Talent Is Not Enough

I saw a lot of young people OVERFLOWING with talents and ambition.

Little did they know that talent and ambition were not enough. Over time because of unhealthy habits, they start LEAKING ... wait till they squandered the opportunities that were given and prepared for them in a silver platter.

They are into vices - smoking, drugs, wine, and women. They think ... they are here only for a good time ... and that the good time is forever. They want to savor the good time till it is gone.

Somebody has to teach them responsibility, sensitivity, perseverance, and tenacity. They also need direction, honesty, and discipline. 

Whatever little successes they made at the start of their career ... it was a forewarning ... a mini preview of bad and worst things cascading right before our very eyes.

Happy Father's Day

To the first man we ever loved, Happy Father's Day! Let's give them the "king treatment" that they deserve
 

I Love You Dad

 “Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, the not yet dads, the stepdads, the moms who are dad, the adoptive dads, the grandads, and the dads who are no longer with us.” UNKNOWN

Pride - A Capital Sin

When you have done something awful, just admit that you were wrong. Everybody makes mistakes ... so why carry the burden  ... and distress yourself?

I could not fathom why somebody has to go that length to lie ... or straighten up a situation and make it appear that a WRONG thing is RIGHT.  

Does it bother you that somebody will discover that you can also make mistakes? And that you have to keep and hide it ... to make yourself feel better? 

Or is it your PRIDE ... or your low self-esteem dictating "You need to fib and save face ... retain respect ... or you will be humiliated!"

I would rather cut to the chase and start to accept my mistakes.  It is a tough act when you start spewing lies ... and the next person will come asking the same question ... don't tell me you are going to lie again?  In the process ... you became a serial liar all your life.

This a vicious cycle ... and it needs to stop! PRIDE is the root of all evil. Pride will force you to vacillate and go to extremes. In the far right, pride will either demand you will wear that mask all the time or you make the facade as strong as it can be ... to avoid humiliation. If you waver, on the far left ... pride will make you get cloistered ... or you decided to enter a nunnery (seclusion) just so you will not be exposed.

Or worse... the pride in you will dictate that you will not talk to your family ... lest they will say something that doesn't match your idea of getting a pep talk. You shield yourself from these sermons and in turn, you feel disgusted about yourself, how you allowed your pride to consume you ... and made you become the monster that you are now. 

See what pride can do? Don't feel into the trap ... and for crying out loud ... refuse its invitation.

Nothing New

I remember the time my neighbor introduces her children to her friends. 

"Ito si Susan ... maganda siya di ba? At si Natalie ... maganda rin." 

Pagdating kay Maricel ... mabilis ang kambiyo ... biglang liko.  "At ito naman si Maricel ... mabait yan!" 

Direchahan Na

Earning honestly means earning money in an honorable and legitimate way, typically through one's hard work.

There is such a thing as the dignity of labor ... a philosophical holding that all types of jobs are respected equally ... no occupation is considered superior or inferior ... and no people should be discriminated against as successful or non-successful ... or lowly or highly regarded ... on the basis of the color of his skin or its texture.

I have been working in America in the confines of air-conditioned operating rooms (away from the blistering UV effects of the sun) and when I go home for vacation in the Philippines, I spent hours of sun exposure ... giving me the chocolate sun-kissed color.  

Some friends call me crazy for doing that reciting to me some litany of memes and one of those is "nasa carpet ka na ... gusto mo pang bumalik sa banig ..." But I ignored them.

Believe me ... I really appreciate our farmers, construction workers, and all works requiring a lot of sun exposure.  Some people call their jobs dirty, lowly, and menial. But haven't we paused for a while and asked ourselves, who is going to give us rice or vegetable or sugar for our coffee if all of us are doctors, nurses, lawyers, or office workers?

Makati and Taguig will not look that dreamy without construction workers, carpenters, and masonry brick workers.  Who is going to keep our street clean without MMDA street sweepers? And traffic will jam EDSA without traffic enforcers around.

Indeed their jobs require them to brush with filth and squalor ... and their work is regarded as low-grade, blue-collared, and servile. But one thing is sure ... though their work is hard they are very proud to say they earned their hard-earned money thru the honest route ... compared to politicians and drug lords who looked too noble and crisp in their barong ... but people talk behind their back ... the ways and means they earned their money to feed their children ... and clothe them with nothing but the best.

A Sorry State

When the TV Patrol showed us the image of Roxas Boulevard overrun with waste ... the morning after every storm, and the inner bowel of the West Philippines Sea regurgitating its toxic industrial debris to the surface ... our natural reaction is a jaw-dropping shock that makes one numb or stupefied.

It showed us a city in decay and the environmental pollutants saying HELLO while we take our breakfast ... it mirrors how public services occupy the lowest on the ladder of the city's priorities.

The idea of a dirty city is everyone's business ... and if sidewalk cleaning is an indicator of good governance then the powers that be at  Manila City Hall should be embarrassed as the city always pales in comparison... vis a vis other Philippine cities. 

After super typhoon Mawar or Betty ... expect the same synopsis and storyline ... when Manila Bay's insides will puke and barf the same nauseating and unsightly trash and rubbish this side of Roxas Boulevard.

Direchahan Na

I agree! Huwag matigas ang ulo! At huwag kang mukhang pera.  Peace of mind muna ... before anything else ... not even the call money will be enough reason and justification ... for the truckload of grief ... when you can't resist the lure of easy money.