Another post about my experience in the Philippines :)
This especially goes out to one of the instructors I met at Ateneo de Manila University, Ms. Ann. She is a counselor at the university. Like other counselors, she is like a "savior" to students: when students feel stressed from school or in their personal lives, they have the counselor's office to run to. In addition, she teaches a 100Level one-unit course that deals with integrating new students to the University and also touching base on everyday things - it's probably one of those fun free classes.We were given a tour round the office and saw some of the tools the psychologists / counselors use for productivity of their students. Ms. Ann was really nice and welcoming to us. Aside from the tour, she invited us to sit in on and talk in one of her classes. The students were in their first year of Business Engineering. They were quite engaging and generally, good students. We talked about the challenges we faced in our first year in relation to what they might be experiencing in school now. I enjoyed talking to them :) .
-PS. -- I actually don't mind public speaking to younger people lol
Sorry guys, the pictures could have been of better quality but took them all by phone.
Anyways, that day, they touched on a topic that talked to me. The story in the land of "Stickcoco" (I made up the name - and all the other names too lol) . Below, I have paraphrased the story and changed it up a tiny tiny little bit.. hope you enjoy it.
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There was a certain carpenter who made men out of wood. He had put some life into them and they all lived in the town of Stickcoco. They had a tradition in this town; Woodys were always assigned with stars or dots. A star was a good thing, very good. the more stars a woody got the more popular and accepting he was. A dot was not a good sign; no woody wanted dots.
They were assigned these marks based on their talents or looks. A woody that could sing or dance or play an instrument or was funny or exceptionally good at something was given a star. If the woody had more than one talent or could do more than one thing, he got more stars. The more popular he was, the more stars he got. Some Woodys did not have to do anything, they were just good looking or dressed really well. The more others noticed their beauty, the more stars they got.
Dots were a symbol of failure, mockery, ugliness or anything that was not 'cool'. A clumsy Woody got a dot every time he got clumsy. An ugly woody got a dot every time someone called him ugly. If one was not accepted by a popular group, he would be stamped with a dot.. If one fails at a contest, he also got a dot.
There was a certain Woody named Hammer. Hammer always got dots. He thought he could be funny but no one laughed at his jokes- he got more dots. He tried to sing but they all said his voice was horrible and stuck more dots on him. Sometimes, when he tries to play with others, someone would call him ugly and plaster dots on him. Hammer became very unhappy. He was so upset and wouldn't come out.
One day, a Woody named Walnut came from the other part of town - really happy and satisfied but had absolutely no dots or stars. When other Woodys saw her, they thought she was beautiful and tried to stick some stars on her but they fell off. Some thought she was too happy hence proud, they tried to stick some dots on her but the dots fell off too .
When Hammer saw this, he watched the parts she crossed and went to wait for her the next day. He stopped her. "How come nothing sticks on you?" He asked. "I won't let them, I don't care about their dots or stars" She replied.
Hammer was confused... She continues .. " Well, I used to be like you with lots of dots and some stars and I wanted more stars. However, I became sad after a while because I started to get too many dots and no stars.. I went up to the Carpenter to help me .."
He interrupted her,"... The Carpenter? does he really exists? if he does, isn't he big and mean? were you not scared?"
Walnut smiled, some Woodys never believe her about the carpenter."Hammer darling, he is real, I visit him everyday, the more time I spend with him, the better I know myself, the better I feel about myself. meet me here tomorrow at this time, come with me tomorrow.." Walnut said this swinging and singing away.
At first, Hammer did not want to go but he figured he had nothing to lose. He was there the next day. He was scared, anxious, and felt worse because of all his dots.
"Hello, Carpenter? how are you today? I have a friend here with me"Walnut smiles as she seats at his feet. Hammer hid in the corner, afraid of what Carpenter will say, Walnut seems bold.
"I knew you were coming, I have been waiting for you. You see Hammer, dots and stars only stick if you believe what the other Woodys say about you. You have to let go of all those. Renew your mind. Come to me, I will help you.." Carpenter said.
OM Goodness! he is real! wow! Hammer comes closer, he starts to visit regularly and after a while, the dots started to fall off... he started to feel good about who he was. He began to realize that what the other Woodys said/say do not matter. What he thinks about himself and what the Carpenter thinks is what he should value..
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Was that too long??
You know, what God thinks of us should be our priority. What's the point of trying to please the world and hurting yourself all the time. oh boy, it can cause madness oh - calm down! you can't please them all.
Why Dots Can Affect Us:
- Dots can be anything from people talking bad about us, failure, unacceptance, depression, a sickness, frustration of unemployment or underemployment, bad memories (etc) Anything that wants to define us by fire by force. We should go to God with all these things, anything at all. God is able to do more. He can heal us and help us. We need to trust in him.
"Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11;28, GNB)
- Dots can also affect us if we do not know who we are in Christ. If we base our standards or lives on what is more popular, it can be dangerous. We need to be bold and proud of our principles and faith. Knowing yourself in Christ helps to filter out "bad belle" ( unnecessary bad comments or attitude towards us). Wisdom is key though :)
"Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect." (Romans 12:2, GNB)
I am sure there are other reasons but these are the ones that ministered to me.
It don't matter what you do or who you follow, you will still get dots! and you can NOT please everyone. But we can live a good, happy and fulfilling life with God's help. Whether with dots or stars, God still always loves us just as we are and will help us to become better.
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ohh.. some pictures with myself, my friends and Ms. Ann... We bonded over dinner that evening.
again, sorry guys, the pictures could have been of better quality but took them all by phone
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