PRINCIPLES IN LIFE

“The quality of an individual is reflected in the standards they set for themselves."

- Ray Kroc -

            If you only intend to climb a hill then of course you will not go higher than that, but if you desired to reach the pick of the tallest mountain then not even the gravity could pull you down. It is how we limit ourselves that makes the difference. We are measured by how eager we are to achieve the things we want to uphold in life - how high is our standard. I have just one word to call that - AMBITION.

            I never settle myself with just the average when I know that I can have the best. I am not being self centered, I only believe in myself. Difficulties may come but they can never discourage me. I have a handful of self confidence to fight them. I know that my strengths can downplay my weaknesses. I am a man of ambition and I am very much optimistic that I can prevail. I have only one philosophy in life: to have the best, you should do your best.

            Life is a big competition. Challenges confront us everyday. But I see it as an opportunity to hone myself - to prepare for even tougher trials life has to bring me. After all, obstacles make a good training.  These challenges only ignite my perseverance to do more and develop my patience to learn.

            Life is confusing. It fills our minds with bugging questions and requires us to make decisions. That is why, I carefully calculate my actions. I first think of what may be the consequences and what should be my approach so that I will be able to make the right decision. Life is pretty much like of a chess game, one wrong move may lead you to your defeat. It is a game of strategy and only those who recognize the distinction between right and wrong win.

            But there is also the lighter side of life. There are moments that we need to forget first how exhausting living life is and find time to just enjoy. Inspiration, in the first place, is not derived from seriousness but from appreciation. To ease myself and be inspired, I share my time with my love ones. Come to think about it, I live my life not for myself but for them.

            I can reach the peak of the tallest mountain, I am very certain for that, for I have my principle as a rope that will pull me up, my inspiration to keep me going and of course I have God who will be there to push me all the way.

Foreseeing my Future

        The journey of life is filled with misleading paths so it does help if you have a map at the very start. Our dreams and goals serve as the map that will lead us to the place where success lies. 

         Dreaming about your future is not an act of fantasizing but rather stating the things you what to have and planning how to attain them. I, myself, have a list of the things I long to have and to happen in my life in the future. 5 years from now, I picture myself as a successful engineer. I will have my own construction firm that will be known for the quality of work it will offer. I will be busy then supervising and planning for construction of different structures like bridges and skyscrapers. I will receive award as one of the outstanding engineers and be respected in the field of engineering. And when the right time comes, I will soon have my own family. I will be happily married and be blessed with wonderful children. My family will live in a house that I personally planned for them. My family will be prospered with success, good health and love. That is how I foresee my future.

         Dreaming is just the initial step, realizing them will be the true challenge. But with my determination and the motivation my dreams bring me, I am very confident that I can them all true.

Early Marriage- not a solution to early pregnancy

     Marriage has lost its true essence. It is no longer as sacred as it used to be. It now appears more like of an obligation rather than a vow.

     This is the case when the girl is already pregnant and her family hunts the guy down to marry her before he could have his chance to escape. Even if he is not willing or in denial if he is really the father of the child conceived by the girl, he is left with no choice but to be married with her. Things like these do happen especially in conservative countries like the Philippines where family’s honor is protected.

     Early marriage, in most cases, is the result of early pregnancy. Parents of the girl find it as a resort to ensure that the child of their daughter will have a father. However, they don’t seem to see that this would only result to another conflict.

     A mistake can never be corrected with another mistake; it will only make it worse. Early marriage as a cover up for the shame caused by early pregnancy is in my opinion an absurd idea. Marriage like this will do no good and only make the life of the girl and also of the guy stagnant. Since they are still young, they will find it hard to run a family. They will be occupied with financial problems and difficulty in adjusting with each other’s personality. One consequence also is that they will be stopped from schooling and later on find it hard to find a job that can sustain their needs. Most likely, early marriage will result to a miserable family.

     To make things not so complicated, conflicts brought about by early pregnancy should be settled through legal ways. The family of both the guy and the girl should have an agreement (through legal papers) regarding about the support the guy should endow to the girl as the father of the child and the custody of the child the moment the child is born. This way the guy and the girl no longer need to be married. It also assures girl that the guy can’t just abandoned his responsibility and that he is obliged to give financial support as they have agreed upon. In this way also the girl and the guy’s freedom to do the things they want to do as separate individuals will be restored.

    Marriage can be so very complicated especially when you are not prepared and matured enough for it .It is matrimony in basis of love and not on obligation, thus, early marriage because of early pregnancy will not ever work out.

Lesson learned from a Mistake

 

    What separate the gods from us (mere humans) are their perfection and our ability to make mistake. Human as we are, we often make mistakes than do things right. Remember how we fell and stumbled just to learn how to stand up and walk. Life is pretty much like that- we will not be the person who we are now if it were not because of the mistakes we have gone through and the lessons we learned from them.

     The biggest mistake I have done yet in my life was when I ran away from home. It happened when I was still in high school. My mother and I had a serious feud when she caught me drinking with my high school peers. Since one of my friends offered me to stay in his house, I decided not to go home. I stayed in my friend’s house for days until I realized that I could not live in my own and finally made my mind to go home. I was scolded of course but eventually all of it subdued. I have learned a lot from that experience. I learned that even how strict my parents are, in the end they will still be the parents I will come home to; the people who could still accept me despite of my mistakes and disobedience. I learned to value their words.

      Indeed our experience teaches lessons that are far more significant from those we can learn from books; lessons that will help us understand ourselves and will guide us in this bewildering world. from that experience alone, I have drained a lot of lesson.

Trust

We all have secrets and we hide, lock and bury them deep so no one will find out. We keep secrets for they are not worthy to be shared, might only cause a feud and worst ruin an existing relationship. The only key that can unlock and reveal these secrets is trust. We only show our secrets to the people we trust, to the people we believe can accept them.

Instances, however, put our trust to the people around us to a test. Sometimes we trust too much that we did not notice that we were already fooled. Our trust sometimes deceives us and leads us to jeopardy. Some people, whom we have given with our trust, can’t keep their words, disappoint us and even back stab us. It is for these reasons why we can’t just easily give our trust; it might be abused by some pretenders.

I had a similar experience. I had a friend. We were very much like brothers so I was very confident to tell him almost everything about me. I told him how I was falling for our girl classmate. I even asked him for advices of how would I tell my feelings to the girl. But out of my knowledge he was courting her and the next thing I knew he was already the boyfriend of the girl I adored. It felt like I was knifed at my back. He broke my trust and our friendship. Lesson learned: never give your complete trust to anyone. Because if you do you will be surprised that the very least person you expect will be the very person who will back stab you.

Trust, indeed, is something that we can’t give that easy. Now I know the meaning of this cliche line: ‘trust is not given; it has to be earned.’ People should first prove that they are worthy to be trusted.

Trust is defined as believing despite uncertainties, but I go the other way round. You can’t trust someone when behind your mind is a doubt. You must first free yourself from that doubt by knowing the person whom you will give your trust to. It will give you the assurance that the person will not break your trust.

Your Funeral

I’m building a coffin of your size,

Furnish it with black carpet,

I put some flowers, some bloody roses

‘cause at long last your dead.

I’ll mourn but I’ll never cry;

Crying will not raise you from death,

After all you deserved to die.

Your memories now gone,

They vanished like they never happened.

What’s left is great pain,

And the scar of my hatred shall remain.

I’m digging your grave now,

To burry you six feet below

And I have one last wish:

May your soul rest in peace!

          I have been living my life for about 18 years now but I’m still asking myself with the same old question, who am I? I am not in a serious case of amnesia nor is suffering from Alzimere’s disease-just to be clear. Fortunately, I still have all memories stocked in the frontal lobe of my brain. I am much aware of my identity-as to my name, date of birth, place of birth and even the name of the midwife that helped my mother during my delivery, for they are all stated in my birth certificate. I have everything to know about myself, but why still ask the same question?

      How about if I will do some” introspection” to understand myself or far more be acquainted to who I really am, that would not be so hard. After all, I would just simply interview myself.

     Let us start with my childhood. I was a very shy kid. I had few friends; some of them were not even really true to me. My mother was the only one who I could really talk to without any hesitation. I feared to be away from my mother. There was even a time that I cried and ran after my mother when I saw her leaving after she accompanied me in my way to school. Maybe that explains why I am still a bit dependent to my parents as of today.

      It was only in high school that I finally found time to be with people other than my family. It was in high school when I started hanging out with my friends, to have more time outside our home. I even learned how to drink, well occasionally, as I was influenced by my peers. I started disobeying my parents. I was beginning to become a rebel, a problem to my parents. But eventually, I learned my lessons. Somehow those experiences helped me learned how to differentiate rights from wrongs. My mistakes helped to be matured

        Well, I am now in college. Things are different now. Gone is the foolishness in high school. This is no longer the time to be carefree. It is now the time to take life seriously. I am now foreseeing the life I will have after my study. It is hard to believe though that when I look myself in the mirror I can no longer see that shy child in me. I have grown. I have changed.

          It is all clear to me now. I have known myself now. I am someone who is determined to make all my dreams and aspirations real. I am someone who have already set a course in life and is willing to get there.