North Luzon Monitor

North Luzon

The Worrisome Wanderer

Leslie Dulfo
Latest posts by Leslie Dulfo (see all)

How many birthdays or milestones have you celebrated? I used to think that a celebrant means a birthday celebrant per se. But as it turned out, celebrant means a priest officiating mass. What do you call a celebrant of a birthday party?

Pardon me if I am wrong. A birthday celebrant is a celebrator which pretty much rhymes with a calculator. The next time you sing happy birthday to someone, know that he or she is a celebrator. Unless in cases when he is also the celebrating priest? Pretty redundant celebrant celebrator!

A friend used to tell me that at his age, he sometimes thinks that he is not going to make it alive for so long. I pondered about this and many times I remember that my professors back in law school would say, “Death is certain but it is not specific”. True enough, it will come but as to when it will take its toll, nobody knows.

Psychology, or at least I used to hear, says that Trauma is about worrying about your past and Anxiety is worrying too much about the future. Anxiety is never baseless and panic anxiety is such that manifestations in the body appear.

Although these concepts are interrelated and tackle one thing that is anxiety, it is often a fact to practice mindfulness and grounding techniques. This is something that a mental health professional can help you with. Oftentimes, guided meditations, yoga or even simple breathing exercises online or through podcasts can help.

I remember that I once had a guided meditation, how to hold an imaginary bean seed in your hand. It makes you feel that there is some physical seedling that is there when it is actually not there. It makes you focus on your senses. It is amazing how the mind can fool you that something is there when they aren’t really there. Mind you, the mind is so deceiving at times!

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” – Lao Tzu

In response, it really does. Life is often a cycle, a recycle and an upcycle. Everything is closely linked if we try to see it that way. We are here today, our past made us and our todays and our past affect our tomorrows. Realizing these, makes me want not to worry but just breathe. Feel and experience life because the hardest thing to feel is to live lifeless!

Gratitude at times may help – from big to small milestones. But the gravity of big and small milestones never really matters. Oftentimes, small milestones turn into big milestones and big milestones give way to small milestones or the same big milestones. It’s like finding problems also – a heavy boulder seems big and a lighter boulder seems small. However, to some your worries might be big and a matter of life and death but to some it’s a mere worrisome fact.

My crying spells always get the best of me but I guess many times realizing that I have a roof on my head and food on my plate, I will be fine. Sometimes, I am afraid that I might end up depressed, sad and lonely but I guess it wasn’t as hard or more difficult than losing my sanity. I guess, I can survive no matter what! It’s like making a “consuelo de bobo” or a good excuse, right?

The next time you are worrying, get up and breathe! Be happy that you are alive and kicking!

The early mornings are a great way to start for an early morning breath – your first breath when you just woke up and haven’t brushed your teeth. It makes way for grounding – with a tasteful and tasteless saliva from your last meal plus a burp and a fart perhaps! Then say, “Excuse me!” Makes you use your senses to feel alive. It feels good, believe me!

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