Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
~ by Marianne Williamson, as heard in Coach Carter
Friday
2011 and here we go! :- )
Wednesday
memo to memo
You have in your midst one of the top 10 brightest students I have ever for the past 10 years. As to why you only have the character-building Convergence and the hastily prepared bulletin board as your "obvious" projects is worrisome.
Don't hate me for calling you out. It had to be done.
Why are you not expanding your talents and your capabilities when you have this opportunity? Don't you know that only a few are given this chance to lead and to have this first-hand understanding of what it means to lead?
Are you tired with the failures that seem to pile up faster than successes? The destructive side comments that never seem to stop?
Wake up. Life is hard. Life is difficult. These very difficulties are your ticket to be better. Learn how to deal with it. ALL that came before you faced the very thing you are facing. The path to knowing what it means to lead excuses no one. EVERYBODY goes through the SAME path.
Don't be like others who hid and became apathetic. And don't go using alcohol. Worse, using drugs. And even worst, using another person and pretend you are in love :) Don't you know that love, the true one, is the most difficult of them all? Haven't you heard that love is patient? Why do you think it has to be patient? It has to be patient because the other party has to grow up and you have to wait. Is waiting easy? Is it? Is it easy for a girl when she is madly in love with a 'torpedo' guy? I don't think so and we are simply in the infatuation stage. And infatuation is only the door to the room called love :)
Guys, most will cower and hide from the avalanche of unexpected responsibilities, difficulties and challenges. But they will not grow. They will not get better. They will be stuck.
But if we continue to fight and embrace the moment, we will get smarter. Not IQ smarter but street smart smarter. We will see and understand human nature. Its bad side and its good side. We will know how to navigate these waters. No book can tell us this. It's too complicated to write. We have to walk the path. Get bloodied. Lick our wounds. Cry tears. And utter some heartfelt prayers, too.
But I tell you and I promise you - you will get better. And you will give yourselves a pricing leverage over the other graduates when it comes to job hunting. They can only show a diploma while you have invaluably differentiated yourself.
But you have to show up. Carry on.
I looked at the bulletin board over the past months. A bulletin board that I still do not know if it is already finished :) I saw your pictures and the thing that entered my mind are these questions - what are they trying to say from the pictures? That they are aspiring models? I mean, they are student leaders? Is that not good enough? Or are they confused and they think that to be a student leader they have to project a "winter of discontent" look?
If you are confused, go back to the reason why we put up Memo in the first place. Go back to that time when you approached me in the Library more than a year ago and shared to me this noble burden. Go back to that. Once you remember that. You will know what to do next.
Have a meaningful 2011, Memo-philes! Or would you rather prefer Memo-bots? :)
Don't hate me for calling you out. It had to be done.
Why are you not expanding your talents and your capabilities when you have this opportunity? Don't you know that only a few are given this chance to lead and to have this first-hand understanding of what it means to lead?
Are you tired with the failures that seem to pile up faster than successes? The destructive side comments that never seem to stop?
Wake up. Life is hard. Life is difficult. These very difficulties are your ticket to be better. Learn how to deal with it. ALL that came before you faced the very thing you are facing. The path to knowing what it means to lead excuses no one. EVERYBODY goes through the SAME path.
Don't be like others who hid and became apathetic. And don't go using alcohol. Worse, using drugs. And even worst, using another person and pretend you are in love :) Don't you know that love, the true one, is the most difficult of them all? Haven't you heard that love is patient? Why do you think it has to be patient? It has to be patient because the other party has to grow up and you have to wait. Is waiting easy? Is it? Is it easy for a girl when she is madly in love with a 'torpedo' guy? I don't think so and we are simply in the infatuation stage. And infatuation is only the door to the room called love :)
Guys, most will cower and hide from the avalanche of unexpected responsibilities, difficulties and challenges. But they will not grow. They will not get better. They will be stuck.
But if we continue to fight and embrace the moment, we will get smarter. Not IQ smarter but street smart smarter. We will see and understand human nature. Its bad side and its good side. We will know how to navigate these waters. No book can tell us this. It's too complicated to write. We have to walk the path. Get bloodied. Lick our wounds. Cry tears. And utter some heartfelt prayers, too.
But I tell you and I promise you - you will get better. And you will give yourselves a pricing leverage over the other graduates when it comes to job hunting. They can only show a diploma while you have invaluably differentiated yourself.
But you have to show up. Carry on.
I looked at the bulletin board over the past months. A bulletin board that I still do not know if it is already finished :) I saw your pictures and the thing that entered my mind are these questions - what are they trying to say from the pictures? That they are aspiring models? I mean, they are student leaders? Is that not good enough? Or are they confused and they think that to be a student leader they have to project a "winter of discontent" look?
If you are confused, go back to the reason why we put up Memo in the first place. Go back to that time when you approached me in the Library more than a year ago and shared to me this noble burden. Go back to that. Once you remember that. You will know what to do next.
Have a meaningful 2011, Memo-philes! Or would you rather prefer Memo-bots? :)
Are they always better?
I grew up in Tundo. Played tumbang preso, langit-lupa, taguan-pong, patintero, teks and basketball in her streets. She was also a witness to my juvenile fist-fights :)
Her streets trained me before I entered school at age of six.
I went to public school.
By the time I was in Grade 3, I was given the opportunity to "jump" to Grade 5. They called it acceleration then. I spent my last two elementary years, still, at a public school. I went to General Maximino Hizon Elementary School. This is about a 30 minute commute ride from where I lived at 5:45AM. I was part of, then, Ministry of Education's Special Education program.
For the next two years, my section was "AC". No, it wasn't for Alternating Current. It was for "accelerated". We were housed at a wing called Silahis ng Diwa. For two years, my mind was shaped and formed by Sir Jordan, Ma'am Filoteo, Ma'am Borre, Ma'am Matias, Ma'am Beldas and Sir Terrado.
After graduation, I spent my high school in a private school. Nanay enrolled me at Colegio de San Juan de Letran. The school where my older brother, Elisalde, was enrolled too. I was one of the three "outsiders" who joined the freshmen Blessed Liem dela Paz section of June 1986.
Then, I was off to Mapua to take and to eventually finish a BS Industrial Engineering degree and then after seven years, got a graduate degree at De La Salle University.
And while I was finishing my graduate degree, I had the chance to go around the Philippines, visit some business hubs in Asia and be a part of multi-racial teams. I stayed long after the novelty "of being part of a multi-racial teams" had worn off :)
There's much to be learned from the West and from the first world countries. Just reading and studying their journey is already a treasure trove.
But I find it weird and a bit disturbing that most of us, Filipinos, more often than not accept that what they have, what they do and what they think is always better than what we have, what we do and what we think.
This is dangerous now and more so for the next generation.
Just take for example, diet.
Any country who has assimilated and adapted an American diet will have and will suffer diseases like heart attacks, obesity, diabetes and cancer. The American economic system and its corresponding healthcare system, no matter how broken it is now, can manage these diseases. But can the Philippine healthcare system handle such burden since our diet is very close to being American? Think Jollibee. Think McDonald's :)
Do we fully understand the danger behind the 'power' of nitrites?
Why can't we improve our supply chain of fresh vegetables, of fresh fruits, of fresh poultry, of fresh meat and of fresh fish so that we do not have to use nitrites?
I mean, the Philippines is literally smaller than the United States of America. Why can't we teach or allow our future supply chain designers with developing a supply chain map for Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao or simply just for MiMaRoPa? :)
Is it that hard to create a supply chain map for the Philippines that we are fine with studying the supply chain genius of Amazon.com?
Why do we limit our study to that?
Are we more impressed with the discussion of Amazon.com's or of Spain's Zara supply chain rather than the creative process of developing a supply chain for the Philippines that might actually help in improving the lives of millions of rural Filipinos because the apt infrastructure was made?
How about this.
Is there any American or Western practice that we can assimilate, since we love assimilating and adapting Western practices, that can handle the liver-disease time bomb because of the frequently-changed sleeping patterns of BPO workers?
The United States of America and Europe do not have this 'situation' at this magnitude and scale. Only the recipient countries, like the Philippines, of outsource work has this problem. Will insurance be enough?
Is there anything an Industrial Engineer can do? How about the Engineering Management graduate who majored in Service Management? Can he do something?
Or is he waiting for someone from America or Europe to write a research paper on it so that he can simply assimilate it? Copy it? Do I hear and smell OT? Sure pass? :)
Are they always better?
Always? That even if the problem is right before our eyes we wait for them to tell us what we should do?
Or are we simply afraid? Afraid to make a mistake that we let "them" commit it first, let them perfect it and then we copy. By that, we will always be shiny and happy people. Always correct. Always certain.
We could do that. And we are doing just that. But that also proves that we are afraid and irresponsible.
I grew up in Tundo. Played tumbang preso, langit-lupa, taguan-pong, patintero, teks and basketball in her streets. She was also a witness to my juvenile fist-fights :)
"... why think like mere men?"
Her streets trained me before I entered school at age of six.
I went to public school.
By the time I was in Grade 3, I was given the opportunity to "jump" to Grade 5. They called it acceleration then. I spent my last two elementary years, still, at a public school. I went to General Maximino Hizon Elementary School. This is about a 30 minute commute ride from where I lived at 5:45AM. I was part of, then, Ministry of Education's Special Education program.
For the next two years, my section was "AC". No, it wasn't for Alternating Current. It was for "accelerated". We were housed at a wing called Silahis ng Diwa. For two years, my mind was shaped and formed by Sir Jordan, Ma'am Filoteo, Ma'am Borre, Ma'am Matias, Ma'am Beldas and Sir Terrado.
After graduation, I spent my high school in a private school. Nanay enrolled me at Colegio de San Juan de Letran. The school where my older brother, Elisalde, was enrolled too. I was one of the three "outsiders" who joined the freshmen Blessed Liem dela Paz section of June 1986.
Then, I was off to Mapua to take and to eventually finish a BS Industrial Engineering degree and then after seven years, got a graduate degree at De La Salle University.
And while I was finishing my graduate degree, I had the chance to go around the Philippines, visit some business hubs in Asia and be a part of multi-racial teams. I stayed long after the novelty "of being part of a multi-racial teams" had worn off :)
There's much to be learned from the West and from the first world countries. Just reading and studying their journey is already a treasure trove.
But I find it weird and a bit disturbing that most of us, Filipinos, more often than not accept that what they have, what they do and what they think is always better than what we have, what we do and what we think.
This is dangerous now and more so for the next generation.
Just take for example, diet.
Any country who has assimilated and adapted an American diet will have and will suffer diseases like heart attacks, obesity, diabetes and cancer. The American economic system and its corresponding healthcare system, no matter how broken it is now, can manage these diseases. But can the Philippine healthcare system handle such burden since our diet is very close to being American? Think Jollibee. Think McDonald's :)
Do we fully understand the danger behind the 'power' of nitrites?
Why can't we improve our supply chain of fresh vegetables, of fresh fruits, of fresh poultry, of fresh meat and of fresh fish so that we do not have to use nitrites?
I mean, the Philippines is literally smaller than the United States of America. Why can't we teach or allow our future supply chain designers with developing a supply chain map for Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao or simply just for MiMaRoPa? :)
Is it that hard to create a supply chain map for the Philippines that we are fine with studying the supply chain genius of Amazon.com?
Why do we limit our study to that?
Are we more impressed with the discussion of Amazon.com's or of Spain's Zara supply chain rather than the creative process of developing a supply chain for the Philippines that might actually help in improving the lives of millions of rural Filipinos because the apt infrastructure was made?
How about this.
Is there any American or Western practice that we can assimilate, since we love assimilating and adapting Western practices, that can handle the liver-disease time bomb because of the frequently-changed sleeping patterns of BPO workers?
The United States of America and Europe do not have this 'situation' at this magnitude and scale. Only the recipient countries, like the Philippines, of outsource work has this problem. Will insurance be enough?
Is there anything an Industrial Engineer can do? How about the Engineering Management graduate who majored in Service Management? Can he do something?
Or is he waiting for someone from America or Europe to write a research paper on it so that he can simply assimilate it? Copy it? Do I hear and smell OT? Sure pass? :)
Are they always better?
Always? That even if the problem is right before our eyes we wait for them to tell us what we should do?
Or are we simply afraid? Afraid to make a mistake that we let "them" commit it first, let them perfect it and then we copy. By that, we will always be shiny and happy people. Always correct. Always certain.
We could do that. And we are doing just that. But that also proves that we are afraid and irresponsible.
I grew up in Tundo. Played tumbang preso, langit-lupa, taguan-pong, patintero, teks and basketball in her streets. She was also a witness to my juvenile fist-fights :)
"... why think like mere men?"
Monday
a professor's truest, surest and simplest test to ensure the perpetuity of quality of education in the university where he teaches :)
As a seasoned and battle-tested Industrial Engineer and a Kaizen super freak :), I understand, front and center, the brilliance and the practicality behind the theory of ensuring quality results means ensuring quality processes. I have preached that. And on many occasions, I have been financially blessed preaching and teaching that, too.
Industry, and now academe, had spent millions, if not billions, of Philippine Peso by now since the 80s, getting and holding on to the numerous certification and accreditation. Documents that announce to the whole wide world, to customers, to parents and to students that quality resides here. In this company. Some of this accreditation is nationally recognized. Some, even internationally.
Let me be clear, I am not against quality certification and accreditation. I am all for that. Quality and quality systems is part of my ways to earn a living.
What I am against is when we limit our concept of quality results and quality systems to getting the certification and accreditation.
Here's a question. With the proliferation of "quality", and now of "sustainability" concepts, why would plants and companies still close down? Or why and how could Toyota, the company that spawned Total Quality Management and of Continuous Improvement and who became the largest automaker in world a little over two years ago, be mired in a billion dollar product recall? Or why would Motorola, the company that developed the Six Sigma methodology, be a measly niche player in mobile handsets when they had StarTac (what?) and, more recently, Razr (a reloaded - what?) as early product successes in the, then, new product segments?
Why would they have a fall from grace?
Does a pride-sucking downfall absolutely happens after a glorious victory?
Or is because they are so enamored with winning a battle of being the largest automaker, Toyota, and of launching a great product, Motorola, that they forgot that they are at war?
And in speaking about my context, do I fully understand that getting ALL the valuable accreditation out there is simply one of the battle in a war? And that even if my school wins that battle, it is still in a perpetual war? That victory is not certain for it is still in a "perpetual" war against "pwede na" and against ningas-cogon?
So, with everything that's been said, what now? If my very culture and me very being set me up to fail and to fail miserably - how do I get myself out of this seemingly perpetual rut?
Simple.
But, mind you, this simple does not mean easy.
Ok?
:- )
I think it is better, if we pit our "pwede na" and "ningas cogon" tendencies with our love of family. The very love that drives a Filipino half way across the globe, battling loneliness and whatever, simply to send money home so that the next generation would have a better life.
Add to the many benefits of accreditation, this simple test - will I put my very own child in my own class? In the class of my co-faculty? In the school where I am a faculty? In the very university where I am a faculty?
In the intervention successes I have so far, a common denominator jumps out - a system has to be personal to the personnel involved in order for it to be perpetually successful. And the presence of genuine trust among stakeholders with one another spells a huge and stark difference between a perpetual failure and perpetual success. A huge and stark difference as wide and as obvious as night and day.
Will I have my child get his education at the school where I teach?
"... why think like mere men?"
Industry, and now academe, had spent millions, if not billions, of Philippine Peso by now since the 80s, getting and holding on to the numerous certification and accreditation. Documents that announce to the whole wide world, to customers, to parents and to students that quality resides here. In this company. Some of this accreditation is nationally recognized. Some, even internationally.
Let me be clear, I am not against quality certification and accreditation. I am all for that. Quality and quality systems is part of my ways to earn a living.
What I am against is when we limit our concept of quality results and quality systems to getting the certification and accreditation.
Here's a question. With the proliferation of "quality", and now of "sustainability" concepts, why would plants and companies still close down? Or why and how could Toyota, the company that spawned Total Quality Management and of Continuous Improvement and who became the largest automaker in world a little over two years ago, be mired in a billion dollar product recall? Or why would Motorola, the company that developed the Six Sigma methodology, be a measly niche player in mobile handsets when they had StarTac (what?) and, more recently, Razr (a reloaded - what?) as early product successes in the, then, new product segments?
Why would they have a fall from grace?
Does a pride-sucking downfall absolutely happens after a glorious victory?
Or is because they are so enamored with winning a battle of being the largest automaker, Toyota, and of launching a great product, Motorola, that they forgot that they are at war?
And in speaking about my context, do I fully understand that getting ALL the valuable accreditation out there is simply one of the battle in a war? And that even if my school wins that battle, it is still in a perpetual war? That victory is not certain for it is still in a "perpetual" war against "pwede na" and against ningas-cogon?
So, with everything that's been said, what now? If my very culture and me very being set me up to fail and to fail miserably - how do I get myself out of this seemingly perpetual rut?
Simple.
But, mind you, this simple does not mean easy.
Ok?
:- )
I think it is better, if we pit our "pwede na" and "ningas cogon" tendencies with our love of family. The very love that drives a Filipino half way across the globe, battling loneliness and whatever, simply to send money home so that the next generation would have a better life.
Add to the many benefits of accreditation, this simple test - will I put my very own child in my own class? In the class of my co-faculty? In the school where I am a faculty? In the very university where I am a faculty?
In the intervention successes I have so far, a common denominator jumps out - a system has to be personal to the personnel involved in order for it to be perpetually successful. And the presence of genuine trust among stakeholders with one another spells a huge and stark difference between a perpetual failure and perpetual success. A huge and stark difference as wide and as obvious as night and day.
Will I have my child get his education at the school where I teach?
"... why think like mere men?"
Wednesday
sure pass' sure curse :)
I have a bad feeling about the concept of "sure pass" or SP.
Don't get me wrong, I fully understand and sympathized, how one could be enticed by the allure of a "sure pass" for I was also once a 'confused' student, too.
But I am glad I found out the certainty of danger behind SP sooner rather than later :)
You see, we are actually emasculating ourselves and making our future dimmer if we limit our appreciation of "sure pass" only to the tempting immediate and never consider its 'difficult to see' effects to our mindset, to our being and to our career opportunities.
Here's the thing. All actions and decisions have results - a blessing or a consequence. What we consider as the 'shortcut' is actually the long way and what we consider as the long way is actually the 'shortcut' :)
Believe me. It is.
Life offers only two paths when it comes to these things. The path is either "suffer now and enjoy later" or "enjoy now and suffer later".
Serious. It is.
The truth is life does not become easier as we age. It gets harder. More difficult. Challenging :)
The more we look for and enjoy 'sure pass', the more we are preparing our lives to suffer even more as life rolls on.
The challenges we face are actually the hidden stepping stones and the keys that prepares us for our future. The more difficulties and challenges we overcome, the better it is for us. The more opportunities we open up for ourselves.
Serious. It is.
To clarify, let me ask - does a college basketball team become better by playing with elementary basketball teams?
I mean, they will surely win. Consistently. An SP. But did they get better? Did they prepare themselves to become champions?
And if we relate this to economics, how much do you think an MVP in the championship team gets paid? And how much more does he earn compared to the MVP of a so-so team?
Or how much does a Kobe Bryant earn compared to the best PBA player?
Are you getting me now?
You see. We get better by the challenges we faced. By the difficulties we faced. We give ourselves a pricing leverage with the market by the very dynamic of difficulties.
This is, I am afraid, why America became America. Why Japan became Japan. Why South Korea became South Korea. And why Singapore became Singapore. Their youth has a different view and appreciation of challenges and of difficulties. To them, difficulties and challenges are a person's best friend. We on the other hand, ensure that we go through life as unhindered, as unscathed and as unchallenged as possible. Waiting and hoping for dole outs, olive branches and every day Christmas :)
"Kung pwedeng lumusot, lulusot :)"
If there's is one thing we want to obliterate in our minds is the infestation of the love affair with SP. SP is "sure pass" but it is "sure paghihirap" in the future, too :)
So, disagree with me. Prove me wrong. Wager your young lives. I hope you're right because, unlike the computer I am using, life has no "undo" button. We live with the consequences of our choices and decisions :) We do not wake up to find ourselves in yesterday. We wake to a tomorrow. It is up to us if it will saddled with consequences or a harvest of blessings.
Choose wisely. It is your life after all :)
"... why think like mere men?"
Don't get me wrong, I fully understand and sympathized, how one could be enticed by the allure of a "sure pass" for I was also once a 'confused' student, too.
But I am glad I found out the certainty of danger behind SP sooner rather than later :)
You see, we are actually emasculating ourselves and making our future dimmer if we limit our appreciation of "sure pass" only to the tempting immediate and never consider its 'difficult to see' effects to our mindset, to our being and to our career opportunities.
Here's the thing. All actions and decisions have results - a blessing or a consequence. What we consider as the 'shortcut' is actually the long way and what we consider as the long way is actually the 'shortcut' :)
Believe me. It is.
Life offers only two paths when it comes to these things. The path is either "suffer now and enjoy later" or "enjoy now and suffer later".
Serious. It is.
The truth is life does not become easier as we age. It gets harder. More difficult. Challenging :)
The more we look for and enjoy 'sure pass', the more we are preparing our lives to suffer even more as life rolls on.
The challenges we face are actually the hidden stepping stones and the keys that prepares us for our future. The more difficulties and challenges we overcome, the better it is for us. The more opportunities we open up for ourselves.
Serious. It is.
To clarify, let me ask - does a college basketball team become better by playing with elementary basketball teams?
I mean, they will surely win. Consistently. An SP. But did they get better? Did they prepare themselves to become champions?
And if we relate this to economics, how much do you think an MVP in the championship team gets paid? And how much more does he earn compared to the MVP of a so-so team?
Or how much does a Kobe Bryant earn compared to the best PBA player?
Are you getting me now?
You see. We get better by the challenges we faced. By the difficulties we faced. We give ourselves a pricing leverage with the market by the very dynamic of difficulties.
This is, I am afraid, why America became America. Why Japan became Japan. Why South Korea became South Korea. And why Singapore became Singapore. Their youth has a different view and appreciation of challenges and of difficulties. To them, difficulties and challenges are a person's best friend. We on the other hand, ensure that we go through life as unhindered, as unscathed and as unchallenged as possible. Waiting and hoping for dole outs, olive branches and every day Christmas :)
"Kung pwedeng lumusot, lulusot :)"
If there's is one thing we want to obliterate in our minds is the infestation of the love affair with SP. SP is "sure pass" but it is "sure paghihirap" in the future, too :)
So, disagree with me. Prove me wrong. Wager your young lives. I hope you're right because, unlike the computer I am using, life has no "undo" button. We live with the consequences of our choices and decisions :) We do not wake up to find ourselves in yesterday. We wake to a tomorrow. It is up to us if it will saddled with consequences or a harvest of blessings.
Choose wisely. It is your life after all :)
"... why think like mere men?"
Saturday
the "3" that is not "pass" but "caution"
They made the cut. The absolutely and certifiable mid-20something college students :)
Though it may seem it is an achievement, it is more of a cautionary sign. A sign that in order for you guys, and you know who you are, to make the cut, an olive branch must grow out of nowhere. And that every day must be Christmas :)
But these olive branches, I fear, and you know this, is getting scarcer as the time goes by. And you know, Christmas comes only once a year :)
Why and how come? It is because, you are getting older. And life is slowly taking you far more seriously than the previous years :)
You are now starting to join in carrying the burden your respective parents (or guardians, as the case maybe) have been carrying around for the longest time. A burden they lovingly carried because of you.
Every time they ask you "matatapos na ba?" or "gaano pa katagal?" is also asking and confirming to themselves "are you ready for life?"
They are slowly shifting some weight towards your shoulders and you are having a knee jerk reaction to this unsettling truth. Because as of the moment, and ever since, life has been fun. Life, as most seasoned human being know, has been shielded from you. And now, you are starting to see what is this life all about - beauty and responsibilities :)
You are now the next in line. Those who came before you, like me, hopefully, prepared you to carry the weight.
How will you respond to life's weight being shifted on to you right now?
Will you accept where you are and who you are, truly? Or will you deny and blame? Point fingers and never own up? Never grow up?
Life is starting to show it side that it can be a burden. A beast of a burden. A burden you have to carry day in and day out. Even if you do not want to :)
And how does it feel knowing that when it comes to life's challenges, you face them alone. Yes, your friends will be there but they can only go so far. And when life throws a challenge, you have to choose and those choices have results and consequences. And those choice, those results and those consequence defines us. They will show to the whole world and to ourselves, hopefully, who we truly are.
Will the answer be that we are brave? or a coward?
Will the answer be that we have honor? That we have self-respect? Or that we are spineless?
Will you stand up? Or hide and pray, or should I say, wish that an olive branch sprouts out of nowhere? That it must be Christmas?
Do you have it in you?
I am just worried that there will come a time, heaven forbid, when it will truly and really matter, you may, sadly and painfully, will not make the cut. And you won't be able to properly process what just happened.
Right now, it may seem that you got lucky. That you are the king :)
In reality and in the grander scheme of things, you may have actually deprived yourselves with knowing the answer to the question - can you truly do it on the sixth try? On the fourth try? The third try? The second? The first?
Can you really do it?
Do you have what it takes?
Are you ready for life?
I am not pulling you down nor am I trying to scare you. I am simply asking.
But everything happens for a reason. My mind is limited. Who am I compared to the Omniscient One? I am a molecule of a dust.
Kudos to you :)
"... why think like mere men?"
Though it may seem it is an achievement, it is more of a cautionary sign. A sign that in order for you guys, and you know who you are, to make the cut, an olive branch must grow out of nowhere. And that every day must be Christmas :)
But these olive branches, I fear, and you know this, is getting scarcer as the time goes by. And you know, Christmas comes only once a year :)
Why and how come? It is because, you are getting older. And life is slowly taking you far more seriously than the previous years :)
You are now starting to join in carrying the burden your respective parents (or guardians, as the case maybe) have been carrying around for the longest time. A burden they lovingly carried because of you.
Every time they ask you "matatapos na ba?" or "gaano pa katagal?" is also asking and confirming to themselves "are you ready for life?"
They are slowly shifting some weight towards your shoulders and you are having a knee jerk reaction to this unsettling truth. Because as of the moment, and ever since, life has been fun. Life, as most seasoned human being know, has been shielded from you. And now, you are starting to see what is this life all about - beauty and responsibilities :)
You are now the next in line. Those who came before you, like me, hopefully, prepared you to carry the weight.
How will you respond to life's weight being shifted on to you right now?
Will you accept where you are and who you are, truly? Or will you deny and blame? Point fingers and never own up? Never grow up?
Life is starting to show it side that it can be a burden. A beast of a burden. A burden you have to carry day in and day out. Even if you do not want to :)
And how does it feel knowing that when it comes to life's challenges, you face them alone. Yes, your friends will be there but they can only go so far. And when life throws a challenge, you have to choose and those choices have results and consequences. And those choice, those results and those consequence defines us. They will show to the whole world and to ourselves, hopefully, who we truly are.
Will the answer be that we are brave? or a coward?
Will the answer be that we have honor? That we have self-respect? Or that we are spineless?
Will you stand up? Or hide and pray, or should I say, wish that an olive branch sprouts out of nowhere? That it must be Christmas?
Do you have it in you?
I am just worried that there will come a time, heaven forbid, when it will truly and really matter, you may, sadly and painfully, will not make the cut. And you won't be able to properly process what just happened.
Right now, it may seem that you got lucky. That you are the king :)
In reality and in the grander scheme of things, you may have actually deprived yourselves with knowing the answer to the question - can you truly do it on the sixth try? On the fourth try? The third try? The second? The first?
Can you really do it?
Do you have what it takes?
Are you ready for life?
I am not pulling you down nor am I trying to scare you. I am simply asking.
But everything happens for a reason. My mind is limited. Who am I compared to the Omniscient One? I am a molecule of a dust.
Kudos to you :)
"... why think like mere men?"
Sunday
from 2000 to 2010
The first year of the second decade of the new millennium is 20 days from now. And at 36, I finally have the grasped on what makes 10 years short and what makes it long :)
Ten years ago, I was in the middle of my graduate studies. I own a Nokia 3210. I was thriving in my little piece of the Philippine Information Technology. I just finished selling the idea of the Y2K bug. I drank the Kool Aide entitled "I.T. is the greatest revolution ever". Ellis, my youngest brother, was still alive. I was, apparently, about to have a Jerry Maguire-ian adventure. I was being slightly pulled away from the rat race for that year, June, I will teach my first class - IE Computer Laboratory, every Saturday morning. I still have to meet Him. And I still have to meet, Beb, my beautiful and wonderful wife.
Ten years.
It was long when we lost Ellis to dengue. For 52 consecutive Sundays, we went to see his grave. I know people die but to experience death, that loss, in the family for the first time was painful. I am thankful that He saw me, us, through.
It was also in this decade that I was hospitalized, thrice. One trip, for dengue. I can only imagine the horror and the fear of that to my loving parents. Another trip was because I ate an ill-prepared salmon sashimi at a Christmas Party. And the third, was because I wasn't catching enough sleep that when I was relieving myself at the comfort room, I passed out. The doctor termed it vasovagal syncope. These three trips made me realize the limitations of our bodies and its strength to recuperate. Made me exercise more. And be conscious about what I eat. We are after all, what we eat :)
It was also in this passing decade when most of my friends got married. I was the last one, actually :) From, Sabado nights and night out with the boys, we are now in the realm of child births, baptisms and children parties. But two or three are still single. Five years removed from college, in 2000, my friends and I, started to see our niches. Our spot under the sun.
Teaching definitely made the 10 years short. I can not believe that 2011 is my 11th year of being a professor. Before that, I stayed at a company, the shortest - eight weeks, the longest three and a half years. And on two occasions, my feet slightly started getting heavier going into the 2nd year of the job. And now, I am on my 11th year. Crazy :)
I am thankful and humbled that I was part of the journey of, I think, close to 4,000 students, if we combine graduate and undergraduate, by now. I hope I did more good than harm :)
If Malcolm Gladwell is spot on and if we are to believe him through his book Outliers, I am now an expert in assessing needs, designing interventions, developing content, facilitating learning and ensuring the outcome :)
It also in this decade that I was given the chance to steward a company, Imaj, a talent agency. Funny, life do prepare you for the challenges and gifts of the future. My high school friends, Kaka, and I were into theater way back in the late 80s. We were way ahead of the High School Musical and Glee curves :)
The theater prepares one to respect the craft. That we are simply stewards of this gift called talent. We have to take care of the talent in us, hone it before it can take care of us. A truth I am forever trying to contextualize for the aspiring models who come to Imaj's door. And now, this stewardship brings me to embark to put out there Imaj's second acting workshop, a safe learning situation and a first good step for those who want to know what to do with the actor and actress within :)
It is was also in the "slipping away" decade that my professional life expanded. I found out, first hand, that a person can survive and thrive away from the usual "8-5" job. It is in this decade that I started to wear many hats at the same time. During the early years of this hat-wearing "trick", I was a graduate student, an account manager and a professor all at the same time. Towards the middle, a professor, an entrepreneur/manager and a business consultant.
This unusual decade started with curious uncertainty. When I was trying to figure things out, I asked the usual limited question of "what kind of life is this?". And now, 10 years remove, I am seeing the beauty of the journey. The tapestry :) For one, professionally, I can look at a situation, see it from various perspective and offer a course of action that will surprise even seasoned Industrial Engineer or manager. All because I was given the chance to put on so many hats but that was a long journey and I am journeying still :)
To some, this is crazy. But I soon found out, that if we listen to "some and others", we will never be unique. Never ourselves. We will only dishonor the very life we were given by becoming a second rate version of being somebody else when the very thing He wanted from us is to be an excellent first rate version of ourselves. To be the first rate version of His original design. The world needs us to be us. If it didn't then we should have not existed. He should have not created us :)
Ten years.
It was long. It was short.
Thank you, Lord!
I do not deserve the love and mercy You have shown... given... and I have received.
Ten years ago, I was in the middle of my graduate studies. I own a Nokia 3210. I was thriving in my little piece of the Philippine Information Technology. I just finished selling the idea of the Y2K bug. I drank the Kool Aide entitled "I.T. is the greatest revolution ever". Ellis, my youngest brother, was still alive. I was, apparently, about to have a Jerry Maguire-ian adventure. I was being slightly pulled away from the rat race for that year, June, I will teach my first class - IE Computer Laboratory, every Saturday morning. I still have to meet Him. And I still have to meet, Beb, my beautiful and wonderful wife.
Ten years.
It was long when we lost Ellis to dengue. For 52 consecutive Sundays, we went to see his grave. I know people die but to experience death, that loss, in the family for the first time was painful. I am thankful that He saw me, us, through.
It was also in this decade that I was hospitalized, thrice. One trip, for dengue. I can only imagine the horror and the fear of that to my loving parents. Another trip was because I ate an ill-prepared salmon sashimi at a Christmas Party. And the third, was because I wasn't catching enough sleep that when I was relieving myself at the comfort room, I passed out. The doctor termed it vasovagal syncope. These three trips made me realize the limitations of our bodies and its strength to recuperate. Made me exercise more. And be conscious about what I eat. We are after all, what we eat :)
It was also in this passing decade when most of my friends got married. I was the last one, actually :) From, Sabado nights and night out with the boys, we are now in the realm of child births, baptisms and children parties. But two or three are still single. Five years removed from college, in 2000, my friends and I, started to see our niches. Our spot under the sun.
Teaching definitely made the 10 years short. I can not believe that 2011 is my 11th year of being a professor. Before that, I stayed at a company, the shortest - eight weeks, the longest three and a half years. And on two occasions, my feet slightly started getting heavier going into the 2nd year of the job. And now, I am on my 11th year. Crazy :)
I am thankful and humbled that I was part of the journey of, I think, close to 4,000 students, if we combine graduate and undergraduate, by now. I hope I did more good than harm :)
If Malcolm Gladwell is spot on and if we are to believe him through his book Outliers, I am now an expert in assessing needs, designing interventions, developing content, facilitating learning and ensuring the outcome :)
It also in this decade that I was given the chance to steward a company, Imaj, a talent agency. Funny, life do prepare you for the challenges and gifts of the future. My high school friends, Kaka, and I were into theater way back in the late 80s. We were way ahead of the High School Musical and Glee curves :)
The theater prepares one to respect the craft. That we are simply stewards of this gift called talent. We have to take care of the talent in us, hone it before it can take care of us. A truth I am forever trying to contextualize for the aspiring models who come to Imaj's door. And now, this stewardship brings me to embark to put out there Imaj's second acting workshop, a safe learning situation and a first good step for those who want to know what to do with the actor and actress within :)
It is was also in the "slipping away" decade that my professional life expanded. I found out, first hand, that a person can survive and thrive away from the usual "8-5" job. It is in this decade that I started to wear many hats at the same time. During the early years of this hat-wearing "trick", I was a graduate student, an account manager and a professor all at the same time. Towards the middle, a professor, an entrepreneur/manager and a business consultant.
This unusual decade started with curious uncertainty. When I was trying to figure things out, I asked the usual limited question of "what kind of life is this?". And now, 10 years remove, I am seeing the beauty of the journey. The tapestry :) For one, professionally, I can look at a situation, see it from various perspective and offer a course of action that will surprise even seasoned Industrial Engineer or manager. All because I was given the chance to put on so many hats but that was a long journey and I am journeying still :)
To some, this is crazy. But I soon found out, that if we listen to "some and others", we will never be unique. Never ourselves. We will only dishonor the very life we were given by becoming a second rate version of being somebody else when the very thing He wanted from us is to be an excellent first rate version of ourselves. To be the first rate version of His original design. The world needs us to be us. If it didn't then we should have not existed. He should have not created us :)
Ten years.
It was long. It was short.
Thank you, Lord!
I do not deserve the love and mercy You have shown... given... and I have received.
Friday
sleep and work
They actually have a commonality :)
Both can only happen at the end of a process.
We can not instantaneously sleep whenever we choose to nor finish work. We have to start, move along the phases and then, expectedly to some and magically to others, it happens :)
Another common denominator is that both can not be done when we are interrupted or distracted. Both need our full effort and full concentration in order to happen :)
No wonder we feel sleepy when we are trying to work :)
Seriously now. In a baritone voice, Aslan-like, how can we, 21st century "managers", remove distractions and interruptions from the offices?
Should we ban the usual suspect, Facebook and alike, in our offices?
Isn't that the 21st century version of a 15-minute coffee break or yosi-break? If you ask me, I'd rather have my work collaborators open their Facebook account rather than apathetically allowing them to inhale carcinogens which will only make them look older than necessary. Which, by the way, may increase water consumption because they have to brush their teeth after. It may also not be good to the environment because the waste management companies have to deal with cigarette filters and plastic wrappers of the menthol candy they will take after the life-shortening ritual :)
But would the Facebook-friendly stance open me up for abuse?
If that happens, it only means my recruitment and selection chops need to be sharpened for I chose the wrong person to collaborate with. If we are passionate students of the management craft, we need to seek out true collaborators. Not free loaders.
"... why think like mere men?"
Both can only happen at the end of a process.
We can not instantaneously sleep whenever we choose to nor finish work. We have to start, move along the phases and then, expectedly to some and magically to others, it happens :)
Another common denominator is that both can not be done when we are interrupted or distracted. Both need our full effort and full concentration in order to happen :)
No wonder we feel sleepy when we are trying to work :)
Seriously now. In a baritone voice, Aslan-like, how can we, 21st century "managers", remove distractions and interruptions from the offices?
Should we ban the usual suspect, Facebook and alike, in our offices?
Isn't that the 21st century version of a 15-minute coffee break or yosi-break? If you ask me, I'd rather have my work collaborators open their Facebook account rather than apathetically allowing them to inhale carcinogens which will only make them look older than necessary. Which, by the way, may increase water consumption because they have to brush their teeth after. It may also not be good to the environment because the waste management companies have to deal with cigarette filters and plastic wrappers of the menthol candy they will take after the life-shortening ritual :)
But would the Facebook-friendly stance open me up for abuse?
If that happens, it only means my recruitment and selection chops need to be sharpened for I chose the wrong person to collaborate with. If we are passionate students of the management craft, we need to seek out true collaborators. Not free loaders.
"... why think like mere men?"
Thursday
visible
What makes a place poor?
Economics? Peace and order situation? Indios? :)
What makes a place rich?
Economics? Peace and order situation? Educated Indios? :)
How come the 21st century Smokey Mountain is not the same as the Smokey Mountain of the 80s?
What changed?
How did the change start?
Was it having Geneva Cruz join a singing group and belt out Kailan? :)
Or was it Sharon Cuneta saying, "Pasan ko ang daigdig!"?
Why do we know the stories of 80s Smokey Mountain?
Why do we know what's currently happening in Smokey Mountain?
Google?
Why can it be Google-ed?
Who decided to write about it so that it can be Google-ed?
Why write about Smokey Mountain when one can write on other things?
And who decided to read about it?
Did change happen because someone wrote about it?
Read about it?
Does it mean for change to happen, the situation's story must be written? Told? Read?
Must it be made visible?
So, what makes a place poor? Rich?
Economics? Peace and order? Indios? Educated Indios?
Stories?
Visibility?
So, is this a case of "...it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness?"
So, why are we, we? :)
Are we visible to ourselves? :)
May my eyes be open that I could see, Lord...
"... why think like mere men?"
Economics? Peace and order situation? Indios? :)
What makes a place rich?
Economics? Peace and order situation? Educated Indios? :)
How come the 21st century Smokey Mountain is not the same as the Smokey Mountain of the 80s?
What changed?
How did the change start?
Was it having Geneva Cruz join a singing group and belt out Kailan? :)
Or was it Sharon Cuneta saying, "Pasan ko ang daigdig!"?
Why do we know the stories of 80s Smokey Mountain?
Why do we know what's currently happening in Smokey Mountain?
Google?
Why can it be Google-ed?
Who decided to write about it so that it can be Google-ed?
Why write about Smokey Mountain when one can write on other things?
And who decided to read about it?
Did change happen because someone wrote about it?
Read about it?
Does it mean for change to happen, the situation's story must be written? Told? Read?
Must it be made visible?
So, what makes a place poor? Rich?
Economics? Peace and order? Indios? Educated Indios?
Stories?
Visibility?
So, is this a case of "...it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness?"
So, why are we, we? :)
Are we visible to ourselves? :)
May my eyes be open that I could see, Lord...
"... why think like mere men?"
Wednesday
release
The 2010 IE-EMG Night.
What truly bothered me about that night was the numerous banter of the American mestizo host with his fellow Caucasian.
Did they truly believe that what went on was funny?
Did they consider everybody there as simpletons and that we will find their skit amusing?
Did the skit fly on the first try that they had to repeat it?
Are we, the student of the School of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management of Mapua Institute of Technology still indios to them?
Or is this a case of the wrong guy for the job? Or a guy trying to find his niche in the Philippine entertainment scene?
I hope we helped him in his search :)
Did the organizers pay for his services?
Or was that a freebie?
Or was the host using the supposedly premier social event of IE-EMG students as a stepping stone?
Are we a stepping stone?
Is that all we are? A mere stepping stone?
I hope that male host will become the next Hugh Jackman if we are a stepping stone :)
Or maybe, I am simply making a fuss about nothing.
As Shakespeare once wrote, "... much ado about nothing!" :)
But if that is the truth why does it bother so much that I have to call and write a blog about it while the rest remain silent?
Are we afraid that we rather or we, by default, accept to be indios? Mapuan Indios? I mean in this day and age, in the 21st century? In December 2010, we will accept to be Mapuan Indios?
Could you?
Or maybe I am just...
"... why think like mere men?"
What truly bothered me about that night was the numerous banter of the American mestizo host with his fellow Caucasian.
Did they truly believe that what went on was funny?
Did they consider everybody there as simpletons and that we will find their skit amusing?
Did the skit fly on the first try that they had to repeat it?
Are we, the student of the School of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management of Mapua Institute of Technology still indios to them?
Or is this a case of the wrong guy for the job? Or a guy trying to find his niche in the Philippine entertainment scene?
I hope we helped him in his search :)
Did the organizers pay for his services?
Or was that a freebie?
Or was the host using the supposedly premier social event of IE-EMG students as a stepping stone?
Are we a stepping stone?
Is that all we are? A mere stepping stone?
I hope that male host will become the next Hugh Jackman if we are a stepping stone :)
Or maybe, I am simply making a fuss about nothing.
As Shakespeare once wrote, "... much ado about nothing!" :)
But if that is the truth why does it bother so much that I have to call and write a blog about it while the rest remain silent?
Are we afraid that we rather or we, by default, accept to be indios? Mapuan Indios? I mean in this day and age, in the 21st century? In December 2010, we will accept to be Mapuan Indios?
Could you?
Or maybe I am just...
"... why think like mere men?"
introspection on anger
Can we be angry over something we do not care about?
Serious.
Is that possible?
If that is impossible, does it mean that care, or should I even dare say - love, is necessary before anger can happen?
And does love disappear when anger pays a visit?
Or is it - love is required before anger could possibly happen?
So, going back, can we be angry when love (care) does not exists?
So, does it mean when someone is angry, it only proves that love (care) exists?
But why does love turn to anger?
How?
Unjustly and unfairly treated?
Does it also mean that when we love or care about something, we should be ready to experience anger?
And how does one process anger?
Interesting :)
Serious.
Is that possible?
If that is impossible, does it mean that care, or should I even dare say - love, is necessary before anger can happen?
And does love disappear when anger pays a visit?
Or is it - love is required before anger could possibly happen?
So, going back, can we be angry when love (care) does not exists?
So, does it mean when someone is angry, it only proves that love (care) exists?
But why does love turn to anger?
How?
Unjustly and unfairly treated?
Does it also mean that when we love or care about something, we should be ready to experience anger?
And how does one process anger?
Interesting :)
Tuesday
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