What Is Life All About?

[Mr Lee]

Of course it is about eating, drinking, and sleeping but there is so much more to life and hopefully there is love in everyone's life, and hopefully sex, and many more things to keep them busy and happy and bring joy into their lives, but there is also learning. We hopefully learn from the day we are born until the day we die, or we stagnate. I see and have met people all the time who refuse to learn from others who might just have valuable knowledge that might help them, but instead they are too stubborn to think that just maybe someone might know more than they do and they therefore look at others as people who THINK they know it all. I am sure many of us have met such people along the way, I have met more than my share during my life, so I always look at what others have accomplished during their lives before I then decide if they only think they know it all.If I meet a person who is richer or more successful than I am, or a person who is in a happy relationship, then I try to find out how he got and stay that way, instead of being a malcontent and hold that against them. We can each look at others faults and use those to justify our own unhappiness but where will it get us.We are each the makers of our own lives and futures and have no one but ourselves to blame for the mistake WE make. I only blame myself for my first marriage failure because I knew going in that I did not love my then lady as much as I had loved a gf before her, so maybe I was settling or trying to fit into what the world thought I should fit into, since those who did not get married in their 20's were said to have something wrong with them back then. Had I waited, and listened to my inner gut feelings, I would never have married my first wife and saved myself a lot of grief and money.Why is it that many of us see a deal such a too beautiful women for us, or very high interest banks, or houses going up in value too quickly for what we have experienced during our whole lives, or many other things that our mind or gut should tell us are just too good to be true, yet some jump in feet first and throw caution to the wind and then blame others for the mistake they made when all goes to hell. We are all human, so I wonder why some of us can see trouble for what it might be, yet others do not, could it be some of us have our eyes open and wish to learn, and yet others would rather have their eyes closed to the realities of life, that no one gives anything away for nothing and some deals are too good to be true, yet as someone once said, there is a sucker born everyday or there would not be as many scams out there.I often see guys who blame the women on dating sites for scamming them, yet maybe they should look in the mirror first to see who is to blame since no one can scam us out of anything unless we allow it.One example, one guy that I met a while back went to the Philippines to meet a girl a nurse in the US introduced him to. He and I discussed many of the possible pitfalls yet he thought he knew better, so this guy went to meet his girl with a thick gold chain on his neck with a big gold coin in a bezel hanging from it and a bunch of gold rings. Luckily he did not get robbed or worse but he made it there and back safely. While visiting for the very first time, he bought his gf's family a TV, VCR, refrigerator and then later before he left he bought his future father in law a vehicle. This guy was all flash and no cash but had come into a settlement so was playing the high roller, so he put up a good front and then when his fiancee got to the US he was who he really was and they argued all the time. He got mad at her because her father asked for a gold chain just like he had worn around his neck, because her sister wanted to be put through college, because her other sister wanted a TV and VCR of her own and so on and so on and called them all scammers, so who did he blame, he blamed his wife and family instead of looking in the mirror, so he sent her out to work to earn the money for his lifestyle and for her to send to her family while he sat home living on his ss. Nothing wrong with that except he promised her a rose garden and only gave her only the thorns.Anyway the point is simple, learn or suffer the consequences. The guy above ended up divorced and blamed his wife for everything that happened between them, when in reality he had no one to blame but himself. Most often WE make our own beds and then often like to blame others because some people are just not man enough, or maybe smart enough to take the blame themselves.Some of us end up having to move to a third world country because of mistakes we made during our lives or because we did not have the insight early on in our lives to find a way for our future. I am not very smart but when I was young I knew I wanted a better life and it drove me to make quite a few mistakes and never be happy with the jobs I had, so I kept seeking something better only to find that the first real good job I had would have been the best for my future, but I always spent less than I made and I believe that is one of the main keys to a future in most cases.For those of you who are young enough to look at your future, look into the future and see what is in store for you, and then see what you wish to be in store for you and then see where that will lead you, and see if you can adjust somehow someway. IMHO life is more about what you spend than what you have coming in, yet many people are unfortunate enough to never have any extra or have bad things happen to them, yet at the same time I have met many who complained they did not have, yet they bought many toys they did not need or could not afford to buy, so for those who really do not have any extra and have cut all that they can out of their lives, not much else you can do, but for those who have lots of toys they cannot afford, maybe there is something you can do, that is if you want to. It often takes some sacrifices to have a better future.One thing I can suggest to everyone is, if you will have say 3 whatever a month to live on, try to find a way to live on 2 and save the rest for your future and for rainy days because they will be sure to come and then who will you have to blame but yourself, yet many of us will just blame others. :th_thbestpost: OK I am done with my rant.

Edited December 12, 2011 by Mr. Lee

[Curley]

Another good post Mr Lee.

[Bruce]

Damn you Lee! It is all your fault!Why oh why didn't you grab me by the shoulders and spin me and smash my head into the wall over and over and over again until I finally agreed to come to the Philippines with you back in the mid 1990's!I lost a good 15 years of my life because you did not twist my arm behind my back pushing it ever higher and higher until I agreed to come with you to the Philippines. Lee, it was just an arm! It would have healed years ago! Ok, maybe a touch of arthritis, but I could live with that....I don't know how you sleep at night, Lee, really we are the best of friends. Why didn't you take out your pistol and beat me in the head until I 'saw the light' and agreed to come to the Philippines.Lee Lee Lee, I really can't ever get back all those years I pissed away my life and money before I went to the Philippines where I am pissing away even more money.....Why oh why didn't you make me go!

Edited December 12, 2011 by Bruce

[Mr Lee]

Damn you Lee! It is all your fault!Why oh why didn't you grab me by the shoulders and spin me and smash my head into the wall over and over and over again until I finally agreed to come to the Philippines with you back in the mid 1990's!I lost a good 15 years of my life because you did not twist my arm behind my back pushing it ever higher and higher until I agreed to come with you to the Philippines. Lee, it was just an arm! It would have healed years ago! Ok, maybe a touch of arthritis, but I could live with that....I don't know how you sleep at night, Lee, really we are the best of friends. Why didn't you take out your pistol and beat me in the head until I 'saw the light' and agreed to come to the Philippines.Lee Lee Lee, I really can't ever get back all those years I pissed away my life and money before I went to the Philippines where I am pissing away even more money.....Why oh why didn't you make me go!

You are definitely a sick puppy Bruce. :D I do not know if you would have met the same families back then, or if things might have gone as smooth as they seem to be going for you now, just look at one other mutual friend I took to the Philippines with us before you. :th_thbestpost: Also, by now you might have been out begging in the streets for money so you could get your fix to travel to the Philippines, since you now appear to be addicted to your few trips a year. I am wondering when you will move there full time and ship yourself over in a bb box. Remind me for the next time I see you and I will be sure to break your arm to make you happy. :thumbsup:

[Bruce]

Too much over the top??? HeheheheheWell I am happy with the choices I have made relating to the Philippines. No life is perfect and you get out what you put into it. So for those who never make the trip... you will never know what you missed. For those of you who have tried and could not adjust... well at least you tried. And for the average adult who is (reasonably) financially stable and not too emotionally tied to your current location, I suggest you take a long vacation in the Philippines and see if you 'have what it takes' to handle a great life with far less stress than in your 1st country world. (assuming you do like fish and rice....) There is everything from a brisk nightlife in Manila to a never ending supply of women to a much quieter family style life out in the provinces. Get an idea on what you are looking for and start sampling the life that the Philippines has to offer.

[Jake]

Too much over the top??? HeheheheheWell I am happy with the choices I have made relating to the Philippines. No life is perfect and you get out what you put into it. So for those who never make the trip... you will never know what you missed. For those of you who have tried and could not adjust... well at least you tried. And for the average adult who is (reasonably) financially stable and not too emotionally tied to your current location, I suggest you take a long vacation in the Philippines and see if you 'have what it takes' to handle a great life with far less stress than in your 1st country world. (assuming you do like fish and rice....) There is everything from a brisk nightlife in Manila to a never ending supply of women to a much quieter family style life out in the provinces. Get an idea on what you are looking for and start sampling the life that the Philippines has to offer.

Excellent advice Doc! I guess around 40-50's, the mid-life crisis hits us like a freight train.Divorce, loss of a job, loss of energy, loss of life in general......yeah, take the plunge. Itmay be an opportunity of a life time.Respectfully -- Jake

[Mr Lee]

Too much over the top??? HeheheheheWell I am happy with the choices I have made relating to the Philippines. No life is perfect and you get out what you put into it. So for those who never make the trip... you will never know what you missed. For those of you who have tried and could not adjust... well at least you tried. And for the average adult who is (reasonably) financially stable and not too emotionally tied to your current location, I suggest you take a long vacation in the Philippines and see if you 'have what it takes' to handle a great life with far less stress than in your 1st country world. (assuming you do like fish and rice....) There is everything from a brisk nightlife in Manila to a never ending supply of women to a much quieter family style life out in the provinces. Get an idea on what you are looking for and start sampling the life that the Philippines has to offer.

Good advice Bruce IMHO you are correct more or less, but so far you have not lived in the Philippines and have only had short visits, your opinion may or may not change once you have spent more time in country. So while the Philippines will surely be for some, depending on where you come from and the life you have had in the past, and especially your expectations, it may not be for everyone, so my advice like yours would be try it before you buy it, but IMHO try it for at least 6 months because again IMO from having done that, a bunch of short visits will not give anyone the real lay of the land.As for far less stress, that is debatable because the stress one gets from dealing with issues in the Philippines is a different type of stress. Being full retired, I have far less stress in the US than I end up with while trying to get the simplest things done in the Philippines and often have to bite my tongue and accept things as they are. Cold food served in restaurantsmeals being served to different people at the table over a 10 minute time framerats or mice running under the table, even in high end restaurantsroaches running around on the floor and up the walls in quite a few restaurantstaxi drivers, restaurant workers etc working with the flu and giving it to all those around them and handling your foodworkmen having to be held by the hand step by step even when they say they understand what needs to be donepeople saying yes they understand only for you to find out that they had no idea what you were talking to them aboutout of stock sir being the standard answer, only to walk a few feet and see the item you wanted and asked for sitting on the shelf, or never in stock againsupermarkets having items you like in stock on one visit and then not again for monthsrestaurants bringing you a raw meat when you ordered medium well, sending it back and having it come back the same way as it was and having to send it back again and even the manager does not understand the difference between raw uncooked meat and medium well.No truth in advertising, so if you see a photo of something in a store or restaurant, do not count on it coming out anything like it looks in the photo because it won'tDSL giving you less than one third of the speed you pay for and them telling you "up to sir" when you call over and over againThe power going off for no good reason in the middle of cooking a meal and no one at the office knows why or when it will be back onWater going off in the middle of a nice shower for no good reason and the office not knowing when or if it will ever come back onI could go on but those that live in, or spend a lot of time in the Philippines should understand.As I say, no biggies just different stress for different peopleadded to the above post, I should mention while my wife and I have experienced each and every item on the list above and more, these are things that others who visit or live in the Philippines have told me bothered them a lot. The line above should have been my qualifier and I have now made it in red so members can see that I said it was no biggies. Edited December 13, 2011 by Mr. Lee

[Bruce]

Too much over the top??? HeheheheheWell I am happy with the choices I have made relating to the Philippines. No life is perfect and you get out what you put into it. So for those who never make the trip... you will never know what you missed. For those of you who have tried and could not adjust... well at least you tried. And for the average adult who is (reasonably) financially stable and not too emotionally tied to your current location, I suggest you take a long vacation in the Philippines and see if you 'have what it takes' to handle a great life with far less stress than in your 1st country world. (assuming you do like fish and rice....) There is everything from a brisk nightlife in Manila to a never ending supply of women to a much quieter family style life out in the provinces. Get an idea on what you are looking for and start sampling the life that the Philippines has to offer.

Good advice Bruce IMHO you are correct more or less, but so far you have not lived in the Philippines and have only had short visits, your opinion may or may not change once you have spent more time in country. So while the Philippines will surely be for some, depending on where you come from and the life you have had in the past, and especially your expectations, it may not be for everyone, so my advice like yours would be try it before you buy it, but IMHO try it for at least 6 months because again IMO from having done that, a bunch of short visits will not give anyone the real lay of the land.As for far less stress, that is debatable because the stress one gets from dealing with issues in the Philippines is a different type of stress. Being full retired, I have far less stress in the US than I end up with while trying to get the simplest things done in the Philippines and often have to bite my tongue and accept things as they are. Cold food served in restaurantsmeals being served to different people at the table over a 10 minute time framerats or mice running under the table, even in high end restaurantsroaches running around on the floor and up the walls in quite a few restaurantstaxi drivers, restaurant workers etc working with the flu and giving it to all those around them and handling your foodworkmen having to be held by the hand step by step even when they say they understand what needs to be donepeople saying yes they understand only for you to find out that they had no idea what you were talking to them aboutout of stock sir being the standard answer, only to walk a few feet and see the item you wanted and asked for sitting on the shelf, or never in stock againsupermarkets having items you like in stock on one visit and then not again for monthsrestaurants bringing you a raw meat when you ordered medium well, sending it back and having it come back the same way as it was and having to send it back again and even the manager does not understand the difference between raw uncooked meat and medium well.No truth in advertising, so if you see a photo of something in a store or restaurant, do not count on it coming out anything like it looks in the photo because it won'tDSL giving you less than one third of the speed you pay for and them telling you "up to sir" when you call over and over againThe power going off for no good reason in the middle of cooking a meal and no one at the office knows why or when it will be back onWater going off in the middle of a nice shower for no good reason and the office not knowing when or if it will ever come back onI could go on but those that live in, or spend a lot of time in the Philippines should understand.As I say, no biggies just different stress for different people

Well spoken Lee and brought to you by the Tourism Board of Thailand.

[Mr Lee]

Well spoken Lee and brought to you by the Tourism Board of Thailand.

Bruce as I have said before in other posts on the forum, I am not here to promote the Philippines, I am not a tourism director or a board, I am here to tell it like it is and if members can see the things that are wrong and accept them, then they will do fine in the Philippines but one friend who wanted to go told me they were deathly afraid of roaches and rats, so I told them 3rd world countries are not for them. You know Gilliagans in Ayala Terraces, well I have seen roaches running out of the kitchen and the rest of the terraces and Ayala Mall is clean as far as I know. If any of the things I listed bother a person, they best think twice about moving to the Philippines or any third world country.

[MikeB]

Well spoken Lee and brought to you by the Tourism Board of Thailand.

Bruce as I have said before in other posts on the forum, I am not here to promote the Philippines, I am not a tourism director or a board, I am here to tell it like it is and if members can see the things that are wrong and accept them, then they will do fine in the Philippines but one friend who wanted to go told me they were deathly afraid of roaches and rats, so I told them 3rd world countries are not for them.You know Gilliagans in Ayala Terraces, well I have seen roaches running out of the kitchen and the rest of the terraces and Ayala Mall is clean as far as I know. If any of the things I listed bother a person, they best think twice about moving to the Philippines or any third world country.

You seem to be on a kind of crusade lately to "expose" all the bad things in the country but it's been done, in fact overdone, imo. I see plenty of bad things but I see a lot of good as well: breathtakingly beautiful places like Palawan, Kawasan Falls, Bantayan, Puerto Galero, etc, etc, and I've only scratched the surface of places I want to see, the natural friendliness of most of the people, etc. My intention in moving here was to travel and see all I could of the country and not spend my time in malls but, unfortunately, I got sidelined a bit. Perhaps one needs to get out of cities like Cebu and CDO and away from the malls and travel to some of these treasures to appreciate some of the good things that are here.