Gratitude - How a Poor Girl Changed My Life Forever
(Cover Photo: Philippine Flag)
Hi everyone,
Gratitude can change your world.
Meet Criselda Cruz when she was 12 years old living in Tondo, Manila Philippines which is one of the poorest areas of Manila. This picture was taken in September 1983.
When we can learn to appreciate ALL that we have and be grateful for it, it can transform our lives especially if we express gratitude on a daily basis.
When you appreciate what you already have, however little that might seem to be, you will be less anxious about things. There's nothing wrong in desiring to have more, but if we are overly anxious about it that is going to take away our peace.
Criselda lived in a one room house with a dirt floor and a single light bulb overhead. The windows were just open spaces and the mosquitoes and other insects could freely come and go. They had to walk some distance to bring water back to the house for cooking and bathing.
I am eternally grateful to Criselda. She was literally dirt poor. What could she possibly offer me?
I sponsored Criselda through an organization in the USA earlier in 1983. I wanted to do more, but I wasn't sure where my money was really going so I decided to go see my sponsored child in September 2018. I would be there for 10 days.
I was only paying around $20 a month. That allowed her to continue her education when many poor drop out of school at Grade 6 so they can work and help provide for the family. It helped buy her school uniform. It provided food that the whole family benefited from.
It was my first time to visit an impoverished country. I was not prepared for it. My heart strings were being pulled constantly. I often cried seeing the plight of the people. Never in the USA had I seen anything like this. I realized perhaps for the first time just how blessed my life had been.
From that moment on, my experience with Criselda changed my life forever. I sold what things I had and sponsored 4 more Filipina girls and they all eventually graduated from high school. One of those I privately funded her college education and she became a nurse. Another girl I sent to college majored in Music education which worked well together when she married a pastor.
I visited Criselda again in 1984, 1986 and 1989 along with my other sponsored children.
It was a local church that managed the sponsorship program and I was married in that church in 1989 to the bookkeeper who worked with that program.
To say that I fell in love with the Filipino people is an understatement.
My now ex-wife and I had 3 beautiful daughters who are now adults and we lost one child due to an ectopic pregnancy.
I never forgot the Philippines. After my divorce, I vowed to move there and I worked day and night for 2 years to build up passive income via my book publishing business.
I returned to the Philippines in September 2014 and have been living here for almost 9 years now. My new wife and I have a beautiful 3 year old daughter, Melissa Jeane.
Do you see all the blessings I have received for the past 39 years all because I sponsored Criselda Cruz and helped a child out? That's far more than 100 fold in blessings. Filipinos teach me every day about life.
I will never forget or stop appreciating everything in my life, big or small, good or bad. EVERYTHING has impacted my life in a positive way even if it was some life lesson I didn't want to learn at the time.
Be grateful for what Wealthy Affiliate is offering you. It truly is a gold mine of opportunities. It's your business(es) and you can make it to be however successful you want it to be.
I'm living the dream, my dream.
I KNOW I WILL be successful with the info WA has provided and it will make my life richer in many different ways including to be able to help others more than I already do. The blessings just keep coming.
Don't EVER give up on your dreams. Don't let others steal your dreams and don't let that negative critic in your head steal your dreams.
Be grateful for everything. If you wish, share some of what you already have and be blessed.
Some of my other sponsored children from 1984:
Marilyn Montejo, who is the one who became a nurse years later.
Lea Quijano and parents.
Lailani Isla and family
To Our Success!
Mel Waller
Recent Comments
28
Hey Mel, what an inspirational story! My takeaway here is... Sincere appreciation, instead of criticism, complaints, and condemnation is the key to successful relationships. That trinity is the downfall of any relationship, regardless of whether it's personal or business-related.
"The greatest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated and feel important" - Dale Carnegie
Thank you Mel, for your beautiful story of transformation. It's amazing how our giving on a consistent basis can be used to transform lives of individuals in developing countries.
We just need to do the due diligence to ensure it's the right charitable organization we are giving to.
Hello Mel, I am proud you made the decisions you did and I know myself that some of the most vulnerable people living are the most passionate beings alive and they take nothing and only return love.
I have never underestimated the power that comes from people that see the hardest lives on Earth, I would not actually say they are "POOR" they are actually the RICH ones!
Stay blessed.
Kind regards
Erica
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How beautiful and inspiring. I have always wanted by doctorate and almost went for it last year, but I am so old I gave up. Yesterday a very special child in my life who just finished his freshman year in college asked me if I was going to get my doctorate or not. Again I didn't know because I am so old. Now because of him and you I am seriously thinking about it again. Thanks.
Sandra, Age is just a number. I've heard of people in their 80's graduating college. Sounds like a dream well worth pursuing and you might feel a lot younger for it. :-)
Mel
Thanks
You are most welcome Sandra!
Mel