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PUBLISHED: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 3 February 2008 Issue

Employees need to be in the offices by eight in the morning. Many children have to be in school usually earlier than that. Works or assignments have to be delivered or submitted within a given time frame. There are meetings, activities or gatherings here and there where one is expected to be on time, or at least attend. There are obligations like bills, debts and budget that have to be met or some overdue personal differences that have to be settled. There are also personal wants that are time bound like watching a favorite movie or a concert.

In short, every one has to beat a deadline nowadays.  Deadlines are not only imposed by peers, by authorities, by the system, by events or by society itself. Deadlines are also imposed by nature and circumstances, like the cycle of environment where people live or the biological dictates and processes of one’s being. Oftentimes though, these situations are rather postponed to accommodate a myriad of least important human activities until such time that there is a threat or danger to one’s life or property that is clear and present.

There is a race against time because human beings recognize that, one way or the other, things would meet their end. And the usual options are either to extend it or beat it.

What further complicate deadlines is also the fact that human activities are becoming more and more complex as the world gets older. A lot of these activities that satisfy human pleasures impose too much demand on one’s time as if a day could extend beyond twenty hours.

It is easy to blame the unabated progress of, or advancement in, technology and modern science as the culprit. But this is ironic considering that technology and science are meant to make life easier and comfortable. The problem perhaps is that they give everyone broader choices, better facilities, greater access and more freedom which human beings would naturally occupy their limited space of time with.

Racing against time meant having to live in a very stressful environment. Those who do not join the bandwagon are usually typecast or tagged by society as lazy, bums or non-achievers. Those who do usually sacrifice a lot of things that are more significant in life like adequate sleep, healthy lifestyles, friendships, kinship, or for the faithful, even spending just a very brief moment with God.

It is even a source of wonder that even the time that should be spent for leisure, vacations or holidays are also becoming nerve-wracking these days.

Experts suggest that proper time management is the reasonable approach to the race against time. Some suggest to classify human activities in terms of priority, urgency and importance or a combination thereof which would all the more necessitate immediate action above all else. Some recommend a basic action plan of prioritizing, delegating, and learning to say ‘no’. There is a lot of sense in these prescriptions. Getting organized though and doing things systematically in accord with the frame one had set for himself also require a lot of discipline and effort.

Canadian teacher and small business consultant, Susan Ward, is probably right when she said that time management is a myth. “No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn’t change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.”

There are just too much endeavors in this world that could fill one’s time. It is always a matter of choice which one to take. What is unfortunate is to race against time because the person spent a lot of it on things that do not really matter for his or her personal gratification.

Time is just like money. It has to be spent or even invested wisely.  Otherwise and unlike money though, time would never be earned back because no matter how it was spent it will be lost forever.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale‘, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Section) - 18 November 2007 Issue

As a branch of knowledge particularly in the field of linguistics, semantics has reference to the study of meaning.

Human expression is unique because communication is effectively done in the form of spoken and written words called language. Other living creatures merely rely on non-verbal expressions, gestures or even instincts which of course are also subsumed as other modes of human expression.

Like the human beings that they serve, languages live, die, move from place to place and change with time. Of these languages, English is perhaps the most dominant, extensive and widely-used globally.

This article attempts to look at the context of the English words home, love, politics, and happiness as they reflect or affect rightly or wrongly the Filipino thought.

A line in a popular song says that a “house is not a home”.  True enough because a home goes beyond the physical structure where people are sheltered. A home indicates ties, kinship or some degree of relationship. Thus, it is unacceptable, if not awkward, to say ‘go (to) house early’ in lieu of ‘go home early’. But when what is involved is severance of ties, the expression ‘get out of the home’ is never used. A house is not a home because they represent different polarities especially in the context of the Filipino culture where a family is deemed as an inviolable social institution.

Filipinos love to love. But many times they simply ‘fall in love’, inadvertently forgetting that there is a better option, to ‘grow in love’. Love is supposedly an affair of both the heart and the mind, for one without the other could be annihilating. The pursuit of love could understandably entail some personal sacrifice, burden or pain. For many Filipinos though, these tragedies define the unwarranted measure whether love is pure and true. But love should evoke a beautiful thought and a wonderful feeling. And perhaps the only way to do it is to make love evolve and develop as bits and pieces of cherished moments until it bears the fruit it rightly deserves. Growing in love requires a serious, conscious and mutual effort to make the relationship work. Falling in love accepts unilateral desperation as a matter of fact. No wonder, there seems to be so much bickering and strained relationships nowadays in Philippine society because Filipinos love to fall in love.

Criticisms in public governance are always viewed as “playing politics”.  Many Filipinos and observes view politics as the root cause of the country’s political, social and economic maladies.  But politics is not an evil.  As a concept, the word could either refer to the social relationship of the governed and those in power, or the study of political structures of the state, or the profession devoted to governance and political affairs, or the opinion the public holds with respect to political questions. Thus, politics intends to bridge and harmonize the gap between the government and the people towards the attainment of state goals and principles. Perhaps, the country needs more politics that it has now for public servants or functionaries to serve their constituency well without being insensitive to public opinion.

Some say that Filipinos are among the happiest people in the world despite the crisis and the difficulties that befall them.  In a sense this could be true because “to be happy” is not really dependent on material possessions or physical conditions. Happiness is a state or condition of mind. An individual could be among the poorest of the poor, or the most uneducated, or even terminally ill and still be happy. Happiness only demands acceptance and contentment at the barest level. Happiness should not be mistaken with pleasure normally represented by the usual trappings of life. The latter is temporary while the former is more or less permanent.

The whole point is for individuals to mean exactly what they think and say in what they do for verbal human expression to serve its purpose.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 16 September 2007 Issue

Life on earth is admittedly complicated and difficult especially with the rat race and the myriad of tasks of daily living one has to endure. Every man’s quest for his ne plus ultra is almost an impossible dream because perhaps the world was never meant by its Creator to be a paradise.

Consciously or unconsciously, different people exist and live in this world for different reasons. And at the end of one’s lifetime, practically none of those which every man pursues and tangibly acquires while here on earth he or she could bring with him or her in the next realm.

But surely, every man would leave behind some memories of him or her, good or bad.  Some would chose to forget while others would choose to remember whatever moments were left behind by the person. Fortunately, a person can always choose how he or she wants to be remembered during his or her lifetime.

One of the most important faculties of the human mind is its ability to remember.

It is a great source of wonder what this world would be if human beings have no memory of their immediate past. Perhaps, life would be peaceful because every frustration, antagonism and troubles would be buried immediately after they occur. When everything is forward looking, there is absolutely nothing to keep, no ax to grind, and no excess baggage to worry about.

It sounds utopian but without any memory life also loses outright its meaning and significance. What people think, see, hear or feel would also not matter.

During one’s lifetime, people spend much time recording the past. Development of better tools and technology to perpetuate and preserve human events and interaction is a never ending quest. When people look back, it gives them their sense of being, their sense of belonging, and their sense of humanity.

It is the natural gift of mental and emotional faculties that makes human beings human and provides the real attribute that distinguishes them from other creations. And the human memory rightly serves this purpose.

Inevitably, one’s entire journey in life is his or her building block of memories in this world, for others or those who were left behind to keep after that lifetime on earth is up. 

In the end, it is not so much whether the person lived a life in misery or a life of fortune, a life of constant struggle or a life of ease, or a life of helplessness or a life of strength. It is when people constantly capture a vivid imagination of the person at whim just to remember how he or she made a good difference during his or her lifetime that really matters. 

It is in this sense that the people of the world remember and revere heroes, saints, champions, great men and women, and even ordinary individuals who lived momentous lives, even long after they were gone. Human memory would always preserve and carry on its memory of other human beings.

The purpose of living therefore is all about building good memories. In doing so, it is essential that people should aspire to make others happy and thrive. People should avoid antagonizing and taking advantage of others simply to perpetuate personal ends and selfish motives. In short, people should constantly strive to live for others starting with his or her immediate family.

And the best thing about building wonderful memories is it does not require special skills or talents or possessions. The only thing needed is a sincere heart to love and to take care of others to make sure that those memories are kept in mind till the end of time.

A person who left behind memories worth keeping, worth remembering and worth celebrating certainly led and lived a meaningful life, even if he or she left nothing tangible in this world.

PUBLISHED: ‘Note Verbale‘, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Section) - 3 June 2007 Issue

Individual success or failure is often measured in terms of the state of prosperity or fame that a person attained.  This is a poor and myopic standard though.

Success is relative and thus would vary from person to person depending on his or her personal goals in life. These goals may not even fall within the ambit of the ‘prosperity or fame’ frame.  Everyone, and not only celebrities, the rich or the powerful, has the right to claim his or her own success. Everyone has the equal opportunity to succeed.

The road to success should always begin with the first step of finding out personal goals. One may have several goals that would lead to one big goal. But the most important thing is to clearly define what that goal is. Not having a goal is like jumping off from the starting line of a race without any clear direction in mind where to go or where the finish line is.  In this situation, there is no way to gauge success for sure. And the ultimate effect is failure.

Failure is a fact of life.  No matter how much or how well one prepares, there would always be some events, conditions or extraneous circumstances that would stand as a barrier towards personal success. The one good thing about having smaller and short-term goals is that sporadic failures in meeting them do not necessarily prevent a person from succeeding. Sporadic failures in fact could be vital factors in the attainment of the ultimate goal. They could make success sweeter and fuller in a sense.

Some goals are set too low and some to high. It really does not matter. Goals are driven by individual motives and capacity anyway. The only difference is that the higher the dream, bigger and greater efforts are required.  Life coach and motivational speaker and author of “If Success Is a Game, These Are the Rules”, Cherie Carter-Scott, aptly said: “Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible.”

Once that goal is set and clearly defined, a person needs at the minimum – focus, determination and motivation – to move closer to the realization of his or her dream.

In this busy, complicated and crazy world, there is a lot of stuff that really generates, attracts and entices special interest and challenges to make a person deviate from the things that need to be done to achieve a purpose. And a conscious effort to stay focused, could spell the difference in knowing how soon a person could accomplish a goal, or whether or not the person could attain it after all.

Determination is also critical factor in achieving one’s goals. The lack of determination would always put the sense of focus in great jeopardy. Without determination, small and sporadic failures become a major hindrance and a source of discouragement. “It is the ‘follow through’ that makes the great difference between ultimate success and failure, because it is so easy to stop”, said American scientist, social philosopher and a 1933 cover of the Time Magazine, Charles Franklin Kettering.

Of the essential ingredients to succeed, motivation is perhaps that most crucial.  Without motivation, it is extremely difficult to stay focused and determined. Motivation is always the source of inspiration and incentive to do something mirthfully or oftentimes with least effort even if it is very difficult or when everything seems to fail.  

But what if the person still failed in accomplishing his or her preset goals? 

That is still success because all the small and big efforts devoted toward it are never wasted. Remember that a person who failed in his or her goals may still become the trailblazer, the pioneer, the innovator, the groundbreaker, or simply a model, an inspiration or example for others to emulate.

Certainly, a purpose-driven life would never lead to failure regardless of its outcome.

One of the most important faculties of the human mind is its ability to remember.

It is a great source of wonder what this world would be if human beings have no memory of their immediate past. Perhaps, life would be peaceful because every frustration, antagonism and difficulties would be buried immediately after they occur. When everything is forward looking, there is absolutely nothing to keep, no ax to grind, and no excess baggage to worry about.

It sounds utopian but I really don’t think it is. Without memories, good or bad, life also loses its meaning and significance outright. Feelings and our sense of being would also not matter.

During our lifetime, people spend much time recording the past. Development of better tools and technology to perpetuate and preserve human events and interaction is a never ending quest. When people look back, it gives them their sense of being, their sense of belonging, and their sense of humanity.

It is our natural gift of mental and emotional faculties that makes us human beings and the real attribute that distinguishes us from other creations. And the human memory rightly serves their purpose.

Inevitably, our entire journey in life is the building block of our own memories in this world for others to keep after our time is up.

In the end, it is not so much whether we lived a life in misery or a life of fortune, a life of constant struggle or a life of ease, or a life of helplessness or a life of strength. It is when people constantly capture a vivid imagination of you at whim just to remember how you made a good difference.

And the best thing about building good and pleasant memories is it does not require a special skill or talent or possessions, all it needs is a sincere and true heart to love and care so that others could keep you in mind till the end of time.

In the course of my journey in life, I find it almost meaningless to reach my destination but leave behind all those who should have been with me in the first place.  And I am talking about our personal priorities.

We live in a very complicated world under a myriad of human activities that we have to take care of a lot of things. But which and how much of the things that we do day in and day out really matter at the end of our day? Some activities that others find trivial may be important to others and vice-versa.

Understandably, no one else would be able to define what our priorities in life are, except ourselves. Some people would set their priorities according to urgency. Others would act on the basis of relationships. Some would react according to duty while some would on the basis of the things that please them most.  

But regardless how one sets his or her priorities in life, I find it ironical, if not cynical, for some people to strive for fortune at the risk of their own lives or by bringing about the misfortune of others, or seek fame and recognition from others when they could not even command the honor and respect of their own children. Many people engage in charity when charity has not even began in their own homes. Many people make it appear to show so much love for others when it truth and in fact they are only meant to satisfy, or even cover up their own desire for, self-affection.

Some suggests that of the things we do in life, the order of precedence should be for God, country and people. But I do not believe that we should define our priorities in life in this order. On the contrary, we have to measure every decision we make or any action we take whether or not it satisfies what is good for God, country and humanity, concurrently and not successively. Anything less is unacceptable because it brings about a rift in the world we live in.

In the end, I believe that we should take our respective families, especially our progenies, at the center of our priorities in life. Personal success is nothing if we are all alone to relish it; what is worse is when our own family curses us for the neglect they suffer as a consequence. We say that the family is the basic unit of society and so whatever is good for them is also good for the country.  If we all raise our children well, we can rest assured of a better breed of the human race and I am sure our God would be pleased. I believe that we exist to make this world a better place to live in and the easier route to achieve this purpose is to make our own family our own disciple by following our own example.

There is nothing wrong with drive, determination, and ambition to realize our dreams and expectations. But make sure to bring with you your family in your journey. Do not leave them behind. We have to realize that in times of grief, solitude, heavy trials and tribulation, sickness, or even death, no one else would be there to comfort or be with us the way our own family would.

Whether you accept it or not, I strongly believe that as we travel through life our family should always define, set and be the underlying basis of our personal priorities. If we do so, I am almost certain that we will not leave this earth for another life in vain, even if we do not achieve what we please for ourselves.

Life’s journey starts with a dream. As they say, it’s the only thing that is free nowadays. And there’s actually no limit to what we want to dream about.

To realize a dream, most people find the need to device a plan or a strategy, consisting of short-term or even long-term goals or activities. Others would go about their dreams by just leaving things to fate but this is the surer path to lose in life by default. Dreams would have better chances of fruition when we consciously and actively pursue them through our actions. But regardless of our individual preference, our dreams always set the expectation of our journey.

Our expectations fail because of our failure to act, or maybe because we took the wrong path when we are called upon to make our choices. For some, the experience is bitter. For others, the experience is a misery, if not a tragedy. But others would just rise to the occasion and take up failure simply as a challenge to do more and better.

Our expectations also fail because of circumstances beyond our control, or maybe because we are not gifted with the talents to make our expectations work. Oftentimes, unforeseen events make us helpless or even discourage us from moving on in our journey. Human limitations as reason for failed expectations though is more apparent than real and have become a convenient excuse for failing. This world is replete with individuals who were born to fail because of their innate physical disabilities but nevertheless conquered their own dreams that normal human beings would find extremely difficult to do.

Whatever is the real reason for our failed expectations, I believe that the most important thing is to give and do our best all the time in the pursuit of our dreams. In the end, when our expectations are not met, we can ask ‘what happened?’ or ‘why it happened?’ if only to learn, or for other travelers to learn, from our mistakes and our frustrating experience. 

But when the bad weather comes to pass, the most difficult and critical part of the process is acceptance. How we accept things as they are and that not everything works according to our liking, our plans, or our expectations define our personal triumph or our personal doom. Losers can still be victors if they know how to rise up to the occasion. Acceptance is the key. And needless to say, the process of acceptance is never complete unless there is either remorse or forgiveness or both, when the situation calls for it.

We have to believe that bad things happen for some good reasons, albeit incomprehensible at the time we perceived defeat. I personally believe that failure is always a blessing in disguise but we will never know unless we recognize it ourselves.

Life is journey because we have to keep moving until we reach our final destination. And if things don’t work according to our expectations, we have to make a conscious effort to accept things as they are, and start dreaming again and again, if necessary. It is never too late to start a journey over and over again because there is always hope for as long we live, and this fact we must accept as a basic premise.

Since I was young, I have always wondered what life is all about.

Is it about the things that we aspire? That life is simply about our quest for personal success, fame and prosperity.

Or is it about the people around us? That is – we live to be the keeper of our family, our country and our fellow human beings.

Is life about what would make us feel good? That life is about the pursuit for pleasure, peace of mind, happiness, freedom, recognition or love.

Or is it about keeping our Divine faith? That life on earth is temporal and all the things that we do here are meant to serve God to gain eternal life.

But maybe life is all about all of these. If it is, then to live a full life becomes a very tall order given our everyday encounter with failure, enmity, frustration, temptation, our individual frailties, and even inevitable events.

The way life is lived depends not only upon ourselves but also on the people and the conditions, foreseen and unforeseen, around us.

If life then is a journey, very few would obviously reach their destination. Maybe that’s why there is an IF at the center of life as a constant reminder that life is something we must endure and survive.

For me, life is not really about reaching my ultimate pre-determined destination because at the end of the day, I may not reach it, after all. Life, for me, consists of the bits and pieces of things and events, big or small-good or bad, that come along my way in the course of my journey. Over the years, I learned that life is not much about reaching the destination. It is about how I carry on the journey that matters.

In the course of my voyage, I realized that I only need to know, carry and keep in mind a few things that really matter because there is always sense in traveling light. And from this perspective, I realized the beauty of my journey in this world called life.