Few months ago, I got a message in my email inbox with the subject “Why?” It was from a good friend in the US of A. This is the content of her email:
“I hope you reply with this message. I was wondering why both you and daisy’s profile were not on my list of friends anymore on friendster. Did I do something that upset both of you? Please let me know so I could apologize.
I was really surprised not to see your names anymore.
Again, hope you reply soon so I would know what's going on. I'm worried because I really treasure your friendships.
Thank you.”
Aaah friendships… I was so touched that she noticed I wasn’t in her friendster list anymore and even emailed me about it. So I immediately replied back to tell her that I deleted my friendster account, and explained that “I realized I can live without friendster, coz I can still communicate with my close friends thru email and chat. my point is…. friendster is just not my style of connecting with my friends… it's just not my cup of tea, I do hope u understand…” And she replied back with a lengthy email describing her recent happenings with this intro, “Thank you very much for the immediate reply. I feel so relieved now 
”
This girl, she is really one of my good good friends. I remember she used to drop by our house and it’s just good to chat with her. I can’t forget her coz she borrowed my book and forgot to return it! Hehe… oh well, she sent me a link to her US pics, and I’m so glad she’s blissfully married to a wonderful guy, and she tells me she’s so blessed. I know she won’t change, she will still be the same sweet friend I have.
I have some questions for her though:
1. When are you going to have your baby? (I want to see how he/she would look like, of course I’m sure the baby will be as cute as you)
2. How’s your graphic design career? (hope you’re still having fun with it)
3. Are you staying in the US for good? (so I can visit you when I go there, naks)
4. When are you visiting us here in the Philippines? (we miss you badly!)
5. Will you have rhinoplasty Los Angeles? (I know it’s quite a fad there these days, hehe…)
…and now that you’re reading this… make sure to send something for Christmas. LOL… binuang ra uy, dala tinuod.
I miss you friend.
I always bring a book with me whenever I go out, it comes in handy when I stand in queue or waiting for a meeting to start. So while I was standing (my back leaning against a seat) in the middle of a crowded bus moving slowly amidst a busy traffic, I got myself so engrossed in the first chapter of a book. I was even oblivious to my surroundings. It had so much impact on me, it brought me to tears (shame on me), and so I pretended to wipe some imaginary dirt off my face to avoid possible curious stares.
And would you believe it, the book was not even a romance novel, but a book on financial matters. The author is Robert Kiyosaki, a “Business Owner, Investor, Author and Teacher.” And the book? Retire Young, Retire Rich. So does that make me a person with $$$ written all over my face? Nah. It’s more than just money, it is about financial freedom. To explain simply, it’s a concept of making money work for you instead of you working for money. It means getting out of the rat race. It also means time freedom because you want to focus on the more important things in life instead of spending your day working the hours away. I won’t talk much about this, it would merit a longer discussion and I think it's better to read his books to understand what I'm saying.
I have also read Kiyosaki’s other books – Rich Dad Poor Dad and Cash Flow Quadrant. And in these books, he would always relate how he began the journey from being broke, to being rich, and finally to becoming financially free in less than ten years. His teachings challenged so many of my long held beliefs in life. One of them is the issue about money and being rich. Most of us would think of money as evil, but it really is just like fire, which can be either good or bad, depending on how you use it. Our attitude towards money is what makes us evil. I realize I’ve been working hard for money for many years, I’m not saying I hated my job but it gave me less and less time for the more important things in life. I used to be indifferent with money matters, but after reading his books, I have a different paradigm now. It taught me to learn more about financial management, to be wiser about spending (how foolish I am when shopping in the mall sometimes), be more open to business opportunities, to work for passive income and so much more. It got me interested with topics I shy away before like accounting, real estate and investing. Now, I motivate myself to read books on finances and get myself interested in real estate news. I even include the business section in my must-reads whenever I get hold of a newspaper.
As Kiyosaki says,
“I found out…that I cannot tell anyone how to get rich. I now first ask people why they want to become rich. Without a strong enough why, even the easiest how to get rich will be too hard. There are many many ways to get rich… but there are only few personal reasons why you want to get rich. Find your why and then you will find your how.”
As I was reading this statement amidst the mid-afternoon heat in that bus, I began questioning my motives, and finding out my own whys. That’s when I started to get misty-eyed…
Ideas are powerful. A train of thought can make or break, build or destroy. The choice is ours. Our ideas become our future. I believe that life’s meaningful lessons are best learned when shared with others.
