Banish the sedentary lifestyle!

You know how some jokes are framed this way: "You're so fat..." or "You're so skinny..." and finished off with something so impossible that it becomes funny? These are known as "insult jokes" because they are, well, insults that are meant to be jokes. Here are a few:

You're so skinny, you can hoolahoop with a cheerio.
You're so skinny, when you turn sideways you disappear.

(I will only post the skinny ones because I'm skinny, and no one will take it as an insult.)

I'm not encouraging you to insult someone in the New Year. Something just occurred to me as I was going to bed the other night: while being skinny or fat can be the object of insults, it's unfair to criticize someone for being so, after all, a lot of us can't help being our size--that's just in the genes. But to be sedentary, to sit all day writing, working, calling people on the phone, watching TV--that's something that can be helped. If you're stuck in a sedentary lifestyle, that's because of your own doing (i.e. YOUR FAULT).

Now why am I saying this? It's New Year's Day tomorrow! A lot of people will promise to go on a diet or lose so and so pounds. My resolution is to get moving. I'm a writer and part-time assistant; I'm paid to sit in front of the computer all day, as are so many other people. I think I can get moving by taking more MRT, bus and jeepney rides instead of the taxi (plus it will be good to my wallet and immunity), doing some stretching for 15 mins a day, lessening the sitting-in-coffee-shops when I'm out with my friends, and keeping to my sleep and wake up time (believe me, starting the day without having to bargain for "ten more minutes of sleep" can really get one going).

I'm not feeling very well today--I caught another virus maybe from my sister, who had a sore throat, or from the viral/bacterial ecology from the vicinity of the new commuting route I've been taking this week. But I'm still gonna do my best to start the year with a lot of energy. Here, a few sedentary insult jokes that I made, not to insult, but to help us get going! (And perhaps laughing, too!)

You're so sedentary, you pull a muscle when you yawn.
You're so sedentary, the couch has a dent in the shape of your whole body.
You're so sedentary, your office chair has done more rolling than you walking.
You're so sedentary, your cat thinks you've topped him in the nap department.

Happy New Year!

Heroic Minutes

It's almost Christmas, hurray! I've caught up on sleep, which I've been missing in the past week due to a mixture of get-togethers, deadlines and Simbang Gabi. Super-tiring days like these give us more opportunities to be heroes, but we have to be open to the little details to be able to seize them! The title of this post is nothing I invented but something I learned and am trying to keep doing, especially this Christmas.

What's a heroic minute? You know how days are made up of hours, and hours of minutes? Each minute counts to complete a day; so, in living everyday to the fullest, every minute counts. A heroic minute is the moment one seizes, no matter how difficult, and offers up for others in prayer. Just as a minute is a detail of an hour, heroic minutes are found the little details of the daily routine: waking up on time (versus pressing the snooze button for 5 more minutes), doing tasks on the dot when it seems that 2 minutes of Facebook will do no harm, smiling when you feel like grumbling, or eating the fish on the table when all you really want is chicken.


(In this photo of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt, I think Our Blessed Mother seized all of the heroic minutes thrown her way... perhaps it was only a few weeks after She became a Mother that they had to hastily pack their bags and take that long journey to Egypt. Imagine riding that donkey through the desert with a Baby who needs to be fed and changed every two hours... and St. Joseph, too, lived by his heroic minutes, leading that donkey carefully, perhaps budgeting the money he had, and eating less so Mary could have more sustenance....)

You cannot take these tiny opportunities for granted when you know how many people you can help by simply going about your day with a supernatural outlook, good work, and lot and lots of love! These minutes are little flowers that, when put together in one bundle, can become a beautiful bouquet; a wonderful present for the Holy Family on Christmas Day.

So, what are you waiting for? I hope this Christmas becomes a most meaningful one for everyone! Merry Christmas!