Coldness

I'm embracing this coldness,

such that was brought by the wind

and flowing water.

I want to feel it, keep it,

breathe it in deep in my lungs,

then see it take form out of my breath.

This coldness, that came after 

those painfully hot days

makes me glorious.

Aye, as long as I'm cold, I have glory!

Yet I know that when the time comes

that the chill stays long enough

in my bones, muscles and organs,

the glaring sun would rise

and meet me again,

and bring me new glory.

Your mere abstraction

I don't know where you are now,

but I have my memories of you.

Anytime, I can close my eyes 

and in your mere abstraction,

I can draw the shape of your face,

your hair, your brows,

your eyes, your nose,

and your lips.

I can deeply breathe

and smell the scent of your skin

and your clothes.

I can lace the fingers of my hands together,

and feel the texture of your palm.

In my mind, I can ask you,

"How's your day?"

and hear your voice,

answering me back.

I can tell you my silly jokes,

and hear your crazy laughter.

Anytime, I can be 

with your mere abstraction,

for as long as I want to, and

just as long as I close my eyes.

In my mind, I can love you

as much as I want to,

and imagine you

loving me back.

Must I regret

I am asking you,

must I regret?

Must I regret that I thought of you more than you thought of me,

or that I wanted to be with you more than you wanted to be with me?

Must I regret that I told you how much I cared,

or that I wanted you to at least care too?

Must I regret that I waited for you,

or that I assumed that you'd be happy to know I was waiting?

Must I regret that I let myself be deeply hurt by you?

or that I gave you chance for an nth time?

Must I regret that I loved you this much,

or that I let you know it?

Please tell me,

must I regret?

But should I regret now though I know

that just regretting is the worst I can do?

How to Control Your Temper

It is never right to burst in anger. We don't know where it can bring us. Perhaps, we don't want to go around regretting what we've said and done. However, no matter how we avoid people or things which seem to potentially push us to our limits, getting angry is still inevitable. We, humans, are emotional beings. We cannot stop other people, even those who love us and whom we loved, to hurt us in any way. I, therefore, formulated simple ways on how I could control my temper whenever something or someone puts me to rage: pursed lip breathing, clearing my mind, and praying.

Whenever stressed, our body responds by increasing almost everything in our system - heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and even blood sugar level. Sometimes, if the stress is moderate to severe, we can feel our heart palpitating, head getting heavy, and our fingers cold and trembling. Even our ability to concentrate can break loose. The same happens to our body whenever we're angry. One way to counter this is to do pursed lip breathing. This is done by inhaling deeply through the nose and exhaling with a pursed lip. Experts say that this is effective for relaxing the system and increasing blood flow in the brain. I've done this several times, and it helped me relieve my anger a bit.

Along with the pursed lip breathing, I also clear my mind to control my temper. Just like in meditation, our goal here is to refresh the mind by shaking off everything it contains. Whenever I do this, I close my eyes and relax my body as if trying to fall asleep. Clearing the mind can help take away negativity and anger.

After doing the first two ways, I put my hands together and pray. I ask God for forgiveness and enlightenment. The challenging part here is when guilt kicks in - pride gets hurt. However, when this difficult part is surpassed, controlling the temper becomes a success.

So far, these three ways - pursed lip breathing, clearing one's mind and praying - have already saved me a lot of times from sleepless nights of worry, guilt and regret. Mitch Albom said, ". . . But hatred is a curved blade . . . and the harm we do to others . . . we also do to ourselves." Remember that anger, when not controlled, can lead to hatred. Hatred brings wrath. Wrath can cause insanity.