There are no rules for behavior, dress and more 

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 Mindanao Daily News

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September 25, 2026

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 It means “I am flexible” or “I don’t mind.” For example, if someone asks where to eat and you reply, “Anything goes for me,” you mean you will happily eat anywhere.Complete Openness: It shows you have no strict rules, judgments, or demands regarding a situation.Combined Idiom: It merges the general phrase “anything goes” (no rules/anything is allowed) with the expression “goes for me” (applies to me / I agree).

There are no rules for behavior, dress, etc. Today, in terms of clothing, almost anything goes, but they recall when the dress code was strictly formal.

If people say ‘anything goes’, they mean that anything people say or do is considered acceptable, and usually they mean that they do not approve of this. [disapproval] In the 90s, almost anything goes. See full dictionary entry for go.

Well, you see, in olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now, God knows, anything goes.

Good authors too who once knew better words now only use four-letter words writing prose, anything goes.

The world has gone mad today, and good’s bad today, and black’s white today, and day’s night today, when most guys today, that women prize today, are just silly gigolos.

And though I’m not a great romancer, I know that you’re bound to answer when I propose, because anything goes.

Originally used in the 19th Century as ‘Everything goes’, it simply means that one can do whatever one likes, without rules or consequences.

Anything goes? Yes, it seems so: illegal logging, natural disasters, improper disposal of garbage, climate change, melting icebergs, “my neighbor goes on burning rubber and plastic” (GRABE!), poisonous waste products … !

Guys, when will you stop doing this? Or, are you waiting for the next tsunami and taifun taking away your family and all your belongings and properties?

For years, I have on my desk a wonderful brochure entitled “Q&A Questions and Answers on YOUR ecosystem” – mentioning and explaining 365 (!) reasons to stand up for Mother Nature. And to be counted as “Barkada ng Kaliksan”! It’s really a primer on environment care, produced by the Kinaiyahan Foundation, Inc. and BARog KA likupan DAbaw, Inc. (BARKADA) with a foreword by Elisea G. Guzon, former secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Even having the fumes of burned poison garbage in my nostrils (I usually enjoy writing my columns somewhere outside in my tropical green garden!) I still study this valuable brochure.

Yes, anything goes! It really seems true! Why should one think about the ecosystem and its structures? Or, solar-energy and life on earth and why should it be protected? The effects of global warming can be seen more and more, but deforestation and profits kill the thoughts and deeds about the value of forests and how to protect them!
Fertilizer and its problems are known, but who really cares? Pesticides and their problems are very well known too, but who really cares? Anything goes? How do we handle major consumers of water managing water resources? Are we overusing groundwater?

Climate change, greenhouse-effect, gases that pollute the atmosphere, acid rains, and biodiversity are foreign words to these people, who continue to destroy our globe and provoke the next natural disaster. The above-mentioned brochure, mentioning the Top 30 Environmental Issues in the 21st Century, is not the only written examination or rebuke. I wish and pray for many followers. For our next generations!

Homo, quo vadis? 

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Quo vadis: Means “Where are you going?” or “Whither goest thou?” It comes from a Christian tradition where Saint Peter fled persecution in Rome and met Jesus on the road, asking him, “Domine, quo vadis?” (“Lord, where are you going?”)

Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called “the way of life for an entire society.” As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, art. 

Living in the Philippines for almost 29 years now, I learned a lot about Philippine culture.  

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Driving in big cities is not a joke for beginners. It’s an ordeal, especially driving during heavy traffic hours. One must know where to go and which way to take. Otherwise, one’ll end up bumping somewhere somehow… .

But, driving a car in a small village, where roads are simple, is for neophytes an enjoyable one. No traffic, or less traffic, no traffic lights, no complicated ways… .

In the same way, railroads can make train drivers ill at ease when they are also in big cities. I remember Munich in my home country Germany, where railways appear like spider’s cobwebs. They go in several directions. No wonder, accidents happen many times.

In life we, too, have roads which lead us in several directions. To go to heaven, man’s eternal destiny, one can either choose the shortest road, or one can make detours. Not so many perhaps fall by the way and end up in eternal damnation.

There are some of us, Christians, who take the shourt-cut road to heaven. This is the road of suffering, of the actual practice of Christian virtues, of serving God and our neighbour. Others take the circuitos road of easy life, thinking that at the end they still have time to amend themselves and lead a good life. This is risky, since no one can guarantee that an opportunity will be given at the eleventh hour. Unfortunately, there are still others, who prefer to take that opposite rod, which leads to eternal damnation. So they live, so they die! In John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”, we read, “Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven!”

Homo, quo vadis?

Negativity kills the soul

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 Mindanao Daily News

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September 18, 2026

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Negativity is the enemy of creativity.” — David Lynch. “Nothing counterfeit has any staying power.” — Cicero. “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” — Will Rogers.

Negative energy is wasted energy, a powerful mindset popularized by Roger Federer on X during his speeches on resilience and overcoming setbacks.

Negative thinking refers to a pattern of thinking negatively about yourself and your surroundings.

Many of us unconsciously use negativity as a defence mechanism. It protects us from things not working out. Our minds use negative thoughts so we’re not blindsided when we’re disappointed. Unfortunately, this anticipated failure or bad luck also prevents us from putting our best foot forward.

It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts. When the world pushes you to your knees, you’re in the perfect position to pray.Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

Sometimes, we feel our life is turning miserably. Our negativity doesn’t allow us to keep our eyes, ears – and, most important! –  our minds, hearts and souls opened. We’re reaching our breaking point.

As I said several months ago here: this breaking point can be the prelude to our strongest moment. It is when we reach our breaking point, that we discover our real strength. Allow me to ask you, my dear readers, “What happens to you or with you when you reach your breaking point?” Do you face it or do you run away?

I’ll be giving you a very simple answer: If you face it – you break it. If you run away (and/or close your ears, eyes and mouth) – it surely breaks you!

Everyday – a dull reality! Many of us will answer this question with a big YES! Actually we do like to cover a newborn’s day already with a grey veil? Each day has a new face, but sometimes we don’t have the strength to watch its countenance. Of course, not every day has adventures and highlights.

But we enjoy quarreling and arguing. With other people and even with ourselves.

Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that, at the same time, seemed especially desolating and painful with a particular satisfaction. Indeed, everything I have learned, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness.

If it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from your earthly existence, the result would not be make life delectable, but to make it too banal and trivial to be endurable.

By observation, we can feel that many of us need help to manage our everyday life. We need something that would keep us going as we journey through life. Many times we can also learn from other people and their experiences.

Blue eyed or very philosophical but so very true: If the world is to be brought to order, a nation must be first changed.

If the nation isn’t changed, my home town is to be reordered and must first set be right, my dear brothers and sisters. And, one step further: If my family is to be regenerated, I MYSELF MUST FIRST BE!

And here is one more thing: Affection is the humblest love – it gives itself no airs. It lives with humble and private things: soft slippers, old clothes, old jokes, and the thump of a sleepy dog’s tail on the kitchen floor. The glory of affection, the disposition of mind, the good will and tender attachment, is that it can unite those who are not “made for one and another”, people. Who, if not out down by fate in the same household or community, would have nothing to do with one and another.

For me life has been a thing of ups and downs in approximately equal measure. I don’t have something sensational to report every day about my progress. Often, I wonder if fulfillment in life is necessarily tied to change for the better.

MY PRAYERS AND ME

Prayer is how we as Christians draw close to God as well as a necessary condition for us to be moved by the Holy Spirit, and enlightened and illuminated by God. If we genuinely pray to God, and understand the principles and practices of prayer, when we encounter difficulties or dilemmas in our life, we’ll be able to face them in a relaxed way.

“The Power of Prayer” is a 2020 song by Bruce Springsteen from his album Letter to You. It was only released as a radio single, and a promotional video was released on November 23, a month after the release of the album.

The song has a spiritual language. Springsteen was born in a Roman Catholic household, and that turned him off religion, but he didn’t lose his faith. The video features archival footage from his youth and clips of Springsteen and the E Street Band working on the song in the studio. The message of the video is about old friends he’s lost and the optimism of that era, reflected in the footage of Jersey Shore in the summertime during Springsteen’s youth. 

When tragedy strikes, it’s easy to harden our hearts and cry out, “God, why did you let this happen?” Maybe then, we started praying. Before, when everything went smoothly, we would not even think a minute about praying… .

“To be a Christian without prayer, “said Martin Luther, “is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” Prayer is the only way of becoming what God wants us to be. This is the reason why Jesus spent many hours praying.

Unquestionable, our needs bring us to a place of prayer. Confronted with danger or tragedies, as I mentioned earlier, we look for God’s help. Difficult times always cause the hearts of men to turn to God into prayer.

Let me ask you: How long has it been since you’ve brought your burdens to God? Since you asked His forgiveness for your shortcomings?

In his very interesting book “People in Prayer”, Dr. John White reminds us that prayer is a divine-human interaction and it is always God who takes the initiative. White writes: “God speaks and we respond. God is always speaking. To hear his voice is not usually a mystical experience. It consists merely of a willingness to pay heed to God who lays a claim to our lives.”

Yes, God always speaks. It is up to us whether we will listen and respond to Him. Many think we are the ones who initiate prayer. But prayers begin and end with God.

There was a time, I wasn’t in the mood to pray any more. It seemed that God didn’t listen to my prayer any more. I didn’t get what I prayed for. Of course, not… ! That’s not the meaning of praying to God. Will all my wishes be granted? Heaven forbid!

Sometimes, after we have prayed, God’s answers may puzzle us. But as time goes by and as events unfold we see God’s purpose in His answers. We might get a larger vision, what HE likes. Not what WE like… .

Think about it for a moment: How does the idea that prayer begins and ends with God affect me now? Do I have the habit of listening to God? How do I respond to Him? How do I usually pray?

I confess that a long time ago I have been trying to persuade God to change other people in my surroundings or circumstances. Nothing changed. Of course not, what a fatal attraction? I got confused because God never granted my requests. Meanwhile I got God’s answers to my prayers. Maybe very simple: I was willing to let God change me… .This is how each one of us should start. Happy endings. Because I prayed according to His will… .

Nowadays, I live a wonderful life in my second and last home, the Philippines. I never regretted moving here for good. I have everything I could ask for. I can do everything I wish to do. Thank you Lord for all the blessings  

HAPPINESS IN TODAY'S WORLD

A blend of joyful daily feelings and deep life satisfaction, requiring us to balance personal well-being with modern challenges like digital noise and social comparison.

Feeling that the conditions of your life are good. Enjoying positive, healthy relationships with other people. Feeling that you have accomplished (or will accomplish) what you want in life. Feeling satisfied with your life. Feeling positive more than negative.

Happiness is a state of mind. Specifically, it is a state of “well-being and contentment.”

But the definition can be tricky and assumptions about the word can cause confusion. Many don’t even realize learning how to be happy is something that can be intentionally practiced. Some people, when they hear the word ‘happiness,’ assume it is speaking of an emotion such as pleasure or joy. For them, it is what people feel in the immediate here and now.

This is the reason some people say, “Don’t pursue happiness, seek joy. Happiness is fickle and fading, joy remains forever.”

But this short-term definition of happiness is not how everyone understands the word. Some define it to mean long-term satisfaction.

In fact, when I speak of experiencing happiness in life, I am not thinking of short-term emotions at all. I think of a quality of living—a much longer-term view of the word.

Both definitions are understood to be correct and speak of different realities.

But are they really that different? I don’t think so.

After all, a long-term experience of life satisfaction is almost certainly made up of many short-term feelings of joy and pleasure. Does that mean every day is a great day with no trials, temptations, or downturns? Certainly not. But it does mean when we look back at the many seasons of life, we can look back satisfied at how we navigated them.

The long-term feeling of life satisfaction is most experienced when we embrace the emotion of joy in the here and now.

And we accomplish that by taking steps each day to be happy.

What makes you feel happy now? Doing something you're good at, such as cooking or dancing, is a good way to enjoy yourself and have a sense of achievement. Try to avoid things that seem enjoyable at the time but make you feel worse afterwards, such as drinking too much alcohol or eating junk food.

Why is being happy important? Experiencing happiness is important for our emotional and physical health. A stronger sense of happiness and well-being has been shown to lead to better relationships, increase social connection and contribution to the lives of others, as well as contributing to healthier physical well-being.

Is being happy the most important thing in life? Happy people are healthier all around and more likely to be healthy in the future. Happy people live longer than those who are not as happy. Happy people are more productive and more creative, and this effect extends to all those experiencing positive emotions.

Am I happy? Yes. Living in the Philippines for almost 29 years for good, I learned to be happy. Even during hard times. Filipinos are generally a happy people. They can smile whatever the situation. Their happy-go-lucky nature and positive mindset allow them to bounce back from the direst of circumstances, from disasters, from wars, and surely from today's global situation.

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Questions, comments or suggestions? Email me: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook or LinkedIn  or visit one of my websites www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com .