybe we can work something out.

With that said, I’d really like to see how receiving (and cashing) payments from Paypal goes. How about donating a dollar or 17 or 93 to me if you think this site has potential by clicking on the donate button in the middle column? Just because you feel like it.

And tell me 70 more people who should use Paypal, too.

The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.–Michelangelo

To settle. It is one of life’s greatest tragedies. It means to let go of a higher goal which may be harder to achieve and replace it with a lower objective but would entail less inconvenience or risk.

Dream big and aim high. Reach for the stars.

Now approaching midlife, I realize that life is not only about the endpoint. It is also about the journey, and maybe more of it. In longing for lofty ideals, it is inevitable to experience pain and failure. But along the way, we pick up pieces of the puzzle toward our chosen destination. Reaching it is important but it is not the be-all and end-all of life. In case we don’t succeed in finishing, our efforts are not wasted. They are immortalized in the essence of our convictions that life is meant to be lived, that we should be active participants and not passive observers.

When somebody tells you to stop dreaming, run fast — away from the dream-stealers.  Pursue your dream relentlessly. Put your best foot forward and never waiver.

Dream on.

Just envisioning your success already makes you one.

Aim at the sun and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.–J. Hawkes

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.–Ralph Vaull Starr

Credits to The Quote Lady.

The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not disgrace to not reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim, is a sin. - Benjamin E Mays, former President of Morehouse College, Atlanta