Poetic Isolation

While every organism in our environment serves a special purpose for our ecosystem, some creatures can be considered as a pest. Pest refers to undesirable organisms may it be insects or plants that can hinder and cause damage in any human activity and property. They are a nuisance and a threat. What’s worst is when such organisms that we can consider as pests put our health in danger. Thus, making our lives more difficult and our time challenging.

This weekend, our home was bombarded with flies. It wasn’t until my older brother saw a number of them in one area in our kitchen when we got very much alarmed. It was the first time that such phenomena happened in our home, particularly in that part of our kitchen. We had a difficult time figuring out what caused it since we always try our best to keep our kitchen clean. Dishes have been washed, the sink has been wiped and polished, the garbage can was emptied – we couldn’t point out what definitely triggered those flies to flock in our place.

We did panicked knowing that flies can be very harmful to our health which is why we didn’t waste our time to take action to shun away the pests.

It can be tricky dealing with pests especially when you have limited knowledge in controlling them. Fortunately, with the help of various Internet sources, we were able to come up and gather plausible solutions to our dilemma.

What we did first is to research about flies and its habits. It’s where I found out that flies have a breeding season. I’m not exactly sure about the incident in our kitchen, but it could be one or its main reason.

Learning a thing or two about the pest that you are dealing with is of great significance. Be it cockroaches, flies, or bumble bees, knowing something about the pest will help you in looking for the best solution to get rid of them.

After learning a handful of things about flies, we then check some of the available strategies that we can use to control them. What we’ve experienced isn’t something that I consider pleasant, but tossing the coin, it is somehow a blessing in a sense that it opened our eyes into controlling pests and in prioritizing our health and safety at all times.

Just in case something similar happens in your household, though I wouldn’t wish for such thing to happen to you, here are some of the things we did to control the pests. I hope that these can also help you the moment you have to deal with those stubborn pests.

Double-check the cleanliness of your household

I couldn’t stress cleaning enough. It helps in so many ways especially in preventing harmful insects from flocking anywhere in your house. Cleaning also gives you the chance to check if there are carcass somewhere in your attic that seeks instant attention.

Use homemade and organic pesticides

These days, it’s more than easy to go to your nearest supermarket and grab a pesticide of your choice. But, you have to be extremely careful. Using strong pesticide might cause more damage to your home than your simple aim of driving pests away. Some of the natural pesticides I know are garlic spray, apple cider vinegar spray, pepper spray, and high acidic alkaline water. These are not only cheaper but they are also much safer.

Ask pros for help

We are fortunate that our problem with the flies require us to call for pros, but if you think that least-toxic solutions aren’t enough, and that you’re running out of sensible solutions, don’t hesitate to ask help from the pros. It’s better than putting your health or your life at risk.

Every household may run into problems with pests so it’s best to be ready at all times. Just because it’s not as damaging as some people might think, we’ll never know what would happen in the near future. In such case, prevention and preparation come a long way.

What I’ve written above are just few of the simple solutions I know by experience. For more information, you may check some fact-based websites that could further and deepen your knowledge.

Love lots,

Tin

Perhaps if there is something that millennials on their early 20s like me share in common, it is perhaps our internal struggle with a mid-life crisis. Sure, life seems easy after college graduation but as you try to blend into the alluvion of the working adult life, that’s when a crisis takes place.

Crisis, by definition, refers to a difficult situation that needs serious attention. Life has given me enough corroboration that what most of us millennials face a crisis is in the form of this question: ‘What does the future have in store for me?’ A plain-vanilla question to pose, but an arduous one to answer.

You may disagree with it, but with alarming phenomena such as job hopping and ghosting, should we just deny such crisis or try to figure out a way to lessen it instead? The best answer lies in every millennial but I am certain that we do appreciate it when help arrives.

The answer may be out of our reach by now, but it’s alright. Life moves very quickly but it’s not an excuse not to cherish it. There’s no need to rush one’s story. When we don’t know where life is taking us, we are never lost.

I know for a fact that young as we are, we can be very impatient and are easily tempted to spend on things that the wise might consider mundane. There is indeed so much that we have to learn. One thing is how to effectively manage our income.

Financial management, though not a taboo, is not often discussed and usually ignored. Or in some cases, purposively avoided. Unfortunately, there is miseducation among young Filipinos. When we were younger, most of our elders would encourage us to save our money.

Nothing’s wrong with it, but it may not be what our generation needed. Why not teach young people about wise investment instead? In this fast-paced world where what’s “instant” is easily glorified, harnessing financial literacy is a must.

We are confused with its rendezvous point, but luckily, education these days isn’t limited to classrooms. We can learn something online, from our personal experiences, and from reliable institutions such as Sun Life Financial.

Sun Life Insurance's #LiveBrighter Forum

On their #LiveBrighter forum at CebuParklane Hotel last October 18, 2017, I’ve learned a lot about how to handle my finances and how I can be an influence for others to venture into something that can help them achieve financial security. The speaker of the event also gave us an insight into the twisted effects of inflation by showing us real-life examples.

Unless if you are living in a cave, I assume that you’ve heard or had an idea about Sun Life Financial. To add what you might’ve learned, Sun Life is the oldest life insurance company in the Philippines. It offers partnership and ultimate support to those who are passionate about achieving a better life.

Now I know that the word “insurance” may sound intimidating especially here in the Philippines wherein almost 70 percent of the population does not have an insurance. But what I can assure (though I am not yet a Sun Life partner) is that it is a legit institution.

Part of the 4C’s in business is the company. One way of knowing if a company is well-established is when it has been around for more than five years. Sun Life Financial has been around for over 120 years. In addition, it is the only insurance company that is included in the top 100 brands in the Philippines.

A photo of Mr. Churchill Bejemino together with a Sun Life advisor from his Facebook account

At one point during the forum, we were introduced to a timid gentleman named Churchill Bejemino, a Sun Life Superhero who shared to us his heart-warming journey to success. Like every man of success, Mr. Bejemino started with a dream coupled with a fiery and grand passion.

Within a year of being with Sun Life, he accumulated not just a good deal of confidence but also relevant benefits such as commissions and monthly bonuses. Apart from that, he gathered what most people especially regular employees would be grateful to receive: appreciation.

One word with a huge impact on one’s work. I have been working for five years and I can attest, not only with my personal perspective, that appreciation invites a positive impact on one’s performance at work. I’m not saying that workers must be showered with ivories and gold to feel appreciated. A simple and sincere “thank you” might be more than enough.

If you’ve been working already when was the last time your employer appreciated you? Last month? Last year? Or never?

I hope you did not say YES to the last option.

My point is, having a partnership with a good company entails a good culture that can help and inspire anyone to grow as an individual.

Another thing that I’ve learned from Mr. Bejemino is that our definition of success isn’t limited to what we chose to study in the university or to our hardships. Despite being financially challenged during his younger years, it didn’t stop him in pursuing his dreams. He did get a great job after graduation but he later opted to work with Sun Life because of the immense amount of wonder that it gave him.

He told us that his childhood dream is to become a scientist. He may not have excelled in Science yet, but one thing that he is more than proud of right now is that he became more than a scientist. He became a superhero.

He is now helping others by giving them a chance to live with a bright purpose.

Mr. Churchill’s odyssey is a testament that a better life is not impossible to grasp. So the next time you feel that a storm is ready to shatter your dreams, remember that there is a sun that never goes out. Not the one that you see up in the sky that bathes you in its warmth, but one that can let you #LiveBrighter - that sun is Sun Life. All that’s left for us to do is to decide, when are we going to let it shine unto like diamonds?

Learned more about Sun Life Financial and how to be one of their top brass advisors by visiting their official website. Who knows perhaps we’ll meet someday in one of Sun Life Insurance offices in Cebu.

A big shout out to ABCDigital for the invitation!

love lots,

Tin

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