#notestoself

Take care of what is between you and Allaah, and he will take care of what is between you and the people.

Work for your Hereafter and Allaah will suffice your affairs in this world.

Sell your worldly life for your Hereafter and you will profit in them both together, and do not sell your Hereafter for your worldly life or you will lose them both together.

it is a blaze.

It is the place behind your breath,

where silence holds court and time bows its head.

Not in your mind,

not in your spine,

but in that stillness between heartbeats

where awareness watches awareness.

It’s the ember that never went out,

the witness that never aged,

the thread that pulled you through lifetimes

and whispered, remember.

You do not sit upon it—

it sits within you.

Not as ruler, but as the raw presence

before you learned your name.

When you see through it,

nothing is separate.

Your skin becomes sky.

Your sorrow becomes prayer.

Even your fear has golden edges.

The ego trembles there.

It is too loud, too fragile,

too temporary to survive the fire.

But you—

the real you—

you are the fire.

You are the stillness inside the flame.

You are the eye in the eternal storm

that watches thought rise

and fall

without flinching.

To sit in the seat of the soul

is to come home

to the place you never left—

I'm not a journaling person. But every now and then, I'll write a note to my future self to explain why I did something when time might make in unclear.

This is the note I wrote myself about finishing the writing of Metropolis:

"Hey Dan -

You wrote this. You should feel proud about it.

I don't know if this was the start of something, or just another thing you will have done in your life. In either case, it was worth it. You had spent your life wondering if you had something creative to give to the world that was good. Turn the page to remind yourself of the answer.

Some wonderful people helped you with this. Never forget them. Good luck.

Love yourself, more.

💌

― Theodore Roosevelt

This quote was one of the many that greatly impacted my life. This was shared to me by one of my accidental mentors, Jeremiah. Back then, he pushed me to take on a global multi-million dollar, multi-site impacting project. I don't know what he saw in me but he did and he did not stop until I agreed to do the gig.

With him, it's okay to make mistakes. Fail fast, learn fast. He said, it's okay to take risks and fail, if that mean you learn something. He also made me realize that we can try to plan ahead and be detail oriented as much as we can, but it is also important to know that some things are just beyond our control.

Sa mundong ito, ang dami dami daming may sasabihin tungkol sa'yo - sa timbang mo, sa trabaho mo, sa lifestyle mo, sa mga desisyon mo sa buhay. They have a lot to say about how to do your fitness, your career, your relationships and your goals better. Let them say it then still decide to do what's best for you. Medyo mindset ko din ito kapag ang daming may hanash dati sa trabaho ko, simple lang sakin, "eh di ikaw gumawa?" Of course, I take criticisms, but the rest na noise lang, I filter them out. Same with fitness, na ang daming comment na kesyo tigilan pagbubuhat, magdiet nalang etc. "Ikaw ba yun araw-araw nakilos para magpapawis?"

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. Glory and honor comes to those who work for it, day in and day out.