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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.