Chunk it (not junk it)

YOLO - You only lived once. A phrase that brings encouragement to live life fully and happily but on its other hidden side, hints threat as it says that we only have one life to live and wasting it is a no no. A lifetime that seems too short to waste and too uncertain to take into granted, we have lots of to do's in our bucket list overwhelming us and often, leads to disappointment.

My 2 cents of penny - forgive yourself if many times you fail to do this list, to follow your new year's resolution, to incorporate in your life the Japanese term 'kaizen'. The important thing is to never give up when you fail or fall and learn that this overwhelmingly to-do list can never be done all at once, one big at a time and as quickly as possible. What you need to do is to prioritize what needs to be done first, strategically considering your resources. Chunk it. Chunk the buckets into dippers (tabo in Tagalog) and chunk these dippers into mugs. Metaphorically, you can now drink the mug's content, slowly, swallow one a time, two-three mugs a day. And never forget, as what my previous blog says continually do the 'baby steps'.

Patience.

Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. - Epictetus

It was a sudden impulse, rooted from my sister's invitation for us to visit Japan and I am one click away to my first overseas getaway. No passport, no visa and only a handful of peso in my savings account, I took the risks. Full of optimism, I still have six months to prepare all this, and clicked!

The past six months was never easy. I invested time and money to prepare my passport and visa. Most especially, a bunch of no's to material things and out-of-town invitations from friends just to feed my savings account. Conflicts arise because of my resignation and new work, misunderstandings and compromises were made to my partner. The 9-month preparation challenged my patience and each time, the optimism fades but I hanged on even if the excitement fell to zero.

Last 7-11 March 2016, I set foot and lived shortly but blissfully in Japan. The most important lesson I learned on this trip is that the fruit of your labor and patience is the most succinct.  

Mainstream.

"The road less taken". We have heard it a number of times but have actually never got the courage to take that road. Unfamiliar, scary, mysterious, unheard of - some of the best words to describe it, to make it the less taken path. Yet, there is that curiosity that made us think: what if we took that road? Is it worth it? Will it be full of adventures? Where would it lead us? What would we be after?

The cold breeze of December smells of joy and festivity. Lights from Christmas decorations and moving vehicles fill the streets with liveliness. December it is and every Filipinos were busy celebrating their most anticipated season.

It was the last day of work and a lot of us were out and rushing to buy last minute Christmas needs. Taxis were not accommodating those destinations traversing EDSA because of the Christmas traffic. But one taxi driver took our request not because he was patient enough to cross EDSA nor chasing for the big fare. It was because he was to take the road less taken. He took the risk of traversing alternative roads, never sure of the traffic there, just to skip EDSA. In the end, he made us happy commuters. Away from the traffic, saving us time.

As I rode the taxi, I was a bit frightened by questions boggling my mind - Where would he take us? Does he attempt of robbing us? Will the road have light traffic? Will we pay much because of the alternative routes he took?  And I realize, in our life, in our careers, we mostly take the main road. What is mainstream. The road that you knew, many knew well, less frightening because of the familiarity. We are sure of the way, everything is familiar, mostly everyone was there and other mainstream stuffs are there. And we stay on that road, though it is slow and congested, though boring, because we are certain that after a long time of waiting, we will reach the end. We never got the courage to take the road less taken, where we have to risk the certainty to something unknown - something successful? Or a failure, maybe? We never want to move fast, to be adaptable to the ever changing environment, to continuously learn and to spend a lot of energy to take the small roads that will equally take us to that end. We never changed our mindset to think that what is important is not the end but the experience itself. We never had the heart to say yes to that curious mind seeking adventure. And we never had the strength to move away from our comfort zone and live fully.

Extreme.

Last Saturday, we have gone mountain hiking in Mountain Sembrano in Rizal, Laguna. The experience was totally exhausting but fun, brought by the rocky and steep road. Going up for me was a lot easier than going down, because in order to push myself upward I only have to find some rocks to cling on and use my crying aching legs. Going downward was a bit harder since I have to defy gravity and use mostly my ankle as break. Add the pressure of sliding down because of the mud and my ingrown nail.

To make the long story short, the feeling was unforgettable - the longing for the road to end when you are already near the summit; the victory when you are already on the top; the peace of mind when hearing the wind whisper and the clouds dance; the feeling of cursing the rocky, muddy road on the way down; the hopelessness feeling that you have to scrap out because you have no choice;the feeling of crying inside that you made it; the joy of washing yourself and bring your tired body to bed. It was extreme. It was something that you will miss. It was something that you constantly need and have to savour because it will remind you that it is the long road ahead that makes the end succinct.

Turning Tables.

There are points in the span of our time when every angle of our life - career, relationship, financial stability, seems not taking into place. Not fitting into the puzzle. Blurred.We curse our situation and fell deep into that dark feeling of hopelessness. I have felt that and I know sometime in the future, I will again step into that grieving phase. Repeatedly. That is why I want to take note of the phrase "Turning table". It's my strengthening phrase to remind me that: first, it is alright. I recognize the situation and I understand that it is part of life. It awakens us that there is something wrong and there is something we need to correct. Secondly, it is fine to fell into that lonely feeling and to agonize. Thirdly, be sad, cry one long night but do not dwell into that dark place. Let it be your inspiration to start from scratch and move on. You have the power to turn the table and make something out of your situation. It is not easy but know that you have to move on. Life is like climbing a mountain, you never knew what's on top, but you have the choice to keep climbing upward to see the top, to conquer on another mountain or you will stay on place and let fear hinder you from discovering what lies ahead.

Road.

This June, commuting has become a hard task as traffic has visited again as school year begun and summer has yet to bring you scorching heat. One workday morning, I asked myself -  If given the chance to become a politician how will I re-design the road system here or ease the traffic each of us deals with everyday? I took noticed of the structures as the bus I rode passes by my daily route: Dela Rosa to Buendia and finally, Mall of Asia. It was hard to re-design structures that are already built and are designed poorly, not envisioning the future, the increase in vehicle load as time passes by. Then I think of what Henry Sy did. He transformed a water area into an extension land and built upon it the Mall of Asia Complex. Thankfully, the road system design is good enough to hold the current vehicle load. And so I thought why not create things from scratch and design it in your own way, remembering that when building from scratch, not just design for the present, vision what will happen also in the future.

Freedom.

Four times a week, I used to ride a multicab (mini version of a jeepney) along Buendia to get to Mall of Asia. Morning and evening, four times a week, I am still amused by the barker-commuter problem. What is it? Guess I'll just say - having too much freedom.

As I have said earlier, the multicab is a mini version of a jeepney that can  accommodate sixteen passengers. Since it is small, aside from the heat the commuters need to deal with, going in and out of the cab is a plus plus adventure. Hence,  passengers chose to fill in the seat near the end and bring forth the barker-commuter problem. Because people wants to fill in first the seats near the end, most of the time, the cab won't be filled because the available seats are those near the driver and no one wants it there. The result - barkers get mad since the rest of the passenger will go to the next cab and the first cab can't go on with its route. That is the problem with giving a person too much freedom. Yes, we have individual needs and wants, we do not want the heat and the hassle of going in/out of the cab and we have a choice to fill that want. But if that freedom just fills our personal whims and become unreasonable hindering the welfare of the general whole, it is not good anymore. 

Freedom is a privilege for us individuals but we should not abuse it just for the sake of filling our personal whims. We are part of a community and the sum of our individual freedom should result  for the benefit of the community we are in.