31 DAYS OF 31: Day 1
Mood:  not sure

 

The Big Three-Oh Review
Mood:  special
Topic: life lessons
Lifestyle is the career of the 21st century, and 30th birthdays are the new performance evaluation. In her blog about turning 30, my friend Grich said, “It’s that time in your life when you have to sit down, reflect, measure, and criticize the way you lived your life for the past 30 years.” Judging that she’s right, I believe that my turn to step under the formidable microscope has finally arrived.

Am I more successful now?

I had earned my star for perfecting the ABC, peed in my pants, posed for class pictures, feigned fevers and flu, won Quiz Bee medals, forged signatures, signed attendance sheets, and checked the attendance. I had gone through the drills of the CAT, passed the UPCAT, and failed job interviews. I had interviewed applicants, attended grad school, turned in overnight papers, reviewed students’ overnight papers, been promoted, and then resigned. I did my practicum at BOI, had bouts with UTI, worked in HR at Jollibee, and ate breakfasts at McDonald’s. I had earned a few awards from writing competitions, collected rejection slips, bought LOTTO tickets, and won a toaster at a raffle. I rode the subway in NYC, fell off a motorbike in my neighborhood, swam in a mud puddle, and sunbathed in Boracay.

Have I become a better person?

In the last 29 years, I have been stuck in traffic and had bits of food stuck between my teeth. I had mutton bone pried out of my mouth and occasions where I had to pull my foot out of my mouth. I’ve worn braces on my teeth and braced myself for bad news. I had cried at the movies, laughed at corny jokes, cheated on a test, and been cheated on. Several times, I had taken the garbage out and listened to trash. I’ve dated good men and bad, got stood up, stood someone up, manufactured “emergency” excuses on bad dates, and believed in excuses.

I had gotten to know the meaning of success because I understood what failure is.

In my life, I have had imaginary friends as well as people whose friendship I had only imagined. I’ve played a number of musical instruments. I had been played. I had questioned God’s existence and then prayed in crisis. I had worn a crown on my head once, and had my head on the toilet bowl a couple of times.

For someone crazy, I realize that I’ve managed to live a life that’s normal and extraordinarily ordinary, yet not devoid of irony and meaning. I have been to unpretty places so I could see what’s truly beautiful. I’ve been through times when I had nothing so I could learn to be grateful when there is only enough. I had gotten to know the meaning of success because I understood what failure is. More than once, it has looked me in the eyes, and I refused to be intimidated.

I am turning 30, and I haven’t made my first million yet. I don’t have a PhD (yet). I have not published a book (yet). I haven’t gone backpacking around Europe (yet). I have not raised a child (yet).

What do I know about success?

I’ve learned enough to understand that it’s not measurable by the number of commas I have on my bank account statements. Not even by the prefix or suffix I can add to my name. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, success is “the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.” Defying the word authority, I would say that success is the completion of a goal that you have set for yourself. And until you know what you want out of life, success will remain a quantitative measure of how far you’ve gone in life—an endless cat-and-mouse chase, a treadmill ride where you walk too fast to get nowhere.

In my lifetime, I have written more than a million words. If any of them had caused someone to smile or laugh and feel encouraged, I would consider more than half of my goals fulfilled. They say that life begins at 40, but I think that 30 is when you really understand what’s there to live for.

Things I know about life I learned from the Web
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: life lessons
• Always remember where to use which password
• Your history can catch up with you. Delete cookies.
• When you get too far from what you’re looking for, you can always hit Home
• Too much of a good thing can be hazardous. Share too many files, and you’ll end up God-knows-where.net
• Just as you’re updating your antivirus, someone else is coming up with a more dangerous one that can crash your hard drive
• If you’re sure about what you don’t want or need, always remember to Empty Recycle Bin to reclaim disk space
• Help/Support is not always on real time
• If you happen to perform an illegal operation, system will shut down
• If at times you find yourself looking at things that don’t seem to appear the way they should, Refresh
• Defrag from time to time
• The webcam can be positioned to show the best angles. You only see what you want to see
• If you don’t have adequate bandwidth, expect some downtime
• You have the power to create links, but there are times when your search leads to unavailable. . . and you may need to adjust your security settings
• You get more hits from passersby
• Your Facebook (or Friendster, Myspace, hi5, multiply. . . account) is sometimes more interesting to your enemies than it is to your friends : P
• If you feel that you need an emotional or creative outlet and a place where your opinion matters, where YOU matter, create your own blog
• If you need assurance that you’re not alone and that you’re normal, read THEIR blogs
*****
If in doubt, Google

29 Things I Learned as I Turned 29
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: life lessons

 

I’ve learned that . . .

1. parents worry more about you as YOU grow “older.”


2. it’s when you show your true self in any Profile that you really stand out.


3. when people say there’s no drink like a cold glass of water, they’re not talking bull.


4. the more delectable and healthier way of cooking tilapia is having it in sinigang sa santol.


5. when you set the alarm earlier than you’re accustomed to, you’re bound to get up way later than usual.


6. when you cut your credit card, you’ll feel like a rich person—only better, because you’ll have peace of mind.


7. curly hair and brown skin can actually be beautiful.


8. dancing naked in the living room is a truly liberating experience (make sure the neighbors aren’t up yet).


9. when you show kindness to someone, you are already changing the world.


10. choosing your battles shows how classy you are.


11. kids are happier and smarter, because they believe that anything is possible.


12. the only way to be indispensable in your career is to find your passion and then do it, not the other way around.


13. contrary to popular belief, there are still good and good-looking men who are straight and aren’t taken yet!


14. you can be less dependent on people and still cultivate fulfilling relationships.


15. having less money prompts you to save and end up having more than what you’re used to.


16. living “within your means” should stand for spending only 70% of your net income.


17. the less of a control freak you become, the better your opportunities get.


18. the more time you devote to competing with everyone, the more insignificant you become.


19. by contrast, the less proud you are, the more people value your company.


20. sharing your lecture notes won’t make you less intelligent.


21. the people you give the least of your time to are the ones who truly appreciate it when you do.


22. when you encourage people, you allow them to get one step closer to their dream.


23. your principles may not feed you, but these will earn you R-E-S-P-E-C-T, which is beyond price.


24. the more you befriend someone so unlike you, the more you realize how alike you really are.


25. the more you analyze, the more complicated it gets.


26. when you let go, you’re up for a pleasant surprise.


27. the best way to get good sleep is to look forward to waking up.


28. there’s no better way to wake up than to know that you are loved.


29. you read my blogs, because you love me.