Trying for a Come Back

It's been five months since I last updated this blog.  I almost forgot how this works.  My personal goal of at least one post per week is way too off. Right now, I really don't have anything particular to write.

May I just tell you some stories of the past five months?  I promise it won't be that long.  On second thought, please, just allow me to share this wonderful experience, among many others, that happened to me during that period.  

April, that's when I received an invitation to do a presentation for a teaching post in one of our local colleges in the province.  I gave it a shot with high hopes that my application will be approved.  That experience was both exciting and frightening.  Exciting because I believed that it could be the start of a career that I always dream of.  Frightening because I wanted it to be perfect.  I want that job.  I really do.

Fast forward to June...  I found myself in front of 22 young aspiring CPAs.  My first formal class.  My first batch of students.  I couldn't help but smile as I remember my self during my own school days.  It was 1:00 in the afternoon and for the next three hours that I stood in front of these young individuals, I still couldn't believe that I was delivering the lecture that could possibly change the course of their lives forever.

My day didn't end with that "first" three hours.  It was just the beginning. There's another three hours waiting for me... The thought that for six hours each Saturday of the next four months, I will be doing this thrilled me.  I have another reason to wake-up early on a Saturday.

Now I understand why there are people who fall in love with teaching so much, again and again.  It's a different kind of fulfilling experience.  Not only it makes you feel good, it inspires you be better than your previous best because it is not your future that's at stake but of those young minds who put their hopes in you.

For the past four months, I always pray that I have given justice to this noble profession.  This is no longer about my dreams or ambitions, this is about my students' future.

I used to say that when the time comes that I will have to retire from the corporate world, I will spend the rest of my life teaching (of course, that's aside from being a husband, a father and a grandfather).  But now that I have reached and experienced that dream, I think I want to do it forever.

With this experience, I learn to appreciate more the sacrifices, the pains and the patience that my previous mentors had shown me.

To all my mentors, 

...Who are worthy of more than just praise from this humble space in the world wide web, I salute you all! Thank you and may God grant you longer days of peace, happiness and wisdom. 

-Your eternal student.

 

Disconnect to Connect

Facebook statuses. Tweets. Updates.  Everyone nowadays knows what you are up to, where you are going, what you are doing, what your likes are, what your dinner is, who your enemies and friends are.  Sometimes, when I think about these things, I feel like people are giving up their privacy, either unknowingly or unintentionally.

We are now living in a very "connected" world, as they say; this is what commercialism has been teaching us since the advent of phones, mobile devices, PDAs, and internet.

But, take a look around you.  Gone were the days when you would have to set aside a whole weekend to meet your relatives living somewhere far from home.  No longer do friends send letters through snail mails.  Mr. Postman no longer walks around the neighborhood to give you the letters you've been expecting for a week.  Going out for a walk or a nice talk under the moon can now be done by the use of internet.  (Where's the thrill of holding each other's hand in there?) Love letters became "wall messages" and tweets.

It is true that communication has been way, way faster these days than it was decades ago.  It truly made our lives easier.  We can do more things because information are shared faster.  We became more efficient.  But like any other things, use in excess is not good.  In a very connected world, we're losing the "human" touch.

Which would you prefer, someone telling you directly, face to face, how beautiful you are or simply commenting on your profile picture?  Which is more exciting for you, the sound of your mobile phone when you receive a text message or when you tear that sealed envelope to open that letter?  You did a good job at work, would like to received a "good job" message from your boss's email or a pat on the back coming from him?  I know it's really cute watching your baby kiss the screen of the phone or computer whenever you talked to her. But how about letting those sweet little lips touch your cheeks and her little arms thrown around your neck after a hard day's work?

I am not saying that these modern devices are bad or evil.  I am not saying that we should go back to sticks and stones, bamboos and tree leaves to communicate.  Technology is gonna be here with us for a very a long time, even after we're gone.  But what I am trying to say here is something you already know. That is, it is not true that if you disconnect from these devices and gadgets, you will be living a disconnected life.  Instead, it may just be the opposite.

Try to disconnect from your "world" for a short time, say for a day, and see how much changes it could give you.  You will have more time to attend to other "manual" things.  You can have time to go out, feel the sunshine upon your skin, feel the breeze touching your face, yes, even the dust and smokes of the city, you'll feel them once again.  But more importantly, you will feel again how to be connected with "real" people.  Can you still remember how it feels to laugh with your friends, be smiled upon and smile to a stranger you meet in the street?  Take a day away from your "connected" world and get real connection with the people that matters to you the most.  Re-connect with nature and see how you may be re-energized by the silence of the woods or the beach or the rushing waters of the rivers.

"What if I missed important things while I'm disconnected to the world?" you may ask.  Let me answer that with a question too, "Aren't you already missing the most important things in life?"

As I have said, these things are gonna be here for a long time.  Tomorrow, they may have different looks and names, but they will still be here.  How about your family, your friends, your neighbors, people you love... are they gonna be here forever?

You know all these things already.  I am just here to remind you.  And as I remind you, through this "connected" world of the world wide web, I hope that I have made a little contribution for you to BE MORE and LIVE THE GOOD LIFE.

Courage in Giving Up

"Winners never quit and quitters never win."

Yes, yes, I know you've heard that line million times already.

If you think life is a battle, well, then, "maybe" you are on the right path if you think that quitting is synonymous with losing.

But let me tell you something...

Life is not a battle. It is not a game. Here is my take on that matter.  In a game (or a battle), there is always a winner and a loser.  Very seldom are "draws."  But such is not in life.  We all know that we could all be winners in this life. We have the every right and the capacity to be winners.  People who believe otherwise either do not believe in God or believe that God is biased - favoring some over the others.

Life is not always about taking chances but rather making choices.  It is not always the survival of the strongest but that of the fittest.  Those who survive are not necessarily the strongest, most of the times it is the one who knows how to adapt well.

Life is a about making decisions.  Lots of it.  You don't have to be the strongest, you only need to know where to put your strengths.

If your circumstances seems unfavorable, does it mean you have to end up the loser?  Of course not.  So what you do is turn things around.  And more often than not, what seemed unfavorable will eventually turned to become a happy ending.  Would you say because you have been more favored or stronger or smarter that you've succeeded?  Do you mean that others are less favored, weaker and dumb?  Then you are showing impartiality and for me, it doesn't make sense celebrating in such kind of success or victory in life.

As you can see my friend, life is an adventure of ups and downs.  Success and failures.  But at the end of it all, it is not what we went through but what we learned that truly matters.  There are things that are simply inevitable, and there are things we should rather accept than fight.

Not because you have been doing, enjoying or getting things your way for the longest time it means that that could not end.  No matter how great things maybe, there will always be a certain point in time where it will have to end, or less painful, change. And more often than not, it is really difficult to let go of things you've learned to love - things that became part of yourself.

But do not despair. What may seemed to be an end could only be the start of a new beginning.  So when life is pushing you very, very hard and you've done your very best, but still things are going the opposite way, think again.  Maybe the perfect thing for you is to simply "throw in the towel."  Yes, there's nothing wrong with quitting.  Let me repeat that, there's nothing wrong with quitting.  What's wrong is to keep on doing things that doesn't make sense anymore.  Addictions to material things, procrastination, lack of discipline and the likes, these are things worth giving up.  Continuous self-pity and self-hatred should not linger for too long.  Surrender these things.  It is better to give up than to give in.

I don't want to sound like a preacher here because I'm not.  I know you know that deep within you there are things worth surrendering, worth giving up.  Don't try to fight it on your own.  You don't have to prove how strong you are.  God knows how much capable you are to conquer every trials you are facing.  He created you.  And as much as He know how able you are, He simply wants you to realize that like opening a treasure chest, you have to find the perfect key.  And that key could only be found in Him - when you surrender to Him.

Friends, if you dare accept to give up these things, you should know to whom you should surrender.  Surrender only to the One who can make you even more victories - God.

So, what are those things that you think you really have to let go?  Lift them up to God. Surrender to Him and be even more victorious.  It is time to lighten your loads, BE MORE and Life the Good Life.