Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others including Love.

One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all repaired their boats and left. Love was the only one who stayed.

Love wanted to persevere until the last possible moment. When the island was almost sinking, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, “Richness, can you take me with you?” Richness answered, “No, I can’t. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you.”

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel, “Vanity, please help me.” “I can’t help you Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat,” Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked for help, “Sadness, let me go with you.” “Oh…Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself”.

Happiness passed by Love too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, “Come Love, I will take you.” It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that he even forgot to ask the elder her name. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.

Love, realizing how much he owed the elder, asked Knowledge, another elder, “Who helped me?”

“It was Time,” Knowledge answered. “Time?” asked Love. “But why did Time help me?”

Knowledge smiled with deep Wisdom and answered, “Because only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is.”

The amazing thing is this: 90% of a woman’s emotional problems stem from feeling unloved. So don’t stand back and analyze her, like a doctor diagnosing a patient, or like a therapist questioning a client. Give her your love… the same love that is motivating your questioning, immediately and unmistakably. Walk over to her, look deeply into her eyes, hold her and stroke her,  tell her how much you love her, smile, hum her favorite song and dance with her, and chances are, her emotional problem will evaporate. She may still have some situation to deal with, and you may be able to help her with that, but the emotional aspect will be converted to love. It is a very rare occasion when your analysis of her mood relieves her of it. Most often, your analysis and attempts to fix her will just piss her off more. Ask her if she would rather you gave her love or analyzed her when she is upset. It’s so easy to give her love; it’s what both of you really want anyway. But as a man you are more likely to try to fix her. That’s exactly not what she wants, and exactly what will make the situation worse, most of the time.

(via David Deida)

Thank you to everyone who left me something in my Formspring. I must say, I thoroughly enjoy reading them. I won’t respond to all of the comments/statements, but I will say this: It’s amazing to me how so many people from all over the place can go through a similar situation or feel a certain way at the same time & that’s a lot of the reason why I tumbl. We all go through these things and sometimes we just need that extra reassurance that it’s all going to be okay because there are other people going through it too. I know I do. So thank you… from the bottom of my heart. You all help me & it means the world that for at least one person, I’ve somehow managed to help you. Knowing that only motivates me to write/post even more & anything/anyone that pushes someone to move forward in anything is a win. (:

So here we go with the replies:

You seem to know a lot of YouTube stars, how do you know them?

I wouldn’t go as far as saying A LOT, but it was pretty much unexpected. Basically, it was one of those “I know someone who knew that person who knew that person” type of things. Blogtv had a bit of contribution with that as well. There’s not a day that I’m not thankful for having the pleasure of getting to know them, not just as “youtube stars” but as friends.

Are you dating anyone? If not, then do you like anyone?

Nah, I’m not. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m looking to date, at least not at the moment. As far as the liking part is concerned, I don’t really think it matters. Kinda coincides with the lack of interest in dating. Feel me? (:

Are you from San Jose?

Nope, try the opposite side of the country. I’m an east coaster!

What’s the most outrageous, awkward, or funny question you’ve ever been asked?

In general or through Formspring? In general, I think the funniest question I’ve ever been asked was at the grocery store: an old lady asked me “Which of these melons do you like?” … it doesn’t sound too funny, but at the time in my head I was laughing & chuckling all over the place. As far as Formspring is concerned, I was asked if I was dating a specific person. A tad awkward only because I never knew that was even speculated.

I don’t know what to do. I can’t tell them that I’m about to break because I’m scared what if they didn’t care, what if they didn’t want to hear my stories … other thing that keeps me broken is that I can’t tell her how much I love her… I keep on hiding it because I don’t want to lose her… I want to keep her even though it kills me… I wish that someday she might fall for me. But I guess that’s impossible. It only happens in dreams.

When you don’t think anyone cares, trust me… There’s at the very least least one person who does & they’re probably right under your nose. Fear is the one thing that can hold a person back from doing anything & that’s one thing that you’re going to have to decide: whether it’s worth facing or not. I won’t advise you to say “i love you” to her because that’s something that you have to decide on your own. I will, however say this… nothing is impossible & dreams happen when you make them happen. You’re not broken if you’re still standing so keep your head up. (:

What is this? I’m confused but this looks really cool. haha.

Ian, haha. It’s basically an open space for people to submit things to me anonymously or not that only I can read. Pretty cool.

Who has been the most influential person in your life?

Probably all of my brothers. I wouldn’t like half of the things that I like now if it weren’t for them and whenever my parents weren’t home, they’d be the ones to take care of me. I’d also have to say a dear friend, very close to my heart who passed. She’s the strongest girl I’ve ever met in my life, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

What is the green/white/pink poster in your background a picture of?

It’s a canvas that I spray painted years ago that says “Love is”

What do you do when you have a slight attraction towards the same guy your best friend likes?

I, personally wouldn’t do a thing. No guy should ever get in the way between best friends.

…But if I do “submit” this form.. I was just wondering if it was safe and how I’d get a reply from you.

Thank you for the comment (: && If you ever want to submit anything to me that’s personal, but would like for me to respond to (& this goes for anybody), you can always give me an email address that I can reply to you with. Or you can leave it completely anonymous & I’ll post it to my tumblr. I leave all comments/questions anonymous anyway.

There you have it everyone! & now back to regular postings. Til next Friday <3

http://www.formspring.com/forms/?690855-VZ1WrjxEyb

I’m getting some really awesome feedback from you all! I will most likely answer questions & respond to comments on Friday so please feel free to say whatever, ask whatever, do whatever. They haven’t gone unnoticed & I’m truly thankful. <3

http://www.formspring.com/forms/?690855-VZ1WrjxEyb
Do it to it.

You are what every guy looks for in a girl. Understand that. You are amazing. You are willing to sacrifice everything for love. There will be so many other better guys who are going to come into your life and fall for you in an instant. So do it. Move on. Wait for the guy who will do the same for you. Wait for the one who will love you more than he can love himself. The one who will never let you wait because he’s too afraid to lose you. The one who is always there for you, whether you need him or not because he loves you so much. Wait for the guy who can look you straight in the eye to tell you that he wants to spend the rest of his life with nobody else but you. Move on. Stop waiting. There is no point in waiting for somebody who doesn’t realize your value.

Stand up.
(This may also apply to all of the gentlemen out there.)

Sometimes it’s tiresome, and sometimes you resent it, but you get up every day and it’s what you do. The benefits outweigh the downsides. You think about it, even when you know you should get it off your mind. You take inventory. You count laugh lines, plot beauty marks, and memorize the tone of their voice when they say “Hello.” It always seems permanent, when deep down we know it’s not, or at least it doesn’t have to be.  && like a job, in the end we either get promoted, get fired, or we quit.

I’m sending out my résumé… when I’m ready.

In your life, you’ll make note of a lot of people. Ones with whom you shared something special, ones who will always mean something. There’s the one you first kissed, the one you first loved, the one you put on a pedestal, the one you’re with and the one that got away.

Who is the one that got away? I guess it’s that person with who everything was great, everything was perfect, but the timing was just wrong. There was no fault in the person, there was no flaw in the chemistry, but the cards just didn’t fall the right way, I suppose.

I believe in the fact that ending with someone, finding a longtime partner that is, does not lie merely in the other person. I can actually argue that an equal part, or maybe even the greater part, has to do with the matter of timing. It has to do with you being ready to settle down and commit to someone in a way that goes beyond the little niceties of giddy romance.

How often have you gone through it without realizing it? When you’re not ready to commit in that mature manner, it doesn’t matter who you’re with, it just doesn’t work. Small problems become big; inconsequentials become deal breakers simply because you’re not ready and it shows. It’s not that you and the person you’re with are no good; it’s just that it’s not yet right, and little things become the flashpoint of that fact.

Then one day you’re ready. You really are. And when this happens you’ll be ready to settle down with someone. He or she may not be the most perfect, they might not be the brightest star of romance to ever have burned in your life, but it’ll work because you’re ready. It’ll work because it’s the right time and you’ll make it work. And it’ll make sense, it really will.

So that day comes when you’re finally making sense of things, and you find yourself to be a different person. Things are different, your approach is different, you finally understand who you are and what you want, and you’ve become ready because the time has truly arrived. And mind you, there’s no telling when this day will come. Hopefully you’re single but you could be in a long-term relationship, you could be married with three kids, it doesn’t matter.

All you know is that you’ve changed, and for some reason, the one that got away, is the first person you think about.

You’ll think about them because you’ll wonder, “What if they were here today?” You’ll wonder, “What if we were together now, with me as I am and not as I was?” That’s what the one that got away is. The biggest “What if?” you’ll have in your life.

If you’re married, you’ll just have to accept the fact that the one that got away, got away. Believe me, no matter how fairy tale you think your marriage is, this can happen to the best of us. But hopefully you’re mature enough to realize that you’re already with the one you’re with and this is just another test of your commitment, one which will just strengthen your marriage when you get past it. Sure, you’ll think about him/her every so often, but it’s alright. It’s never nice to live with a “might have been,” but it happens.

Maybe the one that got away is the one who’s already married. In which case it’s the same thing. You just have to accept and know that your memories of that person will probably bring a nice little smile to your lips in the future when you’re old and gray and reminiscing. But if neither of that is the case, then it’s different. What do you do if it’s not yet too late? Simple. Find him, find her. Because the very existence of a “the one that got away” means that you’ll always wonder, what if you got this one?

Ask him out to coffee, ask her out to a movie, it doesn’t matter if you’ve dropped in from out of nowhere. You’d be surprised, you just might be “the one that got away” as well for the person who is your “the one that got away.”

You might drop in from out of nowhere and it won’t make a difference. If the timing is finally right, it’ll all just fall into place somehow and you know, I’m thinking, it would be a great feeling, in the end, to be able to say to someone, “Hey you, you’re the one that almost got away.”

(via Mark J. Macapagal, The Manila Times)

It’s not about being the cutest couple anywhere.
It’s not about the amount of attention we get from our friends.
It’s not about how many comments we get on pictures on facebook or myspace.
It’s not about matching shirts.
It’s not about the whole world knowing.
It’s not about having everything in common.
It’s not about the sex.
It’s not about seeing each other all of the time.
It’s not about saying “i love you” all of the time.
It’s not about the jealousy or the greed.

It’s about our connection & how our souls intertwine.
It’s about how we face the world every day as ordinary people.
It’s about trusting that everything is going to end up okay somehow.
It’s about finding ourselves within each other.
It’s about having faith in Him together.
It’s about praying for each other as individuals.
It’s about praying for each other as us.
It’s about believing in one another.
It’s about constant communication vocally & indirectly.
It’s about understanding without needing evidential proof.
It’s about laughing.
It’s about crying.
It’s about gentle care.
It’s about honesty.
It’s about patience.
It’s about living life except with h.i.m. in it for support.
It’s about learning.
& growing.
& knowing.
& feeling.
& being out of breath.
& your heart racing.
& your stomach floating.
& your feet flying off of the ground.
& never getting tired of it, because at the end of the day
… it’s all worth it.

It will be one day, but right now… It’s all about hope.

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like.You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you ever met; the people you have lost touch with some of the most important ones. You also start to realize that it is truly amazing when two strangers become the best of friends, but it is truly devastating when the best of friends become two strangers. What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean, or insecure, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing. Or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn’t. One minute you are insecure and the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved so much could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren’t a bad person. One night stands and random hookups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot doesn’t seem as fun. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future, and making a life for yourself and maybe for someone else…and while winning the race would be great, right now you’d just like to be a contender. What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it in some way or another. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure the whole thing out. “Life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take but by the amount of moments that take our breath away.”

—Unknown Author

If you’re going through this, know that you’re not the only one. <3

(via ronpalustre)

We miss out on so many beautiful things simply because we allow ourselves to be enslaved by our own selfish concerns.

Go for the man of deeds and not for the man of words, for you will find rewarding happiness, not with the man you love but the man who loves you more. The best lovers are those capable of loving from a distance, far enough to allow the person to grow, but never too far to feel the love deep within your being.

To let go of someone doesn’t mean you have to stop loving, it only means that you allow that person to find his own happiness without expecting him to come back. Letting go is not just setting the other person free, but it is also setting yourself free from all bitterness, hatred, and anger that you keep in your heart.

Do not let the bitterness take away your strength and weaken your faith, and never allow pain to dishearten you, but rather let yourself grow with wisdom in bearing it. You may find peace in just loving someone from a distance not expecting anything in return. But be careful, for this can sustain life but can never give enough room for us to grow.

We can all survive with just beautiful memories of the past but real peace and happiness come only with open acceptance of what reality is today.

There comes a time in our lives when we chance upon someone so nice and beautiful and we just find ourselves getting so intensely attracted to that person. This feeling soon becomes a part of our everyday lives and eventually consumes our thoughts and actions. The sad part of it is when we begin to realize that this person feels nothing more for us than just a friendship. We start our desperate attempt to get noticed and be closer but in the end our efforts are still unrewarded and we end up being sorry for ourselves.

You don’t have to forget someone you love. What you need to learn is how to accept the verdict of reality without being bitter or sorry for yourself. Believe me, you would be better off giving that dedication and love to someone more deserving.

Don’t let your heart run your life, be sensible and let your mind speak for itself. Listen not only to your feelings but to reason as well. Always remember that if you lose someone today, it means that someone better is coming tomorrow. If you lose love that doesn’t mean that you failed in love. Cry if you have to, but make it sure that the tears wash away the hurt and the bitterness that the past has left with you.

Let go of yesterday and love will find its way back to you. And when it does, pray that it may be the love that will stay and last a lifetime. There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is though everything is a miracle.

… A three fold Utopian dream.
You do something to me that I can’t explain.
So would I be out of line if I said, I miss you?
… I know I’ll see you again, whether far or soon.
But I need you to know that I care.
& that I miss you.

… From one of my favorite albums.

Sometimes you just don’t have to say “goodnight” when you already know it’s going to be one.

I like to think that one day I will find my own little safe place outside of these boring lines, while still contributing to this book of life, love, protest & friendship. I want to meet a pair of hands in awkward grace, so we could breathe & stretch our lungs condescendingly. Maybe one day, this stranger and I will smile over slurpees. It will be a timed mistake to know that yes, I’m still alive. And yes, this guy is worth fighting for. && we will fall in and out of love & miss it more than ever. We’re going to be very happy & probably want to die. I like him. And he’s very beautiful. So I will try to make sense of all these grey clouds, this mess. All the while, trying to be careful not to ruin anything.