Bullies are in your workplaces. They think they can play boss because they are close to the boss. Or that they spread rumors about you and think they can get away with it.

Bullies are in your small circle of friends. Oh, the guy who’s very good at manipulating your emotions, making you submit to his or her every demand.

And yes, bullies also exist in the business world. The big businesses who tries to threaten those small entrepreneurs with law suits because they think their bullying will shake their principles. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about.

People like these have a “high school hang-up syndrome”. They think everyday is high school, but no, apparently this is now the real world. Where people are learned. Stronger. Confident. Principled.

I don’t know. Maybe this is just my “Glee” marathon hangover. Or maybe I’m just tired of being bullied around. But I believe that bullies will not exist if we all refuse to be bullied. Stand your ground. Stand by your principles. Even if it will make some few broken relationships. Or broken business deals. Or broken meals.

As author Ellen White says (I can’t believe I’m quoting her), “The world needs men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall”.

You are the reason why bullies exist

Let me write a quick note about LifeChurch Makati‘s last preview experience this Sunday.

We’re excited for this Sunday’s Preview Experience. This is our last chance to “tighten the screws” so to speak as we near our official launch on May 16.

This Sunday, we’re going to enjoy and be blessed with high energy worship and going to be challenged spiritually by Craig Groeschel’s message lifted from his recently released book “Christian Atheist”. If you’re planning to come, I promise you, after this event, you’re life will never be the same again.

Here’s the Facebook invite page. Bring your friends and your family members. The experience starts at exactly 10:45 am at Glorietta 4, Cinema 4 in Makati. Come earlier so we can have some more chats before the experience.

“I will buy an iPad because I love Apple”

“I will become a call center agent after I graduate, that’s the fastest way to having a career after I graduate”

“I need to go abroad, my family needs money to live”

“I have been attending this church since I was born. Why would I try others that they say would benefit me?”

Form or goal?

In buying a gadget, the form are brands, the goal is usability.

In establishing a career, the form is your job, the goal is being able to use your unique passion in pursuing the kind of work designed for you.

In relationships and family, the form is job security, the goal is love and togetherness.

In worship, the form is a church, the goal is God

In making decisions, the forms are almost always given emphasis. But in the long run, if we focus on the goal rather than the form, it produces short term pains and long term gains.

So, what are you waiting for? Ask me anything!

Both men possess the values of a modern day hero. Both have given a unique contribution to the world through their extraordinary passion in their respective fields. Both have given the country honor and glory in the midst of sad news on rampant government corruption, election violence and perceived hopelessness of the people. They both gave us someone to look up to.

For the ordinary person that we are, though, can we become heroes ourselves? Do we need to be extraordinary athletes, or super genius academe, or someone who possess a great idea no one else has thought of? Do you need to work abroad just so you can be call the “modern-day hero”?

Do you need to die for your country to be called a hero?

I know you know the answer. I’m going to state the obvious. As simple, ordinary as you are, you can and I can be heroes.

You are the only father who can raise your children well — be the best father you can be for them. You can be the best spouse to your better half — grow your relationship. Your business, small as it is, can make a difference — be honest to your employees and to your clients. Your company hired you because they believe in what you can do for its growth — be the best employee that you can be.

God has given us a special mission unique for each of us. Nobody can do it but you. (Sounds like a dance song to me!) You don’t need to be extraordinary to be a hero. You are a hero if you do your part in this society. Honor Manny and Efren — but most of all, look at the mirror and ask yourself how you can be like them, an everyday life hero for your family, your friends, your loved ones, your company, your country.

This week, we jumped to cloud hosting, abandoning (well, about to) our VPS server hosting. Cloud hosting is, as I learned, the future of web hosting. For about a month, I’ve investigated Rackspace Cloud and I’m trilled to be migrating our entire business to them. I’m seeing a whole lot of new business opportunities with this move — something that I will try to announce later when it’s ready.

Here are my initial impressions with Rackspace Cloud:

1. Their Fanatical Support is rock solid awesome. Some hosting companies offer email support. They offer 24/7 chat and telephone support. I’ve been chatting with their staff each time I have questions. And they’ve been helpful. There’s nothing like knowing you have real people on stand by if you need help.

2. I’ve been transferring huge sites. Since they don’t allow shell access, I gzip my files, have them download it, and unzip it to my account. Pretty helpful.

3. This I still have to confirm: you can register domains through them for $10/year. I am about to register a bunch of .cc domain to which GoDaddy sells at $19/year and NameCheap at $29/year. Their support staff said, any kind of domain costs $10/year. If this is true, how cool would that be? Still have to confirm again, though. :)

All in all, the experience is pleasant. It’s kinda pricey at $100/mo. if you’re hosting just a domain or two. The solution’s primarily for web application/web development businesses. But, that’s why we’re coming up with a solution so you too can experience the cloud ;-)

Its going to be an exciting ride!

Here’s the acceptance speech he delivered.

Maraming maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat. Magandang tanghali po. Happy Holidays to our Muslim brothers.

Salamat, Noynoy, sa tiwalang ipinagkaloob mo sa akin. Salamat sa karangalang maging kasama mo sa paglilingkod sa bayan. Thank you for this opportunity to work with you as we raise the banner of reform. Thank you for the privilege of joining you and all our kababayans in the fight for decency and integrity in public service, and for a government that puts the people’s interest first.

Taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang hamon na isulong ang tunay na reporma sa ating bansa.

Taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang responsibilidad na maging kabalikat ni Noynoy sa kanyang laban para sa pagbabago.

Taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang maging katambal ni Noynoy Aquino.

But this fight is not just about Noynoy and me. It’s bigger than the two of us, it is bigger than the Liberal Party. It is about our collective thirst for change.

It is about our thirst for change finally overcoming those who want to continue the tayu-tayo system, the horse-trading, the greed, the self-interest, the transactional politics that has been the biggest roadblock to progress and prosperity for all.

Tungkol ito sa matuwid laban sa baluktot. Tungkol ito sa tapat laban sa tiwali. Tungkol ito sa tama laban sa mali.

Noy, you have raised the banner. Ito ang bandila ng reporma at pag-asa. Ito ang maglalagay ng pagkain sa mesa, dahil hindi na nanakawin ang pondo ng mga magsasaka. Ito ang magbibigay ng trabaho sa taumbayan, dahil hindi na kokotangan ang mga namumuhunan. Ito ang magpapaabot-kaya sa presyo ng gamot, dahil hindi na makikipagsabwatan sa mga abusadong pharmaceutical companies.

My friends, this is going to be a tough battle. We should not be lulled into complacency. We are up against forces who will fight tooth and nail, fair and unfair, legal and illegal, against us. Sa kanila yata, tuloy ang ligaya; sa atin naman, tuloy ang laban.

Kailangan nating isulong ang bandila ni Noy at ng reporma. Mahirap ang laban na ito, pero nasa kamay natin ang ating kapalaran.

Kung bawat araw, ang bawat isa sa atin ay makahimok ng isa pang kasangga natin, tiyak ang ating tagumpay.

Our opponents will exhaust all avenues in order to win. They have been robbing us for so long, and they want to continue robbing us. Pero hindi tayo papayag na manakaw din nila ang ating pag-asa.

Taglay ni Noynoy ang susi ng pagbabago: matapat na puso, malasakit sa kapwa, at pinakamahalaga, pagmamahal sa bayan. Buong-loob kong isinusulong si Noynoy Aquino. I am honored to join him in this field of battle.

To all of us here in this hall and all across this great nation, who are fighting alongside him, make no mistake about it: We will not back down from this fight, not now, not ever.

The fog of cynicism has already lifted from our hearts. Ngayon, puwede na muling mangarap.

Sama-sama tayo. Hindi namin kayo pababayaan. Lalaban tayo!

Let’s see if this intensifies the debate. Election time is coming and we expect people to be actively involved in the discussion. And of course, take note of those controversial posts against cults and their leaders. My “Iglesia ni Cristo” post has been the most popular post in the past few weeks. I’ve got to post most on this type for extra visitor juices, eh!

Why don’t you try the plug in by posting a “Hi, this is cool!” post below?

In family, if you want to be fruitful as a parent or a spouse, focus. There’s a lot of things that needs to be done. But learn how to give importance to what’s important and learn how to disregard the less important.

In business, I’m a firm believer of focus. While some may say that diversification is the way to go, I’d say focus on your core business and everything else follows. I know of a client that invested a lot in a project, only to abandon it because he got distracted by his other businesses.

And hey, I’m in a web application software business — notice the trend? We’re seeing simple, focused software over-powering the Microsoft-ish, “full featured” ones.

Here’s the principle: Do more by doing less. Focus on what’s important and useful. Applicable to all aspects of life, eh!?