Take Laughter Seriously. In one book that I read, it says: "the older we become, the more serious we become about life. An adult laughs an average of 15 times a day; a preschooler laughs an average of 400 times." Imagine that! This year, let us laugh more often. Wala Lang.
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Sarcasm. I was eating lunch at a Japanese restaurant with a friend of mine one day. We talked about the meal, how I should not place chopsticks on a rice bowl the way I did, how I felt sick after eating my first sushi the other day, and eventually about sarcasm.
"Do you know that sarcasm is the lowest form of humor?" he told me.
I replied, "I thought it was the highest."
Wala Lang.
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Why it's Sometimes Good to Have a Bad Memory. I have a very good short term memory and a very bad long term memory. I can remember a long list of Republic Acts when cramming for an exam I forgot about. I often forget birthdates (yes, there came a time when I even forgot mine) and I have a tendency to forget what year it is. Imagine me signing a form and wrote that it was the year 1996 when in fact it was the year 2007 (the second time during the same year though, I have improved a bit since I mistakenly thought it was the year 2005).
I did wish to have a good memory. Besides praying religiously for my wish to come true, I also took vitamins, avoided sleeping late, and began exercising. But then I realized that having a bad memory is not really that bad at all. According to Rita Mae Brown, "the key to happiness is a bad memory". We are just not aware of it, but there are things that our system does to enable us to survive. Just imagine if we remembered every detail of our traumatic experiences... how we made our way out of our mother's womb or how painful our first vaccine was or what other kids did to bully you in class or what an envious co-worker said to destroy your credentials or the way your dad punched your mom in the face or the day when the person you love kissed somebody else.
I may forget a lot of things -- but as long as I remember the meaning and depth of my life experiences, I think I'll be just fine. Ain't that right?
Wala Lang.
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Finding Gold in Trash. I am sure that most of us have keepsakes reserved in our spirits, if not in our old carton boxes. These are the souvenirs that we take a look at once in a while before taking another step forward in life.
The most sentimental member of my family is me. My mom and sisters would keep perfume bottles and watches while I keep McDonald's French fries cartons, short notes or letters from friends, receipts and tickets, Belgian chocolate wrappers, old high school projects -- all of which are basically considered "trash" (meaning: discarded material) by a normal human being. It may be hard to understand but the "junk" which I have been keeping are, for me, the simple treasures of my life. In each piece are memories where I find joy. In each piece are victorious moments... tasks accomplished... places reached... dreams fulfilled.
It is not important for others to understand why these things become my source of strength as we all have our own secret language that only the "self" would understand. It is interesting how there are the things that would mean something to one person but would mean nothing to another. It feels incredible to carry on with a few keepsakes in our hearts. It is amazing how we could find gold in "trash". Wala Lang.
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My Most Embarrassing Moment. I thought that my most embarrassing moment was when I once said that Steven Spielberg was the director of Star Wars but I was wrong. It was when I kept a crowd waiting for 15 minutes for the simple reason of miscalculating my travel time. I don't remember being late for most of the most important meetings of my life. Because of my "military" upbringing, I usually arrive earlier than expected. But then there I was at the chapel, the priest waiting... the kids waiting... the audience... the choir... my best friend... Nope, I wasn't late for my own wedding -- I was actually late for a choral singing competition of which I am one of the judges.
How many times have we disappointed other people and told ourselves, "if only I could turn back time..."?
No matter how hard we try, everything in our lives won't go perfectly well. There are elements present in our lives that we cannot control. In my case, I had no other choice but to admit I have made a mistake, remove my feeling of guilt, and do what I was tasked to do. The participants were splendid, the priest kept smiling, my best friend (the organizer of the event) offered me a meal, and the audience (including me) had a really good time. Life does go on after each embarrassing moment. Thank God for that.
Wala Lang.
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